For 40 years of his life, Lal Singh ji has been cultivating sugarcane in the months of January-February-March. The average procurement of jaggery through ganne ka rass (sugarcane juice) has been 300-400 kilograms per season. The yield has never dropped below a 100 kilograms. As a fellow working in rural areas of South Rajasthan, I got a chance to visit his fields and present to you this photo series from Hathiyatalai village.
The machine starts its job when an external force pulls the wooden piece attached to it, in a circular motion 
For a large amount of sugarcane juice extraction, cows/buffalos are the ones who power the machine, again in circular motion Here I am, attempting to see what it takes. Well, it takes quite a lot!
Massive litres of sugarcane juice is collected and poured into this enormous bartan (vessel) that has been fitted into the ground for centuries to serve the sole purpose of boiling the juice 
The vessel is heated continuously for hours, overnight. There is a saying in the village – ‘Gaddi takiya leke gud banate hai’ (We go along with the mattress and pillow to make Jaggery) 
Lal Singh ji cleaning the surface of the juice, so that the jaggery remains pure and all the water content evaporates leaving behind just the solid pieces of raw sugar in the vessel 
After spending hours by the boiling pot and having multiple conversations with the people there, I got to drink a huge amount of sugarcane juice
This was the first time I got an insight of how strenuous it is to grow your own crop and create a final product out of it. I could first hand, get involved in 80% of the process, in one sitting, and if I have to take away one thing, it’s this – Multiple hands prepare each ingredient of the meal that we finally eat.
Personal health goals are achieved through several consistent practices, like eating healthy, regular exercise, sleep patterns but a crucial role in getting where you want, and living a healthy lifestyle is by genuinely respecting what you eat and acknowledging all the efforts put in by the farmers who work tirelessly day in and day out to grow and sell the grains that ultimately reach our plates. I am glad that I could witness this intensive and fruitful process.
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