After a winding hour long journey through Carnation poly-houses, coffee plantations and tea gardens we finally reached our destination, Village Kolikarai, an Irula and Kurumba hamlet with approximately 140 households with an average of 04 members per household. We went for a 2 hour long trek through a reserved forest led by an Irula elder, Mr Krishnan.
We saw many medicinal plants, Rosewood trees and Lianas. We interviewed a man called Raju who belonged to Kilkoup which was a hamlet within the boundary of the reserved forest. In fact, it was interesting to note about his village and their way of life within the forest. After this we moved along the River Kallar which is a spring fed river where we took a dip into the cold water. Afterwards we had lunch at the village and some of us also engaged in playing volleyball with the tribal children.
The Irulas, who are STs [Scheduled Tribes], are specially known for their TKS [Traditional Knowledge Systems] which include the production of herbal medicines. We were shown the process of medicine making and we also managed to buy some basic medicines for skin ailments, body pain et cetera. Thereafter we divided ourselves into groups to take interviews and collect Primary Data regarding the villagers of Kolaikari for the coursework data for EVM and Geography. These interviews showed some surprising results and also made us more aware about their culture and lifestyle. The day ended with a fruitful discussion about our observations and inputs on our encounter with the Kurumbas and Irulas.
We saw many medicinal plants, Rosewood trees and Lianas. We interviewed a man called Raju who belonged to Kilkoup which was a hamlet within the boundary of the reserved forest. In fact, it was interesting to note about his village and their way of life within the forest. After this we moved along the River Kallar which is a spring fed river where we took a dip into the cold water. Afterwards we had lunch at the village and some of us also engaged in playing volleyball with the tribal children.
The Irulas, who are STs [Scheduled Tribes], are specially known for their TKS [Traditional Knowledge Systems] which include the production of herbal medicines. We were shown the process of medicine making and we also managed to buy some basic medicines for skin ailments, body pain et cetera. Thereafter we divided ourselves into groups to take interviews and collect Primary Data regarding the villagers of Kolaikari for the coursework data for EVM and Geography. These interviews showed some surprising results and also made us more aware about their culture and lifestyle. The day ended with a fruitful discussion about our observations and inputs on our encounter with the Kurumbas and Irulas.