Our readers know that despite being proponents of a conservative ideology, we are admirers of Sahir’s poetry. We want to talk about a national tragedy nay shame. Since 1997, 2.4 lakh farmers have taken their own lives. I am assuming that the number of farmers dying because of other poverty driven factors would make the number even more gruesome. Sahir wrote this poem before India’s freedom. It would seem that while the nation has moved on, the Indian farmer is caught in a cruel time warp. With extreme apologies to our non-Hindi speaking readers, here is the poem.kal aur aaj
kal bhi booNdeiN barsii thiiN
kal bhi baadal chhaye the
aur kavi ne sochaa thaa!
baadal ye aakaash ke sapne, in zulfoN ke saaye haiN
dosh-e-havaa par maiKhaane hi maiKhaane ghir aaye haiN
rut badlegi, phool khileiNge, jhoNke madhu barsaayeiNge
ujle ujle khetoN meiN rangeeN aaNchal lahraayeiNge
charvaahe bansii kii dhun se geet fazaa meiN boyeiNge
aamoN ke jhunDoN ke neeche pardesi dil kholeiNge
peNg baRhaati gori ke maathe se kauNde lapkeiNge
johaR ke Thahre paani meiN taare aaNkheiN jhapkeiNge
uljhi uljhi raahoN meiN vo aaNchal thaame aayeiNge
dharti, phool, aakaash sitaare sapna sa ban jaayeiNge
kal bhi booNdeiN barsii thiiN
kal bhi baadal chhaye the
aur kavi ne socha!
aaj bhi booNdeiN barseiNgi
aaj bhi baadal chhaye haiN
aur kavi is soch meiN hai
basti pe baadal chhaaye haiN, par ye bastii kiski hai
dharti par amrit barsegaa, lekin dharti kiski hai
hal jotegi khetoN meiN alhaR Tolii dahqaanoN kii
dharti se phooTegii mehnat faaqaakash insaanoN kii
fasleiN kaaT ke mehnatkash, galle ke Dher lagaayeiNge
jaageeroN ke maalik aakar sab pooNjii le jaayeiNge
booRhe dahqaanoN ke ghar baniye kii qurqii aayegii
aur qarze ke sood meiN koi gori bechi jaayegii
aaj bhi jantaa bhooki hai aur kal bhi jantaa tarsii thii
aaj bhi rimjhim barkhaa hogi, kal bhi baarish barsii thii
aaj bhi baadal chaaye haiN
aaj bhi booNdeiN barseiNgii
aur kavii is soch meiN hai!
Glossary
dosh-e-havaa = Wind’s shoulder, madhu = honey, charvaahe = shepherds, peNg = swing (peeng), kauNde = lightening, johaR = a pond, dahqaanoN = farmers, faaqaakash = poor, mehnatkash = hardworkers, galle = money box
As you can see, Sahir’s words are apt even today. A recent report claims that a farmer commits suicide every twelve hours. In India we have two kinds of poverty. One where people get a lot less to eat than is required by nature and the other where people are forced to eat out of garbage or inedible things like clay. Since the farmer is the sole earner for the family, we have a family dying every 12 hours. These families go from one level of poverty to the one below.
The article at in.msn.com claims that: Bringing to light several stark contrasts in India, where the average CEO earns 30,000 times more than the average worker, Sainath said "While labour productivity rose 84%, real wages of labourers dropped 22%. The country imports wheat from Australia, which was importing wheat nine years ago from Punjab. It exports 20 million tonnes of grain at Rs 5.45/kg, whereas the same grain is sold to the poor at Rs 6.15/kg."
One of the theories is that a move to much higher priced Bt cotton seeds by Monsanto and the entailing costs (fertilizer and irrigation) has forced the farmers to borrow from unscrupulous moneylenders. It would seem that a move to conventional farming would solve this problem. After all these farmers have been doing that forever. The US and other government pay huge subsidies to their farmers. Such doles are going to bankrupt those nations but that is their problem. What the GoI needs to do is to stand up to those governments and ensure that our farmers get a fair price for their crops and not get trying to compete with subsidized cheap cotton and other goods. The voltairenet.org articles says the following:
The article at in.msn.com claims that: Bringing to light several stark contrasts in India, where the average CEO earns 30,000 times more than the average worker, Sainath said "While labour productivity rose 84%, real wages of labourers dropped 22%. The country imports wheat from Australia, which was importing wheat nine years ago from Punjab. It exports 20 million tonnes of grain at Rs 5.45/kg, whereas the same grain is sold to the poor at Rs 6.15/kg."
One of the theories is that a move to much higher priced Bt cotton seeds by Monsanto and the entailing costs (fertilizer and irrigation) has forced the farmers to borrow from unscrupulous moneylenders. It would seem that a move to conventional farming would solve this problem. After all these farmers have been doing that forever. The US and other government pay huge subsidies to their farmers. Such doles are going to bankrupt those nations but that is their problem. What the GoI needs to do is to stand up to those governments and ensure that our farmers get a fair price for their crops and not get trying to compete with subsidized cheap cotton and other goods. The voltairenet.org articles says the following:
A shift from GMO and non renewable seeds to organic, open pollinated seed varieties which farmers can save and share.
A shift from chemical farming to organic farming.
A shift from unfair trade based on false prices to fair trade based on real and just prices.
The farmers who have made this shift are earning 10 times more than the farmers growing Monsanto’s Bt-cotton.
A shift from chemical farming to organic farming.
A shift from unfair trade based on false prices to fair trade based on real and just prices.
The farmers who have made this shift are earning 10 times more than the farmers growing Monsanto’s Bt-cotton.
However there is another theory. The MSN article says that: The major causes that were identified were this: India was transforming rapidly into a primarily urban, industrial society with industry as its main source of income; the government and society had begun to be unconcerned about the condition of the countryside; moreover, a downturn in the urban economy was pushing a large number of distressed non-farmers to try their hand at cultivation; in the absence of any responsible counseling either from the government or society there were many farmers who did not know how to survive in the changing economy. Such stresses pushed many into a corner where suicide became the only option for them.
Now this sounds more like the India we know. The entire urban population and the government have become obsessed with high growth rates and the image of India in other countries and they neglected the basic drivers of the Indian economy. After all, we are an agrarian society and ignoring that has resulted into these problems. I dare say that the reports of mass suicides by farmers in Chattisgarh were published in newspapers across the world, did a whole lot of good to our image.
Since these suicides were happening on the BJP watch as well, I cannot absolve them and blame the UPA in any good conscience. This rural neglect seems to be an India-wide syndrome. I do not want to sound like a left wing activist but if we do not include the rural India in our forward march, we are going to face major imbalances in the country and that does not bode well for either the prosperity of the country or safety of the society. We should consider ourselves warned and formulate a practical and implementable policy, one that would bypass the greedy babus, local netas and other assorted vultures. I don’t know what those could be but that is why we have those brilliant IAS officers in place. It is time they and other decision makers earned their money and I mean EARN it.
Now this sounds more like the India we know. The entire urban population and the government have become obsessed with high growth rates and the image of India in other countries and they neglected the basic drivers of the Indian economy. After all, we are an agrarian society and ignoring that has resulted into these problems. I dare say that the reports of mass suicides by farmers in Chattisgarh were published in newspapers across the world, did a whole lot of good to our image.
Since these suicides were happening on the BJP watch as well, I cannot absolve them and blame the UPA in any good conscience. This rural neglect seems to be an India-wide syndrome. I do not want to sound like a left wing activist but if we do not include the rural India in our forward march, we are going to face major imbalances in the country and that does not bode well for either the prosperity of the country or safety of the society. We should consider ourselves warned and formulate a practical and implementable policy, one that would bypass the greedy babus, local netas and other assorted vultures. I don’t know what those could be but that is why we have those brilliant IAS officers in place. It is time they and other decision makers earned their money and I mean EARN it.
The article discussed above are as follows:
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5015358
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5015358
Sahir's poem is from: http://www.sahirludhianvi.com/blog/index.php/category/talkhiyaan/page/3/
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