It was lunch time, everyone sat together in the Pakriti Badi (nature school), one of the many schools run by Timbuktu collective. Eating with hands somehow made the food even more tasty. As I ate, I watched Subbureddy, serve sambar. He must have been 7 years old. His one arm did not have a wrist, but he was as efficient as others. The other kids too, took him to be just like everyone else. No one thought that he has some body part missing. And so there was no special treatment given to him in their behavior. This gave me a sense of reassurance. I always felt, we lot of times over do our care specially for those whom we feel have been hard hit by nature or society. I feel its a delicate balance one must maintain between taking care and not over caring. And so I called subbureddy. He served me sambar. Then I requested him to give me some water also. He put his bucket down, took the glass from my hand and went to the earthen pot. He kept the glass on floor, then lifted the lid off the pot, put it against his chest and held it using the other hand (the lid placed in between the little chest and the deformed hand). He then lifted the glass and put it inside the pot to fill it with water. And then again kept the glass on the floor. Then he put the lid back on the pot, took the glass and gave it to me. All this was one smooth action. It didnt require any thought from him. It seemed to be hardwired. I thanked him, and kept watching him while he continued serving sambar.
Kalyani took us to a village called Hariamcheruvu, some 7km from Chennekothapalli. We wanted to meet some weavers there. I saw a handloom for the first time in life, and a weaver weaving. It was an amazingly patient and humble job. The weaver would make the saree thread by thread. He would put one thread, then change the whole settings, then place another thread and then change the settings again. They say its a job of a mind which is calm and peaceful. It seemed so true to me seeing the weaver weave. And to have a mind in peace given all the economic hardships they are facing is simply amazing. I can't think of any other word than courage. And I think this courage comes from an underlying faith that things will be good. The faith in future, the faith in nature (or god). I believe its the same faith which Gandhi thought was India's strength.
We also met a shephard in Hariamcheruvu. A shephard is someone who makes threads from wool of sheep. He was 96 years old. He had quit working about 2 years back. He proudly told us that he can still walk, and read (and of course speak). Only recently he started having trouble with his hearing, but if one would speak coming near to him, he would understand. Kalyani asked him, if he still had some hand made thread left with him. He sure did. He started emptying his bag (made of old cloth). He slowly emptied it completely. Right at the bottom was a bundle of thread, he had made it himself from sheep wool. In every marriage this man is required to tie this thread around wrists of the newly wed.
Indian marriages (and even other festivals) are such that it calls for participation from every caste in the village. Caste is actually a poor word to describe the hindi word 'Jaati', which refers to profession. It is said, that 39 'Jaatis' or professions make a village. It means that on average each village would have 39 different kinds of professions in it (some may have more and some less). And so marriage is one such occasion, where each profession would contribute. The contribution of this man was the thread he makes from sheep wool. When he decided to quit working, he made sure he keeps stock of the thread with him. He keeps a list of people in the village who are of marriageable age. He is living for them to get married so that he can perform his duty.
The concept of giving, giving till the last breath is still strong in Indian society. To me it looks like one of the fundamental concept on which a society can be founded. This man was living to give. If someone tells him not to worry about his duty and just relax, Im sure he would die the next day.
Then something happened. I dont know what it was, but this man gave us a small portion of that thread. The thread was the most valuable thing he possessed. He gave a part of it to us. To me it is the most cherished gift I had ever received. I didnt know what to say. There were a few drops that made my eyes wet. We then moved on.
Next we visited a potter family in another village called Polepalli. The old potter was now ill, and so he stopped making pots. So his wife, borrowed some money and bought about 50-100 pots from near by village and stocked them. The reason was same. Just like the shephard, even a potter has a responsibility to perform in marriages (and other festivals). The lady potter wanted to make sure that her husband's retirement does not effect this responsibility adversely. She had borrowed money to make sure the family is able to contribute.
In one of my conversations with Kanwarjit, he had mentioned that its one of the most fundamental needs of humans to share. It's the need to share beyond our family which completes us. And I think this completeness is both as an individual and also as a society. But what we were seeing here was more than sharing. Or shall I say different form of sharing. The usual meaning of sharing is, that one first fulfills ones needs, and then share with others whatever is extra. But here it was different. It came from the concept of first sharing and then consuming whatever is left. This seems to be the foundation of Jajmani, whose trace we were seeing there.
Navjyotiji defines the word Rakshas as, “someone who worries about swayam ki raksha” ( a deamon is the one who is worried about one's welfare). Traditionally the concept has been to leave one's welfare into the hands of others, while accepting the responsibility of a part of others' welfare. The concept has been to give the best product of one's work to others, while keeping the left over for one's consumption. This has also been one of the very few critique of Gandhi I have come across. Gandhi insisted that one must first produce for oneself and then share the rest, while the weavers were of the view that if they take this approach, their profession would die. The profession would die if one starts keeping the best produce for oneself.
I feel there is still so much for me learn (and also un-learn). The prospect of more traveling, or meeting more people excites me more than ever.
