Thursday 16 October 2014

Coconut plucking Session



Konkan is known for the plentitude of coconut trees. The coconut tree is ingeniously considered desire yielding tree due to its very resourceful nature. Primarily we get coconut from the tree, but apart from it, there are many other subsidiary benefits of the same like coconut leaves to make little sheds (we have used coconut leaves on the roof top of a cottage at Maachli),wood(we have used it for the joinery of the roofing) and also many other parts in making rope, broom etc.Every house in Konkan is surrounded by coconut trees. Straight and erect posture of a Coconut tree also strengthens the Konkani person to preserve tremendous value system and eventually to keep the pride of a soil always high.

Focusing on the primary benefit of a tree, coconut plucking session is generally carried out 8 times a year, keeping gap of 1 and half months. A session is no where less than a ceremony, where all the people from the house are involved in some ways. It can also be compared with a worship of god which takes place occasionally in the house with the presence of a priest. The only difference in coconut plucking is, the poised and traditionally dressed priest is replaced by a skinny, tanned, rough and tough person, skilled from his childhood to climb a coconut tree.

My grandfather keeps a watch over coconut fall. The skilled chaps scatter coconuts all over the farm which needs to be taken care of through series of activities which typically includes collecting coconuts from the stream, finding way through the junk and thorns notwithstanding a bite of the red ants. I shoulder the responsibility of filling the same in a sac and mounting it on the head of fellow worker who takes it in the storage. Such activities keep repeating for 3 hours. Finally everyone gets a creamy tender coconut which happens to be a fruitful end of the session.