Harvest Season
Harvest , the end of the growing season is signaled by bright orange pumpkins
piled high at roadside stands, the spicy tart smell of apple butter cooking at local
orchards, and the excitement of local fall harvest festivals. It is a season of reflection,
gathering in, enjoying the fruits of the farmer’s labor.
Harvest is a season to prune and maintain the plants themselves , a season to
fertilize to invigorate the plants production of fruit and finally a season to tend the fruits
as they develop . A farmer plans for his crop all through the winter, then cultivates the
soil in spring, and finally plant the seeds of a new crop as the spring ends. Throughout
the summer, he works on maintaining and protecting his crop, from drought, insects,
and weeds. And then at the end of the summer, he finally begins his harvest, gathering
in, this precious crop that he has worked so hard to grow.
The role of a farmer in this activity is similar to how a mother takes care of her
child right from the time it develops in her womb.Just as a mother is a mixture of the
toughness of granite and softness of blossoms, the sharpness of razor and the coolness of
mountain streams, the calmness of still water and the purity of untrodden snow , so is the
farmer.To him the crop he grows is like his child. He looks after it with care and finally during
the harvest season, he is rewarded for his hardwork.
Ancient farmers believed that crops contained spirits, which caused the crops to grow and die. Many believed that these spirits would be released when the crops were harvested, and they
had to be destroyed lest they would take revenge on the farmers who harvested. Some harvest
festivals celebrate the symbolic defeat of these spirits. In course of time the celestial supreme
being was recognized and soil was regarded as the womb of mother earth, and to disturb it was
considered a perilous undertaking often demanding appeasement.
In a agricultural country like India where seventy percent of our population live in villages
and a vast majority are mostly dependent on agriculture, Harvest season is very important.
People in different parts of the country celebrate this season in their own traditional style.
Pongal is one such festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu, every year after the harvest season in
mid January. Farmers get ready to thank god, earth and their cattle for the wonderful harvest and
celebrate the occasion with joyous festivities and rituals. In Kerala , the penultimate day of the
ten-day harvest festival of Onam is called Uthradam. It is the time for sports, festivities, and
ritual celebrations in Kerala. On this day, farmers give produce of their farms or the product of
their toil to the eldest member of the family ,who in turn greets them and blesses them.
Thus during the Harvest season,
The golden fields are blanketed with the golden wheat
Swaying gently, dancing with wind, ripe, mature, ready to eat.
Farmer';s sickle or harvester, with its blade will kiss the wheat
The plant is touched with kiss of death, but kiss of life the wheat will greet.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
P.S
The above article fetched me first prize in my first company in an essay competition conducted there.Was fortunate to have received first prize from the CEO(in the year 2007)
Harvest , the end of the growing season is signaled by bright orange pumpkins
piled high at roadside stands, the spicy tart smell of apple butter cooking at local
orchards, and the excitement of local fall harvest festivals. It is a season of reflection,
gathering in, enjoying the fruits of the farmer’s labor.
Harvest is a season to prune and maintain the plants themselves , a season to
fertilize to invigorate the plants production of fruit and finally a season to tend the fruits
as they develop . A farmer plans for his crop all through the winter, then cultivates the
soil in spring, and finally plant the seeds of a new crop as the spring ends. Throughout
the summer, he works on maintaining and protecting his crop, from drought, insects,
and weeds. And then at the end of the summer, he finally begins his harvest, gathering
in, this precious crop that he has worked so hard to grow.
The role of a farmer in this activity is similar to how a mother takes care of her
child right from the time it develops in her womb.Just as a mother is a mixture of the
toughness of granite and softness of blossoms, the sharpness of razor and the coolness of
mountain streams, the calmness of still water and the purity of untrodden snow , so is the
farmer.To him the crop he grows is like his child. He looks after it with care and finally during
the harvest season, he is rewarded for his hardwork.
Ancient farmers believed that crops contained spirits, which caused the crops to grow and die. Many believed that these spirits would be released when the crops were harvested, and they
had to be destroyed lest they would take revenge on the farmers who harvested. Some harvest
festivals celebrate the symbolic defeat of these spirits. In course of time the celestial supreme
being was recognized and soil was regarded as the womb of mother earth, and to disturb it was
considered a perilous undertaking often demanding appeasement.
In a agricultural country like India where seventy percent of our population live in villages
and a vast majority are mostly dependent on agriculture, Harvest season is very important.
People in different parts of the country celebrate this season in their own traditional style.
Pongal is one such festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu, every year after the harvest season in
mid January. Farmers get ready to thank god, earth and their cattle for the wonderful harvest and
celebrate the occasion with joyous festivities and rituals. In Kerala , the penultimate day of the
ten-day harvest festival of Onam is called Uthradam. It is the time for sports, festivities, and
ritual celebrations in Kerala. On this day, farmers give produce of their farms or the product of
their toil to the eldest member of the family ,who in turn greets them and blesses them.
Thus during the Harvest season,
The golden fields are blanketed with the golden wheat
Swaying gently, dancing with wind, ripe, mature, ready to eat.
Farmer';s sickle or harvester, with its blade will kiss the wheat
The plant is touched with kiss of death, but kiss of life the wheat will greet.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
P.S
The above article fetched me first prize in my first company in an essay competition conducted there.Was fortunate to have received first prize from the CEO(in the year 2007)
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