Page Ten

SCARLET AND BLACK

Friday. April I. I966

30mm Sees Ecol dude in Tittdii, ihit‘di Witige

Lives With family
Outside Kohlewadi

By DONALD ROGUE
Ever since I came to lndia. peo-
ple have been telling me that the
place to see the real india is not
‘ in Bombay, or in Delhi, or even
in Alnnednagar, btti in the thrills
ands and thousands of small Vil-
lages in which the majority of the
people live, in order to iollow this
advice. i have made inany' at-
tempts Io iitid out what village
lite is really like.
i have had long discussions with
the college boys in the hostel abottt
’their ltomes and the way their
iainiiies live. I have also spent a
lot of time travelling with the pro-
iessors from the Rural Lite De-
velopment Department as these
men try to organize and help the
people in some of the villages
near Ahmednagar.

However, neither of these meth-
ods of iinditig out abottt village
liie ts any substitute ior really gt}
ing to a village and living there
for a short time. So, a couple oi
weeks ago, when a college boy in-
vtted me to accompany him to his
home village, l was glad to ace
cept his invitation.

Biked In

In order to get to the village,
Namdeo Waman, (my host), Ma-
hadco Pawar, another boy irom
the hostel, and I first had to go
to a totvn called Snagamner by
btis. There we rented bicycles and
rode five more miles to the Vil-
lage oi Kohlewadi, Cycling and
walking are the only ways to get
to this village of about 1000 peo-
ple. Actually, we had to go about
a mile past the village.

Unlike most farmers, who live in
town and Walk to their farmlands
which might be several miles out-
side of me town, the Wamans live
outside the main part or the vil-
lage on their own land.

Namneo’s father owns 35 acres
of land, on which he primarily
grows the lndian crops or bajari
and jawarii His 35 acres make
him a big landowner in this part
of india However; drought has hit
this farm, as it has all the usable

BLOUSES - SKIRTS
SWEATERS - DRESSES ,

‘ ma:
APPAR EL
errnnrtt

 

land iit this area. Dryrlaud iattn.
ing is not as productive as it once
was, wells are going dry, and irri-
gation is becoming more diiiicnlt.

Home of Stone

The Waman home was made
partly oi stone. There is a large
stone quarry irear Kohlwadi, sti
stones are cheap and plentittti and
are iiieretore the best building ma-
terials. The stone walls were cov-
ered with wet mild, which when
dry gave the wall a smooth sur-
face. The root was made of tile
shingles that had been laid over-
the tree branches which covered
the top of the house. The floor
was dried mud,

The house consisted of two rooms
with a small leaneto built on to
the back ot the house. The lean-to
was used ior storage. The two
regular rooms measured about 15
by 20 ieet each. One oi these rooms
contained the kitchen. Here the
women of the house prepared the
meals on top oi open iii-es.

Tile other room Was the living

-room, dining room, bedroom, and

worship center all combined, in
this room the iamily ate their
meals, said their prayers to the
Hindu gods, and slept at night.
There were no chails 01‘ furniture
or any kind in titis or any other
room. Eating, conversing, and
sleeping were all done on blankets
spread out on the iloor. There
Wele no bathrooms in this house
ior the great otit-oidoors provided
all the facilities which anyone
might need.

Eleven People—Two Rooms
Eleven iamiiy members call this
two-room house home. They in
clude Namtleo’s grandmother, his

mother, his tather, two older broth- '

ers. who are married, the wives

and cliiltlten oi these two brotitcrs,
a younger brother, and Nantdco
himseii.

With the exception oi Namdeo,
ito member or the iamily has more
than a primary school education.
The iamily cooperates in the farm-
itrg oi the 35 acres of laird. The
tour bttllocks owned by the lainily
pull the wooden implements that
are used ior plowing, planting, and
cultivating. One cow and several
goats supply the iamily with milk.
Very close by, two oi Naindeo’s
uncles live with their iamilies on
their otvii 35 acres oi land.

Rest After Trip

When we reached the Walnan
home, we._all sat down on the
iloor oi the all - purpose ltvtng
room to rest ourselves from the
bicycle journey. Soon the women
had cooked something for us to
eat.

The him they prepared was cer—
tainly delicious, but even as much
as I liked It, I was unable to eat
hall the amount the male meni-
bers of the family ate. I had
warned the tamtly before i came
to cut down on the amount OI
spices in the iood they served to
me, and l was careitti to use hala-
zone tablets in my water. Othetv
Wise, I was able to eat the same
things as everybody else: chapae
tis, rice. dal, bhaje, and the many
other varieties of Indittn tood that
were served.

Sat Crass-Legged

We sat cross - legged on the
blankets. and metal bowls of food
were placed in from oi us. No sil-
verware was used; the fingers
work better ior eating anyway. Of
course, only men ate with me. Ac-
cording to Hindu custom, women
are not permitted to eat in lront

 

of men, so the women of the
house had to eat later at a sepure
ate meal.

Alter the meal, we sat in front
at the house relaxtrtg together. A
mantle was lit to keep away the
approaching darkness. The naigh~
boring relatives came over to sit
With us. Not much conversation
took place, but I could tell that
they enjoyed each other's come
pany. since nobody could speak
English except the two college
boys arid myseli. I had a lot or
chances to use the few Marathi
phrases that I had learned. How»
ever. despite the handicap oi not
being able to talk directly with
these people, i was able to have
a lot oi inn with them, especially
the younger children,

‘Til Sankrat’

This night was the time oi celer
bl‘atlon of “Tll Snnkrat,” one of
the many iamily holidays or the
Hindus. Small sweets, called
“til.” were passed out by the mem-
bers oi the iamily. The younger
members knelt down In front of
their elders and touched their heads
to the older person's feet, as they
said “God bola,” which means
“Speak sweetly” or “Forget any
quarrels we have had this past
yearl", At the same time the
younger person gives some sweets
to the person he is honoring. The
elder person in return blesses the
younger one by wishing trim the
best tor the coming year.

Played Hearts

After the sweets had been
passed out, we decided to play a
game of hearts with the playing
cards I had brought from the col-
lege. The two college boys, two
village farmers, and l participat-
ed in the game. We were not able
to hold a conversation with each

 

other. but we could emoy each
others company while playing a
simple game. All oi us had a good
time.

Slept in Shed

AIIEK the game was over, we
all settled down for a welconle‘
sleep. The women went to sleep
iii the house. Some of the men had
to sleep outside near the bajari
stack to make sure no one would
chute and steal any oi the grain.
The rest oi the men slept in the
bullock shed This shed was sim-
ply a wooden irame with branch.
es spread over the top to keep the
rain out. However, since this was
not the monsoon season and there
tore there was not mttclr possibility’
oi rain, the bullocks were kept
outside and we had the shed in
ourselves.

Although the Waman home is
certainly not as secluded as many
homes are in other parts oi lndia.
one certainly does get a ieeitng
oi being away irom the rest oi
Civilization. No radio blares in
ones ears telling about what has
been happening during the last 24
hours. Tire mail only comes once
or twice a week.

Bustle Far Away

Events like War with Pakistan
and the death of Prime Minister
Shastri have little impact on these
people. The bustling activity that
is taking place in the rest oi the
world seems very tar away.

That night, as i lay in the but
lock shed looking out at the stars
shining overhead, I couldn't help
but enjoy the calmness and peace-
tulness that surrounded me. ND
wonder these village iarmers are
somewhat leery oi stepping into
modern soCiety With all its prob-
lems and complexities.

 

Moon Topic of Talk
Of Knox Proffessor

Herbert Priestley. professor of
physics at Knox College, will dis-
cuss “Tlle Case for Going to the
Moon" at a meeting here tomor-
row.

The meeting is expected to at-
tract about 40 central lowa high
school teachers who use a physics
program developed by the Physi-
cal Science Study committee.

Dr. Priestley is director oi a
summer teaching tralning insti-
tute sponsored by the National
Science Foundation to acquaint
secondary school teachers With the
PSSC physics program and is al-
so chairman ot a group of PSSC
teachers which meets at Knox
twice a year

Grant 0. Gale (physics) is
chairman oi the meeting. He and
Bruce R. Thomas tphysics) will
give demonstrations and discuss
topics relating to the teaching of
PSSC phVSlcs.

 

 

Summer Liberal Arts lns’ii’iu’ie
Will Offer Education To Adults

Study topics will range imm At.
rican nationalism t0 the “Honest
to God" debate at Grinnell’s third
annual Summer Liberal Arts Insti-
tute for Adults, scheduled for Sun-
day, May 29, through Saturday,
June 4.

The institute is designed to after
adults an opportunity to broaden
their liberal arts education with a
week at leisurely, yet iormal,
stttdy in the academic atmosphere
of a college. Instruction will be
oiiered by regular members oi
the Crinnell iacuity,

The curriculum, covering tour
areas of the liberal arts, will pro
vide four hours of instruction each

day, plus special evening lectures,
films, and discussions.

One course Will be oiiered In
each area. according to Charles
G. Cleaver, (English) director of
the institute, and students will en-
roll in the two courses of their
choice.

All institute sesstons will be held
“I the air-conditioned tacilities of
the college's Fine Arts Center,
Hurling Library, and College
Forum.

The courses and instructors:

”The Rise of African Notionale

 

ism," Raymond F. Betts (history).

“The ‘Hnnest to God' Debate,"
Howard R. Burkle (philosophy and
religion).

“Continuity and Change in the
Modern Theatre: 01d Wine in New
Bottles,” James D. Kissane (Eng-
lish), ‘

“Cosmology in 1966,“ Beryl E.
ctotielter (physics).

Scheduled for evenings are a
talk by president Glenn Leggett; a
lecture by Frederick L. Baumann.
professor emeritus of history; and
two films, both of which will be
iollowed by discussions.

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