FARMERS IN INDIAN REGIONAL POETRY

     

National Farmers’ Day (Kisan Diwas) is a fitting moment to look at how farmers and agrarian life have shaped Indian poetry across regions and languages. Agriculture has never been just an occupation in Indian literature; it is culture, philosophy, suffering, resistance, and hope woven into verse.

 

Farmers in Indian Regional Poetry

1. Tamil Literature

Tamil poetry has one of the richest agrarian traditions.

Sangam literature (c. 300 BCE–300 CE) places farming at the heart of civilization.

Poems describe fertile fields, irrigation tanks, monsoon rains, and the dignity of the uzhavar (farmer).

In Purananuru, kings are praised not for war alone but for protecting farmers and ensuring food security.

Tirukkural (Thiruvalluvar) elevates farmers morally:

“Those who till the land are the pivot on which all others turn.”
Farmers are portrayed as sustainers of society, above traders and rulers.

 

2. Hindi and Awadhi Poetry

North Indian poetry often reflects both reverence and hardship.

Kabir (15th century) uses farming metaphors—ploughing, seeds, harvest—to explain spiritual truth.

Tulsidas describes rural life and agrarian rhythms in Ramcharitmanas.

Modern Hindi poets like Nagarjun:

Wrote stark, realist poems about drought, hunger, indebtedness, and exploitation.

Farmers are no longer symbolic—they are struggling, angry, and political.

 

3. Punjabi Literature

Punjabi poetry is deeply rooted in the land.

War poets and Sufi poets like Bulleh Shah used agricultural imagery to speak of labor, equality, and humility.

Modern Punjabi poetry:

Celebrates the farmer’s pride, resilience, and connection to soil.

Also mourns displacement, Green Revolution anxieties, and debt.

Folk forms like boliyan and tappe frequently revolve around harvests (Baisakhi), crops, and rural love.

 

4. Bengali Poetry

Bengali literature blends nature, famine, and humanism.

Rabindranath Tagore:

Portrayed farmers as part of a cosmic harmony with nature.

Poems and songs (Rabindra Sangeet) celebrate rain, rivers, and paddy fields.

Modern poets influenced by the Bengal famines:

Depict hunger, landlessness, and colonial exploitation.

Farmers appear as victims of unjust systems rather than fate.

 

5. Marathi Literature

Marathi poetry strongly voices the farmer’s pain and protest.

Sant Tukaram used rural imagery to convey devotion and social equality.

20th-century Dalit and progressive poets:

Wrote powerful verses on drought, suicides, caste oppression, and state neglect.

The farmer becomes a symbol of structural injustice, not just rural life.

 

6. Telugu Literature

Telugu poetry reveres agriculture as sacred labor.

Classical poets praised fertile deltas of Krishna and Godavari.

Modern Telugu poets:

Address farmer suicides, migration, and water politics.

Combine lyrical beauty with sharp social critique.

 

7. Kannada Literature

Kuvempu and other modern poets portray farmers as custodians of land and ecology.

Folk poetry and janapada songs celebrate sowing, harvesting, and village festivals.

The land is often depicted as a mother, and farming as filial duty.

 

8. Urdu Poetry

Though often urban in popular imagination, Urdu poetry uses farming metaphors powerfully:

Words like zameen (land), fasal (crop), mehnat (labor), and khak (soil) recur.

Progressive poets such as Faiz Ahmed Faiz speak of dispossession, labor, and dignity—where the farmer stands alongside the worker as an exploited class.

 

Common Themes Across Indian Poetry

Despite linguistic diversity, certain themes unite agrarian poetry:

Reverence for land as sacred and life-giving

Farmer as moral backbone of society

Cycles of nature—rain, drought, sowing, harvest

Suffering under power structures (colonialism, feudalism, capitalism)

Hope and resilience, even in despair

 

Conclusion

Indian poetry does not merely mention farmers—it depends on them, much like society itself. From ancient Sangam verses to modern protest poetry, the farmer remains a central figure: sometimes divine, sometimes broken, but always essential.

On Kisan Diwas, revisiting these poetic traditions reminds us that long before policy debates, Indian poets understood a simple truth:

The nation begins in the field.