“This is one life - you live once and die once - I will live and die for my people,” Geetha Vazhachal looks me straight in the eyes as she says this. Her ‘people’ are the tribals who inhabit the forests of Athirapally-Vazhachal. She is the chieftain of one of the Kadar (tribal) colonies in Vazhachal. A woman chieftain or moopathi is a rarity.
She is talking about the ways she has been threatened for her activism against the Athirapally Hydel Power Project which, if the government goes ahead with it, will displace these colonies. “The forest is everything to us, it is our life. What remains of our life if we are displaced? Where do we go? We have reached a stage where we are sceptical about a lot of things we are told.”
Her father’s stories about displacement, from Parambikulam to Peringalkuthu and finally to Vazhachal, and of losing a way of life triggered her fears. She was in Class 10 at the time. These stories frightened her, “these are very scary. The displacement aside, the suffering of our people when these dams are built.” Her ooru comprises around 72-odd families.
A chieftain, one imagines, would be fierce, more so if it is a woman. But not 29-year-old Geetha. She speaks so softly that she is almost inaudible. If one were to describe her in a word it would have to be diminutive. But her resolve is proportionally huge. She worked for close to two years compiling information required for the implementation of the Forest Rights Act for her community. Community forest rights recognised under the Forest Rights Act secure livelihoods of forest communities and strengthen local self governance of forests and natural resources.
When she was elected by her ooru it threw the Athirapally Panchayat president in a tizzy. It was unheard of but a phone call to the Tribal Development Office cleared things. Apparently, ‘if no man comes forward then a woman can be appointed’ and no she wasn’t apprehensive about the responsibility. The previous mooppan or chief had been busy with his job and couldn’t pay attention to the needs of the ooru hence a new one had to appointed. It is, of course, a matter of pride for her family. Unmarried, she looks after her siblings’ children. She adds her community is her family and cause.
An Anganwadi worker, she says with some pride that she is the first in her colony to pass Class 10. “Today, there are kids who are more educated, but those days it was only me.” Her father worked as a cook in a college hostel and wanted his daughter to be educated. “He wanted to educate me more, but that would have involved staying in a hostel and I didn’t want to do that...” she trails off.
Geetha doesn’t talk much and has to be prodded. As a moopathi her job is 24/7, “Hence I can’t switch off my mobile,” explaining the couple of calls she had to take during the conversation. Her job is not decorative, she has to interface with officials - the forest department, police, excise, medical, local self government bodies and the tribal development office. Although the problems faced by the community is different from others, alcoholism was particularly vexatious. “We collaborated with the police, excise, and other local bodies to ensure that no alcohol is brought into our ooru .”
The answer to any question about the issues they face has one answer “The project. Right now our problem is the project. It puts at risk our very existence. Our lives will be submerged in the waters. My people depend on the forests for their livelihood - be it collecting produce from the forest or fishing or as guides. The forest and the land is everything to us.”
Land ownership is another concern. “Some families hold three or four cents of land, what remains for the next generation? Land is everything to us.” But this is a secondary concern, for only if they exist will the rest matter.
She looks confused when asked about the attention coming her way. She was in town to receive the P.V. Thampy Memorial Award. “I didn’t start on this path looking for attention. For me everything is about the rights of my people and preserving our way of life. I am grateful for the immense support that I have got from everybody. But our struggle continues.”
