Coup On Agriculture – Village Life And City Style – 6 [Art of life Style]

If we watch the life style in the villages, though it is polluted now a days due to cable & satellite T.V. and movies, still we can watch the country beauty & style in some senior villagers i.e. old generation. We can watch such good hobbits early to bed and early to get up in them. Minimum 2 hours before going to bed, they take dinner. After dinner they walk up to the village temple to participate in Rama Bhajana or to hear Rama Kadha, or at least to have a leisure take with co-villagers.

With the help of writings and talks of our elders, I could imagine such a beautiful society in which there is no time tension, busy tension and working in leisure. As per my father’s description of their childhood village life, I could imagine such a village. In those villages after completing the primary education, when the youth enter in to agriculture, there will be the comparison in their capabilities and in ability of working and competition in their performance. When tilling the field, who ever can plough it with efficiency and whose tilling lines in the field are straight and in systematic way, who ever can handle the oxen with a command can be treated as heroes. To create pseudo results there won’t be any certificates issued by computers or educational boards. Or to create pseudo heroic image, there won’t be any media etc. The only judge is the nature. By yielding good quantity and quality of crops, they have to prove their success. By commanding the oxen, they have to prove their capacity. While performing tilling etc. agriculture works, they take food in the fields with regular time intervals. Under the shades of trees on the banks of the fields, by breathing the odocurs of green plants, after emitting the sweat in hard working, within the food break, with real hunger, how much joy will be there, can we imagine? That to taking food together, will be every day picnic to them neither indigestion nor obesity problems, they experience. Particularly Telugu meals consist of hot pickle, thick curd, dal and ghee, what else we require.

Now what is our position? By going office in car because of busy schedule, we are losing the opportunity to do physical industry. The result is obesity. To reduce excess weight in body i.e. fat in body, we go to gym. It is a burden to adjust time to it. By distributing our time to all this, again we can’t find out it to prepare food. Hence we depend on out side food i.e. on Hotels or bakeries. Again obesity, again no time, again gym, again run to office, again, again… this is our life circle.

Relative to this, a leisure walk to fields with singing folk songs or asleep on bullock cart to approach the fields, though hard work in hot son, a charming food, especially restriction less i.e. the freedom in taking food such as food with ghee or sweats, that to home food, to work in leisure, to have peaceful sleep, sound sleep - such a life cycle is not a heaven?

In the night, all the women and old generation will settle in front of the village temple. Some days there will be some divine stories i.e. epics. Some days there will be youth folk dances; such as Kolatamu, Tappeta gullu, Chekka Bhajana etc. The young men stand in circles, the co-coordinator will be in the centre, singing folk songs, with rhythmic beat, the young men move in the circle with systematic and rhythmic steps and making music. The villagers used to call this as ‘chindu’. From childhood itself, the grandparents motivate the children as petting learning by saying “Kid! Do jump re! Do dance like your uncle or father.” So that the kids get fascinate towards such healthy and joyful habit. It involved talent, health, joy and togetherness, belongingness, with the society. Whoever perform the chindu i.e. dance in beautiful manner will treat as heroes. It is a reputation in village. All young girls admire them. Old generation congratulate them. There will be talent tests such as stick play i.e. Karra samu, weight carrying to long distances, handling of ferocious oxen etc. which relates to their profession only. It is prestigious matters to prove their abilities in those tests for young boys. Similarly it is prestigious to girls to prove their talent in house managements in cooking dishes, in handling the deals with relatives, in gardening, in milch cattle managements, interior decoration of house, rangoli etc arts. They must get appreciation from elders for their work performance, behavior and obedience to elders. Boys must be get appreciation from elders for their work efficiency, capacity, behavior, dare and respects others. Both the young men and young women are used to correct by their parents by saying that “There will be a remark if they performance is not well in their mother in law’s house after marriage. If they get bad remark, it will be treated as a failure to their parents”.

After marriage, the girl will go to their mother in laws house to lead the life till end. There she should get success with her ability of handling the house, support to husband, service to the elders, relatives and guest and bringing up children in perfect manner. After marriage the boy will go to their mother-in-law’s house for 40 days as a part of tradition which is called as “Allem”. There they should get success with his ability of handling the heavy weight for long distances, ferocious oxen and they should show talents in cultivation, recognition of good seeds to saw for next season etc in perfect manner.

Such that their talents and abilities were their education, and traditions were the parameters of their educations i.e. similar to the now-a-days exams, But unlike now-a-days education and exams system, those day’s education and exam system was completely related to their profession i.e. agriculture and hence it could improve their comfortableity in life in both physical and psychological matter. Their Ph.D. or specialization in professional knowledge could acquire in practical.

Such that the children i.e. both girls and boys learn the art of life style from their elder generations practically, same case with every other professional. What is our position now? There are institutes to teach communicational skills, art of living by collecting large amounts, as fees. Are the communicational skills, and art of living different from the life? In our ancient society or in our ancient culture, this was learnt by people with the air of stories. All of our arts relates to the stories. The story telling and story listening will make the children perfect in learning communication skills, human values and art of living. This is my practical experience, and with 100% confidence, I can tell you, that you also can have 100% success from your children, if you make them to read, to listen and to tell stories. But the stories of epics and morals but not crime stories etc. which are on T.V. media now.