Done by: Garima panwar B.A.programme 1st year Lady shri ram college for women
My history means the roots of my belonging.
Economic profile My grandparents were born around 1930s. My grandfather was born in a village named kudli but after some years they migrated to Deedwana a bigger village with his family. Deedwana is in Nagaur district of Rajasthan. Economically my grandparents belonged to the rural lower middle class of the society at that time. My grand parents were engaged in the traditional agriculture and horticulture. They are traditional because our caste is associated with this occupation. When my grandfather joined the government service as he wanted a different path, my grandmother took all the responsibility of the farms on her shoulder , she did the managerial task as well as added to the work force at the farms. She took care of all the requirements of the farm and of the house. My grand parents on maternal side were engaged in shop keeping and horticulture. My grandmother on maternal side also helped my grandfather in horticulture. Now lets talk about my parents generation. My grand parents had five sons and three daughters. Among five sons four are in business and one in service. Two brothers of my father were initially in service but they left 2
their services to do business. This shows that
business became the first preference of man in the family of that generation. Among the five daughter-in-laws only one is a working woman she is a doctor other four remained to be housewives either due to family responsibilities or due lack of professional education. My father started road construction and a crusher in 1985 with his two brothers. My mother is a housewife. My father belongs to upper middle strata of the society this change in the economic level is due to the change in occupation as my father opted for business rather then agriculture and also migration as my father migrated from Deedwana to different places for his business sometimes for months and some times for years. Educational background and gender Now lets have look on how the education and perspective towards it changed over generation. Education in rural 30s was limited to primary education for layman. My grandparents did only their primary schooling . My grandfather could not study because he had to help his father on farms and my grandmother was sent to school but did not find it interesting so she left after her primary education. She always regretted that why she did not go school at that time. My grandfather also had a deep understanding of education as a vital part of 3
ones life. They tried their best to give
education to their children. Among five only my father is the one who could not study beyond school level because one of my fathers brother died and the financial condition of the family was very weak so he had to take upon the business and leave education. My mother has also done her schooling she was the first girl in her family who completed her schooling. My uncles on the maternal side have completed their education till schooling. As my mother was the first girl to complete her schooling this thing bought a huge change in mindsets of my grandparents towards education of girls. Now comes the third generation of my family which includes me. I am the youngest in the third generation of my family. Even the third generation has seen many changes in it. My cousin brothers have done their graduation or post graduation in different fields. My cousin sisters have done their graduation and some them have done post graduation also but interesting fact about their education is that all of them had Home science as their optional subject in graduation this not because they wanted to study this but because this was the only subject available as subject they had no choice in opting because of the education system.
My sister is the first girl who is doing a
professional course before marriage and I am first girl who is sent out to study. The perspective towards girls education is changing towards positive and now education is considered important for everyone. As we say every thing have reason behind it so even the changes in my family also have some reason behind it. Migration from rural to urban areas changed the mindsets. This provided educational opportunities and freedom to opt for a different field of occupation. But the irony of the situation was this before me not a single girl was expected to enter into the professional realm but now it has changed this shows that mind sets towards girls education and opting for a profession have changed. Now lets have look into marriage from gender point of view women in my first generation did not have a choice of opting for a partner but it changed after that now they have equal freedom to give their preference for a partner. Male and female are treated equally. Caste and religion We belong to Mali or Saini caste of Hindu religion. Our caste is associated with horticulture and agriculture. Caste has always remained a very important part of my familys identity but it never over came the identity of region. There has been a very little change in the practices form what was practiced by our ancestors. Marriage, a childs birth, inauguration everything is celebrated as they 5
were earlier. Festivals like Basoda , Teez,
Gangore, Sinjara and the practice of going to our kuldevi after any celebration is still continuing till today. But there are effects of western culture in them which do not change anything but adds to it for example cutting of ribbon before entering into a new house is such a sign of western culture. There has been no inter caste marriage till now in my family this shows that caste plays an important role in their identity. Languages Marwari is the language which my family speaks while talking to the other members of the family but other than that most of the people know Hindi and English. The third generation is well versed with English which is the third language of my family because of English medium education. I always lived in a joint family so I retained my mother tongue but the fourth generation that is my nephews and niece are not able to retain because they live in nuclear family even though their family speaks Marwari but they can not speak it. Marwari is written in devnagarik script only. My sense of identity I am a Indian girl who is a Marwari from Rajasthan belongs to Deedwana town of Nagaur district. Then comes that I am Hindu and Saini by caste. For me the identity of being an Indian is most important but I also think that my regional identity and my culture are a 6
vital part of what makes me as an individual.
My identity of being a girl also has ubiquitous presence in my identity. My siblings also have the same sense of identity. But those who are living in nuclear family and away from the native region have a very less space for the native place in their sense of identity. My history is a very important part of my identity.