They didn't exactly shout 'timber', but whatever the local dialect was for 'mind your head, coconut on the way down' ! They were harvesting coconuts at Coconut Creek in Goa. The South of India produces 90% of India's coconut production and it brings in a good income for the 'strapped for cash' Southern States. Every part of the coconut is used, coir from the fibrous outer coat, the hard shell itself, produces charcoal, the water of the 'Jelly Coconut' is highly nutritious, containing proteins and antioxidants, then there is oil from the kernel and coconut milk and flesh, are used in cooking. Even the palm fronds are used for making brooms, etc.
Coconut palms can grow up to 98', so no mean task for the contract workers to shin up the trunk, using footholds cut into the bark and a short rope round the trunk for leverage - they cut the heavy fruit with a panga and down it thuds, with a huge wallop, capable of killing or seriously injuring anyone underneath !
The palm tree, like no other, evokes an image of exotic tropical islands, fabulous holidays and happy sunshine. But the palm frond is also a symbol for the Christian pilgrimage and the coconut itself, is used in all Hindu Religious Ceremonies, where it is offered to the God, as an important part of the ritual. And if you want your prayer to be answered, after a visit to a temple, you smash a coconut with gusto and drink the contents !
Coconut palms can grow up to 98', so no mean task for the contract workers to shin up the trunk, using footholds cut into the bark and a short rope round the trunk for leverage - they cut the heavy fruit with a panga and down it thuds, with a huge wallop, capable of killing or seriously injuring anyone underneath !
The palm tree, like no other, evokes an image of exotic tropical islands, fabulous holidays and happy sunshine. But the palm frond is also a symbol for the Christian pilgrimage and the coconut itself, is used in all Hindu Religious Ceremonies, where it is offered to the God, as an important part of the ritual. And if you want your prayer to be answered, after a visit to a temple, you smash a coconut with gusto and drink the contents !
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| Harvesting Coconuts |
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