Villages in India

About Village: Indian is a land of agriculture country most of its people live in villages. A village is a clustered human settlement or community, it is larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town, with a population ranging from a hundred to thousand. Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods. Villages are normally permanent, with fixed dwellings however, transient villages can occur. Further, the dwellings of a village are fairly close to one another, not scattered broadly over the landscape, as a dispersed settlement.

Life in the Village: In the villages people will pass a healthy and peaceful life. There is no smoke and noise. Village people will breath fresh air which promotes their health. They also get pure ghee and milk from the owned cows, they respect and worship cows. There is no hustle and bustle and no worry as in the modern life. People lives in the happy and healthy environment. They lead a simple life and their desires are very few. They are satisfied with what they have and never dream of those luxuries and comforts life.

Most of the people in villages are farmers. They cultivate their own farms or rented situated in the villages. A large number of farmers in India depended on animal husbandry for their livelihood. In addition to supplying eggs, milk, meat, wool, andhides, animals, mainly bullocks, are the major source of power for both farmers and drayers. They go to their fields early in the morning where they work till evening and they do ploughing, sowing or reaping, which is based according to seasons. Farmers sells output to local mills and dealers. Beside this, some people keep shops (kirana) and provides the necessities of local people. Others such as potters, carpenters, blacksmith, etc, to fulfill their needs.

  

Religion: The villagers are deeply believe in religious and castes. They worship a number of gods and goddesses. They devote most of time to prayer and worship. And they celebrate the festivals traditionally, village priest enjoys great respect. But they are highly priest and any change is dislike and opposed. Many kinds of superstitions flourish among them. They live in constant fear of ghosts and there will be many roomers of ghosts . They believe in a number of  portent.

Occupation in Indian Villages: The basic occupation of the people living in villages is agriculture and is therefore reckoned as an unchangeable part of the Indian village culture. Traditionally, village and caste are regarded as similar to each other and the villages in India also follow the same trend. In Indian village life the presence of all the four castes with the hierarchy of the Brahmin is noticed. The caste system which originated long back has however remained unchanged in the village life in India. Although, caste system in its original sense has collapsed yet caste identities are very much present there in the village life in India. People belonging to different castes in a village deal with each other in kinship terms, which shows the fictive kinship relationships distinguished within each settlement. 

Culture and Tradition in Indian Villages: Habitually the Indian villagers manifest a deep loyalty to their villages. A rural family which has its root seated deeply in a specific village does not move easily to another. The uniqueness of the village life in India lies in this deep loyalty which is again marked with a rich culture. The mystic charm and the cultural diversities of the village life in India make Indian villages the land where beauty never fades away, and dream never ceases to exist.

The village life in India is idyllic, unchanging with its immense beauty. The villagers of India are normally habituated in sharing and using the common facilities of the village including the village shrines and temples, the village pond, schools, grazing grounds, sitting places, etc. This interdependence of the village life in India perhaps provides a matchless unity among-st the villagers which supports them in surviving amidst thousands of odds. Village unity is therefore the primary concern of the village life in India. 

Literacy: The villages are illiterate. Most of them do not even know how to write their names. There are no suitable arrangements for their education or for the education of their children. Even when there is a school, it is highly unsatisfactory. The teachers is ill-paid and takes no interest in their work. Their ignorance makes them superstitious and conservative. They are content with their old methods of cultivation and do not like scientific methods.

Top Villages: India has some absolutely beautiful villages. So, the next time you feel like travelling, go a little unconventional and visit these hidden gems. You never know what you find beneath those wrinkled curious eyes and tiny alleys. For starters, here are some places that you can visit: 1- Mawlynnong, Meghalaya  2-Khonoma, Nagaland  3-Kila Raipur, Ludhiana  4-Malana, Himachal Pradesh  5-Kasol, Himachal Pardesh  6-Bir Billing, Himachal Pradesh 7-Janjehli, Himachal Pradesh 8-Gokarna village, Karnataka  9-Mirik, West Bengal  10-Bhandardara, Maharashtra 11-Katarmal,Uttarakhand  12-Chaugan village, Madhya Pradesh 13-Lachen Village, Sikkim

Villages in beautiful Arts:

Drawbacks: The village life has also some serious drawbacks. The villagers are extremely poor. They live in one roomed “kachcha” mud houses, which often fall to the ground in the rains. In this way, they are put to great hardship. Suitable houses must be constructed for them. At present there are only a few Pucca houses in villages. In spite of their hard work in fields and they are not able to earn enough money to provide themselves with even two times meals a day. As they are not able to save anything, in a need they have to borrow from the village money lender with huge interest rates. They are frequently in debt which they are often never able return and the debt will be on the heads of their future generation. As people are uneducated they will not use Scientific methods of agriculture.

Conclusion: Our ancestors had gifted us a beautiful villages but all were changed due to pollution, converting in to cities, Factories, SEZ's etc. Since the independence of the country the Governments of India and States have been trying to improve the condition of the villages, many schemes have been started to help all sections of the people. The village development programs under Block Development Schemes and Community Projects are good steps in this direction. Recently Govt of Andhra Pradesh has started 'Janmabhoomi-Maa Vooru' programme to Facilitate Smart Andhra Pradesh.

An Article by: P.Satya Siva Anil
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