THE PEOPLE

HOUSES AND HOUSING

The patterns of houses and housing have undergone considerable changes particularly in the urban areas. The old type of houses of the rich living in joint families consisted of a front and a back part separated by a small open court on each side of which was a passage and in the upper storey, an open terrace connecting front and back parts of the houses. Such a plan of the house was once popular because when children would grow up and sons had families of their own, they could share the same house and yet to some extent each family could live apart.

Houses belonging to the old aristocracy were built round a chauk (quadrangle) with stone or burnt brick walls, tiled roofs and verandahs. These houses were generally one or two-storeyed; the entrance door which was often spacious and imposing had a small gateway called dindi. Inside, surrounding the chauk were broad osaris or verandahs with a devdi, watchroom and an office-room. On crossing the chauk a few steps lead to the oti or verandah, for the house was always raised on a jote (plinth) two or three feet high. In the verandah, strangers were received and children played and women spent their leisurely time. The ground floor had four or seven rooms, a central hall, and a back verandah opening into the rear yard. There were rooms for keeping clothes and ornaments, a kitchen and a worship room. The storey had four rooms or two halls. In the rear of the house were cattle-shed, a bathing-room and a privy located in a distant corner, flower and plantain trees and tulas (holy basil) planted in a masonry pillar post and rooms for servants and retainers.

The more modest houses were generally those with walls constructed of dressed or unworked stone burnt or sun-dried bricks and tiled or with flat roofs. They occurred both in towns and villages. A house of this class consisted of an osari (front verandah) which was used as an office or place of business, majghar or the central room for dining and sitting, devghar or a room for worshipping gods, a kitchen and a room to spare. There was generally a cattle-shed either in the front or at the back, a separate privy and a nhani or bathing shed.

Houses occupied by cultivators in villages were built with unburnt brick walls, tiled or dhaba (flat earthen) roofs and had two or three rooms. They had also large cattlesheds. "Poorer landholders, labourers and Harijans often lived in single roomed houses with mud and stone or mud-wattled reed walls with dhaba or tin or corrugated iron sheet roofs.

Old houses were built with the idea of providing shelter and safety, while modern designs and constructions are particular about the principles of convenience, economy, health and sanitation with the necessary safety. The richer class of people are now having independent cottages and bungalows with accommodation generally consisting of a verandah, a drawing-room or sitting room, two or three extra rooms to be used as bed-rooms, guest-room or study-room, a kitchen, a parlour, pantry or store-room and an independent bath and W.C.' There is a small garden around and a garage. The rooms are so arranged as to have an independent aceess for each. The walls are of stone or brick masonry in lime or cement mortar and plastered in lime or cement mortar. The doors are parallel or glazed and have brass fixtures. Enough windows are there to allow free passage for air and light. The floors are paved with stone or concrete and are free from dampness, drainage and sanitation being carefully looked after. The roof is either covered with Mangalore tiles or terraced in reinforced concrete. The rooms are generally colour washed or distempered in different shades of light colour. The drawing hall or the sitting room is generally provided with five or six cane or wooden chairs or sofa and two side chairs duly upholstered, one or two easy chairs, one big central table, two or three small teapoys and the floor or the part round about the table covered with a carpet. The dining hall is equipped with a dining table and chairs and a side table. The bed-room is furnished with one or two wooden or iron bedsteads, a ward robe or an almirah and a dressing table with a mirror. Built in cupboards, shelves, pegs and sanitary fittings are provided where necessary. A cottage has only a ground floor and a bungalow has generally a floor in addition.

In the pattern of houses in villages, there has not been much change. Richer people going in for the use of cement and concrete adopt the models that are in vogue in towns, retaining certain rural features. The poor continue to live in small huts as in the past.

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