Paddy field

Rice is grown in a paddy field. They need a wet place to grow. It is sludgy because the paddy requires 4-5 inches of water to grow. In India, more people and less machines are used to prepare a field. That is the reason they are cultivated in small square fields so that it will be easy to manage. The fields are ploughed using a tractor, tiller or bulls. There is a plougher at the back so that it can plough as the tractor moves on the field. The seeds are soaked for a day. Then the seeds are planted. They grow densely. Then they are removed and replanted with some gaps. It takes 3 months to harvest. The leaves are like a blade. The flowers bloom in the centre and forms a cluster of grains. We can eat only after the husk is removed. They give the husk to the cow. After the husk is removed we get rice which are brown. The brown rice has more minerals and nutrients. It is further polished to make the white rice.

This was the paddy field. The gaps were the places where we walked.

This was the only way to the well. It was sludgy because of the water and mud together. I felt wobbly. We had to walk carefully. It was very narrow, so I had to walk slowly.

The paddy field requires about 4- 5 inches of standing water. Can you see the water in this picture?

These are the leaves. They are like a blade. Nice and sharp.

Paddy in full bloom can be seen here.

This is the paddy but it is not fully grown. The peach thing you see is the grains covered with the husk.

The well is 80 feet deep. I swam in it. I even dived into it. I was swimming around. I jumped from every place I could. It was fun. I had gone there with my relatives and cousins.

A very eventful event had happened. One of my uncle was wearing a long gold chain. When he dived in, his chain had slipped out of his neck into the well. He figured it out only when he came out of the well. After going home, he told that to everyone. He was very upset. As it is my grandfather’s well, he could ask the workers to pump the water out. It took 2 days to pump out the water. Emptying the whole well was not happy to see. Since the groundwater level is high, they said it would get filled soon.

The workers had stayed up all night so that no one will take the gold. And with great difficulty it was found the next day!

It was an exciting and eventful time in the well!