Rain or rice, for what the country in prayer!
Pic: Barta24.com
'The waving leaves of the path are always a sign/ My paddy fields are green and yellow with love/ I am entwined and tangled in the wind/ Flocks and flocks of parrots are sleeping in the field/farmers's bride will be married, her haldi kotar sari/ Yellow dyes the sun beam connection / The jewel of the vine is waiting to be made / the foreign bridegroom comes and goes in the morning.'' The abstract image of the poem is embodied in a vast field. The hopes of the farmers are going to be fulfilled in this season.
Baisakh is full now. This is the time of Boro rice. Boro rice meets at least 55 percent of the country's food demand. Cultivation of this boro is more common in the 7 Haor districts of Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Sunamganj, Kishoreganj, Netrakona and Brahmanbaria. If this rice is not damaged by heavy rains, floods and landslides in India, there is no shortage in the country's food demand. Therefore, favorable weather conditions, especially sunshine, are very important from the cultivation of this paddy to harvesting at home. Currently that situation is going on.
As a person of Sylhet region, I am familiar with the wants and desires of the people of this region. I am pulling them as an example. I have learned from them how important it is to harvest crops at home during Boro season. Hay storage is also essential to ensure food security for livestock. Hot sun is not a problem here, it is a pleasure because even if this sun burns the body, it shows the way to the meaningful implementation of the chest full of hope. The country's food demand and food security are largely dependent on this Boro rice. So every stage starting from cultivation requires the help of nature. So far that support has been in place, though a cloud of fear with a storm earlier this month. It has moved away for now.
Farmers need intense sun now. They're getting it. Intense heat in the country is prevailing. This is no exception here. Yet they are praying for this sun. Rain is now a disaster for them because this rain and super-rainy floods can crush their dreams and wash them all away. Farmers of Sunamganj have not forgotten the sad memories of 2017. That year, Sunamganj's small and large crops of 137 haors were swept away by the flood. Last time the farmer brought home the crop without any problems. Last year at least 20 haor crops were lost due to floods.
Farm crops depend on nature, food security of the country. The extreme heat here has little effect. Burnt in the sun, with umbrellas on their heads if necessary, the farmers dream at home. Instead of praying for rain, they prayed for the sun to continue for a few more days. Farmers want moderate rain in the month of Chaitra, full sun in Boishakh, because golden rice grows in this sun. According to folklore, during the paddy harvesting season, the haor people used to invite spiritual leaders or 'Hirals' and 'Hiralis' to protect the crops from storms and natural calamities. They would come and recite mantras and try to stop the storm. People before old beliefs used to perform such rituals. Whether these would actually work is a matter of debate and personal belief, but the farmers of haor do not want any rain on Boisakh because of the invitation of these Hiral-Hirals.
While the people of Haor area are praying for continued sunshine, people burning in intense heat all over the country are praying for rain. Istiska prayers are being offered in various parts of the country to pray for rain, there are pictures of this in the media. Somewhere with strong faith, some are giving 'frog marriage', that too in prayer for rain. Some are also raising the question of which is more important, rain or paddy, due to the intensity of heat on social media. Not only that, the world media has published news about the severe heat wave in Bangladesh. The New York Times, BBC, AFP and Times of India have reported on the suffering of the people of the country due to extreme heat. According to the media, the closure of educational institutions in Bangladesh has also been announced for the second year in a row due to extreme heat. The world media has also mentioned the organization of prayers for rain.
On the one hand, the extreme heat, on the other hand, the uncertainty of bringing home rice, the main ingredient of food security, but temporary relief seems to be the main thing for many. However, if it did not rain in the fields for ten days, the rice would grow in the farmer's house. Food safety was ensured.
We have no control over nature; However, I think farmers should be important in expressing our aspirations. Our wishes may not change the pattern of nature, the rain will not fall suddenly in the land of intense sun, but the farmer will be relieved by the desire of the sun until the rice is brought home; You can think that this country is with them.
May the farmer win! Let nature be with the farmer, at least in the boro-area.
