This tree-house dweller from Assam is confident of not contracting COVID-19

Bijay Brahma, a middle-aged tribal farmer from Baksa district of Assam has been living a solitary life atop a tree for last 12 years and is confident that the coronavirus outbreak, which is wreaking havoc across the globe, won’t affect him.

Baksa (Assam):While the rest of the world is having a hard time abiding by the rules of social distancing and consequential isolation amid coronavirus outbreak, a farmer from Baksa district of Assam is unfazed by any such restriction.

Bijay Brahma, a middle-aged tribal farmer, has been living a solitary life atop a tree near his farmland for the last 12 years.

Even as the people around him struggle to keep the disease at bay, Brahma exudes confidence that the infection won’t catch him.

“Although there is a disease outbreak, it doesn’t concern me. Anyway, I live atop a tree. I have farmland here which is why I live here. While the disease may be contracted by others it won’t affect me,” the tree-house dweller told ETV Bharat.

Brahma has fixed a bamboo shaft atop a tree and spends most his time on his "treehouse".

Living a self-sustained life, Brahma earns his living by selling paddy and vegetables cultivated on his farmland and occasionally tries his hand at fishing to sell the catch in the nearby market.

It may be mentioned here that treehouses are not very uncommon in some parts of Assam, particularly in areas along the Indo-Bhutan border, which is where Baksa lies. The residents of these areas often live in tree houses to guard their paddy fields against raiding elephant herds.

Assam has reported 35 positive cases of COVID-19 including one death so far, but none have been reported from the state’s Baksa district.