AN INDIAN FARMER
The real India lives in villages. India is an agricultural country; most of her people are farmers. They live in villages near their farms. They have spacious compounds in which they tether their cattle and keep their carts. They cultivate land and grow different crops.
Most of the farmers live below the poverty line. An Indian farmer leads a simple and hard life. He gets up with the crowing of the cock and goes to his fields with his oxen. He ploughs land, harrows it, lays out beds, sows seeds, water crops and reaps the harvest. The members of his family assist him in his work. He looks after the crop and saves them from being spoiled by strays cattle or wild animals. He enjoys no holiday. At noon he takes his meals under shady tree and then takes a little rest. In the evening he returns home, tired and exhausted.
Generally he is illiterate. He believes in old customs and superstitions. His cattle are his most valuable property. If there is a drought, the crops fail and he is in trouble. When the crops ripen, he feels happy. He reaps it, thrashes it and taken the corn to the market. In times of a bad harvest he has little money to buy seeds and manure and runs into debt.
The farmer is fond of festivities. He spends lavishly on marriage and other social ceremonies. Recently, the use of agricultural machinery and chemical manures and the provision of credit by cooperative societies and rural banks has improved his lot and change his outlook on life.