Once Upon a Village

Once, my company's annual marketing conference was held near an exotic temple town, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, in central India. After the business sessions and the mandatory sight seeing were over, the entire gang went for a beer bash on the banks of Narmada River. But my eyes were roaming elsewhere. I saw a bullock cart passing by, and hitched a ride. En route I got off at a spot where I saw three children playing. This was a place which does not show up on any map of India. Nor is it on the radar screen of any governmental agency or any NGO. These three children had never seen a camera. I took a snap of the three, and requested them to take me home. Their home was a small and fragile thatched hut. This was the family of what is described officially as a 'marginal farmer'. I, a total stranger was welcomed by the father, the very reticent mother, one charming daughter and an impish son. You see them all in the slideshow (please see the link below). They were all in weather beaten fading clothes, leading a life full of uncertainty. Though the river was not far away, they depended solely on the vagaries of the monsoon. It was always famine or flooding and very rarely, feasting. There was no scope of savings for the proverbial 'rainy day'!

None in the family had ever been photographed. The mother was too shy and superstitious. She shyly smiled and turned her back. The father, son and the daughter were very open towards this alien. They did not know what to talk to me, but freely answered my questions. These three allowed me to click them, with muted curiosity. The girl, absolutely disarming with her innocent charm, just kept on answering to my gestures and gladly posed, shot after shot. She showed no sign of impatience. I conjectured, that may be she had seen some old 'song and dance' Bollywood movies, which the traveling road shows played. They moved from village to village, powered by their noisy diesel generating sets, belching out dark smoke. Apart from frequent festivals, the drab life of these villagers was punctuated by old scratchy Bollywood movies. When I asked them, how good their next crop was likely to be, the father just pointed towards the heavens. There was a strong belief in God and resignation to His will. This was in stunning contrast to the city slicker, who has it all and still wants more and more. While being masters of a consumer's paradise, they have no peace within. Always functioning in the 'deficit mode'!

This now brings me to the point, which made me start this piece in the first place.
What is there in these simple forgotten folk of India, which lends them such charming innocence and a cheerful acceptance, in spite of always living on the edge?
I do not for a moment, want to glorify poverty. But I do want to understand, why these have-nots have inner resources, which the city folk with all the professed benefits of globalization do not have.

Prof. John Kenneth Galbraith, the noted Harvard economist and an unabashed friend of India once said, 'Indians have made an unnecessary virtue out of poverty'. Those were the days, when the socialist India just failed miserably to deliver and the hypocritical politicians urged the people to follow the path of self-denial.
On the other hand, my friends from Germany and America never cease to mention, that the smile and hope they see in the faces of deserted street kids of India, they never see on the faces of their rich compatriots. Then there is this French seeker in Auroville Ashram in South India, who is quoted in a recent bestseller on India. He says, "Without India, the world is doomed to the poverty of materialism". Well, at first glance 'poverty of materialism' appears to be a contradiction in terms! Or he saying what is so apparent in the face of this girl from an unknown village?
The innocent charm and native beauty of this girl has been stamped for ever in my memory. Is she what the ancient heritage and spiritual traditions of India stand for?

After seeing her, I have always wondered at the perpetual scowl one sees on the faces of the self-starved urbane models, who walk down the ramps of Paris, New York, Milan, Tokyo and now also on the ramps of Bombay and New Delhi. They never seem to be amused at all!

I now invite you to the slideshow 'Forgotten People Of India Undiscovered': http://www.associatedcontent.com/slideshow/3349/forgotten_people_of_india_undiscovered.html .

Please help me find the answers to the above questions, which rattle me all the time. Thank You, friends!