Festival of democracy becomes a moment for the village heads to showcase their dying traditions

New Delhi: In 1947 when India became independent there were 360 villages in Delhi which today has been reduced to over 130 that have also been greatly urbanised.

On Saturday, February 8 when Delhi came out to vote it, therefore, became a moment for a large number of village heads to use this opportunity to showcase their traditions that are getting lost amid urbanisation.

Breaking all barriers and promoting togetherness among different castes was the concept of smoking hookah together. After giving their vote it was time for the village heads to assemble and smoke hookah together.

At one point in time the younger people were not allowed to sit with the elders during smoking hookah together but over the year situation has changed and now even the young can be seen with the old.

The significance of smoking hookah can be gauged from the fact that this tradition has found popularity in all the villages so whether that be dominated by Jats, Gujjars or Ahirs.

Even though considered to be archaic as a tradition the concept of Ghoonghat that is covering the women's head was also visible in large parts of rural Delhi was female voters who came to vote. Over the years, this the concept has also seen a lot of evolution where the system of covering the face has today given way to covering the head.

Speaking to Millennium Post various village heads spoke of how much their way of living had changed over the years and how it had given way to the new set of challenges.

Just 30 years back It was a norm in every rural household of Delhi to have a stock of cows and buffaloes, the dairy items of which were used for personal consumption and also for selling. Today most of the rural households do not have the cattle stock.

Expensive processes in rearing the cattle, high prices for fodder and large scale land the acquisition resulted in the villagers adopting different processes of livelihood.

"A major reason our culture is getting lost is that the challenges being faced by us. Agriculture today is almost over in large parts of villages of Delhi. The rate of unemployment in our youth is low. Moreover, we are also insecure of our remaining land as we do not know when will it be acquired by the government," said Ramlal Yadav of Rajokari Village in Mehrauli Vidhan sabha.