NCERT Textbook: A Seed Tells a Farmer's Story | EVS Class 5 PDF Download

 Page 1


174 174 174 174 174 Looking Around
19.A Seed Tells a
Farmer’s Story
I am a small seed!
I am a small bajra seed. I have stayed in this beautiful wooden
box since 1940. I want to tell you my story. This is a long story
– but not mine alone. It is also the story of my farmer Damjibhai
and his family. If I do not tell my story now, it might be too late!
I was born in Vangaam in Gujarat. That year there was a
good bajra (millet) crop. There was a festive mood in the village.
Our area was famous for its grain and vegetables. Each year
Damjibhai kept aside some seeds from a good crop. This way
our bajra family went on from one generation to another. Good
seeds were stored in dried gourd (lauki) which was coated with
mud. But that year Damjibhai himself made a
strong wooden box to store us. He put in neem
leaves to protect us from insects. He put different
seeds in different compartments of the box. That
was our beautiful home!
In those days Damjibhai and his cousins  lived
together. It was a large family. Everyone in the
village helped each other, even in farming. When
the crop was ready and harvested, everyone celebrated together.
Oh! Those wonderful days! With big feasts and lots to eat!
In the winter, it would be time to enjoy the undhiya (a kind of
stew). All the vegetables were put into a clay pot, along with
fresh spices. The pot was sealed and kept between hot coals.
The vegetables cooked slowly in this special cooker, on the fields.
Teacher’s Note : Encourage children to talk about their experiences before
beginning the chapter. Millet has been used only as an example. The children
can be asked to narrate their own observations about changes in crops and
vegetables that have taken place in their area.
2024-25
Page 2


174 174 174 174 174 Looking Around
19.A Seed Tells a
Farmer’s Story
I am a small seed!
I am a small bajra seed. I have stayed in this beautiful wooden
box since 1940. I want to tell you my story. This is a long story
– but not mine alone. It is also the story of my farmer Damjibhai
and his family. If I do not tell my story now, it might be too late!
I was born in Vangaam in Gujarat. That year there was a
good bajra (millet) crop. There was a festive mood in the village.
Our area was famous for its grain and vegetables. Each year
Damjibhai kept aside some seeds from a good crop. This way
our bajra family went on from one generation to another. Good
seeds were stored in dried gourd (lauki) which was coated with
mud. But that year Damjibhai himself made a
strong wooden box to store us. He put in neem
leaves to protect us from insects. He put different
seeds in different compartments of the box. That
was our beautiful home!
In those days Damjibhai and his cousins  lived
together. It was a large family. Everyone in the
village helped each other, even in farming. When
the crop was ready and harvested, everyone celebrated together.
Oh! Those wonderful days! With big feasts and lots to eat!
In the winter, it would be time to enjoy the undhiya (a kind of
stew). All the vegetables were put into a clay pot, along with
fresh spices. The pot was sealed and kept between hot coals.
The vegetables cooked slowly in this special cooker, on the fields.
Teacher’s Note : Encourage children to talk about their experiences before
beginning the chapter. Millet has been used only as an example. The children
can be asked to narrate their own observations about changes in crops and
vegetables that have taken place in their area.
2024-25
A Seed Tells a Farmer’s Story 175
Oh, I forgot, the pot was placed upside down!
That is why the dish was called undhiya or
“upside down” in Gujarati. Undhiya would
be eaten with bajra rotis, freshly cooked on
the chulha. Oh, what an earthy delicious
flavour! Along with that, home-made butter,
curd and buttermilk was served.
Farmers would grow many different
kinds of crops – grains and vegetables –
according to the season. The farmers kept
enough for their needs and sold the rest to
shopkeepers from the city. Some farmers also grew cotton. At
home, family members spun cotton on a charkha (spinning
wheel) to make cloth.
Tell
w w w w w Are rotis made in your home? From which grains are they
made?
w w w w w Have you eaten roti made from bajra or jowar? Did you
like these?
Find out and write
w w w w w In your house what is done to protect grains and pulses
from insects?
w w w w w Which are the different festivals related to farming,
celebrated in different seasons? Find out more about any
one such festival and write in your notebook –
The name of the festival, in which season is it celebrated,
in which states of India, what special foods are made, is it
celebrated only at home with the family, or together with
many people.
w w w w w Talk to the elders in your family and find out if there were
some special foods cooked earlier that are not cooked
any more?
2024-25
Page 3


174 174 174 174 174 Looking Around
19.A Seed Tells a
Farmer’s Story
I am a small seed!
I am a small bajra seed. I have stayed in this beautiful wooden
box since 1940. I want to tell you my story. This is a long story
– but not mine alone. It is also the story of my farmer Damjibhai
and his family. If I do not tell my story now, it might be too late!
I was born in Vangaam in Gujarat. That year there was a
good bajra (millet) crop. There was a festive mood in the village.
Our area was famous for its grain and vegetables. Each year
Damjibhai kept aside some seeds from a good crop. This way
our bajra family went on from one generation to another. Good
seeds were stored in dried gourd (lauki) which was coated with
mud. But that year Damjibhai himself made a
strong wooden box to store us. He put in neem
leaves to protect us from insects. He put different
seeds in different compartments of the box. That
was our beautiful home!
In those days Damjibhai and his cousins  lived
together. It was a large family. Everyone in the
village helped each other, even in farming. When
the crop was ready and harvested, everyone celebrated together.
Oh! Those wonderful days! With big feasts and lots to eat!
In the winter, it would be time to enjoy the undhiya (a kind of
stew). All the vegetables were put into a clay pot, along with
fresh spices. The pot was sealed and kept between hot coals.
The vegetables cooked slowly in this special cooker, on the fields.
Teacher’s Note : Encourage children to talk about their experiences before
beginning the chapter. Millet has been used only as an example. The children
can be asked to narrate their own observations about changes in crops and
vegetables that have taken place in their area.
2024-25
A Seed Tells a Farmer’s Story 175
Oh, I forgot, the pot was placed upside down!
That is why the dish was called undhiya or
“upside down” in Gujarati. Undhiya would
be eaten with bajra rotis, freshly cooked on
the chulha. Oh, what an earthy delicious
flavour! Along with that, home-made butter,
curd and buttermilk was served.
Farmers would grow many different
kinds of crops – grains and vegetables –
according to the season. The farmers kept
enough for their needs and sold the rest to
shopkeepers from the city. Some farmers also grew cotton. At
home, family members spun cotton on a charkha (spinning
wheel) to make cloth.
Tell
w w w w w Are rotis made in your home? From which grains are they
made?
w w w w w Have you eaten roti made from bajra or jowar? Did you
like these?
Find out and write
w w w w w In your house what is done to protect grains and pulses
from insects?
w w w w w Which are the different festivals related to farming,
celebrated in different seasons? Find out more about any
one such festival and write in your notebook –
The name of the festival, in which season is it celebrated,
in which states of India, what special foods are made, is it
celebrated only at home with the family, or together with
many people.
w w w w w Talk to the elders in your family and find out if there were
some special foods cooked earlier that are not cooked
any more?
2024-25
176 Looking Around
Can you recognise
these grains?
When times changed
Over the years, many changes took place in the village. Some
places could get water from the canal. They said the canal
brought water from far away – where a dam had been built on a
big river. Then electricity came. Switch on the button and there
was light! People found that only one or two crops, like wheat
and cotton, got better prices in the market. So most farmers
began to grow only these. Soon we – old friends bajra and jowar,
and also vegetables – were forgotten and dismissed, even from
Damjibhai’s fields! Farmers even began to buy seeds from the
market. People said they were new kinds of seeds. So farmers
did not need to store seeds from the old crop.
Now people in the village cooked and ate together only on
very special days. As they ate, they would remember how tasty
the food used to be in the past – fresh from the fields. When the
seeds have changed, how could food ever taste the same!
Damjibhai was getting old. His son Hasmukh looked after
the fields and the family. Hasmukh was making a lot of money
from farming. He rebuilt the old house. He brought new
machines for farming. He used an electric motor to pump water.
He bought a motorcycle to go to the city easily and also a tractor
to plough the field. The tractor could do in a day, what the
bullocks would take many days to do.
w w w w w Find out about the crops – cereals, vegetables, pulses – that are grown
in your area. Of those, is there anything that is famous across the
country?
2024-25
Page 4


174 174 174 174 174 Looking Around
19.A Seed Tells a
Farmer’s Story
I am a small seed!
I am a small bajra seed. I have stayed in this beautiful wooden
box since 1940. I want to tell you my story. This is a long story
– but not mine alone. It is also the story of my farmer Damjibhai
and his family. If I do not tell my story now, it might be too late!
I was born in Vangaam in Gujarat. That year there was a
good bajra (millet) crop. There was a festive mood in the village.
Our area was famous for its grain and vegetables. Each year
Damjibhai kept aside some seeds from a good crop. This way
our bajra family went on from one generation to another. Good
seeds were stored in dried gourd (lauki) which was coated with
mud. But that year Damjibhai himself made a
strong wooden box to store us. He put in neem
leaves to protect us from insects. He put different
seeds in different compartments of the box. That
was our beautiful home!
In those days Damjibhai and his cousins  lived
together. It was a large family. Everyone in the
village helped each other, even in farming. When
the crop was ready and harvested, everyone celebrated together.
Oh! Those wonderful days! With big feasts and lots to eat!
In the winter, it would be time to enjoy the undhiya (a kind of
stew). All the vegetables were put into a clay pot, along with
fresh spices. The pot was sealed and kept between hot coals.
The vegetables cooked slowly in this special cooker, on the fields.
Teacher’s Note : Encourage children to talk about their experiences before
beginning the chapter. Millet has been used only as an example. The children
can be asked to narrate their own observations about changes in crops and
vegetables that have taken place in their area.
2024-25
A Seed Tells a Farmer’s Story 175
Oh, I forgot, the pot was placed upside down!
That is why the dish was called undhiya or
“upside down” in Gujarati. Undhiya would
be eaten with bajra rotis, freshly cooked on
the chulha. Oh, what an earthy delicious
flavour! Along with that, home-made butter,
curd and buttermilk was served.
Farmers would grow many different
kinds of crops – grains and vegetables –
according to the season. The farmers kept
enough for their needs and sold the rest to
shopkeepers from the city. Some farmers also grew cotton. At
home, family members spun cotton on a charkha (spinning
wheel) to make cloth.
Tell
w w w w w Are rotis made in your home? From which grains are they
made?
w w w w w Have you eaten roti made from bajra or jowar? Did you
like these?
Find out and write
w w w w w In your house what is done to protect grains and pulses
from insects?
w w w w w Which are the different festivals related to farming,
celebrated in different seasons? Find out more about any
one such festival and write in your notebook –
The name of the festival, in which season is it celebrated,
in which states of India, what special foods are made, is it
celebrated only at home with the family, or together with
many people.
w w w w w Talk to the elders in your family and find out if there were
some special foods cooked earlier that are not cooked
any more?
2024-25
176 Looking Around
Can you recognise
these grains?
When times changed
Over the years, many changes took place in the village. Some
places could get water from the canal. They said the canal
brought water from far away – where a dam had been built on a
big river. Then electricity came. Switch on the button and there
was light! People found that only one or two crops, like wheat
and cotton, got better prices in the market. So most farmers
began to grow only these. Soon we – old friends bajra and jowar,
and also vegetables – were forgotten and dismissed, even from
Damjibhai’s fields! Farmers even began to buy seeds from the
market. People said they were new kinds of seeds. So farmers
did not need to store seeds from the old crop.
Now people in the village cooked and ate together only on
very special days. As they ate, they would remember how tasty
the food used to be in the past – fresh from the fields. When the
seeds have changed, how could food ever taste the same!
Damjibhai was getting old. His son Hasmukh looked after
the fields and the family. Hasmukh was making a lot of money
from farming. He rebuilt the old house. He brought new
machines for farming. He used an electric motor to pump water.
He bought a motorcycle to go to the city easily and also a tractor
to plough the field. The tractor could do in a day, what the
bullocks would take many days to do.
w w w w w Find out about the crops – cereals, vegetables, pulses – that are grown
in your area. Of those, is there anything that is famous across the
country?
2024-25
A Seed Tells a Farmer’s Story 177
Hasmukh would say, “Now we are
farming wisely. We grow only what we can
sell in the market at a good price. With
profits from our fields we can improve our
life. We can make progress.”
Lying forgotten in the wooden box, I and
the other seeds had our doubts. Is all this
really progress? There is no longer any need
for seeds like us, and animals like the
bullocks. After the tractor has come, even
people who worked on the fields, are no
longer needed. How will they earn money?
What will they live on?
Write
w w w w w What kind of progress would you like to see in your area?
Teacher’s Note : Use children’s experiences to discuss the kinds of changes
which have taken place in agricultural practices over the years and the possible
reasons for that. Newspaper reports should also be used.
More and more expenses
The next twenty years saw even more changes. Without cows
and buffaloes,  there was no cow dung, to be used in the fields as
fertilizer. Hasmukh had to buy expensive fertilizer. The new kinds
of seeds were such that the crops were easily affected by harmful
insects. Medicines had to be sprayed on the crops to keep away
Discuss
w w w w w The bajra seed saw differences in the way Damjibhai
and Hasmukh did farming (for example, in irrigation,
ploughing, etc). What were these differences?
w w w w w Hasmukh said, “With profits from our fields, we can
progress.” What is your understanding of ‘progress’?
2024-25
Page 5


174 174 174 174 174 Looking Around
19.A Seed Tells a
Farmer’s Story
I am a small seed!
I am a small bajra seed. I have stayed in this beautiful wooden
box since 1940. I want to tell you my story. This is a long story
– but not mine alone. It is also the story of my farmer Damjibhai
and his family. If I do not tell my story now, it might be too late!
I was born in Vangaam in Gujarat. That year there was a
good bajra (millet) crop. There was a festive mood in the village.
Our area was famous for its grain and vegetables. Each year
Damjibhai kept aside some seeds from a good crop. This way
our bajra family went on from one generation to another. Good
seeds were stored in dried gourd (lauki) which was coated with
mud. But that year Damjibhai himself made a
strong wooden box to store us. He put in neem
leaves to protect us from insects. He put different
seeds in different compartments of the box. That
was our beautiful home!
In those days Damjibhai and his cousins  lived
together. It was a large family. Everyone in the
village helped each other, even in farming. When
the crop was ready and harvested, everyone celebrated together.
Oh! Those wonderful days! With big feasts and lots to eat!
In the winter, it would be time to enjoy the undhiya (a kind of
stew). All the vegetables were put into a clay pot, along with
fresh spices. The pot was sealed and kept between hot coals.
The vegetables cooked slowly in this special cooker, on the fields.
Teacher’s Note : Encourage children to talk about their experiences before
beginning the chapter. Millet has been used only as an example. The children
can be asked to narrate their own observations about changes in crops and
vegetables that have taken place in their area.
2024-25
A Seed Tells a Farmer’s Story 175
Oh, I forgot, the pot was placed upside down!
That is why the dish was called undhiya or
“upside down” in Gujarati. Undhiya would
be eaten with bajra rotis, freshly cooked on
the chulha. Oh, what an earthy delicious
flavour! Along with that, home-made butter,
curd and buttermilk was served.
Farmers would grow many different
kinds of crops – grains and vegetables –
according to the season. The farmers kept
enough for their needs and sold the rest to
shopkeepers from the city. Some farmers also grew cotton. At
home, family members spun cotton on a charkha (spinning
wheel) to make cloth.
Tell
w w w w w Are rotis made in your home? From which grains are they
made?
w w w w w Have you eaten roti made from bajra or jowar? Did you
like these?
Find out and write
w w w w w In your house what is done to protect grains and pulses
from insects?
w w w w w Which are the different festivals related to farming,
celebrated in different seasons? Find out more about any
one such festival and write in your notebook –
The name of the festival, in which season is it celebrated,
in which states of India, what special foods are made, is it
celebrated only at home with the family, or together with
many people.
w w w w w Talk to the elders in your family and find out if there were
some special foods cooked earlier that are not cooked
any more?
2024-25
176 Looking Around
Can you recognise
these grains?
When times changed
Over the years, many changes took place in the village. Some
places could get water from the canal. They said the canal
brought water from far away – where a dam had been built on a
big river. Then electricity came. Switch on the button and there
was light! People found that only one or two crops, like wheat
and cotton, got better prices in the market. So most farmers
began to grow only these. Soon we – old friends bajra and jowar,
and also vegetables – were forgotten and dismissed, even from
Damjibhai’s fields! Farmers even began to buy seeds from the
market. People said they were new kinds of seeds. So farmers
did not need to store seeds from the old crop.
Now people in the village cooked and ate together only on
very special days. As they ate, they would remember how tasty
the food used to be in the past – fresh from the fields. When the
seeds have changed, how could food ever taste the same!
Damjibhai was getting old. His son Hasmukh looked after
the fields and the family. Hasmukh was making a lot of money
from farming. He rebuilt the old house. He brought new
machines for farming. He used an electric motor to pump water.
He bought a motorcycle to go to the city easily and also a tractor
to plough the field. The tractor could do in a day, what the
bullocks would take many days to do.
w w w w w Find out about the crops – cereals, vegetables, pulses – that are grown
in your area. Of those, is there anything that is famous across the
country?
2024-25
A Seed Tells a Farmer’s Story 177
Hasmukh would say, “Now we are
farming wisely. We grow only what we can
sell in the market at a good price. With
profits from our fields we can improve our
life. We can make progress.”
Lying forgotten in the wooden box, I and
the other seeds had our doubts. Is all this
really progress? There is no longer any need
for seeds like us, and animals like the
bullocks. After the tractor has come, even
people who worked on the fields, are no
longer needed. How will they earn money?
What will they live on?
Write
w w w w w What kind of progress would you like to see in your area?
Teacher’s Note : Use children’s experiences to discuss the kinds of changes
which have taken place in agricultural practices over the years and the possible
reasons for that. Newspaper reports should also be used.
More and more expenses
The next twenty years saw even more changes. Without cows
and buffaloes,  there was no cow dung, to be used in the fields as
fertilizer. Hasmukh had to buy expensive fertilizer. The new kinds
of seeds were such that the crops were easily affected by harmful
insects. Medicines had to be sprayed on the crops to keep away
Discuss
w w w w w The bajra seed saw differences in the way Damjibhai
and Hasmukh did farming (for example, in irrigation,
ploughing, etc). What were these differences?
w w w w w Hasmukh said, “With profits from our fields, we can
progress.” What is your understanding of ‘progress’?
2024-25
178 Looking Around
the insects. Oh, what a bad smell these had,
and how expensive they were!
The canal water was not enough for the
new crops. All the farmers used pumps to lift
water from deep under the ground. To meet
all these expenses, loans had to be taken from
the bank. Whatever little profit was made, was
used to repay the loan.
But there was little profit! Everyone was
growing cotton, so the cotton prices were
not as high as before. The soil itself was no
longer the same. Growing the same crop
over and over, and using so many
chemicals, had affected the soil so much
that now nothing could grow well there. It was becoming difficult
to earn a living by farming alone.
Hasmukh too changed with the times. He is often tense and
angry most of the time. His educated son Paresh did not want to
do farming. He now started work as a truck driver. After all, the
bank loans still had to be repaid. Often Paresh doesn’t come
home for days. At times he is away for a week. Two days back
when he came home, Paresh started looking for something.
“Ba”, he asked his mother, “Where is Dadaji’s wooden seed
box? It will be useful to keep the screws and tools for the truck.”
Now do you understand why I told you my story?
Teacher’s Note : It is important to give space to children to freely express what
they understand by ‘progress’ and ‘development’. Contemporary debates around
the world can be linked to this discussion – for example, farmer’s struggles in
developing countries, efforts to save traditional seeds and medicines, and who has
the right over all this knowledge – farmers or the big multinational companies?
Discuss and think
w w w w w What can happen to Hasmukh’s farm after some years?
2024-25