The Patil family is a large household that has lived together for generations in an area locally known as Vartikadli Galli, a colony named after the Irdev temple located at the corner of the street. Because of this temple, the area is also popularly called Irshtak.

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Sagar Patil is one of the sons, and his portion of the ancestral house is the focus of this interview. His father has three brothers, and earlier all four brothers lived together in the same house as a joint family. In 1989, a major flood affected the village, forcing the family to temporarily shift near the Marathi school, which is situated at a higher level. After the situation stabilized, they returned to their own land and rebuilt their house using traditional mud construction.

This first house was made of soil, and its walls were coated with coloured mud. Theb family also used cow dung plaster to cover the walls, a common local practice for insulation and cleanliness. It was during this reconstruction that the house was divided into four parts, giving each brother a separate living space while still remaining within the same structure. Farming has been the family’s traditional occupation since their grandfather’s time.