ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846 Consumerism Among the Nicobarese The Post-tsunami Phase in Nicobar Islands AJAY SAINI Vol. 49, Issue No. 46, 15 Nov, 2014 Ajay Saini ([email protected]) is with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Government relief and rehabilitation measures, which included generous monetary compensation, for the tsunami affected Nicobarese tribals inhabiting the southern Nicobar Islands has spawned idleness and fuelled consumerism among them, threatening the very fabric of their society. Relics of Consumerism During my transect walks at Campbell Bay in the southern Nicobar Islands, I noticed many dilapidated vehicles by the road side, which was an unusual phenomenon there. Sensing my curiosity, my colleagues John Robert and Manasi[1] narrated tales behind these discarded vehicles. A majority of these were owned by the Nicobarese, who used them for a short duration before they crashed them into trees, rendering them unusable. Manasi explained how the Nicobarese tribals were duped by the non-Nicobarese (settlers), who sold their rickety vehicles to them at exorbitant prices and which became useless in a short time. Later, I interviewed both the Nicobarese and non-Nicobarese people; everyone had something noteworthy to share about these vehicles. During my interactions with them, I learnt about the genesis of consumerism among the Nicobarese in the post-tsunami phase. Electronic gadgets like mobile phones, televisions, washing machines, DVD players and refrigerators are common household gadgets used by Nicobarese now; whereas LCD, tablet, touch screen, iPhone, and laptop are buzzwords among the tribal youth. Genesis of Consumerism Before the tsunami of 26 December 2004, the Nicobarese of the southern Nicobar Islands inhabited various pockets of the tribal reserve of the Great and Little Nicobar islands. There were 14 Nicobarese villages and two or three single house hamlets in the Great Nicobar Island; the Little Nicobar Islands had 20 villages, which were sparsely populated and were destroyed during the tsunami. Post-tsunami, the Nicobarese were immediately evacuated from their traditional habitats and resettled in the intermediate shelters at Rajiv Nagar and New Chingenh (Campbell Bay, the Great Nicobar Island).They were provided with free ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846 rations, monetary compensation and amenities like water, education, health and electricity. The community spent a little more than six years in these intermediate shelters before some of its members were allotted permanent shelters at Rajiv Nagar and New Chingenh; while others were rehabilitated back in the tribal reserve of the southern Nicobar Islands. The permanent shelters, which were allotted in February 2011, led to a concentration of the Nicobarese in specific areas. Consequently, the number of the Nicobarese villages in the Great Nicobar Island was reduced to four (New Chingenh, 7 km farm, Afra Bay and Rajiv Nagar) from 14 that existed before the tsunami. In the Little Nicobar Islands, the Nicobarese villages were reduced to five (Makachua, Pulopanja, Pulopatia, Puloulo, Pulobha) from 20. Since 2012, the community has also constructed temporary and permanent settlements in various places. For instance the Nicobarese of Rajiv Nagar, who received cultivable land at Gol Tikri (Great Nicobar) also built shelters there (Saini 2012, 2013). Post-tsunami, a reckless acquisition of material goods began among the Nicobarese as soon as they received monetary compensation from the administration.[2] As rations and other supplies like electricity and water were free for the Nicobarese, they had little worries about their subsistence. The Nicobarese exhausted a major chunk of the monetary compensation on modern material goods during their stay in the intermediate shelters. In the post-tsunami phase, alcohol also made inroads in the Nicobarese society and Indian made foreign liquor replaced the indigenous intoxicant toddy. The 2001 and 2011 census reports recorded the total population of southern Nicobar Islands as 8,214 and 8,367 respectively. A senior administrator at Campbell Bay said that the average post-tsunami monthly alcohol sales were above Rs 12 lakhs, even after factoring such a small population size. The population of the Nicobarese in southern Nicobar Islands was 1,181 (Census 2001), which was reduced to 990 (Census 2011) in the aftermath of the tsunami. The rise in alcohol consumption after the tsunami could be attributed to the sudden availability of cash. Although selling alcohol to the Nicobarese is prohibited by law and they were not sold liquor directly by the government-run liquor outlets, they managed to procure alcohol via the non- Nicobarese by paying some extra money to them. This extra money, which is popularly called “tips” varies as per the need and the bargaining power of the Nicobarese. Usually a tip of Rs 50 to Rs 100 per bottle is paid to a non-Nicobarese. However, during times of scarce availability, the Nicobarese have also paid twice the price of an alcohol bottle. Now almost ten years have passed since the tsunami. In retrospect, the Nicobarese do not have a clear numerical understanding of their expenditure on alcohol, but they agree that they have misspent a large chunk of their compensation money on alcohol. Reasons Behind Reckless Consumerism In order to get a holistic understanding of the sudden consumerism among the Nicobarese post-tsunami, it is pertinent to analyse it in the context of spatial changes that the ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846 community has experienced after the catastrophe. Before the tsunami, the Nicobarese had little exposure to spaces outside their traditional habitats. After their temporary rehabilitation in the intermediate shelters at Campbell Bay, they came in close proximity with the non-Nicobarese community. The material culture of the non-Nicobarese people attracted the Nicobarese, and they started looking at new technologies with curiosity. They found their traditional lifestyle lacking and started imitating the non-Nicobarese lifestyle. In the pre-tsunami period, those who possessed maximum number of pigs, coconut plantations, gol ghars (round huts) and contributed generously during communal feasts, especially the pig festival, were deemed affluent and were the most cherished among the Nicobarese. Post-tsunami, the yardstick for judging the status of people shifted from the indigenous value system to the non-Nicobarese value system. Now the Nicobarese, who possessed the maximum number of modern commodities were viewed affluent by the community, and this ushered reckless consumerism within the community. Though there is nothing wrong in adopting new technologies that make life comfortable, reckless spending on such goods by a community which had done well without them certainly raises some questions on the functional utility of these gadgets in context of these people. For instance mobile phones, which have made the life of the Nicobarese people easy, have given rise to a set of new problems. On top of this, mobile phones are useless as there is no mobile network in these islands. Even for the Nicobarese who are permanently settled in Rajiv Nagar and New Chingenh, these gadgets serve little purpose. They have limited means and no proper source of livelihood now; free welfare supplies have ceased and the community itself has to pay for its subsistence. Many Nicobarese, who are unable to get their automobiles repaired because of lack of money, have dumped them in their backyard. The Nicobarese leaders expressed that post-tsunami, their people became alcoholics because of inactivity and the trauma of losing their people and places. Providing free rations to the Nicobarese for a period of four to five years actually harmed the community by making them sedentary and tuning them into consumerists. Even long after the cessation of welfare services, which included free monthly ration, water, electricity, monetary compensations and so on, were withdrawn, the Nicobarese had negligible motivation to work. While reflecting on the idleness of the Nicobarese in the aftermath of the tsunami, a Nicobarese village captain (leader) posed the question, “What can you expect from the people who did nothing for half a decade and are suddenly asked to work?” The village captain further argued that immediately after the tsunami, the community expressed its desire to go back to its habitat and start a normal life again. However, excessive intervention of the administration in the Nicobarese society undermined the local capacities and self-reliance of its people. The Nicobarese were simply made to sit idle for years without ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846 much meaningful engagement, and consequently many of them became alcoholics. With little or no motivation to work, the Nicobarese are now subsisting on whatever is left of the monetary compensations. Many of the goods that the Nicobarese purchased in the last decade have now become white elephants for them. Many Nicobarese narrated their experiences that they were sold products at exorbitant rates Concerned with this profligate behaviour of the Nicobarese, the tribal council of the Great and Little Nicobar islands devised a way to check consumerism among its people. The bank was requested not to release large amount of cash to the Nicobarese without a written permission from the chairman of the tribal council. This created yet another controversy, as some Nicobarese felt that their right to use their own money is at the mercy of the chairman. Conclusions