The Barren Land

   It was on 17 Jun 1999, when Mohinder Singh, a farmer of Deosi Village in Punjab had lost a property case he had been fighting for last ten years. The village Sarpanch along with his associates proved that it was a government land on which Mohinder and his family was cultivating and earning their livelihood from for generations. It was a dreadful day for the family since, this was the only piece of land they had. Even the house in which they were living was on this land and they would have to vacate it. They were depressed and Mohinder being the eldest of the three brothers was responsible for the entire family. He went to every door possible for help. But maximum he could get a temporary shelter for his family to stay. It was the time when the family was getting broken and all the to three brothers unwilling had to part their ways as Sartaj and Joginder were able to get some help from their in laws but for that they had to shift to their in laws place in Jalandhar and Chandigarh respectively.

    Mohinder was shattered but he was helpless. He had nobody for his support as his wife was the only child and she had already lost her parents few years back. Mohinder perforce starting working as a labour for other farmers in his village, as this was the only thing he knew. He had studied only till eighth grade and there was no option other then this. He had two daughters to take care along with his wife. Each day was passing like hell, although he could manage to provide them food, but the other necessities of life were lost. His daughters, Harjot aged 10 and Sukhwinder aged 6 had to leave the English' Medium School they were studying in and joined the government school in the village itself. The time was passing and they could barely survive. It was becoming difficult with each passing day. During these testing times, however, Manjit Kaur, wife of Mohinder had displayed a high degree of patience and could control her emotions. She supported her husband and always tried to give the much needed solace to the family. She became the pillar of strength for the family.

    One day as a ray of hope, came Mohinder's childhood friend, Jagtap Singh. He was shocked to see the disheartened and broken Mohinder. He had left the village long back and was living in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan with his family. Mohinder narrated him the entire story and how he was cursing himself, that he did not study and today he has become a labourer in his own village. Jagtap heard his story patiently and then offered him a solution like a true friend. He told Mohinder that in border areas of India and Pakistan, Rajasthan Government has offered land to farmers at a very cheap rate as they want to develop that area. Mohinder immediately got interested but then he said, it is a barren land. Jagtap said that is why the government has offered this land. He further said atleast you will have a land of your own and with hardwork and techniques of cultivating which you have, I am sure you will be able to convert it a cultivable land. Thus, that night Mohinder thought about it and in the morning announced to his wife and children that they will be shifting to Rajasthan. 

   Initially, they stayed with Jagtap and after about three months of documentation and approvals from government, Mohinder was alloted 2 acres of land. Getting the land was easier but to cultivate it was a hierondous task, especially on this sand, which could offer you no help on its own. Mohinder however, had planned it. With a loan from bank on personal guarantee of Jagtap, who had a small shop in the market, Mohinder was all set.

     He firstly, bought pipes to get water to his fields. The channels of Indira Gandhi Canal, helped him to a great deal as water was available near by. The ground level of water under the surface was much below the normal level, it was not feasible to dig it out. The plan was simple firstly, the sand had to be watered enough. The government was also very helpful as land department had carried out a survey and found that there was abundants of nutrients in the soil. Initially, the work was difficult as the sun during the day was not allowing any work. Mohinder decided that he would start working in the night. The hardwork and perseverance started giving good results and within three months, the land was ready to be seeded. Initially, Mohinder started with vegetables and especially Beans as it would require the least amount of water and the results came as expected. Although, the timelines of growth of plants were not following the traditional timelines but the results were encouraging. Within a few months, the time had come to harvest and the first beans were ready to be sent for sale.

The land was now fertile but a lot was yet to be done. Mohinder was thinking of ways to ploughing the fields in a better way as traditional method was both time and work intensive. He borrowed a tractor which helped him for a while. He then saw a news on a Television, while waiting in the bank for his documentation for loan about solar energy. He quickly got the idea of tapping this energy and using it for pumping water for his fields. In 2002, it was not a normal energy source and it took sometime for him to get hold of the technology. As irrigation was the most critical phase of cultivation for growing proper crops, Mohinder had applied all possible means for it. Vegetables he could grow now but his aim was to go beyond. He along with Jagtap went to District Commissioner's office to ask for help. To their surprise, the staff at the office was more then eager to help as they wanted people to tap this renewable energy, which was environmental friendly too. Above all, government officials were offered incentives if they could make people use this energy. At a meagre cost and a lot of subsidy from the government, they could get the solar panels fitted.

Initially, they used it for operating the water pump along side the Indira Gandhi Canal. With the solar energy, not only did he increased the capacity of water available for his land but also the speed of water. Within a night, now he could fill the land with water. The temperature during the day was creating the problem as during the day, water would dry due to excessive heat of sun. But the constant watering during the night was improving the quality of land started improving. Even the irrigation department was not hopeful of such an effect. In 2005, Mohinder for the first time tried to traditional crop of sheet, as he was confident now after years of his hardwork that traditional crop would survive. He had already grown it in a small patch around his house to check the possibility. 

   He started the process along with his younger brother Sartaj, who joined him when Mohinder called him for help. As it is, Sartaj was not able to adjust in his in laws family as he could not earn much with odd jobs which he was doing. Together, they were now working and preparing the land for sowing the seeds. They paid huge cost to get the best seeds as this was important for ensuring a fruitful growth. 

     In fact, during one of those days, an army column going to the borders for recce took a short halt near his fields. The Army Major who had come to this side of the border was surprised to see Mohinder cultivating the land. He thought that this land was not fit for cultivation. He called Mohinder and asked him about the same. Mohinder very confidently said, Major Saab, Ek din mein yahan chawal ugaonga (One day, I will grow Paddy (rice) here). It felt like going to moon that day, but Mohinder who had been cultivating on this land for years now was sure about the same. Army Major wished him best wishes and moved ahead.

    That year in September 2003, the life of not only Mohinder but many farmers like him who were cultivating this land was changing. The land which was baren for years was now ready for its first crop. The seeds and the hardwork of the two brothers had shown results. The farmers from near by area also came to see the crop. Mohinder was very helpful to all and told them about his success story.

  The news went like a wild fire and every news paper in the Raajasthan was covering the story. It was the first time in that area and Mohinder became an instant hit. Many homeless people like Mohinder started shifting there and within a few years, a small village came up in and around the village. Mohinder meanwhile, had bought more land from his earnings and ofcourse with the help of government. The farmers were very happy, although they were not habitual of the weather but Mohinder and his wife would share their ideas of how they survived the scroching heat. The people of the village considered Mohinder and his family as a defacto head and would go for all the help to them. 

    In 2010, Mohinder started with what he had promised the Army Major. He prepared his fields for growing Paddy. The requirement was to full the land with water, as this was the most important part of rice cultivation. He even came with an innovative idea of covering the field with green cloth and laid pipes with nozzles all around the field to protect it from sun rays as well as allowing the much needed temperature for sustaining the crop. He had ensured that enough nitrogen is there in the field to make it fertile for growth of the crops. His hardwork alongwith his innovative ideas helped him and he got his first successful crop. Although, the size of the rice was not very good as compared to Punjab but he was happy that the process has started. He was more then eager to get successful one day. He started studying the concepts and procedures being adopted world over, thanks to her elder daughter Harjot, who was studying agriculture from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritser (Punjab). She even took soil sample for carrying out analysis of nutrients present in the soil. The test were proving to be fruitful as they added right amount and type of fertilizers to the soil.

    The younger daughter Sukhwinder was studying Architect and as part of her project she used the simple yet successful techniques used in her village to save the inhabitants from scorching heat especially during the day. Mohinder had made his house of mud as has been proven to be the best to fight heat and on the roof he created false roofing with holes on sides for letting the air pass through the roof. Sukhwinder added her twist by putting water pipes and dripping water on the roof and designed the roof in such a way that extra water dripped to the sides and ensured better cooling effect. She not only won the first prize but it helped villagers improve their houses.

Today, Mohindergarh is visited by a lot of architect students for there research projects.

     Mohinder always kept himself abrest with the latest technology. The villagers contracted a local company and they established huge solar panels, which could generate enough energy for the village. From two to three hours of electricity in a day, now Mohindergarh village was a model village, where 24 hrs electricity was available. 

   Mohinder was very happy with his life. His second brother also joined him with his family and they were living together once again like 20 years back. In 2019, Mohinder was awarded with the most innovative farmer award in New Delhi. He even was called by some foreign universities to deliver lectures. He not only told them about the technology but also about the importance of hardwork and also the positive effect of relationship especially his friend Jagtap. 

   Mohinder daughter's were now married and staying with their husbands. But they were always in touch and would help the village with modern technology update. Mohindergarh infact became the first village to be fully connected to Wi-fi internet connection. Many social schemes like Jandhan, Nari shiksha, etc were running successfully here. He even did not forget his birth place and bought land which was once taken from him. Mohinder was known in the society and even the PM took his name while addressing in his speech. 

     Mohinder and his wife were happy the way things had changed for them. They would always remember their hard times and would tell the youngsters to work hard and one day you will get the success.