SONKHAS (YAVATMAL): Shashikala Rengne is busy laying out firewood, while her husband Pralhad, who has just demolished a portion of his mud house, begins to replace it with tin sheds. The Rengnes are lucky.

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi visited their home during his recent visit to Vidarbha where financially distressed farmers continue to commit suicide. He also mentioned Shash-ikala's name in his speech during the trust vote in Parliament on July 22. That overni-ght fame has given them a slightly better shot at life.

Unlike Kalawati Bandurkar of Jalka village, who was also put in the headlines after Rahul's speech, Shashikala hasn't been widowed. But like Kalawati, Shashikala's family also doesn't have any land to till and their condition seems worse.

The husband and wife work as farm hands. Being a woman, Shashikala gets a daily wage of Rs 30, while Pralhad gets Rs 70. But there are days when he is paid only Rs 40.

Their family of five lives in a mud house with only one 10x15 feet room and a small kitchen. They have to share the space with goats and chicken. When it rains, it pours in their house. Of course, there is no electricity. Like Kalavati's house, now Shashikala's hut, too, has a huge banner of Rahul Gandhi on the front wall and his portrait inside.

The VIP's chance visit has invited some change in their lives. Congress leader Naresh Pugalia has deposited Rs 1.50 lakh in the bank for the education of her three sons.

Shashikala's 15-year-old son Yogesh is maintaining a list of donors. "Pugalia gave us Rs 1,50,000 in the bank and Rs 10,000 cash. A person by the name of Nagpure has also given money and one Chandrabai Sawalakhe of Yavatmal has promised to get us an electricity connection and also build us a house," he says.

But the woman says she knows nothing about who Rahul Gandhi is and her eldest son, Mahendra — the only member in the family who can read a newspaper - says he is the country's PM.

"That day he (Rahul) just stopped at my doorstep and asked if he could come in. I invited him in and made him comfortable on a cot. Then all the villagers began talking about him. They said Rahul talked about me on TV. How would I know, I don't have electricity at home," says Shashikala. Pralhad, who was working in the fields, missed the VIP visit.

The family knows nothing about farmers' suicides either. "Which farmer killed himself," asks Pralhad, adding that they are too busy earning a square meal to find out about what's happening around them. Told about Kalawati's threats that she would commit suicide if she doesn't get help, Shashikala says, "It is wrong to say so. There are good people who would help us and we must be content with what we have."