The Satish Dhawan Auditorium in the Indian Institute of Science was packed to capacity even before 5.30 pm, when the film, Nero’s Guests, was scheduled to be screened. There was little space even in the aisles.
The Satish Dhawan Auditorium in the Indian Institute of Science was packed to capacity even before 5.30 pm, when the film, Nero’s Guests, was scheduled to be screened. There was little space even in the aisles.
After the film, students would get a chance to interact with P Sainath, rural affairs editor of The Hindu. The film gets its name from the large party thrown by Roman emperor Nero, which was illuminated by burning the bodies of prisoners. There were guests at the party who ate figs and grapes, as the bodies burnt.
Deepa Bhatia’s film visits Vidarbha, meeting families of farmers who had committed suicide, as the camera follows Sainath at work.
As the journalist looks through his large archive of pictures of bereaved families, he comments about the fear in the eyes of the young son suddenly thrust into adulthood. He allows you to dwell on the remarkable poetry left behind by poet-farmer Krishna Kalamb:
“My death will come as a surprise,
Like unseasonal rain…
A decoration hanging on the doorframe”
The poet describes deprivation of the most inhuman variety, in soulful Marathi.
Sainath arrived on stage soon after the film ended. He drew the attention to the fact that Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had, only 72 hours ago, presented a budget that cut Rs5,868 from agriculture, and indicated a retreat of the state from crop management, so that the corporate sector could fill in the vacant space.
He spoke of how, small amounts given to the poor were spoken of as ‘subsidies’, while large amounts offered to corporate concerns were ‘incentives’.
Drawing from the statement of revenue foregone in the budget, Sainath said a sum of Rs88,300 crore had been written off, as direct corporate income tax waiver; yet, there was so little committed to the public distribution system. Sainath said that farmer suicides were not the real crisis — these were only one manifestation of the crisis of inequality.
When the floor was thrown open for discussion, one student wondered if all economic activity did not, of necessity, create inequality.
Sainath explained how farmer suicides were highest when former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, N Chandrababu Naidu, did away with the compensation amount; as for growth, he explained that without justice, growth for growth’s sake would be like the growth of cancerous cells.
Sainath pointed them to the wisdom of India’s founding fathers, to the Constitution of India, and the Directive Principles of State Policy.
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