His generation of tribal people are all illiterate, never having been to school. However, they have taught themselves how to deal with money since they are dependent on wages for a living and have to sell the produce that they grow on their own farms. But he cannot read nor affix a signature.

The Paniyas, like the Kurubas and other tribal groups of this region, are defined by their traditions. Though these are separate communities their traditions are similar in many ways. For one they are all pantheistic in their outlook revering nature and worshipping forest deities. Chikadevamma is the patron goddess of the Paniyas of this region. Other gods of the Paniyas in other regions include Bhagavathi, Kuttichatan and Mariamma.

Cremation is the norm of a Paniya community member on death. However, elders who have attained to a significant age and have died of natural causes are buried in a seated position on the edge of the forest. For a few days thereafter food, that the deceased was known to be fond of, is prepared and given as an offering to the departed spirit as it journeys into the afterworld.

The Paniyas, like most other tribal groups, are endogamous and do not marry outside their communities, though this is changing now with younger generations courting partners from other communities. Marriages are finalized by members of both families. Water is collected from the Kabini river and used to officiate and sanctify the union.

Anthropological research reveals that the earliest ancestors of today’s Paniyas came from Kerala. Their language – Paniyabasha- is an amalgam of Malayalam, Tamil and Tulu, which also serves as an indicator of the places they settled in over the course of their wanderings. Kerala still has the largest single population of Paniyas standing at around 6000.

Unlike other tribal communities who dwelt in forests the Paniyas were already engaged in farming and other work, sadly as bonded labor by the socio-economic systems of the time. Today they are found dispersed across the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka where they eke out a living on agriculture and casual work.

The current generation of Paniya youth are exposed to formal education and quite disposed to following the new paths of life that this may point to. This transition will not be an easy one as we are beginning to note. It is likely to come at the expense of long cherished ancestral ways; the price levied for embracing change and novelty.