When we climb the tree to collect honey, we leave our children back at the bottom of the tree, who wait for the sweet (honey).
In fact, sometimes wild animals including tigers, elephants and bears too come near the tree as they can smell that somebody is extracting honey on top of the tree. But they don’t harm children and on the other hand, our children too are not scared of the wild animals as we live in forest and forest is our home...”
If you think this is a story of some tribals from an African country, you are wrong, for these are tribals from B RHills (about 104 kms from Mysore and 64 kms from TNarasipura), who are also known as Soligas.
As Basavaraj, the head of the 20-member Soliga Pusumamale Kala Sangha, goes on narrating their way of life to City Herald, you may take some time to believe. But if you happen to spend more time with them, you will be dumfounded. The troupe belonging to Soliga tribe was in Dakshina Kannada as a part of cultural exchange programme organised by the State government with the help of Information Department. They peformed their dances at various places in the district before they returned to the jungles last week. The group has also performed on occasions such as the Vishwa Kannada Sammelana, Mysore Dasara, and various other local and national festivals.
“Even to this day, we have about 50 wild elephants, more than a dozen leopards, 6 to 7 tigers, over 200 deers, hundreds of buffalos, porcupines, peacocks, pythons and cobras besides many other types of snakes...,” Basavaraj goes on. In fact, a prolonged talk with them will take you to the bygone era when people and wild animals said to have lived harmoniously.
Soligas believe that human life is intertwined with the eco-system and their love for nature is reflected in their local tribal laws. Fruits and berries are harvested only from trees which flower in abundance and very ripe or raw fruits are not collected. This leaves enough fruits for birds and other animals that also depend on them!
5 clans
The Soligas are segmented into five clans. They are Belloru, Haleru, Teneru, Saikaru and Surukuru. Each clan has a different god/goddess. Another interesting aspect is that a person can not marry a person belonging to same clan.
They believe that once upon a time, the Soliga’s leader ruled the region and he had 7 daughters and Lord Vishnu married the youngest daughter. Hence, they called Lord Vishnu as ‘Bhava’ (sister’s husband).
Rotti Habba
The Soligas have a unique way of getting married at a particular time, also known as Rotti Habba. The girls choose their mates during a dance performance. As the men dance in a circle, if a girl likes any of the male dancers, she throws a stone (at present, a flower or banana). If the boy responds favourably, the couple is sent to the forest that night (these days, sometimes they go to relatives house). Next morning when they return to the place, head man pronounces them man and wife.
They have a unique habit of sharing food too. “We share every meal with our immediate neighbours and so does the neighbours,” says Padma, the lone female in the troupe.
‘Unwashed dress’
Usually while entering dense forest, Soliga members wear the dress which is never washed(!), says Jadeya. The unwashed dress emantes a smell of the forest and the wild animals tend to believe that these people too are from forest, he says, but quickly adds that bear is one animal which can’t be trusted.
“You can trust a tiger, but not a bear,”he reveals and adds that climbing a tall but thin tree is the only solution to escape from the bears. “If you climb a thick tree, the bear too can follow you, even to the top,” he points out.
2 PhDs
The initiative taken by Dr H Sudarshan and subsequently many NGOs decades ago has resulted in a few Soligas seeing the portals of school. Today, there are at least 80 persons have completed PUC, a couple of them have completed nursing and there are two PhDs too, informs Basavaraj.
Recalling the visit by Rahul Gandhi some time ago, he said:“We gave him our food and pure honey and he (Rahul) had it, but not before his doctors certifying it.”
Sheena - Krishna duo
The present ZPOmbudsman Sheena Shetty and his partner Krishna Moolya too began their career in this very tribal area in Kollegal. “We stayed in the tribal areas for a month as a part of our MSW project way back in 1986. Subsequently, Dr Sudarshan invited us to work there and the rest is history. We were there till 1991 helping the tribals form association and also succeeded in drawing the attention of the government towards their condition,” recalls Sheena Shetty and adds that many a bonded labourers then, could feel the independence after an awareness was created among them.
With modernisation creeping in and with easy access of city people to forests, will the Soligas remain Soligas? Only time can tell.