......THE FARMERS HAVE LIT THIS FLAME .....

 Though not directly related to farmers, this is an article of an “oppressed community so please bear with me!

https://www.newslaundry.com/2021/10/30/finding-george-floyd-in-gujarat-a-day-in-the-life-of-the-siddi-community

The more I delve into “India “the more I learn about its inequalities, its atrocities towards minorities, towards indigenous tribes … the big divide between the haves and the have-not’s

I feel a sense of embarrassment that for so many years of my life (like a fair few of us) I have lived in a little bubble … a cocoon of privilege (I do use the word a bit sheepishly) where along with my many friends and family we were a bit removed from the world of a daily wage earner, a little boy selling “ Dhoop” at the traffic lights, a little girl in tatters with streaks of mud and snot scuttling to the car asking to clean the car for a few rupees… and much to my chagrin ( now) I remember saying irritatingly , “ She can get hurt, why is she crossing the road to clean the glass windows of the car” .. It was hunger…. this lack of food that made her and many others do this?

I like to think, we were raised to be kind and empathetic to people less fortunate but we were luckier than most and yet, despite getting a wee sad , a wee upset about the poverty we saw every day, through the tinted glass of the car( tinted was not banned then) there was not much I did about it ?

Yes, I was “kind” (I use this word sarcastically now) to home help … I did not throw a fit if they broke a much-loved Czech crystal glass or had to take leave if their child was ill…, but did I wonder how much they earned in a month? Did I ask about their life back in their “gaon”?

Did I bother to read about the numerous tribes that inhabited the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, MP, Bihar, Far East?

Did I even consider the sheer grit and resolve that they must have to survive each day…. every day ? The list of “inequalities” in our Bharat is endless …. The deeper I delve into it, the more embarrassed I feel about not “talking “about it more!

So, what has changed?

Our marginalized farmers sitting at the Morcha have raised my moral conscience ... they have awakened my “soul” … they have made me “uncomfortable” about my “silence” all these years…. They have enabled me to look into aspects of our “unequal “society and get an “education” ….. my master’s and M. Phil in Literature seems inadequate —- is this even an education?

Does reading Thomas Hardy, understanding John Donne, quoting “Hamlet” educate me about life?

Clearly not ….

So, a big thank to my brave farmers for waking up the “real human” in me!

As I read about the Siddi Community in Gujarat, I was flummoxed by the fact that I had not known of their existence till now .

Now that I know, I want to raise my voice for all those whose voices have been silenced!

Thank you # Farmers for being that flame!

https://www.newslaundry.com/2021/10/30/finding-george-floyd-in-gujarat-a-day-in-the-life-of-the-siddi-community