A Story of Rain गोष्ट पावसाची
Once upon a time, a child asked his father where the rain came from. The father told him that the rain travels from far, in the north-east, sitting pretty in the grey clouds. When the mountains in Konkan kiss the clouds, rain descends, turning a parched expanse of land into a green cover, extending as far as the eyes can see. Rivers swell and the rice paddies glisten with life. In these verdant fields, farmers rise with the sun, their days punctuated with work and nature’s unpredictability.
Each movement, each gesture carries generations of knowledge, techniques honed over decades, and songs taught by the land itself. Each day in the life of a farmer in the Konkan is like meditation. The community’s relationship with nature is defined by abundance and respect. Unlike regions burdened by scarcity, this coastal belt is blessed with generous rains, year after year, and fertile soil that helps foster sustainable agrarian practices.
Crops grow in harmony with the changing face of the seasons. Farmers take in what they need, ensuring the soil continues to give for generations to come. Women, who birthed farming, are the pillars of the agricultural ecosystem. Their active participation in planting and harvesting while managing households, their intense yet poetic labour and their ability to nurture families and communities are akin to the rain itself that binds everything and everyone together by its mere presence.
The lives of farmers in the Konkan region indicate simplicity, patience, and shared purpose. In the fields, the sound of rustling leaves and rainfall mingles with the folk songs and the laughter of women and children, transforming work into an everyday-celebration. All in all, the unhurried lives of the farmers, the patter of rain, the sound of birds, the melodic voices of women singing and the fragrance of the soil form the picture of a minimalistic life, where need overpowers greed