Urbanisation makes way for new occupations. And that’s what is happening in Lamka town, the commercial hub of Churachandpur district in Manipur. It is fast emerging as a place that caters to alternative income generating activities for its population — a breakaway from the traditional farming and jhum cultivation that has engaged people for many generations.
Those who have come here from the interior villages, particularly the women, find innovative sources of income, such as street food and drink. Lamka now offers sugarcane juice drinks and many of the women have taken up its vending as their main occupation.
In her late 30s, Chiinboi has stationed herself at the main Lamka town junction, in front of the police station, a key location. She shifted from vegetable vending to crushing sugarcane for juice on the roadside. The reason: “I need a lower investment for this compared to selling vegetable and have more to run my family,” says the mother of three children. Her husband gets employed seasonally. The family came to Lamka to find an alternative to farming and cultivation some years ago.
At another key road junction in Sielmat, beside a bridge, Hoihkim too makes a living from selling sugarcane juice cranked through a hand-grinding machine. She starts early morning and earns between ₹200 and ₹300 a day. Hoihkim, in her mid 40s, is a single mother. She and her family came down to Lamka from Singngat 10 years ago. Since her separation from her husband, she has admitted three of her children in an orphanage while the other three are helping her at home.
Selling sugarcane juice is not a simple vocation. It is fraught with immense competition, says Hoihkim. When she had to halt her work for a while due to an illness, someone else quickly took her place at Rengkai road.
“I had to find another space and came here”. Though it is hard labor operating the hand machine, the machine is much cheaper than its automatic counterpart. For people like Hoihkim or Chiinboi, they are not a viable option.
Raw material
The sugarcane juice business has also sustained Hauman and her husband Vungdawl for over five years. One of the challenges is getting the best raw material, which comes from out of town. Vungdawl sets out at 4 am in the morning from their home in Pearsonmun and has to push his way to get the best cane. He walks around 5 km to be in time to buy sugarcane from the suppliers.
“I get the good ones and at cheaper rates,” he explains. His wife joins him after her house-work and brings him lunch. For the rest of the day, both work together at a junction along Teddim road.
They left their village in Thanlon sub-division for an alternative source of income from jhum cultivation. Since 2005, they had been engaged in daily labour at construction sites.
According to Hauman, vending sugarcane juice is a more reliable livelihood. However, from August to October, it is tough as sugarcane is not easily available. “This is the off season and we have a hard time,” says Vungdawl. But his eyes light up when talking about the summer. “People line up to drink juice, it is our peak season when we make most of our money.”
The writer is a freelance journalist