|
 Rajasthan
is amazingly populated : its landscape scattered with a
number of villages and hamlets, telltale signs of tree groves
and populations of cattle being the only indication that there
is such a settlement in close proximity.
The typical village has always been difficult to spot till one
is actually upon it. Its simplest hamlets, the most basic form
of civilization with a way of life that has probably remained
unchanged since centuries, consists of a collection of huts that
are circular, and have thatched roofs. The walls are covered
with a plaster of clay, cow dung, and hay, making a termite-free
(antiseptic) facade that blends in with the sand of the
countryside around it. Boundaries for houses and land holdings,
called baras, are made of the dry branches of a nettle-like
shrub, the long, sharp thorns a deterrent for straying cattle.
 Eco
- friendly Houses
If a hamlet looks bleak, it is hardly surprising: the resources
for building these homes, which are the most eco-friendly living
unit, are made with what is available at hand, and in Rajasthan,
and particularly so in its western desert regions. This can mean
precious little. A village that is even a little larger may have
pucca houses, or larger living units, usually belonging to the
village Zamindar family. Consisting of courtyards, and a large
Nora or cattle enclosure, attached to one side or at the
entrance, these are made of a mixture of sun-baked clay bricks
covered with a plaster of lime.
Decorative Facades
Decorative facades in such units are limited to creating a
texture in the plaster in the facade, or using simple lime
colours to create vibrant patterns at the entrance, and outside
the kitchen. These homes capture, for many of its residents, the
only cosmos they know. For the women, but for visits within the
village community, the only social occasions were in the nature
of pilgrimages which were usually combined with fairs. But it is
when they step out that the stark desert and the village break
into a feast of colour : turbans bob past in saffron and red;
skirts billow beneath mantles that veil the faces of their
women- if they didn't, the jewels that glint on their foreheads
and faces would add to the shocking surprise of their magentas
and their blues, greens and pinks.
A Multi-community Settlement
 Each
village is a multi-community settlement, the various castes
creating a structure of dependence based on the nature of their
work. While changes are being wrought in this structure, with
ceilings on land holdings, and with young seeking employment
opportunities in towns distant from their villages, the social
fabric has still not been rent.
Rajputs - The Ruling Community
At the head of the village settlement are usually the Rajputs,
the warrior race whose kings ruled, till recently, over these
lands. The Rajputs served their kings, joining their armies, and
raising their cavalries , but an attendant pursuit was as
agriculturists. Often, they employed labour to work on their
extensive fields, and kept cattle for dairy produce. In fact,
the cattle density in Rajasthan is very high, and milk from
desert settlements is supplied to the large cities close to the
state, including Delhi.
Intensely Religious People
An intensely religious people, each home in Rajasthan will have
a room or at least an alcove where they fold their hands and say
their prayers before calendar images of their gods. To seek
benevolence from their gods, for in this hostile landscape, it
is easy to be superstitious, and they pray to the terrible image
of Kali, the wrathful form of Shiva's consort, to protect them
from the demons of the elements, and the scrounge of mankind.
Cusines
 The
principal meal for the family consists of dinner, when freshly
baked bread and porridge is served with a yoghurt curry called
karhi, and with vegetables that may consist of dried beans, or,
now, increasingly fresh produce that is grown and transported
from neighbouring states. For most families, breakfast is a
glass full of hot tea gulped down with stale bread, before
rushing off to attend to the day's tasks, and lunch is a frugal
meal of unleavened bread eaten with a spicy chutney of chillies
and garlic.
Most meals are vegetarian, and though they eat meat, the Rajputs
too do not consume it regularly. In the old days, game would be
hunted, and the spoils shared with families in the village. With
the ban on hunting, meat now comes from the goats raised in the
communities, but they are slaughtered only for special
occasions, and at the time of festivals that demand offerings of
blood. It is this frugal diet that keeps the people of Rajasthan
in fine fettle, slender of build, and not given to fat, and with
a posture that is erect.
|
