| If a hamlet looks bleak,
it is hardly surprising: the
resources for building these homes,
which are the most eco-friendly
living unit, are made with what is
available at hand, and in Rajasthan,
and particularly so in its western
desert regions, this can mean
precious little. A village that is
even a little larger may have pucca
houses, or larger living units,
usually belonging to the village
zamindar family. Consisting of
courtyards, and a large nora or
cattle enclosure, attached to one
side or at the entrance, these are
made of a mixture of sun-baked clay
bricks covered with a plaster of
lime. Floor are made with a mixture
of pounded lime, limestone pebbles,
and water. Deco rative
facades in such unites are limited
to creating a texture in the plaster
in the facade, or using simple lime
colours to create vibrant patterns
at the entrance, and outside the
kitchen. These homes capture, for
many of its residents, the only
cosmos they know. For the women, but
for visits within the village
community, the only social occasions
were in the nature of pilgrimages
which were usually combined with
fairs. But it is when they step out
that the stark desert and the
village break unto a feast of colour:
turbans bob past in saffron and red;
skirts billow beneath mantles that
veil the faces of their women - if
they didn't, the jewels that glint
on their foreheads and faces would
add to the shocking surprise of
their magentes and oranges, their
blues and greens and pinks. Trims of
gold ribbon add to this feast of
colour, and bangles jangle not just
on wrists, but all the way up to the
arms above the elbow. Into the
bleak, baking hamlets of the desert,
the people breathe life that is
palpable, carrying in their jaunty
strides, the spirit that is their
destiny.
Each village is a multicommunity
settlement, the various castes
creating a structure of dependence
based on the nature of their work.
While changes are being wrought in
this structure, with ceilings on
land holding, and with the young
seeking exployment opportunities in
towns distant from their villages,
the social fabric has still not been
rent. At the head of the village
settlement are usually the Rajputs,
the warrior race whose kings ruled,
till recently, over these lands. The
Rajputs served their kings, joining
their armies, and raising their
cavalries, but an attendant pursuit
was as agriculturists. Often, they
employed labour to work on their
extensive fields, and kept cattle
for dairy produce: in fact, the
cattle density in Rajasthan is very
high, and milk from desert
settlements is supplied to the large
cities close to the state, including
Delhi.
The Rajput homes, therefore, came
to be the fulcrum around which
village life revolved. In their
employ were the bards and minstrels
who sang their praises in
 verse
and song; tradesment supplied them,
and the others in the community,
with the goods required for their
daily lives, and this was little,
since they grew their grains on
their own lands; the potters and
carpenters were required for their
services; and if the village were
large enough, there were also
ornament makers and cloth dyers and
printers. The priests of the Brahmin
families cast horoscopes, performed
the elaborate rituals of their
festive ceremonies, and served at
the temples. |
