BACKGROUND INFORMATION

DAILY ROUTINE

USING THE CHEST

INDIA LINKS

A Community Chest has been compiled by people of Zadgaon to describe their community and way of life.  The Chest contains:

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Zadgaon village is situated in the eastern part of the state of Maharashtra.  The district, like countless others in India is predominantly rural.  The landscape around Zadgaon consists of a wide plain broken only by low but steep sided, scrub covered hills.  This is part of what is known as the Deccan Plateau, which extends for many kilometres in all directions.  Once this was probably a densely forested area - hence the name Zad = tree, Gaon = village.   Today most of the lower ground is cultivated, only the steeper slopes remain forested and much of this is little more than scrub.

The earliest accounts record that a Hindu saint, Rupgir Maharaj, settled here and that a community was first established round about 1700 AD.  The saint built a small temple and by the middle of the 19^th century, the village was well established.  At that time, the area was probably forested and had sufficient water to support a small farming community.  There are no buildings remaining from that period with the exception perhaps of parts of the temple.   Over the years, a number of wells have been built and some communal pipes have been installed to supply water to different parts of the village.  None of the houses have their own piped supply but some do have their own wells.

This part of India has a tropical monsoon climate.  For several months of the year very little rain falls, and water shortages are a major concern to the community.  However, for a few weeks - perhaps months if it is a good year - heavy rains fall.  These monsoon rains are vital for the farmers and agricultural workers who make up the majority of the population.  In a good year, the rains arrive in early June and continue until mid September, but more often in recent years, they have arrived late and have barely supplied sufficient water to meet the essential needs of the local population.

In 1997, there were 360 families in the village making up a population of about 1336 people.  The average family size is between six and seven members consisting of grandparents, parents and two or three children. As in most parts of rural India, the extended family is the norm, grandparents, parents and children live together.  The community is mainly Hindu - here are only a few Muslim and Christian families in this district.

The daily routine

This will vary according to how well off the family is and the occupations of its members.  Some things, however, are similar for most families.  For the women and girls in a family, the day starts early, around about four or five o’clock.  Their routine might start with fetching water, preparing food for the family, cleaning the home, washing clothes and collecting fuel wood.  In most households, the children will leave for school soon after seven and the women will go to the fields where the work will vary according to the time of year.  The men’s routine might begin with collecting cow dung for fuel.   They will also be responsible for feeding the animals, and, after they themselves have eaten, taking cows and/or goats to the fields.  In the middle of the day, when it is hottest, almost everyone takes light food and a rest - for many women a rest may be something they seldom enjoy.

The evenings are when meetings are held and when families and friends come together to talk, listen to the radio or watch TV.   Village life is very communal and the limited facilities that the village offers are shared by everyone.  The seasons determine what work is to be done and therefore how much spare time people may have.

Zadgaon is a Hindu community and religious practices play an important part in community life.  The religious life of the community is an integral part of every day life, not only influencing daily routine but family relationships, occupations and social standing.  Festivals and times of celebration punctuate the yearly round and bring people together.  

There are two primary schools in Zadgaon, one government run and the other private.  The government school has 221 students and 7 teachers (1997).  The private school with has 258 pupils and 8 teachers.  Facilities are minimal but both establishments are always full.   Families must buy all the books, paper, pencils which the children require but most children attend.   Young people have to travel to the larger towns to continue their education beyond 13 or 14 years of age.  This involves either long journeys every day or staying nearer to the school and few young people are able to do this.   This is especially true for girls many of whom leave earlier. The young people in Zadgaon, as in most rural communities in India, form an important part of the labour force. Although child labour is actually illegal, the children contribute substantially to the economic wellbeing of the community.

Using the Community Chest 

The aim of the community chest is to give all of those who use it an insight into the lives of people whose circumstances and experiences are very different from our own but who, nevertheless, share and have in common with us, more than we might expect. The items and information in the collection have been put together by and with the advice of the community. The chest can only give us glimpses of people’s lives - all of our lives are too complex to be packaged in any comprehensive way - the hope is that the chest will raise awareness and help develop a better understanding of the things disparate communities share rather than those which divide.

The Zadgaon Community Chest together with a set/10 large mounted photographs can be borrowed from the GLADE Centre.   Charges are as follows: