மூதாய்மரம் | வறீதையா கான்ஸ்தந்தின் | தடாகம் | 2017

Moodhaimaram 

Vareethiah Konstantine  

Thadakam / 2017.

Water, disaster, food security and environment are among the issues that top the list of global concerns today. With so much money and effort pumped on these issues the message has hardly reached the common man.

Taking a journey through field visits, research deliberations and literary readings the author reflects on one of the key issues of nature that has got a bearing on future namely, water and land. He chooses to draw from traditional knowledge of the tribes from the two major landscapes that are unique, while at the same time in close interaction, namely the plains and the maritime space. Water is the dialect that connects lands and people as well, he holds. The book seeks to relieve environmental concerns from the rigid frames of academia and public policy and place the same in the hands of our children.

Environmental concerns, disaster management and food security are issues that would respond more positively when addressed together. It also calls for a collective approach from the part of the policy planners, rulers and the common man. The author draws from lessons he had elsewhere to address the issue of disaster management. Living close to nature is a virtue that saved the 263 member Jarawah tribe of the Andamans in the face of 2004 Tsunami. This catastrophe killed tens of thousands of people across 13 nations and caused a colossal economic loss. Citing the success story of 2001 Bhuj earth quake reconstruction, which he was invited to visit back in 2014, he presents instances of how well it augurs to approach disaster management based on cultural deconstruction. There is more to disaster management than science and technology. Traditional wisdom needs to be integrated with current knowledge.

The book also critically reviews a couple of literary attempts that celebrate tribal life in the jungles (Tamil fiction: Kaadodi by Nakkeeran) and in maritime landscape (Malayalam Non fiction: Kadal arivukaLum neranubhavangaLum by Robert PanippiLLai). The author of the title ‘Moodhaaimaram’ shows how our ancestors were the beneficieries and caretakers of nature and were successful with their lifestyles with his rich experience of travel and research on the coast of Tamil nadu.

The book is an attempt to take nature concerns outside the four walls of our class rooms. ‘Carry mass issues to the masses’ is the main thread that runs through the title ‘Moodhaaimaram’.