Monday 31 December 2018

Condensation

If you live at a place where fogs do
You'll know sometimes people keep walking
Not because they can see clearly ahead
But because that's what they know.
Where fogs descend, the temporal nature of promises is known the best:
Affirmations are mouthed only to vaporise the next moment.
People stick together in any way
To barricade the winter.

First published in Singapore Unbound, 30 Dec 2018.



Sunday 30 December 2018

Ants

Before they knew campaigns and street plays,
Before they developed calluses that mocked pedicures,
My smooth kidfeet
Had discovered that putting one step after another
Could take me a long way.
Smug feet, cool ground,
I thought the ants were in my way
And had to be reminded
About who's who in the scheme of things.
My feet (con)descended on them with complacence
And a moment became large enough
To simultaneously contain both:
The smell of liquid iron
And the sting of the point from where it oozed.
I'd like to say I always learn my lessons quickly
But to give credit where it's due
My teachers were sharp.
And whenever someone exhorts me
To magnify my life
I think that, actually,
I only need to be precise.

First published in Singapore Unbound, 30 Dec 2018.



Saturday 15 December 2018

Assumptions

You think you are safe
Because you and the bosses
Comprise the majority
But have you discussed this with them?
Have you told them about yourself,
About everything that makes you,
And checked if they consider you
A part of them?


And have you enquired
If you would still be all equals,
All the same, no hierarchies,
Once the extras are done away with?
Or would there always be some lows,
Because the highs need to be distinguished?




First published in Uppagus, Dec 2018.


Friday 14 December 2018

माफ़ करें


ज़रा सुनिए, मिस्टर,
आपसे कहनी थी एक बात। 
जब आपकी टटोलती, भूखी नज़रें 
अचानक आपकी पत्नी को याद कर लें,
बस ना कहें मुझे सिस्टर 
और वो होगा पर्याप्त।

First published in Yuddhrat Aam Aadmi, 2018.



हिम्मत


काश की बाँटी जा सकती उस प्रसाद की तरह
जो लोग अपने-अपने भगवान को भेंट करते हैं
क्योंकि होती तो है उतनी ही पवित्र . . .
हिम्मत.

काश साँस की तरह हर एक के पास होती 
क्योंकि होती तो है उतनी ही ज़रूरी . . .
हिम्मत.

पर न बिकती है
न उधार में मिलती है.

पौधे सी अपने ज़मीर की मिट्टी में उगानी पड़ती है
फिर एक दिन रोशन पेड़ सी लहलहाने लगती है
रगों को पाक़ करती, झरने सी चमचमाने लगती है . . .  
हिम्मत.




First published in Yuddhrat Aam Aadmi, 2018.


Wednesday 12 December 2018

मान अर्जन


तुम्हारे होने के समय से ही 
तुम पर बोझ बना रहा 
साबित करने का कि 
इतना बुरा भी नहीं है 
तुम्हारा होना।

हमेशा तुम तत्पर रही 
बनावट स्वीकारने को 
ताकि तुम्हारे होने का तथ्य फीका पड़ जाए 
जैसा-बनाया-जाए-वैसा-बन-जाने 
कि कबिलियत के सामने।

सोचती रही कि सब मानती रही 
तो मानी जाओगी, मिलेगी इज्ज़त,
अपनी और सबकी इज्ज़त बचाकर-
बाहर न जाकर 
प्रेम में ना पड़ कर 
इच्छाओं से अनजान बन कर।

पर अगर परिवार की इज्ज़त थी 
तो दान क्यों की गई?
अगर दूसरे घर की इज्ज़त बनी 
तो खिल्ली क्यों उड़ाई गई तुम्हारे 
पुराने घर की (मना करने पर भी जिसे तुमने अपना माना था),
स्स्साले और ससुरे की (साली और सास तो खैर तुमसे ज़्यादा अलग नहीं थीं)?

ओह, हाँ, इसका गणित अब समझ आया:
उधर की इज्ज़त इधर आ गई,
तो उधर की इज्ज़त गई। 
पर फिर तुम इतने सालों से उधर 
किस इज्ज़त की पहरेदार बनी बैठी थी?

चलो, अब इधर आ गई हो 
तो मिलेगी न तुम्हें इज्ज़त?
पर ये क्या, तुम तो अभी भी 
उधर की ही समझी जा रही हो 
जिधर की नहीं रही अब कोई इज्ज़त,
वो दान कर दी गई,
और इसलिए तुम्हारी भी नहीं रही।

लेकिन इधर-उधर के बाहर भी एक दुनिया है 
जो शायद समझे तुम्हारे तप को,
इनाम दे तुम्हारे बलिदान का, इज्ज़त दे तुम्हें।
पर वहाँ तो तुम्हारे शरीर का हर अंग 
बन चुका है एक गाली,
माँस के लोथड़े उछाले जा रहे हैं 
फुटबॉल की तरह गिद्धों के समूह में।

लेकिन एक आखिरी मौका है इज्ज़त कमाने का 
जांघों को खोलकर 
अगर तुम मारो उनके लोहे से एक आसमानी लात,
सिखा दो,
खेल कैसे खेला जाता है।


First published in Yuddhrat Aam Aadmi, 2018.




मांडवली


लड़कियाँ उड़ने के सपने देखती हैं,
भागने या एम.एम.एस बनने के नहीं। 

तुम्हें बस इतना कहना है
"उड़ो, लड़खड़ाई तो हम थाम लेंगे।"
या, कम-से-कम इतना
"गिरी भी तो ज़रूर संभाल सकोगी ख़ुद को।"

क्या इतना भी नहीं होता?

तो इतना तो करो ही:
उन "बलिदानों" को गिनाना छोड़ दो 
जिनके "बदले" में तुम्हें उनकी बलि का दान चाहिए। 
 
व्यापार को रिश्ते का नाम ना देकर,
ख़ुद को और उनको 
इस रोज़ की पिसाई-धुनाई से रिहा करो। 


First published in Yuddhrat Aam Aadmi, 2018.






Tuesday 11 December 2018

बूझो तो जानें


बस्तर 
बद से बद्तर 

आदिवासी = नक्सलवादी 
गाँधीवादी = नक्सलवादी 
डॉक्टर = नक्सलवादी 
वकील = नक्सलवादी 
पत्रकार  = नक्सलवादी 
शोधकर्ता = नक्सलवादी 
फिल्म निर्माता = नक्सलवादी 

नक्सलों की इतनी आबादी?
या राज्य = अवसरवादी?



First published in Yuddhrat Aam Aadmi, 2018.







Tuesday 4 December 2018

Farmers in Punjab are saving the climate by bringing back millets


Low input, high output

When I planted ragi, I did not do weeding. I did not water it. I did not even know people would want it for their consumption. I just put up some pictures and I had people asking for it,” says Sherpur Kalan’s Raspinder Singh practising his organic farming in Ludhiana district in Punjab. In 2017, he had six quintals of millets in a little more than half acre of his farmland. After preparing his field, he irrigated it once, did the transplantation and did not water it again.

This is vastly different from Punjab’s agrarian reality where rice is predominant. Punjab farmers are having to dig deeper and deeper for their submersibles to serve their water intensive crops. Methane emission from rice fields adds to climate warming, and the crop goes on depleting the groundwater because rice needs standing water. The government advises farmers to use water minimally but does not provide incentives for crops like millets that take little water and give high nutrition.

The state doesn't incentivise the growing of millets for farmers

Farmers like Raspinder are the exception but the sale of the millets they produce has proved that there is a market for them. Close to Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana is a mill where every day 80-90 kg of ragi or finger millet comes to be ground. Raspinder shares the reason: “CMC Hospital has recommended ragi to mothers; it has been suggested for bone issues as well as for obesity; patients who come for bypass surgery are learning that millets help fight blockage; diabetes patients are buying it.”

The planting of the seed

Raspinder studied engineering and taught the subject for a year. What did it take for him to develop an interest in millets? “I had an auto-immune disease and went to Kerala for my treatment. I was asked to have ragi and eventually I got cured. I went to a conference in Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad, and got to know of how millets are used in naturopathy. In Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar, Punjab, I heard Professor Hardeep Singh Gujral talk about how millets benefit us. The domestic worker at my place also knew about it.” To bring back the beneficial, rich millets that everyone seemed to know of at some point but had forgotten, Raspinder decided to start growing them himself. He also distributed free seeds to interested people.

Challenges and learnings on the journey

Ragi is not the only healthy millet. Bajra (pearl millet) is high on energy. Foxtail is easily digestible. Rotis made from browntop millet do not get spoilt for several days. They are all fibrous and keep intestines healthy. Since they are slow in releasing carbohydrates (wheat energises the body quickly), they ward off hunger for a long time without leading to obesity.

It is, however, not equally easy to grow all of these, as Raspinder discovered. Parrots feasted upon all the bajra he grew. Since farmers around him were not growing it, the birds only had this one farm to descend on to devour their favoured food. Apart from ragi, all other millets are also similarly vulnerable to attacks from different creatures.

The people who had taken seeds from Raspinder are now growing their own ragi. This means there is more ragi for consumers, which is a good thing. But it also means that a bigger market is needed for producers like Raspinder, who could sell all his output last year but not this year. In talks with someone who wants to buy ragi in bulk for making malt, he had a discussion with his fellow farmers. The consensual decision was that they should at least get as much as a paddy farmer gets.

Growing of ragi is labour intensive. The harvesting is primarily a manual process. On an average, these farmers are growing about eight quintals per acre and want to be paid a minimum of Rs 65 per kg. Raspinder says it is completely reasonable: “Two years back the price of non-organic ragi was Rs 80 per kg. It must have gone higher by now.”

Millets are not commonly grown in Punjab, not currently, at least, so there are no role models and it is all about experimenting and learning. The worker on his farm advised Raspinder to sow ragi in May. Later Raspinder saw that the yield was higher the year he had planted it around July. He then realised that since his worker is from Bihar, where monsoon arrives early, the right time for ragi in the two states would be different. He decided on the second half of June as a good time to start the plantation. Keeping a gap between the plants also gave them space to grow better and the production was higher.

The urgent need for state support and incentives

Apart from its low requirement of water, millets are also a kind of crop that provide the farmer with a rewarding yield, which chemical fertilisers and pesticides cannot improve further. So it is also not adding to the adverse effect of chemicals on Punjab on its water, soil and people’s bodies. Despite all its advantages, for millets to really take off and for Punjab to make a shift away from water-chemical intensive, climate unfriendly agriculture, incentives and awareness generation by the government is necessary. While the stated minimum support price for millets has been increased, like with any other crop, active procurement and distribution through government schemes is what would make the crop a popular choice for producers and consumers alike.


First published in Beyond Headlines, 30 Nov.




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