My Fond Memories

It has long been I had not visited my village and finally one fine day in this March I packed my baggage, took a train from Mumbai to my village. Here in this blog I have detailed the then and now scenario of my village as I observed.

The mud roads have given way to tar roads. The sarees are now been replaced by nighty. The government school has fewer students, as parents are opting for English medium school. There are plenty of vehicles. Fifty percent of the household have cars / four wheeler, while 100 per cent household have two wheelers, either scooty or bike. Almost all houses have more than two two-wheelers, while in some there are three two-wheelers.

There are few houses which are very huge in size. All the houses are well painted. Previously, it was cities like Mumbai and Chennai, where they went for jobs. Now, they have opened their own shops and are finding employment within the State. Tiruppur and Coimbatore are the go to cities, while Chennai remains the favourite to migrate for jobs.

Previously, marriages were taking place within close relatives. Now, it takes places within my caste of any villages. This has brought in new faces to the village.

Girls are more educated than boys. Previously, we played cards, now the kids are playing cricket. The next generations are doctors and engineers, but are few. There are misguided youth too.

I did not notice any addition in village. The residents were more or less same. The design of the house has changed.

The fields have extended. Previously, which were barren lands have been converted to fields. The place from my village to nearest market is dotted with villages. Villages have emerged in the vicinity. New villages have come up in many places.

The village temple has been constructed in new style. The banyan tree is still there. Nothing much has changed.

The number of vehicles in my village has increased. Ever the number of trees in my village has increased, but has the number of trees really increased. The greenery is only in one’s one compound. It is not in the village as such. The green covers has not increased, there is not a single tamarind, neem or papal tree. There is only one banyan tree to boost of.

In the absence of these trees, even the birds are not frequenting my village as fruit bearing trees are less in numbers. Moringa trees are not planted as they are consider inauspicious to plant inside the house. Likewise there are restrictions on few other trees also.

Restriction, it is hard to digest. When we were poor and had very little contact with the outside world, there were a very few restrictions. We did not know vastu shastra then. Now, we all are educated, had travelled to other cities became more knowledgeable by watching television, YouTube, internet. Houses are constructed as per vaastu shastra. Previously, the main doors will face the north direction and the exit was in the south direction. Now, it is according to vaastu.

We all are aware even within a particular caste there are divisions. These seem to have been blurred in marriages. Now, the bride and grooms are from different villages.

The girls are more educated than the boys. The girls seem to have more edge than the boys. More of independent or native trees should be planted. The banyan tree should be planted in other parts of the village.

@GomadityaValluvan