Chemical Cotton Flowers

Jagdeep Raina here revisits the Punjabi tradition of phulkari, a style of flower-patterned embroidery. The cotton ball the two women hold up symbolizes the importance of their labour to India’s agricultural economy as well as their intimate knowledge of the land. More poignantly, the prayer-like verse at the bottom – “please strip them of these chemical cotton flowers, let them cling to peace” – reminds us of the darker side of the Green Revolution in 1960s India. Women like these were exposed to the disastrous chemical footprint of intensive cultivation, leaving them and their communities to grapple with the environmental fallout.