Friday, June 24, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
The Open Market
"I am gonna stop working by 40, buy some land, start farming and spend the rest of my life in my own farmhouse; with my spouse and children, herds of cows and goats, flock of hen, vagera vagera...."
At least one in five among us software professionals dream of such a life after retirement. But how many realize this quite improbable dream remains to be seen. Being honest, I myself have lost count on the number of times I have had a chat about this with my peers.
Thanks to my father, who is a retired teacher currently pursuing his experiments in farming, I have hands-on experience in this field. I was given the chance to visit and sell the yield in the Open Market, or, the Sunday market as the farming community say.
The day started quite early in the morning; early only by my standards. The harvest was to be collected and taken to the market in time for the auction. Until reaching the market place, I had no idea of what was in store. Being a novice in this area, I was accompanied by a seasoned farmer who is a close acquaintance. Taking the yield to the market and selling it was not an easy task as I thought.
On reaching the center, the crop need to be segregated by quality. A member of the society will then come around and tag a price on each lot. From there it is the agent's/wholesale dealer's world. They decide the price of the product and the one who pays the max amount takes home the stuff. For the farmer, his product will be sold for sure and a certain percentage goes to the society. A win-win situation...!!!
Not sure when I'll get a chance to go back, but I would love to be one among the phalanx of farmers who get together and make merry at the market.
At least one in five among us software professionals dream of such a life after retirement. But how many realize this quite improbable dream remains to be seen. Being honest, I myself have lost count on the number of times I have had a chat about this with my peers.
Thanks to my father, who is a retired teacher currently pursuing his experiments in farming, I have hands-on experience in this field. I was given the chance to visit and sell the yield in the Open Market, or, the Sunday market as the farming community say.
The day started quite early in the morning; early only by my standards. The harvest was to be collected and taken to the market in time for the auction. Until reaching the market place, I had no idea of what was in store. Being a novice in this area, I was accompanied by a seasoned farmer who is a close acquaintance. Taking the yield to the market and selling it was not an easy task as I thought.
On reaching the center, the crop need to be segregated by quality. A member of the society will then come around and tag a price on each lot. From there it is the agent's/wholesale dealer's world. They decide the price of the product and the one who pays the max amount takes home the stuff. For the farmer, his product will be sold for sure and a certain percentage goes to the society. A win-win situation...!!!
Not sure when I'll get a chance to go back, but I would love to be one among the phalanx of farmers who get together and make merry at the market.
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