The Tug of War Between Rural and Urban India

By: Asha K. and Claire B.

Uhelski, B2

   For many years, India has been a country filled with rural communities but now many urban cities are dominating the country.  India still has seventy percent of its population living in over five hundred thousand villages across the country.  That may be a large amount of people, but three-   hundred million people live in cities and that is about the same amount of people that live in the United States. About sisty percent of the poplutlation is still in agriculture, and since agriculture is important in India, food is the largest item in the typical household budget. If food prices rise though, it will result in a lower food intake by the poor, but this is different in the urban areas of India. Since the majority of Indian people live in the rural areas, problems like these can come up and become major issues when being related to the people of the urban cities. People in the urban areas have new forms of mobilization as well. These are just some of the many conflicts between the urban and rural areas of India. Plus, these issues that occur throughout India are why we choose to research this specific topic.

https://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/urbanAge/10_cities/07_mumbai/_reflections/mumbai_Parasuraman.html

Caption: This picture represents citizens from the slums of India getting water from a community tap.

People in the major, urban cities, most likely do not have to do this, but find and easier way of getting water.

Caption: This photo represents the "tug of war" between rural and urban India. The location is rural India, but since the motorcycle is in the photo, it represents urban India. (This photo is a personal, by Asha so there is no URL). 

Script: 

Asha Krishnan- coconut tree climber/picker  

Claire Barna- consumer of coconuts

C- Could you find me some high quality coconuts on the trees around here sir?  I hear you can    find me the tastiest ones.

A- Yes, what you hear is true but these trees are very high so I will use the new way of communicating in order to show you the coconut up there.  Do you have a cell phone?

C- I do.  With all the urbanization happening around us in India I thought it was best for me to buy one.

A- That will make things much easier.  Be back soon.

Asha climbs the coconut tree.  Looks at the coconuts and takes a picture with her cell phone, sends it to Claire, and then calls her.

A- Hello.  Did you get the picture if the coconuts that I sent you?

C- Yes I did.  Those look like some good coconuts.  I cannot wait to make some chutney with it later.

A- Which ones would you like?

C- I only need four today so will you please bring me the one on the top, the left and right, and in the middle.

A- Okay, coming right down.

Asha hangs up the phone, picks the 4 coconuts, and then drops each one down to Claire. After that she climbs down to talk to Claire.

C- Thank you for the coconuts, here is the money for them.

A- You are welcome.  I hope to do business again with you soon.  Bye!

Both Asha and Claire walk away.   

Works Cited

Varshney, Ashutosh. "Self-limited empowerment: democracy, economic development and rural India. (Special Issue: Beyond Urban Bias)." Journal of          Development Studies. v29.      n4 (July 1993): p177(39). International Academy High School. 3 May. 2009 <http://find.galegroup.com/ovrc>.

Kalia, Ravi. "Urbanism." Encyclopedia of India. Ed. Stanley Wolpert. Vol. 4. Detroit: Charles Scribner's

Sons, 2006. 6 pp. 4 vols. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. International Academy High School. 4 May 2009.<http://find.galegroup.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS>.