Mavasala

This is not strictly a travelogue, but an inspiring story.

My elder brother Shrikant, lives in Aurangabad in Maharashtra.
After he retired from being a professor of English for several years, he started looking for some new activity of interest. His wife Shubhada too had retired around the same time.
They started looking around for some farm land around Aurangabad.
That entire area is short of rain and the land is rocky. The land which they finally got was roughly a rectangle, all rocky terrain, and sloping steeply towards a vertical drop of some 200 feet into a deep ravine, thro which a stream flowed and joined a distant lake. Very picturesque really.
Of the soil all so essential for agriculture, there was no sign at all.
Every one who heard about their intention to buy that land, was convinced that my brother was out of his mind. He went ahead any way and bought that piece of land.

The first problem was that whatever soil there was on the land used to get washed away in the rainy season into the ravine, leaving this land barren.
The first thing to do was to stop the soil erossion. This meant building stone boulders forming small dams, starting from the highest point. It took the entire year to form the first two dams. It should be remembered that this was done without any mechanical implements, and mostly with hands. His children as well as some students staying in the house put in tremendous amount of work for completing this job.
In the first rainy season, one could spot the effects of the dams with signs of retained soil in the high parts. More dams were built on lower levels in the next two years. Finally after three years, there was a decent layer of soil covering major area of land. A well was then dug to store the rain water. A shed was costructed to store the tools and for the visitors to rest.
First seeds were planted in the fourth year, and when the first plants took root, my brother and sister in law were ecstatic. They were very minor and small plants, but that they survived at all was a triumph.

More soil retention, new crops was the routine for nest few years. Vegetables were grown, staples such as Jawar and bajra were sucessfully grown. In one year, there was so much Bajra, that all spare rooms in the house were used to store the grain.

All along, my brother was very clear that he did not want to make the farm as a commercial proposition, and all he wanted was an enjoyable activity, without losing his shirt.

At present, there is a wire fence around the land. Many trees have been planted around the fence and inside. So many flowers are blooming. Vegetables of all types are growing. Recently there were pumpkins weighing 5 kg or more hanging on the vines.
Juicy lemons have been grown.

A full time person has now been employed to take care of the farm. There is an electric pump bringing water from a nearby well.

And my brother and my sister in law? Well into their seventies, they still make a trip twice a week at least, to make sure everything is working well. They still travel in a autorikhshaw even though the road is quite bumpy.

I was there about a month ago and it was wonderful to see birds resting in the trees on the farm. Then there was the sight of a beautiful sunset against the hills opposite the farm, which I watched thro the trees on the farm.

As the glow of the setting sun touched me, I could not but help in taking my hat off to my brother and Bhabhi for their faith and sustained painstaking efforts, which converted the once barren rocky land into a green farm.
Labels: Aurangabad draft 12/16/07 by travelogues Delete

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