Khadimal: a village stuck in time
We are unable to sleep because of water, that’s how bad it is. We barely sleep for a few hours, then we keep running for water. That’s how it is. Khadimal: a village stuck in time Deepak Kanhaiyalal Agarwal, resident of Chikhaldhara, Driver. I took them to khadimal village in
my car. The condition of roads are bad, it is a problem. You saw how the car was going, how big the potholes are. The roads are not repaired. The condition of the vehicle gets worse after every trip; we avoid going there. We only go there if there’s a
special booking, otherwise we don’t. It is impossible to go there for daily business because the road is so bad. You don’t get medicines there, there are no doctors or clinics. They don’t have a functioning school or teachers. Older people used to tell us, we don’t have enough water.
Even now, there is no solution to that problem People don’t sow in summer as there is not enough water. We are completely dependent on God for water and irrigation. During monsoon, if there is enough rain, we get some crop. Otherwise, nothing. Rainfall is good, but the water doesn’t
stand here. Government sends one tanker for the entire village. But that is not enough. So, people get it from distant sources, wells, etc. Women have to go to fetch water, only two buckets
ourselves with just two buckets ? Two days after delivery , the women have to go fetch water. Who will bring it for us? I went to fetch water after delivery I rested for only five days after the delivery, that’s it. We bathe there, in the river, and get
water as well. Every month, during periods, we have to walk to the river. We can’t bring enough water to take a bath at home and clean ourselves. We wrestle for every bucket of water. Sometimes the fight continues for half an hour. Our hair gets all messy and falls
in the buckets. I am handicapped, people like us don’t get water. People who are physically fit can at least fight and get some water. On the way to the hospital and the city, people get distressed; during rains water overflows on the roads and bridges. The vehicles get stuck,
the overflowing water blocks the road and damages bridges. A poor pregnant woman is helpless; often they lose their child and their own life too. The roads almost turn into a river. During monsoon, it’s so bad that cars cannot pass, not even a two wheeler. If a pregnant woman
faces any issue or emergency, they often deliver the child half way through the journey. There are so many issues here in Melghat. There are no pucca roads, no electricity, nothing. During the monsoon, we don’t even go to the market. For four months, we cannot go anywhere, we have
to stay where we are. We have to stock up, like people do in ashrams. During monsoon, we stock up on everything so that we have enough food to survive the rains. We have to travel at least 30-40 kms to reach other areas. We have to pay around three
thousand for travelling in a private taxi. That is how we reach the hospital. If someone has a pick-up or two wheeler, somehow we take the patient. Even then, if they survive till we reach, then great. If not, we just accept it as fate. Despite having a PHC ,
there is no medical help available. Even for the smallest medical need, we have to go to Churni. If we call the Churni centre for an ambulance, they say it is not available. That is why people can’t get the treatment once it’s evening. During the day, we can at
least manage some rental or other vehicle. We are setting up solar energy with the help of the gram panchayat. But during the monsoon and on most days the solar energy is of no use. We have to stay in the dark. It doesn’t get enough charge. So we bring
wood and light a fire. We have our food by that light, there’s no other option. The solar energy is barely there for two hours. Once that is gone, we go back to burning the wood. In that limited light, you can’t tell where the food is going. Sometimes insects
fall in our food, we eat that as well. We just need to fill our stomachs. We have faced such hardship. When we were younger, We made enough for our households. But during the rains, after sometime, What our people did was… There is a type of grass, savali jangam,
we used to pull it out and eat it. Secondly, the teachers we have here, they travel from their home That is why it becomes diffcult for them to travel. This 50-60 thousand rupees job should be made available for the village youth. We don’t want teachers from outside. The
village youth who have cleared Class 12 and graduated, we want them to take this up. People from the village itself. Older people who can’t do much work, stay back here. Others like us, who can work, look for work outside, there is no other option. Here, we only have
the Rojgar Yojana , that’s it. That too, it starts from December and goes on till April. Other than that, during monsoon, we have absolutely nothing to do. We women carry tools, dig holes, carry dirt. When we go to work, we have to climb up and down the narrow
hill. There are deep gorges on both sides. That’s how we travel for work. Get some jobs for the people who have cleared board exams. Our dream of getting a job will never be fulfilled because our documents don’t get made here. We end up missing the deadline, we don’t
get admission. We can’t even get tuitions because there is no one, our admission also gets cancelled. Even if we try, there is no progress, We are not progressing, how can we improve our village? Things weren’t changing for the older generation, what will happen to the young ones? They
sit here, helpless as before. We are still in the times of slavery. Back then, we were slaves to the British. Now it’s the MPs and MLAs. Absolutely right! We are still living the life of a slave. Now with the elections approaching, you can see they are working on
the roads. This is because of the elections. Post elections, they take all of this away. They take away the cement blocks and other things. This has happened before. We have been voting in the elections for more than 50 years, but there is no change for us. Then why
should we bother? They repeat the same thing every time and leave. That is why we have decided to boycott the elections in our gram panchayat. That’s all we have to say. We won’t vote till the time our roads are fixed. We will not vote! They are of no
use! We won’t vote. Don’t even come to our area. But now that you are recording this, we really have hope. Please take this issue forward. The people of Khadimal have never had access to basic amenities. Every election, they are promised roads, electricity and healthcare. The village does not
have a single water tap, medical facilities or decent roads. As their generational struggle goes unheard Khadimal plans on boycotting the General Elections 2024. A film by Prakhar Dobhal and Swara Garge Jaideep Hardikar Anil Jadhav Mohammed Ashraf And People of Khadimal Language translation by xxx
