Looking at the bright side

Dealing with COVID-19 has been tough for most rural communities, but it has also had some unexpected positives.

The elderly from Sindhudurg district in Maharashtra are rejoicing in the fact that this season, a majority of the households in their villages have taken up farming again. Prior to the pandemic, most of the fields were barren, since the youngsters no longer worked on farms.

“The lack of other work and the strict lockdown resulted in most people staying at home, with a lot of idle time. We thought we might as well make the most of it,” says Shashank Nandoskar, a driver by profession from Kudal, who has started cultivating paddy after many years.

He adds that he wanted to farm on more land in the vicinity, but since most of the villagers restarted farming, he was unable to do so.

Simit Bhagat is a social development practitioner and documentary filmmaker based out of Mumbai.

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