Dear Raghu: how delightful... and what a learning experience for all... loved the story. may be a beginning of an ethnobotany career !!! Usha Desai MD
=== On Mar 19, 12:27 am, raghu ananth <[email protected]> wrote: > Egg fruit (Pautaria > campechiana)http://www.keralaayurvedics.com/organic-foods/fruits/egg-fruit-pautar... > Chethalayam, Wayand, KeralaJan 2011 > /*Cheethalayam adventure - tree walk with the tribal & school boys > > At Cheethalayam, Wayanad, sitting by the grassy slopes under the shade of a > ficus tree which provided a great vantage point, we watched birds coming to > feed on the fresh nectar of the red flowers of the silk cotton trees - four > in number - standing tall and majestic in front of us. > > It was a delightful view as perched on the tree branches (made for a nice > canopy), we could see starlings, sun birds and the mynas engaged in chatter > with some preferring to break into a song now and then.We also noticed > (through binocular) birds like the solitary chloropsis (leaf bird), a pair > of minivets, a wood pecker taking aerial root from tree to tree without > any noise and whose movements along the tree branched were obscured by the > thick canopy, though we got an occasional peep. Later, we could even hear > them singing soft .. some where in the canopy. > " Heard Melodies are sweetBut those unheard are sweeter"-- Keats > > At that moment, two tribal boys (around 13 years) stood observing us from > afar, while whispering to one another some of the flowers and the birds' > local names. We lured them into a conversation with us. Initially they > appeared reluctant and shy but after some time, they began to talk slowly and > started to narrate the names of the trees nearby in both Malayalam as well as > Kannada. Going by the receptive audience, they even ventured to tell us about > the lovely birds near the waterfalls and the wild animals inside the forests, > in a radius of just 10 kms. > A little later, a gang of holidaying school boys, all noise and > laughter, came onto the scene with their bicycles and edging the tribal boys > aside began > to dominate the conversation.One of them was a big boy (wearing half pant), > who made bold to address us in his pidgin English - "You where", You what > doing" "Youname place" "My photo take please" "I show water fall". Then > pointing > to the various common trees he intoned, "This ... pepper, This ... > areca, This ... coffee, This ... cardamum, This Mango.." as if he were an > authority > on forest flora. > > We then felt obliged to absorb this fount of information into our group and > afterpartaking of some local savouries, we went for a small walk along a > path met by a forest stream. Upon wanting to know the names of some of > the trees, only the tribal boys could name them while Mr. Encyclopedia > (Mr. E) went into amnesia. > > The tribal boys continued to name the trees and even some of their > uses with ease and I began jotting down the names in my book. When I > wished to photograph one of the fruits on a tree, I requested Mr. E to > continue writing the names in my book. He obliged faithfully taking my > pen from me. The tribal boys continued walking ahead naming the trees .. > Sundakai, Muthupazham, Muruge, Veetti, nugge, Egg fruit, .... > as they encountered it with everybody listening avidly and Mr. E > scribbling furiously in good cheer. …(I reproduce the names here, pls check > the photo attachments)... > 1. Sundakai, > 2, Mutthupazham, > 3, Muruke, > 4, Veetti .... > so on .. > > Soon it was getting dark, we were returning back, the boys were found > examining all the > flowers growing on the fence in front of the village houses. > > I had photographed the gang of boisterous school boys but when Ilooked around > for the tribal boys, they had already vanished into the > woody trees. > > Before we departed, I returned the favour and asked Mr. E - “Your name” > , “Your school” “Which class” “Your house". He introduced > all the boys, citing a behavior unqiue to each individual and pointed to > their houses > nearby. All the names started to sound alike to me with some names even > starting to rhyme together, which is when Mr. E took my notebook and wrote > down the names of his classmates/friends. > > Paulson Eldose (Chethalayam), > Yaseen (Chethalayam), > Ajil (------------cc----------), > Ebine (--------cc----------), > Sam (---------cc----------), > Edwin (--------cc----------), > Ajmin (---------cc----------), > Fazis (---------cc----------), > Muhsin (------cc-----------), > > For all his faults, imagined and otherwise, Mr. E was indeed funny with a > sweet disposition as were his assistants. > > */ > Regards > Raghu > > ChethalyamCollage1.jpg > 132KViewDownload > > DSC_0753a.jpg > 255KViewDownload > > DSC_0749e1.jpg > 299KViewDownload > > DSC_0746c.jpg > 216KViewDownload > > DSC_0747d1.jpg > 237KViewDownload > > DSC_1517.jpg > 153KViewDownload > > DSC_0722a1.jpg > 299KViewDownload > > DSC_0723a1.jpg > 291KViewDownload > > DSC_0729a1.jpg > 212KViewDownload > > DSC_4061.jpg > 164KViewDownload > > DSC_4060a.jpg > 194KViewDownload > > DSC_1516a.jpg > 173KViewDownload > > DSC_1515a.jpg > 274KViewDownload
