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Ballad of the Water, the Woods & the Woman: Monsoon Haats of Koraput
Monsoon is always intense in the district of Koraput, in Odisha, where tribals are nearly 60% of the population. Home to 15 out of the 75 particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG) of India, Koraput radiates a time—particularly during monsoon—that feels like a long-forgotten page in the human history of sociology and economics. Before money was even thought of as a common medium of transaction, farmers and artisans used to gather at a particular place on a particular day to exchange what they produced.
This was the earliest form of Market which, through exchange of commodities and culture, used to run an economy and shape a society. These weekly markets—or Haats—have changed little in Koraput since human civilization took up the art of melting iron or ploughing a farmland.
Monsoon Haat in Koraput is sort of looking at that pre-feudal age through a hypnotic haze of rain. From early morning, in a clearing amidst the hills and forests, the Dongaria Kondh, Kutia Kondh, Gadaba, Paraja, Saora tribals—mostly women—start pouring in with anything Nature gifts them for a living. They bring in piles of wild mushrooms—Puttoo and Bhejri—still carrying the damp scent of the woods.
They sit beside freshly cut bamboo shoots (Kardi), soon to be transformed into the sharp, pungent and mouth-watering Amilà. Bundles of greens—Chakunda, Kosla, Bheruli, Kalar—are stacked everywhere in vivid hues, like smudged markers in humanity’s timeline. Here for the day the village mendicant—Vaidya—treats ever-known patients with his roots and barks, tailors bring in their sewing machines to cut all kinds of wearables to size, glass bangles glitter like diamonds in transient sunlight.
An entire ecosystem based upon the very basic demands and supplies still rules a Haat-bar—Market Day. A Haat shows how commerce is so intimately linked to culture. It also teaches how exchange can be made a thoroughly inclusive process.
NILANJAN RAY has a handful of exposed stock on “HUMAN INTEREST” and keeps stock of other people’s money in a Bank since it is his profession. He has received Merit Prize from National Geographic, USA & National Award from Photo Division, Govt. of India twice.
His Solo Photography Exhibition on ‘VARANASI - AN ETERNAL CITY’ was organized by OXFORD BOOKSTORE, Kolkata, NATIONAL CENTRE FOR PERFORMING ARTS, (NCPA), Mumbai and INDIA INTERNATIONAL CENTRE (IIC), New Delhi.
His Solo Photography Exhibition on “FAITH – A QUAINT EMOTIONS” was organized by INDIA INTERNATIONAL CENTER, NEW DELHI.
Other than above, his photographs were selected for exhibition at British Council, UNICEF, ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS, Calcutta, LALIT KALA ACADEMY, New Delhi etc. Photographs are also selected for a Book” Framed City”- published at Indian Art Festival, New Delhi. Photographs were also selected for a Book “INDIA- 5 Senses“ by Roli Books. Photographs & Articles are published regularly in leading daily Newspapers and Magazines.
