The Six-Lane Freeway of Deceit by Jacinta Kerketta - Summary and Analysis

                          Kerketta’s poem is deeply rooted and talks about the modern-day exploitation of the indigenous tribes and communities in India in the name of development. Jacinta quite subtly asserts that these so-called developmental initiatives of the authorities are of no merit for the natives. Instead, these projects are often motivated either by financial or political objectives of the authorities. The native people in all this structured exploitation have no say whatsoever and can only hope that the results of this will ease their lives. But, most of the time that is not the case, more often, the hopes of the natives are sacrificed over the greed of those in power.

 

Kerketta’s description of the setting of the poem :

                       Through Karketta’s lively and vivid description of the setting, the village comes alive in the minds of the readers. Towards the very beginning of the poem, Kerketta is talking about a football tournament that is taking place in a certain unnamed village. In the first quarter of the poem, it is clear how passionate are the people of Saranda for football. This can be observed in their enthusiasm to see the football tournament. Kerketta creates vivid imagery with the detailing of the people who are coming from faraway places of the jungle to see the tournament, where the winner’s trophy is a goat. Till this point, surprisingly the poem seems like any other poem about a village. But, as the poem progresses, the tone of the poem becomes more intense and dark.

             

What goes on behind the scenes?       

                    And soon after the beautiful description of the village, the tone of the poem completely changes as Jacinta reveals the hidden details behind this crazy passion for football among the people of Saranda forest. As she reveals, the passion for football in the people of Saranda has not come naturally to them. It is engineered by the people in authority to exploit the native population of Saranda. More specifically, to keep the young people of Saranda away from education and knowledge of the outside world, even children are almost forcibly made members of Youth Clubs to prevent them from getting education. The powerful people fear that if the natives of Saranda forest will get educated, they will ask questions about what is being done to their home. That is why, quite strategically, instead of books, footballs are placed into the hands of the children and as said by Jacinta quite symbolically, with the football, books too are kicked off.

                  And behind the scenes runs the illegal business of mining into the lands of these people and the natives are deliberately kept in darkness, devoid of education or any kind of knowledge, so that nobody can question them. The situation is so serious and worrisome that the people don’t even know what is being done to their land.

                    Jacinta also talks about how the young souls of Saranda fall prey to the addiction to football which she compares with the addiction to opium. The young souls of Saranda are so immersed in football and the victory and loss in the game that they fail to see what is being done to their land, and what is being done to their future. The game of football is in a way used as a shield by the powerful people to hide their evil intentions and to divert the attention of the native people of Saranda.

 

Description of the working and living conditions of the natives :

                        Jacinta uses strong and impactful language to describe the living and working conditions of the people in Saranda. In the villages of Saranda, everyday survival is a struggle for many to earn their livelihood. The agents of these mining corporations knock the doors of these workers at any hour of the day or night and the whole families are carried away like sheep to work under dire conditions. And for such hard labour they are paid extremely little. Jacinta says that people here suffer with innumerable problems. Despite working day and night the people are underfed, unemployed, and helpless. But nobody utters a word and things go on as they always were.

 

Six Lane Freeway :

                       Amidst all this dystopia, there are now four and six-lane roads going to be laid down from the middle of the forest. And the people who are working to build these roads are not brought from somewhere else. They are the people of this land who are unaware of the motivations behind these big projects. They fall prey to the sweet talks of the contractors and give in themselves thinking that this might change their lives for the better. But little do they know that under the name of development and big projects, they are being exploited, their land is being exploited and they will get nothing but “deceit” out of it. Towards the end, Kerketta sadly says that the people of Saranda are unaware that,

“how many more free lanes of deceit run through the forests of Saranda”