Baiga and their traditional food-water

                                        

                                        Uncultivated, veggies of Baiga "Kadwa Kanda"

        

Baiga tribes are an ethnic group found in Madhya Pradesh state. They have rich cultures and traditions. 

Uncultivated food and local Mahua drink make them happy as well as satisfied. Baiga is the first community in India to get habitat rights.

 

In my recent journey around Kanha and Mandla districts, I met with a group of Baiga tribes. I came through several interesting facts about the food and water habit of this community that literally made me surprised. they have the ability to recognize hundreds of species around them. 

After watching their lifestyle, I strongly believed “Baiga can never be hungry or thirsty where ever they are.” No one can be so hard-working and sharp-minded as this tribal community. They are orthodox but their customs have a reason. As they are very close to nature, they can cure your problem earlier than any modern medicine.  

Apart from Mahua liquor, tattooing, folk medicines, they have a very interesting custom of digging freshwater from the land. Traditional they call it “Jhiri”. Their routine work includes digging a small well in the area where they live. They store water from the well for two to three days. They do not have a water supply from the tap, hand pump, etc like we have. They prefer to dig fresh water from the land.

If you talk about food habits, this is literally very unique. Apart from meat and fish, they can survive in the jungle by eating leaves, grasses, herbs, and tree bark. They recognize the tree bark that helps to survive for three to four days without losing your energy. When they lost their way in the jungle, they eat a small amount of particular tree bark and survive for three to four days easily.

Traditionally, Baiga eats “Kadwa-Kanda”. This is a traditional food found under the forest land. Harvesting process of this Kadwa-Kanda from land is a difficult process. After harvesting the vegetable from land, they peel them with stone and then cut them into slices. As this is a highly intoxicated vegetable, they store it in water at least for 24 hours. It can be preserved for many days.

Note: (Baiga can eat this Kadwa-Kanda without cleaning in water but we cannot digest it at any cost. This is highly intoxicated veg)