Rural Punjab amidst farmers' protest: Short film to be screened at French festival

By Rosamma Thomas*
"Khushboo", a 15-minute film by Sidhu Vikrant set in Ludhiana, Punjab, has been selected for the competition section of the Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France. The short fiction film in Punjabi is a depiction of rural Punjab, through the eyes of a farmer who stays silent through much of the film.

It comes as a short education capsule, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet colleagues would do well to spare 15 minutes to watch "Khushboo".

Smelling flowers, the protagonist of the film finds no fragrance – plants produced from hybrid seeds yield flowers with diminished fragrance. His wife pulls his leg, “You cannot smell it because the hair in your nose is now white,” she says.
Through his silence, the farmer expresses much: The loss of diversity and colour, not just in nature but in human relations too; the collapse of dialogue, within the family and nation. The determined protest of farmers at the borders of the national capital lasted a whole year, and the farmers managed to force the government to withdraw the new laws that would have changed farming in India substantially.

During the year-long protest, the prime minister could not spare the time to meet the farmers; the farmers, however, had all the time in the world and declared that they would not return home until the three farm laws were withdrawn. The rugged protesters feature in the film too, going about their day – combing their hair, alighting from the vehicles that served as home, listening to speeches at the protest site.

Asked why the film was not screened in India, the maker of the film said, “We struggled to put it together on our own funds, and we sent it where we thought it would find appreciation.”

Vikrant has sought support from the State government in Punjab to attend the festival, which will be held between January 28 and February 5, 2022, at Clermont-Ferrand, France.

---

All photographs are screenshots from the film sent by Sidhu Vikrant

The making of a self-made woman: How eighty sheep changed everything for Kalawati Ninama

By Vikas Meshram* About forty-two kilometres from Rajasthan's Banswara district, in the tribal heartland of Ghatol block, lies the small village of Ubapana. This is where Kalawati Ninama, her husband Dhulji, and their four children make their home. Their days unfold much like those of their neighbours—bustling mornings, long hours of farm labour through the afternoon, and evenings spent tending livestock. For this family, farming and livestock were once simply a means of putting food on the table. Today, they have become the sturdy foundation of something far greater: genuine self-sufficiency.

Ahmedabad world’s least climate resilient major city: AlphaGeo study

By Rajiv Shah A new study has ranked Ahmedabad as the least climate-resilient major city in the world , highlighting a dangerous gap between the city’s extreme physical vulnerability to climate hazards and its capacity to adapt. Cited by The New York Times , the analysis, conducted by geospatial artificial intelligence firm AlphaGeo , places the Indian city at the top of a list of global urban centres most exposed to climate risk.

India has spent billions on skilling. Where are the jobs?

By Vikas Gupta India loves the photograph of a certificate ceremony. A minister on a stage. A banner bearing the word “skill.” Young people holding folders that promise a future. It is a reassuring image because it tells us the problem has a manageable answer: train the young, make them job-ready, and work will follow.

Counterview

Search This Blog