Mangaluru: Seventeen years ago, he had come to Mangaluru to spend the winter. After staying at a house near the sea shore at Hosabettu for nine years, he decided to shift to an interior place and landed at a small village near Udupi.
The simple lifestyle, humble villagers, agrarian life, folk art and tradition made 78-year-old Adam Clapham pen a book, ‘A Village in South India.' The book will be released in England on January 28.
Mr Adam had earlier worked as a documentary producer for BBC and has spent more than four decades exploring India and producing documentary films about the country for BBC and Channel Four.
So influenced was he by what he saw in the village that the director within him wanted to capture it.
"Had I been in BBC, I would have captured them in camera. But in the absence of these tools I decided to pen down the experiences in the village and bring it out in the form of a book. The book is ready and will be released in England next week. However I will not go there during the release. I will be here," Mr Adam says narrating details about his book which has illustrations by famous artist Dinesh Holla of Mangaluru.
This is his second book on India after 'Beware Falling Coconuts,' which was published in 2007.
Mr Adam has changed the name of the village and calls it 'Nadigrama village.' If one of his neighbours has been introduced as 'Prema the farmer,' another who is always busy has become 'Busy Lizzy.' He also speaks about Deepavali and Navaratri, Kambala, Jallikattu, Kori Katta (cockfight) and Yakshagana.
"Everyday life in the village is far more easy, where the prices of life's essentials rise far more quickly than the wages of most of the people living there. Yet these villagers are cheerful and outgoing, stoic about the few bad times and busting with laughter when all is well with the world," he says while speaking about the book.
