The foot print investigators (Paggis) of India

I met three old men for an assignment today. They have a very special skill which has almost died. They say, that there are only 4 or 5 Paggis are left in Kachchh today.

Paggis are men who identify the footprints of People and animals and get information about them. They help people, police and even army in investigating the foot traces of terrorists, thieves, lost cattle etc.
I went to their village with Naeven Bhai, the driver of Sehjeevan who knew them well. This meeting was one of the best one since a long time. I had only a few hours to cover their story and come out with a photo essay.

With a lot of curiosity, I bombarded them with many questions. A crux of what came out is below:

They belong to the Sodha community of Sindh, Pakistan. In 1971, during the India Pakistan war, they crossed the border and took refuge in India, in Kachchh. They were eventually given special ‘Paggi certificates’ by the police and also once invited by the police and the Intelligence Bureau to bust a terrorist bunker with RDX stores. The locals take their help to find their lost cattle like cows buffalos and goats. The locals also take them in identifying the thieves. They say that they can identify a person’s footprints anywhere anytime in their lifetime if they have seen it once.
I asked them to take me to a field and teach me how do they do that. That way, I could also get some interesting shots. We went to an open terrain. As soon as we reached, they bent they head down, eyes on the ground and started filling me with all the information. In a minute they had already identified a cows footprint, 4 buffaloes’ one dog and a snake in a small area of about 4-meter square. Not only had they identified the animals whom the footprints belonged, they also told me that one buffalo had a limp in its fourth feet, how old was the cow, there was one calf in the heard, the time the group of buffaloes went in the direction and the time when the same group came back. Not only this, they also told me which species the snake belonged to and if it was poisonous or not.
It was like every information in that small piece of ground, was unfolding like all the foot traces started creating a sequence of events.
One of the paggi ‘Netaji Sodha’ also brought his grandson along. The kid was observing his grandad’s and uncles’ moments and asking them questions. When I was at their home before, I had asked them how they learnt the art and they said that it came naturally and through their connection with nature. I got my answer when I saw them teaching their grandson.
I was more curious than ever. So I asked them about a human footprint on the sand on what all they can get out of those impressions. They told me that those impressions can tell them about the way the person walked and if it was a male or a female (through the distance between his steps) , how heavy he/she was (through the depth of the foot impressions), how old was he/she (through the drag in the footprints, the older the person is, more the drag.), The time and day he went (as the days passed, the impressions get lighter) and a a lot more details.
All these things are simple observations but take a lot of years of practice to master the skills.

The Paggis are no longer able to pass the skills to the next generation mostly because of the lack of work (All the three are farmers and get to use their skills once in a few months) and also lack of interest in the generation. They are rarely paid for their work if at all they get something, its only 500 rupees by the police. They asked me if I could take their message forward and make people aware of their dying art. I took their numbers and addresses to send them the photos I took and promised to come back and spend more time with them. I am looking forward to going back soon.

The photo assignment was done for the Living Lightly: Journeys with Pastoralists which will be held on 5th to 8th October in Mill owner’s association building, Ahmedabad. Find out more there!