Part--1

When we are born, we never think why our birth took place with parents of particular social and economic status in a specific village/town/city/district/state/ country of particular climate and, most importantly, why, in this year, when the world is undergoing several social and technological changes.

Parents, spouses, friends, relations, acquaintances, and colleagues significantly impact our lives. They are all destiny designed to execute this life. Some exert short-term and some long-term influences on life.

A superior force controls our lives and decides our life's journey from birth to death. Without the knowledge of this superior force governing our lives, we think we are in control, but in reality, the supreme power, the Almighty, the GOD, controls us.

This story is about the changes brought about by destiny in the life of a person born at the beginning of the twentieth century.

This will transport you to the past, allowing us to learn the practices adopted by those we will never meet.

*

 It was over one hundred years ago, at the beginning of the twentieth century. It was a remote village, Polakalapalli, in Hyderabad, India.   It had a population of four hundred. Ramu lived with his wife, Mangamma, in this village. The villagers were agricultural-based. The villagers had to walk fifteen kilometres to the nearest bus stand. Their house walls were of kneaded mud with small circular openings for airflow. The time spent inside the house was limited, as they spent most of their day in the fields or resting under a neem tree in front of the house. They were exposed to fresh, unpolluted air at all times. A small, temple-like cut on the wall accommodates the saucer-like earthenware castor oil night lamp with a cotton wick.

The doors were made of bamboo pressed with toddy leaves or grass, and the roof was either made of dried grass or toddy tree leaves.  

 The houses had open spaces in the front and back.

 Ramu had two buffaloes, cows, oxen, four goats, and a plough in the front open area. The open area in the backyard was used to store dry grass for the cattle. It had an open well.

Ramu had five acres of wetland under the village's natural water tank. He would get up at 5 a.m. and draw milk from cows and buffalo. They use milk for their daily consumption and the preparation of curd. People in need will purchase extra milk from them. After milking, he would go to the field with his plough and oxen to plough the land or do fieldwork. If necessary, he engaged labour. Their cultivation depended on natural rainfall and the water from the village's natural water tank. There was an open well in case of necessity and for use after the rainy season. There were no mechanical or electric motors to draw water from the well. Oxen were used to draw water in a big bucket over a pulley.

He would return at about 11:00 a.m., have brunch, and rest. In the evenings, he would go to drink toddy, where people from the Polakalapalli and nearby villages came. He would discuss general issues with friends and return home for dinner.

*

 Ramu's wife, Mangamma, was a homemaker who looked after the house, cooked and cared for the children. The flooring was made of soft-pressed soil, so it had to be made with dung water daily and decorated with rice flour designs. She also splashes dung water on the front and back open yards to restrict the spread of dust. The eldest son sometimes accompanied their father to the fields. The eldest daughter, the second child, helped her mother with household chores.

Ramu and Mangamma had eight children, with a two-year age gap. The second and sixth were girls.

For the ninth time, Mangamma was pregnant. She was having labour pains.

Hospitals were scarce and were available in the state headquarters. People were dependent on self-learned Ayurvedic local practitioners.

There used to be a Mantrasani(one who does deliveries by experience) who assisted with deliveries in the village. Ramu informed her, and she attended. Mangamma was lying on a cot made of thin, three-stranded jute rope threads.

She had been suffering from pain for the last hour. Earlier deliveries were regular without any difficulty. It was a cold, dark winter night. The mantrasani tried her best to ensure safe delivery. She could not save the mother. The child born was a boy.

*

Ramu was in shock, not expecting the death of his wife. His friends sympathised. They arranged for Mangamma's funeral.

 Ramu's friends requested a woman with a six-month-old child to breastfeed the newborn temporarily.

Mangamma had five younger sisters. The fourth sister, Kanakam, lived in Vishnupura, and the others lived in various villages.

Kanakam and her husband, Venkat, attended the eleventh-day ritual.

After his wife's death, Ramu had difficulty cooking, housekeeping, and caring for the children. The elder girl helped with the household chores and cleaned the dishes.  

During that period, kitchen hearths were made of soft earth on the floor, and waste wood was used for firing. Smoke would come out of the firewood. One had to sit before the hearth while cooking to check the firewood burning. Ramu and his elder children were unfamiliar with kitchen work and found it challenging.

*

Handling a newborn infant was a delicate job only experienced women could do.

Ramu was torn between caring for the infant and household work. Bathing, cleaning, and dressing the infant were the most difficult tasks. Although a woman breastfeeding the infant was engaged in caring for the infant, she could not be the primary caregiver, as she had family responsibilities. Ramu was worried about raising the child without his wife.

*

  Vishnupura was a taluq headquarters in the neighbouring district. Kanakam and her husband, Venkat, have been married for twelve years and have no children. Venkat is a lower-class government employee. Kanakam runs a small grocery shop in the house.

 After going to Vishnupura, she suggested to Venkat that they adopt the newborn child, and he agreed. Venkat and Kanakam came within a month and informed Ramu of their idea to adopt the infant child. He agreed. Ramu thought the infant would be safe with them. It was an oral agreement. They took the child with them.

*

The infant child was transferred from a remote village, Polakalapalli, to the Taluk headquarters in Vishnupura town and from an agricultural family to an office worker's home and a small grocery shop. This shifting caused the infant child to lose the love and affection of his biological parents, siblings, and birth environment.

*

Kanakam and Venkat celebrated the cradle ceremony for the child with near and dear ones. They named the infant Shiva Shankar( SS). Kanakam cared for the infant throughout childhood, attending to his crawling and walking needs.  

 Since childhood, SS has grown to assist Kanakam in the shop during morning hours and after school. As he grew, he added several items and developed contacts to supply materials directly to the shop. He put effort into it and transformed it into a large shop in the area. After ten years, they employed a salesperson.

*

 The region of Telangana was part of Nizam's Hyderabad State, along with parts from the present Karnataka and Maharashtra states. All these were under the rule of Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan. The British gave Nizam the power to rule the State of Hyderabad.

India gained Independence from the British on August 15, 1947. Hyderabad State was not part of an independent India.

Urdu was the official language and the medium of instruction in schools, and Telugu was the second language in the Telangana region. Hence, SS learned to speak and write in both languages.

*

  Working in a government office made Venkat realise the importance of education, and he joined SS in school. At the age of eight, SS joined a government school. He passed the seventh-class, state-wide board exam with first-class marks.

 When SS was ten, Venkats had a biological son, Kumar.

 The government started opening new schools in significant towns. SS was appointed a primary school teacher in the same town at age eighteen.

Despite Venkat and SS's encouragement, Kumar was not going to school. Kanakam supported Kumar, being the only biological son. In the early twentieth century, education was not considered a primary necessity. Everyone learnt to speak in their mother tongue. People started small businesses to support their families. Kumar was interested in managing the grocery shop.

*

The newborn had difficulties from birth. He lost his mother, who was to breastfeed him and train him in all his developmental stages of crawling, walking, eating, and playing. He was to learn about society from his father, siblings and other friends.

(Note: This is an imaginary story of a person born at the beginning of the twentieth century. This will take you to the lifestyles and facilities available during that period.)

To be continued in Part II