The Custodian of SEEDS

You are mother,
Daughter,
Wife

You are the backbone of family structure
You are the conserver of biodiversity
The custodian of SEED

You nurture the earth
With abundance of your love
You sow the SEED with compassion
And suddenly your hopes are dashed when globalisation hits

You lose your traditional knowledge passed on from generations to
generations from mother to daughters.

You lose the power of your custody,
It is stolen from you.
You are suddenly deskilled of your knowledge

All you see is diversification,
Important element, source of water is taken away by building canals
and privatising water resources, you have to look for another
alternative to get water, to feed your family, animals and plants.

You lose the custody of SEEDs which was once your very own pride but
now it is stolen from you and patented by big companies who claim it
is their right.
Women your life has always been a struggle and always is one,
But you never lose your hope and keep on “Fighting for your rights.

(The author has revisits her poem, first written in 2016, as Sikhs celebrate Parkash Purab of Guru Nanak. Guru Sahib who himself sowed the seeds of love and worked the farm and today the farmers are very hard hit by difficulties.

The original poem came about when she was undertaking a project on how MNCs and TNC were affecting farmers by genetically modified (GM) seeds ruining their crops. And how they become bonded slaves to pay for the GM seeds and pesticides. Many farmers  committed suicide as they could not pay off the loans.)

RELATED STORY:

Waking up with farmers on protest vigil (Asia Samachar, 30 Nov 2020)