Socio-cultural Processes and Livelihood Patterns at Tirurangadi - CDS

Preliminaries
III
Walking Tirurangadi
The idea of walking had its origin from the transect walks used in the Panchayat
Resource Mapping projects of the Center for Earth Science Studies ( CESS) and
Integrated Rural technology Centre( IRTC). However, the research team was not using
the mode of walking as a means of resource mapping. Instead, we decided to use walking
as an exercise in human geography, in order to understand the interaction of the people
with their geographical milieu. Mapping process is essential as a means of classifying and
codifying these relations, but there is also the process of breaking already existing codes
of man and nature relations and understanding them. It was our presupposition that the
historical or temporal element in the construction of space appears in the signs that
people have themselves used as markers, which takes the form of place-names, field
names, names used for production and distribution, names with cultural connotations and
so on, which have to be posted in every map. Hence we decided to take a place-name as
an indicator, and explore the space indicated by the place-name.
After selecting the place-name, the investigators traversed the area indicated by the place-
name. This proved to be an extremely difficult, but equally interesting exercise. In the
Government and the local vocabularies, place-names have been replaced by ward names,
or names of a post office, bus stop or market so that the original place name has been lost
or ignored. In several places there has been official ‘naming’ in the name of a local
leader, religious institution and so on, which has further complicated matters. Such
influences were so strong that even some of our investigators were taken in by them. Our
effort was to identify the place name as an indicator of the habitat or settlement, a process
by which we would be able to identify the historicity of the habitat itself.