In the middle of the jungle, in the Wayanad, women hit the ground of a long pit about a metre deep. This pit, dug out of the ground, is about the size of a basketball court. If the field of vision is widened, the rays of a soft green light can be seen. At the bottom of the ground, there is a small opening in the low wall, like a small door on the horizon. In the foreground are the rice fields, then the giant bean garden, and finally the tapioca plants. Everything is in permaculture for the respect of nature and biodiversity. A sharp eye can even see banana trees, nutmeg trees, pepper plants and finally the Wayanad Mountains, the Banasura Hills. The woman in the photo is wearing, like her friends, a sari on which she has put on a man’s shirt. On her wrists, like all the women of the tribe, she wears gold bracelets. She also has a gold chain around her neck. They all have their long hair tied back. They go barefoot as a sign of respect for the place? to better compact the earth? They carry ochre earth, buckets of water or are equipped with a kind of baseball bat with which they hit the ground in the greatest calm. That’s this week’s work. The place is beautiful and exudes peace. Everything is smoothed. The earth is tamed, compacted and will not let any dust escape; it is here that, in a few days, the rice harvest will be deposited. Farther on, another woman sweeps with branches so that no leaves, moss or anything else remains. The walls of the pit are now so shiny that they have been shaped by the work of women. The low walls slope slightly upwards. Everything’s ready for harvest.

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Par Nathalie