Against the Grain

Farmers usually take advances from the agents for investing in crops and after harvesting, they bring the produce to their respective agents for procurement by state agencies or private traders.From the payment against the produce, the arhatiya gets his money and is ready to lend it again the following year. The cycle goes on.

Manita and Anshu Kurl took up this profession after the death of their father Surjit Kumar Kurl about two years ago. Today they are completely comfortable at work.

But success has not come easy. It took courage and patience and lots of encouragement from their mother Sudershan Kumari to keep them going. Says Manita: ‘‘Our mother decided that we would run the business and told me to take over. After four days of our father’s death, we opened the shop, otherwise we would lost lakhs of rupees.’’ Though family friends expressed apprehensions, Manita’s mother was firm. ‘‘Even my father’s brother did not want us in this profession,’’ says Manita.

But the villagers were supportive. ‘‘They extended great moral support and expressed faith in our ability saying that if daughters can do everything in foreign countries why can’t they do the same in India,’’ remembers Manita, sitting with her sister in their shop in the grain market, waiting for an auction group.

‘‘Our father used to discuss his business at home and so were familiar with it,’’ she adds. ‘‘We never had any apprehensions over our joining this entirely male-controlled profession,’’ she says.

This is certainly not a 9 to 5 job. In fact, during the procurement season, it becomes a day and night job. ‘‘In the beginning during procurement season we had to stay in the mandi even at night till the produce was disposed to instill confidence in our customers.’’

Now that the girls have established themselves and become such familiar sights at the mandi, they don’t need to convince anyone about their capabilities.