Dissent With Good Deeds

Have you ever been stuck in traffic that makes you wait for hours? How long can it possibly take? I heard of traffic where people have to wait from mornings to evenings. Maybe because someone messed up the rules or an unfortunate accident happened, or the construction job was way behind schedule.

 I tend to get irritated with people honking even though I know my country's traffic rules suck. I happened to be stuck in a similarly long traffic situation where I did not have the option to turn back and take a different lane or take a longer route. All that I longed for at that time was fresh air in a heavily polluted and noisy atmosphere.

I was traveling to Delhi, India's national capital, for a doctor's appointment of a family member by car. I had to go despite knowing the situation along the busiest highway leading up to Delhi. As urgent as the trip was, the cause of the traffic was equally important.

The traffic was due to an ongoing protest of the farmers in India. The farmers have gathered to demand the repeal of the new Farm Law 2020 passed by the government hastily. The majority of the farmers are from Sikh communities from the neighboring states of Punjab and Haryana. The farmers from other states have joined in, and the protest has grown in strength and number.

The new laws would minimize the government's role in agriculture and open more space for private investors. The main issue is the existential crisis of minimum support price(MSP), a price set by the government for any farm produce. To ensure fair prices for crops, MSP came into being.

Farmers bring their crop to the wholesale market called Mandis. The crops are sold to traders where the prices are informed by MSP, a benchmark set by the government. The new laws are eventually going to cause the collapse of Mandis, as is the case in other states. States where the markets (mandi) were shut down, has some of the poorest income. States have in the past reformed and redesigned markets in their own state. However, farmers in Punjab and Haryana, who have a comparatively better and fair Mandi structure, have the highest income in the country.

 Keeping in mind that almost 52% of Indian farming households are in debt. The money in farming has decreased over the years, and the farmer's suicide has risen. The Sikh farmers fear that they would end up in a similar grimmer situation like the poor farming states. Dissolving the MSP will leave them at the mercy of big corporations.

The protest started on November 26 is unique in its sense. On one side, you have the huge, I mean seriously huge crowds peacefully protesting, and the other side is the police and the security forces with their whole gears on.

For a normal protest, the two sides would be doing their own thing. Here it all was different. The protesting farmers had their volunteers serving food not just to their own members but to the security forces and cops as well. It Ironic haven't heard of that. Right, That's true.

Sikhs have a tradition of serving food to empty stomach rich-poor or anyone called "Langar". The tradition is followed in almost every Gurudwara around the world, and they also brought it to the streets. The sight was, even though very intense with so many men, at the same time something I have never seen before. Turbaned farmers raising slogans and the volunteers from the same communities distributing food and water to the policemen standing in their way.

Well, if you still thought that was it. No, wait, there is more. The food was for everyone, even the journalist, the people stuck, and anyone who wants it basically. And as they served, they said, "Along with protest, the spirit of service should also go on."

 The journalists who came to cover the protest were as much their own as the normal public taking the route. I was stuck there for almost 4–5 hrs and haven't eaten anything for the past 6hrs. I didn't expect I would be served food for the wait. As if they were apologizing for causing discomfort to us yet saying out loud we won't bend down and it was necessary. The passion and benevolence were moving together.

In a world, where good deeds are rare, knowing that the person standing against you will shell tear gas and stick on you later, you must be having a really firm belief in " The act of Giving". Someone rightly said "You are what you do."

When a stranger who has nothing to do with taking care of the little things around you, you feel good. 

As much as I am disheartened with the ongoing suffering of the Indian farmers it nice to see people respecting each other despite their job or difference in perspective. At the end of the day, everyone is human and doing their job.

It's easy to give people when you have a lot to offer. The real giving is remembering people in the time of trouble. Sharing from your plate and making sure that everyone has enough to get through requires great courage. All it takes is small humble gestures to make a significant impact.