Rains in the month of May hit tendu leaf collectors in Madhya Pradesh

Rains in the month of May hit tendu leaf collectors in Madhya Pradesh

At 4 AM in the forests of Madhya Pradesh, millions begin their desperate race against time. They're not hunting for gold or precious stones—they're collecting leaves from the humble tendu tree, the backbone of India's most overlooked billion-rupee industry. The tendu leaf wraps bidi, famously called the "poor man's cigarette." What's ironic? The very people who make this possible are themselves trapped in poverty. In Khari village, Sehore distri…