Tales of a Rural Indian Farmer....

As told to me on 07/01/2010 somewhere in the Satpura Hills...

"I am Sukhdev and am from the interiors of Maharshtra from a very small village called Bela. How small u will surely come to know as you get to know me further. I am 70 yrs old and own a small piece of land around 2 kms from the village.

My village has around 70-80 families staying in it so the population will be around 500. We even have a primary school here and that also till the 4th grade. If anyone wants to study further one has to go to the nearby town, 20 kms away. Water is obtained from the borewells but at times its not enough for everyone to use. The government has promised a water tank by next year and if that plan comes about properly then there will be water for everyone. But thats only when the government works. Electricity is there but only few hours a day. We have to go to the district head office and annually pay our rents or else that will also be taken away. There is no proper road to our village. We have petitioned to the government authorities a number of times but no one pays heed to us. Just this small, unpaved roads lead to our homes.

In my 7 decades of existance I have gone only uptill Amravati (a distance of 100kms). You know I have been their twice. Once when my first daughter was born and second, when my mother wanted to visit the religious festival over there. And before i die i wish to visit Nagpur (a distance of 225kms) Someday hopefully I will.

You see this field. Its mine. I generally grow Soyabean, wheat and some basic vegetables. Last year when the monsoon was good i earned Rs5000-6000 ($100-120 annually). Thats my income in a good year. This year i have not even managed that. It should have rained when the Soyabean seed was planted and when it had flowers but the rains failed both the times and I lost my crop. So i am trying to grow barley but i dont think this too will survive. Hopefully God is there. Thanks a million for reading my story. Thats me and my story."


So my readers here u have Sukhdev who is very happy when he earns a family income of 5000 annually and here we are cribbing that we arent getting well paying jobs. Isnt our monthly expenditure sure shot above 5000. And in the same amount he runs a family for a whole year. He has never been beyond 100kms from his village and has never sat in a car. He doesnt even know whats a mobile phone or a laptop or an ipod. Music for him is what he hears on the local radio station. His food is just enough to survive. He doesnt need Pizzas and Burgers and Ice Cream to survive. He doesnt demand Nike shoes and Levis jeans. All he needs is food, clothing and shelter.

This life given by God should be cherished and thanked. We have much much more and still we keep cribbing. Be thankful for whatever you have and be happy because happiness is the essence of life. Happiness and satisfaction that every human desires, knowingly or unknowingly, and people mistake this for power and money. Guys open your eyes and live fully