My Experiences with the Kulhaiya Community

Initiating a women’s group in this Muslim dominated area of Bihar and introducing cucumber cultivation as an alternative farm-based livelihood was challenging and sometimes frustrating for the new team. Their success is their reward.

I T WAS AN EXCITING DAY. My team members—Trisha, Anup, Tarannum—and I were going to visit the successfully initiated was taking place for the first time in the operational area of PRADAN’s Araria team in Bihar. On arriving in the village, we were glad to see the people in the cucumber field. A pickup van was parked beside the road; women, men and children were plucking the cucumbers in the field, while the traders at the collection point were busy packaging the produce in gunny bags.

Fatima, the owner of field, expressed her sheer joy, “Bhaia ji sapna pura ho gelei, aisan kheera kabhi ne dekhlo chili (Brother, this is a dream come true. I have never seen such cucumbers in my life).” Fatima’s words provided us with respite from the concerns that we had had during the exposure visit of this village to Jalalgarh, a cucumber production area in the Purnia district. In fact, these words were immensely satisfying; it was like our dream was finally taking shape.

Dream! What was the dream? Where did the word ‘dream’ come from? To respond fully, let’s travel two years back in time when a new team was started in Araria and I became a part of it. The socio-economic condition that we encountered, the various struggles, challenges and excitement we faced, and how we overcame these, and moved forward as a team—all need to be chronicled.