100-yr-old tribal woman keeps farm tradition alive

BE it rain or shine, Vellayammal has worked on the fields for decades.

- NEJMA SULAIMAN

And at the age of 100, her spirit has hardly waned. Vellayammal, wife of the late Thayannan, the chief of Thayannankudi tribal settlement in Chinnar, wakes up before the sun and heads to the farmland on the banks of the Pambar. She cultivates vegetables and millets. Vellayammal is the oldest member of the Muthuvan community, comprising over 100 persons, settled in Thayannankudi inside the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary in Idukki district.