The Difference between Village Life and City Life - Essay Example

Difference between the village life and life Today, almost in all countries the governmental policies aim at improving the village life and bring it up to the standards of the life that we lead in the city. Even so, I believe that there exists considerable difference between the lives the people lead in the city and the village and somewhere I feel that the quality of life lead by the people in the village is much better than the materialistic lives led by the city population. Each and every day cities are facing the problems of overpopulation with constant migration by people mainly for job purposes. With the increasing population the associated problems also rise. One of the major problems that cities face is the problem of air pollution. Thousands of vehicles emit venomous smoke adding to the emissions from industries and dust particles making the air of the city almost carcinogenic in nature. Most eminent cities for example Hong Kong suffer from the problem of air pollution to an extent that people need to wear masks to protect themselves from breathing in such harmful air. On the other people residing in the village are blessed with a life free from such problems. Air pollution is almost negligible in the village areas. This is mainly because of the absence of numerous vehicles and also because of the presence of trees and greenery which help in increasing the oxygen content of the air as well making the air of the villages much safer than that of the cities. In fact statistically speaking the number of patients suffering from respiratory diseases is far higher in the cities than that in the villages. Another major pollution problem that life in urban area is associated with is that of noise. Urbanites are accustomed to numerous kinds of sounds ranging from drill machines, non-stop honking of cars sirens etc. Sometimes these disturbances hamper the audibility and concentration ability of individuals. In comparison to this villages are free from such unwanted noises. The village atmosphere is calm and serene and therefore the levels of stress associated to noise pollution are considerably lower in the village setting. However in the cities we find a lot of lighting. Each street is well lit and everyday seems festive but this not so in the village. Most villages do not have heavy lighting and depend on street lamps to illuminate the roads. However, personally I feel that in the glitz of LED lights and fancy lighting that we find in the city we have completely forgotten the twinkling of the stars and the light of the moon Researchers have established that the city life that we lead has negative consequences on our physiological well being. The continuous bombardment of light, sight etc on our senses damages the nerves of the city people who become less responsive to other factors because of the constant stress. Such negative stress is absent in the lives of villagers who are not accustomed to continuous bombardment of the senses with unwanted stimuli and hence the neural system remains attentive to other stimuli. The village life style is more down to earth and the average carbon footprint is far lower since the village life is not very technology oriented. Both carbon footprint and ecological footprint of a normal village life makes it healthier and a better option compared to the city life where the carbon footprint is really high which threatens the environment. It may also be noticed that people in the village live in a way that is conjugal with Nature whereas a city dweller mostly leads his life in a way that is harmful to the environment. This is primarily because of the mentality of the citizens. A villager is drawn towards nature and is much more aware about his ecological standing whereas an urbanite, though he/she maybe educated, is least concerned about the surroundings or the environment i.e. their mentality is mostly self oriented where he abstains from thinking beyond his own gain. Life in a village and in a city also has its own effect on its population. Village people are mostly associated like Gemeinscaft from Ferdinand Tonnie’s classical theory. The mind of a villager being free from stress of busy city life is freer and selfless. In a village we find warmth and happiness since every single person seems satisfied. One tends to find a happy life where neighbors care for each other and live in harmony. On the other hand the same classical theory maybe applied to urbanites who maybe called Gesellscaft whose lives are mechanical primarily characterized by disunity. The concentration in the city life shifts from the group to an individual. People in the city lead a secluded life where each person is calculative, rational. Urbanites are never satisfies hence the mind is never at rest and hence they develop “a don’t care” and “do not get involved” kind of attitude towards others. A city life is mostly materialistic in nature. We are accustomed to visiting the nearby supermarket to pick up our daily needs such as milk, bread, meat, vegetables etc. We are least aware of the origin of the produce that we consume. We depend entirely on the shops and supermarkets to supply and fulfill our daily needs. The situation is not so in the villages where there may not be a shop or a supermarket yet villagers live a much more sustainable life than urbanites. Most villagers have their own farms where they either grow fruits and vegetables or rear farm animals to obtain milk, eggs and meat. In such cases a person living sustainable in the village is not only living sustainably but is also getting fresh and healthy products. City dwellers lose the true essence of life and often lose their own in their busy high paced life. With every single dawn they detached themselves from Nature and attach themselves to materialism which is short lived. They city life is devoid of morning bird songs, warm sunshine, fresh air, breeze, clear dusk and twinkling of stars which is very much the part of the village life. An urbanite is accustomed to morning alarms clock, rush hours, jam, pollution, time crunch, stress, head ache and sleep Life in a city when compared to that of a village is much faster paced. City life is attuned to time where citizens are always competing with either one another or with themselves to keep up and cope with the busy life. The existence of the human “rat-race” is clearly evident in the life of an urbanite. This often has psychological implications on the human mind. In fact according to psychologists’ urbanites in order to maintain the sense of individuality do things that would help them stand in the crowd. However, a villager’s life is much freer from all the stress and tension of the human race and therefore the mind of a villager is at peace. However it must also be kept in mind that even though village life has its own bright side it also has a dark side as well. Firstly, the facilities are much lesser in a village. Important facilities such as shops, hospitals etc may not be available in every village and one may have to travel a long distance to avail these services. Therefore in situations of emergency people living in the village often face difficulty. On the other hand such facilities are available in the cities around the clock and therefore in case of emergencies such as accidents or sudden health issues people living in the city are not faced with much difficulty. Secondly, the quality of education and other such services might be lacking in the village. It is very common that people hailing from village leave their homes to obtain higher and quality education in cities. However, people who hail from the city itself do not need to resettle anywhere else for education facilities. Job opportunities too are much more in the cities since companies and other job arenas are present in larger numbers in the cities and hence provide more jobs. Like sides of a coin, both village life and city life has its own pros and cons. However, in spite of the small drawbacks that the village life has it is obviously a life that is much more “nearer to nature” where a person lives sustainably, happily and sensibly away from the problems of the modern human life where we just tend to “exist” not “live”. Read More