Rapboss and Chetan Garud Productions

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Sanga sheti karu kashi, karu kashi? Potachi khalgi bharu kashi, bharu kashi…?Tell me how to do farming? Tell me how? How to fill the pit of my tummy? Tell me how?

These are questions that farmers in distress face every day in India. But who will care to listen on behalf of the poshinda – the one who feeds the world – asks singer and lyricist Ajit Shelke. “I’ve seen with my own eyes how farmers have to struggle to get a fair price for their crops. Promises of MSP [a minimum support price] and loan waivers are only used for political purposes,” says 22-year-old Ajit, who is a student at an engineering college in Barshi town of Solapur district, Maharashtra.

Ajit’s family owns eight acres of land in Shelka-Dhanora village of Kalamb taluka in Osmanabad district, on which they grow soyabean and Bengal gram. If it rains, they cultivate sugarcane too. “I have seen my father struggle to repay the loans he took to pay for our education,” he says. “For years, we went through some very hard times.” Many who live in the cities are insensitive to the daily struggles of farmers, he adds. “In the market, people will haggle over the price of vegetables with the poor men and women who sell them. But the same people will buy expensive goods in large shopping malls without any bargaining.”

Chetan Garud, the producer of this video, has worked for over 10 years with Marathi entertainment television channels. He setup his own production house a few years ago and gives opportunities to young rural artists. Chetan’s parents are also farmers.

From the YouTube page for this song: या गीताचा (शेतकऱ्यांच्या भावनांचा) वापर कुठल्याही राजकीय पक्षाने स्वतःच्या हितासाठी करु नये. (This song and the sentiments of farmers should not be used by any political party for their own benefit.)This video has been republished with permission of the artist Rapboss (Ajit Shelke) and the producer Chetan Garud of Chetan Garud Productions.Cover photo: Purusottam Thakur/ People&#39;s Archive of Rural India.

Marathi rap song: ‘Tell me how to do farming?’

মারাঠি র‍্যাপ সংগীত: 'আমাকে শেখাবি চাষের মন্ত্র?'

মাৰাঠী ৰেপ গীতঃ ‘কোৱা, কেনেকৈ কৰোঁ মই খেতি’

مراٹھی رَیپ: ’بولو، کھیتی کروں کیسے؟‘

मराठी रैप: ‘बोलो खेती करूं कैसे?’

ମରାଠି ରାପ୍‌ ଗୀତ: ‘ମତେ କୁହ କେମିତି ଚାଷ କରିବି?’

‘सांगा शेती करू कशी?’

Kalamb

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Marathi rap song: ‘Tell me how to do farming?’

Ajit Shelke or ‘Rapboss’ sings powerfully in this Marathi rap song about the acute distress of farmers in Maharashtra: ‘I see there is now only one option to choose, Around my neck, do I hang the noose?’

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