Some Food for thought
“Change is like that: you are no longer where you were;
you are not yet where you will get;
you are nowhere exactly.”
you are not yet where you will get;
you are nowhere exactly.”
Andhra Pradesh — Moving fast to reach nowhere
Almost after two years, I got an opportunity
to travel to Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh Capital region, again. Circumstances
permitting, I would never miss an opportunity to visit this very beautiful part
of our country, which brilliantly impersonates Mother India, as described in
our National Song.
This land is "rich with hurrying streams
& dark fields, bright with orchard gleams and cool with winds of delight."
The occasion for visiting Vijaywada this time
was wedding of my close friend's son. This meant, meeting a lot of people from
various walks of life and plenty of amazing food. I love both.
In the elaborate marriage function, I noticed
a number of socio-economic changes that have been widely accepted even by the
older generations. Some of these changes are worth highlighting.
Politics in Andhra Pradesh is just like any
other state. Any discussion about politics here inevitably leaves a pungent
taste in your mouth. But any discussion about the state would be incomplete
without highlighting the political landscape.
As I mentioned in the note after my visit to
the city 2yrs ago (Smart Cities -
Smart People), the fetish for Gold and Silk remains
unabated; though the usage of imitation continues to rise.
The problem of obesity seems to be rising
much faster than I anticipated. It has almost reached epidemic proportion in my
view.
A visit to the Mallavalli village in
Bapulapadu block of Krishna district, some 40miles from Vijaywada was quite
revealing. I highlight three noteworthy trends.
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Contest between 'knowledge' and
'belief'
Many communities in Andhra Pradesh, like in
Tamil Nadu, traditionally considered marriage within close family auspicious.
People were happy to marry their first cousins, uncles and aunts, etc. The
primary idea, as I understand, was to not let the family wealth go out of the
family and keep the land holdings intact.
However, disintegration of joint families defeated
the primary purpose and the undesirable effects of this practice were exposed.
Incest and significant genetic disorders were found to be two worst side
effects of this widely prevalent practice. Thankfully, people have realized it
and are now avoiding marrying in the close relationships.
I think, the Khap Panchayats in the northern
states like Haryana, UP and Rajasthan, need to study this transition in Andhra
society deeply and may be draw some lessons for their respective communities.
Turmeric, sandalwood and
YouTube
Another interesting observation was how the
youth is trying to stay connected to traditions with use of technology.
Applying turmeric and sandalwood paste to the
bride and groom before marriage is an important ritual in most Indian marriage
ceremonies.
In this ritual, the family members apply the
antiseptic, antifungal, and antibacterial paste made from freshly grounded
turmeric and sandalwood to the bride and groom, followed by a bath with milk,
curd and holy water.
The idea is to (a) cure any skin infection
the couple might be carrying; and (b) protect the couple from any infection
that they might contract meeting with so many strangers during marriage
ceremony.
Traditionally, the women of the family,
neighborhood and relations, would sing folk songs (a medley of devotional,
emotional and naughty songs) while these rituals are being performed. These
songs have been traditionally treated as integral part of the ceremony.
In recent years, it has been observed that
like many other traditional things, the knowledge of these songs and method
performing the ritual has diminished considerably.
In this particular marriage, the young family
members decided to take help of technologies and used the folk song videos available
on YouTube to perform the rituals.
I must confess, it actually did go very well!
We can debate endlessly, whether culture can
survive purely in digital mode, without human touch and efforts. But for now
the irrefutable fact is that a part of our culture that is facing extinction
has been put on a very effective and inexpensive life support system.
My view is that the digitization of the
traditional knowledge and practices shall keep this treasure alive and relevant
much longer than earlier anticipated.
The downside is that the digital repertoire
of culture is egalitarian and susceptible to manipulation and distortion by the
ill-informed, unscrupulous and malevolent.
"Knowledge" vs. "Belief"
It is going to be a keen contest between
"knowledge" and "belief".
The digitally preserved traditional knowledge
can only connect people to their legacy. It cannot make them believe in the
relevance of their legacy to their current context. For that, consistent
improvisation and practice would be needed.
After all, you cannot become a professional
doctor or engineer just by watching tutorials on YouTube or reading the course
books. It takes much more than that.
It would be interesting to watch, how our
Generation X strikes a balance and wins this contest.
On a side note, on this trip I realized that
Internet is more like Indian ethos. All have an opportunity to seek knowledge
and express it in their own way. Followers have complete liberty to choose what
they want to follow.
For example, I recently found that there are
more than 500 YouTube videos uploaded by Indians strongly prescribing "to
eat" and "not eat" garlic.
Watching these videos does not help anyone.
It actually compounds the confusion and
indecision.
We would eventually have to find someone (a
guru, an elder, or a doctor) who would show you a clear precise path and
convince us to tread that path.
Without such guidance, we shall remain
travelers to nowhere — always on the move; always in a rush; always busy, doing
nothing, going nowhere.
TDP set to get another chance in
2019
The politics in Andhra Pradesh is multi
polar.
TDP led by N. Chandra Babu Naidu (NCBN) is
the ruling and presently dominant party. TDP contested last elections with BJP
as NDA constituent, but has separated since.
YSR Congress led by Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy is
the primary challenger to TDP's dominance.
TRS led by K. Chandrashekar Rao, which rules
the neighboring Telangana, is trying to make some inroads but remains mostly on
the fringe.
INC led by Rahul Gandhi has been marginalized
after the accidental death of its tall leader Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR) in
2009 and subsequent departure of his son Jaganmohan. No one is talking about
revival of the fortunes of INC in the states at present. It may however choose
to partner YSR Congress to stay alive in the state.
BJP has always been present in the state on
the sidelines. It did manage to do well only when it contested elections in
alliance with TDP. This time the chances of that happening are extremely
remote.
The general feeling amongst people is that NCBN
has performed very badly on most parameters, in past four years. Nonetheless, he
has been extremely successful in conveying this message to masses that the
total responsibility for his underperformance lies with the central government,
which failed to keep its promise of special status to the state and provide
adequate funds for development of industrial and social infrastructure in the
state.
The people are therefore willing to give him
another chance and punish BJP for reneging on its promises and betraying the
people of Andhra Pradesh.
Dynasty is accepted and respected
In Andhra Politics, like many other states,
dynasty in politics is totally accepted and respected. Unlike the national
narrative, no one likes to discuss fall outs of dynastic politics in the state.
NCBN is 68yr old and has many more years in
the active politics. But people have started discussing the succession issues
at TDP. Most people I spoke to do not consider NCBN's son, N. Lokesh, a
minister in Andhra Pradesh Government, to be a worthy successor to NCBN.
Lokesh's wife, granddaughter of NTR, is
widely seen as a worthy successor to NCBN.
Focusing on weaknesses, ignoring
strengths
As highlighted in my cited note, the state
government continues to ignore the key strengths of the state to focus on the
weaknesses, especially the growth of industrial base.
The construction of the capital city Amravati
is progressing at snail's pace. Shortage of funds is the common reason cited
for the slow progress.
But there is a sizable section of people who
believe that Amravati is being delayed to showcase the Center's apathy towards
state, while other cities like Vizag, Vijaywada, Guntur, Tirupati, Eluru etc.
are expanding fast.
Unfortunately, in this mindless expansion, no
lessons seem to have been learned from the plight of cities like Delhi,
Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bengaluru, etc.
We covered the 2km distance from our hotel to
the marriage venue in approximately 50mintues. Vijaywada is fast catching up
with Bengaluru in terms of traffic, pollution, cacophony, and concretization.
The situation may only worsen once the administration fully shifts to Amravati.
A large number of farmers in the area have
taken up palm oil farming. Many mango orchards have been converted into palm
oil plantations. The yield per acre of palm oil plantation is apparently 2x to
3x that of a mango orchard or paddy field
A mega food park and an industrial park is
coming up in Mallavalli area. Reportedly the land was acquired and given to the
industrial units for free in 2017. However, so far no production unit has come
up in the area. Lack of water is cited as the primary reason for this.
The commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland
has started the construction of its body building unit here recently.
Completion of these two projects can add
materially to the local economy.
The land prices in the area are running
around Rs2.5 to 3million per acre. Considering the best net yield of palm oil
plantation of Rs80,000/acre, agriculture remains mostly an unviable business,
like many other states.
Cash is still the most favored mode of
transacting. Almost all people I met were carrying significant amount of cash
in their shirt's pocket.
Telgu vs. Punjabi
Andhra Pradesh is a privileged child of
nature, much like Punjab. It has one of the most fertile lands, plentiful
water, adequate sunshine and rains, long coastline, and industrious people.
Except perhaps for the Anantpur district, which is drought prone, the rest of
the state is well endowed by the nature.
In Punjab, this endowment of nature made the
people complacent.
Assured of two good crops, farmers freely
indulged into alcohol and narcotics and lost the hunger for growth. The youth
who were ambitious and failed to relate with the parents' complacency started
to look for greener pastures outside since 1970s. A long phase of militancy in
1980s further intensified the desire for migrating to Europe and Americas. In
past two decades, the passion has degenerated into obsession, causing
widespread problems like drug addiction and depression amongst youth.
One can draw many similarities with Andhra
society.
Migrating to foreign lands is a passion for
youth, gradually transforming into an obsession. Alcoholism is widely prevalent
and rising. Gambling is becoming a favorite past time with increasing number of
people, as they grow complacent about their farm income.
The differences with Punjab are few but
stark.
In Andhra, parents are equally eager to send
their wards abroad for study and work, whereas in Punjab parents are generally
found to be reluctant.
The immigrants from Andhra are mostly highly
educated professionals, or wards of rich people going abroad for studies. In
case of Punjab, it was mostly laborers and drivers.
Punjabi immigrants did not invest much in
Punjab, once they got settled in foreign lands. The idea of returning was
mostly absent in their minds; whereas Andhra immigrants are investing in their
home state. The idea of coming back is always on top of their mind, though they
may never actually do that.
I feel, we need to closely watch these trends
over next many years. Any convergence with the trends in Punjab should ring
alarm bells in Andhra Society and administration.
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