MADURAI: The Muthuvan tribals of Muthuvakudi village in Bodinayakanur, Theni, have coped well with the Covid-19 pandemic by following isolation measures early enough and by sticking to their indigenous diet. Not even one person in the village comprising 35 families has so far contracted the infection.
Located above the Kottakudi hills, Muthuvakudi is in a reserved forest. “Freshwater crabs and Turkey Berries are our common traditional food that we took regularly since the Covid-19 pandemic began so as to prevent cough and cold,” said Thangappan, a native of the village. Turkey Berries or ‘Sundakkai’ were fried or simply mixed with greens and eaten. Muthuvan tribal women said they spent most of their time during the lockdown period inside the home and prepared kashayam of ginger, turmeric and pepper and consumed it for building immunity. The tribals had also moved inside to search for food in the forest to mitigate the suffering during lockdown periods.
Another villager, Ramadurai, said the village had a meeting with all people in the settlement and decided not to go out to towns, and also not to allow anyone from outside to enter it. “If we go to purchase essential groceries and vegetable items, we keep the person in isolation in a hut for two days in order to identify symptoms,” he added.
Around 25 Muthuvan tribals took part in an awareness camp organized at their village by the department of communication, Madurai Kamaraj University and National Council for Science and Technology Communication, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, on Friday. Dr S Nagarathinam, Head, department of communication, MKU, said the indigenous knowledge of tribals will always help communities overcome extremely difficult situations, even the pandemic.
“Our aim was to interact with the tribal community and create awareness about Covid-19 and post Covid-19. However, it was surprising to see their understanding and knowledge,” he added. During the programme, Dr J Ilamurugan, a doctor, said that the willingness of the tribals to understand the new situation is remarkable. All those above 18 years of age among Muthuvakudi tribals had already taken Covid-19 vaccination too.
