nadila baand, shalelapan | dams to river, and to schools as well_ 🌱

moving forward, we met at a dam called "ambegaon dharan." on both sides of the road, we saw a new plantation of trees. we got to know that the panchayat of "ambegaon" had planted them. we saw a child of 13-14 coming from the "dhamani" side. he had a school bag on his back. after speaking with him for 10 minutes, he finally told us his name was datta. he was from "bhorkas", which is still 5 km from where we met him. as we moved, we saw that a small river flooding was blocking our road from the mountainside towards forests from the slope. we held each other's hands and made a chain to cross the river confidently. we did that.

we kept speaking with datta about his school. he said that he walks daily to his school from "bhorkas". very few of his friends come to school due to 'no vehicle.' he also noted that there were wolfs in the jungle that would attack us; better to stay at home. some of his classmates have got a hostel near to the school. he also said that the road we were walking; on was made by people of his villages.

one another person named ganesh had joined us alongside. he added more things to datta's narration. he said he got his relatives' letter after one and a half months. the postmasters do not come without any absorbing (interest) purpose.

rathichi wadi is next to dhamni. "wadi" is an indigenous name to call an adivasi settlement. wasanti taai told us about the wadi with 35-40 families. she has already visited this place while working on one of their surveys. as we were moving towards bhorkas, we saw all the doors of the wadi were closed. on the road to the side, there was a chuck of rice fields planted by the people of this region. the watering to this plantation was coming altogether from the mountain. we couldn't see any electric motors or machines joined to force water into the field. the 'baand" (small canals) stopped the water at various steps.

📑 in the mountains of sahyadri_
🖋 @dnyanesh_____
🌱 read this piece on blogspot, link is in the bio.

 

jangal mhanje may-baap | forest means guardians_ 🌱

the day of the actual field, i.e., 10th august of 2016, we set our first visit. the destination was an adivasi wadi named "bhorkas". Along with the visit, we had a responsibility to fill out applications for the BPL rationing card for families which don't have it. we took an auto-rickshaw for the next 10 km pakka road. the auto dropped us near ambegaon fata (a local landmark). we walked 5.5 Km on an open street towards the mountain to reach bhorkas. that was a set route for us for the next three weeks.

throughout the travel, there was greenery; at hills covering small canals, alongside the rivers, it seemed as if the whole beautiful ecological set-up was architected so well by nature. meanwhile, on the way to bhorkas, we also visited a few more wadi'es like "dhamani", "ambegaon", and "rathichi wadi".

"dhamani" was the first wadi we saw. it had two separate settlements. one part was of the permanent residential families who have been residing there from their generation to generation. according to our resource person, the second part was rehabilitating families from the satara district koyana dam region. they were settled there by the government a few years ago. we were still 5 km back to "bhorkas". there was no public transport available. the whole area was full of forest and vegetation.

📑 in the mountains of sahyadri_
🖋 @dnyanesh_____
🌱 read this piece on blogspot, link is in the bio.

 

misalan | mixture_ 🌱

the city of pen is popularly known for idols of ganesha, a famous hindu deity. the city is considered a leading producer and exporter of ganesha's idols. it even engaged in interstate as well as international trade of idols of various hindu deities. we saw two closed industries where the crashed idols of ganesh were dumped beside the gate. we roam in two markets. one was famous for fish and crabs, while the other was just for vegetables. the nagar panchayat and the mahatma gandhi bhawan nearest to that were closed when we reached. soon the day finished, and we planned to stay in the rest house of the ankur hostel. this hostel was built and executed by the same organization. it is a philanthropic institution where adivasi children of the first to twelfth class could stay.

"dada tumhi srikant dadachya college madhye shikata?" (aada, do you study at shrikant dada's college? with a timid voice, one student asked me if i was studying in college where her known person srikant was studying. i didn't know who shrikant was, but i responded, "haa, haa toh srikant dada ka mumbai madhye shikato toh?" (yes, is it that srikant dada who studies in mumbai?). then she said, "haa." (yes). then i also replied yes to her.

a similar mistake that everyone makes, i assumed that srikant was the same student who did fieldwork at akur trust the previous year. later on, i got to know he was the same srikant. now she began to open to me and asked, "tumhi pan shahar madhun yayal ahe?" (so have/do you also come from the city? "haa." (yes) i said. then she ran towards her room. ~

📑 in the mountains of sahyadri_
🖋 @dnyanesh_____
🌱 read this piece on blogspot, link is in the bio.

office te waadi | office to hamlet_ 🌱

it was the drizzly morning of 9th august 2016. my field co-worker abhinav and i were supposed to visit pen city for the first time. we had prepared to take an early train from panvel to reach on time. the pen city is two and a half hours far from mumbai. unfortunately, we missed the first train because we couldn't figure out the distance between the institute and panvel and got late to reach like two of the afternoon.

the day was as cloudy as typical of western maharashtra's rainy season. we went to the office and saw three people were working. we had an introduction with all. including two of us, everyone was non-adivasi until one activist entered the office. sanjay works as a hostel super-wiser and is a crucial leader of the katkari adivasi community in organizing rallies and advocating rights. we couldn't talk much with him because he was in a bit rush and went back immediately. we asked a person sitting in the cabin to let us see the city first. then we could also visit an adivasi wadi. he talked to his colleague wasanti taai to be accompanied us.

📑 in the mountains of sahyadri_
🖋 @dnyanesh_____
🌱 read this piece on blogspot, link is in the bio.

paaywat | roadless travel_ 🌱

several adivasi wadis are, at most of the places, situated in the upper part of the hill/mountain area. thus, walking or taking vehicles at that height becomes difficult. however, small, narrow, open streets are the best navigators to reach adivasi wadis. the ecology of the forests has been drastically changing due to high temperature, low rainfall, and things like increment in urbanization impacting adivasi living.

regular engagement of non-adivasi, both in terms of power and empathy, is giving birth to a tremendous epistemic contestation (to save freedom and maintain/counter the complex relationship of integration and negotiation) between adivasis and the non-adivasis; basically, outsiders can be seen and studied.

this is a series of blogs consisting of twelve articles. it is essential to disclose that these reflections are mine, meaning an outsider's reflections. this series has been conceptualized and written from the collection of field recordings. it is based on experiences and learnings the author has collected and gained in the field. The fieldwork had conducted during his master's program in social work course. The objective of the fieldwork was to understand and comprehend Adivasi communities to process the "perspective from within."

📑 in the mountains of sahyadri_ 

🖋 @dnyanesh_____
🌱 read this piece on blogspot, link is in the bio.