MUMBAI FOLKS GO ON FIRST PHOTO WALK AT AAREY FOR WORLD TRIBAL DAY

You may not know this, but Mumbai is said to be only the metropolis in the world to have a natural forest area and with big cats sharing space with humans. Take the example of the lush areas of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) and Aarey Milk Colony. The city’s green warriors have been doing their bit to protect and conserve the green sanctuary of Aarey for a while now, with workshops, discussions, a sit-down lunch with tribals, and more. But the latest in the effort to do so, saw a bunch of Mumbaikars doing something they hadn’t done before — they came to Aarey to celebrate World Tribal Day hand-in-hand with the local tribals for the first time. They sang, danced, applauded, learnt more about their way of life and yes, did a photo walk, too. Why? With an aim to break down the ‘walls’ between Aarey and the rest of the urban Mumbaikars. Here’s more on what happened…

‘CITY PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW THE WARLI FOLK’


There are 222 tribal hamlets in Mumbai and the biggest concentration of these is in Aarey. The photo walk that took place on World Tribal Day, was meant to help people know them. Says environmentalist Sanjiv Valsan, “The SGNP has 9-10 padas (hamlets) but Aarey has the highest concentration of them, probably in India. The adivasis are our neighbours and they are such friendly people. But there is a kind of ‘disconnect’ between them and the rest of the city. We want to show city people that they matter and that they must treated well, which unfortunately is not the case at present. They are not recognised for their rights even though they are one of the original inhabitants of Mumbai. They are not allowed to repair their homes and continue to face sanitation and water problems. It was important to build the emotional connect between them and urban Mumbaikars to reduce the urban-tribal divide.”

SONG AND DANCE AND SOME ICE-BREAKING, TOO

For Mumbaikars, it was a learning experience all through the day here. The participants met at Navapada at 9 am after breakfast the fun began. They did the ‘tarpa’ dance with the adivasis, got clicking on the photo walk and sat down and chatted with the tribals to understand their plight.

Juhu-based Jimmy Shroff learnt about these tribals for the first time. “When we met them at Aarey, we had a great time. The adivasis are very friendly and hospitable. It was fun to join in the tarpa dance with them, they just pulled us into the circle,” he recalls.

For Vakola-based educationist Prachi Adesara, it was first time she went to Aarey. “I took pictures and uploaded them with the hashtags #weareindigenous and #saveaareyforest. It is shocking to see the reality of how they stay there. As a resident of Mumbai, I felt bad as this was just few steps away from us. Forget comfort levels, there are no proper homes and facilities. More Mumbai must visit them to understand what they go through,” she says.

SIGNATURE CAMPAIGN TO GET ELECTRICITY TO AAREY

A group of Mumbaikars have started a signature campaign to help adivasis at Aarey get electricity. Says Sanjiv, “It’s time to get authorities to bring electricity to all the neglected Warli tribal padas of Aarey Forest. Many of these indigenous people of Mumbai still live in the dark, risking snake bites and leopard attacks daily. It’s been over 100 years almost, of them staying in the dark, this way. While the rest of the city got power, they didn’t get their rights.”