Kandu fruit narratives
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From Muri Junction to Ranchi, the railway line went through the hills of Chhotanagpur and deep forest. Ranchi Express passes through the night, so the forest forms are not seen well. In 2000, I decided to return from Ranchi to Passenger train in the daytime. Purulia passenger was released from Ranchi in the morning. Stop at every station. A station named Gautam section is very far from Ranchi. There I saw a few indigenous girls selling round goals. (Figure 1) At the next station, a girl got up and took us to our room. I asked to ask the name of the fruit. I have not seen before, I heard the name. Curiosity is the hall. I bought a few. At only ten rupees, she kept half a basket of fruits on my side beside me. An elderly fellow traveler said very good fruit, try it. I saw quite a sweet taste, a lot of sedatives, a little tan and fiber. (Figure 2)
That's my first experience with the results. Banana is a major source of food for the marginalized people of Santal, Orao, Munda, Coal, Bhil, Maria, Gund, Sarbar in the forests of India. There are many species of fruit in the forest which gives them nourishment. Kendra is one such fruit. A book was discovered to search for this result. The History, Antiquities, Topography, and Statistics of Eastern India, written by Montgomery Martin in 1800 The book mentions the center. It has been said that this fruit is the favorite food of the poor people of the forest. It has been written in the flower blaze, fruit in June, in April. (Figure 3)
There are many names besides Kunda, such as Kendu, Tendu, Tumki, etc. English name coromandel ebony or persimmon ebony Botanical name Diospyros melanoxylon. The trees are about 30 feet high (Figure 4) The good box is made of wood of this tree. Another fruit of this fruit is that, in good summer, this fruit protects from depression, removes fatigue (Source: Pankaj Oudhia
We see the popularity of the Kendu tree through the name of the village. The name of Keonjhara district of Orissa has been done either from this name name (sources: Meenakshi Kapoor http://www.thehindu.com). In the state of West Bengal, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh etc., the name of Kenduaa, Kendujahhar or Kandapahari, Tandua, Tendukheda etc., is known from the village's vast geographical spread. The presence of Kendu tree in Bengali literature, especially in the novels of Buddhadev Guo and Sunil Gangopadhyay.
This tree is not really important for wood or fruit. Its most important part is its page. Kendu leaves occupy a huge space in the economy of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra and Maharashtra. This page is collected when the new leaf turns green from green. Then they were dried and bundled. (Fig. 5) The main use of Kendu leaves is to make bidi. About three million tonnes of Bidi leaves are collected every year in India, which costs around 500 crores. Prior to year, the state governments will call the tender for collection of this page. If the contractor got the right to collect the pages in accordance with this tender, they would have collected the leaf with the indigenous people. How much money is received by the contractors and how much money the tribals get in it is unknown. But a section of the indigenous exploitation was going on for a long time through collection of this page. Many protests against this exploitation, ie, the primary collector gets more money. Various states have nationalized Kendu collection. Now a number of co-operative societies of Kendu collectors have been created, through which the collection and distribution of pages is done. As a result, some of the primary collectors have found some way to gain (Source: Down to Earth).
At present the collection of Kendu leaves is decreasing. Because the Bidi market is shrinking. Do not think it's good news. Because tobacco and tobacco products are grabbing the place of bidi. The people of the forests are again in a crisis path due to the reduction of the demand of the Kendu leaf.