Child birth and marriages were not fixed by dates as they never existed for the village folks. It was the festive season and number of days before or after that day compensated for the dates. As per them, my father was born three days after the full moon in autumn. This was during the same [...]

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Although coins existed and the currency of then British empire in India were available, barter remained the main source of exchange of goods and services. The mid-wife was given few kilogram of rice and “Gud” (sweet extract from sugar cane which was the substitute of sugar). Barber never took anything for a single visit. It [...]

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It was common in the village to have children by the age to sixteen for a girl. By the age of about thirty, they would end up becoming mother of six to seven children if they survived. Hard labour in field, tending cattle and work at home kept them generally healthy but death during child [...]

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Village also had two barbers who were important part of the society in the village. As per customs, no boy ever saw the girl or the girl saw the boy before their marriage was fixed. Only elders in the family were the decision makers and their decision was conveyed to the elders in the boy’s [...]

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Villagers were simple people with complex believes. They believed in ghosts, reincarnation, deep religious believes and had several children as it was “God’s gift” on which they had no control.  It was the times of about 1930 and British government was at the helm of the affairs. Once in a while someone who visited the [...]

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Although, the postman brought smiles on the face of the people wherever he went, whenever he brought a “Telegram”, the news used to spread in the entire village like wild fire. IT was a common understanding that the telegram would bring some bad news only. As no one could read, putting out the content of [...]

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The village postman (“Dakia Bhaiya” – Postman brother) was a celebrity of sorts. His popularity was primarily due to the fact that he was the only person who owned a watch, a bicycle and knew how to read and write in the whole area comprising of about ten villages. His identity was [...]

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Village well served the common bathing point for men folk, children and animals all throughout the year. Be it extreme winter or scorching hot summer, the well was thronged by all till late in the evening. Due to a superstition that the ghosts of the village bathed in the well in the night, no one [...]

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My father vaguely remembers his mother who grew thin and pale over time and was very caring for his children. She rarely moved out of the house and kept panting and rested several times even if she had to pick up a bucket of water from the well nearby. My father, always wanted to help [...]

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My father was a very hard working man. His story is of a true rags to a respectable life journey, but not riches. His younger brother though was a true rags to riches story. Both of them had a way of dealing with life and looking at life differently. It would be essential for me [...]

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