- Sat, 31 Jul, 2010, 2:43 am -

|| P. Vijay Raghavan ||
Ranchi: The very mention of red ants normally sends chill down the spine of everyone, well, almost. Believe it or not these dreaded insects are actually a delicacy for certain tribes in rural Jharkhand.

In the adivasi infested areas of Jharkhand, summer is eagerly awaited. The Munda/Birhor tribes crowd up the local ‘bazar’ to buy the pick of red ants on sale. Most of the vendors neatly wrap the ‘delicacy’ in leaves and cover it up with paper. The price ranges from anywhere between Rs.4 to Rs.8 per packet depending on the freshness.

These ants are normally found on the branches of Mango, Mahua and Sakua trees. This is the flowering season on these trees and the red insects are in abundance. The vendor is expert enough to know exactly where to look for them. The branch itself is sliced off containing these ant nests with the ants as well as their eggs intact. The vendor always has the ‘first’ taste and eats them alive. The tangy sweet taste of the delicacy invigorates him for the day’s pickings.

The tribals cook these ants in the bazaar itself on the leaf in which it is sold and consume it with their fill of ‘hadia’, the local brew. The delicacy is relished by one and all. After the ‘party’ it is time for the afternoon siesta beneath the cool comfort of the trees.

There are dozens of vendors lined up to sell this product and hundreds of buyers queuing up to buy it. Says Ashok Kumar, a regular customer, the tangy taste mixed with the subtle sweetness proves as a energizer for me. He confesses that he has been enjoying this delicacy for more than two decades now.

Chota Rai Munda from a village in Khunti district has been in this ‘business’ for more than thirty years and says that while plucking these ants from their branches he has never been bitten by these insects even once all these years. He boasts of the fact that he is an expert at locating the best spots where these ants are in abundance. He rues the fact that now more and more youngsters from the village are lured to this trade and offer stiff competition to his aging bones.

Ram Singh Munda, another vendor states that for the ailing persons in the village, the delicacy is a refreshing for changing the taste of their fever foul mouth.