A hot humid September day—the first navratra—in Raibka village, seven km from Alwar in Rajasthan. On this day every year, the 650-odd villagers take to the fields and begin sowing the mustard seed that makes up 80 per cent of the village's crop. It's a lot like most hamlets in Rajasthan, which accounts for 40 per cent or 22 lakh tonnes of the country's total mustard produce. "Mustard is like gold for us," says Habla, a labourer. Today, however, they're lazing around on charpoys. "We've had heavy rains for the last two days, and once the soil dries, we'll have to plough our fields all over again, before we begin sowing," says Cha-hat Khan, who has five bighas of land.