Tasleema Begum wakes earlier than the solar rises over Srinagar’s hills. She ties her dupatta, steps into the morning chill, and walks to her strawberry fields. There’s no time for a full breakfast — strawberries should be picked earlier than the solar will get too sturdy. Every morning begins like this: with fingers deep in purple fruit and a thoughts already balancing chores, market runs, and residential.
Fifteen years in the past, Gassu was a village of paddy fields and tight routines. Then the water dried up, and the fields stopped listening. One crop disappeared. One other arrived.
And with it, all the pieces modified — particularly for the ladies.
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The shift wasn’t unintentional. As water shortage deepened, Gassu’s paddy fields turned more durable to maintain. Many farmers turned to strawberries, a extra resource-efficient crop, and in doing so, discovered a option to adapt to local weather change.
At the moment, over 60 p.c of Gassu’s individuals develop strawberries, and practically half of them are ladies. Ladies who as soon as spent their days behind closed doorways now handle fields, earn cash, and make choices. For a lot of, it started not with confidence — however with necessity.
Collectively, ladies kind the spine of the village’s financial system. Ladies usually work in teams, beginning simply after morning prayers and persevering with until noon. Their presence within the fields is now a each day rhythm — as acquainted because the dawn.
‘I by no means thought the fields have been for me’
In 2007, when farmers in Gassu first started rising strawberries, Tasleema didn’t pay a lot consideration. It was her husband who believed within the crop. She helped him often, however didn’t see it as her personal work.
“It has been greater than a decade now,” she tells The Higher India, standing within the area she as soon as ignored. “We develop strawberries on two kanals of land. My husband alone can’t handle it. I do the farming, run the home — all the pieces.”
From mid-April to late Might, the strawberry harvest takes over her life. “Within the mornings, I barely get time to arrange breakfast. The fruit should be picked early, earlier than the warmth spoils it,” she explains. On common, they pack round 400 containers each season — over 4 quintals of fruit.
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What started as help slowly turned identification. “This land is my delight. I deal with it like my very own baby,” Tasleema says.
And it has introduced her greater than cash. “I obtain numerous respect from my husband and youngsters. Nobody questions me for working — they admire me,” she provides, smiling.
Now, Tasleema is aware of precisely the place she stands — on her personal land, in work that she understands deeply, and in a house the place her function is seen and valued.
She first mentioned no to farming — then constructed a enterprise
When Shahzada Begum (36) acquired married and moved to Gassu, farming was the very last thing on her thoughts. A postgraduate, she had by no means imagined herself within the fields.
“I instructed my husband I wasn’t prepared for this,” she remembers. “I wasn’t married to do farming.”
At first, she stayed again. However each morning, she watched her household step out with baskets and return hours later with red-stained fingers and drained smiles. Slowly, one thing shifted.
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Now, Shahzada leads the work, from selecting at daybreak to packing and transporting the fruit to Srinagar’s Fruit Mandi. “At first, I struggled. However now I see myself as somebody who has decisions. I’m not confined. I run my enterprise, I earn, and I assist others discover work,” she says.
For Shahzada, the change isn’t simply private — it’s cultural. “Ladies and society have each modified,” she says. “I didn’t wish to keep inside the home on a regular basis. I discovered one thing of my very own, and that issues.”
Nonetheless, it hasn’t been straightforward. “Due to non secular norms, some ladies hesitate to work exterior. However that is my land and my enterprise. I’m happy with it,” she says firmly.
Left alone, she turned to the land
After her husband handed away, Kulsuma (45) was left with two kids and no clear path ahead. With no steady earnings and solely 15 marlas of land (roughly 272 sq ft), she decided that may change all the pieces — she turned to strawberry farming.
“This work gave me a way of aid,” she says. “But it surely’s not straightforward. Managing the sector, the family, and my kids’s training is exhausting.”
There are days she thinks of quitting. The labour is intense, and the loneliness heavier. Nonetheless, she continues. “That is the one method I can help my kids. The sphere has turn into part of me. It calls for my time, but it surely additionally provides me power.”
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Her perseverance hasn’t gone unnoticed. In Gassu, individuals have began to see her not simply as a widow, however as a lady who stood her floor. “Folks respect me for what I do. As a widow, that respect means loads. I really feel stronger due to it,” she tells The Higher India.
She nonetheless carries her grief, however the work retains her going. The sphere calls for her time and vitality, but it affords one thing regular in return—a option to stand on her personal.
‘I wanted to breathe. The land saved me.’
For 40-year-old Dar Rubeena, the fields introduced one thing she hadn’t felt indoors—freedom.
“I can’t keep indoors on a regular basis. It suffocates me,” she says. “Working within the fields provides me vitality.”
She started farming out of necessity. Through the years, her function grew. With every harvest, she constructed a rhythm — studying tips on how to handle, promote, and lead. “With out dedication, you’ll be able to’t transfer ahead,” she says. “Balancing the home and the farm is troublesome, however I’ve by no means needed to cease.”
Her husband’s help made the journey simpler. “He has been with me each step of the way in which. His assist made an enormous distinction.”
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Rubeena now earns round Rs 60,000 per kanal throughout the strawberry season. She speaks about her work with regular confidence. “Ladies have formed this shift. We used to remain at residence. Now, we’re managing land, incomes steadily, and making choices.”
She even encourages different ladies to step into no matter work provides them independence. “I’ve constructed one thing of my very own right here. Others can too.”
What occurs when ladies take the lead
In a village of practically 10,000 individuals, strawberry farming has turn into the first supply of livelihood for 60 p.c of the inhabitants. With every family investing time and land into the fruit, the transformation is not simply financial — it’s seen in the way in which Gassu lives and strikes.
Every morning, ladies stroll to the fields with crates balanced on their hips. Their fingers flip purple earlier than the solar is absolutely up. On the mandi stalls in Srinagar, patrons greet them by identify. A lot of the fruit is bought there, however some ladies additionally promote by the roadside, to native retailers close to the Mughal Gardens, and even to eating places that serve vacationers.
Fifteen years in the past, most of those ladies not often stepped past their houses. Now they’re dealing with gross sales, working farms, and shaping the selections that outline their households’ futures.
Through the peak season, every field of strawberries sells for Rs 100 to Rs 200. It’s a powerful supply of earnings—for many who can defend their crop from sudden rain or harsh warmth.
Nonetheless, season after season, they present up. With each harvest, they’re constructing one thing deeper than revenue. They’re constructing confidence, incomes respect, and changing into seen in areas the place they have been as soon as unseen.
The crates carry strawberries, however the actual harvest is more durable to see — ladies moving into roles they have been as soon as denied, making decisions for his or her land, their households, and the futures they now really feel courageous sufficient to think about.
The fruit leaves in crates. The ability stays with the ladies who stroll these fields like they’ve all the time belonged.
All photos courtesy Muazam Mohi Ud Din