Brave New Rice

A photograph of The System of Rice Intensification, in Karanjo, Jharkhand (in North India) clicked by my blog and FB friend Bhavana Nissima, of Chennai, on her recent nationwide travels.

Known to increase rice yields significantly merely by following a few simple rules, the Rice Intensification System  is spreading throughout Bihar.  It needs less fertilizers, seeds, insecticides, labour and most importantly, much less water than is needed in normal modes of cultivation. The water needed is only about one-third of what is used in the traditional system of growing paddy. 

This picture of paddy plants, standing tough and tall, all together, braving it all, good and bad in nature,  just reminded me of something that happened recently, where so many women came together.... 

(photo by Bhavana Nissima)

Sometimes
they struggle to stand
in a soil
devoid of cohesion,
cracking in despair,
but still trying.

Sometimes,
they imbibe
from a rich coastal plate
in the shadow
of some big mountain,
but still
hold on,
on their own.

And sometimes,
they revel
in the
all encompassing monsoon
of high emotion
and dedication,
and stand,
shoulder to shoulder,
facing the water,
shrugging it off,
to grow,
more tall,
more mature,
and more powerful
all standing in a line,
together,
to change the
granaries of thought...