Nosy Neighbors Indian Village Rajasthan 3a

by Sue Jacobi

Title

Nosy Neighbors Indian Village Rajasthan 3a

Artist

Sue Jacobi

Medium

Photograph - Fine Art Photography - Digital Art

Description

Nosy Neighbors Indian Village Rajasthan 3a.
I recently had the privilege of visiting and staying in several villages in Rajasthan, India. It was an amazing experience and a real eye-opener. This image is one from a series depicting village life scenes. I had just arrived in the village, and barely settled down in my hosts� house. Typically that consists of leaving my bag/s either in the front outer courtyard (it�s bright and sunny most of the year), or just leaving them in one of the 3 or 4 bedrooms that lead directly off that courtyard. And then, of course, precious drinking water was offered to me, from an earthen pot, in a stainless steel mug. After waiting a few minutes, just out of politeness you know, the neighbors � several generations of them � who had been looking at me peekaboo from the adjoining compound wall � all walked in with a flourish, into my hosts� courtyard, to welcome me! I was surprised and pleased at the same time! There was general chitchat � who am I, where am I from, etc � and the passing around of the stainless steel mug to drink water from. It was all so very quaint!
I was particularly fascinated by the older woman in the group. She shone with charisma, had a brilliant natural smile, looked very photogenic, and was clad in the typical traditional fashion that I love. She wears the traditional colourful Rajasthani lehenga suit that all married women wear. On her upper arms she wears a number of white bangles of varying sizes. These, combined with the multitude of chunky oxidized silver jewelry on her nose, ears, arms and feet, make for a captivating picture.
In Rajasthan and North-West India, a dhani is the smallest conglomeration of huts. All families living in a Dhani are relatives of each other or at least are of the same caste. Most Indian villages are small; nearly 80 percent have fewer than 1,000 inhabitants, according to the Indian census 2001. Most are nucleated settlements, while others are more dispersed. It is in villages that India's most basic business � agriculture - takes place.
For a tourist visiting Rajasthan for the first time, it is actually difficult to find a village in the vast stretches of barren land. It is only when a herd of cattle is seen around that the tourist gets an inkling of a village nearby.
Dhanis are ancillaries to the village. Those who want to live in proximity to their fields make their huts in the field and are able to take care of their crop in a better way. The crop when ready is a valuable asset and needs to be properly guarded from stray animals and enemies.
A dhani(also known as a boothra) is a complex socio-economic unit. According to the Revenue Act, in India this is smallest viable unit. A cluster of a few houses is known as �Dhani� in Rajasthan. Indian villages are definitely simple. A cluster of mud-plastered walls shaded by a few trees, set among a stretch of green fields, men sitting under some old tree smoking bidis or beedis with fellow villagers of their own age group, ladies with veiled faces moving towards the central well to fetch water, cattle making many types of noises, children playing typical village games like gilli-danda and satoliya�all present an image of eternally peaceful bliss and harmony.
Indian city dwellers often refer nostalgically to their native village and how they miss that life but soon are taken back by absurdly hectic city life. City artists portray colorfully garbed village women gracefully carrying water pots on their heads, and writers describe isolated rural settlements unsullied by the complexities of modern urban civilization. Poets including Indian National Poet Maithili Sharan Gupta have written poems in praise of village life. Social scientists of the past wrote of Indian villages as virtually self-sufficient communities with few ties to the outside world.
Since all marriages are done in the same or nearby village, villagers in India manifest a deep loyalty to their village, identifying themselves to strangers as residents of a particular village, harking back to family residence in the village that typically extends into the distant past. A family rooted in a particular village does not easily move to another, and even people who have lived in a city for a generation or two refer to their ancestral village as "our village." Even business communities who have moved to far-off places for business activities like traders from Rajasthan in Kolkata, Chennai and Assam make it a point to visit their native village for performing social ceremonies.
No matter how strong the bond of the villagers is, their unity is challenged by a lot of conflicts, rivalries, and factionalism. Disputes, strategic contests and even violence occur. Most villages of India include prosperous, powerful people, who are fed and serviced through the labors of the lower-class people.
The village dwelling unit, popularly known as a hut, is usually circular in shape. Its simplest hamlets, the most basic form of civilisation with a way of life that has probably remained unchanged since centuries, consist of a collection of huts that are circular, and have thatched roofs. The walls are covered with a plaster of clay, cow dung, and hay, making a termite-free (antiseptic) facade that blends in with the sand of the countryside around it. It is thatched with grass and hay. Sometimes clay moulded Kelu are also used. Boundaries for houses and land holdings, called baras, are made of the dry branches of a nettle-like shrub, the long, sharp thorns a deterrent for straying cattle. The huts so made are technically hygienic and give the feeling of air conditioning. In summers they remain cool and in winters it remain warm. If a dhani looks bleak, it is hardly surprising: the resources for building these homes, which are the most eco-friendly living unit, are made with what is available at hand, and in Rajasthan, and particularly so in its western desert regions, this can mean precious little. A village that is even a little larger may have pucca houses, or larger living units, usually belonging to the village Zamindar (landlord) family. Consisting of courtyards, and a large Nora or cattle enclosure, attached to one side or at the entrance, these are made of a mixture of sun-baked clay bricks covered with a plaster of lime.
Indian villagers share use of common village facilities�the village pond (known in India as a tank), grazing grounds, temples and shrines, cremation grounds, schools, sitting spaces under large shade trees, wells, and wastelands. Every village has a pond where cattle and children bathe and play. It is a romantic place where youngsters get a chance to steal a glimpse of their beloved. Outside the village or in the center, a temple is must in every village. In eastern part of India there are more than one ponds & ponds are often reserved separately on the basis of gender.
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March 8th, 2015

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