Ladybug's field notes

How do you know Konkan? Have you checked it in the map for your next holiday? Have you visited Konkan to enjoy the beaches? Which one you like the best? Srivardhan? Are you from Konkan? I would be envious. Its a beautiful landscape. Does not matter whether you like sea-beaches or hills, you will love Konkan. I have roamed in Konkan to meet Katkaris and Thakars. I walked in different parts of Roha, Mhasla, Mangaon to visit villages with exotic names. Taraygar (house of stars) is one such example. Katkaris are a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) who till some time ago were a Primitive Tribe Group (PTG) and before that a De-notified Tribe Group and till British were here they were a Criminal Tribe. In all these changes of names on paper, their real status never changed. Thakars are even less known. It was almost always difficult to hold a meeting in the Thakar-wari (Thakar hamlet) after sundown. No prizes for the guessing why! They say it rains a lot in Konkan. Weather...

We spent the night under open sky in Kusumkhet. They gave me a string cot. There were many more cots around. We were still waiting for the rain in May end that year. You will remember the bus stand was 3.5 km away. Villagers had informed us that night, the only bus for the town leaves at 8 am.  Shivaji bhau,  my colleague and I hence woke up by 6 am and were ready to go after our morning cup of black tea. Most tribals in India do not take milk from animals and hence a cup of tea with milk is almost non-existent. We started by 7 am, well in time for our bus. The path was full of ups and downs both literally and figuratively. On our way, we discussed tribals and their relations to the forest. Forest department and their role figured into our discussion and the nice discussion soon turned into hot debate with facts and figures and global trends. It was Shivaji bhau's turn to present his set of arguments as we reached the top of a small hillock and that caused an end ...

To reach Bopoli for a meeting around afternoon you have to take a bus from Roha to Nagothna as early in the morning, as possible. Walk about half a kilometer from Nagothna bus stand to reach the “six seaters'” stand. Now, board a six seater to Shiu, from Shiu take an auto to Bandhan, from Bandhan take a six seater (again!) to Kelaghar. Don't sigh so soon! You would still have to walk for about 2 km. to reach Bopoli. If you have Sopan bhau for company, he would tell you that you would actually have to walk up to the top of the hill, visible in the horizon and cross over to the other side to reach Bopoli! All he wants to have is a laugh at your urban vulnerabilities. And believe me, you would laugh too! You will never be as relieved to realize you have been conned, ever. The village is situated at the foot of the hills and not beyond it. “I am explaining the ideology of the sangathan see if you want to be part of it”, Taai said to the gathered crowd. “ Sangathan is about h...

This was in Thane district of Maharastra before the monsoon. I spent one and a half day in the field doing nothing due to mis-communication, in the very begining. I and my colleague spent about 36 hours in a village named Nandgaon. We slept in the open veranda in the afternoon sweating and waiting for rain and did so in the night too. As soon as the sun went down, we climbed up the hillock nearby and stood on top of the biggest rock available and we waved our hands like people stranded in uninhabited islands to get signal in our respective mobiles. My colleague was much taller than me so he could talk normally whereas I had to shout on top of my voice keeping the phone up in the air in loudspeaker mode just to convey home that I was fine (winking)! The incident early next morning was the crowning glory of this part of the trip. A cow followed me when I left for my nature’s call and I do not want you to puke by telling why it did so! But, yes Indian cows of Hindu mythology like variety...