VELLUTHA
Reading my last post about poverty being a lived experience – Mari said I should explain what it meant. I was thinking of how to explain this when I bumped into Vellutha at our adivasi school, Vidyodaya. He was there to teach the children the “Koratti Nadagam” – a folk theatre of the Paniyas. His tiny frame of 4′ 11” hides a giant of a character. Among Vellutha’s many claims to fame is the fact that he has been the one of the main architects along with Chathi, another legendary character, to popularise and reserve the Koratti Nadagam.
But Vellutha occupies a different place in my memory and experience. Meeting Vellutha after nearly 15 years brought back those memories.
Vellutha…
It is 1985. Mari and I are barely a year into our work with a local NGO that runs the Paniya Rehabilitation Farm in Kayunni. It is supposedly a 100 acre farm which was given to this organisation to rehabilitate 25 Paniya families who were freed from bonded labour. I say supposedly – because even when the land was granted more than 15 acres had been encroached upon by non-tribals. Part of the encroachment included the “kaavu” (sacred grove) of the Paniyas. Originally it was over 3 acres but a non-tribal from Kerala had taken possession and every year had increased his possession inch by inch till only a small tiny bit – the core of the Kaavu was left. With a water spring, a huge tree and a white rock – the hallmark of all Paniya Kaavus. That year the Chettan – I’ll call him Varghese – had grabbed the last little bit of land and planted ginger on it. (The Paniyas call all the Kerala immigrants “Chettans” meaning older brother and supposed to denote respect but the Paniyas use the term in a more derogatory manner). For years the Paniyas had watched his greedy grabbing of their land in near silence – there were occasional but ineffective protests. Not having title and the land being classified in government records as waste land not a sacred grove, the Paniyas didn’t have a leg to stand on. But when Varghese planted ginger all around their “rock” which is symbolic representation of one of their spirit gods – it was the last straw.
Vellutha and a host of others Paniyas came to us and complained. We referred it to the District Collector who looked at the records and said there was not much he could do unless we took possession of the land. With no other recourse a group of Paniyas marched off to uproot the ginger and repossess the last bit of their sacred grove. Naturally their was an uproar. Varghese came bellowing.
Standing on a narrow bund he accosted me and shouted, “You are a trouble maker. For years we have lived with these Paniyas in peace. Now you are coming and inciting them”.
Before I could reply Velllutha pushed in between us two tall non-tribals and looking up at Varghese he said, “ We never ever lived in peace with you. You sat on our heads all these years and so you never knew our pain. Now for the first time we have taken you off our heads and put you on the ground and you are angry because of the discomfort”. Varghese had nothing to say.
Vellutha, sums up for me what “living in poverty means”. For most people – it is about hunger, poor health, lack of education etc. There is no doubt that these are all signs of poverty – extreme poverty. But this does not capture the daily and constant humiliation of “having someone sitting on your head”. The utter powerlessness of this experience, the inability to do anything about one’s situation. This is the pain that Vellutha described that day.
But to end this post on a happier note: the Paniyas did get their land back. But more this was what sparked off a whole lot of people from other villages coming to us and telling us about how they had lost their land. And this was what finally led us to setting up ACCORD. (www.adivasi.net)
And finally after so many years the AMS has just launched a campaign to revive their cultural identity and heritage – reviving and protecting their sacred groves lies at the heart of it. Just a couple of weeks ago I participated in ‘adyantharam’ at the Kundakeynni Kaavu which is Chathi and Vellutha’s main kaavu.
The “adayantharam” at the Kundakeynni Kaavu
But that’s another post…..
