Documentary review - Nero's Guest

 NERO'S GUEST

Director - Deepa Bhatia

Cinematography - Amole Gole, Shanti Bhushan, Atul Hirde

Editor - Deepa Bhatia, Abhro Banerjee

Nero's guest is a documentary by Rural Affairs Editor and journalist, P. Sainath. It was released in the year 2009. It is a documentary based on the dramatic rise in farmer suicides in Vidarbha, Maharashtra.

The documentary covers the matter of Indian farmers and their crisis. After 5 and a half years of covering farmer suicides, P. Sainath says that he knows for sure who 'Nero's Guests' are.                                                                                                                              

Based on the documentary, 60% of people are still dependent on agriculture. 836 million Indians live on less than 50 cents (around 48INR) a day. Since 1977, nearly 20000 farmers have commited suicide due to debt and distress. And yet, mainstream media hardly reflects this reality.

In the documentary, P. Sainath and his team go around interviewing the families of farmers who have died. In one of these interviews, the victim was a father of 2 boys. The sons explain that their father had mortgage on lands, farmer's cooperative loans and bank loans to deal with and that drove him to take his own life. When asked if their mother had got any compensation from the government, they repied that they got none. It was the same story in most other interviews.

Back in 1988, the suicide rate was 1 per week. In 2002, it increased to 1 per day and now, everyday, in every district, 2 to 3 farmers died. The document also addressed the story of one particular farmer who was titled 'The progressive farmer of the year'. He was one to look down upon suicides and would advise his fellow farmers not to go down that path. He would tell them that things would get better. And yet, even his spirit was crushed, and he took his life in 2004.

The documentary vividly shows the ignorance of people by bringing in the matter of the Lakme India Fashion Week. Here were people displaying cotton garments, having 500 plus correspondents backing it, when, in the same state, an hour's flight away, the men and women who grew that cotton were taking their lives at the rate of 6 - 8 each day.

P. Sainath asks the other farmers how they have been affected. They explain that under the government's policy, the farming costs have increased while subsequently, the crops don't yeild returns. When asked if they get help from the government, they say that they get nothing. And the prices of pesticides and fertilizers and everything else only gets costlier.

P. Sainath, in the documentary, talks about the agrarian crises, how it is operationalized and what it acheives. He explains that for the first time in the 90s, in the history of the country, The Supreme Court has pulled up 6 states resurfacing since the 1943 Bengal famine. He says that in the last 15 years, the fastest growing sector in this country, is inequality, which has reached a new high since the colonialism. He expresses his frustration in this matter by telling us that the fastest growing and politically free media, is imprisoned by profit. The story about farmers doesn't bring in much profit, so they drop it and never let these farmers have their justice.

Due to his efforts and the efforts of the other journalists, several government officials and ministers began visiting Vidarbha. When the Prime Minister made his visit, the farmers finally got the nedia coverage that they deserved. The govt. introduced a loan waiver and announced 2 relief packages for the farmers.

P. Sainath illustrates this issue with the story of Nero. As the story goes, The Roman Emperor arranged a grand garden party for the elite. Everyone who was anyone came for the party. But there was a problem. The lighting at the party was faulty. So Nero solved it. He brought out criminals and prisoners and burnt them on stakes, to illuminate the party. And not a single guest uttered a word of protest. Sainath tells us that the real villian in this situation isn't Nero, but his guests. Those silent spectators, who carried on without batting an eye, are the true sinners.

Sainath concludes by saying that we should not be like those guests. His message can be interpreted to mean that, when we witness a wrong, we must have the courage to stand up and tell them that it is wrong.