Snippets from Rural Life of Yore

Snippets from Rural Life of Yore

Harvest Time :-

There was a time when most of India lived in villages. Participation in the agricultural operations according to one’s capacity was both a responsibility and an opportunity to learn the skills, which would stand in good stead in later life. Work here was a way of life rather than a burden. Leisure and entertainment was integral to daily life and socializing took place as a matter of routine without people making special efforts. Though there was broad division of roles, especially among the male and female members of a family there were some operations, which needed the joint and concerted participation of all members–young and old. At several stages additional help was procured by hiring labourers from the non-agricultural lower castes not engaged in any independent economic activity. Harvesting was one such occasion. Wages to the labour force were given in kind on the basis of a percentage of the total output of the concerned worker. In addition food for mid-day meal served at the site formed part of the wages. Such arrangements took care of the escalation in prices of grain. To work out the percentage a unit method was used. For example, at a percentage of 8.33 every twelfth sheaf of the crop harvested would go to the labourer concerned. Continued vigil was required to ensure that no labourer indulged in the malpractice of making every twelfth bundle of the harvest unduly heavier and bulky in comparison to the other bundles. If any such malpractice was noticed the proprietor farmer had the right to replace the concerned bundle by any other. After harvesting the wheat crop the small bundles were heaped in a rectangular stack (chhaur/chhauri) to be later transported to the thrashing floors (pair) in the outskirts of the village. In case of the bundles of gram no such stacking was done at this stage. After waiting for some time for the bundles to dry the same were picked one by one and put into a moving cart and then taken to be stacked in a heap at the threshing floors. This method was resorted to in order to avert loss of grains in frequent handling of the fragile stalks. In subsequent operations it became easier to sift the grain from the chaff in case of the gram crop. Wheat crop however, entailed a more elaborate process to get the final yield. In case of both types of the crop the final stages saw the harnessing of several bullocks and buffalos intertwined in an array to pound the stock under their hoofs. .Men standing on a tripod would pour down contents of bucketfuls sent up by the supporting members. The gently blowing wind would carry the chaff away leaving the grain to heap just in front of the tripod. Simultaneously a senior member of the family, usually a lady would promptly and neatly keep the grain mound free from chaff using a broom of fine stalks (manjan < marjni). The accumulated mound of grain (raas < raashi) would be measured by using a standard large sturdy earthen pot (map).
The artisans like the black smith, carpenter, the barber, the potter, the bangle man as also the representatives of castes providing services like scavenging got their share on the spot before the farmer carted the grain to his house. This constituted part of the jajmani and barter system-‘payments in kind, receipts in kind’. These daysthreshers and other machines have made the job quite easy and quick and cash transactions have replaced payment in kind. But the old system re-emerges in the form of welfare measures like food for work programmes and the institutionalized system of supplying free ration to certain cadres of the armed forces as part of wages in contemporary times.

Agriculture and animal husbandry were the two sides of the same coin viz. the village economy. Similarly grain and chaff both had equal importance. While the former was basic need for the human population, the latter was necessary for the subsistence of the cattle. Another component of the agricultural produce was the waste, which served as instant fuel, fodder, manure or raw material for several other products. Timely and abundant rains were a normal feature almost every year. Water table remained within easy reach. Sinking of wells either for the purpose of irrigation or for drinking water was not a costly affair. Several ponds circuiting the habitation area were features found almost in every village. Vegetation around the village and wastelands for grazing cattle were in plenty. Summer or winter or be it rainy season, life in the village was free from tension though full of activities. All this has undergone a sea change due to the degradation of environment, resulting from hectic urbanization and industrialisation. Development has its rewards but not without the accompanying liabilities too.

Sugarcane Crushers (Kohlu):-
Sugarcane is perhaps one of the oldest plant among cash crops. It finds mention in the Vedas as Ikshu, the plant oozing honey. With improved irrigation facilities and adequate rainfall the farmers in the plains of North India as else where have always preferred to go for sugarcane crop, which yielded a rich harvest. Improved qualities of the plant in one tract have attracted the attention of growers in other parts. Before the onset of the machine age and later day technology the farmers in the villages formed their own small co-operative ventures street-vise to process the crop for obtaining jaggery etc. By the end of the nineteenth century the new cast iron Kohlu had replaced the outmoded wooden version,which was proving quite expensive as it needed frequent repairs and replacements. The new metal machine was patented by Thomson and Myine and was lent on hire. It had three heavy rollers with gears on top and varying in size with the main roller moving with a long wooden bar (pait) fitted into a hub at its top operated for crushing sugarcane. The Kohlu was rolled by harnessing a pair of bullocks at the extreme end of the wooden bar to move round the Kohlu anti clockwise. An attentive fellow called Muthia would put the sugarcanes into the mouth piece of the Kohlu. A tin canister with a capacity of fifteen-kilograms was placed in a small pit below the mouth of the out let channel from where the collected juice flowed down. This measure formed one unit for the purpose of determining shares of each member of the co-operative venture. A family could opt for contributing a certain number of units in one round of roster of the members. The product obtained was divided in accordance with the proportion of the units a member held. The members put themselves in a queue and maintain the order through out. Gap if any happening due to unavoidable circumstances was required to be filled post facto. The members shared pro rata the expenditure (mostly in kind) incurred on the operations including the wages of the labourers engaged. All accounting work was orally done with striking precision and authenticity. Some times, to make the process more intensive, the system was modified so as to tackle in one go the crop of the members turn by turn (Bari lagana). Such practices were adhered to towards the final days of the season presenting fine examples of mutual co-operation. These small manual sugar mills were a feature on the outskirts of every village. The winter sun added charm to their hospitable milieu. The partners in a venture stacked their stocks of sugarcane in earmarked individual enclosures forming a semi circle. Thatched walls were raised behind each enclosure securing the sugarcane stack from pilferage or damage by wayward animals. Some people made cosy beds in their enclosures by spreading layers of begasse (khohi) and the soft dry leaves (paatti) of sugarcane. They were focal points of socializing among the village people joining in long drawn out sessions of smoking hukka. Young school children could be seen often utilizing the cosy corner of such enclosures for doing their homework. On the opposite side was located the Gurgoi ,the station for preparing jaggery. The collected cane juice was poured into a large iron pan (primary) fixed along with another (secondary) atop a two holed cavity deep enough to hold sufficient fuel for heating the juice. One side of the cavity was covered with a wall with a narrow hole left for intake of fuel. The other end of the cavity took the shape of a tunnel opening skywards for serving as an exhaust chimney for the smoke and excess energy. The hot earthen smoke tunnel (dhoondala) used to be a favourite rendezvous where young and old thronged to beat the shivering cold, particularly during nights. It was here that an elderly member of the co-operative Kohlu distributed fresh hot jaggery in lumps of small measures to all present every evening.
The pigs reared by the chuharas got their share of the press mud (maili) discarded in the process of clarifying the boiling sugarcane juice with the sprinkleof sap of stalks of the bhindi (lady finger) plant used as catalyst to obtain neat jaggery. On some occasions carrots fixed in hooked iron rods were dipped in the boiling pan to obtain delectable delicacies. These co-operative ventures have almost disappeared with the mushrooming of large sugar mills in the nearby towns on the one hand and the scantiness of the sugarcane crops in many villages on the other. Their old world charm was not lost even to a contingent of British troops on their way to Delhi whom I recall having halted on a sunny day at one of these venues in my village way back in 1944 to relish a treat of chewing sugarcane. The crop of sugarcane is slowly vanishing from many villages because of paucity of irrigation facilities and intensive hard work involved.

Fairs and Frays :-

The biannual fair held at village Kundal like at several other villages on Shivaratri was slowly loosing its lusture due to the increasing contacts of rural folk with the towns and cities. Till about the middle of the last century it lingered to have some of the old charm with multitudes of people from different places in their colourful new clothes thronging the venue Older people would recall the youngsters receiving as their pocket money of two annas (1/8th of a rupee), which was however, enough for buying little bits of wares like toys or for stimulating the taste buds of the tongue with a feast at the chaat stall. Some kind of voluntary (not forced by any code) apartheid could be noticed at the fair. The members of the Harijan community by convention attended the fair towards the concluding hours when wares started selling at throw away prices. By this time most of the upper caste members would have left for their homes or made it to the arena (dangal) to witness the wrestling bouts invariably organized on such occasions. People were hailed to the venue with the beating of drums. The umpire not only conducted the bouts in accordance with norms announced in advance but also enforced discipline among the crowd gathered around the arena in clusters supporting one or the other fighter through specially appointed volunteers. The referee Fixed each fight bymutual agreement between two of the wrestlers in the fray. The fights were conducted on a specially prepared pit filled with soft earth. An unwritten protocol of wrestlers was scrupulously observed by all concerned. A spirit of sportsmanship and fair play prevailed throughout the events. A peculiarity of the dangals was that it used to be an all male affair. Women folk were not supposed to be there even as spectators. It was not for the reasons of male chauvinism but a discreet step to save women from the spectacle of little clad muscular bodies of the contestants. Segregation of sexes, in any case, was a general norm in the life of village folk those days. Moreover the concept of the brave knights winning the fairies did not touch Indian life. Chivalry was not a matter of public demonstration for the people. Here we subscribed to the idea of Veerabhogya vasundhara (the brave rule the earth). The fair held annually on the compound of the religious seat of the Sadhs in village Nahri used to be a bigger draw. One of the scions of the Sadh family Joginder Singh was my schoolmate at the District Board. High School in the same village. He is known to have donned the cap of the chief priest of the religious order.

Hukka Haat/Hot:-

An interesting feature of the fairs was the holding of hukka (Hubble-bubble) fair a day before the fair proper. Potters from far and wide participated in this unique fair offering their earthen hukkas of various designs and sizes for sale at reasonable rates. The village folk fully utilized this opportunity and made purchases of stocks enough to last till the time of the next fair. Villagers interested in acquiring metal hukkas (pharsi < parsi < Persian) of a more fancy design, however, had to visit the market in the town or the city.
Hukka was no mere contraption for smoking tobacco. It represented a culture and served as a symbol of communal bonding and close fraternity. It was shared among the members of the community of equals and offered as a means of hospitality to a visitor. Before joining a smoking party a stranger would invariably ascertain the communal identity of the group. Denial of the privilege of sharing a hukka was among the major measures of social sanctions imposed against a person as punishment for violating a social code. The material, size and design of the hukka indicated the standing of the owner in his community. The higher the gathering in a smoking parlour the higher the popularity it indicated in respect of the owner. At such places the hukka could be noticed flaunting a rakhi on Rakshabandhan day, signifying its instrumentality in promoting bond of brotherhood. Some owners would not forget to mount their hukka on a free wheeled disc attached to a sturdy plate for easy rotating. Proper up keep of the hukka was no less important. The aroma would wane out unless the hukka was intermittently overhauled by replacing the stale water with fresh one and the waste deposits removed from the interiors of its various tubes with the help of a pull through (gaj). A fine and smooth gurgling sound when put into operation was indicative of the desired level of performance of the contraption. Out in the crop fields the farmers carried their personal mini hukkas called huktis. A midi hukka used by a smaller group or an individual was called kalai (perhaps for its pot being made of nickel plated metal). Narial would be the name of a still smaller hukti if the pot was made of coconut shell (and by extension of meaning any small (hukti of such shape) Farmers working in close proximity in the fields relaxed the caste restrictions in sharing the hukti. However, the relaxation in case of the members of the harijan community was limited only to the sharing of the earthen top fire-pot (chillum). Tobacco under a round lid (thekari) was placed atop an earthen ball trapped on the hole in the middle of the fire pot fixed on the smaller stump of the hukka. Continued supply of tobacco and fire tinder, were the main ingredients for keeping the smoking sessions go on and on. Tobacco supply was hardly a problem as most of the participants kept their own stock of locally grown home made tobacco in small pouches(kothalis) safely tucked in the pleats of the waist band (adband< ardhabandha) of their dhoti and volunteered to offer at least a measure (pat) to escape the sobriquet of a patpad. In the comity of smokers one could find connoisseurs of different grades of tobacco Viz. weak, strong and medium, majority preferring the last named. Fire tinder could be obtained from the reserved stock kept ready simmering in an ash covered fire pit called poor (hearth). The tinder was replenished by an additional supply of pieces of cow dung cakes buried in the ash pit arranged in a queue, one touching another ahead. In case of emergency the fire places of the households in the same street were sought after but not before discreet enquiry made from the concerned housewife was answered in the affirmative. When all other sources of fire tinder were exhausted the simmering stock invariably intact under the earthen milk pots (kadhawanis) of households would be accessed. Some times an enterprising young man would not forget to help himself by laying hand on the pot for a lump of creamy crust as a bonus. But such forays were limited to very friendly households. As a general norm cross street attempts to get fire tinder were not countenanced. It was however pass if a youngster ventured out on such a mission. Showing deference to the privacy of the women folk of the street was the main consideration behind such self-imposed restrictions.
The first few pulls at the recharged hukka following the customary inaugural one by the senior most among those present were to be made by a junior member of the smoking party till the tobacco got ignited (sulgana), especially if the instrument had been lying idle for quite some time. He also had the responsibility to manipulate the instrument holding it from the calf region (gatta pakarna) and offer it to the other members gathered turn-by-turn starting with the senior most among those present. If per chance the protocol (determined on the basis of seniority in clan relationship and age) of the persons concerned turned out to be at par each one would push the mouthpiece (nay) of the hukka forward to the next man in the manner of passing a buck. Similar was the norm when the group engaged in smoking comprised only a father-in-law and a son-in-law. Here the seniority in age of the father- in-law came into clash with the kin wise higher status of a son-in-law, hence the third alternative.

Food and Drinks:-

In olden days village life was as a whole integrated with the environment in all its aspects. Food was based on local agricultural products. The rabi crops yielded the major grains of wheat and gram as the mainstay of the food items round the year also providing some surplus for marketing to raise cash. The kharif crop was short lived and yielded grains just sufficient enough for change of taste to the palate for a couple of months in winter. Chapaties made of millet flour to be had with vegetable prepared from the tender leafy stalks of mustard plants with lumps of fresh white butter on top used to be real treat. Khichdi made from pounded bits of millet laced with a rich serving of clarified butter was a favourite dish in almost every household of the village at dinner time during the season. In summer breakfast constituted of chapaties made of wheat flour mixed with a sprinkling of gram flour. Butter milk in abundance was available for topping up according to the needs and liking of an individual. Onion was common at any meal time as it was generally home grown. Lunch time menu included chapaties made of wheat flour with some vegetable or dahl, generally of local product. In summer rabari (wheat flour soaked in yogurt cooked after fermentation) was a hot favourite, especially the overnight saved scruff mixed with yogurt to be savored the next morning. In case of the vegetable items there used to be great amount of give and take between close neighbours. The universal potato was easily available and stood in good stead in cases of emergency. During their spare time on sunny days in the rainy season women folk used to prepare seviaan from clods of thick paste of fine wheat flour placed on top of earthen pots turned upside down. Dinner time was dahlia (porridge) time. It was cooked from pounded bits of wheat painstakingly obtained through a long process- soaking the grains in water for some time, placing the same on a cloth spread on a cot till it dried half, pounding gently to let the crust shed off, then winnowing it to obtain fine grain, and finally vigorously pounding with a heavy wooden staff (musal) the grains placed in a deep cylindrical stone container (ukhal) to get a ready to cook stuff. The preparation was on different days by rotation sweet-mixed with jaggery, salty or just plain to be left to the choice of the individual member of the family to have it sweet or salty. Festival time saw ladies preparing dainty dishes of halwa purie and kheer and the added specialties were gulgule and poodey if it happened to be rainy season. Suhalies were deep fried small cakes prepared from a hard thick paste of wheat flour mixed with jaggery solution. This preparation lasted months and therefore was prepared in large quantities. Bag full was dispatched to the home of married daughter. Youngsters would tuck a piece or two in their pockets when going out for playing to savour the same in case they felt hungry. Laapsi was the fat free version of halwa with jaggery replacing sugar as sweetener. It could be called a poor man’s halwa. Today village is no more cut off from the ways of life in the cities and towns. Only the sophistication is lacking, the polish is not there. Means of communication and transport have bridged the gap substantially. Proximity with Delhi has opened avenues of employment in government and private sectors to many a people in the villages. Most of them being daily commuters to and from the city serve as carriers of the latest trends in food habits from the city to the village. At marriage parties also the menu is usually a carbon copy of what one finds in the city though laddoo and zalebi continue to rule the roost. Of course guldana has almost disappeared from the table and similar is the fate of vegetable made of kaddu along with the delectable chatni of kalonji so painstakingly prepared by the local halwai. The aroma of smell of leaf plates and cups is missing as these have given place to the exotic items of crockery linked with status. Similarly the buffet system has taken away the sweet side of hospitality oozed at the guests by bands of young men serving entreatingly the different items of the menu at the feasts. The event today has turned impersonal and the guests hardly have a chance to relate to the hosts. The aura of getting served entreatingly is missing in marriage feasts these days. Water was the main drink. It was served sweet mixed with country made sugar. In summer some enterprising hosts arranged for ice from the nearby towns. The modern beverages had not reached the village. Consumption of liquor was rare and was discreetly kept a private and personal affair in a manner that those who did not indulge in it, hardly got a smell of it.