The ‘cradle bond’ of the Muria tribe
The tribe, which has settled in the reserve forests of A.P., still practises the custom of a newborn’s father weaving a bamboo basket for the baby to sleep in for some months, and then keep for life
Kovvasi Chukkayya, 40, a Muria tribal farmer, in the Chukkalapadu settlement, Alluri Sitarama Raju district, Andhra Pradesh, holds two baskets in his hands: one each for his two children. The first was woven some years ago for his first son; the second, a few months ago, for his second. “It is portable and can be taken into the forest when we go to work,” Mr. Chukkayya said.
The Muria tribe custom mandates that a man weaves a bamboo cradle for his newborn as a lifetime memory for both the father and the child.
The father must go into the forest, collect the bamboo, dry it, and weave the cradle with his own hands, with no help from anyone.
“In our Gond language, the cradle is called vookada. We put the baby in the cradle during the entire lactating period. Children develop a bond with their cradle as they grow older. We also tell them the cradle is a gift from their father,” said Ravva Masamma, a mother of two children.
The child is allowed to use it for as many years as he wishes. It can also be hung on a tree branch, as it has long ropes attached to it. Within the hut it is most often tied to the roof struts built with precious wood, mostly teak. Once a child has outgrown it, the cradle is preserved and will not be used for any other purpose.
“Irrespective of gender, the vookada is gifted to every child in the family. The number of cradles in the house indicates the total number of children born to a family,” said Ravva Pojayya. His eightyearold son Suresh still plays with the cradle his father made for him.
As many as 54 Muria settlements exist in Andhra’s reserve forests.
With more people wanting to see the ‘fort’ on the Fort Kochi beachfront that saw the footfall of three colonial powers — the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English — history buffs are seeking steps to conserve the lateritebrick remnants of Fort Emmanuel that was built along the beachfront by the Portuguese in 1503.
The fort, which was a bastion of the Portuguese, is said to have begun from Bastion Bungalow, which is now a heritage museum, up to the southern end of the beach from where INS Dronacharya, Navy’s gunnery school, begins.
History has it that Fort Emmanuel was built as a symbol of the strategic alliance between the maharaja of Kochi and the monarch of Portugal, after whom it was named. By 1806, the Dutch and later the British destroyed most walls and bastions of the fort. “Most remnants of the fort remain submerged along the coast, while visitors will be lucky if they get to see it when the waves subside,” says K.J. Sohan, convener of the Kerala Chapter of INTACH and former Mayor of Kochi.
Pointing to the area on the western side of the Dutch Cemetery, Mr. Sohan hopes tourism and allied agencies of the government will excavate the area in order to unearth remnants of Fort Emmanuel.
Visitors will benefit if a part of the fort’s remains is rebuilt using laterite bricks, similar to the ones that were used 500 years ago. A few pillarlike structures can be erected atop them using these bricks, that can then be used as gateways to the beach, helping recreate memories of the fort in Fort Kochi, he says.
Portuguese strategy Referring to forts that the Portuguese built in Fort Kochi and also in Goa, Kollam, Kozhikode and Kodungalloor, historian and