Review: Everybody Loves a Good Drought
Everybody loves a good drought by journalist P. Sainath is a collection of short stories from India’s poorest districts mainly focusing on the districts of Orissa, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The book was first published in 1996 and primarily recounts P. Sainath’s journey as a journalist through these parts of India during the 1980s and the early 90s. Even though the book was written 20 years back, the issues discussed in it still continue to prevail in our country. At a time when the journalistic profession has come under serious scrutiny with their ethics and methods being questioned, this book comes as a much needed reassurance that there are still some great journalists around. Sainath’s writing style is brilliant in the sense that he infuses the right amount of drama to make a story intriguing but at the same time he doesn’t mock the stories of the poor by going over the top and instead stays true to the sentiment that his interviewees express. The book is divided into various parts which deal with issues like land acquisition, education, development projects, money lending, etc. In this review I’d like to talk about some of my favourite topics -
The Trickle Up and Down Theory – In this section Sainath talks about the healthcare in the rural districts. In such places healthcare is virtually inexistent. People often rely on home remedies to address their problems as hospitals are too far away. Often doctors aren’t able to make a diagnosis since lab tests take weeks to come back because of logistical problems. Doctors in government hospitals are also usually interested in running their own illegal private practice where they fleece the patients. One of the things that Sainath highlights is the attitude of developed countries to health in India. These countries prefer to give aid for diseases such as plague simply because that makes for a better story and because it perpetuates a certain stereotype of India.
And the meek shall inherit the earth – This was by far my favourite section in the book. This section deal with stories of land acquisition. The reason I really liked it was because it changed my pre-conceived notions about the topic. I often felt that for the sake of development, people must make sacrifices including that of their land in order that larger good is achieved. The POSCO issue in Orissa and the Narmada Bacho Andolan were issues that I felt were things that an unnecessary fuss was being made of. Reading this book changed all that. If we are under the impression that these villagers are adequately compensated then we’re highly mistaken. Not only are they offered below market rates for their land, but often the compensation doesn’t come their way because these poor villagers don’t have official documents for their land. One of his stories goes on to talk about a tribe of people that have been asked to move from three different locations in the name of development. They were constantly relocated and finally on the third occasion they were termed as trespassers and ask to vacate the land that the government themselves allocated. Where do these villagers go to get compensation?
Lenders, Losers, Crooks & Credit – This was another section that was a real eye opener for me. Call me ignorant or whatever but I had no idea that Slavery was prevalent in India as well. Sure it isn’t a slavery based on race but it is one that is based on the economic status of a person. I had heard the term ‘bonded labour’ before but I never tried finding out what it was. The moneylenders in these villages exploit the poor by taking advantage of their helplessness and providing them loans often at rates as high as 120%. Once these villagers are unable to repay these loans they essentially become slaves to these moneylenders and landlords. The grain that they grow becomes the property of the moneylender, they often have to work for over 18 hours a day in gruelling conditions, they are beaten, they are starved and they are treated like vermin. I was ashamed that I didn’t know that this happened in our country.
The reason I wrote about these sections is that I wanted you to have a brief idea about what this book contains. But don’t be under the impression that it is a book that simply paints a negative image and uses a negative tone to depict all that is happening in these districts. In fact Sainath brilliantly uses sarcasm to bring a lighter aspect to his style of narration. He often tries to end his stories on a high with a hope that things will eventually get better. At the end of most stories he also adds a postscript where he talks about some of the changes that have been brought about in these villages post his visit. Sainath’s style of writing is such that he manages to keep the reader interested right through. One moment you can be seething with rage at the injustice that these people have to face and the next moment you can be laughing at the sheer idiocy of some of our policies. What Sainath also does well is that he keeps politics out of all this. While he does blame the government, he usually doesn’t bring specific politicians into the picture. This helps the reader focus on the issue and not get swayed by party allegiances.
I would strongly urge that every Indian read this book and understand more about a section of our country that doesn’t get the attention that it deserves.
My Rating: 3.5/5