A Group @ Your Doorstep

         You are busy with your own stuff at your home and suddenly the doorbell rings. When you open the door, a group of some teenagers are there at your doorstep. One of them comes in front and tells you that “We are from this place or this college. And we want some time of yours to know your lifestyle, your culture and much more.” Will we ever allow an unknown person in our home or will we ever allow a group of unknown teenagers in our home? Obviously, most of the people will reply ‘No’. We won't allow them. We don't have the time to waste by talking to someone. I am not saying that everyone will refuse, some people might like to talk to them. Now tell me honestly what will a majority of you do?

            Let me take you to Karnala, about 10 km away from Panvel City.

Some days ago, me and my friends, a group of teenagers went to Tara and Koral Villages in Karnala to understand the dynamics of rural life. We visited some of the houses and spoke to a few villagers. There was little resistance and they spoke to us nicely; even in a short time, they told us a lot about themselves. Why? Why were they so happy to talk to us? Did they know us? Did they not have any work? Why were they wasting their time with a group of unknown teenagers? Not a single person told us about their problems. Why? I am sure these questions are coming to your mind at this time. I have the answers to all these questions. For starters, let us go through a small journey to that place.

Far away from the shrill noise, stress, and busy life; life here is quite simple and interesting. When you have a Human Loving Environment with Lovely Villagers, then what you want to do is live a simple life. Houses made of Cow Dung, Bricks and Mud; Floor made of Cow Dung; Fresh Air; all these things made me more curious to know about these villages. They don’t have as many facilities as us. Most of them have 'Kachcha' Houses. Hand constructed Tenon puts more taste in a dish in comparison to the gas cylinders. Handmade bread with a base of Rice or Nachni is their food for survival. Their main occupation is Agriculture. They grow Wal (A Pulse) Rice, Black Eyed Beans and Country Cucumber mostly. They celebrate Holi, Janmashtami, Peethor festivals; the last one being the most important. They collect the forest products, decorate them and celebrate this festival on a specific New Moon Day. On this day, they make rangolis, serve food to the crows and only when the crows have eaten the food, do they eat their food.

A slightly developed village placed along the Kanyakumari-Panvel Highway is the Tara village in Karnala. Most of the people here are from the Agri Community. Here in the village, they don’t have any police station, but police co-operation is praiseworthy. They have only one Doctor among 150 families in the entire village. This village has some 'Pakka' Houses and People here are educated. The literacy level in this village are not very high but yes it’s appreciable as this is a Village, not a City. They have Electricity Problems. 8 hours of continuous load shedding is common here. If you are thinking that the government has made all these provisions for this village then let me tell you that all these facilities which Tara Village has are not from Govt. Scheme, but a centre named “Tara Centre” that provides funds and loans for education and helps the villagers to facilitate development.

After a few kilometres of mountain trekking, we reached a village named Koral with a majority of the Adivasi Community. For each and every thing they want (like basic necessities), they have to go to a nearby village which is a tiresome walk of approx 1 hour and has a rough road. They use well water through the year but summers are quite difficult for them. Most of them haven’t completed their primary education. Men are literate here, but women aren’t. They also practice animal husbandry and the main animals are Goats. This village is surrounded by Forests from all the sides. There is a forest officer, who allows the villagers to chop only Barren Trees. Chopping down healthy trees is banned. This village has 24 hours electricity except for Tuesday. This village often suffers from frequent flooding problems; no real drainage system is available here. Even their Panchayat is in a neighbouring village named Apta. About 30 families of this village are really in hope of a light for some change.

   Lastly I wish to tell you two most important things of these villages:

1.  1. Alcohol is strictly banned in both villages. Tara village has strict rules regarding this since the past 35 years whereas Koral village has adopted this a few years ago.

2. There is no any gender discrimination between boys and girls. No special demand for a male child either.

These two things make these villages proud.

         

          This was a small and humble effort from my side to show a different culture from ours, to show how people live without so many facilities, to understand their lifestyle. I hope that you all liked this journey with me. It’s my humble request to you, please share your views about my blog whatever it is positive or negative. For me, your views are very necessary to improve myself to show different scenarios of Indian Culture.

          Thank you so much for this read!

Pictures Credit:- Nishant Rathod

(Note: Have you experienced anything like this? If yes, then feel free to share with me. I assure you that I will try my best to showcase your story.)