Firtile lands
The land was fertile, and anything he planted flourished. Though the land did not need synthetic fertilizer the government increased the quota of subsidized fertilizer during the first three years of the development project. The farmers had more fertilizer, pesticides, and weedy sides than they could use in their fields and backyard vegetable gardens. They sold the excess of agrochemicals to make a few extra rupees. Just a few years later, they protested the government's gradual reduction of subsidized agrochemicals, followed by "subsidized agrochemicals" becoming an election promise.
With the help of the new neighbors, Ajith built a small, wattle-walled, Cadjan-roofed house with a bedroom, a living room, and a kitchen. A few years later, Lalitha and Ajith got married. They had a daughter, then a son, followed by another daughter.
The water buffaloes, once a common sight in the paddy fields, were now replaced by a few tractors. The floods came and the droughts came, while the war went on. Malaria took away some of his neighbors. Children went to war. He sold his paddy field to pay his debts while some of his neighbors, unable to bear the burden, drank pesticide, and others sold everything and left. Ajith moved to Colombo to find work, leaving his family behind in the village.
