India, June 6 -- Another year, another flood of promises. As unseasonal rains once again devastate Maharashtra's farmlands, one cannot help but feel a familiar ache - the grief of the farmers and the apathy of the state machinery. From Marathwada to Vidarbha, from Udgir to Washim, the skies weep, and with them, so do the forgotten sons of the soil.

In the recent spell of early monsoon rains, harvested crops worth lakhs have been reduced to waste. Farmers, who toiled under the scorching sun for months, watched helplessly as their hard-earned produce drowned in muddy water. Videos went viral - like that of Gaurav Panwar in Washim, frantically trying to save his peanuts from the downpour with his bare hands. The clip struck a chord with the...