User:Yadavdp2

Devi Prasad. (born 15th August, 1985), is an Independent scholar and writer[1] and currently associated with University of Hyderabad. He was born in Tandawa village of Sultanpur district, Uttar Pradesh.

Tandawa Village


 Tandawa Village (टंडवा) was a remote village and located in the northern part of the Sultanpur district. Now, it is well-connected by pucca road. There are sixty households in Tandawa village. The total population of this village is 286. They are occupying the cultivated area of fifty-four hectares (Directory, 2015-16).. If we look at the caste of landholders, it is found that Thakur, Yadav, and Kumhar are bigger landholders. Thus, Pasi (caste), Chamar, Musahar, and Kahar castes are smaller landholders. Smaller landholders are engaged in Adhiya (as a sharecropper) and Rehan system (leasing land by money for a short time). Minor canals, groundwater, tube-well, pond, etc. are primary sources of irrigation in the village. Apart from the agrarian activities, milk-production, buffalos, and goats forming are other sources of income for villagers. The sums of eight families are engaged in shops like restaurants, furniture and cosmetics items. The accessibility of electricity (among ninety-five percent households) and transportation facilities in the Tandawa village gives an opportunity to connect with district headquarter.1

Caste Composition
The Tandawa village represents ten castes, which makes it an interesting case. There are two families from Musahar caste, three families from Kori caste, and eleven families from Pasi caste (Pasi fall under the category of Dalits). If we examine the social hierarchies among Dalits, Pasi caste is considered superior to Kori and Musahar castes in the practiced caste hierarchy. There are few artisan castes namely Ahir, Badhayee, Kumhar, Kahar, etc.; these castes are considered to occupy the middle ranks of caste hierarchy. Thakur caste contributes to eight families, and they are at the top in caste hierarchy in Tandawa village. However, the new generations from artisan castes reject the traditional or ritual based multiple caste hierarchies and such notion is visible among ‘neye-neta’ (youth leaders). The idea of caste-based ‘naming’ of a ‘purwa’ (living place of a caste) or ‘tola’ (locality) is another social fact and sociologically interesting to dealing with, for instance, the living place of Kori caste is well-known as ‘chamar-tola’ or ‘chamarauty’ (a derogatory remark for a living place of a Kori caste).