Change and Continuity - A Contrasting Account of Urban and Rural Transformation

This paper narrates how a small town and an isolated hamlet have changed over a period of five decades. It seeks to trace the complex process of social change from the perspective of an inside/outsider. It narrates the accidents that propelled the spectacular growth of the small town. It contrasts the process of growth of the town with the stagnation of the hamlet. In both places, the working class is gaining more and more bargaining power over the years; but the role of trade unions was not marked in the process. Education is spreading to all classes in both places. With education, women are gaining more dignity in both places, but the evil of dowry is getting worse over the years. Attached labour disappeared from the hamlet, (but not because of the enforcement of the bonded labour abolition Act); and tenancy legislation had no impact(except to assist the bureaucrats in their rent seeking). In the town, the role of the State was not felt as much as in the hamlet. Caste practices tend to get modified in various ways. The injustices of the traditional caste system are felt At the household level, and are getting eliminated, albeit very slowly. But at a macro level, the assertion of sub-caste identity in various forms is increasing, very often as a response or counter-response to the assertion of other sub-caste identities. So, there is a persistent tension which occasionally explodes in the form of violent caste conflicts. Organised crime has made its appearance in the town; in the hamlet, the illicit liquor manufacture and trade are accepted as inevitable. Illicit liquor business links the hamlet in the network of the town's organised crime, although the Linkage is very weak. The standard of living has increased in both the town and the hamlet. But, in the opinion of the author the universally respected values such as honesty, truthfulness and sympathy for fellow humans are on the decline in both places.

Three caveats regarding the material presented: First, the material is based on the weakest of all forms of evidence, namely, gossip, Second, the town and hamlet described are not 'representative' of their class. However, the town is representative-in some respects-of the region which includes towns such as Tiruppur, Namakkal, Tiruchengode and Erode. But the hamlet is somewhat unique because many of its inhabitants had completed primary school education even in the 1920s, Third is the inherent bias in such a narrative as most of the informants are from the land-owning class.