shahpur farmers

Community - Shahpur farmers.

This community of farmers and their farmlands are a visible trademark once one crosses the bridge commonly known as 'broken bridge' (now completed), and ventures into the more lucid and green landscape, which is a far cry from the ever changing construction areas of Gandhinagar, gh-0.

The landscape, with its green blanket of planned crops and unplanned wilderness, always tickles and then directs the curiosity of an onlooker towards the men working on these farms. Repeated visits to this secluded landscape by me made me a part of the curious community who would want to tiptoe through the muddy waters of the fields and reach out for these farmers who seem to be as much a part of the field as the scarecrows. Hence, when the opportunity prevailed in the form of 'Social Project', it came as no surprise to me when I chose these farmers community to study.

My regular visits to the farms, revealed quite a few interesting information about their lives and their work. I directly approached a tea-stall on my first day of research, where a group of farmers were taking their evening break, and tried to communicate with them. The communication proved to be futile as most of them were conversing in Gujrati, and which led to our trying to communicate with each other in a whole new language of signs and gestures, until Jayanti Bhai came along to my rescue.

Jayanti Bhai had walked more than 2kms from his lemon field to the tea stall, and does that quite often, even to drink water. This simple observation made me realise the perception of distance by them. On further questioning he revealed that he comes everyday walking from the railway station (where he lives) to his fields. His wife commutes with him regularly to the fields.

All the farm lands are the property of different ‘thakurs’, and they give the land to these farmers for a certain period for a fixed method of payment.

I followed him to his field and we talked for an hour under the shade of a lemon tree.

Every field needs to be prepared initially to suite the needs of the crops that would be grown on it, and sometime it takes about a year to change an unkept, unfertile land to the survival place of that particular crop.

These farmers acquire their raw materials (seeds, fertilizers) from shops, and then follow the method of outsourcing for ploughing the field, spraying the fertilizers etc. On the final days, when after the long wait, the flowers drop down, unveiling the small fruits, does each farmer move to their field. They stay in temporary shades (an arrangement made out of putting plastic sheets on top of four erected logs). The ‘Sabzi Mandi’ where the fruits and the vegetables are sold is situated in Sector – 24.

Talking to the farmers also gave me an insight about their lives and their lifestyle. The livelihood they carve out from their heavily debted lifestyle, the way they try to meet their ends meet by trying to gain extra income by trying to do more and more jobs, and still getting their kids education, sets interesting study parameters.

Everyday is like walking on a thin line for these farmers, as well said by Jayanti bhai – “pata nahi kaisi phasal hogi, apni apni naseeb ki baat hai”