I am working in a small town named Kishanganj. It is located in north Bihar, India. After spending almost an year in this town. I thought of writing something about small towns and their sociology. It is my tribute to Kishanganj.
1. Everyone knows
everybody- There are 2 to 3 schools in a small town. Hence,
everyone goes to same school; they get taught by the same teachers; they
prepare for the same type of competitive exams, and try to get the same type of
jobs. This creates a ‘unity in thinking’ in the people. They have common
values, and there are one or two festivals which everyone celebrates beside of
their religion. It is dangerous to fall in love in a small town because whole
town will know about it in few weeks and then you’ll be trouble.
2. Poor Fashion sense-
One thing for sure that people of small town have poor fashion sense. They wear
anything they feel like, and they are not ashamed of looking ugly. I believe the enjoy their ugliness.You will
find people wearing red socks with black shoes, wearing yellow or maroon gent’s
suit, wearing office pants with bathroom slippers, girls wearing old shirts of
their father, women putting lots of lipstick and powder on their face, boys
copying the hairstyle of Shahrukh Khan, etc.
3. Barber’s Shop and Old
Tea Stall are the men’s club- Men go to barber’s
shop to get the haircut or shave, and their they discuss the problems of the
whole world; they share jokes, news, current affairs, religion etc. It may
appear like a Men’s Kitty Party. The same scene you can find on an old tea
stall.
4. Everything is nearly
located- In big towns if police station is in one corner
then court would be in the other corner. If temple is on one side then
hospitals are on the other corner. If schools are on one side then colleges are
on the other corner. In big towns, buildings are scattered here and there. But,
in a small town you will not have travel much because everything is closely located.
This saves your time, energy and money.
5. Early to bed, early to
rise- People of small town are ‘early risers’. Majority of
people get up around 5:00 to 5:30 am. In the morning, you will see large crowd
in the market doing shopping for the family, and children playing cricket.
Similarly, you will hardly see anyone after 7:00 pm on roads. You will also see
that lots of people sleep in afternoon for 2-3 hours.
6. Dominance of
middle-class- Job opportunities are low in a small
town. People who are home sick do small jobs happily, just to remain in their
native land. They earn less, spend less. Major population is either in middle-income
group or just poor. In every society, rich class dominates, but in a small town
middle income group influences the society.
7. Clean railway station
and untidy bus station- In big cities in India, we often
see that railway stations are untidy whereas bus stations are clean, but in
small town railway stations are clean but bus stations are untidy and
disorganised. It happens because most of the small town people, because of good
connectivity, prefer to travel by bus than by train.
