After 4 completed days of research we felt that culture probably and common people were the only missing portions in our data. So we decided that we would again start inward-out from Khanyara and interact with women in their homes - especially those of different cultures to get a drift of the social-equations.
We stopped at what was a certain Seema Ojha's shop. She had a cyber cafe established within her shop and sold the kind of things that were more akin to a sort of urban gift-shop or kids shop. She was hesitant and skeptical at first in talking but later we convinced her into even getting clicked by us. It was seen that children of the village had learnt to use the cyber cafe on their own without much teaching and they engaged most of all in Gaming and Facebooking at prices that were same as those in urban cyber cafes.
We also went to a nearby Mithai shop and bought some of the sweets for the old Nepali couple. Then we moved ahead and met a Punjabi woman. She was old and looked a lot like my dadi. She spoke to some extent and we even video recorded some part of her interview. She warned us against getting into random people's homes and that felt really sweet and caring of her. But honestly it did freak us out a little as we had begun to trust people in general.
Then we wanted to meet a Muslim woman. While passing by, I identified a shop with a Muslim name and we entered to introduce ourselves and to begin discussions. Her sister then called us inside her house and we sat for sometime chatting. She had us meet her daughter who was about to get married in some time. She was a very beautiful young girl and had a cheerful demeanor. Her mother seemed proud of her. Just then they had Hindu visitors and that was a clear mark of the prevalent acceptance of different cultures here. We then took leave in order to avoid interrupting their natural socialization.
Next we met a Kharotiya woman, a caste of Pahari community. The woman was a Policewoman and she was also very cheerful and jovial. She hosted us for some time, had a chat etc. But she was also the shy kind. She showed us her family's small farming area - it was too small for us to be able to appreciate it. She also showed her cows and a family-kulmata temple.
We moved on to the Anganwadi and then to the Veterinary centre, but they seemed to places of little or no activity which disappointed us. While on our way out, we crossed the Jaagori women promoting the "Maa-Beti" mela in Government Secondary School.
We had to leave early that day but couldn't have not met the Nepali couple - since they even wanted us to have lunch with them. So we went and did so. Again, the lunch was the most tasty thing I had ever had and I felt the most lucky person in the whole world to have been a part of this. They cooked and served with lot of love. The Nepali aunty's daughter-in-law had come and she took the lead in arranging everything well.
We gifted them sweets and they accepted it with delight. They even started eating the same and shared it with us too. We felt nice and took their leave. They wanted us to come once more to visit even more family members but we only said 'we will try and let you know'. Then we left for yet another appointment with 'Rajesh the guide' who was to show us tea-gardens and have us try the supposedly best of the momo shops in Dharamshala.
The day's village tour had thus ended for something newer that lay ahead.
We stopped at what was a certain Seema Ojha's shop. She had a cyber cafe established within her shop and sold the kind of things that were more akin to a sort of urban gift-shop or kids shop. She was hesitant and skeptical at first in talking but later we convinced her into even getting clicked by us. It was seen that children of the village had learnt to use the cyber cafe on their own without much teaching and they engaged most of all in Gaming and Facebooking at prices that were same as those in urban cyber cafes.
We also went to a nearby Mithai shop and bought some of the sweets for the old Nepali couple. Then we moved ahead and met a Punjabi woman. She was old and looked a lot like my dadi. She spoke to some extent and we even video recorded some part of her interview. She warned us against getting into random people's homes and that felt really sweet and caring of her. But honestly it did freak us out a little as we had begun to trust people in general.
Then we wanted to meet a Muslim woman. While passing by, I identified a shop with a Muslim name and we entered to introduce ourselves and to begin discussions. Her sister then called us inside her house and we sat for sometime chatting. She had us meet her daughter who was about to get married in some time. She was a very beautiful young girl and had a cheerful demeanor. Her mother seemed proud of her. Just then they had Hindu visitors and that was a clear mark of the prevalent acceptance of different cultures here. We then took leave in order to avoid interrupting their natural socialization.
Next we met a Kharotiya woman, a caste of Pahari community. The woman was a Policewoman and she was also very cheerful and jovial. She hosted us for some time, had a chat etc. But she was also the shy kind. She showed us her family's small farming area - it was too small for us to be able to appreciate it. She also showed her cows and a family-kulmata temple.
We moved on to the Anganwadi and then to the Veterinary centre, but they seemed to places of little or no activity which disappointed us. While on our way out, we crossed the Jaagori women promoting the "Maa-Beti" mela in Government Secondary School.
We had to leave early that day but couldn't have not met the Nepali couple - since they even wanted us to have lunch with them. So we went and did so. Again, the lunch was the most tasty thing I had ever had and I felt the most lucky person in the whole world to have been a part of this. They cooked and served with lot of love. The Nepali aunty's daughter-in-law had come and she took the lead in arranging everything well.
We gifted them sweets and they accepted it with delight. They even started eating the same and shared it with us too. We felt nice and took their leave. They wanted us to come once more to visit even more family members but we only said 'we will try and let you know'. Then we left for yet another appointment with 'Rajesh the guide' who was to show us tea-gardens and have us try the supposedly best of the momo shops in Dharamshala.
The day's village tour had thus ended for something newer that lay ahead.
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