Playing with the children of the forest by Ksheerasagar
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vii + 99 pages,
Rs. 250 (India) / US $10 (Other countries)
Playing with the children of the forest
By Ksheerasagar
Kannada Original: “Kaadina Makkala Odanaatadalli”
Translated into English by NANDINI SRINIVASAN
To order a copy, send Demand Draft or International Money Order in favour of National Folklore Support Centre payable at Chennai (India).
About the Book
Beetles become live pin-wheels, mushrooms turn into bombs and lion ants tell directions in this intimate and delightful glimpse of the life of Jenukuruba children on the fringes of forests near HD Kote, Karnataka. Ksheerasagar’s fieldwork observations record the lives of this indigenous community, inter-woven with their natural environment, with candour and empathy.
Amidst a constant struggle for food, water and land,the endlessly inventive children find many ways to play with the birds, beetles and plants of the forest they have been displaced from. Plant sap proves ideal for colourful tattoos, a creeper’s leaf makes an excellently shrill whistle and a buzzing beetle the perfect baton for a guessing
game, as the children forage for food or escape the clutches of their loving but exasperated teacher. Fishing or foraging expeditions are no mere outings,often determining if the children will eat that day. Yet,like the tangy gooseberries that leave behind a sweet after-taste in one of its chapters, the book paints a picture darkened with social injustice with a tender affection for the children it portrays.
National Folklore Support Centre (NFSC) brings out this English translation to interest the outside world in the Community Digital Archive for the Jenukuruba people of HD Kote.
Ksheerasagar has worked extensively with the Jenukurubas of Mysore and has studied Karnataka land reforms and birds and butterflies. He works at the Jenukuruba Digital Archives, run by NFSC, Chennai, with a grant from Tata Education Trust. His published works in Kannada include Dikku Tappida Karnataka Bhu Sudharane (About Karnataka Land Reforms) and Jenu Akshada Aramaneyo (A novel about Jenukuruba).
Journalist Nandini Srinivasan is also a professional translator in Kannada and English. Her translated works include research on water management in rural India, models of adult literacy programmes, two case studies by the State Resource Centre, ‘Yashassu’ and ‘Kalike-Galike’ and ‘Reasserting Their Lost Wisdom and Rights’(describing social activist Rajendra Singh’s work in villages of Rajasthan).
Contents
Dedication
Preface
Chapter 1: The Rat Diggers
Chapter 2: The Creeper Flute and Colourful Tattoos
Chapter 3: Mischief of the Pundana Termite, The Lion Ant
Chapter 4: Hunt for the Squirrel
Chapter 5: The Flying Beetle and the Bamboo Shoot
Chapter 6: Coloured Ducks and the Leaf
Chapter 7: Wooden Dolls that Breathed and Mushrooms that Turned into Bombs
Chapter 8: Tangy Gooseberries that Leave Sweet Taste
Chapter 9: The Cricket and the Whirl Wind
Chapter 10: Chandra Makuta Bird - The Hooper
Chapter 11: Catching Fish and Crabs
Chapter 12: Hunting for the Keera - The Mongoose
Chapter 13: The Regular Winged Visitors
Chapter 14: Touch Me Not
Chapter 15: The Mouse Trap and the Ghost of Fire
Chapter 16: Fifteen Years later
