Blessings of the Past: Traditions and Changes in Agriculture
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This tale, approximately 70 years old, highlights the profound changes that have taken place in our agricultural practices and the spiritual connection our ancestors had with their work. There was a time of abundance and bless-ings in the past, a time that we can now only see in tales and traditions.
In those days, from the wealthiest to the poorest, everyone in the designated area participated in special com-munal events. On a specific day, people would bring their animals - goats, sheep, cows, or hens - to a place called kachura. Upon arrival, these animals were sacrificed, each according to their means. Some would then cook the meat while the rest of the community recited Quranic verses. After the prayers, everyone would eat the prepared food, and whatever remained would be taken back to the villages as a form of charity, to be distributed among the villagers. In those times people would use yoked oxen or cows to plow the fields. They would prepare all the tools in advance, and place traditional dishes like strapkhor, kesser, and old butter on plates by their fields. They would invite the community, serve the food, and after three recitations of darood, they would say Bismillah and pray to Allah before starting to plow. This ritual ensured blessings and good harvests. In contrast, nowadays, tractors have replaced oxen. Some people start plowing without even reciting Bismillah, and they broadcast seeds using tractors, followed by laborers who create ridges. They complain about lack of blessings and poor harvests, whereas in the past, everything was done with care and reverence, and the fields were plowed with the help of yoked animals. After harvesting, the fields were never left unattended. In the past, they would plow the fields again with cows or oxen. But now, after harvesting, people often let their livestock roam freely in the fields, which was unimaginable back then. Modern methods like threshers are used for threshing, but in the old days, it was done using cows. Threshing in those times involved tying six to seven cows in a line with ropes, and people would follow behind with sticks and a special tool called daba to ensure the grain didn't scatter. After threshing, they would return to kachura to offer the remaining food as charity in a bucket known as fok kheyr b'. This fok had miraculous powers: when the grain needed to be separated from the chaff, they would blow a special whistle made of wood, which would summon just the right amount of wind needed to complete the task. The wind would blow precisely where needed and nowhere else, thanks to the blessings of the fok and the charity offered. In the olden days, people kept Allah happy, and in return, Allah bestowed blessings upon them. The difference between the past and present is evident in the conditions we see today.
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2.7.10.2
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