Free from School | Page 6

plants were sold in Candolim, she asked me to send her
the plants through Peter. She also told me to prepare a bill for her
which I was to hand over to Peter. All this I did within the next two
days.
A week later, I had to visit Peter and Julie's place to deliver a note to
Peter from my dad. I was keen to see the fish she had bought and how
they were doing in the new home I had made for them. As a present I
decided to take five pairs of guppies from my garden tank. Imagine my
shock when I found that the tank was just as I had left it, with no fish at
all to inhabit the lovely quarters. I was glad I had brought along the
guppies and these became the first lot of fish to inhabit the tank. I also
fixed the light and the regulators and set the plants properly.
Juliet's little daughters crowded round me as I stood back to admire the
now complete aquarium: fish swimming happily with newly installed
plants and air filters bubbling away in a corner. Juliet soon joined us
and thanked me warmly and to my utter surprise slipped a 50 rupee
note into my pocket. I protested that she should not pay me for this as I
was having great fun but she insisted that I take the money and this
became my first earning.
In similar fashion I set up fish tanks for a few other family friends.
Besides having a lot of fun and gaining valuable experience, I also
earned pocket money! Avdoot and Rekha Munj in Mapusa have a
lovely big tank which I helped set up for their daughter; Alvito and
Celine Santiago from Parra also had an empty fish tank which they
wanted to put back in use and I organised the fish for them too.
There was also the large fish tank in the office of the Principal of my
school (St. Anthony's at Monte Guirim), which I had maintained during
my school days. I continued to keep watch over it through my younger
brother Milind, who, like me, is also a fish fan.

Chapter 2
: Learning a Bit of Farming
One of my plans for the rainy season was to go to RUSTIC Farm which
is in Thanem, a small village near Valpoi in the remote north-eastern
district of Sattari, so that I could gain some experience in farming.
RUSTIC Farm holds a special attraction for me because I was born
when my parents lived on this farm and we stayed there till I was three
years old. Although I have no real recollection of that period, we have
many photographs of my baby days on the farm and many stories that
my parents tell us of those times. We still visit the place at least once a
year and also maintain contact with several of the villagers who worked
then on the farm. Yesu, our domestic help for the past 16 years comes
from that area. In 1985 RUSTIC Farm was sold to the present owners
Shyam and Ujwala Achrekar. I had intended to stay with them for a
month and learn about farming first-hand. Unfortunately due to some
personal difficulties they could not have me visit them. It is one of the
few regrets I had during my one-year sabbatical. As things worked out,
however, I was able to learn a few basics about farming in my own
village at Parra.
My neighbours, the Kandolkars, are a peasant family and during the
rains they take to farming their own fields. They also do ploughing
work for others. Guru, the eldest son, has a fine pair of bullocks for the
purpose. It so happened that Guru was doing some masonry work at
our house and I was chatting with him about my sabbatical when he
casually asked me whether I would like to come ploughing with him. I
jumped at the offer even as he seemed a bit surprised that I had so
readily agreed. Next morning I was woken up early and we set out for
the fields which are quite close to our homes.
Holding the plough may appear a simple task but believe me it is not so
and calls for quite a lot of skill and stamina. The trick is to keep the
plough in the centre and avoid cutting the hoofs of the animals at the
same time. One needs to put the right amount of pressure on the handle
as the plough should neither be too deep nor too shallow in the soil.
Also one has to constantly keep one's eye on the bullocks to direct them
to turn around at the end of the field and to