Essays

I live in a city that is noisy, polluted and over-crowded, but I love it simply because I was born here and have never been to a village to know the quiet bliss of village life

My friends who go to the village for holidays tell methat it is peaceful, slow-paced and laid back, where life

Is really simple and the fresh air is vibrant.

Their description of a village is a cluster of mud houses, where community of families', say roughly a hundredodd families live in peace and harmony. Where eachfamily extends its support, help and commitment tothe other.

Most of the villagers depend on agriculture, laborcottage industries to survive. Many of them are illiterateand know no other profession except farming, whichhas been passed on as a means of survival for generations.

Festivals and fairs hold tremendous significance invillage life, where small joys make people happy. Life is no 'cat walk7 here, for often even the basic necessitiesare a luxury few can afford.

Clean drinking water and adequate sanitary facilitiesare not always available and a farmer's life is full ofhardships for more reasons than one.

Pucca' roads are often non-existent, and those that arethere, are few and far removed. Electricity is providedto few villages and hygienic conditions leave much tobe desired.

This is because of poverty and inadequatearrangements and facilities. Schools which providelimited education is far away therefore, education means walking endlessly on foot to reach one'sdestination.

A few villagers give their children proper education, by and large, a child studies till a particular class thendrops out to lend a helping hand in the fields.

Villagers are extremely religious, and regardless of thefinancial position, after wholeheartedly at templeswhich are built in every village and religiousceremonies carried out with great excitement anddedication.

The average family own cows, and they get their milksupply from these animals who are taken care of with Great concern and love. Fresh vegetables are grown inthe fields. These vegetables are eaten at home and also Sold in the local markets.

Considerable changes have taken place during the lastfifty years, and great improvement has been made in the villages, because the focus of all that is Indian hasin the heart of the villages. Yet, a great deal has yet to1   beachieved, for the journey is long and hard to, accomplish as India is a truly vast country.

The gram Panchayats should get a free hand and begiven greater powers and authority to carry out Independent decisions since India are a democraticcountry and the villages are of primary importance.