Sattechiwadi, India
Don’t bother looking this place up on the map … you’ll be wasting your time. The road which leads into Sattechiwadi contorts through semi-arid wasteland and is a mix of loose rocks, dirt and pot holes. During the monsoons, its passage becomes so treacherous that it is cordoned off, and any persons desiring to enter or leave must do so on foot. The village is a mere three kilometres from a state highway, and yet ironically, its existence appears consumed by remoteness.
The inhabitants are members of what is known in India as a Scheduled Tribe (ST). They have previously been referred to by less politically correct names, such as depressed classes and untouchables. They are currently a recognized group, along with Scheduled Castes (SC), for affirmative action in the Indian Constitution (see Adivasi). Sufficient to say, they typically occupy the basement of both the social and economic hierarchies. Moreover, they could mechanically be described as ‘simple’, ‘underdeveloped’ and even ‘backwards’.
Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR) has been working with the 83 families in the village for four years. There are signs that the partnership is encouraging positive outcomes: most homes are guaranteed light through solar technology; the SHG program has initiated savings and inter-loaning practices which mitigate risk; the watershed activities have mobilized the population and fostered a greater sense of community; and most importantly, the region’s water table is rising. However, substantial ecological and agricultural outcomes are not anticipated for at least another three years. The timeframe, though only a fraction of the period of environmental decline, still seems to unduly burden a population so accustomed to endemic hardship.
During a respite from our work, I collapse under a tree in an attempt to recuperate from the flesh-searing sun. The moment crystallizes and I find myself observing a microcosm of the villager’s everyday life. The area is calm as the heat has encouraged most to remain indoors, yet the domesticated animals, including cows, goats, chickens, dogs and cats, keep things far from placid. An elderly lady, whose thick spectacles make her appear as though she is holding magnifying glasses to her face, briefly washes her feet before meandering painfully back to her abode. Children, girls rather, of no more than four, scamper effervescently to the well, yet struggle to take the water back to their grandmother’s kitchen.
My one-way mirror quickly dissipates as I am joined in a tentative, accruing fashion by a group of young men. However, their tentativeness recedes as rapidly as my seclusion, and I am quizzed on everything from the weather in Canada to the cost of a haircut to University life to my marital status. And while on that last subject, one of the more vocal boys volunteers that his near-seated friend is about to get married. He is seventeen years old. I asked if he is excited, and get exuberant, yet anxious laughter in response. It is telling of his inexperience. I fret to ask my follow-up question, but cannot resist curiosity: “how old is the bride?” After a brief exchange, my translator stoically replies: “thirteen or fourteen.” My expectation of the response prevents excess astonishment and abhorrence seeping from my facial expression.
Earlier in the day, I had been approached by a boy of my age. He had gone to university, but that’s where the similarities ended. Rather than hockey, he had a passion for cricket; rather than academic interest, he failed out his freshman year; rather than ease, he had asperities to tend. My recollection of that discussion suddenly transfixes my mind. Though we may be close in age, our experiences are disparate. My bearings are lost within their society. Hence, how can I judge, when I do not comprehend? Is my reaction to the marriage justified, or is it a product of my societal lens? There may be a completely logical reasoning behind the practice; I may simply be unaware. This realisation pushes further: is Sattechiwadi truly ‘backwards’, or is that label defined by my preconception of ‘forwards’? If my ‘forwards’ is not applicable, then what is ‘development’?
Don’t bother looking this place up on the map … you’ll be wasting your time. The road which leads into Sattechiwadi contorts through semi-arid wasteland and is a mix of loose rocks, dirt and pot holes. During the monsoons, its passage becomes so treacherous that it is cordoned off, and any persons desiring to enter or leave must do so on foot. The village is a mere three kilometres from a state highway, and yet ironically, its existence appears consumed by remoteness.
The inhabitants are members of what is known in India as a Scheduled Tribe (ST). They have previously been referred to by less politically correct names, such as depressed classes and untouchables. They are currently a recognized group, along with Scheduled Castes (SC), for affirmative action in the Indian Constitution (see Adivasi). Sufficient to say, they typically occupy the basement of both the social and economic hierarchies. Moreover, they could mechanically be described as ‘simple’, ‘underdeveloped’ and even ‘backwards’.
Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR) has been working with the 83 families in the village for four years. There are signs that the partnership is encouraging positive outcomes: most homes are guaranteed light through solar technology; the SHG program has initiated savings and inter-loaning practices which mitigate risk; the watershed activities have mobilized the population and fostered a greater sense of community; and most importantly, the region’s water table is rising. However, substantial ecological and agricultural outcomes are not anticipated for at least another three years. The timeframe, though only a fraction of the period of environmental decline, still seems to unduly burden a population so accustomed to endemic hardship.
During a respite from our work, I collapse under a tree in an attempt to recuperate from the flesh-searing sun. The moment crystallizes and I find myself observing a microcosm of the villager’s everyday life. The area is calm as the heat has encouraged most to remain indoors, yet the domesticated animals, including cows, goats, chickens, dogs and cats, keep things far from placid. An elderly lady, whose thick spectacles make her appear as though she is holding magnifying glasses to her face, briefly washes her feet before meandering painfully back to her abode. Children, girls rather, of no more than four, scamper effervescently to the well, yet struggle to take the water back to their grandmother’s kitchen.
My one-way mirror quickly dissipates as I am joined in a tentative, accruing fashion by a group of young men. However, their tentativeness recedes as rapidly as my seclusion, and I am quizzed on everything from the weather in Canada to the cost of a haircut to University life to my marital status. And while on that last subject, one of the more vocal boys volunteers that his near-seated friend is about to get married. He is seventeen years old. I asked if he is excited, and get exuberant, yet anxious laughter in response. It is telling of his inexperience. I fret to ask my follow-up question, but cannot resist curiosity: “how old is the bride?” After a brief exchange, my translator stoically replies: “thirteen or fourteen.” My expectation of the response prevents excess astonishment and abhorrence seeping from my facial expression.
Earlier in the day, I had been approached by a boy of my age. He had gone to university, but that’s where the similarities ended. Rather than hockey, he had a passion for cricket; rather than academic interest, he failed out his freshman year; rather than ease, he had asperities to tend. My recollection of that discussion suddenly transfixes my mind. Though we may be close in age, our experiences are disparate. My bearings are lost within their society. Hence, how can I judge, when I do not comprehend? Is my reaction to the marriage justified, or is it a product of my societal lens? There may be a completely logical reasoning behind the practice; I may simply be unaware. This realisation pushes further: is Sattechiwadi truly ‘backwards’, or is that label defined by my preconception of ‘forwards’? If my ‘forwards’ is not applicable, then what is ‘development’?
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