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.
Each sugarcane stick has to be chopped off an inch above the ground. Here we see Amma ji using a koita (desi knife) to do it.Each section of the sugarcane has a seed that aids the growth of the next yield
Then comes the scraping/cleaning of the freshly cut sugarcane using a koita.
It is a continuous effort that requires more than one person. In this frame, we see Amma ji’s daughter-in-law assisting her.Some of the canes don’t make it past Amritha because eating raw sugarcane is her favourite thing to do. Amritha happens to be the first child delivered at Amrit Clinic, Morwal, from where she derives her name.The machine that extracts the juice.The juice flows from the other side of the machine. Placing a lemon in between for some lemon juice works as a great flavour enhancer.
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.
Lal Singh ji celebrating with a fresh and sweet bowl of sugarcane juiceThe portion of jaggery that reached my home in Bombay!The tall and mighty sugarcane crops that successfully make me look small