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Informationen zum Autor Kota Neelima, Independent Journalist and Artist, Klappentext Farmer suicides are the most brutal and unforgiving indictment of the neglect of agriculture by the state and the politics, obsessed with power and the market. Every farmer who dies leaves behind a legacy of debt and desperation for his widow to deal with. They grapple with precarious financial conditions, fragile rain-fed crops, the needs of young children, the health costs of elders. As they fight against these challenges, they succeed sometimes but, mostly, theyfail. Widows of Vidarbha is the story of 18 such widows of Vidarbha who have been invisible to the state, the community, and even their families. Zusammenfassung Farmer suicides are the most brutal and unforgiving indictment of the neglect of agriculture by the state and the politics, obsessed with power and the market. The continuing farm crisis represents not only failure of economic and development models but also collapse of the democratic system. To divert the blame, the statistics have been fudged and the farmers accused of being too ambitious, reckless, even unstable, especially in places of high suicide incidence like Vidarbha. But the story of the distress of the farmers has an immortality that does not end with the farmer's death. It lives on in the experience of the farm widow, who struggles in the shadows outside the boundaries of the limelight. Widows of Vidarbha is the story of 18 such widows of Vidarbha who have been invisible to the state, the community, and even their families. Tracked over two years of research from 2014 to 2016, the widows spoke about their lost dreams of education and identity, their diminished view of the world, and their helpless surrender to conveniences of patriarchy. The book reveals the process through which the invisibility is imposed on the woman from the time she was a child, forced to relegate her rights to the male. The daughters, the wives, and the widows are the survivors of the farm crisis in India. Yet, there voices are hardly ever taken into account when the crisis is discussed. The subjugation of their voices will only delay the solution. For the first time, the narratives of the widows of Vidarbha bring to light the dark and desperate corners of their invisible world, which represent the state of the farm widows across the country. Inhaltsverzeichnis List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Preface Introduction Section I Making of Shadows: Yavatmal Chapter 1: Hope and Other Temporary Things Chapter 2: The Absence of Everything Chapter 3: The Happy Ever After Chapter 4: Death Amid Doubt and Denial Chapter 5: How to Count the Dead Chapter 6: Life and Death of a Sentiment Chapter 7: The Harvest of Time Chapter 8: A Home of Death and Memories Chapter 9: A Museum of the Possible Section II Making of Shadows: Amravati Chapter 10: Once Upon a Time a Farmer Chapter 11: Those that Money Cannot Buy Chapter 12: Death at the Wishing Well Chapter 13: The Immortality of Memory Chapter 14: A Farmer Standing Still Chapter 15: The Rules of Dreaming Chapter 16: Of Death and Second Chances Chapter 17: The Dependent World of a Widow Chapter 18: Her Place Under the Sun Conclusion Appendices Bibliography Index About the Author ...
