The Old Village

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After our visits to the southern and eastern temples, our newly acquired 12 yr old tour guide asked if we would like to see the village, where "real people" live. Of course, I wanted to see it, but I also wasn't in the mood to play walking ATM.

Our guide assured us that the locals in the old village (vs the new one where our hotel is) relied on farming and not tourism, so we wouldn't be bothered. So we agreed. Besides, we had over an hour left in our 4 hours of tuk tuk service.

We set out, deciding we would take no photos. This was mostly due to the fact that we didn't want to have to pay anyone for taking their picture by accident or for photographing their cow, etc.
Also, I personally just feel funny taking pictures of people going about their lives. You should be able to do your laundry in peace. If they're not going to bother me, I'm not going to treat them like a tourist attraction.

We started out among houses of the lowest caste, all of which were painted the brightest blue. Our guide explained that people of this cast like the bright colors The streets were narrow, only about 2-3 meteres wide. Peeking in some of the open doors I could see small dark rooms with little furniture and few belongings. One house did have brightly painted walls inside, but that was the only one I saw.

We came upon a large well, a car length in diameter. I couldn't see water in it, it was so empty. Our guide explained that this was a city of 4s. 4 wells, 4 temples, 4000 people. There are four castes, too: Brahman, Kshatria, Vaisia and Sudra. Go here for a REALLY simple explanation of the castes: http://www.csuchico.edu/~cheinz/syllabi/asst001/spring98/india.htm

We saw the rest of the castes going up in order. Our guide pointed out the higher castes had smaller doorways so that people would be forced to bow and show respect upon entering. The insides of the homes of the higher castes had more light and nice furnishings. It was a sharp contrast when we went from the Brahman caste section to the next one (I don't remember which one it was).

We passed a school and our guide askd if we wanted to go in. I did want to, but he told us we could take pictures and the students would be very excited. Out of repect for the teachers and not wanting to disturb the students, we declined. Kent joked that I could have had my rockstar status back if we had gone in.
(We've been joking that since arriving I've gone from rockstar to rock--all because I am a woman.)

It was nice to see a small village, children running around, being free, people doing daily chores (laundry, fetching water, crafting bronzes). I didn't feel like we were bothering them and they didn't try to practice their English or ask for money or try to sell us something. Or follow us.

There was a nice calm simplicity to life. The shop keepers were relaxing or talking with friends. People were smiling. There were no bars or restauants (that we saw). People relaxed in the sun playing cards, sat on the roadside talking, and dogs slept lazily. The women have brighly painted feet, I'm guessing in celebration of National Day (Jan 26). There were no horns honking, no cars, only a few motorbikes. All in all, this was one of my favorite experiences in India so far. I got a taste of the real India and it didn't cost me a rupee.
Beautiful.

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