May 5, 2009
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Development makes way for changes far beyond the wildest imagination of human beings. Villages, change, cities transform into hubs of education, health, Information Technology and so on. Change is inevitable. Along with this change traditional occupations are slowly disappearing in many parts of the country in this era of globalization. The country’s landscape has undergone drastic change as development has made way for newer occupations sidelining the traditional ones.
Dakshina Kannada too has undergone drastic changes in the last few decades in spheres of life. Toddy tapping which once occupied a special place among traditional occupations giving a distinct tinge to our unique culture and heritage, is slowly but sadly on the verge of fading into oblivion. Low pay and down turn in the toddy tapping industry have seen young generation turning away from this perilous work. But not everything is lost. As it is generally said there is always a ray of hope at the end of the tunnel.
IN SEARCH OF HAPPINESS
Kemmayya, a small village in Puttur not long ago boasted of nearly 600 toddy tapping families. These families eked out a living by tapping toddy from palm and coconut trees at a time when toddy was an integral part of the unique culture of this coastal land. However, the lure of the city and apathy towards this traditional occupation drew youngsters away from homes towards other professions. Younger generation did not take to this occupation due to general aversion to the manual labour involved in the job.
26 year old Diwakar hailing from Kemmayya too treaded the same path and did a welding course and even worked as a welder for six years. Despite Diwakar doing what everyone from his community was doing i. e. taking up a job rather than sticking on to the traditional family occupation, happiness eluded him. He was missing the traditional occupation and the rustic feeling he had grown up with during his childhood. His heart was rooted in continuing the family’s traditional occupation of toddy tapping from coconut palms and when the opportunity came for him to opt for continuing the traditional occupation he did not let it go awry. He responded to the inner voice of his heart and made a grand come back to take toddy tapping as his occupation much to the delight of his family. Surprisingly he is able to have a middle class lifestyle from the income he derives from this traditional occupation.
Diwakar is not alone in responding to the inner voice of his heart. He has inspired other youngsters from his village to go back to their roots and continue doing what they best enjoy doing and have a respectable earning to lead a rather comfortable middle class lifestyle. In the village in Kemmayya now there are about 8 youngsters who are attracted to this traditional family occupation and have made a grand and profitable come back much to the envy of their neighbors and the village folks, many of whom still look down upon this traditional occupation. “We knew if we did not continue this profession it would have slowly vanished. Though our parents did not want us to continue we were determined to make a good living out of toddy tapping”, says Diwakar speaking on behalf of his friends.
HIS OWN MASTER
It is an encouraging trend that having made a come back these youngsters are reaping rich dividends for their hard work and have started enjoying their new economic power that comes from their traditional family occupation. “I work for only 4 to 6 hours a day and I am my own master. I earn a decent earning of 15,000 to 20,000 a month. It has improved our economic status to a great extent. I am happy that more youngsters are encouraged by our success and are coming back to take up this occupation. Working for other entails working for 10 to 12 hours and the returns are meagre”, Diwakar opines.
Toddy tapping is the traditional occupation of the Billavas. Remember the good old days when toddy known for its sweet-sour taste, was a common drink. “Shendi shops” (toddy shops) were as ubiquitous as the “arrack shops” in all parts of the district. Modernity made way for new opportunities for the youngsters and the unappealing and strenuous (?) occupation of toddy tapping found no takers. Fortunately, now it is back to the pavilion as the youngsters are enjoying the occupation and the financial freedom that comes with it.
Toddy known as “kali” or “Kallu” in local parlance is obtained from Palm or Coconut trees is common in the coastal areas. Coconut toddy is obtained by tapping the young fluorescent flowers of the coconut palm. Toddy tapping involves the strenuous job climbing coconut tress twice a day, which was one of the reasons the youngsters did not fancy the job. Tapping involves various processes of stimulating trees to exude juice and in coconut trees it is obtained from the inflorescence before it is fully developed by beating with a fine stone or the polished leg of a wild boar. The work begins with gentle uniform beating all over the surface of the spathe twice a day, morning and evening. After beating for 10 to 15 days the tip of the spathe is cut off to enable the juice to trickle down. An earthen pot is hung from the spathe to collect the juice and the mouth is sealed with clay mud.
In the two acre family land Diwakar has planted many coconut trees. On an average he climbs 16 to 20 trees daily twice, to collect the toddy and also for tapping the palm. Apart from his own trees he takes trees of others on contract paying them Rs 100 per tree. A tree yields about 8 to 10 liters of toddy daily. Each liter fetches Rs 12 in the market, quite a reward for all the hard work that goes with it. Toddy is also tapped from palm trees, adopting similar method to get the juice that becomes alcoholic on fermentation. The sugary syrup is also used for making jaggery.
THE HITCH
While the youngsters are making merry and the parents are also happy for them there is only one hitch. Parents of young marriageable girls are not impressed by their success and these young boys have tough time finding suitable proposals. Though these youngsters are able to have a fairly decent lifestyle it has failed to bring that semblance of respect for the traditional occupation. “We are leading a normal happy-go life with all modern facilities at home. But it has not impressed many families in our own village. Not finding proposals will not deter us”, Diwakar states while his friends echo similar sentiments.
Brave words indeed! One has to admire and appreciate the fortitude of these youngsters to continue this family occupation and make it an enjoyable and profitable occupation against all odds. Let us hope the girls of marriageable age recognize this distinctive trait among these brave hearts and succeed in influencing the thought process of their parents.
There is hardly any help forthcoming from the government for these youngsters who are unwavering in their decision to continue what they have started having earlier swayed by the general trend of taking other professions. Their courage e and perseverance is indeed estimable. Let these young and energetic youth inspire others of their ilk.