We visited village Dauhla/ Doulah, Khora Harchandpur, district Manesar (near Delhi) with my Architecture students' few months back. It was a week long Village study for students’ (I only stayed there for three days with them). It had no ATM and we were all asked to carry cash (if Demonitization
had happened then, I cannot imagine what would have happened!).
It was a small village dominated by Rajputs and some Harijans, Valmikis, handful of Brahmins, Muslims, etc. It had good infrastructure- roads, water, electricity (proximity to the capital). We stayed at the Havelis (recently renovated by Neemrana group) which had beautiful view of the Aravalis. For our meals we had to hire the Village Sweet shop Halwai, who with his team of helpers provided us breakfast, lunch, evening tea/snacks and dinner (oily and spicy but tasty. We often wondered about his menu choices for example, pakoras and pulao for breakfast were unusual). In the afternoon, the food was transported to an empty school building in the middle of the village. The havelis were at a distance from the village and required travel via e-rickshaws (good connectivity within the village or boys just took lift on bikes from various 'Bhaiyas' of the Village).
It took almost two hours to reach. I reached Doulah and spotted our students on the main road taking notes. I asked them how was it going and they 'complained' that villagers are 'too sweet'. They had been getting pampered with food, tea and affection. One of my students' guided me to the haveli and with all its facilities, there was only One bathroom!
So, teachers shared the bathroom with around twenty or so students' (the other haveli had couple of bathrooms but was smaller). We stayed in a big long room with three or four big Charpayi (cots), big chairs, big swing and french windows with beautiful drapes and some small jharokas and interesting interiors. My colleague had tied a rope in the middle of the room as there was no space to put clothes to dry/hang.
We headed for the Village after I had some tea and pulao and reached the temple. The temple had a new extension with statues of most Gods, the old small room temple was getting replaced by tall, big, shiny new structure under construction. Villagers were proudly showing off that the tall structure now was visible from a distance and now they had space for more Gods.
It had a big courtyard where people from some Government organisation (probably FCI) had come to talk about a new variety of seeds. There was a big table and some chairs (arranged by Panchayat), after they left we had the gathering to ourselves.
We asked Village elders about the ‘Smart Village’ tag. Some were skeptical, some were hopeful. But all said, nothing has happened so far, many things were being promised though. Many officials are coming for different kinds of collection of data, statistics, etc.
After speaking with village elders/men, we asked if we could also speak with a few women folk.
Women came wearing ghunghats and waited till all men dispersed before talking to us. They were coming from a stitching center, which was functional for six months a year. They went in groups and said they would prefer any vocation in which they could work from home. Movements were restricted, even young girls who went to college (Manesar/Gurgaon) either went with their brothers or in a large group. They were not allowed to carry mobile phones, their brothers carried the phones though.
One group of students' came to complain that one Vakeel Sahab is being difficult and not allowing them inside his house. (He had every right to refuse!) The students had to measure traditional, big houses (usage of various spaces, design, animal sheds, etc). Owner of this house refused and shouted at students' so we asked them to take their measurements at another house (exceptions are always there).
We went back to the Haveli in E-Rickshaws for some evening tea and burgers (desi and very tasty!). Every evening before dinner we took stock of days’ work with different groups. Then we ate dinner in the open courtyard and went to our separate parts of the Haveli to sleep. The terrace had a beautiful view where I went to make my phone calls to friends' and family.
Next morning, we waited until students' had left so we could use the bathroom. I went last! One E-Rickshaw was reserved for us. The Village temple was our meeting place as we discussed our plans for the last day to finish all measurements, drawings/ sketches, interviews, etc.
Village had a Sarpanch (Senior/Head) and various other Panchs (around ten Juniors). Last Sarpanch was a woman (but it was her husband who ruled on her behalf). Now it was the 'Reserved Category' Valmiki SC who had became a Sarpanch. He was mostly running around for this and that. With a group of students I went to interview ex-Mahila Sarpanch, her house was locked so we decided to interview the Sarpanch before her, a Rajput Sarpanch (an old Tau, a Congress supporter, extremely big house with modern facilities, power backup, etc.).
He was very honest to say that the Rajputs chose Valmiki instead of a Harijan (contest was between these two for the post) because this guy (present Sarpanch, a VIII class dropout who was animal herder) was easier to control! Rest of the Panchs were all Rajputs. So, even if the government through its welfare policies of Reservation etc. may force the Villagers to accept women/lower castes as Heads, the power still rests with the Upper castes. He also talked about how caste segregation worked in the village. There were separate grounds for Valmikis/ Harijans/ Rajputs.
On the question of 'Smart Village' he dismissed it completely as a gimmick. He told us that recently a very senior bureaucrat had bought lots of land in the Village, thus he was not surprised that Village was selected in the list of 'Smart Villages'. He did not see much happening so far and had his doubts about future policies, but the prices of land had gone up!
As we started to leave we could see the children of the Village following Bhaiyas/ Didis and elderly saying the usual, 'should have come for a longer stay' almost family like goodbye scenes. Some girls got teary eyed. The love and affection that our students' received from Dauhla will be something they will remember and cherish for the rest of their lives. Smart or not the village trip for all of us was a fascinating experience.
From Dauhla we next went to Farrukhnagar, a small town for a day trip.
It took almost two hours to reach. I reached Doulah and spotted our students on the main road taking notes. I asked them how was it going and they 'complained' that villagers are 'too sweet'. They had been getting pampered with food, tea and affection. One of my students' guided me to the haveli and with all its facilities, there was only One bathroom!So, teachers shared the bathroom with around twenty or so students' (the other haveli had couple of bathrooms but was smaller). We stayed in a big long room with three or four big Charpayi (cots), big chairs, big swing and french windows with beautiful drapes and some small jharokas and interesting interiors. My colleague had tied a rope in the middle of the room as there was no space to put clothes to dry/hang.
We headed for the Village after I had some tea and pulao and reached the temple. The temple had a new extension with statues of most Gods, the old small room temple was getting replaced by tall, big, shiny new structure under construction. Villagers were proudly showing off that the tall structure now was visible from a distance and now they had space for more Gods.
It had a big courtyard where people from some Government organisation (probably FCI) had come to talk about a new variety of seeds. There was a big table and some chairs (arranged by Panchayat), after they left we had the gathering to ourselves.
We asked Village elders about the ‘Smart Village’ tag. Some were skeptical, some were hopeful. But all said, nothing has happened so far, many things were being promised though. Many officials are coming for different kinds of collection of data, statistics, etc.After speaking with village elders/men, we asked if we could also speak with a few women folk.
Women came wearing ghunghats and waited till all men dispersed before talking to us. They were coming from a stitching center, which was functional for six months a year. They went in groups and said they would prefer any vocation in which they could work from home. Movements were restricted, even young girls who went to college (Manesar/Gurgaon) either went with their brothers or in a large group. They were not allowed to carry mobile phones, their brothers carried the phones though.
We had a male colleague with us so women kept wearing their veils.
One young girl a little rebellious told the other women that she disliked the veil
and would ‘never do it’, only to be reprimanded for ‘going against the
traditions’. (Married women mostly wore saris and took veil, young girls wore suits and dupattas). Teej was one of the major festivals along with Diwali, Dussehra, Raksha Bandhan, etc.
Its closeness to Delhi/Gurgaon was a boon and bane for its residents. Urbanisation getting too close and threatening the traditional life, people migrating from the village for better opportunities while outsiders coming to set up 'plants' were changes that were not much appreciated. Big zamindar families had moved out and their houses were closed and fields outsourced to smaller farmers.
Everybody knew the time for power cuts and managed their devices accordingly. We charged our mobiles/ laptops at night, power usually went in the morning, by that time we would be getting ready to visit the village in batches. The haveli was very well ventilated so we did not feel hot without fans (ACs were not even missed).
Its closeness to Delhi/Gurgaon was a boon and bane for its residents. Urbanisation getting too close and threatening the traditional life, people migrating from the village for better opportunities while outsiders coming to set up 'plants' were changes that were not much appreciated. Big zamindar families had moved out and their houses were closed and fields outsourced to smaller farmers.
It was almost afternoon and we walked to the school for lunch on darries in plastic plates in the open verandah. Some students took nap. Some followed us back to the village. Most houses had open verandahs outside and big cots for people to sit and chat. We sat on one of these as a man came from inside the house, switched on the fans, offered us tea and since electricity had come, also charged our phones (famous hospitality on display of the Rajputs).
One group of students' came to complain that one Vakeel Sahab is being difficult and not allowing them inside his house. (He had every right to refuse!) The students had to measure traditional, big houses (usage of various spaces, design, animal sheds, etc). Owner of this house refused and shouted at students' so we asked them to take their measurements at another house (exceptions are always there).
We went back to the Haveli in E-Rickshaws for some evening tea and burgers (desi and very tasty!). Every evening before dinner we took stock of days’ work with different groups. Then we ate dinner in the open courtyard and went to our separate parts of the Haveli to sleep. The terrace had a beautiful view where I went to make my phone calls to friends' and family.
Next morning, we waited until students' had left so we could use the bathroom. I went last! One E-Rickshaw was reserved for us. The Village temple was our meeting place as we discussed our plans for the last day to finish all measurements, drawings/ sketches, interviews, etc.
Village had a Sarpanch (Senior/Head) and various other Panchs (around ten Juniors). Last Sarpanch was a woman (but it was her husband who ruled on her behalf). Now it was the 'Reserved Category' Valmiki SC who had became a Sarpanch. He was mostly running around for this and that. With a group of students I went to interview ex-Mahila Sarpanch, her house was locked so we decided to interview the Sarpanch before her, a Rajput Sarpanch (an old Tau, a Congress supporter, extremely big house with modern facilities, power backup, etc.).
He was very honest to say that the Rajputs chose Valmiki instead of a Harijan (contest was between these two for the post) because this guy (present Sarpanch, a VIII class dropout who was animal herder) was easier to control! Rest of the Panchs were all Rajputs. So, even if the government through its welfare policies of Reservation etc. may force the Villagers to accept women/lower castes as Heads, the power still rests with the Upper castes. He also talked about how caste segregation worked in the village. There were separate grounds for Valmikis/ Harijans/ Rajputs.
On the question of 'Smart Village' he dismissed it completely as a gimmick. He told us that recently a very senior bureaucrat had bought lots of land in the Village, thus he was not surprised that Village was selected in the list of 'Smart Villages'. He did not see much happening so far and had his doubts about future policies, but the prices of land had gone up!
As we started to leave we could see the children of the Village following Bhaiyas/ Didis and elderly saying the usual, 'should have come for a longer stay' almost family like goodbye scenes. Some girls got teary eyed. The love and affection that our students' received from Dauhla will be something they will remember and cherish for the rest of their lives. Smart or not the village trip for all of us was a fascinating experience.
From Dauhla we next went to Farrukhnagar, a small town for a day trip.
