Palmyra provides livelihood for 40,000 men who harness the rasa – men who lead poor lives
Palmyra provides livelihood for 40,000 men who harness the rasa – men who lead poor lives
You may have feni or mahua on the table of connoisseurs, but certainly not toddy. And in Tamil Nadu, despite regular protests, the government has banned the sale of toddy obtained (from palm trees), even though its alcohol content is manufactured using molasses and others sold in Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited shops. Much less than alcohol. Last month, several Palmyra associations came together for a meeting in Ramanathapuram, where they decided to submit a petition to the chief minister to revoke the ban.
So for tappers in Tamil Nadu today, it is only palm jaggery that supports them.
dangerous climb
It is three o’clock in the morning and the silence is broken by the whispering of the gentle wind that rustles Palmyra’s fronts. The darkness is broken by the light of the torch. Palm Tappers have started their day.
A tapper is changing his utensils. Photo Credit: L Balachander
Dressed in just loincloth with knife in hand to cut off the tip of the inflorescence axis, and a Kuduvai (a vessel used to collect the juice) begin to climb trees tied to their waists, headlamps lit their way. On the crown of the tree are hung pots that collect the slowly flowing juice. The nectar lured by wasps and snakes make these trees their home. It is indeed a dangerous profession. And for those who become proficient in the art of climbing these trees, the petioles (grooves on the trunk) can draw blood.
Tapers fill with brilliance as the flames of dawn cover Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar Kuduwais, Walk back to the temporary shed where the jaggery is made. The coastline forming a concave loop from Ramanathapuram to Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu appears to be barren. But the vast swath of rusty-colored earth is perfect for Palmyra.
There are about 100 million palm trees in India, of which Tamil Nadu has five crore: Palmyra is actually the state tree here. And out of these five crore trees, about 1.5 crore grow in these vast, unbroken parts of Ramanathapuram. All parts of the tree are useful – products such as palm baskets are made from the fronds and exported, and for centuries the trees have made fine fences.
Palm Jaggery | Photo Credit: L Balachander
goats in tow
They provide a livelihood for 40,000 men who tap the rasa – men who lead poor lives. For these largely illiterate men, toddy tapping brings them an income for six months a year. They spend the rest of the year doing nothing or going to Puducherry where tapping of toddy is permitted. At the beginning of the season, tapirs travel from their villages to these palm-side farms with their families, chickens, goats and dogs.
On bare earth, they set up temporary sheds with tin roofs that cost Rs 5,000. Thopraj, 35, moves to a shed with the juice he collects. The roof is made of woven palm leaf and is piecemeal; A small curl of smoke rises up. Inside the shed his wife is sitting on the floor, lighting a fire under a large skillet. As Thopraj pours the juice, 35-year-old Lakshmi Thopraj slowly stirs the liquid with a ladle. After an hour, the liquid erupts. The smoke from the firewood suffocates but it continues.
Palmyra juice is being boiled. Photo Credit: L Balachander
After three hours the pulp is poured into broken coconut shells which act as a mold for the palm molasses to freeze. a liter padneer (sap) YesHe has 140 grams of palm molasses; Tappers climb trees three times a day to bring the liquid home. As the first batch of jaggery is being made, the men take a breath and sit under the shade of a tree. The friendly joke gradually turns serious when they talk about moneylenders.
money shark
Thopraj’s brother Chinnaraj, 28, wonders how he will be able to manage the birth of his second child. His 23-year-old wife Mari Selvi is now ready to give birth anytime. Their first son, a two-year-old, is living with them in the shed. They will have to spend Rs 2,000 for the scan and travel to Thoothukudi, about 100 km away.
For all this Chinnaraj and his brother will have to use a moneylender merchant to get money for interest.
The men must pay a lease amount to the zamindar to climb the trees, and for this they are dependent on moneylenders: for 100 trees they require ₹20,000 as lease. They depend on moneylenders even during the months of no work. The tappers have to sell the jaggery made to these moneylenders at Rs 120 per kg, the same jaggery they can sell in the markets for 400 kg. And moneylenders also get interest on the money lent by them. Meanwhile, the Tappers are deeply in debt.
Boiled juice is being poured into the cups. Photo Credit: L Balachander
Sixteen-year-old Kamaraj Chinnaraj, resting on a broken cot, has stopped his studies and is learning a trade to help his 50-year-old father, Maria Singham, pay off a ₹5 lakh loan he took for his daughter’s wedding Was. “It is almost impossible to repay the loan as we have been unemployed for six months,” laughs Chinnaraj.
no alcohol
On January 25, 2018, the Government of Kerala told the Supreme Court that toddy is a vitamin drink with high nutritional value and cannot be called alcohol.
This was done to save around 750 toddy shops from blocking state highways: The court in its 2016 order had banned liquor shops within 500 meters of highways to prevent accidents.
The petitioners had referred to the Kerala Excise Act, 1902, which defines toddy differently from other forms of liquor.
The petition states that toddy is defined separately as the fermented or unfermented juice extracted from coconut, palm, date or any other palm tree. In March 2018, the Supreme Court allowed the reopening of toddy shops along national highways, albeit under strict conditions.
When it is possible in Kerala, activists like C. Nallusamy, convener of the Tamil Nadu Toddy Movement, wonder why the Tamil Nadu government has banned the sale of toddy, which has very little alcohol content.
Farmers point out that toddy has been a part of Tamil daily life since the Sangam period, and the ban has adversely affected tappers.
45-year-old Ganesh, a toddy harnesser, fell from a tree and fractured his spinal ligaments. But they did not receive any compensation from the Tamil Nadu Palm Tree Workers Social Security and Welfare Scheme (2006) as there was ‘no physical separation of organs’. He had to borrow money for treatment in a private hospital. He continues to climb these trees to pay off the debt.
debt cycle
It is this cycle of debt that government agencies like NABARD are trying to break. Ramanathapuram District Development Manager K. Arun Kumar says that he has started two Farmer Producer Organizations in the vicinity of Sayalkudi and one of them has got a loan of Rs 10 lakh to start a jaggery unit. “With the arrival of these units, we are hopeful that the value addition of Palm products will also start,” he says.
But for now, Thopraj continues to sleep under the stars, hoping that the dawn will bring him a boon. padneer To keep moneylenders away.