The legend of Barrypuram
Briton crowned king by AP tribe remembers his first meeting, and how a prophecy has been fulfilled
‘Do I bow down every time I see you?’ That’s one question Barry Watson is constantly being asked, both in person and on Facebook, ever since he was hailed ‘King Baaza’ by Andhra’s Yenandi tribe. And, his family of five in the UK, finds it ‘quite entertaining’.
Barry himself is proud of being compared to Danny from The Man That Would Be King. He was very surprised to learn of the legend that one day a white man would come and help out the Yenandis.
He says, “I had no intention of being a leader or the king of a tribe. But it’s a humbling experience. I wanted to help people who were in a worse situation than me.”
It’s the reason why the British citizen declined to help the villagers of Burlavaripalem. Barry, who first came to India as an overland bus driver, explains, “I was helping Julie and Michael Davies of the Elizabeth-Ann Charity in Andhra Pradesh. They asked me to volunteer for Burlavaripalem. I politely declined as they had already made the village sustainable. They helped me find another community and that is when I discovered the Yenandi tribe.”
He paid £20,000, and made a couple of visits every year since 2010 along with volunteers from the UK, to turn the ‘rubbish heap’ into a village with bamboo houses, a chicken farm, land to grow vegetables and a school. What will Barrypuram, as the village has become popular around the world, be in five years’ time? “In future, I want them (his subjects) to have community houses and ensure that they are self-sustainable. Hopefully, some of them will also get to go to university,” says Barry, confidently adding, “Now they have an opportunity to have a better life.”
Recalling memories of his first visit to the hamlet, Barry shares, “I was speaking to some Yenandi tribesmen, and there was this one man who waited in the sun for four hours just to speak to me! The determination of these people is quite extraordinary.” He plans to visit India later this year with his ‘queen’ Shirley. When he’s not busy with his NGO ‘Help the Village’, he enjoys reading, watching films and solving crosswords. “I also enjoy watching my sons play,” adds Barry, who hopes that his twin girls, Zola and Kate, and sons, Luke and Zak, would carry forward his kingdom.
Now Yenandis have an opportunity of a better life BARRY WATSON/ KING BAAZA