Working hard season after season
With one particular reason
Always struggling to produce
Enough food for the Nation
Aiming towards one goal
Feeding hunger of the teeming population
So that the nation remains hunger free
Yet the life of farmer only remains unfree
I am only made to die
And reduced to the statistic of ‘farmer suicide’
In the game of numbers
My death only remains a less important number
My societal contribution gets judged by the monetary numbers
My life becomes less important in front of the GDP numbers
Receiving a step motherly treatment
My voice only remains unheard
Though I raise my voice everywhere
Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh or Tamil Nadu
Struggling at every step
From an affordable loan to cheap agriculture inputs
To a fetching market and a decent minimum support price
My struggle only continues
I am only reduced to a ‘symbol’
In the name of ‘Jai Kisaan’ or a ‘Anna daata’
When in reality
I am only treated like a ‘credit shaitaan’ and a ‘suicide kaatha’
T H Sreerama is retired from Central Warehousing Corporation
