More than Kalapani
MADHUSHREE MUKERJEE'S book The Land of Naked People: Encounters with Stone Age Islanders has been billed as travel/ anthropology by her publisher. Indeed, her "deep involvement" with the Andaman chain of islands in the Bay of Bengal began with her first visit in 1995 though her curiosity was kindled as a teenager. Still, the end result is far too academic a study to double up as a travelogue.
By virtue of being home to the Cellular Jail, Andamans found a berth for itself in modern Indian history. And, despite becoming a tourist destination, not much is known about the islanders except their hostility towards outsiders.
An anthropological study, Mukerjee finds that much has changed as most of the islands have come under the influence of outsiders and the natives have taken to their ways. Such being the case, her fear is that even the Sentinelese — natives of the North Sentinel Island which neither the British nor the Indians colonised — may be eclipsed by the sweep of "civilisation" despite the lip-service paid to the Government's "hands-off" policy towards a community that could well be the last group of Stone Age people.
The Land of Naked People: Encounters with Stone Age Islanders, Madhushree Mukerjee, Penguin, Rs. 250.
ANITA JOSHUA
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