I met an upright and sensitive farmer, Gitte Maharaj (55 years old), of Waka village in Parli, Dist. Beed, Maharashtra, during my early visits to Parli. As we were talking, he started weeping, telling me about the series of crop failures in his 13 acre field and his debt of 1.5 lakhs taken from a money lender, whose high interest rates were accumulating fast. He had decided to commit suicide so that the government funds that are given to support the families of suicide victims could be used to repay his debtors. It was the first time that I had encountered someone so honest that he wanted to give up his life to repay his debts. At first, I tried to empathize with and persuade him, but soon I lost my temper and shouted at him for his insensitivity towards the family he was going to leave behind.

I could have given him the money to save his life, but instead we motivated him to fight. We got him to change his cropping pattern to custard apple and guava, along with vegetable intercropping. We helped him with supplying saplings and more.

It has been a long but happy journey for Gitte Maharaj in the last few years, as he is now debt-free, has started earning lakhs through intercropping, and is looking forward to a bumper harvest of custard apples this year.

His son (30 years old), who was searching for a job in a city, has come back to his roots and is working with him. Gitte Maharaj has six cattles, uses only organic fertilizers, and teaches other farmers how to increase their income through organic farming.

These are the real Indians. Honest, simple, and rooted.

Gitte Maharaj says, "Mai abhi bhot khush hu, Mayank Gandhi ko hum bhot pyar karte hai. Aaj ke zamane mein aur koi hamare liye kaam nahi karta, ham bahut khush hai ab."

Let us all pray that he has a good harvest and earns very well this year. Why don't you connect with him? He will like it. He speaks Hindi too, and his phone number is 94224 12892.

*JAI HIND*

Mayank Gandhi

9920788909