A terrible tragedy has struck kuttanad. The summer showers played havoc with the crop- which was excellent this year.
being an urban bred creature, i allowed myself to enjoy the welcome summer showers which cooled the scorching earth - till i saw my friends with kuttanaad connections start panicking. there was this person whose father- in- law had 20 acres of paddy, and it was a bumper crop this year. and there was this very close friend who looked at me with despair and something else in her eyes, when , without knowing the implications of the unexpectedly torrential nature of the summer showers, i expressed my bliss about a cool night to look forward to. With deadly calm she told me she got information that kuttanad paddy fields(hers included) , with a bumper produce this year , have been submerged. Harvesting would have been over long time back if they were allowed to use the harvesting machines. The quiet in her voice and that strange look in her eyes were scary.
the local newspapaers told the rest of the story next day( i couldnt see TV news that day)- with pictures of men and women with something like death in their eyes.
man cannot gnash his teeth against the weather gods. But against those crude, brutal, ideology crazed, vulgar , mindless, vicious muscle flexing of the organised labour unions which refused permission to use the harvest machines? How are we to deal with these no good labour forces which have been calling the shots in kerala for , oh, God, how long?
And the Agriculture minister has rushed to the rescue of the labour unions with the dog in the manger policy, which this time has led to an unprecedented disaster. Are we, the people of kerala, going allow those irresponsible poisonous rowdies to get away with this scot free?
I know all these frustrated rantings will end up in a whimper while these power crazed, heartless forces continue with their mission of destroying hope and demoralising the the farmers in kerala.
What can we humans do when forces of both evil and good gang up against us?
I too share your concerns...
ReplyDeleteterrible!
ReplyDeleteI called my parents a couple of days back and thats when my father told me about this tragic story. I asked him- are these not big stories in the newspapers there(I am in the US)? He said yes. But then why are people not coming out in protest against these goons who hold innocent farmers at ransom. Isn't it time that common man came out in force and wiped this breed of ideologically crazy zealots from the scene. This time its the paddy crops and the farmers who are at the receiving end, another time its the poor patient who needs immediate medical attention but is prevented from going to the hospital because a "bandh" is being enforced to protest against - of all things- the fall of communism in Russia!!! I really do not understand how long people can take this non-sense. We should take a stand now! Get rid of our indifference and fear. Thats what these zealots take advantage of! Join forces and make sure its not repeated next time.
ReplyDeleteI suggest we join hands and do something about it. Unless we citizens don't raise our voices politicians and the crazy goons they rely on would always get away with such acts.
I know the blog http://savekerala.blogspot.com/ is doing a good job creating awareness about such issues. Maybe we can all join forces.Lets get it to as many people by email, blog and other means. Together we can do it.
everyone supports when they get an email.. when an election comes these so called engineers are not comfortable to move out of their ac cubicles... we need to raise our voice where it matters the most.. make an awareness to the bangalore engineers not to waste their vote..
ReplyDeleteAnd my cheers for this wonderful post..
~Al