Some had even fixed wedding dates based on the harvest, hoping to earn enough from the crop to celebrate. But now, there’s water everywhere… destruction everywhere. Which crops will they harvest now? Where will they earn from? What will they eat for the rest of the year?
What happens during every flood is happening again, the same fears, the same struggles. But this time, the destruction is worse. This time, there is no hope that the crop can be sown again. The lamp that was already flickering in strong winds has now been extinguished.
Yes, the farmer will rise again, but not easily. The weight of debt won’t let him stand up quickly. And nobody seems to care that this farmer refuses to trade his self-respect for charity. He won’t stand in queues for a one-kilogram food packet.
He doesn’t trust the fake smiles, crocodile tears, and staged kindness that goes viral on social media. He’d rather die hungry with dignity than be humiliated in a relief line. The government-labelled rice packets, the trucks arriving from cities, they mean nothing to him.
You may be a wealthy businessman, a charitable donor, or a government official, take a moment and think, what does a flood-affected farmer really need?
If a farmer has taken an agricultural loan, waive it. Cancel the tube well and electricity bills for the next six months. If you re a middleman (aarhti) who has profited for years from the farmer’s hard work, ‘forgive his debts this time’.
Let go of the dues the government is supposed to collect. Let go of the money the traders and suppliers are supposed to collect.
Spare the broken, scattered, and
shivering old farmer, standing knee-deep in floodwater, from this burden. But
let’s face the bitter truth, ‘none of this will happen’.
A few crumbs of aid will be announced, like a drop in the ocean, and the media will run headlines about it. The funds will pass through the hands of various officials, and no one will know where they end up. The farmer in question will likely receive nothing.
Once again, the farmer will be left behind. Once again, he will wipe his tears with the dust rising from his own land. And once again, he will look toward the sky, place his hopes in God, and try to sow the seeds of a new harvest.
Because this hardworking farmer has
always tried. Governments and middlemen have always taken their share, often
more than their fair share. That’s why the farmer is still poor, still broken.
The middleman has built palaces, government offices have grown more luxurious.
If you feel even a shred of sympathy for the flood-affected farmer, the government and these traders must reflect. If you want to please God, start by pleasing His people, the farmers.
Because today, the calamity has struck the farmer. Tomorrow, it may come knocking at your own door.
