Paravai: A Village with a vision
Rural Scenario is fast changing in this part of Tamil Nadu. The author of this article visited the village of Paravai and discovers a hidden past which had metamorphosed into a vibrant and busy locality with her sons migrating to urban areas in search of employment and returning with assets to start a new life not only for them but for their brothers and sisters
Tiny tots of the Village!
In just a few minutes, we turned a corner and got over a railway crossing to enter the village, when the view before us changed dramatically. There were few people, no auto-rickshaw and no frustrating noise. The silence of this village was clearly different from the center of Madurai, which is always crowded with people, animals, cars and horns. It looked like a small hamlet, though it comprises of twenty thousand inhabitants.
We didn’t see many people there, but those of them whom we saw were quite amicable, as other people in this religious state are. We found a man-made pond with plenty of green water near the entrance. We became aware of its importance for people there.
Place
Paravai is located in the north-west of the center of Madurai. It is around 10 kilometers or about 30 minutes drive from the Madurai railway station. It lies across a railway trackand the Madurai-Dindigul Road, alongside Vaigai River, and surrounded by some ponds. It has over 10 temples, some of which were built more than 150 years ago. The name of the village, Paravai, which means oceans in their local language, reflects their hope to make it much larger and more developed.
Population
Paravai has a population of approximately 25000 souls, with an equal ratio of males and females. About 5000 children go to school.15000 people are voters. 99 percent of the population are Hindus, and others are Muslims or Christians.
The Village President, Ramamoorthy and his wife
“It could become a serious issue in the village, for we could hardly develop cities without environmental degradation. And it is impossible to solve the problem without the cooperation and understanding of locals. It could mar the beauty of the rural scenario and even the order of this village. We hope they can develop their village and keep their culture and peace,”
Production and Labour
The main products in Paravai used to be textile. It started when a big textile company, Vijaya Mills, built its factory there around 30 years ago. This company gave people a lot of job opportunities.
Today, the condition of the workers in this village has become much more complicated, because some companies came to Paravai both from cities and from foreign countries after Vijaya Mills. Now, there are various kinds of companies, for example Pepsi and Skoda, in this village. Also, more people go to urban areas or foreign countries seeking jobs. Now, 10 percent of people in the village are working in places such as Delhi, Mumbai, Singapore and U.S.
According to the President of the village panchayat, that was good for them, because the workers can come back to village with knowledge. They can learn how to make products efficiently, how to do business, and how to become richer in other cities or other countries.
In the future, the number of labourers working outside would increase. They would make Paravai richer and happier.
But he said it had the problem of environmental pollution. “It could become a serious issue in the village, for we could hardly develop cities without environmental degradation. And it is impossible to solve the problem without the cooperation and understanding of local. It could mar the beauty of the rural scenario and even the order of this village. We hope they can develop their village and keep their culture and peace,” he adds.
Pass time
Almost all the land area in Paravai was forest or wild until 30 years ago. Majority of the people in this village earn their living by farming. There were no buses or cars.
However everything changed in 25 years and since then gradually the living standard of this village has become higher. Because they gladly accepted that foreign companies came to Paravai for the benefit of the people in village. Generally there is a problem over continuance of culture and development. Those things are antinomy. If you put development before continuance of culture, it may spoil your culture.
But in their case, they can keep their culture along with development. According to the president, they are never affected by outsiders. On the other hand, outsiders are, rather, affected by Paravai.
That is why there are two different views which are protected and changed by people in Paravai.
A smiling vendor of the village!
People
Ramamoorthy, 58, is the president of the Paravai panchayat. He does proper management and takes care of sick people as a social work, besides farming which he took over from his father. He told us about a temple festival held in this village for 21 days during September to October every year. During the 21 days, they dance, run and pray to gods carrying fire-pots in their hands every day. The festival is conducted with donations from the villagers, which usually amounts to ten thousand rupee. They invite some dancing groups from outside. They play music with keyboards or drums, sing and dance on a stage near the pond every day. In daytime, women pray while men work, and at night both celebrate the festival together.
This festival also plays a great role in forging the unity among inhabitants and making it stronger, which Ramamoorthy said is very important. Thousands of meals were cooked and given to poor and local people. He is proud that people live as a family there, which the festival might be a contributing factor.
He also talked about an interesting custom about funerals in the village. He said that the dead people would be buried with equal respect regardless of how wealthy they were when they lived, although in other places in India their status was important during funeral rites.
Problems
Frankly speaking, we could’nt find any serious problem in this village like the ones we often find in other country areas. Actually, it has good accessibility both to hospitals and to schools.
People can see a doctor easily thanks to a government hospital 2 kilometers away from the village. There are 7 government schools, including an elementary school and a high school, approximately one kilometer away enables children to receive enough education and contribute the higher literacy rate than that of all India.
Parting ways
It was around at 4 p.m. when we finished the interview with Ramamoorthy. Then, we found some children in school uniforms outside, who were on the way from school to home. Their vigour seemed to make the whole village more vibrant than it looked on our arrival, and their broad smile made it more difficult for us to say goodbye.
