Hearing the words of grandfather, the desire to go to the village was growing in his heart.
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| Village Dream |
Dear children!
Today I'll tell you the story of my childhood. Grandpa choked and cleared his throat. "Who among you has seen a paddy (Rice) plant?"
This question was asked by my social science teacher. At that time we had a geography class. I was a seventh-grade student then. Most of the children in the class raised their hands and spoke in unison. "Sir, we've seen it. I have seen the head.
I've seen it too. But I couldn't raise my hands. I was very sorry. I was the monitor of my class. He passed with distinction marks every year. I felt very nervous. I had never been to the village. Since childhood, we grew up in Jamshedpur, an industrial city full of factories.
I had never had the opportunity to see the fields. By that time I had begun to think of myself as quite big when I was only twelve years old. My teacher was telling us when and how paddy is cultivated.
Paddy seeds are sown in the month of June when there is continuous rain. In the month of June & July, when small plants come out. Then they are uprooted and sown in the original field. Such small paddy plants are called fodder. The field is well prepared before sowing paddy. It is plowed. The soil of the field is leveled. After this, water is raised in the field. When the soil becomes wet with water and becomes like mud, then small paddy plants are planted in it. The sooner this work is completed, the better.
Therefore, all the women and male agricultural laborers in the village do this work together. While planting paddy, their feet are immersed up to ankles in mud-like soil. That's why they scratch their dhoti or saree in the waist over the bend up to the knee.
Each plant is inserted into the wet soil with its own hand and its root is buried in the mitt. They perform this process at a distance of one or one and a half feet in such a geometric way that if you look from a distance, this view seems very attractive.
There is a special order in them. However, these people are not very educated, and some of them are illiterate. But they have the God-given ability to understand things. Yes! I forgot to say one thing. Grandpa took off his hat and said, shaking his head. While planting paddy plants, they have a spirit of service. They keep singing some local songs, which creates new enthusiasm and energy to work with them.
They do not drink tea while sowing paddy, they cannot eat paan and tobacco. Therefore, he keeps singing some folk songs to arouse enthusiasm among his colleagues. Songs are also often sung by attributing them to one of their elders, Sufi saints or annadatas.
His grandchildren sitting around his grandfather were listening intently to his childhood story. None of them were even doing it. Dada (Grandfather) was engrossed in telling his story after seeing such interest in the children. He cleared his throat with a slight cough and continued the dance process. Baby! In the months of August & September, the paddy crop starts to flutter. Paddy is a seasonal crop. It is also called the Kharif crop.
It is ready to be harvested soon after October. It is cut off after Feberarury & March and delivered to Kalyan. Paddy cultivation is a collective process. It requires all the people of the village.
