Mining Town

I wrote a part of this while I was at the bus stop in this mining town.

Hope of a Miner

Is the dynamic nature of this science in the mind of the people here? They spend their time rock hunting, mining, knowing that that one particular stone, whatever that is, when found, is going to make their lives better. And so they continue to mine. Some their whole life, some just a portion of it.

Gem Rush

Some just try it for the gold rush in their veins and after their hard work is met with great failure, pack up and leave. It is definitely not for the faint of heart. What’s even sadder is when they don’t know the value of some of the stones they find only to end up back into the river.

Friendly Town

Upon entering the town, the general atmosphere feels friendly, with people laughing about, buses moving about, children going to the temple on Sunday, with their mothers behind them. It does feel safe.

Fertility

Vegetables, paddy is a specialty of this region…The soil is perfect with the alluvial deposits brought down. How do you get alluvial deposits here? You need dead organic matter of some sort to make soil fertile right? How is mountain soil fertile? Or hills for that matter

[link out of here]

Disease

There is a high prevalence of diabetes and its related complications in this region. I was listening into the conversation between the bus-conductors, and they remarked at the incompetence of the neighboring state hospitals in facilitating transfers, starting antibiotics and how they relied on local common knowledge.

Remote & Rural

They complained about the exorbitant prices kept by the local businesses, as there was a scarcity of shops in the town. And to overcome this, they purchase bulk items from the main market whenever they get the time.

I had to wait for an hour at the bus stop, for my friend from the town to pick me up. This gave me a chance to talk to the locals. It was a bike ride through the town. I avoided filming it and taking photographs just so that I could take the best out of it. The morning air was cold, fresh and promising.

Wage Work

There were numerous small shops sparsely located in between large estates of trees. Estates included rubber, tea and woods. The river runs along the main road at most separated from it by 100m. It is evident that almost everyone here tries their luck when the water levels go down. I could hear the general complaint by local investors that the women were keeping their men away from searching for gemstones in the river, thinking it would be better to send them to work in a construction site or estate as it gives them a daily wage. If they spent their time mining they would only get paid if they find something.

The Mysterious Black River

I had glanced upon the Kalu-Ganga a multiple number of times.. each time I thought to myself why the water appeared so yellow and murky. I tried searching for historical references to the river. Starting from Adam’s peak in the mountains. Known as Kaanha Nadi in the past. Ancient past. Kaanha is an ancient Paali word for darkness.

[I will expand on this later]