Once Upon a Far Hillside: The Life and Times of An Indian Village by Brenda Kidman

Once Upon a Far Hillside: The Life and Times of An Indian Village by Brenda Kidman lands on the shelves of my shop.

Century, 1985, Hardback in dust wrapper.

Illustrated by way of: Black & White Photographs; Maps [1];

From the cover: The Indian village of Borli Panchatan lies on a tree-clad hillside overlooking the Arabian Sea. The people who live there are a mixture of Muslim and Hindu, each with a distinct and colourful way of life but bonded together by a single vital factor: survival.

By tracing the inception of this village from its medieval origins to the present day, the author paints a unique portrait of the life and times of those who inhabit this remote and beautiful comer of the Indian sub-continent, not only from personal observations and historical facts, but through the recollections of the citizens of Borli in particular one remarkable Muslim woman called Jainub Undre.

Better known to her village neighbours as Ummie, during the Second World War, after an early life of comparative comfort, Jainub travelled from Cape Town with her Indian husband and eight children, to spend a holiday in Borli Panchatan. She arrived in 1942 when the little peninsula of Jungira was still an autonomous principality ruled over by a Muslim Nawab and the only access to the village was by a rough road through virgin jungle.

When a series of misfortunes stranded Jainub and her children, this young Afrikaans mother had to find the courage and determination to survive in a community where poverty was as much an integral ingredient of daily life as the age-old traditions and religious beliefs woven into the very fabric of an existence lived close to nature.

As her story unfolds, Ummies charm and character provide the reader with a vivid understanding of everyday life in a far-off comer of India before it was exposed to the momentous changes taking place beyond the mountain ranges which separate Borli Panchatan Place of the Five Holy Graves from the interior.

But today the cherished traditions of this hillside village are fast being eroded by outside pressures as India hurries to catch up with the rest of the developed world. This book encapsulates a slice of social history which represents a community now balanced on the edge of cultural extinction.

Very Good in Very Good Dust Wrapper. A little rubbing to the edges of the dust wrapper. Price Clipped. Previous owners’ inscription to the first blank. Text complete, clean and tight otherwise.

Burgundy boards with Gilt titling to the Spine. 215 pages. 8¾” x 5½”.

Of course, if you don’t like this one there are plenty more available here!