Creatures of the Night
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Armed with just a torch and a stick, some kids had to brave the sounds of the creatures of the night.
Life on the farm carried an enduring weight of challenges. Across the farm fields, ranging with crops such as wheat, rice, sugar cane, dals (lentils), and maki (corn), even young children found themselves entrusted with daily tasks, contributing what they could wherever their capabilities allowed. On certain occasions, this involved bringing food and water to laborers working in the fields, a journey that could span from a short walk to distances of several miles, where family farms were located.
Children were also tasked with feeding and watering numerous domesticated animals, including cows, buffaloes, oxen, and goats. A common chore would be to oversee the grazing routine of animals and prevent them from entering other’s farms.
Kid’s wielding shovels would help create new water channels through floor irrigation techniques; water channels were manipulated to provide water to different areas of the farmland.
Another task delegated to children sometimes involved heading out into the fields at night. Armed with a torch and a stick, certain children ventured into the fields, dedicating nights to the task of alerting family members if thieves approached or tried to steal the crops.
Wild animals from the jungle could cross over dividing streams to snack on grain or simply explore the vastness of the farm fields. Cobras could be seen slithering every now and then, but they mostly kept to themselves unless provoked. Hyenas also took to the fields, looking for small domestic animals as an easy grab could be heard crackling through the night. Jackals would come and eat the sugar canes by puncturing small holes in the stalks with their teeth to access the sugars. In addition to brown bears, tigers made appearances, albeit rarely. When humans went to sleep, the jungle woke up, and all kinds of activity unfolded on the farm fields. Boars rummaging through grain and playing with each other were a common occurrence. Armed with just a torch and a stick, some kids had to brave the sounds of the creatures of the night.