SERICUL TURE AND THE PROCESS OF CHANGE - Institute for ...

a distinctness and isolation in their settlement pattern. The 'Chakkilian'
is the other Scheduled caste in the village. According to Thurston
(1975), they are 'the leather workers of Tamil districts corresponding to
the Madigas of Telugu and are migrants from Telugu or Kannada
districts'. The two Scheduled castes themselves still continue to
maintain their distance through their closed and separated settlements. In
these castes, some of the traditional services and activities are still
carried on by a few persons, especially of the older generation, though
they encounter opposition from their women and younger ones. The
other predominant castes in the village, other than the above mentioned
castes, are the Vanniars, Kurumbars, Boyars and the Ehalis
(washermen).
The distribution of households by family types shows that there is
a predominance of nuclear families in the village. Only ten per cent of
the families belong to the extended family type. This clearly contrasts
with the pattern of the traditional Indian villages and probably shows the
impact of modernity and commercialisation that are fast engulfing the
rural India today. The types offamilies in different castes do not indicate
any significant deviation from the general trend. The Veththala Chettiars
and the Muslims show a predominance in the extended family types
though their presence in the village (three households and one
respectively) is negligible to make any generalisation. Among other
castes, the Kongu Vellalar, Kurumbar, Boyar and the Parayar (SC)
comprise more than ten per cent of the families belonging to the
extended type. The Chakkiliar (SC) closely follows suit with nine per
cent. Except for the KVG, the number of households of other castes is
too small to make any generalisation.
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