A Day in my Life as a Farmer
By Snigdha Jain
"Cock-a-doodle-doo", crows the cock.
This is my pre-dawn wake up call. Rubbing my eyes I wake up to realise that it is yet another strenuous morning of my life. The sun hasn’t risen yet but I am all set to work hard in my field. Watching the fruit of my labour , the lovely and soft green crops, swaying in my huge field, is the best part of my day. My field is my heart and soul and seeing it grow, gives my adrenaline a rush!
The first task of the day is to take Gita and Sita, the bulls, to the open fields for grazing. The bulls eat to their hearts content and are ready to help me in the fields. This year I plan to grow wheat and potatoes, and so starts my day, ploughing my field.
My field is my only source of living, and the biggest challenge for me isn’t working in the rain or blazing sun, rather it is the fact that I don’t have much capital to invest in my field and the produce is not always guaranteed. Earlier farmers used to get trapped in the debt cycle of moneylenders. This problem has been solved by the government banks, which now give credit at a low rate.
Being a farmer makes me happy. It is because of me and my clan, that the whole population survives. With the noon sun scorching right above my head and this lovely thought lingering on in my mind, I take some rest under the shade of a tree, while my wife gets my lunch. We sit together and have our meagre meals. Small joys of my life….
Moving on, the day brings me many tasks. One of them is to irrigate my field. It took me a lot of effort and money to channel some of the river water into my field. Natural disasters and climatic changes adversely affect my crops. Sometimes it rains so heavily that my field gets flooded while sometimes the droughts dry up my crops.
Birds and pests are additional problems. The fertilizers and pesticides are expensive and moreover harmful, so I prefer to use manure and keep my greens organic.
In this world of shortcuts, the satisfaction of working laboriously to making something so pure and healthy as my crops, is what stimulates me to keep on going. My day ends pretty late and my tired but satisfied soul goes off to bed with a simple prayer for a bountiful harvest each season.
BY:
SNIGDHA JAIN
X-B
BPDAV SCHOOL
HYDERABAD
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