Mainpat Tibetan Settlement, Chattisgarh, India
Livelihood of MainpatThe major source of livelihood for the people of the settlement comes from Agriculture and winter sweater selling. AgricultureMainpat has fairly fertile soil and thus, farming has influenced the lives of most of the population of the settlement. But there are many drawbacks such as irrigation problems. The most famous farm product is potato. Some of the rich farmers would grow a huge amount of potatoes on more than 50 acres of farm land. Another famous farm product is Dhra-vu (a black seed-like product which is used to make atta or something). As compared to potato, Dhra-vu are considered to be an easy and not-too-risky business. There are hardly any crops that would not grow in Mainpat. People grow paddy, mustard seed, garlic, wheat, maize and many other crops. Some people have nice house with farm where they grow some of the vegetables. Although fruits are not grown there for business purpose, most of the houses have lots of fruit trees. Mangoes, Anar, Gauva, Papaya and many other fruits can be seen in most of the houses. Recently a few people tried to plant some apple trees and they found that in Mainpat even apples are possible. Winter Sweater SellingRight after His Holiness' birthday celebration on July 6, people get busy planning for their trip to Ludhiana and Delhi in order to buy the sweaters and other cloth products which they will be selling the whole winter in the cities all over India. They will buy a nice collection of warm sweaters, fancy jackets and coats and many other such products which have to be sold through the end of October to the middle of February. Most of the sweater sellers in big towns like Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh) and Bilaspur (Chattisgarh) are from Mainpat. Many of the sweater sellers from Mainpat are also seen in big cities like Bhopal, Kolkota and Delhi.
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