Yes, and how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind
This song by Bob Dylan takes a aim at the USA foreign policy during the Cold War which ultimately lead to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. During the war more and more troops were repeatedly sent in with the promise that the war would end soon, but it seemed to never cease. Dylan poses a challenge that If we don’t do the right thing, there’s going to be a war in the streets. In retrospect, the U.S. Civil Rights Movement really did come to that.
Bob dylan’s impenetrably ambiguous ‘blowing in the wind’ means either the answer is so obvious it is right in your face, or the answer is as intangible as the wind.
But today these lines reminded me of the agrarian crisis rural India is going through, numerous suicides farmers are commiting and oblivious India policy makers, corporates and urban middle class. Farmers suicide is nothing new in the country. But this year is different. Last year khareef season was bad because of poor monsoon and draught. And now the rabi crops are all destroyed due to irrational rains and thunderstorms. This coupled with very minimal increase in MSP prices of the wheat,rice means farmers are staring at debt crisis. New NDA govts starving pro-poor MNREGA is not helping the cause at all.