Mera Gaon Mera Desh - Kithana, Haryana (2/3)

Part 2 - My village, Kithana

Village jhod

The first view of my village was the jhod - the village pond. Its where all the cattle bathe and is quite the village gathering spot. There are multiple jhods (haha, love the mix of Haryanvi and English!) in the village and you can always see buffaloes swimming there. And then wells for people to drink water from. And I realised more as I went around, each village was supposed to be a self-sustaining unit. It had all amenities available within - water, schools, shops, cobblers, barbers and so on.

Andhe baba ka dera

Our first stops were the Shivalaya and the government school, both located on the village main road. The Shivalaya (Shiv temple) is I think the only temple in the village. But apparently we (the Jats) don't really worship at this Shivalaya. There is another place visited by a lot of people, known as Andhe baba ka dera. Its not really a temple, but still revered by a lot of people.

Govt school, Kithana

After that we visited the government school where my father had studied for about 5 years. The school felt the same it would have been 50 years ago. Classrooms in a single floor spread around with basic furniture. And lot of empty space in between for the children to play during the breaks.

Some of the teachers and the principal were there (on a Sunday!), so we chatted with them for some time. The principal told us how for a year, the class 10th and 12th students haven't had a Maths teacher. And that the girls from the school were doing better than the boys:). He mentioned how the school was going down in quality because of more private schools coming up nearby. There were at least 5 private schools in the village itself. And also that the government teachers in the village had multiple duties - counting cattle, election duty, health duty and so on that they did not have enough time to teach:). No wonder it is tough for them to focus enough on students.

When we offered to give a scholarship to the most intelligent student of the year, the principal was unwilling to take money and said we should come and give the prize ourselves. He seemed like a very dedicated teacher and asked for our help in getting a Maths teacher for the students. Meeting him made me feel that not everyone is corrupt and lazy in the government. There are people who are dedicated to their jobs and there is still hope!

Kithana high street:)

The main street of the village seemed quite developed, with lot of cars and shops around. Then we took our car inside and it was like driving into a different world altogether. Narrow lanes, with mud/brick roads, some brick and some mud houses, bullock carts parked on the sides, buffaloes walking on the street and so on. How I always remembered my village like:).

We first stopped at my grandfather's first house where my dad was born. The old house wasn't there anymore. But papa ran into some old classmates of his who he had studied with more than 60 years ago. It was like he was returning to his childhood days:).

Our kitchen!

Then we went to my grandfather's current house. Our house was earlier almost at the outskirts of the village but its now within the village. And then onwards I don't remember the next 4 hours, they were a blur. As children, me and my brother had spent many of our summer vacations in that house, playing with the buffaloes; mom cooking in a kitchen with an earthen

Where food for cattle is threshed

chulha; sleeping on the terrace where sometimes cotton was put up to dry; going to the khet to relieve ourself; trying to cut the chara for the cattle but everyone telling us to be careful; being scared of the buffaloes, and so on. As I said it felt like a different life altogether and I also felt that nothing much had changed. The house was the same, the roads the same, it was all same old, same old.

All the 8-10 houses next to my grandfather’s house are owned by his brothers and cousins, and so all relatives of ours. The news spread very fast that we were there and everyone came out to meet us! I must have met 50-100 of my 'relatives’ who all knew me by name and everything about me:) even though I hadn’t met them for years.

Lanes of my village

In a village, neighbours and relatives are more connected than in the cities and know more about each other too. As I said, it felt like such a different world. Having all 10 houses next to yours occupied by your relatives is something I haven't experienced ever in my life. We visited them all and some of dad's classmates. Had milk and lassi everywhere, and so much sweet that I was totally full. I was also overcome with a lot of feelings at seeing the warmth of everyone I met. They were curious to know what I was doing in my life and also very very happy to see me after so many years.

Dada ka Kheda

After the multiple social visits, we visited the Dada ka Kheda which is where my family lights a diya (earthen lamp) on special occasions. This Kheda of an ancestor is revered more than the temples in the village. Its a small place made of marble. There is no idol there, you just light a diya and keep it inside the marble structure. Jats are not known to be very religious, especially in Haryana, hence they don’t pray much. And therefore, the Pandits in the village are also not that dominant, they depend more on the others for charity and are not as rich as say in UP.

While we were walking towards the kheda, we passed through several different areas of the village. And apparently different castes stay in different parts of the village and are segregated. There are apparently 36 castes in Haryana, and I heard some of their names mentioned as we were passing their sections - Doomb, Chamar, Kumhar, Lohar, Khati, Baniya, Pandit, Nayee and so on.

Each caste had its own roles in the village, but that’s changed now. Our village now has a SC sarpanch which doesn’t make a lot of people too happy:). People are known and even called by their caste and community names. My dad even remembered about a person who had come from Pakistan during partition and where his shop was. He was known to all as the ' Pakistani’ in the village but now has moved on to a city.

Gher

After the kheda, we went to our gher where cowdung is put to dry. Everyone who has cattle has their own gher and its an important piece of owned land. As a child, even I used to make and enjoy making cowdung cakes:). Now of course I would think its too unhygienic! I felt like an NRI taking photos of all of it, but it did feel different and exotic after the years in London!

Our khet

And last we went to our khet, our fields - with the golden hue of wheat all around. I walked around there enjoying the view. And touching the wheat. A lot of people have now starting building houses in the fields and not in the village. It sounds like a good idea:). Also, by this time I felt too hot as the sun was up fully and didn't want to stay outside too long:D. So we left soon to come back to the wedding in Jind.

Milestone to home

Overall, I was very surprised with how strongly I felt that I was back to my roots. I don't think I can settle in my village or even stay there for long. Have become quite used to city life and its conveniences. But it is nice to know you have a place where you belong. Its another home, its your own, its where your roots are. Where people know who you are even if you don't. Where you will always have a connection. As I said, its nice to have a place you belong to. It also makes me feel a bit different than people who have no place they can call their 'ancestral home'.

I don’t know when I will be back, as our house is locked and no one lives there anymore. But I can sense I will like to visit again.

Part 1 - Towards Kithana
Part 3 - My impressions