First-hand from the field!

Last week, I was provided with an opportunity to accompany one of my office colleagues for agricultural inspection. What began at 11am that day turned out to be quite fruitful at the end, and interesting too, in all aspects.

It was a great learning experience indeed.  Travelling to the interiors of Rajasthan was revealing as we came across state tribals including Gujjars who are known for their apparent detachment from the societal mainstream.

We began the day with meeting one of the high-profile applicants of Kisan Credit Card (KCC). He owns a garment shop in the heart of the Tehsil Atru where he lives and also looks after the agricultural land that he has been inherited by his forefathers. For him, the money that he will get as KCC loan will most probably help in spreading his garment business. Let’s not delve deep into the rules that say a Branch Manager has to ensure that the money resulting out of KCC loan should be utilised for agricultural purposes only.

At around 1pm, we knocked the door of another client. The applicant was not there but his 80-year-old mother welcomed us with utmost modesty. My senior officer and I had a chat on the viability of the loan as the applicant kept juggling from one place to another. But our talk resulted in a resounding yes.

In this bone-chilling winter spreading across the North India and some parts of West India, the afternoon time is a big relief when one can dare to see eye-to-eye with the sun. (Reminding me of dialogues between SRK and AB from the film Mohabbatein).

We completed the formalities there and took the signatures of two villagers for creating the opinion-report of the applicant. While we were contemplating to go to another village, I suggested my senior to have lunch first in the applicant’s terrace. Honestly, I wanted to enjoy the afternoon and the direct sunlight. 

The other officer was reluctant to use space, but the motherly treatment of the old lady made it all easy for us. She offered us water and advised us to sit on the chowki kept at the terrace. We had lunch, some conversations and we moved out, conveying our big Thank You to the Amma there.

While we were penetrating more into the interiors of Rajasthan, we started discussing Rajasthan culture. There were three of us – the senior officer, driver and me.

I was amazed to know that the 18-year-old driver was married when he was just 3. We asked him if he had seen his wife. He said no. I asked again, “Will you seriously marry her?” He said yes, because if he will not, his father will abancon him. The driver added, "Papa ki ijjat ka sawal hai, shaadi to karni hi padegi usse."

Sir asked him, “Teri koi girlfriend hai”. He said chhe-saat hain. And interestingly one is a clerical cadre staff in a nationalised bank. Then he went on and said, "Sir driverri karni padti hai kyunki aajkal ladkiyon ke bade demand hain. Mere mahine mein saat-aath hazar unpe hi kharch ho jate hain.

We purchased guavas from the roadside of another Tehsil. Till date, I had always followed the basic rule of washing any fruit before before eating. But that day, I shunned all the rules for no reasons. I thought for a while to wash guavas, but then I did not, as I wanted to break free from the civilised world, at least for that day. 

We reached to our another applicant. It was 3pm-3: 30pm. The tiredness started seeming on our face. Here, we met the applicant who was not mentally 100 percent sound. One of his close acquaintances took his signature on the form and submitted to the bank. The applicant himself was not even aware that he was applying for a KCC loan.

And, there is a legal reason behind his acquaintant doing so. The laws of Rajasthan say an SC can only sell land to another SC and an ST can only sell land to another ST. The applicant was an ST, so the other person who was an SC could not take possession of the land legally from the ST seller. So what the other person did was he purchased the land in the name of the applicant who is an ST and used it for mortgaging in lieu of KCC loan.

We met another applicant who had a share with his father in their agriculture land. The applicant forcefully took his father’s signature and applied for the KCC loan and wanted to use money for construction of house. We got to know this when we talked to other villagers there.

Then finally it was time to wind up the day. Till this time, my senior and I became friends as the former was just 5 years elder to me. He asked me how old I am. I said I’m 24. He asked me when I would marry. I said soon. He advised me to do it at the earliest to ‘enjoy marital life’. 

He cited his example of how he had five-six girlfriends but then he finally fell in love badly. He added how close he was to his girlfriend and how close they came to each other. But as we have been witnessing in Bollywood films, the groom's father wanted dowry and said a blatant no to his choice. He had to bow down and marry his father’s choice where money mattered more than the girl. But as he accepts his intimacy with his ex is adding woes in his marital life. 

For me, the day did not end with our journey. It kept me thinking of the plight of farmers that I had till now read in P Sainath’s stories. The driver, whose story is a reflection of our society where even today the child marriage is prevalent in most parts of the country. And Sir’s, where words run short of the feelings.