Session 28 summary
Mahuwa flower is something that the people of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand are aware of. The scientific name for mahuwa is Madhuca Latifolia and Madhuca Longifolia. It is an important flower which is crucial for economy of the tribal community, but the government and the people might not be aware of it as the Tribal India is still ‘Invisible’, because of this, not everyone is aware of its potential for economy. In Jharkhand the Tribals have been dependent on agriculture since long ago and it has become their lifeline. They also make local liquor with mahuwa which helps with their economy. With the research projects carried in the Munda villages in Koel Karo, the Munda knowledge of self-medication, which was unknown earlier was brought to light. These people use mahuwa as a medicine and many women use it in the villages for various purposes. Dr. Basavi has collected the stories and organised many training programs with the tribal people, especially the practitioners to explore more on the benefits of mahuwa. They have rich knowledge of the vast ethno-medicine/tribal-medicine and it need to be studied in a focused way. The ethnobotanist, Hembrom, suggested that we need to make use of mahuwa for medicine because we need to stop the liquor deaths due to mahuwa.
Dr. Basavi started her work around 1996-97 but there are many chapters which are yet to come. Her works on mahuwa flowers are result-oriented which she has complied and published in 2 volumes but still she gets to know new information on mahuwa, so she feels that two volumes are not sufficient. It’s a tradition in Jharkhand to pick up mahuwa flowers but since the flowers are juicy, they catch dust when they fall down, so many flowers cannot be utilised. So, Dr. Basavi came up with a new method of using traditional mats, old clothes or even mosquito nets to catch the falling flowers. The mahuwa flowers are collected around the months of March-April, so after collecting them, she advised the women to spread the flowers to dry on a mat to prevent them from getting dusty. The idea of Mahuwa Laddo originated from Mahuwa Latha, which were made long ago with tamarind seed and mahuwa flower. This gave her the idea of mixing mahuwa with dry fruits and so they began experimenting with the new possible use of mahuwa. First they removed the filament of flower as it is a crucial ingredient of mahuwa liquor. The successful creation of the mahuwa laddos have provided employment in the pandemic lockdown. In Pungi village a big SHG group of 90 women took the training for Mahuwa laddo, which provided an alternate livelihood than making liquor, which used to be shameful and women had to suffer because of frequent encounter with drunkards. Another place, Gabharya, was a place where the Munda women were planning to go to Uttarakhand to work as they did not have employment in Jharkhand, so they had contacted Dr. Basavi to hold a workshop there to teach them how to make mahuwa laddo and earn a living out of it. Kristi Eton an American journalist reached out to Dr. Basavi to document her story, she also visited some villages with the group. Apart from mahuwa laddo they also tried to make mahuwa cake which had a great demand among the local kids. Dr. Basavi was also a part of the Mahuwa Conference on 9th June 2017, where they discussed and came up with various ideas to counter the laws stating 5 kgs and more mahuwa cannot be kept at home. Some of their arguments stated; why is coal legal and mahuwa illegal?
In the end, it is important to recognize mahuwa and its various benefits stated by Dr. Anil Kumar Goel, which can only help us create better opportunities for the tribal women and change the existing perception of Mahuwa.
About the Speaker
Basavi Kiro
President, Torang Trust
Ex Member, Jharkhand State Commission for Women
Mahilong, Jharkhand
Dr. Basavi Kiro started her initial career as a journalist with local dailies like Navbharat Times, Jansatta and Prabhat Khabar, Ranchi. And in the course of her 17 years as a journalist, she has won many national awards. She has thereafter played a key role in tribal upliftment through her campaigns against Malnutrition, Anaemia and Malaria (MAM) and 3M-Mahuwa, Mao and Migration in tribal belt. She actively promotes Ethnomedicine and Hodopathy –herbal healing system in rural areas to resolve women health problem and has been instrumental in the opening of Adivasi Aushadhalaya – herbal clinic that has cultivated lemongrass in 100 acres of land in Bundu. She currently runs Hodopathy Tribal Medicine Clinics in Horhap Forest Road, Mahilong, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India. Basavi has also represented Indian tribes and Indian tribal women at various international platforms like that of the UN. And she’s also the first one to start a project on Mahuwa Flowers.
