"Little did he know that it was easier to get freedom from colonial slavery than from the Zamindar. Before independence, most of the country lived in villages, inhabited by poor, landless farmers who were ruled by the exploitative Zamindars or Jagirdars. The Zamindars gave these landless farmers ploughs and seeds, made them till the land like bulls, and in return gave them a pittance of the crop. This was also the time when there were famines, droughts and India was starving due to food shortage. In this background, these Zamindars were central to the exploitative enterprise. The village was his universe. He would charge lagaan as per his whims and fancies. He raped women at will. His kothi represented the exploitation of the farmer. The mystery around him, his moustache, his pagdi, his servants and his lathi made him an icon of terror. He was evil. He loved to see a hungry farmer. His heart would fill with joy when a farmer put his izzat– pagdi– at his feet. He loved the sound of the whip slashing the skin off a starving farmer’s back. He could do all this because he was the owner of the land. And that’s the only commodity that God doesn’t make anymore. He owned God’s most in-demand and rare creation – land. Thus, he was God."