So, I learnt to tell a boy papaya tree from a girl papaya tree. The boy papaya tree's flowers grow in clusters on a stalk from the tree trunk; the girl papaya tree's flowers grow directly from the trunk. Boyfriend papaya tree may be on the neighbour's farm, but pollination depends on bees, the wind…farmers are occupied with such imponderables.

On Republic Day, we went back to the basics, visiting tribal hamlets in Jawhar and Mokhada talukas in Palghar district, 150 km or four hours from Mumbai, with Raah Foundation. The NGO, founded by the dynamic couple Girish Kulkarni and Sarika Kulkarni, has been working in Palghar since 2014. The area had water scarcity, poverty, unemployment, malnutrition and migration, but undaunted, the Kulkarnis have used their professional management backgrounds to generate impressive systemic changes. I have been involved in development work—gender, water, education and health issues—for 20 years, and was keen to see their work.