Ghaini Lal Signh Jamkar reaches forward to greet her visitors. Her skin is papery-soft, her grip is surprisingly firm. Her bones can be felt beneath her thin skin, pulled taught over her lithe frame. She parts her lips to speak her welcome to those who have come to greet her, and her tongue darts out as if tasting the air, testing the wind. Her eyes are luminous and take in the world before her. These eyes have seen a lot in her 130 years on this earth. She is full of life and passes on her blessings to everyone who comes before her, wishing to share her bounty of longevity.
Mrs. Ghaini greets all visitors
Mrs. Ghaini is the oldest member belonging to the Raj Gond Community in India. The oldest living person in India. The [unofficial] oldest living person in the world. They weren’t many birth records kept in the 1870’s, but Mrs. Ghaini knows that she was born during the regime of Queen Durga Devi who oversaw ruling that small part of India (today's Maharastra state in India) about 140 years back.
She studies each visitor with a practiced eye: suffering from a cold or other ailment? Pregnant? Distrustful of pharmaceuticals whose ingredients are dozens of characters long? Mrs. Ghaini has been recognized by the government of India for her extensive knowledge of the medicinal purposes and curative powers of over 1,000 indigenous plants in India. She has treated hundreds of people through herbal medicines – everything from the common cold, to presiding over dozens and dozens of births, and people felled with serious illnesses and diseases and has led or assisted in over a thousand baby deliveries.
Mrs. Ghaini recalls two grand events vividly among the thousands of people she has helped over the years:
“I had given my medicine to queen of Sangli for Rs. 700 about 90 years ago. She got cured of her pain and she was so happy that she attended one of my son’s marriage and given good gifts and she thanked me very much for my medicine. I still remember that.
Also once one British officer was bitten by a snake and I had given him medicine and he was ok with in an hour or so. I can’t even pronounce his name………”
Born in the 1800’s
Mrs. Ghaini entered this world in Nagpur (India in the now-state of Maharashtra) to Father Lal Singh Jamkar and Mother named Kapuri, and was the eldest child with 2 younger sisters and 2 brothers. Her younger brother lived until he was 90, but the siblings are now gone.
Ghaini was married at 12 or 13 years of age and was the second wife to her husband, named the same as her father, Lal Singh. He had taken her as his second wife because none of his first wife’s children had survived, most having died as soon as or within few days of being born.
“I had 6 sons and 6 daughters out of which now only one son, my last one, and two daughters, are alive. Then all my children had 6 to 8 kids each and they in turn had kids. So probably if my memory is correct I think I have about 90 to 100 grandchildren and about 150 or so great-grandchildren and about 25 to 30 their children.”
Mrs. Ghaini regales her listeners about her life. The Raj Gond are a nomadic tribe and in the past wandered from place to place. There was no definite house or definite place to call “theirs”. She laments about living in cloth tents, which caused havoc when it rained. The rain water would rush under the burlap into the tents and life was so hard that they were unable to cook food and live in those tents. She calls those the “hard days,” when it was very difficult to feed her entire family.
Today Mrs. Ghaini lives in a government-issued permanent home and she is quick to thank everyone who has helped their large clan to get housing. Mrs. Ghaini blesses them with all happiness of life. 
Origins and Royal Ties of the Raj Gond Community:
The Raj Gond community was at its most vibrant in the early 1800’s (the time of her father and fore-fathers) who were Doctors for the Royal Families (the Kings who were ruling Middle India). They mention frequently one Queen by name of Durga Vathi who ruled entire Middle India during 1800A.D.
The Raj Gond tribe was for a very long time under total protection by the Royal families and they enjoyed a good life. But with the invasion of Mughals (Muslims from Middle East) and later the British colonization, these local and original rulers and Royal families lost their kingdoms and everything in their control, and began to flee to safer places in order to save their own lives, sometimes with only what they could grab and carry. It is in that background the Raj Gond community, who were dependent on these kings and other royalty, turned into nomads.
Mrs. Ghani’s family began fleeing in all directions in order to earn their livelihood. The family’s escape of necessity forced them to become spread out and separated throughout India.
Impact of the Railroads:
The second most important historical event that impacted the lives of Mrs. Ghaini and the rest of the Raj Gond tribe was the growth of Railway (train) transport in India. Looking at their settlement patterns across the country, the patterns are discernable that have mostly settled in towns and villages which are along railway routes.
Mrs. Ghaini recalls tales of how her family used to travel in the trains as a means of free transportation to the next city or town or village they came across, and they would all jump off and pitch in their tents and belongings to stay for 2 or 3 months engaging in their business of selling Herbal Medicine. Once they had done all the business they were doing to do in one town they were off to the next. The impact of the trains is a hugely important factor in making her family, and other members of the tribe doing the same for survival, nomadic. Since they no longer had one particular place to settle in, and the families were always on the move in search of their livelihoods, they remained totally isolated from the mainstream development much like many other nomadic tribes in India.
She will tell you about how she used to trek into the forest and gather plants and sell herbal remedies, and in doing so supported many family members and was quite well off, earning up to ~5,000 to 6,000 Rupees per month in the days when she was younger and stronger. But since the family was so large, whatever she earned was always insufficient. In accordance with Indian traditions, Ghaini also spent lot of money on her children and grand children’s marriages. Today she has very little left other than what the government provides and the family can eke out in wages.
Today many members of the Raj Gond community still do not read or write. Mrs. Ghaini is not literate, but she does speak several languages: Gondi, Marathi, Hindi Telugu a little bit, Tamil, Gujarathi. Mrs. Ghaini firmly understands the strength and power literacy provides and strives for all of her dozens of great-grandchildren to study hard in school. But she’s not immune to the twenty first century – she enjoys a great movie and a sip of alcohol and chewing pan every once in a while to “keep away some bad memories” (mostly of her deceased children).
Herbal Medicine Today
She has a concise explanation on how she learned her trade:
“Ped pe seekh liya…. Jangal ke log jo hain.” (I learnt it on the trees…. We are people of the forests after all.)
In recent years even the Government has taken strict measures to protect the country’s forest wealth and this measure has prohibited Mrs. Ghaini and the rest of the Raj Gond people from entering forests in search of medicinal plants. This has caused increased problems for the community for their livelihood and sustenance.
Additionally, the Government has opened an Ayurvedic Medicinal University and many qualified doctors are becoming specialized in Herbal medicine. People are choosing to go to these qualified doctors instead of the nomads who have been exercising their knowledge for decades. Thus, their vast knowledge of the herbs and medicinal plants that Ghaini and community have is sadly and slowly getting lost and the Government does not appear at this time to be taking precautions to preserve the indigenous knowledge of this tribe.
When asked what she would do given one more life she is quick to respond:
“No….. Baba No……… I don’t want one more life. This is enough. You tell me why should I need one more life? I don’t have any thing to do and experience from one more life. I have seen places, people…….. I have earned money….. I had children I have discharged my responsibilities as a mother……. I have seen both good days and bad days…….. and I don’t have any further expectations from life. So it is enough and don’t want one more life…..
I just want to see my children and future generation flourish well and I want to see my children do well in life and want to see them happy and comfortable.”
*A special courtesy recognition of thanks goes out to Professor Mr. Dr K M Metry, Department of Tribal Studies at Kannada University, for his vast knowledge and studies on the Raj Gond community.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To view more pictures of Mrs. Ghaini and her Family, click here.
To watch a video of Mrs. Ghaini singing a favorite native song, click here.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you Mrs. Ghaini, for sharing your Story with us.
~~~
Our Stories and pictures are the sole copyright of their Authors and may not be reprinted or used without their permission.
© 2008 by Sunitha M.R. Story of My Life®