While you are sipping your tomato juice and munching on the cucumber sticks in the comforts of your air-conditioned room, have you ever spared a thought as to who grows and picks the food for you? Ghulam Bakhsh, a 45-year-old Pakistani, is a farmer, working in the fields of Taif, for over 20 years. He is married with two sons and a daughter, who live in Pakistan. “Though physically I am in the farm, my mind is with my parents and family living away from me,” he said to the Saudi Gazette. Ghulam works in a farm in Al-Hawai district, 40 km from Taif. “I started as a farmer in my country, and then I came here to my sponsor's farm. He is very nice man; he is a teacher in one of Taif's primary schools,” Ghulam said. Ghulam said he follows a routine to complete all his many chores of the day. “I wake-up at dawn, I pray, eat my breakfast, then I start working in the field all alone. I work until noon, and then I pray and have lunch after which I resume my work till sun-set. Then I relax in my room, watch television and finally go to sleep,” he said. Ghulam is often faced with many challenges in the fields, like heat, lack of rain, scorpions and snakes. “Usually I kill them, but there is one snake that I have caught and encaged in the farm. When the kids of my sponsor come, they play and feed it with mice and lizards,” he said. Ghulam said he visits Pakistan every two years to be with his wife and kids. He said he cannot work in Pakistan as he doesn't own a farm there. “Besides my sponsor is an honest man, so I like working for him.” Ghulam's elder son is also a farmer in Pakistan. “He used to study in school, but he failed his exams as nobody could follow his studies, since I am also here. So he shifted to farming,” he said. He said his younger son and daughter are studying in school. With prices of almost everything soaring, the pressure often is felt more by the labor sections of the society. “The cost of living is increasing in Pakistan; my salary would suffice all my families' needs until last year. But now I have to work throughout the day all year to earn enough for my family in Pakistan who are suffering as much as I am,” he said. He said differences in natural conditions in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia make his farming experience diverse in both the countries. “There is a very little rain here and the choice of crops is limited, for example, green beans, potatoes and tomatoes. In Pakistan, we have plenty of rain and since water is not a problem we grow everything from vegetables to grains and fruits,” Ghulam said. He said he overcomes nostalgia and loneliness by spending time with friends on weekends. My friends and I meet every Thursday night. We eat, talk and play. I feel alone if I am not busy, but if I am working all day, I will not think about anything else,” Ghulam said. __
