Dehradun, Jan. 1 -- These days I visit my maternal village "Chaund", Patti Bharpur, District Tehri Garhwal, every month. During these visits, which are generally for a couple of days, I reside in a cottage that I have recently built there. Growing up in Mussoorie as a child I used to occasionally visit this village. In the winter of 1971, my sojourn in the village-at my maternal uncle Pandit Gajadhar Prasad Pandey's house- extended to about three weeks. During that stay, I got an opportunity as a child to observe the village life very closely. The village until then was still unconnected to the external world. It did not have a motor road, electricity or running tap water. Bereft of any market and other external forces, the village was a ...