Schooling and Literacy

As we were visiting the forts and palaces, we saw many school groups as well.  The groups we saw were all girls or all boys of all ages.  We often saw children in uniforms headed to or from school.  In the cities, there were many advertisements for private schools.

Boys on a field trip to the Red Fort in Agra

Girls on a field trip to the City Palace in Udaipur

Even though we saw a lot of children in school or going to school, we also saw a large number of children who were working or playing near their parents as they worked, not in school.

These children are working to help their parents fix the walls at the "Baby Taj". They are not in school.

World Literacy Rates in 2013

en.wikipedia.org Source: UN Human Development Report Individual Statistics 2013

In India, the literacy rates, the number of people who can read and write a simple passage is different for men and women.  Overall in 2011, the literacy rate in Rajasthan was 66.11%.  This means that for every 10 adults, three cannot read or write.  In Rajasthan, and other parts of the country, women and girls are much less likely to learn to read and write than men and boys.  In 2011 only 47.76% of the women were literate.  This means that more than half of the women in Rajasthan cannot read or write.

For more information and a map of regional differences concerning literacy in India, please click on this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_India

  Going to school and learning to read and write can change what you can do. If you cannot read or write, what kinds of jobs do you think you might be able to do? What challenges do you think you might have?

What do you think stands in the way of women and girls being able to go to school?  In 2015 80.9% of the men and boys over 15 in India were literate and 62.8% of the women and girls were literate?  Do you think it is ok for men and boys to be able to read and not women and girls?

The markets of Jodhpur

Jodhpur is known for its open-air markets.  

They start at the Clock Tower!

The markets include food, clothing, household items, furniture, and all sorts of other goods.

Dal is a common food in India.  There are lots of different kinds of dal.  Lentils is another name for Dal.

Here is Dal, spices and coconuts.

Dried Chilis are used in most foods.  

India food is deliciously spicy!

These are cricket bats.  Do you know how to play cricket? How do you think a cricket bat is used?

There are many different kinds of rice available in the markets in Jodhpur.

Saris, Dupattas and other items of clothing are sold in shops and from street vendors.

Spices are sold in bulk and pre-packaged.  When you enter a store, it is common for you to be offered a cup of tea.  It is expected that you will drink tea and talk before doing your shopping.

From Udaipur to Jodhpur - through the mountains stopping at Kumbhalgarh Fortress

Traveling by car from Udaipur to Jodhpur gives you the opportunity to stop along the way and look at some fantastic architecture.  The Kumbhalgarh Fortress is high in the hills.  It was built in the 15th century and used by rulers as a place of safety when they were under attack.

The fortress and temples are surrounded by an enormous wall.  This wall is the second biggest wall in the world.  The only bigger wall is the Great Wall of China!

Here you can see the rounded towers and the slits at the top behind which guards could hide.

The wall stretches for as far as you can see.  Behind the walls villages, temples and the palace are safe places.

Rulers lived in the palace, which was situated high up the hill. You could see in every direction from this palace, so it would be hard for enemies to sneak up on you.

The dry mountainous terrain outside of the walls are wildlife refuges, with monkeys, tigers, leopards and other types of wildlife.

This massive door is inside the fortress walls and leads into the palace.  Large spikes stick out of the doors starting six feet up.  At first we weren't sure why they would put the spikes so high.  It didn't seem like this would provide much protection.  Then we remembered that Mughal armies used elephants in battle.  We think that the spikes would make it hard for the elephants to be used to ram the doors.  An elephant's head would hit just at the level of the spikes.

The terrain leading up to the walls makes it hard to even get to the wall.

Inside the palace, there were places to sleep and eat, and shrines for worship.

Outside the palace, within the fortress walls, were temples. 

Rajasthani Puppetry

A traditional form of Art in Jodhpur is Puppetry.

Puppets have wooden heads and cloth bodies and are operated by strings.  Puppet performances are often based on traditional India tales.  Drummers often accompany the performances.

Dr. Antón is taught how to operate the puppet strings.  You can see these puppets now in Dr. Anon's office.

A store selling traditional puppets or marionettes, as they are sometimes called.

Water and Water Resources

We are visiting Rajasthan in the dry season.  This is a cooler time of year with less rain.  Temperatures during the day are in the 80s to 90s and at night in the 40s and 50s.  Water is necessary for all living things.  The picture on the left shows the village and irrigated crop land. It is lush and green. On the right is the view from the other side, where the land is dry.  Udaipur has many lakes and streams.  

 

These are used for drinking water, for bathing and for other things.  In the city, there are beautiful palaces on the lakes.

City streets have open sewers that run into the lakes so the water in the lakes and streams are not always clean and good for drinking.

In the rural areas and parts of town, people depend on public pumps as locations to get their water.  This water needs to be carried home, or used at the pump.

These women are returning home from working.  They are carrying water and other things that they needed for the day.

Having pumps for well water is one way to make the water that people drink safer.  Many households do not have running water -- so a safe source of water is critical.  Water from the pumps can still have germs that can make some people sick.  Foreigners need to drink bottled water to stay healthy.  Bottled water is too expensive for many villagers.  At Bowman we use water bottles all the time for convenience.  

What would it be like if you needed to carry your water for cooking, washing and drinking to your house each day?

The Monsoon Palace -- Sajjangarh in Udaipur India

The Monsoon Palace also called Sanjjingarh Palace was built in 1884 by Maharana Sanjjin Singh.  It was used as a place to go observe the Monsoon clouds.  It overlooks Udaipur, villages and the mountains.

Water is always in short supply, so it was designed to catch all the rainwater and store this for palace use.

This young girl is carrying water in the palace.

She liked to pose for visitors.

The Monsoon Palace has views of Udaipur, the local villages, and the mountains in behind.  On the mountains side of the Monsoon Palace there is a nature preserve where people can hike and sometimes see a variety animals.  Below is a poster of some of the mammals you might see.

Here you can see the trail into the nature preserve.  This area of India, called Rajasthan, was home to tigers, leopards and other large mammals.

Organic Farming in the Village

We visited a farm in the same village as the school.  How many of you have visited the Lexington Community Farm next to the Arlington Reservoir?  This farm and the community farm are engaged in "organic farming".  This means that no pesticides are used on the crops.

This woman is watering the manure that is being made into compost to fertilize the crops.  Cow manure is first collected, then red worms are added, and they break down the manure into rich dirt that can be used to help plants grow.  Many people in the US use red worms to help them create compost for their gardens.  Red worms like it hot and moist, so they need to keep the soil watered and covered so that it does not dry out in the hot sunshine.

Here women are harvesting cilantro, an herb used in Indian cooking and frequently in cooking in the US.  The farmer shows off some of the carrots that he just picked.  Men and women work on the farm.  

The farm grows mushrooms in a dark warehouse that is kept very warm and moist.  They dry the mushrooms for use in cooking -- these are called oyster mushrooms in the US.

Here they are growing eggplant.  The woman is carrying leaves left over from harvesting cauliflower.  These will be fed to the cows.

Papaya is also grown.

Cows are strictly for milk and manure.  

People do not eat beef in India. 

Horses are for riding and pulling carts.

This is the farm well. It is really deep.  They use the well for irrigation and drinking water.

This is the stone irrigation trench that helps move the water to the fields.

Tractors are used on this farm as well as hoes like the one below.

This is a view of the village and farm area from the Monsoon Palace.  

There are many similarities between this farm and the Lexington Community Farm.  And some differences...