Shraddha Agarwal

large_01-IMG_2368-SA.jpg

medium_01-IMG_2368-SA.jpg

small_01-IMG_2368-SA.jpg

thumbnail_01-IMG_2368-SA.jpg

01-IMG_2368-SA.jpg

After four days on the road and having covered 750 kilometres, the caravan of tempos and jeeps has stopped for lunch at a gurudwara in Kota, Rajasthan. It is cold in the afternoon, on December 24, and the travellers – farmers and farm workers from Maharashtra– are tired after a nightlong journey. But while they wait for a meal at the gurudwara’s community kitchen, Savita Gunjal’s songs keep their spirits high – Kamgar chya kashtana natavla jagala, jevan naahi potala, kapda naahi nesayla (‘The labour of workers makes the world beautiful, but they have no bread to eat or clothes to wear’).  “I have come here to sing,” says the 16-year-old Bhil Adivasi singer dressed in a dark red shirt and blue jeans. “I want to keep making the farmers aware of their rights. I want to tell the world about our condition,” says Savita, from Chandwad village in Chandvad taluka, Nashik district. She left Nashik on December 21 in the farmers’ vehicle jatha, to join the protests at Delhi’s borders. Lakhs of farmers have been protesting against three farm laws, first passed as ordinances on June 5, 2020, then introduced as farm bills in Parliament on September 14 and rammed through to become Acts by the 20th of that month. Back in her village, Savita works as a farm labourer on weekends and during holidays, earning Rs. 150-200 a day. “If there is work then I have to go to the fields,” she says. During the Covid-19 lockdown, she spent a lot of her time working on the farms in Chandwad. “There was little work during the lockdown. I would take whatever I could get and earn as much as I could,” she says. She completed high school this year (2020), but could not begin college because of the pandemic.

Savita often sings at public gatherings across Chandvad with her group, which includes her older brother, Sandeep, and her friends, Komal, Archana and Sapna. She writes all their songs, with some help from her brother. Sandeep, 24, is a farm worker, who drives a tractor to plough and till land. It is hard work, says Savita, and his income depends on the size of land and the time it takes to work on it. For example, it takes him about three continuous days and nights to plough 6-7 acres of land, for which he earns about Rs. 4,000. Watching her brother hard at work inspires her to create her songs. “I sing to raise awareness about the everyday issues of farmers. Day after day, they do hard labour in the fields, but still they don’t get proper prices for the grains they cultivate. This is why farmers have fallen behind. In our country the poor keep becoming poorer and the rich keep getting richer.”The three new laws will cause more ruin, say the protesting farmers. The laws are: <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/library/resource/the-farmers-produce-trade-and-commerce-promotion-and-facilitation-act-2020/">The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020</a>; <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/library/resource/the-farmers-empowerment-and-protection-agreement-on-price-assurance-and-farm-services-act-2020/">The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act. 2020</a>; and <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/library/resource/the-essential-commodities-amendment-act-2020/">The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020</a>. The laws have also been criticised as affecting every Indian as they <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/articles/and-you-thought-its-only-about-farmers/">disable the right to legal recourse</a> of all citizens, undermining Article 32 of the Indian Constitution.

Savita’s family owns three acres of land, which they use for subsistence farming. Her father, Hanumant Gunjal, 45, and mother, Tai Gunjal, 40, are both farmers. They grow wheat, bajra, rice and onions. Savita’s younger sister, Anita, who studies in Class 5, helps their mother in cultivating their land. Her other brother, Sachin, 18, studies engineering in Chandvad. Like Sandeep, he ploughs and tills land, but part-time.  Kalaybai Gunjal, Savita’s 66-year-old grandmother (extreme left in cover image on top), is with her on the vehicle jatha. When she was 16, Kalaybai became the first woman leader of the All India Kisan Sabha in Chandwad. “My aaji (grandmother) encourages me to sing more. Aajoba (grandfather) taught her to sing, and then she taught me. She tells me to write my own songs,” says Savita.  Poet Annabhau Sathe and activist Ramesh Gaichor also inspire Savita. “I think of Annaubhau when I write music. His song, Mat ghutghut kar rehna, sehne se julum badhta hai (‘The more you suffer in silence, the more you will endure’), is one of my favourite songs. He is a revolutionary. Just like him, I want my sisters to fight against their oppressors. Our country does not respect women. We get raped and nobody cares. By singing his songs, I want to encourage girls to fight, because only then will get our freedom.” “When I sing, I feel like my life has a purpose. I will sing all the way to Delhi,” she says, walking towards the tempo where 20 farmers were waiting for her to lead the chorus.

‘I sing to raise awareness on farmers’ issues’

‘কৃষকদের বিষয়গুলো নিয়ে সচেতন করতেই তো আমি গাই’

‘মই কৃষকৰ সমস্যাক লৈ সজাগতা সৃষ্টিৰ বাবে গান গাওঁ’

‘હું ખેડૂતોના મુદ્દા પર જાગૃતિ ફેલાવવા માટે ગાઉ છું’

'കർഷക പ്രശ്നങ്ങളെക്കുറിച്ച് അവബോധമുണർത്താൻ ഞാൻ പാടുന്നു’

‘விவசாயிகள் பிரச்சினைகள் குறித்து விழிப்புணர்வை ஏற்படுத்த நான் பாடுகிறேன்

‘ମୁଁ କୃଷକମାନଙ୍କ ସମସ୍ୟା ଉପରେ ସଚେତନତା ସୃଷ୍ଟି କରିବାକୁ ଗୀତ ଗାଉଛି’

'ਮੈਂ ਕਿਸਾਨਾਂ ਦੇ ਮੁੱਦਿਆਂ ਪ੍ਰਤੀ ਜਾਗਰੂਕਤਾ ਫੈਲਾਉਣ ਲਈ ਗਾਉਂਦੀ ਹਾਂ'

'ರೈತರ ವಿಷಯದ ಕುರಿತು ಜಾಗೃತಿ ಮೂಡಿಸಲು ನಾನು ಹಾಡುತ್ತೇನೆ'

‘मैं किसानों के मुद्दे पर जागरूकता फैलाने के लिए गाती हूं’

’میں کسانوں کے مسائل پر بیداری پھیلانے کیلئے گاتی ہوں‘

Kota

At present, we can only accept donations in Indian rupees by Indian citizens. All donations made to the CounterMedia Trust are eligible for exemption under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Here is a copy of our exemption certificate.


India is bigger than New Delhi. And people need to know more about the rest of this vast nation.


Younger, media-saturated generations are growing up knowing little about their country, but a lot about the elites of a few metros and towns. For a narrowly-owned, commercially-driven media, the dumbing down of a nation is part of standard operating procedure. The last available data of the Centre for Media Studies (CMS, Delhi) show us that reports from New Delhi account for 66 per cent of news on the front pages of major dailies. The CMS data also found that just about 0.24 per cent of front page news came out of rural India. The TV channels are not much better.PARI exists to change that.We are a non-profit organisation. We publish under creative commons, and do not charge readers a subscription fee or put-up advertisements. Nothing is behind a paywall and we are completely free-to-access by anyone. We guard our independence and receive no direct grants from governments and corporations, nor any funding that could dictate our content. So, we are dependent on volunteer labour, donations from individuals, foundations and institutions that see value in independent and free media.PARI is changing the way Indian journalism reports and documents the rural.India is more than the elite of a few metros and towns. We report on rural lives and livelihoods, languages, communities, migrants and more. We need your help to pull off this most ambitious of Indian journalistic endeavours. The scale of this effort costs money. Donate generously - and spread the word about PARI.&nbsp;

Donate FAQs


ଆସନ୍ତୁ ଆପଣଙ୍କୁ ପରିଚିତ କରାଇବା

ପରୀକୁ ସ୍ୱାଗତ

ଆମର ସମସ୍ତ ବିଷୟବସ୍ତୁ ସବୁବେଳେ ବ୍ୟବହାର ପାଇଁ ମାଗଣାରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ରହିବ। ଯଦି ଆମର କାମ ଆପଣଙ୍କୁ ଭଲ ଲାଗୁଛି, ଆପଣ ସ୍ୱେଚ୍ଛାସେବୀ ଭାବରେ ଆମକୁ ସହଯୋଗ କରିପାରିବେ କିମ୍ବା ଆମ କାମ ପାଇଁ ଆର୍ଥିକ ଅନୁଦାନ ପ୍ରଦାନ କରି ଆମକୁ ସାହାଯ୍ୟ କରିପାରିବେ।

Want to republish this article? Please write to <a href="mailto:zahra@ruralindiaonline.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">zahra@ruralindiaonline.org</a> with a cc to <a href="mailto:namita@ruralindiaonline.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">namita@ruralindiaonline.org</a>

‘I sing to raise awareness on farmers’ issues’

Savita Gunjal, a 16-year-old Bhil Adivasi farm labourer and singer-composer from Nashik district, kept everyone’s spirits and resolve high on the jatha to Delhi by Maharashtra farmers with her wonderful songs

Related stories

A rain-scented walk in Sivagangai

Living on ravaged land

Biswas and the bamboos on his bike

Recycling energy, Godda style

Bhadels of Goa

Pookadai: still throbbing with morning life

Koli Kadlas

Malnourishment high among children of migrants: study

Wheels of the rural Indian West

Living Under a Red Cloud in Bellary

Vedla – earrings of the Maher community

Dreaming of water, drowning in debt

Kali: the dancer and his dreams

Farmer's diet worse than a convict's

In Yavatmal, life goes on

Suicides are about the living, not the dead

Death of a carpenter

Hoisa Shigmo!

Women farmers: weaving a life in Anantapur

Defiant in Dhinkia

Spice and all that's nice

Kerala's Green Army

The ‘jugaad’ not-a-mobile

Health as someone else's wealth

Calibrating in a Kudumbashree assembly unit