that higher wage! Moreover, they thought that once the work on Joshi’s farm got over, the wages would automatically come down to earlier level. One important point should be noted here. There was no inherent difference between landowning farmers and the landless labourers in that village. Those who were landowning farmers also worked as labourers on other people’s farms to earn some additional money whereas those who did not own farms of their own and worked purely as labourers were also landowners till a few years ago; their farms were either mortgaged or sold to clear debt. That was how Joshi learnt how futile the so-called theoretical distinction between farmers and landless labourers was. In later years, some intellectuals would accuse Joshi of working for landowning farmers and neglecting landless labourers. At such times Joshi would narrate his own experience to show how bookish their accusation was. Of course Joshi also had some idea of the reason why villagers could not afford even such meager wages to the labourers and as days passed by, his experience confirmed his initial guess – it was the very low price they were getting for what they were growing. For a quintal of Jowar, they were getting barely Rs. 70 and for the same quantity of onions they were getting barely Rs. 20! The poverty of these tribal labourers was indeed heartwrenching. There were two main groups amongst them – katkari and thakar. Most of them were uprooted from their own far-off villages in Konkan region. There was equal proportion of men and women. Both small-built; neglected and underfed from childhood. Lack of nutrition had meant underdeveloped body parts. To come to Angarmala, many of them had to walk for five to ten kilometers one way under scorching sun and on broken, unpaved thorn-ridden roads. Almost nobody had footwear. In the afternoon, Joshi used to give his labourers two hours of Hands in Soil
Q
79
