In the 1970s there was a lot of construction work going on in the tribal belt of Attappadi, in Kerala, with the Central and State Governments building houses and other structures for the tribal people and the increased inflow of settlers from Tamil Nadu and Kerala necessitating construction of houses in their newly acquired plots.
As there were few good roads to the hilly interior areas, donkeys were used for carrying building materials to the construction sites. All the donkeys were male. Donkey-keepers said that if female donkeys came to the area, the male donkeys would stop working and go after them.
One day, in 1978, when I was working in the ITDP (Integrated Tribal Development Project) Office, in Agali, there was a great commotion with all the donkeys stopping work. The donkey-keepers ran for about 7 kilometers to find a stray female donkey and drove it to a place about 20 kilometers away. It was only then that the donkeys started working again.
This photo of a lone donkey standing idle in the bus-waiting shelter in front of Agali Panchayath Office was taken by me in 1978 in B&W film.
– Vincent Vanur
