Village Life

Though village is a better place to live in environmentally, life is tough there. Daily household chores will drain your energy. There is no tap water, no gas for cooking. If you want to have three square meals a day you have to work hard. Drawing water from the well, cutting fire-wood, burning fire-wood to prepare food, grinding spices with grinding stones, washing utensils outside the house and washing clothes outside or in the pond are a tough task.

I am from a joint family. My grandfather had a large joint family where more than 20 members were living together. My grandfather had a farm, here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo, moo instead of here a bow, there a bow. Cattle are needed for farming. There was only one female dog which lived for about 25 years. His joint family had vast acres of farm land and a house made from stone and mud and a large compound around it. Now I feel it was only a dream. Our family tree is uprooted by the bad weather of the household. The seeds are shattered here and there. It was not because of family feud. There was no one willing to continue the family profession. When educated generation migrated and settled elsewhere family members reduced to 3-4. When those few members, who came in a stage that they cannot manage the farming, sold the house and land property. There were many servants for farming and household chores. Servants were honest and dedicated then. Now we don’t get workers for farming. They also want to be educated or go for works that yield a better wage. It happens, when all want to be educated and a better life. Educated young generations don’t want to become farmers. Agriculture is not a cheap profession. Agriculture sense is needed, more than that is how lucky you are. There is no way to protect the open farm lands. Anyone can lay hands on them. Fortunately it didn’t happen to us. People were honest then. To protect the crops from pests, locusts, birds, rodents, cattle and bad weather is a tough task.

My grandmother had a separate house with a 50 cent plot where I spent my school days. I had to work hard. I had to make even cow-dung cakes. It was a boon that there were fruit bearing trees and plants in our house compound. And we grow vegetables. We would get the grains sufficient for a year from our farm. So we didn’t have to buy these things from outside. We had to buy only groceries. My mother would manage the household with an income of mere Rs.50 in the 60s and 70s. What will we do with 50Rs. now? I had to shuttle between my grandparents’ separate houses as a messenger almost all days. I missed the organic food ever since I left my native village to Mumbai. I would get to eat a lot of fruits—custard apple, guava, jack-fruit, goose berries and a variety of mangoes. I would eat even berries of neem tree. A dip in the pond at dawn would revive me. Only large houses like my grandfather’s were illuminated with electric bulbs. All other homes had dark nights. I had to study with a kerosene lamp. However, life was peaceful then.

A century old one or two storied mud houses withstand weather because we will not do any alterations once they are built. We don’t allow any activities on upper floors; don’t even let children play there. Upper floors are only to sleep. Houses are located at a distance because every house has at least a small piece of land around it. So what? You just sneeze, the entire village will hear. In other words, you cannot do anything without the consent of neighbours. They will stay ears pricked and eyes wide opened. Though houses had no proper bolts and locks we didn’t have to fear robbers. There were no daring robbers then. Now the situation has changed. Crimes started in villages too.

Early to bed and early to rise’ is the villagers’ habit that makes them healthy and wise. No one will dare to go out after nightfall. Dimly-lit lanes would remain isolated till dawn. Street lights that have 15 w. bulbs don’t make any difference in the pitch darkness and that too only for main lanes. The lamp posts stand on the lanes gloomy throughout the nights without seeing anyone. People return from movie will be the last ones to sleep. Most of them are workers. Though they don’t have three square meals a day they will spend money for film. Women from respected family might have seen a few selected films in their life time. There were make-shift sheds in a 5 mile radius as theatres. Some entertainment loving people would organize a stage show once a while. A few would gather to watch. Dimly-lit stage with gasoline lamps wouldn’t fascinate anybody much. Shops for essential things were a few but there will be country liquor shops everywhere. One thing good is there are no garbage hills or overflowing drains. Villagers have Nature sense. Though they are aware of the natural disasters deaths rarely occur by snake-bites or drowning. Villages are gradually developing. Because of the arrival of TV, computer, early to bed and early to rise is changed in to ‘late to bed and early to rise’ so wisdom also goes out of them. Village life totally depends on agriculture. Converting farm lands into residential plots is something inappropriate that they do. Since food is the main resource it should not be done. A dream house will give only day dream, not food. Development of villages means destroying landscape and greenery. Villages should be developed without spoiling its beauty. At least villages should remain as it is.