The Onset Of Winter

The bulb glows, the fire extinguish and silence succumbs every night in the winter season. The woods burn, the fire turns yellow to orange and sparks flow in the air. The bonfire makes a visible face to the winter night prevalent in the cold times. Madhav Rao keeps looking in the fire in the search of the ray which his heart seeks. The wrinkled face covered with thin woollen muffler, the neck covered with a soft woollen scarf which was quite old to prevent the chill cold in the village interiors. The hut made up of straws and mud was visible enough for the cold that brought in the winter.

Madhav Rao was a poor, illiterate and hardworking farmer in the village of Rampur. He had 2 children both being boys and they studied in Standard II and Standard IV in the village Gramin School. His wife died round about 5 years ago suffering from malaria. He had no one else in his life. All he had was 12 acres of land, 4 buffaloes, 2 carts and some grains at home. The boys had some Hindi literature books, a pair of shoes each, some rough clothes and some handmade toys. This was his world.

Everyday Madhav Rao would go to the fields to grow usual rice and paddy in his fields. Though he was poor, he was not foolish though. He used to keep a portion of his land to grow some potatoes and certain low cost vegetables which would meet ends up for his boys and himself. He ploughed enough from morning till dusk and come home to prepare some boiled rice and vegetables for the three people. He was leading a routine life, neither bothered, neither wanted.

It was around a year coming to an end when on a certain day after his work on the fields he thought of visiting the village ground for meetings his old folks. The cold brought him so near to the thoughts of having a tea or rather cups of tea with his fellow mates. So he did. He went to the chai shop and he saw Raghu and his son sitting on the huge roots of the Banyan Tree.

“Are you well? How are you” asked Madhav Rao.

“The days are well, I have just brought a smart phone” – Replied Raghu.

Madhav Rao heard the word “phone” but never heard of anything called as “Smart phone”. He understood it was related something to phone itself.

“I didn’t get it”- Madhav Rao replied.

“The city has many such fascinating things. There are so many things that makes people rethink of the basic values a man knows. People and things live differently there. Things work just by clicking buttons. We can hear, see, speak, and communicate on such devices where it is just a click away. You can never imagine the way these things work. The word is called Technology Sir, you will be amazed. They are just like magic!”

Madhav Rao sipped his tea well. And again!

“See this … I can just dial some numbers on the phone which will enable me to view the friend’s fa

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ce and talk with him as if I am talking with him directly” – Raghu added.

Madhav Rao felt inquisitive. He didn’t feel to have anything of this for his own or for his children but he felt a slight trigger for it. He felt inquisitive, he thought of his livelihood.

He sat for another fifteen minutes to twenty minutes and saw the features in the phone and how quick things moved inside it and how well things connected were inside. He smiled at some of the features, held the device and tried the camera as well. It was really fascinating to him!

“I think I should be moving now “- Madhav Rao replied.

He put his glass in the shade, collected his woollen muffler and started his way back home.

Back at home, he boiled some potatoes and rice for the three of them and the children went to sleep.

Madhav Rao gathered some sticks, put it into the fire just outside the veranda and sat beside it. He kept looking at the flames which gave relief to his aching bones.

His thoughts went to the conversations in the village ground. Does this technology can replace human beings and human work? How is that possible?

How can the agriculture and the harvest replace with devices? Is it possible? Is it not crazy to think?

We as farmers work day night, sweat on the fields, live simple lives to grow the grains, vegetables to provide the households with that. How can non-living devices replace this culture?

It’s not about time… It’s about nature! It is a fact if we stop working on the fields there would not be any production of grains. We are the drivers in this.

Madhav Rao’s thoughts went ahead and ahead. But somehow with a smile he seems to win it.

Soon after, the fire started to slow down and he went to sleep.

Was the next morning a different day for him? Probably yes.

He got up in his usual time…. The boys were already up. He sat on the bed for a longer time and thought about his thoughts last night. He had a smile on his face. Probably he should visit the market and buy some tea leaves and make himself tea and bread every day before he goes to his fields and the children to the school.

He took bath with cold water nearby the well, picked up his plough and headed towards the fields. The harvest time is near. The grains should flourish in a week or so. This was the time of the year!

The next few weeks went very tedious as the process of collecting ripened crops is very time consuming and an intensive activity of the growing season. He did his job well.

On the way back to home on one of these days, he started to think can something reduce his time at this time of the season? Oh yes! Guess it was time to visit the village ground again and meet the colourful friends and start something with technology.

Technology reigns. Farmers live.