As we enter the second decade of the 21st century and envision a double digit annual growth of our economy successfully managing the fall out of a global recession , the main stream Indians have many things to cheer about – financial acumen , industrial growth , improved literacy and primary health care . However , the kaleidoscopic demography of India throws up many challenges concerning those people who live in the fringes – those other Indians . During the last six decades , I had occasions to encounter some of them in their habitat . Let me recount these experiences .
When I was a school boy , a couple used to come to our house at around midnight and sing a song for the well being of our family members invoking the God’s Grace .This used to be a random occurance and I used to look forward to it . My father told me they are ” PANANS ” and this is their routine from generations and they were very contended with small change or rice my mother used to give them . I understand this custom is very much there even now in many parts of Kerala .
When I was posted in Ladakh as a captain in the Army , I encountered the Ladakhi villagers who used to live frugally in one of the most inhospitable terrain in the world . They used to work for the Army as labor and I still remember the “Chhang – a country brew ” and ” Gud Gud Chai [tea without tea leaves – a cocoction prepared with butter and hot water] they served us when we visited one of our worker’s house . In spite of all developments in Ladakh ,the villagers still lead the same miserable life on a hand to mouth existence.
During my stay at Wellington , Nilgiris , in the 70’s we encountered the “Thodas ” in the upper reaches of the Ooty botanical garden . A very exclusive aboriginal tribe not affected by any developments around for centuries together. Recently,when I was in the US visiting my daughter , we had a chance to visit the ” Amish people ” in the state of Pensylvania . I could not help remembering the Thodas of Nilgiris.
Recently, I went on a holiday trip with my wife to the Arakku Valley near Vizag in Andhra Pradesh . It was an experience to meet with the tribals and visit one of their weekly market . They still have a barter system – a cashless transaction involving village products .
In India , we have many such pockets where no development efforts have reached whether it is education , electrification or communication. In many places in the remote reaches of Arunachal Pradesh, people have to walk for more than a day to reach a road head to sell what they produce in the villages . As a developing nation ,we need to do much more for these “Other Indians ” besides parading them every year in Delhi during our Republic day celeberations.