"Farmer"

Good morning!

“The first farmer was the first man. All historic nobility rests on the possession and use of land.” Ralph Waldo Emerson.

It’s Friday and I believed it is the best day to be in office. And I never want to miss Friday and it’s certainly like the happy ending of contemporary rom-com Hindi movie. Nevertheless, I have had a good week and now I'm ready to enjoy every bit of my weekends by the end of the day.

Many years ago, my family tree occupation used to be farmers until my dad joined State Bank of India in the year 1987. Even now, my mom excels in growing all sorts of vegetables in garden back home. It is not an exaggeration because she is my mom… :) When I was growing up, I have experience the joy of harvesting grain in paddy field with friends and families in the month of November and December. The hindsight of harvesting season is like a rat race for all the farmers. Whoever has harvested the largest quantity of grains becomes the talk of the village throughout the harvest season unless another farmer beat the record. In order to determine the quantity of grains, gunny sacks are filled with the grains fully. Then, the counting starts and the counted sacks are loaded in a truck.

My parents used to scare me by saying, “if you don’t do well in your school examination, you’ll land up becoming farmer.” I do understand their point because majority of the households from my village are engaged in agriculture as occupation. It is not easy run a family throughout the year with farming as occupation. Living in a small village invisible from the map does not offer many opportunities or any viable long term solution in order to substitute farming or change the occupation. In addition, the economy status of my state Manipur does not give enough importance to invest in agriculture. Whenever I'm home during the summer vacation, I've seen many farmers waking up early in the morning to make sure the river water reached their respective fields so they can cultivate. Or else, any shortage of water can easily go downhill and they will be unable to cultivate on time. I just hope the state government will at least invest in irrigation system to make sure no farmers bear the consequences of drought.

As agriculture is the primary source of livelihood, we'd always hope the weather god to be fair with all the hard work invested. Of course! Cities are miles and miles apart from villages when it comes to opportunities to earn and live an ordinary simple life as “Aam aadmi.” The thoughts creeping in my mind inspired by the plights of farmers however cannot be definitive yet debatable. It is this strong feeling on the farmer dedication and work ethics which I felt are incomparable with the way we work in any organizations. Believe it or not, a farmer will keep on working despite the scorching heat of the sun. And although, we are comforted in office with air-condition, drinking water, loo, transportation (pick and drop), cafeteria, etc., but seldom have we remembered the work we do in office is for our bread and butter.

The irony of our role in an organization is nonetheless similar with the role of a farmer. Yet, the farmers are passionate, dedicated, and very committed with their work knowing very well the outcome will be the livelihood for his family. Our education and knowledge may have gotten us the easy job ahead from those who do not have a degree. But the question is, “Do we love our job and do we have the characters of a farmer?” The bitter truth is that we don’t deserve to be part of an organization as a workforce if we do not understand why we are working. Only if we were passionate about our work like the farmers with the understanding that the work I do is my livelihood, I’m sure everyone will be undeniably rewarded by the end of the year. And that’s when we can stage harvesting festival in an organization… :)

Food for Thought: “There is no gilding of setting sun or glamour of poetry to light up the ferocious and endless toil of the farmers wives.” Hamlin Garland.

FYI: The dawn of the millennium revolutionized education in my village. I’m very proud of my root because my parents have learned from the hard ways and encourage us to move forward with time. The good news about my village is that 100 % of children below 16 are going to school every day. We have a bright future and I'm sure we will create our own opportunities within our boundary to help grow one another rather than to move to cities.

Thank you. Have a good day!