Water tankers, however, do not irrigate fields. Village after village, town after town, farm after farm look singed. Nothing grows here, except farmers' debts.

This custard apple orchid once earned its owner enough to send his children to school and make that occasional trip to Pune to buy them goodies. Today, he does not know how long he can survive on the dole he gets at an Employment Guarantee Scheme site.

There are several like him. The road is dotted with barren fields.