Meet Neelima Kota - the author who writes about farmer suicides in India

Neelima Kota is a former political journalist-turned-author whose life revolves around the social issue of farmer suicides in India. Kota has penned three fictional books on this issue and is currently busy promoting her latest book The Honest Season. Now, National Award-winning director Vetrimaaran has bought the film rights to her third novel ‘The Shoes of the Dead’. In an exclusive interview with dna, author Neelima Kota talks about her interest in farmer suicides, Vetrimaaran and more.

All your three books are on farmer suicides in India.

I’ve been a journalist all my life. One of the things that we learn as journalists is that you have to base your stories on facts, statements, things which you can prove. But that doesn’t mean that all fact is truth. Sometimes the truth falls between two facts. The stories of the farmers were left unsaid over a period of time. I was trying to tell them through my journalism but I wasn’t really able to do justice to them. After years of this, I thought the only way I can do portray the stories is by not being journalistic about it and that is when I turned to the fictional narrative. Coming to the question of why farmer suicides is a sensitive issue like any other sensitive issue rooted in policy shortfalls, governance shortfalls, long-term impact of short-sighted political promises. You get to know about all this through journalistic writing, however, what the writings do not particularly highlight is why do farmers commit suicide? As a journalist, I could not do justice in portraying the level of desperation of the farmers.  

I wanted to write that suicide is not an option and never an option – but can you explain that as a journalist? I wanted to do justice to these narratives of farmers, the widows of farmers. I wanted to point out as a case study as to what happens when you don’t think of a section of society for decades. You keep winning elections and making promises but then nothing happens. Then it makes one wonder why? Do people want their land? Do people want farmers to leave agriculture? I wanted to write about the farmers widows and children – what do they think about a government that hasn’t helped their fathers who were struggling. What do they think about the democracy in which we live? It was a complex topic. I have spent more than 10 years especially in Vidarbha (Maharashtra) exploring farmer suicides. This is my third book. As I said, it’s intense, personal research that I couldn’t have written about in one book and I didn’t want to either. 

But why farmer suicides in particular?

It’s not always easy for a journalist to choose a topic and what makes news is not decided by readers. That is one of the main aspects which has always bothered me. Who is deciding what makes news? It shouldn’t be left to media houses to decide what is breaking news. We are not always being interactive through our TV channels, newspapers, magazines, etc. We are still imposing a certain amount of news on the reader. That’s always bothered me. I don’t have a sense of enlightenment as to what makes news. I think readers know much more than I do as to what is making news because it affects their lives. I am only a gatherer of news. Issues like this (farmer suicides) which touch upon so many points never make it as news and that has been a mystery to me always. 

What was the inspiration behind ‘The Shoes of the Dead’?

A lot of people said that people in urban India won’t be interested in people in rural India. This was a surprising revelation for me. I said it’s because we don’t have headlines about it on TV and people don’t write about it every day. I took up the challenge. I said I don’t want to blame the readers but that it’s the problem of journalists that we are not able to communicate it in an interesting manner what actually is of great importance to the country. As a writer, it’s my job to tell the story in way that a cross-section of society can relate to it. Poverty doesn’t know any caste, community or religion. Helplessness is a human condition in this country.

The difference in this book is that you have also spoken about politics.

I really didn’t tell myself that it would be a one-book project when I started the research 10 years ago. I thought I am going to write as long as it takes to tell the story and as many books it takes. I am never in a rush; I take my time. The first book was on how Delhi looks at farmer suicides, the policy. The second book Death of a Moneylender looked at farmer suicides and moneylenders from both their points of view. And also from a journalist’s point of view. In The Shoes of the Dead I compare the lives of a young, educated farmer to that of a son of an MP, the son of a powerful politician. So one side there is assured power and on the other assured tragedy. I wanted to compare the permanence of both. It only came to me over a period of time and it took a lot of research. The gap is simply not a rural-urban gap but a mindset gap and that’s the problem with our policies. Our policies are made with a different mindset whereas rural India is totally different from urban India. 

What was your reaction when director Vetrimaaran wanted to make the book into a film?

Vetrimaaran is one of the best and most sensitive directors of India today. From his own work, I have seen that he can go far and beyond a perspective of an issue which actually displays the fact he can transform himself into a character as a director. This is such an achievement. That’s exactly what I would look for in any director looking at my book.

Did you ever think any of your books would be made into films?

I would have never entrusted my book with anyone who was not like Vetrimaaran. I really admire his work. I never thought my books would be made into films for the reasons I mentioned. People have always told me there are so many urban issues to write about but I thought why not write something that people don’t write about. As I said, it’s my problem if people don’t read the books. I don’t want to blame the reader if they don’t want to read about farmer suicides. First, I must tell the story in an interesting manner; I must draw the reader. I didn’t write the books with any target in mind. But it now looks natural that Vetrimaaran should be interested in the book given the kind of sensitive person he is. He’s a wonderful human being.

Do you have any expectations from the film?

Now that you are asking me – no. I am sure he’ll go much beyond the book. If I have written the book from 10 vantage points, I’m sure he’ll bring 10 more. I’m sure he’s going to do a wonderful job.

What do you hope the impact of the film would be?

I really hope more is done about the issue of farmers’ suicides. This issue requires as much attention as possible. Although books are important they are not the same as cinema. Films reach the global audience and it gives a dimension into the soul of the issue. I have a lot of respect for the judgement of ordinary people, people in different walks of life, etc. I cannot think about what they may do but I’m sure something very positive will come out of it.