CHEMBAKOLLI
Verse
one
In Chembakolli and Kanjikolly, in the state of Tamil Nadu,
Are the Hills of Nilgiri and the Adivasi, forest people
through and through;
Family all together in one big room, thick thatch to keep
them dry,
Hole in the roof, where the smoke of the fire rises to the
sky.
Verse
two
They want to eat, they have to work, so up at 5 a.m.,
Breakfast is rice with chilli and tomatoes and onion sauce
again;
Kids go to school, or stay at home – if there’s
work that must be done!
Pounding rice, hoeing crops, fetching water for everyone.
An
atmospheric, rhythmic chant with the Adivasi song, ' We
were once in the dark' sung at the end. The remaining six
verses cover food crops, cash crops, seasons, the shop, the
sangham, and the fight to survive.
Bradley's favourite line:
'Where the wild boar roam and the night owls call and the
monsoon rivers flow'
made with a theme by Rapid Ideas
