"Little girls are cute and small only to adults. To one another
they are not cute. They are life-sized."
—Margaret Atwood (Canadian, 1939)
Word
for the day
Quinquennium (n)
A period of five years.
Malice
towards none
All rhetoric, no substance -
new normal in public discourse.
First random
thought this morning
SC wants all cinema goers to listen to the national anthem by
standing in honor - Great. A noble thought.
Why not begin all court hearings, schools, offices, theaters,
comedy shows, police stations, rail journeys, with the national anthem?
What if a foreigner wants to watch movie in an Indian theater but
does not want to stand in honor of our national anthem?
How this diktat is different from "Agar Bharat meni rehna
hoga toh Bharat Mata ki Jai kehna hoga".
In search of solutions
As indicated yesterday (see here), these days I find that a large majority of people,
especially the people who matter the most, are talking only about the problems.
To make the matter even worse, the
public discourse has become mostly rhetorical with little substance in it.
Only a few 'Radicals" have
the courage to offer solutions. The elites naturally have problem in
assimilating these solution as these do not conform to the conventional
knowledge. On the other hand the commoners, distraught and disillusioned as
they are, are enthusiastic and willing to experiment with these radical
alternatives even if not sure where they will be led to.
In my view, this march towards the
unknown with inadequate luggage, is the most worrisome aspect of the present
day life. The unpredictability, mistrust that has permeated the system is also adding to the misery.
Empirically, such experiments with
radicalism have shown diverse results and as such no pattern is available. For
example — Hitler and Stalin failed miserably. Deng Xiaoping and Lee Kuan Yew
are widely believed to be remarkable success stories. Castro, Mao, Nixon and
Regan are still debatable. Back home, Sanjay Gandhi and V. P. Singh are mostly
considered failures, while Atal Bihari Vajpayee and PV Narasimha Rao are celebrated
for breaking the status quo.
In past five odd years, I have
made multiple attempts to understand the problems that have been ailing the
Indian society and therefore the Indian economy. From the experience I gained
through wandering across the vast landscapes and meeting thousands of common
people in hinterlands, I can claim to have earned some understanding of the
problems, I mean rhetoric apart. I have in fact been sharing my understanding
with the readers.
Moreover, since I enjoy the
advantage of not being a formal student of economics, statistics, finance,
politics or sociology - I can certainly take liberty to assess the problems
from a common sense viewpoint and devise solutions that do not necessarily
conform to the established conventions.
Since I have written on these
issues frequently and consistently, my old readers may find the presentation
that follows in next few days, repetitive. However, I still find this exercise
worth doing as it reinforces my commitment and faith in the great India story.
In next few days I shall discuss
the social, political, and economic problems afflicting my country. I would
also take the liberty to offer some solutions that I believe could solve many
of these problems.
Remember, this is to initiate a
larger debate on the desirable social, political and economic order for the
country. I have been accumulating thoughts on this for past five years. The
readers may pick whatever they like, debate it, improve it and introduce back
in the stream. It is important to clarify that I do not claim any proprietary
rights over these thoughts. I claim to have liberally and unabashedly
plagiarized the thoughts of various common and eminent people; published
wisdom; and my own experiences.
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