Page 23 - Vasant Bahar

it earlier. Every one of us used to sit together for a night long
and used to enjoy the entertainment.
There was a time when in window every family used to
put a separate plate and bowl outside their houses for the
people from backward classes. They are called untouchables.
Their touch was banned in an entire village. They used to
happily accept the food, water given from a particular
distance. Everyone else was respected with love and
gratitude. They did not have any complaints. There was no
scope for complaints too. They used to clean the space in
front of our houses.
The dressing patt ern of men villagers was a white shirt
and dhotar, feta or cap on the head and they used to keep
moustache. Women used to wear a nine yard saari, later they
turned up wearing skirt and blouse or a round sari and a
pallu on head. We children used to wear half pants and shirts
with caps on the heads.

Lack of education used to get reflected in our thought
process. Lack of cleanliness awareness of the surroundings
as well as our personal hygine. The village was full of
injustice, eveteasing, and humiliation. It was considered as a
prestigious quality. Even today, they are on the same page.
There were no proper roads to the village and cities.
Everyone had to travel either by a bullockcart or prefer to
walk towards the destinations. There were only four cycles
in the village. One of them was ours. But today, the picture
is different. Villages have properly constructed cement roads

or the roads made up of paving blocks. There is electricity on
the roads as well as in the houses. . There are many two and
four wheelers running on the roads of villages.
There is a Siddhagiri Lingayat Monastery on the hill
besides my village. There is an old heritage temple too. The
temple is of Shambhu Mahadev. There is a huge statue of
Shri Shankar Bhagwan along with a Nandi carved in stone.
Quite a huge crowd gathers here on every Monday. Also,

the villagers of five nearby villages used to gather here for
the pravachan of Bramhaleen swami on the every pournima.
VASANT BAHAR / 15