Madaar Mein “Sab Badhiya Hai”?

Madaar is a village in Bargaon block in Udaipur district of Rajasthan. It is almost 9 to 10 km from Udaipur city. There are two beautiful lakes named “Bari Talaab” and “Chhoti Talaab” in the village and you’ll find an amazing topography there. Lakes which are surrounded by small hills and dams, different species of birds, their chirping and the sound of water flowing through the dam makes music to your ears. I was in the state of peace there. The villagers call the lakes Bari Madaar and Chhoti Madaar. They claimed their village to be Chhota Kashmir of India. In Madaar, there are more than 550 families with the population of almost 3000 people. They are warm, welcoming and hard working.

Recently we (a team of four members) visited Madaar for the rural immersion of India Fellow Induction training. The purpose was to explore the village, to know the people, their lifestyles, livelihood, occupation, language, culture, traditions etc. On the fourth day of our visit, which was also our last day in the village, we had an objective to interview the villagers about their cash flows and income source. But when we arrived there, we didn’t know where to start from.

“Aao beta, panipuri khao” suddenly I heard a familiar voice. It was Lal*, an old man in his 60s, wearing shirt and loose trousers. He had a decent smile on his face with a different kind of contentment. He has a panipuri stall near the government school on the right side of the road of the village. I know him because we met him on the third day of our visit. I replied him with a smile and sat there. It didn’t feel right to bombard him with questions and interview him but I just wanted to talk. “Chacha, aur batao kya haal-chaal hai“?, I asked. “Sab badhiya hai beta”, he started with this line. He told that he has a small house in this village and there are 9 members in his family including his wife, two sons, two daughters in-law and three grandchildren.

I was curious to know about the role of farming in his life. He told that they have a small piece of land where he grows vegetables which is not enough to sell. So they use it for their consumption but now it is becoming difficult to manage farming because he has donated one of his kidneys to his daughter and it is hard to do physical labor like farming with his health condition. As a result, he and his wife make panipuris and sell them to manage their livelihoods. It’s the only source of income they have. One of his sons is working at a medical store and the other one is also selling panipuris on the highway. He mentioned that he is from Brahmin (topmost in the caste hierarchy) community and the government’s approach towards their community is not supportive.

One of his friends, also from the Brahmin community was there and participated in between the conversation. He was well dressed and I didn’t understand why the word ‘Government’ ignited his mind so much that he burst out. One could easily see his frustration and anger towards government policies and approaches. Lal tried to calm him down and continue his story but now his tone was more philosophical as well as spiritual. He told me that he and his wife had gone through hard times and supported each other throughout. He is proud of her and praised her many times while talking. I could see the respect he has for his wife. He ended his conversation with “Chalo baki sab badhiya hai aaplog apna kaam karo”. We said good bye to each other and moved on.

Next, we were roaming around the village looking for someone from a different community this time. We decided to go to Bhilwara (Bhil) community. There’s a locality in Madaar where Bhil community (schedule tribe) lives. Here, we saw a different picture completely opposite to other localities. In Madaar, almost all houses are pakka but in this area, they mostly have kachcha houses or those made under Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojna scheme and are incomplete.

In Bhilwara, we met an old man in his 70s, with a lean structure, white untidy hair and beard. But he looked fit to us, as well as humble and welcoming. We started our conversation with him as he took us to his house. There were many children around us who looked amazed and they saw us as some aliens from a different planet. But they entertained us throughout our way to the old man’s house. When we reached there, we saw goats, a half-constructed house and a broken khaat (cot). The man works as a labourer at someone’s farm, for his livelihood. He gets either Rs. 250-300 per day or 50% of the produce. He told us that he lost his elder son in an accident.

Offering labor is the only source of income for their house. He has goats but they consume their milk themselves. Our team members started playing with the two-day old colt there. He told us many stories but we didn’t understand it entirely because of our limited understanding of the dialect. He had least amount of resources but he looked satisfied, with a smile on his face throughout the conversation. As we parted ways, he said “Bhagwan sab bhala karega”.

I left that village with some questions. In both the cases, they have many problems, difficulties, challenges, heartbreaks but despite all that, they said “Sab badhiya hai” and “Bhagwan sab bhala karega”. Is it hope or a phrase I could not perhaps fully understand?

*Names changed to protect identity