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A review by _askthebookbug
Nine Rupees an Hour: Disappearing Livelihoods of Tamil Nadu by Aparna Karthikeyan
5.0
| R E V I E W |
~
"When a livelihood dies
a way of life vanishes;
and the language too
is diminished." - Cho Dharman.
"It takes a village to write a book." - Aparna Karthikeyan.
~
Nine Rupees An Hour is a detailed book about the lesser known and barely appreciated professions in Tamil Nadu. Even though I've never been to TN, I could picture the scenery, I could feel the mild breeze or the blazing hot sun on my skin. What I loved about this book was how educational it was apart from being engaging. While we often end up wasting food, it's hard to think of lakhs of farmers who shed their sweat and blood to put food on our plates. While I drank my first glass of Toddy last year, never did I think of the men who climbed tall trees to make this happen. We have been taking too many things for granted and this book will serve as an eye opener, urging us to change our ways of living.
~
Divided into ten stories, Aparna takes us through the vanishing livelihoods of the State. As she begins with farming and goes on to speak of the dreaded famine of TN back in 2016-17, she speaks to farmers about their heartbreaking experiences as they struggled without water leading to many of them taking their lives leaving behind their wives and children to pay off the debts. With little or no help from the government, the farmers take loan from moneylenders who charge a higher rate of interest. It is also a lesser known fact that women do 70% of backbreaking work while men are often credited for the harvest. Aparna then moves on to Jallikattu and the work opportunities it has to offer. When the government banned the sport due to allegations of animal abuse, the livelihood of thousands of people took a severe blow.
~
She speaks of the brave Soundaram Ramasamy who single-handedly manages a bull stud farm tending to the giants like a mother. If you google her name, you'll find her posing with Singaravelan, a bull that's twice her size. Aparna covers various aspects ranging from palm tree climbing to sickle making which may seem ordinary but requires tremendous hardwork, sometimes risking their lives. Hindu weddings are incomplete without the beautiful Nadaswaram playing in the background but we never appreciate what it takes to create such a lovely musical instrument. Aparna speaks to couple of Nadaswaram makers to understand how crucial it is to get the right kind of wood to make them and the effort that goes into creating the perfect instrument. She then speaks of dance forms, Bharatanatyam which Kali, a young man is famous for and Poikal Kuthirai (performed with a dummy horse) in which a woman in her sixties is often seeked out to entertain the crowd. There's also a chapter dedicated to Kanchipuram sarees and the intricate manner in which they are woven. The amount of hardwork and dedication that goes into each of these jobs is truly breathtaking.
~
Parents from these livelihoods wish an easier life for their children by sending them to school. With the onset of every year, many of these are taking a hit forcing people to abandon their line of work which oozes culture and holds roots of their ancestry, to move to cities and find other jobs. It pained me immensely to read about how less they earn for all the work that they do, the middlemen taking a majority cut. I do sincerely hope that the government will support them, even more so now when people are fascinated with cities. Nine Rupees An Hour is a brilliant book that manages to touch our conscience. Another interesting aspect was the interviews Aparna conducted with many renowned personalities including her mentor P. Sainath. I highly recommend this.
~
Rating - 5/5.
~
"When a livelihood dies
a way of life vanishes;
and the language too
is diminished." - Cho Dharman.
"It takes a village to write a book." - Aparna Karthikeyan.
~
Nine Rupees An Hour is a detailed book about the lesser known and barely appreciated professions in Tamil Nadu. Even though I've never been to TN, I could picture the scenery, I could feel the mild breeze or the blazing hot sun on my skin. What I loved about this book was how educational it was apart from being engaging. While we often end up wasting food, it's hard to think of lakhs of farmers who shed their sweat and blood to put food on our plates. While I drank my first glass of Toddy last year, never did I think of the men who climbed tall trees to make this happen. We have been taking too many things for granted and this book will serve as an eye opener, urging us to change our ways of living.
~
Divided into ten stories, Aparna takes us through the vanishing livelihoods of the State. As she begins with farming and goes on to speak of the dreaded famine of TN back in 2016-17, she speaks to farmers about their heartbreaking experiences as they struggled without water leading to many of them taking their lives leaving behind their wives and children to pay off the debts. With little or no help from the government, the farmers take loan from moneylenders who charge a higher rate of interest. It is also a lesser known fact that women do 70% of backbreaking work while men are often credited for the harvest. Aparna then moves on to Jallikattu and the work opportunities it has to offer. When the government banned the sport due to allegations of animal abuse, the livelihood of thousands of people took a severe blow.
~
She speaks of the brave Soundaram Ramasamy who single-handedly manages a bull stud farm tending to the giants like a mother. If you google her name, you'll find her posing with Singaravelan, a bull that's twice her size. Aparna covers various aspects ranging from palm tree climbing to sickle making which may seem ordinary but requires tremendous hardwork, sometimes risking their lives. Hindu weddings are incomplete without the beautiful Nadaswaram playing in the background but we never appreciate what it takes to create such a lovely musical instrument. Aparna speaks to couple of Nadaswaram makers to understand how crucial it is to get the right kind of wood to make them and the effort that goes into creating the perfect instrument. She then speaks of dance forms, Bharatanatyam which Kali, a young man is famous for and Poikal Kuthirai (performed with a dummy horse) in which a woman in her sixties is often seeked out to entertain the crowd. There's also a chapter dedicated to Kanchipuram sarees and the intricate manner in which they are woven. The amount of hardwork and dedication that goes into each of these jobs is truly breathtaking.
~
Parents from these livelihoods wish an easier life for their children by sending them to school. With the onset of every year, many of these are taking a hit forcing people to abandon their line of work which oozes culture and holds roots of their ancestry, to move to cities and find other jobs. It pained me immensely to read about how less they earn for all the work that they do, the middlemen taking a majority cut. I do sincerely hope that the government will support them, even more so now when people are fascinated with cities. Nine Rupees An Hour is a brilliant book that manages to touch our conscience. Another interesting aspect was the interviews Aparna conducted with many renowned personalities including her mentor P. Sainath. I highly recommend this.
~
Rating - 5/5.