Nerve Endings Firing Away

I don’t understand the hype over Amitabh and Aamir declaring themselves to be farmers. Incidentally, you have to be a ‘farmer’ if you wish to own agricultural land in India. My dad has made oodles of money by doing the the paperwork for converting lands to non-agricultural post-sale (mind numbing bureaucracy also makes a market, eh?) So it is important to understand here that you don’t actually have to till the land, mind the cows, and sing Mere Desh ki Dharti to be a farmer in India.

Like any other titles that you can get bestowed on you in India, it is fine as long as a measly paper says you are that. Just like you need a official death certificate to prove you are dead and you cannot cart in the dead body to prove your claim or a simple form that lets your community be ‘backward’ and lets your future generations slack off. So don’t blame the actors, I bet there are thousands of other corporate businessmen, rich baniyas, IT professional, or even full-time politicians who are ‘farmers’. Or they at least have a paper that says that they are and no one can be more truthful than a ‘official paper’, right? Blame the law that makes those huge loopholes through which we all can jump through.