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lift the plough when it

reaches a bund. Lastly (and this is most important) the bullocks must
recognise you or else they won't take orders from you.
The bullocks knew Guru very well but I was a stranger so Guru made
me keep shouting cries of "heeree heeree" which is how they get the
animals to move-so that they would at least begin to recognise my
voice. Although I went ploughing with Guru for several days in a row,
he never let me plough on my own because getting the right balance
was still very difficult for me and if any of the bullocks got hurt due to
my inexperience he would have to give the animal at least 15 days' rest
which would cost him heavily in earnings.
After the ploughing is done the ground has to be levelled for seeding.
This is also done by the bullocks who drag a wooden piece shaped like
a broad fork across the field. This I was allowed to do on my own and I
enjoyed it thoroughly. It was like having a nice ride, standing on the
wooden leveller while the bullocks went up and down the field.
I also tried my hand at spraying seeds and later fertilizer, on the fields.
Sometimes I did a bit of weeding, to while away the time in-between
ploughing. On some days when we were ploughing it used to rain
heavily and I enjoyed working in the rain with all the other farmers.
After ploughing we would be treated to hot tea and bread or pao baji by
the owner of the field.
I recall how surprised the owners of the fields we had ploughed would
be on seeing me sitting with the other workers-dirty with mud like
them-because naturally, they recognised me, since I am from the same
village. One lady, in fact, thought I was playing truant. She told me she
was going to inform my mother where I was that Sunday morning. She
thought that I ought to have been in church attending Mass instead.
The field work was a good experience and one which I cherish. I
helped Guru plough about half a dozen fields and even now when the
rainy season approaches I remember that experience with warmth and
pleasure.

Chapter 3
: Plant Festivals
The rainy season brings out the average Goan's passion ate love for
plants and some of this fervour and enthusiasm finds its way into plant

exhibitions and plant festivals. I would like to recount my experiences
with two of them-at Saligao and at Siolim-two villages close to where I
live. At the first I was a mere spectator but played a more active role in
the second.
Saligao Sunday, the 1st of July, was an unusually bright day for the
normally dull, wet, cloudy rainy season. I was looking forward to going
to Saligao to see an exhibition of plants and was glad for the dry
weather as I pedalled the 20 minutes it took to reach Lourdes Convent,
the well known school in the village where the exhibition was being
held. I reached around 10.30 in the morning. The exhibition had
already been inaugurated and the place was crowded with people all
trying to enter the main hall where the exhibits were kept. I too did
likewise.
The main exhibition hall was quite big and the plants were exhibited in
pots in the centre of the hall. Many of the plants were for sale. They
had been brought there by different people and most of the pots had the
names of their owners on them. The cacti were grouped together on a
table on one side of the hall and the prize winning exhibits of the
flower arrangement competition on another. I noticed that the first prize
had been given to a flower arrangement done inside a painted scooter
tyre. I thought this a really unusual idea. The two most attractive and
unusual cacti were ones on exhibit: while one had a thin green base and
a bright red lumpy top the other was like a cotton puff.
Besides the plants in the hall some classrooms alongside were also
occupied with plants and other items for sale. There were food plants
like coriander and coconut seedlings, ornamental plants such as money
plants, creepers, and indoor decorative plants. There were also garden
implements including spraying tools, cutters, flowerpots, seed packets
and organic manures.
At eleven o'clock there was an announcement that there would be a talk
given by Mr Francis Borges, the topic being `Organic Farming'. Francis
Borges is a college lecturer but is better known for his experience and
knowledge of plants. He practises organic farming and has a nursery
called Apurbai. He used to write a weekly column in a Goan paper the