On the move again Class 5 Notes EVS Chapter 22

Introduction

The chapter “On the Move Again” is a description of Dhanu’s village, the culture of the village, and the way how people work on the lands of other people and farmers. The people from Dhanu’s village including her parents stay away from their homes to work in sugarcane fields.

Dhanu’s Village

The ladies of the family made Puran Poli (sweet rotis made from jaggery and gram). Along with this, a spicy kadi dish is also made.

Relatives making sweets

• The day passes in laughing and chatting but in the evening the women and children begin to pack their luggage. The men sit down with the mukadam (an agent who lends money) for the meeting. The mukadam gives the details of the loan taken by each family.
• Then the mukadam explains to the villagers in which areas they would go for the next six months. He also gave them some money as a loan, for their expenses. This was the routine in the village. Families like Dhanu’s work on the lands of big farmers till Dussehra, before the rainy season. Many other families also work on such lands. They earn just enough money to keep them going through these months.

Discussion with Mukadam

• The farmers of Dhanu’s village would borrow money from the Mukadam to manage the remaining six months when there is no rain and no work in the field. They have to work for the Mukadam to pay back this money. Mukadam is an agent for sugarcane factories. He helps them to find work in sugarcane fields.
• In the next few months, Dhanu, his parents, his kaka (father’s brother) and his two elder children, his mama, Mami, and their two daughters, and forty-fifty other families from the village will stay away from home. In these six months, Dhanu and many children like him will not be able to go to school. Dhanu’s old grandmother, an aunt who cannot see, and a two-month-old cousin's sister would stay back in the village.

Dhanu's Relatives In other homes too, the old and the ill people stay behind. Dhanu misses his grandmother a lot. Dhanu always keeps wondering – who will take care of his grandmother! But, what can Dhanu do?

After Dussehra

The caravan of these families would now settle near the sugarcane fields and sugar factories. For six months they would stay in their huts made of dry sugarcane and its leaves. The men will get up early in the morning and go to cut sugarcanes in the fields. The women and children tie the bundles of sugarcane. Then the bundles are taken to the sugar factory. Dhanu often goes with his father. Sometimes, they spend nights outside the factory on bullock carts. There, Dhanu plays with the bullocks and wanders around.

• At the factory, Dhanu’s father gets the sugarcane weighed and takes a receipt (a note to say how much sugarcane they have given). They show this receipt to the agent who then keeps an account of their loan. The agent also gives them some money for the next week’s expenses.
• Then Dhanu’s Nani and Mami take the children to the nearby village market, to buy atta (flour) and oil for the next week. Sometimes Mami buys laddoos or some sweets for the children. She also buys pencils, an eraser, and a notebook for Dhanu. After all, he is mami’s favorite But Dhanu won’t be using these for six months, because he won’t be attending school till then.

• Mami wanted Dhanu to study and do well in life. She does not want Dhanu to move around with his family. She suggested that the next time when they leave the village after Dushera they will leave Dhanu with his Dadi and Chachi. He would go to school like the other children in the village. He should continue his studies. He should study further and become a rich and reputed person in the future.

Some Important Points From the Chapter

• Dhanu’s father is the eldest in the family. So all the festivals are celebrated at their house  
• The men sit down with the Mukadam for the meeting. The Mukadam gives the details of the loan taken by each family.
• The Mukadam explains to the villagers in which areas they would go for the next six months.
• Mukadam also gives them some money as a loan, for their expenses.
• Families like Dhanu’s work on the lands of big farmers till Dusshera before the rainy season. 
• They earn just enough money to keep them going through these months. 
• Mukadam is an agent for sugar cane factories. He helps them to work in sugar cane fields. 
• The caravan of these families would settle near the sugar cane fields and sugar factories.