Visit-mania
Jun 28, 2021
After living in village for 2 years, I’d say it is not true that there is no peace in the city life.. If you’re not into a job, there’s more peace in the city life..
In village, everyday more than one person comes to visit just for time pass.. How long can you avoid ? And you’ve to be much more diplomatic in the village life, because from BPL families to sometimes city-level real rich people, all are found in one place.. You’ve to change the way you talk, sit, think, body language everything so many times a day.
In city, you could even say you don’t want to talk to someone but it would be a social crime to do the same to a fellow villager.
Same with borrowing or lending stuff..
And certainly, everyone minds everyone else’s business except their own which I’d say is a good thing sometimes but certainly not every time esp when you know the other guy is not your well wisher.
Tube well
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So the person who owns a tube well near our small farm where we go food for cows, isn’t allowing us water, been requesting them for 15 days.. he hopes us city folks might finally get irritated and give up the land on lease like before. Well aware that the food goes for cows in our goshala which is obviously dharmaartha only. That’s how much rooted rustic dharmika, villagers occasionally are.
(Alternative - Tubewell khudvaanaa.. par vo laakhon ka kaam ho jata hai aur 2 beegha ke lie bahut anuchit rahega.. aur bhi bhoomi hai, gehoon katenge abhi to usko bhi upayoga mein lenge, doosre ko de rakhi thi abhi, ye bhi paani de dega, fokat mein thode deta hai, abhi prayas kar raha hai)
Ghee
Another lady kept pestering us for ghee, said she will pay to which also we declined and then she put out ruse of some disease etc.. I bought ghee from market and gave it to her just so she stops coming (our ghee is way more precious), been 4 months she is yet to show her face.
Crop theft
Despite being well aware that the crop goes for cow fodder, every once in a while, a decent amount gets stolen.. rooted rustic dharmika pillagers.. Only today found out that about 8-10 bundles of jowar have been stolen from our land, cut from the middle so that we won’t discover until late, the thief was encountered, obviously he denied.. welcome to village life.
Squatting tenant
(recollected and paraphrased) A former-tenant (barber?) sowed season after season giving excuses till Mohit gathered neighbors, quarreled with him and cut the crop.
Price gouging
When we were new and didn’t have much idea about the rates of fodder, we paid as much as 5-10x the normal rate for a good number of weeks before we figured out the scam.
22 Brothers
Got to know of a peaceful family. With 22 brothers (from different mothers of course) in the age range 15-55. The last 2 out of jail also went jail a few days back. You name the crime, they have the record. The last 2 caught were caught being over smart. Stole a buffalo bull from one village and a bullock cart from another. Happily riding their cart, got caught, ran into fields, later in the night, changed clothes, pretended to be owner of the bull. Got beaten n handed to police.
Pit bull
In our village where 70% homes are still made of brick and mud only, we once saw a stray pitbull trying to hunt an abandoned cow, it was so scary that none of the humans cud dare intervene except throwing stones from a good distance. He wasnt bothered by any stone (except the 2% that hit) but after getting hurt, cow got really angry, a kick got placed well on the dog and then she cud run to safety. Later those who had thrown the dog out came in the afternoon demanding why did we allow people to stand in our courtyard and throw stones (our place was somewhat protected and near to the point where cow was being attacked). Imagine that ! Could only shut them up saying is the cow not your mother (which they would have known already anyways).
Toilet drain pipe
There is this toilet waste exit from a home right behind a temple near our place, which falls now and then on people walking in the street. When we asked the house owner to fix a small pipe there so the waste would go into drain instead of falling on the street, he laughed it off. Then we bought and got the pipe fixed because it affected us as well. Costed us < 100₹. After a few months, I don’t know how, the pipe became a bit slanted, a vehicle or something knocked it off, a lady came a few hours later, picked the pipe and took it with her.
Cows
With lesser children, (even relatively) better off farmers/villagers now don’t want to keep cattle.
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Saw village women chasing away a cow w/ apparently diseased udder (mastitis looks like), as the cow tries to enter the home of her masters again and again.. occasional rooted rustic dharmika village morning. Initially I used to feel terribly sad about all this, now there’s a mixture of impotent anger and pessimism.