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

other service castes, cariying forward the traditions to the present. The
jajman relations of these castes have not been totally wiped out, though
the intensity and the traditionality of such services have been undergoing
radical transformation.
Of the 1580 landholders in the village, hardly about one fourth
still continue their traditional link with the washermen (Ehali). The
barber (~avithan) still visits some houses and attends to hair-cutting but
only the older generations use his service and they are immediately paid
for their service in cash. There were two barbers in the village. One has
already left the village and migrated to Bangalore as there were only few
takers for his service within the village. The head of one of the Chakkilia
households continues to be engaged in the leather work. Only the head is
engaged in it. He takes order for making chappals and does it for
immediate cash payment. He also undertakes repairing works. Till recent
past, some of the Parayans had been engaged as 'NeerKatti'. They used
to regulate the supply of the tank water to the paddy fields. They were
paid in grains, depending on the size of the land. Today, this practice has
been given up. There was also an 'Udhari" among the Parayans, serving
the '~ittadhar'
of the region. His work was to collect tax in grains, for
the \1ittadhar. This has also disappeared with the implementation of the
land enactment.
~ evertheless, some of the ritualistic traditions, though undergoing
a transition, have not totally disappeared. To carry out these traditional
rituals, the jajman castes continue to depend on the traditional service
castes. 10 many of the rituals related to women, including post-delivery
observance, puberty rituals, etc., all of which involve an element of