Hands that swing cradle can also climb areca palms!
Chandralekha of Jalsoor masters art of climbing areca trees
In every step of their life, women have been time and again proving themselves that they are equally confident and efficient at par with their male counterparts. Now, it is the time of spraying chemical to areca palms. A woman from Sullia has mastered the art of climbing areca palms and spraying pesticide to the trees.
There was a time when woman used to stay within the four walls of the house. But in modern era, the women have come out of all kinds of barriers and proved themselves as efficient as their male counterparts in most of the works. So far, climbing areca palms and spraying pesticide was limited to men as it was believed that only men could do that work. But now, that assumption is changed. Chandralekha of Adkar Konadka Padavu in Jalsoor village has mastered the art of climbing the areca tree.
After her husband Sundar Gowda’s death around 16 years ago, Chandralekha has been living with daughter Nishmitha at Konadka Padavu. Believing that no one could defeat her spirit, she joined for a job at KVG Medical College. Three years ago, her sister Ratnavati and brother-in-law Ananda Gowda at Aletti Nagapattana suffered a lot due to fungal disease to areca palms. As Ananda Gowda was aged, he could not climb areca trees and he hardly get labourers to spray the pesticide. Though he has purchased areca tree climbing machine, there was no one to do that work.
Observing all these, Chandralekha understood her efficiency and started climbing the areca trees and spraying pesticide with the help of machine. Since three years, leaving aside her shyness and embarrassment, she has been climbing the areca trees and spraying the pesticide. She would spray the pesticide for 600 areca palms within two days. Her sister, brother-in-law, and their children Naveen and Thriveni help her in spraying the pesticide. Not only at her sister’s plantation, she goes to other areca plantations to spray the pesticide. Besides her job at Medical College, she does peeling of areca and other works. Her daughter Nishmitha is studying her PUC in Mangaluru.
“Areca nuts were falling from the trees due to fungal disease as the pesticide was not sprayed. I was disappointed to see that. For the last three years, I have been spraying the pesticide to areca trees. I found protecting the areca crop was important than shyness, embarrassment and fear. Now, everyone appreciates my work. I have the satisfaction of doing a special work”, said Chandralekha.
Her brother-in-law Anand Gowda said that “It is very difficult to get people to spray pesticide. Knowing this difficulty, I have purchased the areca tree climbing machine. But we were unable to spray the pesticide using that machine. Chandralekha has done that work. When she came forward to climb the trees and spray the pesticide, we all supported her”, he added.
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Two girls injured in separate wolf attacks in UP's Bahraich
Bahraich (UP) (PTI): Two minor girls were injured in separate incidents of wolf attacks in the Bahraich district, forest department officials said on Saturday.
In the first incident on Friday, Anushka Nishad (5), daughter of Baliram from Mallahanpurwa village, was sleeping alone inside her house when a wolf entered and tried to carry her away, they said.
Hearing her screams, family members and villagers rushed to the spot. The wolf left the child, hearing the commotion, and ran towards the fields. The girl sustained minor injuries from the animal's teeth, the officials said.
Divisional Forest Officer Ram Singh Yadav described the attack as deliberate and cleverly planned, as it occurred precisely when Anushka's mother went out for a few moments.
On the same day, Nancy (4), daughter of Kamlesh Yadav, was playing outside her house in Baburi Tola village when a wolf suddenly attacked and dragged her away.
Villagers raised an alarm, and the wolf released the child and ran towards the sugarcane fields. The injured child was sent to the Kaiserganj Community Health Centre for treatment.
Divisional Forest Officer Ram Singh Yadav told reporters that both attacks involved wolves, adding that the entire area is plagued by the animal's activity.
Since September 9, such attacks in the Bahraich district have claimed 10 lives, including eight children and an elderly couple, and injured dozens of people, the officials said.
District Magistrate Akshay Tripathi met the families of the victims on Friday and consoled them.
