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  1. #1

    Jat future lies away from agriculture?

    My Physics tutor Prof Sekhon, once remarked to a kid from Lucknow chit chatting with me at the back of the class - "What are you two interacting about? Yours is a culture, ours is an 'agri - culture'!" Never mind the intended pun, but the fact remains that Jat society is closely linked with its traditional occupation - agriculture. Our customs, tradition, social values all signify a close connection with the land we till and the eco-system we build around it. Our songs are about harvesting crops, the joy of the first rains battering down a parched field or having our hearts fill from the money earned from selling the crop.

    But as we move ahead with times, more and more Jats adopt a less-rural and more urban lifestyle. Some of this is voluntary and some forced upon by factors such as industries or new residential colonies etc. While this brings its own set of benefits, it also sets in motion a process of disconnect with the rural, agricultural set up. I know less about the farming than my Dad does and he knows even lesser than my late grandfather who was the first to move away from farming due to economic and social pressures. So the process of 'disconnect' is set in motion by the first generation that moves away. Honestly having grown up in an urban environment, I would balk at the prospect of spending hours under the sun on a tractor or going late at night into the fields to make sure water is properly irrigating the fields. And I am sure this is the case with many of us here on this forum. It also fills me with respect for my kin who still do it.

    So as we get urbanized we pick up occupations far different from what our fathers or grandfathers did. This includes getting into business which was traditionally looked down upon as it was seen as a preserve of the wily bania and the scheming khatri. So how do we maintain our tradition and maintain our uniqueness as we become more like the people we previously saw as different? We work with people of different communities in our workplaces and follow a lifestyle that more closely resembles urban communities rather than our relatives in the village. I do the same job as a bania, khatri, brahmin does in my office and my personal choices and set of social behavior mirrors theirs. This would be even more true for the generation that follows mine. How do we ensure that the things that define our community do not get lost in rat race? What will set us apart in the future?How would this move away from our roots impact our coming generations?
    Last edited by swaich; November 28th, 2012 at 09:00 PM.
    Pagdi Sambhal Jatta..!

  2. The Following 8 Users Say Thank You to swaich For This Useful Post:

    anilphogat (November 29th, 2012), AryanPoonia (May 14th, 2015), drkarminder (November 29th, 2012), DrRajpalSingh (December 21st, 2012), ravinderjeet (December 22nd, 2012), shekharjat (November 29th, 2012), SumitJattan (November 29th, 2012), ZaildarTejSeng (September 7th, 2014)

  3. #2
    A genuine concern Jaspreet and i agree with you.

    May be i am wrong but the below mentioned points can help in bridging the gap between us and our past .
    1) Frequent visits to village ..attending the fairs and marriages.
    2) We have to pass on the old rural anecdots to our coming generations .
    3) Try to generate some interest in young genrtaion about farming by interest i mean a tractor ride or buggi ride to farms is a very interesting and nice thing
    4) If kids spend more time with their grand parents they will learn some thing new about village and ofcourse farming

    I think i have generalized the things but this concern requires an honest discussion

  4. The Following User Says Thank You to SumitJattan For This Useful Post:

    ravinderjeet (December 22nd, 2012)

  5. #3
    Opinions, comments, gentlemen? How do we maintain our identity and uniqueness?
    Pagdi Sambhal Jatta..!

  6. #4
    identity.......in this globalization all of us loosing our identities to only GOD of this time market money and materialism once we crave for this we loose our uniqueness as we try to fit in the norms of society which is it self shaped by market forces from time to time. examplein Venezuela young girls and boys go for plastic surgery of their faces to look good as to look good has become more important then education or developing moral values....frequent beauty pea-gents have compelled common ppl to do it.
    so market determines what we will become..................just think today`s heroes are Bollywood celebrities and models,earlier it used to be shaheed Bhagat Singh or Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

    TO COUNTER IT - we need our heroes which we are in short supply these days but we have them.ex-after Sushil Kumars win in Kushti people now take kushti seriously even in urban area young ppl are interested in it.

    we are also shaped by our environment as we live in cramped spaces our thinking also become small and narrow we always see only monetory benefits (case with ppl in urban areas in delhi society as i have experienced) jats in rural areas are big hearted mast malang care free and mann mauji(though things are changing fast)

    Sumit bhai has given many good solutions few i would like to add
    telling things to do to youngsters as being borned into jat family like You should be physically fit and tough not like banias ...........
    jats are always good at sports you should try to take sports seriously as it comes naturally to you.

    creating hereos and emulating them in family, if parents do certain things it passes to nest generation.

    though it is very tough but it can be done as we see jews never loosed their identity even after such persecution and living all over the world.

    last it is economics as we grow rich we tend to go to services and manufacturing........this has happened all over the world untill agriculture becomes most remunerative this will happen........

  7. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to shekharjat For This Useful Post:

    ndalal (December 5th, 2012), SumitJattan (November 30th, 2012)

  8. #5
    A very timely and well needed topic has been taken up as thread discussion for which Mr. Jaspreet Swaich deserves kudos.

  9. The Following User Says Thank You to DrRajpalSingh For This Useful Post:

    ZaildarTejSeng (September 7th, 2014)

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