Coconut
Sellers
Poverty
alleviation and raising the standards of India's poor sits
hi
gh
on India's agenda as part of the Millenium Development
Goals. In a vast country with a population of over one
billion people an estimated 25% are said to be living below
the poverty line i.e. on less that USD$1 per day..
Malapuram
is a district in Kerala, which spans the entire width of the
State. It has the Arabian sea on the west and spans right to
the border of the neighbouring State of Tamil Nadu on the
east. Malapuram struck me as being blessed with an abundance
of farming land. It is touted as being the first 100%
e-literate district in the country. It is said that at least
one member†from every household is working overseas;
virtually all of who send remittances back to their
families. Consequently life in this district is an odd
contrast of affluence and wealth amidst a backdrop of
poverty.
Valmana's Coconut Stand
Whilst
driving along the road in the hot mid-day sun we chanced
upon a wide corner on the road distinctly marked by three
coconut stands. We were thirsty, it was hot, so we
stopped.
We
met Valmana Prasad, a man in his early forties with a
healthy glow, seven children and the proud owner of the
three coconut stands. In two swift and deft chops of a
dangerous looking machete he managed to pierce into the top
a coconut for us. The water from the green coconut was
remarkably sweet. When the coconut water was finished Valmana
took the coconut back and with unbelievable ease split the
coconut in two and offered us the tender inner-flesh to
savour. Needless to say the flesh which was soft and slippery
was much to my palate's delight.
Valmana
buys 100 coconuts per day for each of the three stands (he
runs one and his oldest sons, Prasad and Kuttypuram the
other two). Each coconut is sold for Rs.10, having no
doubt bought them in the market for say half that price.
Whilst Kuttypuram (aged 23) bears the dark scars on the
inside of his wrists and ankles from years of coconut tree
climbing (he told me he could shimmy
up a tall tree in four minutes), the family choose to buy
the coconuts from others. This was a carefully worked out
business plan, having weighed the time an
d labour inputs
required against the profits generated. Careful calculations
lead them to prefer to source the coconuts rather than grow
them or for that matter any other vegetables or fruits.
Valmana's father had farmed rice, but like many in Kerala,
he decided to move from a low yielding and labour intensive
food crop to selling a more profitable cash crop - coconut.
Kuttypuram
Together
they seemed to do well in the coconut business. All were fit
and well. Clearly each generation was moving with the times.
Like his father, who had decided to find a more rewarding
alternative livelihood, Prasad (aged 16) too, was aiming to
do a course in computers and was working to maintain a good
academic record in addition to helping out with the family
business. One of Valmana's three daughters was
married and was at the same time pursuing a degree in BA. Valmana Prasad was a proud man. He had his sons at his
side and he was more than happy to explain his craft and
trade to us.
Apart
from the eldest, none of the family was e-literate, but
there were certain lofty and attainable aspirations to do
well. Selling around 300 coconuts a day, seven days a week
at a busy corner in the road certainly made for a modest
income and what appeared to a casual traveller like me to be
a happy life.
Pete
Valmana
Prasad & Sons with Pete
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