It is unconditionally set in our minds that a village or a rural area will have small huts and lots of green lands with different crops growing in them. But, it is much more complex than its simple definition.
Rural life is very diverse and is almost like a community which consists of people living together with similar interests, dialect, occupation (to a certain extent) and similar living standards.
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What exactly is the meaning of a Rural Area?
As far as the Indian rural areas are concerned, the lifestyle of the people over here is very much different from that of the people living in the cities.
Some rural areas are present just on the outskirts of the cities but still have a very different lifestyle.
It is like when we step into the rural land the atmosphere in here changes and something like a calm breeze settles over us making us forget about the rush of the city life even if it is for a limited time.
This is what makes living in a rural area different from living in an urban area.
People living in rural areas have their own domestic occupation like agriculture, making pots, animal husbandry i.e. maintain the cattle and poultry houses. They basically have the habit of cultivating their own crops.
Agriculture: The Primary Job of a Farmer
The main objective of this agricultural occupation is to cultivate crops for themselves first and then sell them for profit. They are basically called a farmer who cultivates the crops and sell them.
In a limited space of land, one cannot cultivate all types of cereals and legumes and vegetables.
So, it is a general understanding among the people living in that village that each person will cultivate some or the other crop and keep the required amount of the total yield for themselves and sell the remaining part of the harvested food grains or legumes or vegetables to the other people among the community.
This was the primitive principle of how the daily bread was earned. But as a majority of these people from the rural areas started migrating to the urban areas and these people started depending on the farmers in the rural areas or villages to provide them with all the crops and cereals.
As we all know that land availability in rural area is almost double the amount of land available in the urban areas. This allows a lot of agricultural activities to be carried out on this fertile land as it is untouched by the industrial chemicals.
So now the farmer’s official occupation becomes agriculture i.e. now the farmer will not only cultivate crops for his own family but also for most of the families in the urban areas.
This is basically why most of the people living in the rural areas are involved in agricultural activities for most of the year and it has become a full-time job.
Some benefits of living in a village
People living in rural areas have access to a large area of land. It can also be called as a yard or a small garden in which children play.
This allows them to explore their physical abilities along with their mental ability of problem solving and being calm in dicey situations.
The actual meaning of outdoor games is understood well by the children in this rural area because they live it every day.
Equal importance or more importance is given to physical fitness as it is a very essential requirement for their family occupation that means if they are going to work in the field.
They might live in small houses, but they are always together which means that not a single family is left alone for living. There is a lot of unity as well as understanding among the people living as a community.
All of them talk to each other i.e. they basically live together and share their experiences, thoughts and also discuss if there are some social changes to be made.
Therefore, the political system of the rural area is also different consisting of the Gram Panchayat. The sarpanch is the village head who looks after the well-being of all the villagers.
If there is any problem, the people will tell the sarpanch and then the sarpanch will take further actions to bring a change by himself or by approaching the higher government body.
Are there any disadvantages of living in a village?
It cannot be said that living in a village consists of disadvantages, but it certainly has some drawbacks. The major drawback or limitation of the village lifestyle is that the mindset of the villagers does not change so much of globalization going on in the cities.
That is the main reason why whenever we step into a village land we immediately recognize the cultural difference, difference in the mindset and thinking, certain superstitions and other beliefs.
In the Indian Rural areas, it must be well experienced by some people that even if we have our own relatives living in that village, there are some restrictions put on the small children, the female members of our family, etc.
This is majorly because villagers think that people living in the urban areas are not fit enough to adapt to the rough life of the village.
They have strict and unbendable beliefs, for example, they think that the female members should only stick to working in the house and take of children and not go to offices.
This thinking has changed for the city people a long time ago but some of the villagers still stick to these beliefs.
There are also lesser or limited number of job opportunities in the villages as compared to the urban areas. This is the main reason why the younger generation is more attracted towards the urban areas.
There are also a variety of jobs other than the agricultural jobs of the villages for example, banking sector, jobs in the science and technology sector, etc.
Even though science and technology are developed in the urban sectors of the country, it is still just a new concept in the villages.
Today’s agricultural sector requires a lot of scientific technology for proper growth of crops and to make them adapt to the changing environment.
But still it will take a little more time for the farmers in the villages to accept that the development in today’s standard of living is equally important to preserving our values and culture.
Conclusion
The rural area is considered to be the backbone of our nation and hence, there should be proper measures taken to improve or speed up the development of the rural area and at the same time not forcing the villagers to adapt to this developing and changing circumstances.
We nowadays see that a lot of schemes are started by the Government to promote the growth and development of the rural areas and also to provide a lot more employment facilities than the urban areas.
The measures are taken not only to provide agricultural employments but also all the modern employments by allowing the village students to take different and varied courses in different subjects thus, promoting literacy as well as skill development.
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