Candles in the Wind

Directed by Nandan Saxena

Women of rural Punjab have long forgotten to sing the songs of harvest in the midst of escalating farm suicides. The Film witnesses the march of widows of the 'Green Revolution' in Punjab as they re-negotiate the rules of engagement and the politics of domination, in their bid to survive. For the first time, Candles in the Wind tells the story from inside this area, known as the green reserve of India, a place which is relentlessly transforming itself into a social desert, where women are obliged to take over dramatic situations without any form of protection or assistance. Their struggle gives us a window into the social-economic flux in rural India - a nuanced understanding of the silent under-currents of a gender-specific struggle in the larger narrative of surviving as a farmer in these times.