Chapter 42: A Harvest of Hope
Late October – Early November 1983
India's countryside had begun to awaken—not just with the usual sounds of harvest, but with voices of change.
The air was thick with dust and the scent of crushed sugarcane, as loudspeakers crackled out Bhojpuri slogans and folk drums echoed through Krishi Melas. These weren't ordinary agricultural fairs—this was history in motion.
All across the country, Singh Technologies, in partnership with local governments, began hosting district-level Krishi Yantra Melas. Every fair was a mosaic of invention, experience, and hope.
Colorful banners waved above the crowds:
> "नया यंत्र – नया भारत!"
New tools, New India!
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Mela Grounds – Emotion in Every Corner
Children ran beside prototype threshers. Elderly farmers squatted on coir mats, feeling the texture of metal parts like blind men reading braille. Women in bright saris turned water trolleys with whispered surprise.
Near a seed-sower station in Barabanki, a young farmer tested the pedal winnower, exclaiming:
> "This doesn't just move grain—it moves time itself!"
Another in Maharashtra pointed to the rotating crop dryer:
> "We used to lose grain to moisture. Now I can dry it before the rats even arrive."
The smell of roasted groundnuts and jaggery wafted from a nearby stall, mixing with the sharp scent of hot machine oil.
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Bharat Observes – Memory Becomes Reality
Bharat stood beside a demo table, his small fingers tracing the rim of a new tool.
He wasn't just watching—he was remembering.
> "I saw this in 1986," he thought. "But it didn't belong to a poor man. We'll change that now."
He showed Ajay a sketch from his notebook:
• Multi-Level Grain Dryer
– Sun-powered plates
– Tiered mesh design
– Simple pulley rotation
• Pivot Soil Dump Cart
– Foot-lever tilt system
– Durable bamboo frame
• Bullock-Center Third Wheel (for paired bulls)
– Placed between the two bulls
– Less neck strain, more balance
Ajay looked at the drawings and said quietly,
> "Bharat… these are not just tools. They're solutions."
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Marketing Worry – Collective Vision
Back at the Singh Technologies office in Lucknow, the marketing department sat in tension.
> "Sir, even with subsidy, prices are still out of reach for most small farmers. No savings, no purchase," a junior officer said.
Before Ajay could respond, Bharat—who had been listening while sketching a new blade harrow—looked up.
> "Then don't sell to one farmer."
Everyone stared.
> "Sell to five. Let them share. One machine, rotating schedule. The panchayat can supervise."
Another officer added nervously, "But what about loan risks?"
Ajay nodded at his son. "We'll build in a co-loan model. The bank can fund them together."
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A Bigger Problem – Selling the Crops
That evening, under a neem tree at home, Bharat sat next to Ajay as they sipped milk with saffron.
> "Pitaji… why don't farmers have money, even with all these machines?"
Ajay sighed. "Because they can't sell their crops at the right price. Middlemen take most of the profit."
Bharat's eyes sharpened.
> "Then we remove the middlemen."
Ajay looked over. "How?"
> "We already have sales teams in districts for our machines. Why not add crop buyers to the same offices? Let us buy directly from farmers—at fair price. Then sell to the mandis, shops, even city exporters. That way, farmers get full value."
Ajay was stunned silent for a moment.
> "That's... not just smart. That's revolutionary."
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Government Response – A Turning Point
News of the Krishi Melas and Bharat's collective model reached the capital.
Soon, at the mela in Lucknow, the Union Minister of Agriculture arrived, wearing a khadi kurta, flanked by IAS officers.
He watched a demonstration of the soil dump cart. He listened to a widow from Sitapur explaining how her two sons now used the pedal thresher every morning before school.
He walked over to Ajay and said firmly:
> "India cannot wait for foreign technology to trickle down. You've shown us what rural design can do. We will support it."
He turned to the crowd and made a public declaration:
> "From today, all Singh Technologies equipment will receive a 35% subsidy for small and marginal farmers.
And NABARD will give low-interest collective loans for shared-use farming tools."
Applause erupted like a monsoon.
A regional commissioner stepped forward. "We'll also waive storage taxes for produce sold through your new crop buying initiative."
Bharat, watching from the side, whispered to himself:
> "One field. Many roots."
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Birth of the Krishi Seva Kendras
Ajay and Bharat's dream became official.
In November, Singh Technologies announced the first Krishi Seva Kendras:
Sales & repair of farming tools
Shared-ownership registration
Direct procurement of crops
Government scheme enrollment desk
Simple training with printed manuals (text + illustrations)
Each Kendra would serve 40–60 nearby villages.
Banks agreed. Ministries agreed. More importantly—farmers agreed.
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Closing Image – A New Festival for the Land
At the closing mela in Sitamarhi, a folk song played in Maithili:
> "Ek naya hal, ek naya raah...
Singh ke yantra, sabke saath..."
(A new plough, a new path...
Singh's tools, for every hand…)
Bharat stood near the exit gate, watching a bullock cart leave with a new third-wheel kit tied carefully on top. A little girl sat beside it, holding her father's calloused hand.
> "Is this our future, Baba?" she asked.
He nodded, smiling.
> "Yes. And it rolls on three wheels now."