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of sugarcane juice with them. The tumblers in this village, they noticed, were far larger insize than any they had ever seen at home. He told them stories of the village andinterspersed them with sayings from the Granth Sahib and tales of the Gurus. Thechildren were very impressed and very happy. Another evening they attended a villagewedding with their aunt and enjoyed themselves thoroughly. The people were sohospitable, so warm, so kind.Their uncle then took them to see a Bhangra dance in the village and they weredelighted. People of all faiths danced together — Hindu, Muslim and Sikh. Spying twolittle new-comers one of the men drew the children into their circle and they danced withthe rest. It was all so different from the Bhangra they had done on the stage at school —so much more fun and joy and no nervousness about the audience!“Was there no poverty in the villages?” Kripal asked. “And are all villages like this?”His uncle explained that about twenty years ago this village too was not producing asmuch wheat or corn as now and even now there were people who had less land of theirown; there were also people who did not own any land at all and they were comparativelypoor. But what had happened was that with the coming of the radio and some agriculturalofficers who gave lessons on improved farming, the farmers of this village were willingto change their old habits and learn modern techniques of farming. This took time andmany were still doubtful. Harinder Pal himself had to take the lead and show that tractorswould yield better wheat. He had to work hard to convince people about the need forirrigation and fertilisers. But once they saw the results, the villagers were all convinced,and they were so enterprising that in a short while their whole village had gottransformed into what it is today. Even their women had got trained and learnt many newthings about the farm, about cooking, about child-care, health and disease and aboutcleanliness. Uncle added, that the old idea that our villagers are ignorant or unwilling tolearn is no longer true in many parts of the country and surely not here. Many adults hadeven learnt to read and write. But more important than that was the fact they had openminds and were willing to enquire, to learn, to change and grow as fast as possible. Theywere adventurous and they were happy, buoyant and contented. This visit was such aneye-opener to the children that they came back, delighted, and excited and talked about itfor days. They also became humble and more sensitive to life in a village. They hadgrown to love their cousin Devinder and promised to return every holiday.Have you ever visited a village in your part of the country? Have your experiencesbeen somewhat like those of these two children? What more can you add that can give usa glimpse of a prosperous village?If different, what have you seen that has perhaps made you sad? Let us remember that,alas, not all our villages are as prosperous as some of these. We do have rich villages thatproduce wheat, rice, cotton, maize, pulses, and grains of all sorts. We do have tea andcoffee estates and so on. But only some are prosperous. In the vast majority of them thepeople are very poor and can hardly have one meal a day. Not all villagers own land.Some do, others work for them, till the soil and do all the hard work, but are paid verylittle. There is exploitation. There is poverty, squalor, dirt, disease. There is superstition.Very few girls go to school. Girls are regarded as inferior to boys. Women live in greathardship. Often men indulge in drink. There is great sorrow. These are also the realitieswe see in villages. But the question is that if in twenty years some villages like