Most people of the village I grew up in were agriculturists. Those who did not have their own land were either sharecroppers or worked as daily wagers on other people’s lands. A few small shopkeepers catered to the meagre needs of the villagers. Crops were harvested after the Holi festival which is celebrated in March.
Every member of a farmer’s family was involved in harvesting which was done manually using scythes. The produce was then tied in bundles and carted to a ground where other farmers also brought their harvests. Pilferage was not uncommon and family members of every farmer took turns to guard the harvest day and night.
Threshing was a community affair and an atmosphere of bonhomie prevailed. Lots were drawn to decide whose harvest would be threshed first, second, third and so on. The farmers brought their bullocks to the ground which would then collectively walk on the harvest whose turn it was to be threshed. It was a lengthy process; sometimes it took several days to fully thresh one farmer’s harvest.
Separating grain from chaff was another tedious and lengthy task. The farmer would move the threshed mixture of crop to another part of the ground. He and his family then got on with the job of winnowing. They would scoop the threshed mixture of grain and chaff in a chaaj which was made of bamboo strips, raise it above their heads and let the mixture fall slowly.
The grain would fall vertically in a heap while the lighter chaff would be carried a little further by the breeze where it was gathered. This process was repeated several times till the grain was free of chaff. The grain was then carted to the grain-market in bullock carts where it was sold. The chaff was stored to be used as fodder for cattle during the hot summer months when green fodder was not available.
The bullocks of the farmer whose job was over, and sometimes the farmer too, remained to help others finish their work. Harvest is no longer brought to a common place. The farmers do not gather together for threshing nor do they send their bullocks. The whole process has since been mechanised. Instead harvesting is finished quickly with mechanical harvesters.
The crop is then threshed with mechanical threshers which also separate grain from chaff then and there. With mechanised farming bullocks have become redundant and few farmers own them now. Bullocks may become extinct in not-too-distant future. The young generation of today has neither seen nor heard of this age-old tradition. Only oldies like me retain the nostalgic memories of the past.