Life in a Bangladesh village is, as a rule, dull and monotonous. The village people
are simple, religious and conservative. They do not like to change with the
changing condition of the world. This attitude presents a striking contrast
to life in the town. The villagers may be classified under three main heads-the
rich, the middle-class and the poor laboring class. The rich people generally
leave the village and flock to the town to enjoy its manifold advantages. The
middle-class
people are considerable in number and from the backbone of village life. But
the vast majority of the village people belong to the poor working class. The
bulk of this class of people are the poor peasants and landless agricultural laborers. The tailors, the blacksmiths, the weavers and the
fishermen also belong to this class of working people.
Those who are comparatively rich, lead an
indolent and easy-going life. They rise late in the morning and after breakfast
take their seat in the bungalow where they discuss with others the
current affairs of the village and settle disputes of the villagers. They go
out and inspect the work of the laborers engaged by them for various purposes.
Then they go back home, and have their bath. After lunch they enjoy regular nap
and nobody disturbs them during that time. The life of the middle class people is
more active; though the unemployed among them are easy-going. Some of these
middle class people are land-holders having big farms and necessary
agricultural
equipments. They engage laborers who do all the hard work for them. They
supply in seed, the cattle and other necessary things, and personally supervise
the work of these laborers. The unemployed among them live as mere parasites.
They take part in the village politics and are full of petty jealousies. The
mid-day meal of the middle class people consists of rice, dal and one or two
dishes of fish or vegetables. They take a short nap in the afternoon and pass
the evening in playing at cards or in merry-making.
The poor laborers are the busiest people
in the village. They toil from morning to night, and supply the rice townsmen
with their daily needs. They are not paid well for their hard labor and so
they have to go ill-fed and ill-clad. They often fall victim to malaria and
other diseases and suffer a great deal as they cannot afford to pay the fees of
a doctor. The peasants rise very early and after taking a quantity of stale
rice go the field where they work in the sun and rain till-dusk. Some return
home at about 1 p.m. while others do not. Their mid-day meal is sent to the
fields. In the evening they gather in the courtyard of a well-to-do villagers
and spend the time in gossiping or merry-making.
 |
| Paddy refreshing |
The women of the village rise with the sun and
perform their household duties. They are illiterate and their world id confined
within the limits of the village. But they are affectionate and dutiful.
Sometimes the women of the peasant class work side by side with their husbands
at home or in the field. The villagers lead a life of contentment though they
lack many good things of life. They are united by strong bonds of affection,
love and fellow-feelings and in time of danger they stand by one another. They
generally live in joint families, the members of which are held together by the
strongest bonds of affection.
No comments:
Post a Comment