Hello friends, I hope you are all well. Alhamdulillah I am fine too. May Allah accept that Muslims are fasting in extreme heat. May Allah forgive us all in this month of Ramadan. Don't protect me from the plague. Friends, we are having a new rice harvest festival here. Before the morning sun rises, the farmer eats panta and goes to the field with a sickle to cut the paddy. While harvesting paddy, some of them sang various folk songs including Behula Lakhinder. Since it is very hot now, they start cutting paddy to stay overnight. So that he can finish cutting rice in cold weather.
As if fascinated by their songs, Shalik's swarm of chirping-chirping calls! When the farmer walks on the aisle with a bundle of paddy on his head, it is as if gold grains are glistening on the farmer's head in the sunlight. Since the land is next to our house, when the farmers and husbands go to cut the paddy, I also go with them to see the harvest. Seeing the way they are cutting paddy by turning on the lights in the dark, it is as if another kind of amazement has been created.
The sweet smell of ripe rice floats in the air. After threshing coal all day long, threshing is going on. Earlier people used to cut paddy with their hands for a long time. But with the change of days, many technologies are being used now. Paddy is being cut and threshed with new machines. We are no exception. After harvesting all the paddy from our land, it is ready for threshing. Since the paddy of our land starts harvesting from midnight, the harvesting ends at 12:00 noon. When the paddy is harvested, they rest for a while. In between, I make them sherbet to eat. Since they have been working hard all day, they are not fasting today. I cook for them while they are resting. After cooking, we call them and serve them food. They eat lunch and get ready for work again.
The threshing of paddy begins. At one stage of threshing, the paddy is brought home in bags. I thought I would put the rice on the roof tomorrow. But my mother-in-law does not agree. He wants to be on the roof today. Since there was plenty of sunshine. So I did not agree. My brother-in-law and a niece took the rice to the roof. Then they are spread on the roof. The threshing of the remaining paddy continues.
Rice harvesting and home harvesting festivals are going on in the villages. This rice harvesting arrangement comes with the rules of the seasonal cycle. The festival of Eri Paddy Harvesting is going on in the fields of rural Bengal (meaning: new food). Which is the traditional grain festival of West Bengal and North Bengal. The festival is organized on the occasion of the first cooking of the rice obtained from the new Eri paddy. In some areas, like the Nabanna festival, the day after the harvest, new rice is made into firni-payesh or latex and distributed to relatives and neighbors.
After harvesting new paddy, the son-in-law is invited and the daughter is also brought to the father's house in Nairobi. Various types of indigenous dances, songs, musical instruments and cultural programs of Abhaman Bengal are celebrated. Lathikhela, Baulgan, Nagardola, Flute, Hobby Bangles, Khai, Moar Posara are held at the village fair.
Roya paddy is mainly cultivated in this season. The location of the controlling land to select the appropriate time for sowing seeds in this season. Aman's land is divided into four parts, high, medium, low and low. Early maturing fine and medium paddy is cultivated in high lands. The best time to sow in the seedbed is Ashar - Shravan (July-August). Medium term paddy cultivation is preferable on medium land. The best time to sow seeds in the seedbed is Jaistha-Asadha (June-July). Cultivation of two types of medium and long term varieties, narrow and medium, is recommended on low lands. The correct time for sowing of fine paddy in the seedbed is Baishakh-Jyastha (May-June). Medium and coarse paddy needs to be sown in the month of Jaistha-Ashar (June-July). Fine paddy seeds will be sown on lower lands in the month of Chaitra-Baishakh. Medium or coarse paddy seeds will be sown in the month of Baishakh-Jyastha (May-June).
After lifting the paddy to the roof, my mother-in-law and I spread the paddy well in the sun to dry. After a while we shake it. In this way the rice stays in the sun all afternoon. Then I came down. Let's prepare dinner. Since everyone is so tired I suggest my mother-in-law to make something simple. The two of us make a little something for the night and for Iftar. Then when it is time for Iftar, we all break Iftar together. Then he stands in prayer like everyone else. There is no rest after finishing the prayers. Then the electricity goes off this summer.
When the electricity goes off, we all go to the roof and sit for a while. That's when my mother-in-law told us to pick up the rice and put it in a bag. 3/4 of us put the rice in the bag. Then I put them down one by one near the stairs.
Today I have understood the importance of farmers from this hard work. Because this is the first time we are doing rice work. In fact, if there were no farmers, we would not get food. They produce grains soaked in the sun and rain for us. Then we can eat. We suffer the consequences of their suffering. In return we do not respect them at all. That's why we can say "No Farmer, No Food".
OK friends, everyone will be fine. Stay healthy and safe. Many thanks to everyone.