Warangal: The day starts early for Goutami. The more beedis she manages to roll, the more she will earn. Upto 60 rupees for 1000 beedis. The 19-year-old is heavily-pregnant, and has been advised not to sit erect for long hours. But her mother's cotton fields have withered away. In her small hut, there are already four mouths to feed. And soon, the family will confront the expenses for Goutami's delivery.
Goutami's mother, Mallama, says the drought has defeated her. "I feel like just giving up and drinking some pesticide. My heart breaks when I see my field. Last few days, I haven't gone there. Yesterday I went and just couldn't stop crying.''
Like so many other cotton farms in this part of Andhra Pradesh, Mallamma's farms are seeped in tragedy. Eight years ago, her husband committed suicide by drinking pesticide. Mallama has managed the farms since then. But the cotton saplings are drying up. Even if it rains now, she won't be able to repay the 30,000 rupees she has borrowed for the crop.
Mallamma has pulled her second daughter Rajitha out of school. Every day, mother and daughter walk to the NREGS work site near their village in Warangal district. Whatever they earn is meant to feed the family. They haven't eaten vegetables in weeks. In her state of advanced pregnancy, Goutami can't afford a nutritious diet.
Mallama explain the calculations that keep her up every night. "I get 16 kg rice on my ration card. It is not enough for us four. We must buy dal, salt everything from outside. 250 gm of vegetable is not enough even for one meal. That itself is at least five rupees. The younger children are always fighting about who will get what to eat ''
The Opposition in Andhra Pradesh claims that in the last 2 weeks, 70 cotton farmers have killed themselves. The government says that number is closer to 15. And in the homes where these lives have been lost, families keep paying a heavy price.