Rice and Our Culture

 “On each rice corn, the name of the person entitled to eat the same is engraved”¹

Do you know what the words, ‘Honda’ and ‘Toyota’ mean? I am told they mean Paddy fields! When I was in Hong Kong and China, I was surprised to find that, like us Malayalees, they drink 'Congee' and call it so.

There is no need to emphasize the relation we Keralites have with rice. It is the staple food of Keralites along with Coconut. We cannot live without these two, though recently due to globalization of tastes, our food habits are changing. When we travel back from New Delhi, in ‘Kerala Express’, we eagerly wait for the Train to cross the border of State of Andhra Pradesh, so we get rice and curd! That is how we are attached to rice. Our Govt is forced to sell rice at Rs 1/- a Kg to obviate poverty, when a Kg of branded ‘Matta’ rice costs up to Rs 42/- (1USD = Rs 60)

 Recently I had a chance to go through the history of rice. The prompt was a small article written by V Mithran in Malayala Manorama Daily, particularly “Metro Manorama –Rasagula” on September 22, 2012.

According to Irfan Habeeb, historian, who wrote “Farmers in Indian History”, India first cultivated rice during 2000 B C. It is believed that China raised paddy 6500 years ago. In England, the word ‘rice’ was used for the first time probably in the 13^th Century. Science called it ‘Oriza Sativa’. The word came from the Latin word, ‘Orisi’. According to Historians, this came from ‘Arisi’ in Tamil! The legend has it that, in the Kurukshetra War, the Chera King of Kerala participated and he was in charge of supplying food to both sides, Kauravas and Pandavas.

We know that we had our “Nellaras” or three large rice sources in Palghat, Kuttanad and Nachinad.

In Kuttanad, It was late Joseph Muricken of Kavalam who acted as ‘Lord Parasurama’ to retrieve the 2150 acres of paddy fields, 3 Metres below sea level, from Vembanad lake.

According to V Sankaran Nair, who wrote the book, “Nellum Samskrithiyum” (Rice and Culture), ‘Nanchinad’ came from the word, ‘Nanchil’, which means ‘Njengol’ or ‘Langalam’ in Sanskrit, or ‘Kalappa’ in Malayalam -used to plough rice fields. He tries to establish that in human history, rice was first cultivated in Nanchinad. It is supported by the view of Lou Vevanchun, a Soviet scholar. The birth day of rice is celebrated in the day Makam in Kanni Rasi in Kollavarsham, the Malayalam Calendar. According to him, it is also related to our Goddess ‘Kanya Kumari’ at the southern tip of India.

Recently we have been forced to quit rice farming. Large tracts of rice fields are left idle or are being converted for commercial purposes. Illegal or reckless sand mining has transformed paddy fields into water logged deep pools. In Aranmula and Idukky, Airports are proposed threatening the extinction of rice cultivation. Those who raised the slogan “the rice fields we harvest will be ours one day” have moved onto blue and white collar jobs and today we are unable to do manual jobs. Labour comes from Bihar, Bengal or even Bangladesh!
In India, the State of West Bengal stands top with 15.80% and State of Andhra Pradesh comes second with 12.71% in rice production. Today Rice comes for us from the State of Andhra Pradesh! We are not in the first 10 rice producing States.²

The State of Kerala ranks Seventeenth in area of cultivation among the states of India. Kerala is a deficient state in rice production. While the estimated requirement of rice for the state is 35-40 lakhs t/year, it produces less than one-fifth of its requirement.³ (Lakh = 1/10 million)

Years	Area (Lakh ha)	Production (Lakh tonnes)	Productivity (Kg)
1960-61	7.90	10.68	1,371.00
2001-02	3.22	7.03	2,182.00
2009-10	2.34	6.25	2,671.00

The share of rice in the total cropped area also showed a steep decline ie, from 33.2 percent in 1960-61 to 12.01 percent in 2003-04. Productivity is high because of the increase in cycles and not because of any increase in yield!

This is a matter of great concern. What shall happen if there is a famine? We must do a lot of introspection.

[Adapted from a Speech in 2012 prepared for Project VII- Competent Communication Manual- Toastmasters International and published in ‘gather’- November 2012]

References:

1. A saying –Kahlil Gibran? Quran?

2. (Source: Maps of India/06.01.2012)

3. (Source: Rice Knowledge Management Portal RKMP)/ [S. Leena Kumari, Professor & Head, Rice Research Station, Monkompu, Thekkekkara P.O.Alleppey District. Kerala 688 503]

4. Nellum Samskrithiyum- V Sankaran Nair- Bhasha Institute, Kerala

Tree of a different species

(February 2013- initially shared on 'gather')

One of the blessings of our native language is that we have a name for every tree around us. And I am sad why the English man has to add the suffix ‘tree’ to every flora that grows above me, has roots, and branches or grand foliage of its own. 

For him, it is Mango Tree, Apple Tree, Jackfruit Tree, Redwood Tree and what not tree. The logic is upside down. For us a Mavu gives Manga whereas for him, Mango is from a Mango Tree and so on.

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We thought of sharing this different tree we found in the orchard.

The fruit is called ‘Kulamanga’. I leave it to you then to find out what the tree is called.

 I only request to pronounce it this way: ‘Kula’ as an ‘a is added to the last ‘l in ‘Call’ similar to the one before its first ‘l and ‘u same as in ‘put’! (Cull’a). Now Manga as such an ‘a is added to ‘pang’ while substituting P with M (Mang’a). Clear?

Not to be confused with ‘Mangakula’ this is same as a bunch of mangoes. And not to be again confused with ‘Kula Manga’ when ’l is as in love and ‘ng is as in Mango which means a lady of a family of repute!

I could not find anything on Google or elsewhere but something which raised doubts about an African origin. No clues. Perhaps there is another name. I am no student of Botany.

Let us look at the beans inside the nut which is the edible part. They feel very tasty like almonds or its native varieties. The birds eat the small cover of flesh (fruit) and leave the nuts to us so there is no cause for a row except with squirrels.

A harvest of enough magnitude so the tree is even commercially viable I feel, if we make an arrangement with these birds and squirrels so we can mechanize extracting the beans from the nuts.

This is a young. The leaves are long and large but not as hard as of a Mango Tree, they resemble Malabar Nut.  The tree can grow as big as a Mango Tree. The bark also looks similar to a Mango Tree.

I am not sure if it is African or Asian or even South American. No idea of any medicinal properties or the content of these beans.

But I am sure many such species have been extinct in our State by the invasion of human habitats. We lost many native varieties of mango trees, rice and other local flora to commercial crops like rubber, cashew etc. I still remember the taste of a fruit from a shrub found in hilly terrain around our primary school which my friend called ‘Kara’ fruit. Not to be seen anymore as rubber invaded.

This one I have never seen or tasted before, so it looks nice and worthy of a share!

Moments Delicate

Foreword

I write these snippets only on those delicate moments. It invited a few encouraging comments. I am sharing it once again post some minor edit. Hope this would be welcome.

Krishna Murthy Sings

(March 2012)

One jump inside a bus;

And fluky to find a seat!

Bruises of the day’s chores

Veiled in a deep breath

Raw fingers on Harmonium

Diverts the sulking minds

Drop of rain for the Hornbills,

Zephyr closes all eyes in summer

A silky voice laments;

Garlands of a lost spring

Garnishing a shrine, a mind*

Mild recap of a golden era

Is there a past, a present?

A myth of time and space

This moment is precious for us

Blessed souls, inside the bus

The snob in me took a snap; He -
slays with a smile, extends a tabloid

I dare not ask him;

Is life a success, are there dreams anymore? 

I return the rag, coins clang;

He alights and seeks the next,

My neighbour praises Sruti*

I feign ignorance, and wrap my face.

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* An old Malayalam film song

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shruti_(music)
* Krishna Murthy is a street singer

Unsure Insurance

(October 2010)

Aimless conversations, Clueless e-mails

End down in the trash

Age of transparency

         One day shall overtake

Age of Dinosaurs,

 And rule of fake Mughals

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father

Where little children recite,

'Where the mind is without fear....’

 Let me awake"

Twilight Thoughts

(February 2008)

All I need is a lovely place
to sit and think and read and write

To tell those stories, of my place

Taste and smell of milk* in rice!

Taste and smell of Anjili* fruit

Smell of flower beds, decorations

Dancing dragon flies around

Echoes of drums and cheers from hills!

Sweet n'sour is a Kara fruit

Hot is Mango, chilly with salt

Sour is Tamarind, so is Aamla

Eating Banana with evening tea!

Singing from a sailing boat

Call a cuckoo to make a game

Throw a nut to the chirping squirrel

Chasing a rabbit through Cassavas!

All I need is a lonely place

To sit and dream and dance and sing

A ride on a swing is all I want

To touch those stars and catch the Moon!

a. Milk is found in rice before it is ripe.

b. Anjili fruit (hirsutus) is delicious, small wild jack fruit and its seeds can be fried like nuts.

c. Kara fruit is a plum sized fruit found in hill sides in bushes.

March of Ants

(November 2007)

What will be the outcome?

Out there! All the tough ones!

Men of steel should march ahead

Life is blissful indeed!

 

Living a life so desperate

Agony, ecstasy, so great!

Time will tell the story

Don’t you feel so sorry!

 

Join the herds for grazing

Quench all desires of life

Facing the danger is Key

Ignore the doubts all the way.

 

Little we know why we came

Heroes and zeroes we became!

Going ahead or behind?

Pushing and pulling through life.

 

Gather the pearls on the way

They may be useful some day

Sure is the Dawn ahead

Toasting the rays of hope-spread!

Good Morning!

(To Quote L Da Vinci: "The men of experiment are like the ants, they only collect and use. But the bee... 'Gathers' its materials from the flowers of the garden and of the field, but transforms and digests it by a power of its own....." when do we?)

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