Having an aerial view of the life beneath; the village believes that no secrets can hide from him. Climbing up and down to the heights twice a day provides a masculine physique to him. He has a buffalo femur in one hand, and a black container in the other. Earlier, this container was the shell of Bottle guard, but replaced by plastic now a days. A thin square knife seems like a book-paper, kept in a specially crafted wooden box, and a clay-filled small pot are his tools. A cloth piece colored green/blue/red around his waist, and a coir rope being tied over it as a belt are the costume. A sorcerer ???
Unfamiliar to the modern industrial world, this also be the appearance of a laborer. The hitting sound of the hanging clay pot with wooden box provides a rhythm to his movements. The village silence detects his presence in the morning and evening with another rhythmic drumming from the heights of the coconut trees. It is the massaging sound with the bone piece to stimulate the inflorescence of the palm tree. Then the knife being taken out to slice the tip of the inflorescence, the tree begins to percolate. This white sap is the toddy, a natural drink of Kerala. It will be collected after 2-3 hours and the clay applied at the cut face to avoid fungal infection. The entire process repeats during the following evening/morning session. Then it is carried to the toddy shop for the tired peasants and other laborers.
The toddy tapper is an eminent part of the Kerala village life.
South Indian Naturalist Tours is very happy to share this element of people & lifestyles with you so as to aware you about the unnoticed fascinations of South India and the dormant rejoice within them. We will be thankful to you to share it with people in your familiarity and to neglect it if you find them unwanted, as well.