The Walk: a metaphor for the journey of life

The Walk narrates story of a rope-walker Philippe Petit who achieves his ambition to walk between the twin towers in NYC with the help of his friends and mentor. This is an organic movie, it is based on a true story. While watching the movie I realized The Walk is a metaphor for the journey of life, while the experience and emotions vary depending on the type of walk: ramp walk, cake walk to fire walk. 

A tight screenplay 

As a result of doing a course on screenplay writing, I noticed things that I may not have noticed otherwise. Every character in the movie was introduced to establish the premise (conflict), etched out to further develop the premise and finally resolve the conflict. Each character also had an internal struggle that was resolved before the end of the movie. 

The journey of a hero

We all need a mentor in life. Some go in search of him/her, while some wait for her/him to arrive. Ramana Maharishi says, 'the guru appears when you are ready', while Paul Coelho in Alchemist says, 'the Universe conspires to fulfill your desires'. 

According Joseph Campbell's explanation of the Hero's Journey, the hero/protagonist needs a mentor and Papi Rudy in the movie plays  that role for Philippe thereby helping him achieve his ambition. 

All of us are heroes in our respective journeys and it is important that we develop an ambition and cultivate discipline, focus and dedication, which are pre-requisites for appearance of the guru and progress towards our ambition.

In between 

Apart from the mentor, you can see how characters make their entries to help Philippe in his journey, while resolving their inner conflicts in the process. A mathematics teacher helps Philippe with the calculations and in the process improves his spoken English and gets over agoraphobia, fear of heights and a Jean, a photographer, takes pictures of Philippe crossing the towers thereby establishing his career as a photographer.

Ambition and calling

In the process of achieving our ambition, some of us get attached to certain characters, while some others develop a grudge against those who leave. The last scene in the movie is a lesson on why people exit our lives. Anna, Philippe's girl friend who came over to the US to support him in his dream to finally leaves for Paris. When Philippe asks her to stay back she says, 'you had a calling from the Twin Towers, while I am waiting for mine'. What a profound statement to make and not succumb to the transient emotion/ambition called love. I admired the confidence in the woman work towards defining her ambition and wait for her call, and not being afraid or hesitant to help Philippe without expecting anything in return.

Though many of us seem to have understood the larger purpose of life, sometimes we make efforts to fully take control of it. We are cautious who we let into our lives; we question their purpose and want know our role in their ambition or in resolving their conflicts and vice verse. But in reality, we have no control over who walks in and out of our lives.

In all, The Walk is about a call and an ambition. It explains why people enter and exit our lives and how one needs to look at the purpose of life without getting too attached to our friends, family, and mentors. Most importantly, it helps us resolve our conflicts. 

So, go take a walk!

Deciphering the art of screenplay writing - Part 1

'Only a healthy caterpillar can turn into a beautiful butterfly', said a French Director. The Caterpillar he refers to is the script and the butterfly is the final movie. 

At a script writing workshop I realised that it is not an easy profession and recognitions are very hard to come by. In India the situation is even worse because there are hardly any scriptwriters and sadly directors double up as scriptwriters. Does that reflect on the quality of our scripts? Is it due to skill shortage or are the directors trying keep a larger portion of filmmaking and associated credit to themselves? You can investigate further for the answers.

Scriptwriting or screenplay writing is intellectually demanding job that not only requires writing a script, but also transfer words (fluid) into powerful images (fixing and engaging with audience) that inspire the director to capture them on the camera. Yes, it is hieroglyphics. For example: when the writer describes the morning as a misty and filled with thick fog and dew, and director gets a visual clue where to locate the subject and arrange for necessary props to add authenticity to the storyline. 

Screenplay writing involves presenting or establishing a conflict, developing it further and before resolving it. Like the 1/3 rule in photography, the writer follows 1/3 rule for each of the three sections. Rhythm, proper usage of camera angles, symbolism, lyrics,  trops (objects), and music further accentuates film making process and enhances the output. 

Inja, a movie made by an Australian filmmaker, portrays apartheid and South Africa during transition. Loyalty, the theme (conflict) in the movie is established and coved through a national flag, superior-subordinate relationship and a puppy/dog.  The brilliance of the script writer reflects in the trops, metaphors, smilies, and symbolisms used in the movie.

The three elements of establishing a conflict, developing and resolving are described below. Watch the movie here before you read my notes from the class - https://youtu.be/k_p0_twBWWU (please don't cheat)

Establishing loyalty - unfurling of national flag, showing a playful puppy responding to the whistle of the boy, and showing the relationship between black (subordinates) and white (boss), 

Transferring loyalty - cutting the rope and making a collar for the puppy, unfurling of the new flag

Establishing order -  threatening the black boy to bag the puppy, physically abusing the puppy to obey, physically marking boundaries, dog chasing away a black man on a cycle, asking black man for medicines

Killing loyalty - asking black man to shoot the dog and gun shot at the end.

A story can be narrated using one of the four styles or in combination: naturalism (analytical dramatic mode), lyrical (using songs), didactic (social messaging or morals), and melodramatic (songs, humor, action,) as appropriate. So, which category does Inja fall under?

Create Smart Villages and Smart Workers

NMy first week at the farm has made me ask several fundamental and policy related questions. One, on the intention of Government towards farmers: is it keep them poor and dependent on subsidies and welfare schemes for another century? Two, on the discipline, pride, and outlook of farm labor and farmers. 

What caught my attention in today's newspaper was a picture showing a fertile agricultural land in Amaravati being destroyed to match up to the imaginary fantasy of Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra, which seemed appalling and atrocious. Why can't a capital city have banana farms and why should it be modeled after Paris, Dublin, or Rome? 

Languishing farmers

Farmers and farm laborers have been reduced to mere vote banks by our politicians having very little representation in the state assemblies and parliaments. Since farmers and farm labor don't pay taxes and don't fall in the tax bracket, there is no incentive for the Government to keep them alive and happy. 

Playing political pawns

Around election time parties dangle carrots to secure their votes, and forget them soon after elections. Every time a party comes to power they announce schemes by playing to gallery and many at times schemes remain on paper and end with a press release. 

Issues like famine, drought, floods, etc. are politicized and protests are staged by opposition parties to draw political mileage and fuel ire against the ruling Government. Aligning with opposition parties haven't earned them much return. This has been the story for the last 70 years and farming ecosystem continues to languish in the hands of political parties.

Restore pride and be self-reliant

Though unemployment is still high in the nation, rural India is short on farm labor. Some Central Government schemes like NREGA that guarantees 100 days of rural employment/year isn't very effective way to keep the remaining workforce motivated. 

Though socialistic schemes such as free rice and subsidized pulses through PDS, free power for farm pumps, guaranteed procurement prices for produce protects them at one level eventually fuels laziness and creates dependency. 

Government and policy makers must think of policies that use tax payers money to restore pride of farming community and make them more responsible, self-reliant rather than keeping them on doles and life-support.

Today, in villages I see children going to schools by vans and girls bicycling to nearby schools, thanks to the Government for enabling children with the means children get basic education. But isn't it time that we improve the quality of education? Primary health care remains a distant dream for people in rural. 

Over the last week I spoke to some of the farm laborers asking if they are aware of their rights and duties and Government policies that they can leverage upon. Sadly, many of them were not even aware of life insurance scheme launched by Govt. of India that gives their families 2.5 Laks in case of death or accident by merely enrolling in Mudra Bank. Governments at both state and central must continue a sustained awareness and communication campaign to ensure that rural India benefits from the schemes that are launched.

How to create smart villages

1.Focus on setting up agricultural universities in villages that provide education coupons to farmers children.

2. Provide easier access and interest-holiday loans and encourage farmers in setting-up farming allied small-scale industries thereby providing employment and adding value to their produce. This in turn will prevent migration from rural to urban.

3. Provide technology support to mechanize farms and science and technical know-how to improve farming techniques and yields.

4. Eliminate middlemen and connect farmers with buyers directly.

4. Build storage, warehousing, and processing facilities to stock grains thereby preventing wastage and pilferage.

5. Improve working conditions, enforce safety and protective gear, fix pay scales and bring mandatory contribution towards PF, ESI, and gratuity to labourers who work more than 100 days with any farm or employer.

6. Create awareness campaigns and call centers to propagate and educate farmers on the schemes launched to support their well being.

7. Lastly, provide access to quality education, healthcare, counseling services, etc. thereby creating a smart village that is self-contained.

By providing farmers and farm labor with incentives to work harder, improving their standard of living only gets to them to give-up subsidies and graduate them into tax paying bracket. Doesn't this become a win-win for both farmers and Government?

Be smart workers and not just hard workers

Since farming is an unorganized sector and farm labor needs no big skill and qualification, they don't command respect that white and blue collared workers command. Since there are no barriers to entry and exit, they have no bargaining power. As a result, getting labor to work in the fields is the biggest problem today and that is partially the reason for poor employee morale and farmers selling off their holdings.

It has been over a week since it stopped raining, and we are racing against time and struggling to spray herbicides. We hardly been able to get 4 workers to dispense the medicine across 200 acres of land. I know this sounds like a time and manpower problem that we solved in high school algebra, but there is more to solve here if we need to stay here long-term and ensure a mutual win-win.

It is time farmers and farm labourers living under the thumb of politicians and false protection of leftist wake up and emancipate themselves. Farming can be run in a corporate way with adequate protection yielding them benefits to farm labor like employees in other industries. A smart worker reaps more than a hard worker.

A new business and HR model is the need of the hour to make farming an attractive profession, train and retain workforce, give them incentives to work harder, get them up the income ladder and tax bracket and eventually give up subsidies. 

Humans inspire to conspire against nature

While we were getting ready cross the canal and get on top of the bund to oversee spraying of weedicides, the farm labor asked us to stand back as a snake hurriedly made its way ahead of us. Though the labor was concerned about our safety and lifted the stick, we asked him to not to harm the snake. In the back of my mind I was curious to know if it was a cobra or a rat snake having recently read a report confirming India's numero uno position wrt death from snakes bites and lack of anti-venom in rural hospitals. 

Bunds are a good place to rest, reflect, and marvel. Sitting on it, I recollected my high school biology lesson on food chain and how species are both dependent and connected in a large ecosystem. While at the same time I was on the lookout for snakes and every time a blade of grass touched my feet, I was hyper reacting. 

Though knowledge and information are powerful, but it resides in the head and sometimes creates unnecessary anxiety.

Home is where the food is

Bunds are also the nesting place for termites, ants, crabs, insects, rats and snakes. Termites are very sensitive to light and heat, they use sand from the wet canal to built their eco friendly homes. And sometimes they coexist with ants. Once water starts to flow in canals, both ants and termites migrate to a higher ground (bunds), while crabs and frogs continue to stay on the side of the canal to feed on small fishes, insects and tadpoles. What an ingenious planning, but we still classify these species under the five senses category.

Conspiration against nature 

While crabs, ants and termites do all the hard work in building their homes, snakes and rats feed on them and finally take over their nest. Isn't this behavior similar to those emulated by our people and politicians who encroach lakes, canals and river beds and finally making it all theirs? 

Another conspiracy formula was being mixed in front of my eyes: 300 ml of Ricestar and 125 ml of Nominee Gold per acre of land to control the growth of weeds. Will these chemicals affect the food chain of birds, insects, rodents and reptiles was the next thought in my mind.

Birds of prey

While I watched herbicides being sprayed, I also spotted three birds of prey. One was a forked tail drongo eagerly sitting on the power lines and patiently waiting to catch bees and dragonflies. I spotted them in pairs and from time-to-time one darted in and out of fields, while the other made calls to alert the other of predators higher in the food chain and also divert their prey. That was a dual income family!

Second one was a kingfisher with bright blue wings and orange belly waiting to feed on the fishes and frogs in the canal. And the last one was hovering like a drone in the sky was the Eagle aka Garuda, vehicle for Vishnu looking for rats and rat snakes. It is an irony that we worship Gods and their adopted vehicles, yet we conspire against them and poison their food chain. 

It is interesting to see sibling rivalry in the Eagle family. Eagles in general lays two eggs, and the older, larger chick kills its younger sibling once hatched. The dominant chick tends to be a female, as they are bigger than the male. Doesn't it sound similar those stories in newspapers?

Today's trip to the farm was an excellent opportunity to reflect back on my learnings from high school biology and at the same time compare and contrast human and animal behavior. Isn't it true that nature and its creations inspire humans to only conspire against them?

Reflect, support and return to roots

Though many of us started as farmers and agriculturalists and somewhere we were enamored by white/blue collar jobs and migrated to other lucrative professions that involve sedentary lifestyle and lack of physical activity. Today, some out of guilt and few out of necessity and tired of city lifestyle are beginning to move back to villages. Both my grandparents are agriculturalist and I am the first generation in my family who has not practiced agriculture. This sabbatical offers me an opportunity to compare and contrast both professions and possibly, get a keyhole view into farming and the sacrifices made by the community. And this blog is an attempt to understand farming from both inside and outside.

There are two points that keep me both awake and thinking at night these days. One, how can we make agriculture more sustainable given shortage of labor, adverse climatic conditions, lack of capital and loan facility, and politics of water. 

Reaching the ominous tipping point

Though India's IT and ITES industry is referred to as the sunrise sector it contributes to less than 9% of our GDP, while agriculture contributes 14% to our GDP feeding 1.3 billion. With cultivable land decreasing due rapid urbanization and industrialization and with population on the rise we will soon reach the ominous tipping point where demand overtakes supply affecting food supply.

The UN survey predicts that by 2020 more than 50% of the India's population would have shifted from rural to urban putting more pressure and stress on food producers, who at the bottom of the pyramid shoulder the burden and responsibility feeding the nation. Are we willingly turning India into another Sub-Saharan country ridden with hunger, famine, and poverty?

Who will hear farmers?

In the last 18 months Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made trips around the world to build investor confidence, seek investments in India, alongside his efforts to pass land acquisition bill in the Parliament, but sadly hasn't visited villages or asked his ministers to lend their ears to withering farmers and attending to their needs.

I was at a local supermarket today and I was not surprised to see all those products available in city supermarkets on the shelves. If FMCG companies can crack the rural market and master the art of marketing to rural India, is it that difficult for a Government to understand rural problems and solve them? 

Can a branch exist without the root?

Can manufacturing and software code feed the nation? While industries can generate employment and put money in the hands of people, but agriculture is fundamental to human survival. US has already learnt their lesson on outsourcing manufacturing to China, is it India time to learn a lesson outsourcing and abandoning food production? 

Second point that made me toss and turn at night is the living and working conditions of farm labor and improve the ecosystem. In corporate sector we enjoy job safety and security, early bonuses, raises, and perks like medical insurance, maternity, weekends off, and privilege leave. But do farmers enjoy the same rights and privileges? Is that why they migrate in search better jobs that guarantees all of the above?

Is it sustainable?

My father holds large land holdings; he educated us and provided for us from agricultural income. Though he moved us to the city for better education, but he always brought us back to the village for summer vacation to stay close to our roots. Though our lives were basic, he taught us how to be happy and contended.

Is Rs.150 a day for women and Rs.300/ day for men sustainable to run a family with two children? Let's say a dual income rural family working on the farm for 25 days a month, it cumulatively adds up to Rs.11,250, which will be hardly enough to help them make both ends meet. Let's pause for a minute and think what monthly expense(s) of us matches with this rural income. 

If you are two acre farmer then you have financial and physical challenges to meet. Economically, a two acre farmland is not large enough to sustain their lifestyle and hence they will have to supplement with income from working elsewhere. That is also a reason why they tend maximize farm output through use of excessive chemicals. 

Build their pride and create more opportunity

Majority of farmers in India hold less than 2 acres of land and together produce to feed the nation of 1.3 billion population. The only way to arrest rural migration and deter farmers from giving away their land to industries is by making agriculture lucrative and farming the pride of the nation. Alongside, there is also an immediate need to provide quality education and hospital facilities in nearby towns. 

Government must definitely look at creating an ecosystem that will not only help farming, but also add value to farm produce thereby arresting migration. For example, they must provide opportunity for farmers children to qualify in the areas of food technology, food processing and also provide them with necessary loans and technology know-how to set up food processing units that give them an opportunity to use their education and support agriculture.

The sacrifices made by the farming community to feed the world is million times more effective and real compared to what corporates do under the banner of social responsibility, which is more of lip service and a marketing ploy. It is time we pay are dues and gratitude back to the farming community.

Consuming is alone is not supporting

Though capitalists and industrialists all started as agriculturalist, but why haven't they taken up farming on a large scale after achieving their monetary goals? Is it hard to return to the roots once you found a place in the branch. I will write in detail about how farmers make ends meet and the perks and subsidies that they receive from the Government in my next blog. 

At times, I may sound both capitalist and socialist in my writings, but I believe in keeping the 'Golden Goose' healthy and happy.

Farming, once a sunrise sector

This has been my fourth consecutive working day in the fields and I must confess that I enjoy working and negotiating with the workers as much as I enjoy working in climate controlled offices. I also managed to synthesize Vitamin D directly from sunlight without any medical aid. :)

Racing against time, wrestling against nature

We went in early this morning to ensure that water in fields were drained because dry field is a prerequisite to application of weedicide. During our coffee break, we spoke to farmers from adjoining lands who also complained about the unprecedented growth of weeds this year. 

Given what happened to farmers in Punjab who cultivated cotton this year, I suspected if weedicide manufacturers polluted river/canal with seeds from the weeds to push their products? Or could it be due to the late arrival of rain, delayed opening of the dam? With periodic night showers and North East monsoon only a few weeks away, every farmer is racing against time as much as wrestling against nature. 

Shades of green

Watching laborers manually remove weeds by uprooting roots from the soil, I asked my father a simple question: how does one differentiate between weeds and paddy shoot? 

He took me aside and pointed at the shades of green and yellow in the fields. The parrot green blade was paddy, while the yellowish green blades of grass were weeds. His answer sounded simple to the ears, but challenging to my eyes.

Not a green field

Exposed to 35 deg C sunshine, standing in ankle deep water and bending forward to manually remove weeds along with their roots isn't a fun job. If you asked me if they were compensated adequately for their efforts, the answer is no. Women get paid a paltry sum of 125 Rs. a day, while men get paid Rs. 350. In addition, all of them are offered tea and snacks in the afternoon. 

Surprised on hearing their pay scales, I pointed out to my father that disparity exist between genders in both fields and boards rooms. Sadly,there is no green field for women!

Multiple dilemmas

If you are going the organic way then weedicides are not an option; one has to manually remove weeds which makes organic farming a labor intensive and expensive alternative. As a result the output from organic cultivation is also reduced, which explains why organic produce is more expensive. Are you willing to pay more for low yield and additional labor cost than consume chemical loaded produce that comes with varieties of side-effects from cancer to autism? 

Whether organic or chemical farming, it is a tough job standing in waterlogged fields for 8 hours and manually removing weeds. If only each of us were made to grow food we consume, we would stop being greedy and wasteful. Sadly, we throw money at supermarkets, but seldom think about the sweat and heat behind cultivation of each grain.

Delivery Manager of the farm

While my father was busy inspecting the fieldwork, I was following up the field in-charge referred to as Thalayari to see how we can get expel water from the fields. Maybe it will help you understand better if I explain the role of a Thalayari. 

He is paid a monthly wage and is responsible to guard the field against predators (livestock and rodents), vandalism, and sabotage. He also oversees workers during the day and more importantly manages and regulates water flow (Neeranickam) to the fields. Therefore, he needs be well versed in the neural circuit of the fields. He is expected to appraise on the health of the crop and bring to notice any incidents of sabotage and suspicion. In short, he is equivalent of a delivery manager in the IT world who manages teams and their morale, anticipates bottlenecks and delivers the required output.

Understanding the politics of water

Could a two hour rain inundate fields and canals? Was there something fishy and political? How did acres of dry land ready to be sprayed with weedicide was inundated with water overnight? While I was busy using my intellect to solve the water logging issue, my father took a different approach to understanding the situation by posing simple questions to understand the local politics.

Though my father suspected sabotage, but he couldn't get any answers from the Thalayari to confirm his suspicion. To break the stalemate, my father posed simpler questions like a teacher only to get him to think and come up with a solution. He questioned him on the various inlet and outlet points to the fields and asked about the water level in the river and gradient in the pond. Given adequate clues, he pushed him further to go around the area and find a way to drain the water in the fields.

Did we manage to drain the fields and spray the chemical to contain the growth of weeds on time? Come back tomorrow to learn more about the difficulties of farmers, farm workers, and farming as an occupation. Also learn about the three species of birds that I spotted in the fields today.

From the Rice Bowl of South India

When I shared this picture with a few friends, two responded 'picturesque' and another replied that it must be calming to work in a rice field than to eat rice and work sitting in one place all day. What is the reality behind the picturesque fields and is it really much easier working in the rice fields? Let's find out without getting you sweaty and dirty.

Sadly, many of us have no knowledge of how food grains are produced and our knowledge of farms are restricted to what newspapers report. Farmer suicides and river wars between two states are the only two favorite topics. 

Since we have lived all our life in cities and we shop in supermarkets which stocks produce in climate controlled rooms. As a result, there is no opportunity for us to understand the hard work that goes into the fields, practical difficulties of managing farms lands, migration and labor issues, constant battle with the unapathetic Government and its policies and most importantly, unpredictable climate. 

I reached my village three weeks late, just like the rains in September. By then my dad had ploughed 200+ acres for cultivating Paddy aka Rice. Thanjavur district is often referred to as the rice bowl of south India and there are some farmers who still cultivate three crops a year. 

Since rains played a truant this September and release of water in Mettur Dam delayed for cultivation, my father and many other farmers by-passed the transplantation process and directly sowed the seeds after preparing the soil. Some used ground water and bore wells to irrigate and prepare the fields, while others were dependent on release of Cauvery water from Mettur Dam. 

Here is a beautiful picture depicting the birth of Cauvery river that I found in my house. Lord Ganesha turned into a crow to release Cauvery from Sage Agastya's Kamandalu. Had the sage known the issue between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, he would have found an alternate solution. 

Usually the sowing season begins in mid to end July and harvest falls around mid-January coinciding with Farmers Festival aka Pongal. The water level in Mettur Dam is a marker for bountiful harvest. Though the newspaper reported Mettur Dam at 68 feet, it also brought in some good news for the day. Heavy rains in catchment areas had forced Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu and the inflow of water into Mettur was heartening. 

On the way to the farmlands, I pointed out at Koraiyar and Harischandra Nadhi flowing bank to bank to my father, who explained to me how the river beds weren't dredged and cleaned in a long time, resulting in a clogged and shallow river bed. Was it the fault of the Government or were the collectors siphoning the money elsewhere while accounting for dredging expenses? I leave that to your investigation.

Despite late arrival of rains and politics behind Mettur Dam water release, my father and many other farmers took a risk in sowing paddy using bore wells. How do the fields appear now? Get ready for a weekend read on the risks of late sowing and the delayed arrival of monsoon?