KCA Essay Competition 2009-2nd Prize
Vachan
I went to the village on one of my trips to India. The name of the village is Talikare in Kannada and Thalcharu in Telugu as it is in the border. People there know both Kannada and Telugu. I got there by hired driver. The drive was very long and noisy. The roads were not paved and very bumpy. The village is not very big. People there know each other and there are animals left astray. There is an out house style bathroom with no running water. The village also has a common temple for the people. There are also street vendors who somehow sell packaged store quality products.
The residents don’t relay on stores for their goods. They grow vegetables or buy from other people who grow it and have buffalos or cows for milk. In my great grandmother’s house they even make their own gas for cooking and light by cow dung called it ‘gobergas’ so that they don’t have to pay any utility bill. This system used as array of pipes and cow poop. This system certainly helps the villages so they don’t have to relay on gas for their stoves. It is also a sign of development as well. There were a few cells phones and couple of cable based phones.
Some children go to school and continue to college in other towns. It is very hard because of the lack of money as previously stated. With money you can gain skill and power by educating ones’ mind.
