Profile of a Professional Coconut Tree Climber

Kerala has always had an abundance of coconut trees. Every part of the coconut tree finds some kind of use in the traditional Malayalee`s way of life. The coconut is an indispensible item in his food and coconut oil is his main cooking oil. The husk of the coconut is used for producing coir and coir based products. The shell of the coconut is used as an high energy fuel in cooking and also finds use in handicrafts. The wood of the Coconut tree is used as firewood along with the dried fronds. Broomsticks for brooms are also obtained from the fronds. Besides this, the fronds are also employed in a variety of other ways such as for roofing for mud huts and for shielding young trees from the intense Indian sunlight.

When the coconut or the fronds are to be harvested, the services of a coconut tree climber are employed. Traditionally, the members of the parava community did this job and were paid by the number of trees they climbed per day. 

The climber would ascend the coconut tree and cut down the ripe coconuts as well as the mature fronds. Besides these he would also inspect the tree for disease and clear the top off accumulated organic matter to dissuade insects and other pests.

This morning as I stepped out , I was greeted by the whooshing sounds of the palm fronds crashing to the ground. on looking up I saw the once familiar scrawny figure of our coconut tree climber clambering down a coconut palm.

For those that haven't seen this, it is an amazing sight indeed and I just had to capture the act on camera to share here.

Our coconut tree climber’s name is Karumban (literally translating as “the black one”). Karumban’s climbing technique is the same as has been for decades. He uses a a pair of looped  and knotted coir ropes to encircle the coconut tree trunk. In one of these he places his feet while he uses the second to grip with his hands.

The rope, which, as I mentioned earlier, is made from the husk of the coconut itself, is rough and grips the rough tree trunk firmly, allowing Karumban to drag his feet upward or downward while ascending or descending.

As you can see above, other than the ropes, he also carries with him a rather large hooked knife called the “Vaakathi” with which he does his cutting and chopping.

Ascending and descending trees is not as easy as it looks and requires a great deal of stamina. Surprisingly Karumban hardly looks like someone with whom anyone would attribute the word ‘stamina’.

Once he reaches the top, karumban maintains his grip and stance with the ropes on his feet while he releases the rope on his hands. Now he holds on to the tree with just one hand while he retrieves his vaakathi and does the necessary chopping .

The fronds and coconut fall to the ground and is retrieved by a waiting collector who remains clear off the vicinity until the earthbound fronds and nuts have ceased  falling.

Karumaban then descends in a similar way before acsending the next tree all over again.

In this manner he may cover hundreds of trees in a day until entire estates are completed.

When he finally took a break, I caught up with him to have a chat.I asked Karumban about his age and was astounded to hear that he was 75 years old!

On further query, he revealed he was suffering from breathlessness and had to pause mid-ascent and recover his breath! He mentioned that it was not so much for the money that he did his work, but that it was a way of life for him. He revealed that in a developing state, there were no youngsters to take up tree climbing and as a result he was one of the few remaining members of his trade.

Karumban was not always a tree climber. He spent most of his life as a goat herder. His father was a barber by trade but died unexpectedly when karumban was still young. While Karumban would have traditionally followed his father’s trade, his death left Karumban untrained in the trade. However one thing he did know how to do without the need for training was to climb trees. It was thus he started the trade and has remained a climber ever since.

tree climbing is a hazardous profession, made all the worse by a tendency of the parava community to indulge in their liking for toddy (a fermented alcoholic drink obtained from the coconut tree), while on the job. I have known several tree climbers who have fallen off the tree under a variety of circumstances. Karumban however continues to defy the odds and age.

With the rapidly reducing numbers of coconut trees, and even fewer numbers of people taking up tree climbing, this sight seems set to disappear into the books. I wonder about the fate of the coconut tree, the people who have based their livelihood around it and a state which wouldn’t be the same without it.