Ramnath called early this morning. He said Nara was planning to cut down the jackfruit tree near the Cheo Centre toilet. What do you want me to do, I asked him. Give him some money so that he does not cut down the tree. I said, it’s no solution. Firstly, I don’t know how much money he needs. Secondly, I’m sure that when I’m gone, Nara or his son will cut down the tree anyway. Besides, you get the villagers to explain that if the tree is left intact, then Nara will have an income from the Jackfruit tree for many years to come. Ramnath seemed despondent. I felt sorry for him. Sorry for the villagers. Sorry that despite so many years of work amongst the Paharias, we have not been able to get them to preserve the forest that they live in.
You can’t call it a forest any more. There was a time when these hills were covered with Jackfruit, mango and mahua trees. There were a lot of timber in the form of sakhua and sagwan. But they have all but disappeared. Huge tamrind trees have disappeared too. The few trees that one sees in and around Cheo are there simply because I had “bought” them at one point of time and the villagers are too scared to cut them down.
But of course I hadn’t “bought” all the trees! And the tree that Nara plans to cut down is not one of “mine”. There’s precious little I can do to stop him. And I don’t think I can continue “buying” trees to protect them. The trees I had “bought” earlier cost 40/50 Rupees two decades ago. Now they won’t sell these tress to me for less than 2/3 thousand per tree! I simply can’t afford it. Besides, if they can’t see the value of preserving the t rees on which their lifestyle depends, who am I to stop them?
Naturally, I’m feeling upset. I know Ramnath is upset. He is one of the few people who understands the need for conservation. The others simply don’t care. I remember once when the Cheo’s headman (now dead) was cutting down some trees I asked him to spare the trees for the next generation. His reply was simple. Who cares what happens to the next generation. I wish to eat, drink and be merry while I am alive!
Graham is here. He arrived earlier than expected. He was at the project at 9:00 am! I was wondering how he got there so early considering the police station opened at 10:30. Then Jehangir, the taxi man explained that he had “bribed” the policeman on duty to “speed up the process”. I was naturally very upset. I don’t want this to become a regular feature. Next thing you know, the cops will start harassing the volunteers simply to get some money out of them!
Anyway, Graham’s here and he’s rearing to “do something”. From tomorrow he’ll spend time with the teachers to familiarize himself with the school and the children. Then from Monday onwards, when the school timings change, he can start teaching in earnest. From Monday school will start at 8:30 and end at 12:30 with a 30 minutes break in between. There will be7 periods.
It’s really expensive to get online. Today my laptop downloaded some updates automatically and it cost me Rs 65! That’s too much. I’m exploring alternatives. This really is working out very expensive.
I’m not feeling very well. My whole body is aching. Is it because of the bus journey? Change of season? Or am I going to have yet another malarial attack? I guess I’ll find out soon.
2 comments:
What a frustrating situation with the trees. We feel your pain.
I know just what you are feeling with the trees and conservation. I am constantly and quietly working on promoting conservation to the population of northern Borneo through my husbands rural family.
I wish I knew of a way to help. Do they plant trees? I know it takes ages for them to grow, but is there any way one could encourage the villagers to plant two, three or ten for every one they cut down? Or is it too difficult to raise seedlings from fruit seeds?
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