ABSTRACT
Tremendous changes have continuously affected India’s rural spaces since independence. These include the agrarian revolutions of the 1960s and the communications revolutions of the present. Such changes permeate every aspect of everyday existence, from crops planted to foods eaten; from entertainment choices to employment opportunities; from social and gender hierarchies to political formations. This chapter lists some striking, visible elements of rural development the author noticed between 1979 and 2009. It talks about three specific areas that Rajasthanis emphasised in interviews, all of which are connected with human security in the broadest understanding of the term. These are: environmental change and practices of food production; domestic change including household labour, gender roles, and education; intangible change: community, morality, aspiration. The chapter describes that deities too contribute to perceptions of security. Socio-economic insecurities are pervasive, but rather than paralysing, they motivate accelerated effort, and the morality underpinning that effort lies largely in duty, love and care for families.
