Who doesn't like simple stories? Wouldn't it be nice if we could toss out villains and live happily ever after? Unfortunately, this happens only in fairy tales. Critics of Bt cotton technology used by farmers in Maharashtra blame farmers' suicides on the adoption of this technology. More sophisticated critics concede that other factors could be at play, but the guilt of Bt cotton is taken as self-evident even by them. When I visited these villages in early June 2012, I found that these critical stories were the news. Many farmers were puzzled and amazed to be told that their encounter with Bt cotton was ruinous to them. And they were not just big farmers.