Green Jungly By Priya Sen Manger sits in a trough. At the southern end there used to be a lake which has now dried up, except in the monsoon, because of people digging bore wells. It is a prime catchment area for Haryana. DRAG bought the land in 1997 when few outsiders had discovered it. Its prime objective is to grow fuel wood, fodder and fruit trees and vegetables. Most farmers in Manger cultivated jowar, a hardy cereal. But a farmer’s life is difficult as everyone knows. With promoters and developers enticing them with what to them, at that time, seemed a vast amount of money for their land, many fell into the trap and sold out. In reality the agent from whom DRAG bought the land boasted how much he had paid the farmer : it was 20 times less than what we had paid. There were other problems in Manger where land demarcation (chakbandi) had not been done and farmers did not know where their lands were. The land register records were outdated and messy. Eventually as more and more outsiders wanted to buy land there the government proceeded to demarcate it. Manger also has a sacred grove of a local species of trees, dhau. This is being threatened as the Haryana government has opened this area to tourism, which means hotels can come up. The price of land has shot up and farmers are excited. Only a few NGOs and environmental groups are protesting this measure. We are proud as the DRAG farm immediately stands out. It is the only one with a canopy of trees that can be seen from a distance. Our chowkidar/gardener in 2013 was Birender, who with his two sons was supposed to look after the farm and do the usual farm work. Unfortunately he had a drinking problem and we had to get rid of him. He did not accept this dismissal and his children created problems by stealing the locks, throwing stones… In January of this year, through the good offices of our friend, Shakti Lumba, we found Feroze (and his wife Ruby). They are from a neighbouring village, Dhauj. They have been looking after the farm, albeit at a much higher salary. Vegetables have been planted. Tori, lauki, bhindi, methi, coriander, pumpkin, etc. were planted. But it is an uphill task as peacocks and termites destroy the seedlings. Feroze has re-sown these seeds in the monsoon. We have been having a crop of lemons – small in size it is true, but with a fantastic flavour. Feroze was instructed to prune the lemon trees as they were growing wild like a bush. Similarly the trees and bougainvillea growing all around the boundary were trimmed. After the monsoon last year, the west wall collapsed due to the rain. The land on that side has been bought and re-bought. We are hoping that the owner will build his boundary wall, as it is actually his. For the moment we have put branches etc. to make a boundary so that cattle and goats do not come in. This has happened recently, and the cows ate up many plants before they were discovered and chased away by Ruby and Feroze. Deepak Nirula, the Tree Man as we call him, has given us saplings, mainly mandarin and guava. Feroze has planted these and hopefully they will flourish as the timing is right. Our gardener/chowkidar has been cleaning the undergrowth of leaves and shrubs. He has been instructed to use this waste for making compost. Horse manure is not used in India. Our other neighbour on the western side is Baba. He keeps horses. Feroze was instructed to bring some manure and put it in the plants and use it for making compost. He had to be told several times, as he was completely unused to the idea of horse manure. He has now caught on. But we have to see if it is a good idea or not. The problems we have been facing are the usual ones : generator packing up, pump spare parts needing replacement, the tank needing repairs. When this happens in high summer and the plants cannot be watered, it is a disaster. DRAG has had to pay a considerable amount of money to get the generator and pump repaired. Through Shakti we found a generator contractor from Dhauj. He has done the necessary. Whenever he was not available we had to get local mechanics who were thoroughly incompetent and demanded large sums of money. Except for once, we have refused the services of such people. Electricity is another hurdle. It comes and goes, and mostly goes. In summer for anyone living there it becomes tough to survive in the heat without a fan. The solution we have thought of is to get solar panels for two lights and a fan. This is on the cards. Also the pre-fabricated hut has to be renovated. When it was put up in 1998, it was attacked by spruce ants (a much tougher variety than the common termite as they live on rocks). It was repaired by the Porta Huts team but continues to be in a poor state. We have to find a viable contractor who can do the job and replace all the wooden panels with cement sheets or some other non-wood material. All the walls, the roof and the doors need to be changed. The plan is not to use any wood. At the moment Feroze and Ruby are living there instead of the gardener’s cottage at the opposite end of the farm. Our permanent resident is Rani. She has had several litters. She still survives after many battles in which she has lost an eye and some chunks of flesh. At the moment there are three pups that have survived and grown up there. Our neighbour gives then rotis and on Sunday we take them chicken. They sitting waiting for the car to arrive and immediately start jumping for the titbits. Our little repast is black tea made by Ruby. Very strong, so we told her to put some lemon juice and also the rind. They found this practice very strange, the rind in particular. Who has lemon rind? But the flavour is incredible. Much still needs to be done : Electricity, renovation of the hut, regular maintenance of the generator (Feroze should learn to manage the basics himself), vegetable cultivation so that Feroze and family can feed themselves. One indirect benefit from the land surrounding us being bought by outsiders is that the neelgai and other wild animals have ceased to come. Some months back a leopard was sighted in the north-western corner of Manger where the temple is. The life of a farmer is full of challenges. But… “So much depends upon the blue sky chiselled by the branches of the trees above; So much depends upon emerald green leaves sheltering the visitor from the hot summer sun; So much depends upon the eye of the observer….”
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 08:14:09 +0000