Many people choose a career in development to improve the world, but often the insights gained make it a rewarding journey of personal growth – from being able to identify unusual crops to appreciating rural life more deeply.
Have you been to an agricultural field recently?
Well, for me, it’s not a rare visit by any means. Since I work in the social impact sector, I get this opportunity frequently, bringing me face-to-face with different cultures and economic activities.
But sometimes I even get blown away by the richness of life in rural India.
Like when I recently made a visit to Pati block in Barwani, Madhya Pradesh. I saw the stunning sorghum (jowar millets) crop for the first time in my life – an experience I’ll never forget. Jowar is a kharif crop grown in areas with low rainfall. Like most millets, jowar has great health benefits, a realisation that’s dawned in recent times with the urban population too thanks mostly to the United Nations recognising 2023 as the International Year of Millets.
Yet, coming from the southeastern part of Bihar, I had never seen this plant before.
I was born in a Bihar village and experienced the hardships of living in rural India firsthand. That is why I am pursuing a profession that enables me to work on tackling these challenges. I studied development management at the Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal and have been working in the development sector for over six years.
I currently work at Transform Rural India (TRI) helping young people find employment or even start their own business as part of the Global Opportunity Youth Network (GOYN) team. I lead an entrepreneurship programme that encourages youngsters to create a micro-start-up and then brings together the market, the government and civil society organisations to guide them on their way.
This is what brought me to Barwani.
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The Narmada River is the lifeline of this area. People use water from this river for every need, be it drinking or irrigation. This is one of the many reasons people hold great reverence for the Narmada. You can see hundreds of people visiting the river bank every day to offer their prayers to the holy water body.
The diversity of crops grown here is incredible too. The agricultural lands are lush throughout the year with fruits, vegetables and grains. It is a great learning experience to see and identify various crops. I recently learned how to identify the groundnut plant.
Come harvesting season and the landscape here gets transformed into a mesmerising landscape. Imagine crossing an undulating terrain on a sunny day and seeing sparkling red chilli spread all over the hills for sun-drying. The view is riveting.
Just like catching the first glimpse of spongy balls of cotton.
The journey of the cotton fabric starts with fluffy balls that grow on the cotton plants, which are then sent to ginning mills for separating seeds. They are later made into threads to be spun as a fabric. The entire process can be witnessed by visiting the different actors in the value chain.
Seeing the journey of the clothes you are wearing is nothing short of a transformative experience.
Also Read: Millet mantras: Your guide to a healthy platter
Visit any rural area in the country and time flies as you observe the various rituals and festivals being celebrated throughout the year. The people of Barwani also observe multiple festivals, keeping them connected to their roots. Some of these festivals serve specific purposes. For instance, Bhagoria, a tribal festival observed by the Bhil and Bhilala tribes at the end of the harvesting season, symbolises love and is celebrated for selecting life partners. Certain festivals in Barwani have unique characteristics and are celebrated on days that are different from the popular schedule followed across the country. For instance, Holi is celebrated on the day of Rang Panchami instead of the usual day of celebration elsewhere. Similarly, Raksha Bandhan coincides with Shree Krishna Janmashtami.
Another important festival in Barwani is Gangaur, which honours Goddess Parvati and celebrates marriage and love. During this festival, young girls and women craft beautiful clay idols of Shiva and Parvati and offer prayers. Gangaur also marks the beginning of the spring and harvest celebrations. The most beautiful part of this festival is the rally taken out by young girls and women holding idols on their heads.
Many people from the district migrate to cities in Gujarat and Maharashtra for livelihood. During these festivals, they come back to their home, sometimes even at the cost of their job.
Like millets, the sheer varieties of pulses grown in India are something not many of us know about. Chickpeas, pigeon peas, moong beans and black matpe are just a few of the popular ones relished in many parts of the country.
The same limited knowledge can also be felt for other grains, vegetables and fruits. Knowing what we eat is an important life skill everyone should have. Rural haats are a great place to learn this.
A haat has several stalls selling fresh fruits, vegetables, spices and grains. The produce is not sold in packed boxes, offering an opportunity to the buyer to explore and learn about the diversity of grains, vegetables, spices and fruits available locally.
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These temporary markets, convened once or twice a week generally, also provide important insights into the rural economy. They cater to the population of nearby villages. Sellers cover 3-4 haats in a week, mostly buying goods on credit from wholesalers and selling them for cash.
During my stint so far in the development sector, I have learnt that financial Inclusion is at the core of livelihood generation for the community members. In my previous engagement with the Bihar Rural Livelihood Promotion Society, I was able to connect over 2,000 self-help groups with banks for loans. They then invested these funds for income generation activities in the farm, non-farm and livestock sectors.
At TRI, I also learnt how collaborations and hyperlocal relations help in enhancing social impact. To develop an entrepreneurship ecosystem in the district, all the stakeholders have to be brought to a common platform for discussion and convergent action. They then work at block level with the Enterprise Facilitation Hub (EFH) established by TRI at the cluster-level federations to support young people in their entrepreneurial journey. For example, regional managers and the lead district manager from the specific bank take part in district-level collaborative meetings and the hyperlocal level branch managers engage with EFH at the block level to support them. This approach also works with the government and market stakeholders and I have been nudging these collaborations.
It’s experiences like these that help us better understand the social context and challenges, and acquire important life skills. They also provide windows of opportunity for city dwellers to understand the basics of things that are important for us all – food, water, markets and cultural bonding. It’s up to us to open those windows, peep out and breathe the fresh air of new learnings.
Also Read: How millet magic is empowering women in rural Odisha
The lead image at the top shows grains and pulses on sale at a rural haat. (Photo by Ranu Kumar Singh)
Ranu Kumar Singh is a practitioner with Transforming Rural India Foundation in Barwani, Madhya Pradesh.
