A world cocooned

Ranjita Biswas

High-tech modern America and a village community that sticks to 17th century lifestyle living side by side could sound like an anomaly. But after a 90-minute drive from Philadelphia, you will indeed discover a completely different world — an Amish village.

The Amish Country is also known as Pennsylvania Dutch Country. The Amish are a sect of Protestants similar to the Mennonites in their faith. They follow the teachings of Jacob Ammann, who lived in Switzerland in the 17th century.

Originating in the Dutch-German tradition, they believe in a Spartan lifestyle. The community emphasises that theirs is “a lifestyle,” not a religion, and live by the Ordnung (order), a set of rules. In the early 18th century, many Amish people migrated to Pennsylvania.

The founding stones of the Amish community are close family and community living, avoidance of violence and the traps of technology. They refuse to take oaths, vote in elections, or perform military service. 

At the visitors’ centre here, tickets can be bought for a guided tour, which starts with a film show on the community. The guide leads to see a ‘replicated’ household; visiting real ones is allowed. Also, photographing individuals is discouraged; pictures of their land and animals is permissible, though. 

A simply laid out table shows that only their farm produce are preferred. The Amish are great farmers. There are also dress codes for both men and women. Women wear dark-coloured long dresses without patterns, usually without buttons, using straight pins instead, for fastenening; they do not wear jewellery, and cover their heads with white caps as they keep their hair long. Men wear trousers without creases or cuffs; belts, gloves, ties, sneakers, etc. are banned. Married men must grow their beards but moustache is forbidden.

Since cars are machine-made, they use horse buggies. The households do not have electricity or telephones in their homes. In some cases, however, electricity is permitted to heat homes, which is supplied through windmills. 

Community living is a very strong tradition, and if a new house is built, for a newly married couple, for example, all men put in their labour while the women pitch in supplying food. Instead of worshipping in a church, Amish families take turns to hold their services in the homes of the community members. In the courtyard, clothes can be seen hung from clotheslines, goats grazing; there is a carpentry shed, another expertise of Amish men. Handicraft items and farm products can be bought at the store attached to the information centre. 

But, don’t the young rebel against such a strict lifestyle? After all, even as they drive buggies to the farms around or sell their products in markets, they are overtaken by speeding cars and their counterparts sip cola drinks. Or, if they opt for office jobs, they are surrounded by technology. 

The young, apparently, are given choices. There’s even something called a rumspringa period during which young adults are treated more leniently if they want to experiment with ‘outside’ life but at its conclusion, the youth is expected to decide on whether to stay on with the community or leave.

If you have watched Witness with Harrison Ford where a little Amish boy accompanying his mother accidentally witnesses a murder in the washroom of New York’s Grand Central station, you would get an idea of the Amish way of life.