High in the Hills

Though charas is grown in over 50,000 acres in the valley with Banjar, Manali, Kullu and Manikaran as its major production centres, Malana’s supposedly superior charas is hugely popular abroad. It’s given its name to that particular joint—Malana cream, smoked in the trendy cafes of Amsterdam and Berlin. It has also spawned a community of backpackers who make frequent pilgrimage to this tiny village on the banks of the Parvati river.

Every year about 35,000 foreigners visit the Kullu valley. In the last one decade, about 15 foreigners—mostly backpackers looking for Malana charas— went missing. But even that has not stopped the steady flow of visitors.

MARRIAGES between locals and foreigners is another fallout of this growing familiarity and commercial relationship. Initially though, Malana residents, claiming that they were pure Aryans, kept only commercial ties with foreigners, considering them impure. ‘‘Foreigners please do not touch anything’’ was a sign one ocassionaly came across. And the price for flouting the directive or for spitting in the village: Rs 1,000. But that is changing now with more than 25 registered marriages in the local court. Unofficially, the number of such weddings is above 100. The police says that makes it easier for the foreigners to run this trade—one of them even owns a charas farm employing locals.

This year itself Kullu police has arrested nine foreigners under the NDPS Act and many more are facing trial in the local court.

Malana charas is sold at Rs 1,000 per 10 gm locally but by the time it reaches the international market its price jumps to Rs 10 lakh per kg.

Growing charas in Malana is a community activity. There is a school in the village but students find it more lucrative to work on charas farms. But increasing police raids have scared some of the villagers. ‘‘We no longer grow it as it has become a dangerous business,’’ says Tule Ram, the village pardhan’s son.

The hostility against the police has gone up over the years. ‘‘There is no one here to protect us. We do not have educated people and we don’t understand your law,’’ says a resident. Last year, during an operation launched by the Narcotics Control Bureau to destroy the cannabis crop, an officer was attacked by the residents.

The administration is now exploring alternate livelihood for the villagers. Organic farming is one such possibility, says agriculturist O P Sharma and a NCB official. Police officials say they have written to the local administration, suggesting they provide Malana residents with alternative methods of farming.

Back in Malana, Tule Ram and other villagers are worried it will be a long harsh winter.