VADOD
the tree of life
VADOD
the tree of life
document by
ananya divya gd, pg 2013
facuty
tridha gajjar
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We would like to thank Tridha Gajjar for facilitating this project. We also really appreciate the help of Mahendra Bhai and Dinesh Bhai who travelled with us all the way to Vadod to help us carry out our research. We also want to acknowledge the guidance of Tarun Deep Girdhe, Swasthi Singh and Immanuel Suresh. Our local guides, Naresh Bhai and Sajan were very helpful in familiarising us with the villge communities. We want to thank all the residents of Vadod for their patience and bearing with all our queries and the management of WALMI for the hospitable stay. Lastly we would like to thank NID for this opportunity.
CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION
8
2. OBJECTIVES
12
3. METHODOLOGY
16
4. FINDINGS
20
5. ANALYSIS
58
6. RECOMMENDATIONS
70
1
INTRODUCTION
first impressions of vadod
our base was at walmi from where we visited the village of vadod everyday.
Vadod is a small village near to the Anand district. “Vad” in Gujarati means “banyan tree”, this is the reason why the village is named so. There are 200 banyan trees in the village. Though being a small village it has a population of 10336 people, from different castes- Patels, Parmars, Brahmins, Darbars, Talpada, Muslims and Harijans – with further sub divisions. The village is divided into 29 pockets where people of different castes live. Apart from the main occupation of the people which are agriculture and animal husbandry (generally the Patels and Darbars), people here deal in a lot of other occupations as additional sources of income. Over time the village has transformed more into a town. A lot of development has taken place in the last
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25 years. Today the village has a lot of facilities like hospital, bank, markets, photo studio, schools, railway station, police station, bus stand. The needs of the people are met within the village itself. The reason for the development of the village might be that there are a lot of NRI’s settled abroad but have their roots within the village. The village also has Temples, Mosques and Churches. A lot of festivals are celebrated in the village-Navaratri, Ganeshchaturthi, Holi, Dhuleti, Id, Christmas etc – as people here are very spiritual.
vadod has a pond and railway station. the houses are clustered surrounded by farms.
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2
OBJECTIVES
what we wanted to understand
tradition and modernity both co-exist in vadod. a number of paradoxes can be found here.
The major objective of this project was to observe and study the village to find out how the people in the village live, the way they tackle their problems. Within this broad objective, we identified more specific things that would help us gain insights. These are 1. Resourcefulness of the residents, studying their inter-connectednes, self-sufficiency and jugaad. 2. The various occupations people practice for livelihood and if there exist relationships between the occupations and gender, social hierarchy, age, level of satisafction of the family, size of the family etc. 3. The entrepreneurial ability of the people.
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residents of vadod engage in a number of occupations.
though wayfinding is overall poor, the more affluent patel mohallas have proper signages.
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3
METHODOLOGY
how we went about it
cooking with the women in vadod.
Ethnogarphic studies have a certain defined methodology. Its important to understand that the community that we approach to study, studies us as much as we study them. Thus building a rapport is extremely important. The only way to get information out of someone is by firstly, making them feel comforatable with you and secondly assuring them about how it will get used. In order to do this, we got someone from the community to become our guide. Also by getting involved in the activities of the residents like cooking, it became easier to interact with them. By sketching details we were able to gather insights by observation.
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sketching to observe details.
Here is a breakdown of what we studied during our stay at Vadod. Day 1 - Location Recce to get an overview Day 2 - Specify area of Focus Day 3 - Study specific Occupations Day 4 - Study Two Occupations in more detail Day 5 - Visit to Amul Processing plant
sajan kumar rajbhai patel our local guide.
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4
FINDINGS
what we found
camel carts are used to carry goods.
The residents of Vadod have a veri intricate connection to each other. While there is social hierarchy and segregation, people do interact with each other frequently. Most needs of the people (clothing, shelter, food, livelihood, entertainment, medical) are met within the village itself. It is a very self sufficient system in thta regard. Household chores are usually divide between family members. Literacy is given a lot of importance here. All the children are enrolled in schools. The residents are also very resourceful. They keep finding new ways of earning money. Also there is a big influence of television. People own cars because they aspire to a ceratin lifestyle, while basic needs of sanitation and hygiene go ignored.
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while there are modern facilities like western uinion availabale in vadod, people still use traditional knowledge and architecture.
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VANRAJ SINH MAHIDA
utensils are washed outside the house. they store their clothes in drums kept on shelves and brass utensils are only used as decoration rather than serving food.
A teacher by profession, he stays with his joint family in the Rathore street of Vadod. Unlike his brothers who work on their fields Vanraj Singh daily travels 20 kms to Sardar Patel University where he teaches. Interacting with him was not much of a problem because unlike the people of Vadod, who only know how to speak Gujarati, was able to converse in English. Their family is a joint family with 21 members aging from 4 years to 85 years. He told us that their family, like the most in Vadod is quite self sufficient - they are able to complete the household chores by themselves. Apart from the daily chores women also earn by the peeling garlic. He told that the major development has happened in the past 3 years.
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AMBA LAL PARMAR
the main occupation is agriculture and animal husbandry.
They are mostly into Animal Husbandry and Farming. There are 6 members in his family in all. He says that it takes Rs 100 a day to maintain a buffalo. The community finds it more viable to keep buffaloes because they get paid daily whereas in agriculture they get paid every 3 to 4 months. Also agriculture has has reduced because of increase in Industrial area. Mostly banana farming happens in Vadod. Other crops include wheat, rice and maize. The crops are stored in a godown. They get all the pesticides from the Sahakari Mandi near the bus stop and they deposit their money in Bank of Baroda. He says that they will not discontinue farming even when the new generation gets jobs.
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GAYATRI BEN
earthen pots are used to store drinking water and clay choolhas and firewood is used for cooking.
Gayatri Ben is the one who initiated Garlic peeling to the village people. She said that Garlic peeling is generally done by the women and the non employed members of the family. She said that she and her husband started this chain. They get about 80- 100 kg of garlic from Hargud and distribute it among the neighbouring families. The women from the neighbouring houses collect garlic from her place and after peeling hand it over back to Gayatri ben. After the peeled garlic is collected Gayatri Ben’s husband takes it back to his shop (his work place) from where people from the restaurant collect it and pay them the money. For every kilo of peeled garlic they are paid Rs. 11. Gayatri Ben pay’s the other ladies either on daily basis or for a couple of days together depending on when she gets the money.
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KANTA BEN
they sell vegaetables also in their kiryana store. the peepal tree outside the shop is worshipped every new moon for well-being.
She runs a small kiryana shop with her husband, Praveen Sinh. They also sell vegetables in their shop. There is a peepal tree near the shop and she told us that the red and white garlands hanging on it were because Peepal is considered to be a manifestation of God Vishnu. On every new moon, a pooja happens after which these garlands are hung.
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ALPESH BHAI PITHARIA
he runs a small shop but uses whatever space is available very efficiently.
A tailor by profession is a Kathyawadi who has come from Bhavnagar to Vadod and stays here with his wife (Sonal Ben) and two children(Isha and Henil). His wife used to help to do the Faul and Peeko in saris but now as their son is very young she is unable to help him. In Vadod itself there are about 15 tailors. Although he has a small shop which is rented to him from an NRI he has and employee (Shailesh Bhai) who helps him. His brother in law also helps him when he has an off from his college. Alpesh Bhai’s father is also a tailor by profession, but Alpesh bhai chose to come to Vadod to expand because in Vadod, work is available all the year round. Though he has to pay the house rent, shop rent, electricity bills and paying to his employee which sums up roughly around 13,000 and he earns around 15,000 - 20,000, he is satisfied with the profits he is making. He hopes that these profits will rise up soon.
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DR. SANJAY SHAH
there are many doctors available within vadod itself.
He is a Homeopathy doctor and being practicing in Vadod for the past 25 years. He originally is from Sarsa ans has being staying in Anand past 25years. There are 5 more doctors practicing in Vadod. People in Vadod first try to cure the medical problems by themselves and if they are not able to handle them they approach the doctors. The small and less complicated medical problems are solved within the village but people have to go to Anand if the patient requires special treatment. He told that most development has happened in the past 25 years. He said there is a great influence of cinema on people that is the reason that quite a lot of people have their own vehicles.
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MEENA BEN ALPADA
meena ben does maostly fall work on her sewing machine.
A tailor by profession works from her place(house) with her husband. She has two children whome she encourages to study what they want to and does not pressurize to follow her profession. She travels to Ahmadabad by local train to buy material for her shop from the old city. She throws light on the problems they face in the village (which are many). Firstly she told that the panchayat here takes tax but does no good. Cleanliness in the village streets is a problem- no dustbins- and nor do people take the initiative to do anything and no one is really interested. Secondly there are no marriage halls so people have to travel to Anand which further adds on to expenses. She said if you want to flourish then manage things yourself.
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MADHU BEN
the houses in the patel mohallas are well constructed. about 70% of them are nri’s.
She belongs to an affluent Patel family and lives in “Moti Khadki”. Her husband owns a hardwrae shop in Anand while her daughter stays in America and works in a Lab. They value their privacy greatly. She was a very perceptive woman and was able to guess people’s castes from their names and occupations.
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MITTAL RAISINGH MAKWANA
the house has a very traditional architecture. the upper floor is accessed through a trap door.
She is 26 years old stays at her mother’s place as she is a divorcee. She is a maid who works in a Patel house where two old widows sisters live- Sarita Fai and Majula Ben. These sisters have a big house where only they live. Mittal comes here daily to do the household chores. She told that they have sold their house as they are old and have no children but will stay here till they are alive, maybe some contract has being done.
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RAFIK BHAI CHAUHAN
the family goat.
He stays in Maulesium Garashia Community. Their ancestors were converted from Hinduism to Muslim. Hence there is a disparity in their naming conventions. Their first names are Muslim but last names are Hindu. They celebrate both Hindu and Muslim festivals. His father is a labourer. He himself works as an electrician but he did marketing for 3 years hence has a good exposure about the world. Has three children who study in Prathmik school. He wants to cahnge a lot of things but feels that he cannot do so much because he is not sufficiently educated. The women of the house stay at home and do all the household chores. They also have a goat which is the source of the milk the family consumes.
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SHAKUNTLA BEN MEDA learning from the field / 20
the aanganvaadis are funded by reliance group.
She works in the Anganvadi. They also have a nutritionist and helper in the Anganvadi. Children here come in two batches 9:30- 10:30 am (7 months – 3 years) and 11:00 am- 2:00pm (3years- 6 years). Children are taught to recognize animals, numbers, names. They and also introduces to games and drawing. The children who come here to study are also given food.
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SURESH BHAI
the poultry farm is spread over a very wide area and is located at the outskirts of vadod.
Suresh Bhai-He manages the poultry farm owned by Sameer Bhai, who is also is in the business of pharmaceuticals. The farm has a capacity of 24,000 hens. The farm used to have 18000 hens but as 3000 died because of some virus/ disease so presently the number dropped down to 15,000 hens. Daily the hens give 12,000 eggs which are 400 dishes. These eggs are sold to wholesalers and retailers.
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DEEPALI BEN
the women in vadod practice many alternate occupations to substantiate their earnings.
Both the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law work as designers for a muslim lady who stays nearby their place. They said that this lady gets saris from Surat to Anand to Vadod, gets them designed here and delivers them back to Surat. It takes them 3 days to complete one sari together for which they get Rs. 50/-. Dipali Ben told that her father-in-law used to work as a machine operator in Alicon in Anand but is now retired. Her husband works as an accountant in a cement factory in Anand. They cook using a gas stove for which the cylinder comes from Anand.
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B.L. DABHI
the bank is located outside the villge, near the bus stop to be easily accesssible to nearby villages as well.
He is the Branch Manager of Bank of Baroda, Vadod branch. He says there are about 12,500 accounts in the bank. The Vadod branch has been ther for the past 40 years. He says that although financial transaction are more or less similar to urban areas, the thinking of the people is more rigid in Vadod. They offer loans for tractors, dairy animals, mills, vehicles, homes and education. The major problem that they face is in recovery of loans.
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BHAGAT KAKA
their house has two rooms maintained in an orderly manner.
His actual name is Carl Alex Parmar, named as Bhagat Kaka by the villagers. Although he is a Christian he shares a Hindu name because he was named so by the ancestors. The ladies in the house also have Hindu names (wife- Pushpa Ben, daughter-in-law- Hansa). He has been in Vadod for the past 40 years and stays with one of his 5 children in Vadod. He was in railways for 36 years (retired in 1995). In the whole Christian community it was only his house that had a Christmas tree. The previous generations were weavers but as the material were scarce and they were also paid less so Kaka decided to get into government service. He started his professional career as a teacher and used to teacher and then decided to work for the railways. He is very spiritual and believes that there is only one God.
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ALPESH PARMAR
the studio gets customers mainly for passport size photographs.
A photographer by profession and in this profession for the past 8 years. He said there are 2 studios in Vadod, including his. Apart from the passport photographs there’s not much work here in the village. He never underwent a course to learn photography, but still knows photography and software like photoshop for basic editing. He gets all his equipments from Paldi, Ahmadabad. Has strong belief in God. When asked what he wanted his children to become he said God will make them what they would be and not me.
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what we found
the toilets are usually outside the houses.
The occupations practiced are closely related to education, social status, social hierarchy, cultural factors, kind of houses, location in the village, caste etc. The occupations are all connected to each other and practiced both at a micro and macro level. The major occupation sof the residents of Vadod are 1. Primary Occupations Farming/agriculture, Animal husbandry, Poultry farming, Daily wage labour. 2. Secondary Occupations Garlic peeling, Saree Decoration, Shopkeepers, Alternative Medicine –Pahalwan, Sweeper/maids, Priests, Drivers – autorickshaw, bus.
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a water purifying plant shut down because people either could not afford to purchase purified water or they alraedy had purifiers.
3. Tertiary Occupations Government services eg railways, Teacher, schools, anganvaadis (helpers, nutritionists), Tailor, Doctor, Photo Studio, Beauty Parlour, Mechanic, Electrician, Panchayat, bank, post office, Cooperative society workers.
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5
ANALYSIS
what we understood
milk is collected at the dairy dailyboth morning and evening.
The two very dominant occupations that we found in the villge were Animal Husbandry and Garlic Peeling. Hence we decided to understand the associated processes of these occupations in more detail. They present some very critical insights. Garlic Peeling happens at a micro level and was initiated by a resident of Vadod itself while animal husbandry and milk collection are practiced at a macro level.
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garlic peeling is practiced by the women and elderly in vadod.
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process of milk collection
Animal husbandry is one of the most significant occupations practiced in Vadod. The milk is collected everyday at the local dairy and people get paid for what they bring depending on the fat content. It is a source of livelihood for both rich nad poor. The well organised system that has been put in place by Amul in all the villages of Anand, Vadod being one of them, has benefitted the residents immensely.
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1
The buffaloes and cows are fed a combination of dry fodder and fresh fodder.
3
Amul provides facilities for artificial insemination of the buffaloes as well.
2
They are cleaned regularly.
4
The cattle is milked everyday.
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process of milk collection
5
The collected milk is carried to the local dairy near the bus stop.
6
Some of that milk is sold to the residents at the dairy itself.
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The remaining milk is first filtered, weighed and then stored in a temperature contolled tank.
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8
A machine is used to measure the fat content, and people are paid accordingly.
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The collected milk is taken in a tanker to the Amul processing plant in Anand where it gets processed into milk of varying fat densities, butter and powdered milk.
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the process of garlic peeling
Apart from the main occupation, Garlic Peeling is an occupation practiced by women and the elder people in th family. A women named Gyatri Ben, gets around 100 kg of garlic from the wolesale marketvand ladies from the neighbouring houses take a kilo or two from her place for peeling. After the peeling is done the peeled garlics are retured to Gayatri Ben, after which his husband takes it to his shop from where the retaurants buy it for their use. The money which they get in return is Rs11 for 1kg. Apart from her husband both her mother-in-law and father- in -law help and support her.
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1
Gayartri Ben and ger husband get around 80- 100 kg garlic in a big sack from the wholesale market in Hargud.
3
2
The garlic is then beaten up into cloves using a wooden tool to separate the dry peels.
The neighbouring women come to take garlic generally in the afternoon after doing their household chores. The garlic is given to people as they demand/ they can peel . A manual weighing machine is used to weigh the garlic to be given to people. Generally it’s Gayatri Ben’s mothe-in-law helps her in giving it to people.
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the process of garlic peeling
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5
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Once the garlic is being weighed it is being put into poly bags to make it easy for people to carry it to their houses.
After getting garlic from Gayatri ben’s house, ladies of sit in their varanda’s for peeling the garlic. They use two utensils one to keep the peeled garlic and the other for the peels. They utensils to keep the peeled garlic usually has holes.
6
The peeled garlic is then given back to Gayatri ben who pays them Rs 11 per kg, either on daily basis or for few days together, depending on when she gets the money from the restaurants who buy it from her.
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6
RECOMMENDATIONS
what can be done
there is a big problem of waste management and sanitation in vadod.
While Vadod seems lke a very prosperous village, some aspects of it can be improved. There is a lack of proper sanitation and waste management system. People have a tendency to just throw the garbage on the roads. Also there seems to be some inadequecies in the governance system. While there exists a Gram Panchayat, no meetings are held there. The local community is not involved in the decision-making process. The problem seems to be in the complacent attitude of the people. They don’t want to take the initiative to chane anything. However the resourcefulness of the people can be used to rectify these situations. The Gram Panchayat has a big role to play here.
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the gram panchayat can play a big role in starting more community driven initiatives to solve the problems that the residents face.
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This document has been set in Whitney.
the cover illustration is inspired by the concept of the tree of life, that connects and nourishes. vadod itself means that which grew around a banyan tree. the traditional wisdom and inter-connectedness is embodied here.