Film/Stage
A Little Revolution:
A Story of Suicides & Dreams
by JASKIRAN KAPOOR
Harpreet Kaur, a Sikh-American, was shocked to learn that though farmer suicides are wide-spread in India, the maximum number of farmers' suicides had been reported from Punjab, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala.
The figures not only left Harpreet Kaur appalled, but they propelled her into action. She began documenting the tragedies in Punjab and the result is a moving and important documentary of our times, titled A Little Revolution - A Story of Suicides & Dreams, produced by Sach Productions, which is owned by Manmeet Singh.
Every 32-minutes, a farmer commits suicide in India.
According to The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data from 2009, more than 216,000 farmers killed themselves between 1997 and 2009. The number was 150,000 in 2005 and it has crossed 250,000 now.
"The irony is that it is taking place in the most progressive states of India," says Harpreet, who is presently in Chandigarh for the Punjab premiere of her film.
Her first film, The Widow Colony, had also made a strong impact. Narrating the plight of the widows of the anti-Sikh pogroms in New Delhi, India capital, in 1984, the movie won her critical acclaim at film festivals around the world and was also shown in the U.K. Parliament.
"Following this, Jagdish Tytler's visa was rejected to the U.K.," recalls Harpreet.
With A Little Revolution ('Ikk Nikki Kranti'), Harpreet has travelled back to to her roots, in search of the children of farmers who killed themselves.
"I came to India two years back, to research the history of human rights and stumbled upon these figures. It's the worst form of violence, economic violence. Unfortunately, the Indian government has failed to address it," she says.
The film documents the lives of a generation of children who are poor, powerless and deprived of hope, education and family. The camera zooms into homes in Sangrur, Punjab. With the breadwinners gone, the families are dependent on Baba Nanak Education Society, run by Inderjit Singh Jaijee.
"The film is dedicated to his daughter, Aman Kaur Sidhu, who single-handedly researched and documented the data by making more than 1,800 visits to villages in Punjab. Unfortunately, she died in a car crash during one of the trips," says Harpreet.
Filmed over a period of two years, Harpreet Kaur and Manmeet Singh hope to create an impact with the documentary.
"We want to empower the children and give them the confidence to fight and break this vicious cycle of suicides," says Harpreet, who focuses on four children - Jasvir, Manpreet, Sher and Salma. She travels with them to villages and to Delhi, where they met the India's Minister of Agriculture, Sharad Pawar.
"As a result, Rs. 100,000 (approx. US $ 2500) was given to each of their families," said Harpreet.
"The green revolution, with its sops and subsidies, has led to debt-driven suicides," she says. She has worked with Manpreet to design the campaign, ‘Every Farmer Counts and Every Child Dreams'.
The duo hope that the film leads to international intervention, aimed at tackling the crisis.
"The film would take these villages and families to people across the world," says Harpreet Kaur.
For more information, log on to www.alittlerevolution.com.
[Courtesy: Indian Express. This article has been edited for sikhchic.com]
March 13, 2011
Conversation about this article
1: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), March 13, 2011, 5:12 PM.
We need people like Harpreet Kaur to produce a visual awareness with straight-forward simplicity that has a singular power of the ballad singers of the olden days. Guru Nanak invoked such images when the bani came to him to describe: "Jaisee mai aavai khasam ki bani/ taisrhaa karee gi-aan vay laalo" [GGS:722.6] - 'As the word of the Forgiving Lord comes to me, so do I express it, O Lalo.' This is where we need to invest our money to wake us from the slumber. A dear friend has just returned from Toronto after attending a wedding and his comment was that he had witnessed a tsunami of alcohol flowing and in that stupor demoralizing the plight of the community.
2: Jasdeep Kaur (Delhi, India), March 14, 2011, 12:21 PM.
Cool ... God bless you guys. Punjab really need this kind of support and proper guidelines. We should also focus on giving proper knowledge about Sikhi to the new generation of Punjab, as 60% of the youngsters are into drugs and Christian missionaries spreading their wild webs in Punjab.
3: Satvir Kaur (Boston, MA, U.S.A.), March 17, 2011, 8:33 AM.
Good work!
4: Sujan Kaur (Miami, Florida, U.S.A.), February 25, 2012, 6:27 PM.
Kudos to Harpreet Kaur and family, her team and supporters, for making this powerful documentary which I had the opportunity to see today in South Florida. My resolve: I pledge to pay $365 every year to support the work of Baba Nanak Education Society. Education is the only way to lift the stigma attached to poverty in this region.
5: Mohan Badla (Maler Kotla, Punjab), August 26, 2012, 10:01 PM.
I read about this on 26 August, 2012. The first comment on this site is dated March 11. It means I heard about this very late. Better publicity is needed for this powerful documentary. Can someone please inform us where I can purchase this movie?