195Incidentally, this last story also explains why elephants are frequently ill-tempered
when encountered by humans.
Solega farmers are stoic about the reduction in grain yields brought about by
crop pests such as parrots and wild pigs. They do take measures to keep animals
from their fi elds—by building shelters beside their land, making fences with thorn
bushes, and keeping watch at night, for instance, and they do suffer keenly the loss
of a year’s labour at the hands of a band of elephants. However, there is a tendency
to perceive such events as natural, albeit unwanted, phenomena—events precipi-
tated by the all too familiar human condition of being hungry.
K: Ondu e:kareli handigaḷella, be:re pra:ṇi ella tindu namma guḷi oḷage heccu kaḍime
ondu eraḍu mu:ṭe ra:gi baratte. Arda pra:ṇige ho:gutte, arda namage sigutte.
After the pigs and other animals have eaten, one acre yields about one or two sacks of grain
to put into our storage pit. Half goes to the animals, and we get the other half.
The farmers understand that critical changes in the forest ecosystem are to blame
for the actions of the elephants :
Ippatu varshadinda a:kaḍe, ka:ḍu ja:sti o:pan ittu. A:va:ga i: a:ne, ka:ṭi, kuri, adakke ella
oḷḷe u:ṭa siktittu. Adarindave ya:va kaḍe ue janagaḷige tondari koḍtarililla, athava
holagaḷige bartarililla. I:va:ga la:ṇṭa:na ja:sti a:goitu. Adakke alli u:ṭa sigalla. Adarinda
jami:nu kaḍe o:pan iruttella? A: ja:ga senda:gade, adara oḷage bandu uḍte. Banda:ga—
na:vu illi alasina mara ha:kirtivi, a:mele ba:ḷe ha:kirtivi. Adella a:negaḷu oḷagaḍe bandu
tinda:kuḍte. Hinde ella ja:sti o:pan ittu, all-alli beṇḍe mara ja:sti ittu, adu tintittu. Kaũri
mara ja:sti ittu, adu tintittu. A:mele ba:ṇe hullu ittu, adu tintittu. A:mele i: beṭṭa solpa
o:pan agidella, me:le, a: opan ja:gake oitiddõ, oḷḷe me:vu siktittu alli, siguru hullu anta.
Ondu sari benki bidda:ga siguru hullu bartittu. A: siguru hullu oḷḷe me:vu irtittu. A:mele
i:ga avella sigalla adakke. Ya:kandare beṭṭa me:le pu:ra la:ṇṭa:na a:goitu. I:ga ba:ṇe
hullu, beṇḍe mara, kaũri mara, ella kaḍame a:goitu.
Twenty years ago, the forest was more open. Back then, the gaur, barking deer and elephant
all had good food to eat. It’s for that reason that they never troubled humans, or came to our
fi elds. Nowadays there’s lots of Lantana. That’s why they have no food. There’s open space
around the fi elds, right? Such places are good, and they can easily go in. The elephants go
to the places where we plant jackfruit and banana, and eat it all. The forest was more open
earlier, and there were more beṇḍe ( Kydia calycina ) trees, kaũri trees ( Helicteres isora ) and
ba:ṇe grass. The elephants would eat all of these. The hills used to have open spaces on top,
and the elephants would go there. There’d be good fodder for them there, namely grass
shoots. The grass would sprout anew after a fi re , and those grass shoots were their favourite
food. The elephants can’t fi nd those foods anymore, because the hill-tops are all covered in
Lantana. Nowadays it’s hard to fi nd beṇḍe trees, kaũri trees and ba:ṇe grass.6.5 Conclusion
In this chapter, I have showcased the Solega’s understanding of seasonal meteoro-
logical and ecological cycles, which have a strong bearing on the availability of wild
forest products, and on the Solega’s agricultural and religious practices. The eco-
logical interactions discussed above include not only anthropocentric relationships
of an immediately practical nature, but also third-party commensalisms and
6.5 Conclusion