There is something about owning your own land … there is something about feeling the earth underneath your feet .. there is something about tilling the land with your own hands, sowing the seeds, filling in the fertiliser and then waiting for it to flourish and grow … and then to feel the grain as it slips through the palm of your hands. There is something about touching the water that flows out of the tube well on your property, to feel the force with which it gushes out and to see it travel through the vast pieces of the agricultured land, providing that much needed succor for a gainful crop.

The entire morning has been spent in farm environs on the outskirts of the city of Lucknow and my first visit to the land that we had bought recently. Its nothing large and expansive - there are restrictions to how much land an individual can hold - but it is our registered land and there is a wonderful feel to it. At the moment its produce is wheat grain and paddy rice, and the land is being tilled to sow the seeds for the grain. Automatic machinery has taken over manual facilities, at least in this part of the region and very efficient equipment now operates most of the work. I got on to the tractor that tills the land and levels it too in one swift move, a ‘rotater’ of sorts, or a ‘leveller’ in local farm language. I made a couple of rounds on my own and there was such a wonderful feeling of actually having worked on the land and contributed just that little bit. There are of course the professional farmers on the land that work for us, get us the produce and share the spoils and it was such a joy to spend time with them and learn from them all the details.

The seed is given to us from the Seed Corporation of the Government of the State, we grow it and sell it back to them. There is a machine that carries two large trays at its rear, much like a tractor. The two trenches carry the seed and the fertiliser. The seed wheat in color, the fertiliser a more reddish grain. The fertiliser needs to be sown first an inch below the point where the seed is dropped and this machine does all that as it moves ahead covering the area that is being treated.

Such a joy to be among the people that work there and to spend time gaining knowledge and putting in my own effort. News spreads fast in the interiors too - they are all connected through mobile phones, an indicator of how times are changing in the country, and why not. A small crowd is beginning to collect on and off the roads leading up to the boundary and yes when can you ever be far away from the media ! They ask me what I am doing here and I tell them I came to till my land ! I look forward to the news tomorrow of what they would make of this !

Far away from the hustle and bustle of the city, far away from the traffic and speed of life, far away from high noise and pollution levels, there is such quietude and peace in the rural interiors. It must be so invigorating and uplifting for those that spend time away from the metros. I do look forward to spending more time in these climes !! God willing !!

Thank you all for your kind remembrances for Agastya’s birthday. He, through me, wishes to thank you all and expresses his gratitude. I think he had a glorious day firing foam guns on to his friends and his sister in particular !!

Will be boarding now shortly for Mumbai …

Love to you and more ..

Amitabh Bachchan