What was your impression when you knew that this is going to be your new home?
How we feel? Oh, we feel good. If my brother sees that we are going somewhere then it will be good only. Yes, obviously there were some changes here since we moved.
If there are no children then will you feel good to stay here?
If there were no children, then why would we come here? There would be no meaning to it.
-Women gossiping in Chimbramau
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| Chimbramau, trucks loading and unloading |
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| New housing developments being built outside the town. |
Chimbramau spread further from the road than other towns before it- and included a large housing development I saw when leaving the town. Shops lined the Grand Trunk Road and after talking with a few women in back street, I asked to be taken to a school. The women with whom I had just spoken described how important moving to this area had been for their children. The school I visited was set next to a motorbike shop, but was 3 stories and I found all of the children on the roof of the school. Classes were separated into different corners, and the children were excited to see a foreigner. I came downstairs to speak with the principal and several teachers including two sisters. The sisters seemed happier to be talking together, although the younger of the two did most of the talking.
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| Teachers, Preeti and Sarita Rathore (center and right) |
Tell me about this road
This is the first Indian road, which was made by Sher Shah Suri. Also the longest one.
What have been the changes you have noticed since your childhood?
Nothing...
What is nothing?
Yes, some places it has changed, like road nearest areas. Not any villages. But within this last one area many places has changed a lot.
But why?
Because the council chairman belongs to this area.
Anything you want to tell people about this area?
Lots of joint families stay here, and they have plenty of love for each other. The biggest thing is, people don’t fight each other in the name of religion. Recently there was a Muslim marriage, and they have printed separate invitation card for Hindu. Also they have arranged a separate party for Hindus.
- Preeti and Sarita Rathore, sisters, teachers
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| An empty classroom (classes were held on the roof) |
This interview actually was one of the more fluid ones in several days despite the sparcity of the transcript. I should point out that while doing these interviews with the help of Raj, nearly everyone agreed to speak with us and asked for nothing in return. Their answers were often puzzling, contradictory, and hesitant but also occasionally forthcoming and unguarded.
Later, I wondered about the sisters’ answers. Here again, we heard that nothing had changed in recent years, or changes had only affected the town closest to the Grand Trunk Road. This must have been true to a degree; villages just outside this road were unlikely to receive any benefit such as commerce, transport, manufacturing- all of which seemed to active in Chimbramau. But their comments about the marriage parties highlighted a compassionate gesture in the community by creating two separate parties for a marriage. Much of the area around the Grand Trunk Road had a high percentage of Muslims, another result of the continuous traffic on road for hundreds of years. Religions spread along it, and Islam gained a foothold in northwest India along this pathway. Further down the road, I would stop in cities like Allahbad and Mughal Sarai.
Outside of Chimbramau, I met with a group of people who were living in tents next to the road. They were "Lohar" or ironworkers. Tools were scattered on the ground and a small forge built out of cow dung occupied the middle of the tent. Again, I felt conspicuous taking photographs- especially at the beginning of a conversation. The matron of the home invited Raj, my assistant, and me inside of the tent and we sat on our heels to speak with her. She seemed to be very comfortable us, and began to speak at length, calling us “Lallah” (a familiar term).
Tell us about this road:
What should we know about this road? If we poor people get some space near road, we will cook and eat. If we stay in rural area, we don’t earn sufficient to survive. Here, these trolleys, buses and other people come to us. Some comes with their cutter, rod, etc...That’s how we survive.
Don’t you fear to stay at roadside?
Yes, we do feel a lot, but what can we do? Three, four years back my child got bellow a trolley. Then I treat him. He had three factures in his leg. Previously we are staying in villages nearby, but it was difficult to survive there. That’s why we come near to road. We just want a land near the road to build a house. And my children to grow up, I know we will not get lands for farming. See Lallah, never have we wanted to take anything from anyone, only we give, we just love everyone. We will never make enemies in any condition. See, we are staying in huts and anything can be happen here, you know, at any moment.
Don’t you have fear at night?
Some times, we are not able to sleep at night at road side. Day before yesterday’s night one of our cows died here. It costs four, five thousands rupees. (90 – 110 dollars).
- Iron lady, 45 years old.
