I spent three weeks in Udaipur, Rajasthan as an India Fellow. This is the venue of the induction training program that the fellowship starts with. We are 25 fellows this time, in our 20s, from across the country and diverse backgrounds. When I came here I was a little anxious about the place and the people of Rajasthan, mostly about the men.
After coming to Udaipur I have started to interact with men of different ages. Now I am sitting in my room and thinking about all these interactions. I am thinking of this short journey and trying to understand how I saw them, what my lenses are and how they helped me challenge my initial notions around them.
Our Caretakers
At first I met couple of local men from the villages around here, working in Badgaon at Krishi Vigyan Kendra where I was staying. Sundar bhaiya and Shankar ji. They cook and serve delicious food at our table. I felt very comfortable and respected around them. Both speak very softly and politely.
I met with another uncle at a shop near KVK. He volunteered a lot of information about his culture. He recited a poem based on Indian glory, and even got his name in the poem! This 62 year old man was wearing a big colourful turban on his head. Not only him, many men in Rajasthan wear it with pride. It represents the Rajasthani tradition – the one we all anyway associate the region with through our exposure via media. He also had a moustache, typically like the ones we see in movies. He said he was a farmer.
But the more interesting fact was that he was speaking to me in English. This was shocking for me because I had the stereotypical image of a village farmer, all of which so far was true, who was very poor and only knew the regional language but not English. Obviously, this one gave me a slip.
A Politically Aware Farmer
Again at KVK I met with a farmer and spoke to him. He was talking about the pathetic state of the farmers of Rajasthan. While speaking he mentioned about the recent political condition of Bangladesh (and West Bengal as well, clubbing them together). He also spoke about a few famous political figures. Such as Gandhi ji and Nehru ji, Mamata Banerjee and Sheikh Hasina. He went ahead and added some international political history in the mix, referring to Hitler at some point as well.
It appeared that he was quite aware of the political situation of our country. It was amazing. I could not believe how could that be possible? I wondered how did a rural old farmer had knowledge that even I didn’t have. Then again, this was proof that I should change my stereotypical notions about farmers. Both the farmers knew about their rights and opportunities – whether or not they could avail it was a different matter entirely.
A Young Man From Badgaon
Now we turn to a young man from Badgaon. The man is 30 years old and working at his father’s tea shop. His brother is a farmer and he wants to open a cafe in Udaipur city. He was talking about his position in the caste system. He said that he was an OBC (other backward caste) and his caste was ‘savarna’. Clearly this was an attempt to place himself inside rather than outside of the varna system, even if in the lower rung. The young man was very active in politics and proud of his Jaat (caste group) identity.
He mentioned that he didn’t like Muslims and didn’t want any Muslim around him. He was wearing a jeans and a t-shirt. While making tea at his shop he mentioned very proudly, “we don’t have any Muslims in this village”.
“So where do they live?” I asked.
He did not give me an answer.
A Couple Of Migrant Shop Owners
I also met a utensil shop owner. “I came here for business, my family lives in Delhi. Here I rent this shop along with the house,” he said. After speaking to him I came to know that there are many migrants who come to Udaipur for their livelihood.
I also spoke to a person who had a rented tailoring shop. He talked about the sorrows of his life, and that he doesn’t get much with his profession and was only trying to survive. His family hd three daughters. He worried about their future since he didn’t have much savings. He was also a migrant from a village near Jaipur, in Rajasthan itself.
A Function Of “I” At Play
I had been in Udaipur for a fortnight while writing this. I was trying to understand the culture, people’s emotions, their professions, men’s behaviour towards the outsiders and women among other things. A lot of men are very welcoming. I have also seen that the men are hardworking. They could be a farmer, a young boy, a shop owner, a school boy or an ordinary old man, but one thing unites them – they love and respect their culture. They are also conscious about caste in their society. From an outsider’s view in the time I have spent there, I felt very safe. And I was wondering if I could say that the men around were responsible for that.
Or was it something about who I am – an outsider, a woman student at Krishi Vigyan Kendra?
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