The Awakening The city
The Awakening
The city brother was shocked with all the spate of ills that had struck down the family and he was swamped with grief and guilt. He couldnt believe that the land that had fed and clothed and nourished him, now lay dead and barren. He rattled around and discovered a women's self help group organised by an unknown subsidiary of a less known, well-kept secret of the rural development department in cohorts with an internationally funded organisation. He immediately put them in touch with Mangalamma. Mangalamma was at such a point that anything seemed better than the situation she was handed. She attended an orientation talk and was asked to share all her problems. There was not a dry cheek as she wound down her talk. The group wished to know what her immediate wish or need was. She replied with no doubt- Water. Some ideas were thrashed around and a few possibilites were offered. Was she willing to try cultivating a different crop than the water-intensive rice? She, as I had mentioned earlier, was open to ANYTHING!
The following planting season saw her plant Sorghum ( the millets like Ragi or bajra), This was a happy plant in a semi-arid region satisfied with just the early morning dew. Little did she realise that she was doing what a good part of Californian farmers did along the Monterey coast- irrigation through fog! Part of the deal was no fertilizers or pesticides. That was just fine with her. Just looking at a can of pesticide was enough to bring back the reality of Chenna's death. She was determined to break the "Chakravuh" ( battle formation of a wheel that encloses a warrior and cuts off support/help) of borrowing agains seeds and such. This time around she was determined to get it right- in penury.
Along the field she planted a few fruit trees that demanded little or no water like the Guvava, lime, a small patch with eggplant and "sundaikkai" ( a Solanum member that produces green, hard berries that are used as a vegetable). The land fed of itself and within 4 months, she had the first harvest of food to serve and eat. She had also joined hands with 8 other women in her village who had very similar issues of becoming farm widows or losing a husband due to an accident. They began an ad-hoc co-operative farm with sharing their poduce with each other and just keeping fed their bodies and families.
Soon, within the year, Mangalamma realised that her land was getting to be more fertile- WEEDS were growing in her land! What a welcome site that was! She happily pulled the tender plants out and used some of the edible varieties as greens and the rest donated to a friend who had a milch cow. She in turn gave Mangalamma a glass of milk each day. The son helped with some weeding crouching on the earth with one leg and the daughter helped pick vegetables and fruits. The family healed with the labor intensive work under the gentle early morning sun and the scorching blaze of the late afternoon.
Mangalamma soon realised her ability to share her views and ideas in larger groups. Even local male farmers began to ask her advice on possible crops to grow that would enhance the fertility of their soils. She remembered the days of her childhood when her grandfather's farm used to sow 20 different varieties of crops from millets to sugarcane to fruits to vegetables. She began to experiment with more varieties of crops and in the 3rd year re-introduced rice in a small plot. This time however, she tried out a different technique- rather than clumping 2 or 3 seedlings together, she just planted one seedling and left a larger margin and planted the next. Little did she realise that this very technique was getting popular in the outside world as the SRI technique (System of Rice Intensification). A distant voice from the past reminded her- leave enough space- the plant needs to breathe. She had a bumper crop with less than 1/4 of the water her husband used to need before. She was thrilled. By the turn of the 21st century, Mangalamma had come into her own. She had broken the chakravhuh of seed and pesticide merchants and she was sucessfully feeding, clothing and enjoying her family. She also bought a pair of gold earrings for her daughter. Her friends from her women's group had become part of her family and while one grew chillis, the other dried it and yet another pounded it for the market. Some even spinned off an alternative industry of making pickles with Mangalamm's limes and her friend's chilli powder.
A happechance visit of a visiting volunteer from the international organisation opened the door to the sale and marketing of organic produce.
Mangalamma and her friends had rid their land of all pesticides and chemicals and had increased the water table levels of their lands and fields. They had created a "green revolution" of the silent kind where the earth was only too happy to respond to the love and care bestowed upon her by these women. In the 4th year, she saw the delightful sight of dragonflies zapping across the fields in the sunny mornings. Sparrows that had dissapeared from her life without her knowing, came back to pick on worms and grain. She was thrilled to clean up the straw from overflowing nests built by the hyper active sparrow. And she could afford to buy a cow after almost a decade. Gratitude filled her heart and she missed Chenna's shy smile.
She promised herself that the next harvest would see her daughter wed.
(to be concluded)
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