Baisakhi – Photo Essay by Prof Shuaib Raza

Baisakhi, a grand celebration of our farmers
Clicks of Wheat Ripening, Harvesting, Cleaning, Storage
Baisakhi is directly associated with the Wheat ripening and harvesting. These are moments in the life of a farmer with which he has embedded lots of hopes. Multiple happiness of farmers like construction or repair of home, new vehicle, marriages of offspring and solving other financial matters, all are linked to wheat crop. Traditionally the wheat crop was manually harvested and the husks were threshed arbitrarily. Today, in the days of mechanization the crop is harvested and threshed at same time through machines. Even somewhere we find manual practice. Before harvesting traditional Melas (recreational fairs) are held in various parts of Punjab, called “Baisakhi ka Mela”. At the time of harvesting cultural spins on the beat of “Dhol” are performed by the farming community. Every member of the family, right from elders, adults, women and kids are engaged with the harvesting process. After harvesting the kids are seen in the fields with small bags on their shoulders, searching for scattered grains, which they collect and make a pool. They get certain incentive for collecting scattered grains. After harvesting the produce is stored on farm or transported to city market. In markets the grains are cleaned and packed in bags, either jute or plastic bags. The farmer is happy after getting reward of his hard work