Daily chores of Gond or Kolam tribe woman starts with fetching water from distant sources, cooking and working in the fields

Adivasi women in Adilabad district, for whom deprivation is a way of life, go about their chores with their humour intact

he smile on their face does not vanish even in the most trying circumstances they encounter every day. The Adivasi women in Adilabad district, for whom deprivation is a way of life, go about their chores with their humour intact.

The day in the life of an average Gond or Kolam tribe woman starts with fetching drinking water from distance sources, cooking and working in the fields by the side of the men in the family. The latter do share the burden of the daily routine, including gathering firewood, but the kitchen is the exclusive preserve of the women.

Festivals and religious events of the aboriginal tribes, like the recently concluded Padmalpuri Kako pilgrimage, the Jangubai festival and Keslapur jatara, is a time when the positive side of these women can be seen distinctly.

They are actually in the forefront of all activity which includes carrying the sacred offerings and cooking food for the entourage on pilgrimage consisting of 10 to 20 families from a given village.

“We cook food at the makeshift kitchens using firewood which we invariably carry with us,” points out Kinaka Rajubai, a Gond woman from Indervelli mandal headquarters as she gives her reason for continuing with the age old practice of cooking on ovens using firewood.

“We even need to grind the food grains using the mortar and pestle though it consumes much time and energy,” she smiles as she apparently recalls the time she spent at the makeshift kitchen at Jangubai caves, a pilgrimage she made earlier this year.

“Only a handful of Adivasi homes boast of an LPG connection and practically none of the food processors like mixers and grinders,” states Pusam Anand Rao, sarpanch of the famous Mallapur village in the same mandal, who incidentally had led his compatriots on the Padmalpuri Kako pilgrimage to Dandepalli mandal last year.

“An LPG connection would definitely be a help to our women,” he asserts as he talks of the hardships that Adivasi women face owing to poverty.

“The incidence of eye diseases among our women seem to be on the rise since the last few years,” adds Atram Bheem Rao, of Salewada in Utnoor mandal. “The eye problems haunt especially those women who are living in the semi pucca Indiramma houses as the lack of vents has the smoke trapped inside,” he points out towards the phenomenon to buttress his contention that Adivasi kitchens need LPG connection.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Telangana / by S. Harpal Singh / March 09th, 2016