Life on water

When an tribe wants to travel to civilization to fetch medical aid or domestic tools or ration, he does part of his journey from the forest on foot, and part of it on a bamboo boat called ‘dongi’. These boats are made by the tribal folk and are extremely useful for crossing rivers and streams. However, the use of boats for daily commute is not only limited to the Bastar region but is common among other Indian tribes as well. One such tribe lives in the southern tip of India in a state called Kerala. A major part of the lives of people living in the backwaters of Kerala is daily commutes on wooden boats. You will see vegetable vendors, florists selling on boats, there are moving boat dispensaries, and fish markets on boats among other things. This folk lives their lives on the water and on boats. The annual boat race in the month of August is a global tourist attraction in Kerala where large wooden boats are rowed by hundreds of men.