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is entirely likely that many Solega families, especially those living away from roads
and other infrastructure, frequently struggle to feed themselves to this day.
1.7.7 Modern Living
Until recently, the Solega tended to actively shun contact with non-Solega, only
traveling down to nearby towns to trade honey , grain or lichen for items that the
forest did not provide, or to fi nd employment as agricultural labourers. Older Solega
still tend to avoid contact with outsiders, however, although the times of Solega
people running away and hiding, upon spotting ‘plains people’ traveling through
their forest, have now truly passed. The construction of a state highway, the estab-
lishment of a jungle lodge for tourists and the introduction of regular bus services
have greatly facilitated the movement of ‘plains people’ into Solega territory, either
as tourists, or as migrants, and this has had a great impact on the lifestyles of the
Solega living in settlements close to the road.
The mobile phone revolution that has been sweeping through practically every
corner of India has made a defi nite impact on Solega life. At least three different
mobile service providers are currently operational in the B. R. Hills , and it is not
uncommon to see Solega elders, even from remote villages, using mobile phones.
Many young Solega males, especially those from settlements near the state high-
way, routinely listen to the local Kannada FM radio station or to downloaded mp3
recordings of Kannada and Hindi songs on their mobile phones, and can also be
seen taking photographs or making video recordings with their phone cameras.
Solega families that have made the switch to coffee growing, and have cash
incomes, have been able to indulge in urban comforts, such as a power supply, a
television set (often accompanied by a DVD player and satellite dish), and the addi-
tion of a guest room to their existing dwelling. Many are adopting the customs of
their Kannada -speaking neighbours: earlier, marriage was never an occasion that
was publically celebrated,^7 but urban, Kannada-style marriages, with music, feast-
ing, a religious ceremony and sometimes even a professional cameraman, are
becoming more popular.
(^7) A boy and a girl would simply elope, live in the forest for a few months, and then return to their
settlement as a married couple.
1 Introduction