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The
village is such a small community that a visitor is
immediately spotted, and may find himself being greeted and
asked "whom he wishes to see, the directions for which are
then provided, or the visitor may even find himself being
escorted there. It is unlikely that the roads within the
village will be metalled, and most houses are connected to
each other through a network of winding, kuchcha lanes.
The principal road, which may or may not be metalled,
usually ends at some central point of the village. This may
be a small market where people sit on the platforms at the
entrances of the shops, or temples, or a small fortress, or
at tea shops to exchange information, or merely to pass
time, particularly in the case of senior citizens.
The doors of the houses open on to the road, and on both
sides of the door there are small chabutras -
platforms - where people sit, children play, and women
discuss the day-to-day matters that affect their lives. In
the centre of the village, houses tend to have more rooms,
and have fewer open spaces, meeting the needs of their
trader-residents. Around these are the homes of
craftspeople, carpenters, Brahmins, and goldsmiths. Those
who need large courtyards for their cattle and agricultural
equipment are closer to the outskirts. Such agricultural
families have bedrooms, stores, a kitchen, courtyard for
cattle, and place for storing fodder and for keeping bullock
carts or tractors. Most villages now have electricity and
are connected by roads. |
