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Chapter 12 Housing

Nidhi went to her grandparent's village during her last
holidays. The village is near Jaipur. Nidhi had visited the
village for the first me. She was very excited to see their
ancestral home. It was called a haveli. There were 15
rooms built around an open courtyard and the entrance
had a big garden and tall shady trees. The haveli was built
with stones and lime mortar. The doors were made of thick wood and the windows
had painted glass.

There was a hand pump in the courtyard and it was great fun to pump water from it.
The rooms had thick walls and high ceilings to keep them cool. People did not need air
condi oners or even fans in summer. The kitchen was built away from the living area
so that smoke did not enter the rooms.

Fabulous Fact

Many houses in villages have a large store room
for grains and a place for ca le too!

Do you see such havelis in the ci es?
Are all the village houses like a haveli?
On seeing her huge house in the village, Nidhi thought that all the houses in the village
were like havelis. But she found that not all the houses in the villages were like her
ancestral house. Only the rich family could build such large houses. Most of the
houses in the village were small huts built with clay and hay.
Today, with change in me the houses built in rural areas have also changed and many
villages now have strong houses and good facili es like electricity, water supply and
be er sanita on. Educa on and technology in villages has also improved.

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