Settlement studies A25
The Raut family lives in a small village and is known for its loving, fun-natured bond and good relations with everyone around them. JP Raut is a businessman who runs a wedding tent service and owns a shop located about two kilometres from his home. His wife, Kalidevi, works as an anganwadi worker, caring for small children and helping spread awareness about avoiding drugs in the village. The family believes in Lord Ganesha and owns three fields, from which they harvest around five quintals of wheat and corn each year.
They have three children—Mayur, Jhanvi, and Kinjal. Mayur studies in the 8th grade at a private school from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. He enjoys cricket more than studying and spends his free time watching TV or playing with his cousins Rohit and Amit in the nearby field. Jhanvi, in 3rd grade, and Kinjal, in 5th grade, attend a nearby school from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. After school, both girls help their mother with household chores.
The family also takes care of their brothers’ children, as Mukesh and Rakesh work as labourers in a tile manufacturing company in Ahmedabad and visit every two months. Mukesh’s son is preparing for an entrance exam in Jodhpur. Their grandfather, Shankarlal, is a retired constable who served in Udaipur. With no family disputes, the Rauts live a simple, respectful life rooted in care, responsibility, and togetherness.
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C l u s t e r 1
During a five-day site visit in Dungarpur, local living patterns were studied to understand how houses and farms are self-built using limited resources. Settlements evolve in response to terrain, climate, and daily needs. Built forms, agricultural land, and nature remain closely interconnected, creating a sustainable and grounded way of life. Whereas there were some difficulties too like language barriers, climate changes and the whole place that we were not used to living and working in. Although the people of the village were the kindest people we could ever meet, they treated us like family even when we were entering their houses and invading their private space.
Priyanshu’s father left the village every morning before the sun rose, tools slung over his shoulder, working as a plumber in Dungarpur and nearby areas, returning only after sunset. His wife, once used to the noise and movement of a town, found village life unbearably quiet and dull. Sharp-minded and outspoken, she dreamed of leaving, but stayed back for the sake of her three-year-old son, Priyanshu.
Priyanshu spent his days around the housing complex with his mother, too young to study and too sheltered to wander far. The family was known for being blunt and arrogant, keeping to themselves and rarely mixing with others in the village. Isolation came naturally to them, reinforced by their habits and their words.
The father had three brothers—one struggling with a mental disorder, calm only when his parents were home, and two others who worked in Udaipur as a construction worker and a watchman, both leaving early and returning late. Together, the family owned a single field, yielding about three quintals of wheat and corn each year—just enough to sustain them, but never enough to quiet the restlessness within the house.
