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17 views13 pagesMN
Beautiful chapter
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Sanyogita RathoreCopyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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/ 13
The Changing Village
ling up for radical change. The biggest
landowners, who had acquired considerable sums of money during the
fathers and grandfathers they didnot want
more and more land
When I revisited the village in the summer of 1952 it had already
taken a few steps in the new direct
change. There were two rice
lage, or get priva
and plans were ready for construct
¢ Mysore—Hogur roa:
studying in Mysore
ura were findin,
as though the day wa
of Mysore.
In 1948, I had occasionally come across a housewife carrying, on a
Mysore frequent
jot far off when Rampura would be a dormitory
from a neighbour
embers from ea
ing Village 139
h
Naas ostracized by the village leaders who proclaimed by
no one was fo have a relationship with him. He was
ope of taking live embers (benki fire) and hot water
as ‘a ing live embers from neighbours had
1952
c preparation of f00d, of which cooking
oh drudgery for the housewife; with the staple
be ground ino flour for cooking andthis
Consuming with the stone quer then in use
to ragi as staple, was notan
one with «
a third minded the mortar.
fered grain had! shed back, husked grain taken out, and new
grain fed in. All the three did their jobs while singing a traditional
“pounding soi :
There was also the more complicated koina combining a mixture of
the principles of the pestle and mortar and see-saw. The kotna was
accommodated in a long veranda or hall, and it was worked entirely by
women. A pestle was fixed to one end of a ten-foot beam which formed
an angle of about fifteen degree with the floor. Below the pestle was the
usual stone mortar imbedded in the floor. The beam was balanced on a
two-feet-high post fixed to the ground. The free end of the beam was
readed alternately by two women, which caused the pestle to go up an
sn. come down with force to hit the grain in the mortar. The women,
who Were treading the kotna, hung on to ropes suspended from beams
supporting the roof. Another woman minded the mortar.
Only small quantities of paddy could be dehusked by the kotna. Itwas
painfully slow, andthe proportion of broken grain (nuchchu) was greater
than in a huller let alone a proper mill. Only those who wanted small
‘quantities of paddy to bedehusked used the kona. During the Waryears,
landowners who had small quantities of paddy for milling or who for
various reasons did not want to go toa mill, took their paddy tothe koina.
In 1948 Rampura had only two or three komnas,
|
¢
€
€
©
€
4
SL
140. Indian Soc) through Perna Way
was u: for landowner =
inblogar which asthave naeaa gem
Both Hogs and Ranpersiay nites
oe ven though
across the district boundasy h
milled inthe same tal
ofrossinghedistiettogetaayineny
to go tothe Secreariat m Boron
api. on ofthe youn
8 in Rampura to have
lk. Landown
‘twas as near as Hogur,
was diffical é
rom Several villagers. He was
= only
have much cah ts ies al
at vilge noes ose pai
fou ily and hat ln pang
stances ake theicpaddyoa hllat Vilage se
the Sppornity to eseape the drudgery of spending ton
‘the ‘one quem. and also, those who wanted their paddy
tool ‘to the huller instead of kona. Besides,
needed for hulling paddy. This was a loophole in
Japi took me home a day or two before the formal
‘enterprise; he had walled off a section of his long li
‘the machines, and he gave me an account of the trou
them to Rampura and having them installed. He p
after a few preliminary and uncertain noises, the
activity, and I felt as though the floor and the w:
sympathy. A few neighbours came in to see wh:
their faces broke intobroad grins atthe machine’
glad that] was not one of Japi's neighbours: the
would have been too much. But to the
novelty anda very usefulone atthat, Japihad chai
women by removing a perennial source of d
responsible for the disappearance from the \ ge 139
Taking
hat both
others.
als and
ned by
le was
water
s had
aking
aple
this
use,
tan
Te was usta for lndowne
in Hogur which es tiee
both HogurandRempursinn
the mills in Kere, even theagy we
Acro5s the district boundary
milled inthe same tut eid nen
Ofcrossing thedisticttogetanyueec eg
tin Bngalore
in Rampura to have their paddy milled
was the capital of the obli
i, for Kere
have one's
Occur to the villagers to
icial done except when the:
{is tesouress in'a haller and flour-mill called for dane
foresight, especially in view of the many conta ne
ee te was say & middle-range landowner and he
much cash to invest. But he did not subscribe to the local
pelief that village women would rather grind their rag/athome than eke
it to the flour mill, and that landowners would not, under any cineans
Stances, take their paddy to ahuller. Village women seemed to welome
the opportunity to escape the drudgery of spending lon rotating
the stone quern, and also, those who wanted their paddy milled urgently
took itto the huller instead of koina. Besides, nogoverament permit was
needed for hulling paddy. This was a loophole in the regulations
governing the milling of rice, helpful both to those with small quanti
of paddy and to black-marketers. The prices obtaining in the black
market were so high that landowners did not mind the relative ineffi
cieney and slowness of the huller.
Japi took me home a day or two before th
enterprise; he had walled off a section of hi
the machines, and he gave mean account of the trouble he had in getting
them to Rampura and having them installed, He put on
and uncertain noises,
jough the floor and
sympathy. A few neighbours came in to see
their faces broke into broad grins
ving room to h
Bae eine coe ashe taliho lagers, ie
novelty and a very useful one at that. Japihad changedthe lives:
sae by removing a perennial source of drudgery. He was also
le for the disappearance from the village of ragi-grinding
responsi
ishusker(koina) Japi wi
1952,.some time after Milayya's
before Nadu Gowd:
he grinned.
means of transport was the
Grain, goods and hi
wmode
jethe
‘out of the cart and walked to st eit legs for a whi
In 1948, inter-village roads were in a wi
breaks fros
into the worl
ban forces were penetrating them increasingly
The first buses began p| Rampura regio
significantly
Since petrol was
lowns were common, Wartime tr
1950 or so.
to ‘nationalize’
ready bee
erative routes had
and remi
;nsport. Importat and granting them
were the repayment
The new enterprises not only taught new skills and
Of those involved in them but also thi
‘and accounting procedures,
Jims needed greasing regu:
Took after ancestral farms
snging world of trade, commerce and
‘The more educated youths dreamed of becoming members of
legislature, and even ministers in the cabinet. In short,they had
come a long way from the world of their fathers and grandfathers. The
preneurs gave jobs to their kinsfolk, castefolk and fellow-villag-
were three or four cycles. in varying stages of decay. Thi
inged in 1952 when Yantra. the mechanic who operated
|. kept a shop where several new cycles were available for hiring by
years later, the richest villagers were buying cars and
the capital as the products of the factory in Mysore h
ora few years. An ge youth once saw me walking of
a road in Mysore city and insisted on driv
948, there were five sewing ma
ders, and one Fisherman, one Toddyman and:
Muslim. Tailoring as pation did not involve loss of status
presumably because it meant working with a machine and required new
ng Kere, a Bral in de! he bulk of his
rom tailoring.) Another 1g was that
lors did not regard itas b 0 make blouses for
a. In other words.
caste and sex, and i
into new relationships with women who were not their kin or caste. The
‘The Changing Village 143
“ehicfond! in which mast of
> ‘customers. His scheme prospered greatly for
Se eg many women of hl hae
coal ania
to collape
The ‘entrepreneur had to flee the vil
another ne several changes which had occurred between 1948 and,
5 availability of electric power. It not only powered the two:
ei covided lighting to several homes. The later
ee saa cansistors only inthe sixties wit college- Boing
eh hed etarneg nome for te Holidays, ate
male available totem. on abire system, a ractorand bulldozer, owned
aa ee aplmnent: Four years after the request was made @ gover
one ere j bulldozer vas levelling sixaore of land ontheheadman’s
ree ee ince was too high o be reachedby the feeder canals Dut the
armyonek Gas able to somove enough soil ‘© make it itigable. The
cago rer ee cdo the headman's farm for 2 few weeks as i-needed
cece Spar and it made an impact on the villagers inthe same way
eae lilt, To see the monster machiae poll down huge trees and
2a Path blocks of earth was an experience which they would not
Subp tonget: Modern technology id indeed perform miracles and
human labour appeared pitiful i contrast.
There was algo progress in public health, Rampura had been includ-
edin the Hogur health unit, and one of the consequences ofthe inclusion
periodical spraying of street guters and walls with DDT.
¢ wets algo afoot forthe construction of a hospital.
was
ECONOMIC CHANGE
‘There were two sources of irrigation before the extension of the CDS
Canal in the 1860s, one being the Big Tank, and the other being the
Ramaswamy Canal, which hugged the river Kaveri. Both the sources
irrigated only a little more than 200 acres of low-lying land while the
considerable quantity of land irrigated by the CDS (as itwas referred
to by the younger villagers) lay at higher levels. Again, though it was
only an-administrative matter, the land irrigated by the Ramaswamy
Canal lay within the jurisdiction of Hogur and not Rampura.
Naturally, a greater quantity of land was under the dry crops in the
pre-CDS days. The crops grown were millets such as jowar and ragi,
the various pulses, and oilseeds such as sesame and castor. Dry crops
144 Indian Soctety through Personal Writings
were totally dependent upon he monsoon ran,
for their unpredictability, and in. Sei
Stricken and tackward, Th wes eal
‘The exiensionaf he Canal antic ee
oficerenliedina sccre spear een
Raspes ta toate te oem eee
‘rough a were while he exensionel ee
tho ap ol te at nade a
presencvillagesiteofRampura thelr
‘ay cal
"Tes Scion mew regs ee
‘ake of the epidemic, the actual shift aloen
Commissioner f Mysore dstct wat sven
“illage sto on ie met egeaiee
the village before tng sharply canta
‘The villagers tookall her belonging nla
Basava) to the acw si The dekien Te
Latent ees ceed
pram emerstpntig
Ay ete cst tia ee
pound tires wo sta cuerpo
aeee eee a eee
tani slabs were fret diomandea be
——
1a 1948, several villagers contrasted
poverty of the interwar years, 1918
‘merchants from Mysore visited the vi
‘ay nearly ha the produce tbe a
‘Deon acape ofeverseuracie
state ofaflairs forced the leaders to
Seine Rigety ove tometer tt
jot marred and the banning of #2
Ne erent ae
complex sina of the Gisebaton
‘weddings on the bride's father agree
* Malan i epidemic form simlaty affect
‘underthe Viavesvarays canal system. The w
‘was apotent source ofthe disease, andoaly
helped to wipe it out The economie prosp
from the forties, . The Changing Village 143
3 ‘chiv-fond’ in which most of
Scheme prospered greatly for
s many women of their hard
fee the village and settle in
occurred between 1948 and
Trnot only powered the {wo
, several homes. The latter
sixties with college-£0ing
lays. i
to the visiting minister to
ctor and bulldozer, owned
est was made 2 govern
sof land on the headman's
| the feeder canals but the
illagers in the same way
ull down huge trees and
. which they would not
perform miracles aod
pura had been includ-
uences of the inclusion
and walls with DDT.
1ospil
extension of the CDS
4 the other being the
ri, Both the sources
Iying Jand while the
‘(as it was referred
rain, though jt was
“the Ramaswamy
smpurs.
dry crops in the
Jfowar aus ras
istor, Dry crops
144 Indian Society through Personal Wi
presen vilage sit ofRamporaandibland around dio coe nde
“The decision to move the village toits present site was aken inthe
wake ofthe cpidernis the acaal shit taking place in 1874 The Sepsty
ssioner of Mysore district was an Englishman, and
site on the top ofthe rise, to the west of the canal 3
ing sharply eastand making a be
belongings including their deities (excepting
akshmana and
.gerscontrasted their present prosperity with the
poverty of the 1918-39. As described earlier, rice
merchants from Mysore visited the village at every harvest and took
‘away nearly half the produ isted towards the interest due to
them. This was true of everyone including the biggest landowners. This
of affairs forced the leader: iroduce certain reforms such as
Cutting down by one the number of feasts to be given when village gitls
got married and the banning of gambling, In an effort to promote
harmony and economy lage they pen
complex ritual of the
weddings on the bride's father agreeing to pay Rs 8.
jal drugs of the fortes, and DDT
helped 10 ip importance of Mandya dates
{from the fonies.
expensive ritual
. mined by
P ing with them milled against permits. They hi
agi they ate from local shops against ration cards. A\
Before World War 11, villagers in M
paper money. In fact, ordinary
paddy rem:
ig coins
‘accept high denominai
since the begit
development of communics
fe and also assumed new di
ions 1 Writings
who tried to
atiempts were made to transfer while those who obliged them were
given beni wn. They wanted contracts, licene:
be given ottheirrelatives, clients, friends and caste
fifties Kannada journals and newspapers were fi
ss of ‘Congress pudharis’. A pudhari was abroker 0%
a man who had cultivated the men in
of those in whom he was
whose catse he sponsored
like all brokers he expected to
ge to gover
taking with them J
The visit of the
Jandmark, literally speakis
dignitary had walked its streets. According to the olde:
highest official previously co vi
villagers, the
work for the villagers. It was preceded by the visits of lower officials
who demanded lage streets be cleared of logs, carts,
|, bricks, etc. They rs to be cleaned,
jides of houses to appear tidy. (There was the possil
his head to
2 wer at the “sepa:
tendencies displayed by Rampura Harijans, and the Muslims who
for the Urdu school.)
gers became soused
porary
pened. A minister's
some expense and
sters keptcoming
rew the village offits usual
is and even the minister. While the elite liked to
1¢ mighty, they wanted the privilege to be
© poor, and to their opponents.
ier of 1952 I remember having a brief discussion
fe smart young man who was helping Millayya run his
The papers had reported that Mr Hanumanthaiya, then chief
minister, as saying that ability and qualifications had to be the sole
is for recruitment to jobsin the government, and notthe caste from
the applicants came. I thought that Mr Hanumanthaiya had made
ageous statement but Tammu pointed outthat the voters
who had elected him wanted applicants to be recruited from the
sections of the society. Mr Hanumanthaiya’s desire to
non “British principles’ would not succeed, Tammu’s
Perhaps revealed a keener sense of grassroots political
and Tammu was typical of the politicized village
id grasped the fact thatthe voters: interests had tobe
d representatives. They were also aware that
representatives to bring pressure on officials
to give favourable decisions. They had a sense of power which they
liked to display, The villager was no longer scared of officials but was
(0 flex his political muscles. The time-honoured nules of the
ical game were beginning to change.
}48 Indian Society through Perso
Gace thc al
Soe aes
way. He did not give up trying to win’ The Changing Village
ial
:be choked with village dust cra
purney was going tobe dusty in ead
come arches were erected’ on any
rijans and the other by eversucee
Sto erect a welcome arch anan?
neon occasion too. Bur se
mgs
ijans, and the Musii
rdu schi Hms! io)
indifference. Being hard-he,
Jepuy-commissioner the Tord
ielp them with the contempey ee
rnothing happened. A minister's anewspaperthe was no easy Mm:
1¢ and meant some expens. ee) ‘and ashe read, he grade ind cesses to be
and
ice to local malcontents to have
nister. While the elite liked :
cy wanted tern SD roms
ber having a brief discussion and hair style. That symbol of Sansks
was helping Millayya run his
"Hanumanthaiya, then chief
fications had to be the sole
nment,and not the caste from
4r Hanumanthaiya had mad
au pointed out that the voters
to be recruited from the
Janumanthaiya’s)
id not succeed. Tamn
se of grassroots political
1| of the politicized village
, voters’ interests had to be:
They were also aware that
bring pressure on officials
nse of power which they.
cared of officials but was
ne-honoured rules of the
ge leader in Kere who had
ions. He was
the altar of p
his father and grandmother had!
and wore
sted a
couraged—he was tough
had notheardof!
2 meeting of the 1
connected lawyer-po!
took great pains to have
guest and other invitee:
fields on the previous day,
‘cand vegetables.) But the mee!
igs two mem
besides, of
jad wanted
audience
ages got into a
1. The energies of t
1e angry debs
explode
to bringing al
perhaps
He did not give up tyingt©
ies in a lower Key.
out peace between 150 dndian Society through Personal Writings
to become aminister’. As soon as he had uttered these words, my Row
a ead tg himn and pinched him on both the cheeks in delight. Itwas only
seepattdiscovered thatthe boy was my host's Only son while the other
boys were his brother's. The son was going to fulfil the father's
ambitions.
Tn Rampura in 1948, inter-caste relations were on the whole co-
operative if not friendly. This was facilitated by the fact that Peasants
greatly outnumbered all the other castes, and also owned he bulk ofthe
Brenlc land, And the headman and Nadu Gowda working in close
eReeration provided unified leadership. The non-Peasants, including
SePRlucties depended upon the leaders to give them a fair deal
‘but with the introduction of adult franchise and of the electoral
principle into panchayats and other local self-governing instinnioey
eetans between the castes increased sharply. In the summer of 1952
to Headman was angry with the Harijans for not voting for the
cnadidate whom he wamed elected. Andin Kere, my friend, the Peasant
fades wasdefeated atthe election tothe State legislature, andhe asked
the members of a Brahmin household to quit the village on their own &
face the prospect of being driven out. The members of this household,
ae ad sad extremely resourceful, had worked actively for the 49!
sere jate who was a local Peasant and also the candidate selected by
the Congress Party. But he was living at that time in Bangalore and
could not offer protection in day-to-day situations to his supporers
have narrated elsewhere the visit in the summer of 1948 by 2
Shepherd who had settled down as a landowner in Kuderu near
Charmarajanagar. after retiring from his career as an actor in 2 well-
Known dramatic company in Mysore. The Shepherd was 8 large and
wiewible man, and after his arrival, he talked to the Headman and 9 few
aaa on a variety of matiers. Everyone listened to him attentively. 28
pegs talking to them about happenings in the world outside. After
reminiscing briefly about his acting days and his present precet 00
ons, he commented onthe way in which Lingayats in sarea—Kuderu
hae g Lingayat-dominated area—oppressed the others. He added that
Brahmins had many faults and had done several unjust things when they
were in power but they had certain inhibitions stemming from their
respect for dharma, But unfortunately the Lingayats 18 his region were
free fromthese inhibitions. I waited for someone to contradictthe visitor
put no one did, wondered whether my presence came inthe Way of the
ng its opinions about the way Brahmins used (0 treat the
group expre:
‘The Changing Village 151
others, It was not unlikely that the visitor's day-to-day experiences in
rvillage where Lingayat landowners exploited the others made him
* ke a friendly view of the distant Brahmans. (His experience would
probably have been different‘had he lived in Brahmin-dominated
area.)
Tris only fairto add here that Lingayats felt oppressed in places and
areas wheve they were ina minority. A Lingayat principal of acollege
whe hailed from Mysore district once told.me that his was the only
Lingayat village in a region dominated by Peasants ‘And he added
jocularly, ‘We are in Pakistan’. Castes which Were numerically very
seerilexperienced asense of insecurity especially in villages where the
tiers lacked a sense of fairness. A member of = minouky He
easchably referred with pride to a village (or small town) where his
svar ag represented in strength. In such a place, 2 few of the caste
falows there were well off and influential, An important temple Was
frequently located there and attracted pilgrims. The periodical festivals
weed temple provided occasion for caste leaders to gather and discuss
matters of common interest. In the case of Harijans, however, their
minority status was greatly compounded by untouchability and eco-
nomic dependence on the dominant castes.
n
CULTURAL CHANGE,
When! was doing fieldwork, I concentrated my attention onreconstmct>
ing the traditional social structure which made me less sensitive 19 the
factors making for change. This explains, at least partly, my failure to
raclize thet the attitudes of the villagers with regard to disease, health
and life-expectancy had changed because of the sharp decress© if
mortality from the major epidemics of plague, smallpox and cholera.
Plague and smallpox had almost completely disappeared while cholera
iyac both much less frequent and destructive. The last occasion when
cholera visited the village in epidemic form was in 1949. Prior to the
World War Il years, villages were visited by one or the other of these
epidemics every few years. Preventive measures took time to reach the
afflicted villages, and even when they were available, backwardness
and superstition came in the Way of their acceptance. The amildar was
generally in charge of organizing the medical and relief measures.
When an epidemic struck a group of villages in a severe form, he had
to evacuate the inhabitants from their homes and settle them in
152 Indian Society through Personal Ws
temporary huts erected at some distance
move back only after the epidemic had ¢
Traditionally, a person suffering fron
to take modern medicine as it was though
names). As could be expected of a deity
dealing diseases, she was quick to tak
hope of recovery, slender though it was
ather mercy. The twigs and leaves of t
‘were good for a person suffering from
cially smallpox. Twigs were kept near
leaves, and they were put into his bat
from the disease. Only after a cleans
of the deity. Offerings of rice flourmis
coconuts and betel leaves and nuts +
tambittuwas shaped like a pyramid w
a depression was made in the flatter
a lamp: the depression was filled w
2 cotton wick light. The wick was al
the pyramid was broken up and dis
Summer was the season for t
disappeared after the monsoon rair
presiding over the epidemics was
eriyuvudu). The margosa wasone«
in summer and its leaves, twig
medicinal properties. Margosa u
the temple of the village godde
goddess, tree and epidemics we
Tn 1948, the conquestof thei
contrasted sharply with the fa
traumatic. No village woman v
baby delivered. A few rich vill
a midwife from either Kere or
their older relatives and frien:
‘most secure with her mother
ments occurred invariably in
‘The Headman’ s wite diec
There isa graphic account of
order to persuade villagers sinick
Nanapugal, pp- 354-8. ee ene Yee ee
r’s day-to-day experiences in