region and nobody dared criticize them. Somehow Joshi got away with that criticism because the farmers of the region were so convinced of his sincerity that they knew his intentions must be right. In later years, it should be mentioned, Joshi wrote about the saints and their warkari tradition to elaborate how they helped society stay together, gave hope to people when everything seemed hopeless and provided some meaning to life which made it worth living. Building of farmers’ organization was very different from building a trade union of the workers. The timing of the workers clock in and clock out was fixed; by just standing at the gate they could be easily contacted. They were always in touch with each other since they worked under the same roof. Some natural sense of brotherhood would emerge in them. The two sides of the enterprises were well-defined; management and workers. When enemy is obvious, unity comes more readily. Industrial workers were also better educated and better off. The advantages of coming together were obvious to all workers. Workers in cities were therefore well-organized and wellpaid and yet would often go on strike. For instance, sweepers in Bombay would always go on strike for one demand or the other as soon as the rains started in June. This period was always risky as city was susceptible to epidemics. Government would come forward to negotiate and usually concede to their demands. However, the same government totally neglected even the most genuine and simple demands of farmers. Even the pilots of airlines had a union and would go on strike for higher salaries despite the fact that their monthly salary was much more than what a farmer earned in two years. For a farmer it was impossible to go on a strike. His work was such that he was bound to do it on regular basis and could not go far from it. If he failed to do sowing or reaping at the 190
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Sharad Joshi : Leading Farmers to the Centre Stage
