Because of the prejudices against them and the persecution to which they have been subjected in different countries of Europe for centuries, the Gypsies found little space for them and no chance to establish - as earlier migrating people had done - their own settlements and homeland. In almost all the countries of Europe as also in Russia there was legislation banning their entry and settlement as ordinary citizens. There were, therefore, tossed from one country to another and were forced to live a nomadic life following petty trades and occupations to enable them to earn for themselves their daily bread. There were always on the move and the caravans or horse-drawn wagons were their houses.
They are expert in wagon building. They had different types of wagons, bow topped wagons, four wheeled tilted carts, four wheeled potters cart without tilt, cottage-shaped or Ledge wagon, the Reading wagon (the straight-sided wagon with wheels outside the body). the straight-sided or showman's wagon (a straight-sided wagon with wheels running underneath the body instead of outside it as in the Reading wagon). In this machine age, however, the wagons are now fitted with motor-engines. Many of them have all the modern amenities, a kitchen with a gas stove, a dining and a sleeping room. Some of the wagons are even air-conditioned.
In some countries of Europe, particularly in the socialists countries, they have been helped to settle in new townships or colonies with all the modern amenities. To cite a few examples, Shuto Orizari in Skopje (Yugoslavia) is inhabited by about 30,000 Roma, with schools, a clinic, a club, a cinema house, and a stadium of their own. Hameau Tsigane in Grasse, south of France, is another neat and clean colony of Roma. They have belied the impression created by false propaganda against them the they do not want to lead a settled live. According to Professor Dr. Ian F. Hancock, "seventy or eighty percent of all Gypsies are settled and those who travel do so out of necessity" (1). They have belied yet another impression that they do not keep their dwellings neat and clean. I have myself seen some of their colonies where the Government has also provided them with modern amenities and was happy to see the high standard of their sense of neatness and cleanliness. Of course, where they have not got any houses to live in or where the local government does not provide them with modern amenities, it becomes difficult for them to keep their living places neat and clean, particularly when a big family has to live in a wagon, and it will be appreciated, it should have no reflection on their sense of cleanliness.
They have been forced to live a nomadic live in caravans or wagons for the last one millennium. They have now become used to live in the open, in free atmosphere. They have become one with nature. Or in other words they are the real children of nature. And it takes time to change ones likings and habits. One Rom, when asked why he would not like to live in a house expressed his sentiments as follows:
I have been asked many times would I like to live in a house. This is something I just can't explain to people and make people understand, as living in a house is not my idea of life at all. I have lived in caravans - horse-drawn and trailer - all my life. I am a man of the wilds, of the open air, of the fields and the woods, and I could not be this if I lived in a house. When I live in a caravan I can sometimes see the branches of a tall tree through the skylight, and it is not always the same tree, and I can hear all the sounds of nature clearly - like in the open - when I lie abed at night; the sounds of nature that I would only hear in the distance and muffled if I lived in a house. When I step out of my caravan I like to see the birds flirting in and out of the hedgerows; and after a day's work I like to have a good wash and sit beside my fire on the ground to have a meal of natural food - this wish is nowadays not always fulfilled - and to have a drink of tea with the smell of the wood fire in it. I like to listen to the last song of the blackbird in the evening, and as it begins to get dark I like to watch the stars come out and the moon come up-all in their natural full glitter. I like to listen to the song of the nightingale and the hooting of the owls and the screeches of the bat as he rushes through the air catching insects. I like the beating of the rain on the roof of the wagon and the singing of the wind through the treetops - the feeling of relief when you come to a stopping place and out of the gloom and the doom of a bad spell. I like to listen to the grunt of the badger in the undergrowth and the clicking of a cricket in the thicket; and at the right time of the year I like to hear the cry of the vixen and the dog fox. I like to listen to the buzzing of the bees as they fly from bloom to bloom along a hedgerow and I like to see the colours on the wings of the butterflies. I even like the constant change from extreme comfort to extreme discomfort that is an essential part of living a good healthy life, and I like the feeling of uncertainty, of never knowing quite what lies around the corner though I might know the area well, and I like the feeling that, come what may, I will be able to win through in all circumstances as long as I rely on myself and remain a Rom. These are the things that make up my life; I would like to have all of them and many more that I have not mentioned, all in their season all of the time - and I could only have the smallest fraction of them if I settled down in a house." (2)
(1) Prof. Dr. Ian F. Hancock - "Some contemporary aspects of Gypsy Nationalism. Roma vol 1 No. 2. Roma Publications, Chandigarh, India
(2) Manfri Frederick Wood. In the Life of a Romany Gypsy. Routiedge and Kegan Paul, London and Boston. 1973. pp. 115-116.