Yes, that is me carrying my bag on my head.
Day 4
We decided to visit the local Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) to learn more about the facilities provided to the people. We were told that PHC was under construction and some renovations were happening.
We were surprised to see in-patient ward completely empty.
We were able to converse with the sister in charge that day. She told us that the PHC's staff consists of one doctor, one sister in charge, one nurse, 2 Asha workers (1 Asha worker for 1000 people), one pharmacist and one lab technician. Almost all the staff are rotated, as every other day they're placed in another village. We were told that sister Vijaylakshmi was the only long-time nurse a part of the staff and that she was a local living in Angadi Raichur. As she was posted in a nearby village, we couldn't meet her in the morning. We managed to meet her in the evening and after talking to her we found out a couple of things:
1) The visiting doctor is not regular and comes one a week.
2)There are no scanning facilities (CT, MRI etc.) in PHC as a result not many people can rely on the PHC for a proper diagnosis. Hence, most locals go to private hospitals in Kodangal.
3)All vaccinations are provided here including the Covid vaccine. But not many villagers have opted to put the Covid vaccine.
4)Some deliveries happen in the PHC, but most women opt to go to hospitals in Kondangal as there are better facilities provided there.
5)Patient ward was empty as it was newly renovated.
6)Common diseases here are typhoid, mosquito related diseases and elephantiasis.
7)The age at which women give birth to their first child is 18-19 years.
8)Men in the village have a serious alcohol/drug addiction.
Speaking to Nurse Vijayalakshmi helped us understand the social problems in Angadi Raichur much better.
-As there is no closed sewer system in the village mosquito related diseases were common.
-Young mothers were a product of rampant child marriage in the village.
-Alcohol/Drug addiction was a serious problem noticed in elderly men (above 50 years).
-Hospital facilities were poor, hence locals are less reliant on the PHC for any emergency. Locals are willing to pay extra money to call an ambulance that will take them to a private hospital, than visit the local PHC.
After speaking to the nurse, we decided to head back to the Sarpanch's office to see if we could meet the Sarpanch again. But he wasn't there this time. We decided to sit outside the office to observe what was happening around us. Some village elders came to us and started conversing with us.
Sarpanch office was closed, but most of the village elders always hung out around this office.
Sango and I decided to talk to this elderly man. Lucky for us, he understood Hindi, so we were able to talk to him easily. He was born in this village and has lived here all his life. Speaking to him helped us understand the timeline of this village and when different facilities were introduced over a period of time.
Timeline of Angadi Raichur:
1965 – Zila Parishad Primary School
1970 – Primary Healthcare Centre
1972 – Electricity in Village
1975-85 – Introduction to fertilizers
1990 – Zila Parishad High School
2005 – Telecommunication Tower
2015 – Toilets in village
2018 – Gas Cylinders in village
2019 – Mission Bhagiratha for drinking water
As he was a farmer himself, he told us the struggles he faced over the years. For the past 2 years, due to heavy rain, cotton crops sowed in his land were completely destroyed. As result, he did not make any money these past few years. There was no government scheme that supports him during that period. His 2 sons also work with him in the field and his daughter is studying in the local government school. We were able to learn so much just talking to him.
After he left, we decided to stay outside the office for sometime. A lot of curious little children started coming to us wanting to know more about us. And of course, they all wanted to play!
Seeing these children playing Kabbadi and KhoKho was absolutely fun!
After playing with the children, we went to Anil's house (another local of Angadi Raichur). We met his wife Anu. Anil and both studied in the local high school. They fell in love with each other but the chances of their parents approval was very less. Marriage within the same caste is the norm in the village. Anyone who marries outside their caste is outcasted by their family and the community. Anil and Anu were of different castes. Despite Anil's father's approval, Anu's parents did not approve of the marriage. Anil and Anu got married when they were 20 years in a temple. They both had to file a police complaint after fearing Anu's parents might interfere. Anil shared with us that, as most high schoolers (especially girls) fear an 'arranged marriage' after their 10th grade, they marry their lover despite being under age without the consent of their parents. After this, they have to learn how to fend for themselves.
This is essentially is child marriage happening because of child marriage. Younger population of this village want more freedom and are moving away from social constructs like is same-caste/same religion marriage. Anu shared with us of how so many youth in the village get married (love marriage) before they complete their 12th grade, and how common this practice was now. After Anu married Anil, her entire family (parents and her 5 siblings) has stopped talking to her.
We met Anil's younger sister who got a love marriage when she was 16. She married her high school senior 2 years older than her. As they were of the same caste, Anil's father approved the marriage and so did the groom's parents. The family had to give the groom dowry which included 10 pounds of gold and motorbike.
She gave birth to a baby boy who is a year old now. She is not 18 yet as had a child. She did not complete her education as she got married after grade 10. She is currently a housewife while her husband works in the city as a mechanic. Anil's sister is financially dependent on her husband.
Left to right: Anu (on her lap Anil's sister baby), her neighbour, Anil's grandmother.
We also met Anu's neighbour. Anu's neighbour Shilpa. Shilpa runs her own tailoring business. She earns around 7000-8000rs per month. Her husband works in the city. When speaking about her husband, we were told that Shilpa's husband has been having an affair with another women in the city. As a result he doesn't visit Shilpa, nor does he come to village often. Despite his extremarital affair, Shilpa remains married to her husband and currently resides with her parents. The concept of divorse is not accepted in this village. The tag of being divorced, especially for women, means they are not accepted by members of community. The common assumptions is always that the 'woman did something wrong' and not the men.
After we came home, I wanted to discuss whatever I heard with Akila. This was to hear her perspective on the matter. What Akila shared was even more shocking for me to hear.
Akila is currently in grade 10 and has moved to grade 11 this year. The photo on the left comprises of all the girls in Akila's class, while the photo on the right is the photo of Akila's entire class. 10 out of 14 girls (excluding Akila) in Akila's class are married or engaged to be married by this year. Only 4 are currently pursuing grade 11 from Kodangal. All boys in Akila's class remain unmarried till date. Some are studying, while other are supporting their family by working in the field.
Day 5
Today was the day we accompanied Narasamma to the rice paddy. We did whatever she did. Or at least we tried.
So what Narasamma did was basically weeding the rice paddy. She had to manually pull out all the weeds growing around the rice crop ensuring that that rice was getting sufficient water. It seemed easy to watch her do it.
As the ladies were wearing sari, the sari had to be tied above the waist, so the cloth goes above the knees and doesn't get wet in the water. This was so difficult for me to get used to as my sari kept falling. And a wet sari meant that you couldn't move around the field as easily as you should.
I stepped into the field slowly. As the paddy was fully irrigated, my foot was sucked into the soil. the experience was like stepping into quick sand. It was extremely difficult for me to move around the field carefully without stepping on the crop. After a few minutes of figuring out the practice they were doing, it too tried what they were doing. Sadly, I fell on my back into the paddy. I truly underestimated how difficult the task until I had to do it. Narasamma had to weed 3 such fields by 3pm, and I was struggling to move from one row to another row.
One of the Amma's while taking a break made the most simple yet beautiful arrangement with weed flowers. It looked so beautiful. I placed it on Sango's head, and looked like a hairband of flowers.
After spending the afternoon in the field, Sango and I returned back home. After taking a break, we decided to walk around the village. Here are some of the pictures we took!
When somebody is shy to pose :)
When it's time to let loose...
There is no bounds to creativity..
Beauty in the mundane.
Little girl following the steps of young women. (Literally and metaphorically)
The beauty of blue doors...
Sunset, simply exquisite.
Day 6
Today was our last day in Angadi Raichur. We started our day by visiting the local government school. We tried to talk to some school girls in the high school. When we asked if these girls continued their education after 10th, almost everyone said yes. When we brought in the question of marriage after 10th, many giggled and kept mum. It was clear that child marriage was a serious problem yet it was commonly practiced despite the awareness that it was wrong.
After this, we were fortunate enough to meet the Sarpanch. On speaking to him to him, we found out that the government gives Rs 12,000 per household to construct a bathroom. Despite this, many villagers opt out of constructing a bathroom.
It took me more than a lakh to construct a bathroom. -Sarpanch
He said that Angadi Raichur did not have a well connected sewage system, as a result, constructing a bathroom becomes even more difficult. In his case, he had to incur the additional cost of constructing additional septic tanks to ensure that all the waste was not disperse outside the house.
When we asked him about child marriage in the village he vehemently denied that child marriage happens in the village. While in the very same street he lives in, just a few houses away, Anil's sister who is 17 has a baby boy.
When we asked about caste segregation, the Sarpanch again denied that it did not exist. When we talked about the local government school not having a good bathroom, he claimed that the school did not want to construct a better bathroom, while that was just the opposite of what we heard from the headmaster of the school. One good thing we got to know was that the Sarpanch sent his 2 daughter to the government school, which is definitely reassuring to the people.
After speaking to the Sarpanch, we were very confused. People were saying something, the sarpanch was saying something else. It was a bit difficult to understand what was exactly happening as everyone were pointing fingers at each other and playing the blame game.
After this we bumped into the Sarpanch's neighbour who happens to lead the Self Help Groups (SHGs) in Angadi Raichur. Each SHG has 10 members. Each of them contribute a portion of money to open a bank account for the entire group. Depending on their needs, they can together avail a loan from the bank. We were happy to find out that the village had 42 SHGs, and these groups were able to avail 4 dal processing machines.
She told us that the SHGs could do more if they had better support from the Sarpanch. Her daughter is currently studying in grade 11, from a school in Kodangal.
There is something about baby animals that make them irresistable.
On our way back we decided to visit all the Anganwadi's in the village. We were extremely delighted to see that almost all Anganwadi's were functioning well and were well equipped terms of resources. Each Anganwadi had a teacher and a helping staff. All the toddlers were given nutritious food and snacks throughout the day. The teachers also dispersed medications to parents with sick toddlers. As Telugu was the medium in which teachers taught the children, the teachers also made it a point to teach English rhymes and vocabulary every week. Couple of bright spots we observed was that undernourished toddlers (very few) were given special care in the Anganwadi. Almost all toddlers we visited in the Anganwadi were healthy with a few exceptions. The Anganwadi teachers are locals working for over 12 years. They have used money from their own pockets to improve the infrastructure of their Anganwadi, like purchase different learning material and games for children. It was this dedication that I admired.
After visiting the Anganwadi's we headed back home. We left Angadi Raichur shortly after lunch. It was a bit difficult to condition myself for the city after being in this beautiful village for almost a week. I learnt so much and I will miss everyone I met there. I hope to go back to Angadi Raichur again :)
Spotting sparrows in the village gave me immense joy. There are very few of them in the cities due to everything we have done to make their habitat a difficult one to live in. Seeing these beautiful tiny little birds showed me how rural life embraces nature and life as a whole. This experience was truly something that changed my perspectives on a lot of things.
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