Wednesday 1 October 2014

PENANAM PADI



‘Penanam padi’ translated to English is paddy planter. That was who I was during most of my days in Bario, Sarawak.

Hard work describes the work best.

I would follow Tepuq Ribet to her ‘sawah’ to help her out planting paddy. The morning starts with collecting shoots to be transplanted into the field and gathering them by the side of the field. The planning begins, I didn’t take much time to learn planting. I would insert the root of a shoot into the soft muddy ground covered by half a feet of murky water by pushing them in with my thumb and index finger about an inch into ground. So much effort is taken just to plant one shoot. Shoot by shoot is planted to fill up the paddy field. It was a very long process, my mind would wander away often looking at the green shoots but sometimes dive into deep thoughts of the preciousness of rice.

It was an experience that I would cherish especially for the time I spent with my tepuq who took care of me as her own grandson and gave me a traditional Kelabit name, Daring.


Daring the Thunder
Karthik Muniandy

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