The project has changed it all, life was never so good

Living out a retired life, Satya Devi (60), a resident of SJVN’s Jhakri resettlement colony, holds no regrets for having bartered her earlier pastoral living for the comfort of a new home at the project re-settlement colony except for missing the evening round of wool weaving, while chatting around the family hearth.

“Before the project came into our valley and the Jhakri colony was set up, life was one daily grind where the day began with lighting the hearth, working the farms lands, tending to cows and sheep, gathering fuel wood and fetching water from the village wells on our very backs,” says Satya.

Diving into the past she recalls, Jhakri was a scattered village with small houses. There was a lot of poverty around and droughts would often lead to hungry days. The richer famers who had surplus grain would barter food for work with the less fortunate.

But all that has changed today. There is prosperity around; nearly all families in the colony and the surrounding area own vehicles, something which could not have come about without the project having come up in the vicinity, she says.

To draw out a comparison the lady narrates her pastoral past. “Besides the 100 to 150 sheep, we used to have about 15 to 20 cattle heads, yet the milk supply was not sufficient. Bullocks were essential for ploughing the fields.”

There was only shop in the area that had very little provisions and everyone had to go to Rampur, to shop for clothes, utensils, farm implements, rations and many other items.

Today there are a lot of vehicles plying regularly to Rampur, which is just 13 Kms away but back then the road was not so good and only one bus used to ferry us between Rampur and Jhakri. If you missed it, one had to wait out another day to catch up again.

Satya Devi

Rearing sheep and wool weaving was a steady vocation that kept many occupied. Homemade woolen cloth was common and garments made out of it helped to live through cold winters. There were no quilts and only homespun woolen blankets were used.

If anyone fell ill, all that we could depend upon for healthcare was once a month, door to door visit by our village compounder (a para-medic).

In contrast, today the Jhakri colony has a health centre manned by five doctors, including a dentist and is equipped with a X-ray machine and a laboratory for doing preliminary diagnostic tests.

Satya Devi’s grand children a boy and a girl who attend school at Delhi Public School, Jhakri undergo a regular health check-up at the centre. The small hospital also operates a mobile clinic that serves many of the neigbourhood villages.

Vinod Negi, son of Satya Devi and now aged 34 has been employed with SJVN for 16 years - something that has enabled the family to gracefully cope up with the change in their lives.

Vinod Negi and Wife

Being from a family whose lost most of their farmlands to the project, Vinod says, “As I turned 18, after completing school, the Jhakri project authorities provided me a placement that has helped our family to move up along with others.”

Gracious in hospitality - after having sipped the cup of tea served with rich snacks, Satya concludes, “the project has changed it all; life was never so good. However, at times, I do miss my old days of wool weaving by the evening log fire.”