Sullia (Karnataka): Having lost his farmland for the bank loan he could not repay, a man from Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka leads a solitary life inside the forest accompanied only by his favourite Premier Padmini car. Chandrashekhar, 56-years-old now, has been leading such a life for the last 17 years.
Till 2003, Chandrashekhar is like anyone in the region and owned a 1.5-acre farm in Nekral Kemraje village. He used to grow areca nuts. He had borrowed Rs 40,000 from a cooperative bank. After he failed to repay the loan, the bank auctioned his property and Chandrashekar was heartbroken. For a while, he lived with his sister at Adtale village but he soon had a rift with his sister's family.
Karnataka man lives alone in forest last 17 years Frustrated, he decided to live alone and started from his sister's house in his Premier Padmini car. He drove deep into the forest and did not want to return to civilization. He put up a small plastic hut over his car to protect it from sun and rain.
Over time, Chandrashekar has become a self-sustained man and learned to get his things from nature. He takes bath in the river flowing nearby. He weaves baskets during the day and sells them at Adtale village. He buys groceries with the meager income he gets from the sale of baskets.
He is all alone in the forest near Aranthodu village near Adtale - Nekkare area. Under the worn-out plastic, the aging Padmini car sits and an old bicycle is in front of the hut. When free, Chandrashekar listens to old Hindi songs of Akashvani Mangaluru using his old radio.
On knowing about this man’s self-imposed solitary life, a few years ago A B Ibrahim, then District Collector of Dakshina Kannada, visited him. He promised Chandrashekar a proper house. The collector even got a house built, but Chandrashekar refused to move away since the house was inside a rubber forest. He has gotten used to proper forest life and did not prefer a house in mono-crop rubber forest.
Wild elephants used to pass near his tent several times. Chandrashekhar and the wild elephants are acquainted with each other over time. The Forest Department has no issue with this solitary man because he never harms the flora and fauna of the forest area. “I don’t even cut bamboo in the forest. If I cut even a small shrub, I will lose the faith of the forest department," Chandrashekar said.
He doesn’t have an Aadhaar Card. But Aranthod Gram Panchayath administered COVID19 vaccines to him. During the Lockdown, he survived on water and wild fruits. Chandrashekhar's only wish in life is to get back his land. He had preserved all the land documents only for this purpose.
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