Electoral Indifference

I am not sure if the generation of my mom and dad was as polarized as we are at this age. Were they as filled as we are with the juices of 20s – as spellbound as we are by the magic of youth? I cant go back in time and whatever the older generation remembers is bound to be wrong or not accurate enough to make any reasonable assessment, after all their juice is running out. Oh! Wait – They were in era of Indira Gandhi and they were in their “youthful” years when Mrs. Gandhi imposed emergency, they saw a political revolutionary in form of Jay Prakash Narayan, they and also saw rise and fall of Junta Party first hand. There were people who hated Indira and sought messiah in JP; there were those who reviled JP and worshiped Indira. Look where are your parents now? Look around and see where is our country now? I don’t know which side of aisle my mom and dad were. I only hope that they chose a side, and were not indifferent about India’s future – which I fear they were.
Elections, and the drama around it brings best and worst out of our politicians; mostly the worst. Elections also bring out best and worst among us those who have selected a side. What are we? Are we fans, followers, believers, or are we just empty earthen wares, eager to be filled and easy to be replaced, rolling around and finding ourselves at one side or the other. The sliver of Indian population that I observe while sitting on my desk, is not enough to infuse statistical confidence in anything that I might suggest or proclaim. But from what I see, I wonder if this very population is unaware about the difference between the meme and fact, media and news, information and knowledge and most importantly are they unaware that there is a big difference between standing behind a politician and standing behind principles. My observations suggest that many of us are picking memes over facts, media over news, information over knowledge and politicians over principles. Reason many are doing so is because at a deeper level – they are also indifferent.
We are the youth of India, and nothing is impossible for us besides accepting the challenge that our fragility poses before us. It is comforting to believe in what is easy to believe. It is easy to digest information and time consuming to process the knowledge. It is easy to view our world in black and white and forget what it takes to make black black and white white. It is easy to be on one side and not hear and see what other side has to say and show – as assuming deafness and blindness is our Gandhian right.
This drama, 2014 Lok Sabha election will soon end. I have seen your marked fingers, post coitus images of your vote-porn. It seems you have played your part in this drama. Well done. Till 16th of May, your assumed deafness and blindness will be towards things that are external, after 16th, slowly and slowly, this blindness and deafness will spread towards internal agencies. Once back in your cocoon you will resume what you we know best – total indifference. Some would be happy while they recede in their cocoons, some will be sad for the demigods that they worshiped or believed in would either be in the Parliament or not.
What about me? If I am one who is watching it all from the distance, where will it all leave me at the end? I think I will be left tired and pained, as the main actor according to me would have given a flaccid performance and yes, I will still be sitting on my desk. 

 

Case of missing social network

There is vast literature on how people in society collate and form groups. Success of any democratic structure depends on this collation. It is for this reason, that autocratic regimes primarily attack on groups or group formation. In a group, 1+1 ≠ 2, it is always greater than two. 

If you have to appreciate the power of groups or social networks, then you may want to stand in a road side tea stall in India. Often, the average literacy will not cross high school at such places, but the discussion or at least the intensity, will match the talking heads in CNN or BBC. That is an example of a social network. 

My contention is that as a country, India could not develop enough social networks for youth, specially post high school. One will surely have a set of network generated because of how one is embedded in to the system. Say, if I am in college, I am bound (mostly) to have a social network because of the mere fact that I am there. I will make friends in college and hence I will have network. But what after that? Gym? Yes. Different academic coaching classes that people take will also provide another avenue to enlarge ones social network – which will overlap heavily with ones college based network. The overall diversity of network would be low. 

There is another major issue why I will shy from ranking these social networks highly. They are predominantly formed because of how one is embedded into the system (read society). Diversity in social network would be lower, and level of independent choice would be dismal. Since one does not have much choice in formulating such a social network, there are not many avenues for democratic experimentation. Hence, there are no democratic lessons learned and none is practiced. 

Please be mindful that democratic experiments or lessons that I am talking about need not just be those which involve voting; there are multiple lessons that very implicit in nature and are learned because of our experience. 

There is not a single ‘Meetup’ group in Bhopal. There is no event which ‘Eventbrite’ can show. And I found similar statistics on other similar sites – sites that help in organizing group activities. People are not forming groups that exposes them beyond their environment in which they are embedded. They are not organizing themselves. They are not interacting with people who are not from their immediate network but think like them. They are not exploring human connections – and hence doing nothing to strengthen democracy. 

During various discussions, people ask me how we as Indians can solve our problems, corruption being the primary one. The underpinnings of this problem are same in almost all the democracies. They ask me because, it is me who put two years of his life to soak in knowledge related to public policy, and they think I know the answers. It is often tough to tell them that I dont have the answer and hence I get into these discussions which soon convert into debates. Most of the times people (my friends) are asking for immediate solutions; a quick respite. I do fall into this trap and try to formulate some solutions, and often disown them because of some fault or other. I do tell them (most of the times) that solution to such devious problems cannot be quick. And the solution to problem like corruption cannot be direct. If direct then in context of India, that solution cannot be sustainable. One of the important steps to fight corruption is to strengthen democratic structure.

What makes democratic institutions strong? Groups. Networks. People. 

If people are meeting, discussing and interacting with wider set of people then they will inadvertently expose themselves to wider set of ideas. There would be wider appreciation of different views, and better understanding of ‘real issues’. Which God I believe in does not in any way affect my discussions on photography or the risks that one might face in street photography. But are there any avenues where I can be part of such a self organizing photography group, in Bhopal? I dont know. I havent seen any.

When groups form, they lead to multitude of positive externalities. It makes society more fertile for new ideas, and set it for innovation and development. I am emphasizing on this not because it is the solution to our social problems, but it sets the foundations for solving them. 

The social network which is beyond the one in which we are embedded is missing. Unless we create one or find it, till then I am not sure will be able to produce sustainable solution for our problems.

Wassup India, Anna and Beyond…

I hate writing/reading “wassup”, it reeks ‘wannabe-ness’ to me, but that is essentially the reason why I am putting it in my title. If you have been paying attention to international news then I am kind of sure that you might have missed news about India and the social movement currently unfolding in India. I have written once about the social movement, but not in detail. You will find few links at the end of this post for those who are unaware of the premise (which means international audience) of the social movement. Nevertheless so as to set you up for what you are going to read, I must provide some information to help everyone appreciate where I am coming from, as in my views.

Under the aegis of a 72 year old ‘Gandhian’, or in plain contextual terms, a person who follows non-violent ways of protesting, there is a social movement that is happening in India against the establishment and mainly against the government in power. I wrote about the marketability of ‘India Against Corruption’ but it seems that the name has been readily picked up by Indian population, at the least banners flying in rallies inform me so. Anna Hazare, the ‘Gandhian’ is the cornerstone of this moment.

Now that the 13 day extravaganza has ended there is plenitude of questions regarding the movement, its underpinnings, rationale, motive and its far reaching effects. It is one of those things where nobody can give a view that is perfect and no view can be completely wrong. But then, one has to look at the weight and the significance of few facts and decide upon whether the so called ‘Anna’ movement was something good, bad or grey. Dealing with the whole movement in its entirety will be almost life-gobbling task, which I have no intend to take as I have already promised to keep thing terse on this blog, therefore I will deal this issue topically.

Democracy

Issue: Whether this movement strengthened or weakened the democracy?

My view: When many people define democracy then sometimes I find it almost laughable specially when it is presented as something sacrosanct and immovable. One must understand that few tenets of democracy should indeed be unquestionable but the institutions associated with democracy shouldnt be considered immovable. Society by its nature is an evolving entity, and so should be democratic institution. I also feel that democracy in India hasnt moved much since independence and has never been aligned to Indian psyche or the Indian way of doing things.

Meanwhile coming back to the issue, I think this movement has been a step in evolution of democracy in India. Evolution always have two aspects, construction and destruction. This movement has constructed few things and has also destructed some. Therefore the question that democracy has been strengthened or weakened does not arise. Democracy will evolve, and this movement has played its role in evolution. People have voiced their opinion and that is important for successful democratic structure, therefore I consider this as important evolutionary step in Indian democracy. Roles of the pillars of democracy will change with time, and each country will do it in its own way.

Anna Hazare

Issue: He is the leader, he helped youth voice their opinion, he is like Batman (immovable wall – incorruptible) vis a vis Joker (unstoppable force of corruption) a modern day Gandhi / He is a nice bloke but his followers are dumb, they dont know the reality and are asking too much and their whole tactics is nothing but blackmailing.

My views: Now in issue I have put two contrasting issue just to elucidate that there are two opinions surrounding Anna Hazare and then there is other as highlighted by my favorite writer (sarcastically) Arundhati Roy. One must understand, that there are few things that are integral part of being Indian. We put people on pedestals, we like to worship them, follow them and believe them without question. That is how we became a nation with million Gods when other culture fought for finding just one. So yes, we did put Anna on high pedestal, and yes he do have some views with which many people wont be comfortable with… so what? Rather than being intelligent moron, and trying to discredit his achievement, I will advice them to use their intelligence to fine tune the movement. Oh! Sorry, I just forgot that these very well educated fellows are living with egos big enough to fill entire ocean and cant be part of someone else’s movement because of lack of space for their views.

Mr Hazare is not perfect and neither are his views towards corruption, even several solution that he and his team suggest may not prove as efficacious as they are pronounced as. But then for a truly rational individual who believe in ends and not in means, this should not be the premise. Premise here should be to find ways to reduce corruption in India. So when Nandan Nilekani says that ‘Jan Lokpal Bill’ isnt the solution then he is wrong, because the fact is that ‘Jan Lokpal’ or any other method cannot be the solution but only a part of the solution. No matter how faulty the ‘Team Anna’ led movement may be, but it has lead significant number of people to voice their opinions against corruption. So rather than losing him on the first utterance of a faulty logic by him, try to catch the theme. Sometimes few things are more important than the semantics.

Youth

Issue: Role of youth. Informed/mis-informed/agitated/concerned or confused?

My view: Being objective is certainly a wonderful thing. But not being objective doesnt mean that concerns are not valid. One question that was wildly leveled against the youth by political brass was whether they read different versions of lokpal bill or not, if not then their views held no weight and hence will not be entertained. This attitude reeked nothing but pretentiousness and political snobbism. Once again, semantics aint that important because being part of same country both the sides are supposedly working for the development of the same country.

Yes, youth was misinformed, yes youth wasnt always objective, but all the time their concerns were grave, for all this time they were trying to communicate the urgency of their grievance. So when politicians said on national TV that they understood the grievance of common man, I always wanted them to know that it is not just about the grievance but also about the urgency attached with it. Therefore people discrediting the impatience are probably too lost in their grey hairs or lack of it.

Meanwhile, time has taught Indian youth to be more objective, and this movement will give its own lesson. Next movement will definitely see youth with more objective approach.

Movement

Issue: Nature of movement.

My views: Well any movement needs leaders therefore those who argue by saying that how come only few people are leading this movement…ummm… when was there any movement without any leader? I dont have anything else to say on this argument.

People then also pointed out that this was mainly a middle class movement and wasnt as inclusive as it should have been. Yes this could have been more inclusive, but using ‘middle class’ as a tool to discredit whole movement is childish and as unlearned as me discrediting a wine. Middle class has maximum stakes in this country right now in terms of tax that it pays. Middle class will soon constitute 50% of the population. I rest my argument. Yes, nobody can argue against requirement of this movement being more inclusive, but once again, discrediting isnt necessary to make it so.

This movement was no drama. I have seen people voicing their opinion, being vocal, being thoughtful, being part of decision making, appreciating democracy and it’s powers. People wanted their concern to be known, and Anna banner provided them a safe way to do it. It  should now become part of their culture, voicing concern is important for thriving and evolving democracy.

Should public outside parliament dictate terms to parliamentarians… hell yes.

Should there be arm-twisting… hell no.

This movement did saw some arm-twisting, which should not be repeated, and this should be communicated to the youth. How? Well by providing them better and concrete channels of voicing their opinions before they become so urgent that only arm-twisting seems like a valid option.

Government

Issue: What is a government?

My view: Sleep…okay…sleep. Government in this case was sleeping. India saw uprising in Africa, looked at it, and then brought it home and converted it into Indian. Government saw the same thing and couldnt anticipate what was to come to their doorsteps.

But the broader question is what is government actually? Is it the monolithic structure sitting in capital or seats of powers as distributed by legislature and administrative pillars of democracy? Or is it representation of people. If it is representation of people then how can it be so preachy. I think the bigger challenge and one of the important learning not only from the events in India but in general from around the globe is that government and its attitude should evolve because people are evolving, their interaction is evolving, the rate of interaction among people is evolving, so if government has to truly represent its people then it should evolve accordingly. The nature of government requires a post of its own and I may soon come up with one.

Gandhi

Issue: Relevance of Gandhi?

My view: Oh! Dear Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. People will love you, they will hate you but they will never be able to ignore you, which to means that you were change maker. Gandhi made more than few principles of peaceful coexistence more digestible than they are presented in tomes.

Was this movement Gandhian in its truest sense…. No.

Was it needed? No.

Then why was Gandhi’s name used? Well he is brand, that too under creative commons. 😉

Lets stop cribbing about purist interpretation of Gandhi because he is not a Shakespearian play. Since time arent same, since situation isnt same, therefore usage will not be same. Ideas are not absolute, only 0 is absolute. Life of Gandhi is more like a tool kit now and we need to accept this as a modern fact. People will use it like that nonetheless no matter how one may crib about it.

Me

Issue: What am I doing in all this?

My view: Ahh! well I am developing my understanding of human life and their desire to bring upon change and their ability to cling on to the status quo, because this I think is essence of developing a successful social intervention.

Whale Fail

To be honest, as proud as I am on my knowledge of global geography, Yemen proved to be one nation I knew nothing of. I knew it existed, but didnt know the reasons. Recent upheaval in Yemen is like a slap on my face and all I can do is to take it with all the grace that is left in me. This post is not particularly about Yemen, but will deal with recent developments in Northern Africa and Middle East.
As a student of public policy and affairs, the current years are the best one can expect and are unrivaled when compared to any other field of study. Coming back to the crisis in North Africa – Middle East (MENA), it is very easy to designate ‘desire for democracy’ as it’s source. Easy things often raise suspicion to me, and so they do in this case. Right now I wonder if this is epic ‘whale fail’ moment for democracy in MENA region. Reasons for using social network nomenclature should be obvious to the readers.
This time around not many people named the current phenomenon as 4th wave of democracy, after seeing reduction in democratic countries in last decade of 20th century (eg: Pakistan). This time around, starting from failed revolution in Iran, a successful one in Tunisia (comparatively small nation), borderline Egypt to ‘Only God Knows’ Libya, suffering Syria and chaotic Yemen. All in one region, displaying some snowballing in terms of revolutionary impact. But essentially devoid of global support for democracy or can just be termed as mistimed attempt. All in all ‘whale fail’.
Reason, I am so pessimistic is that none of these countries have economy to support their revolution, which many countries in South America,Europe and Eastern Europe had during previous wave of democracy in 1970s and 80s. This time around, the strategic importance of above mentioned countries are almost same for all the developed world. This time around, there is no common antagonist like communism. Autocrats, this time around enjoyed their statuses in good books of western democracies, and western democracies are enjoying their worst economic crisis in recent years. All in all a bad time for revolutionaries (licit or illicit) to bring upon a change.
Though, it must be mentioned that situation was dire and society was waiting for its Eyjafallajokull moment. It is very important that one of these countries convert into stable democracy in coming two or three years for inspiration and stability in this region. I will leave this post inconclusively by saying that there were enough indicators for raising concerns. Global society could have been well prepared if not intervene in all these years.

Gross Democracy

Democracy is gross. It is chaotic. But it is effective.
Democracy is also brave. Brave in sense that people are ready to change, politicians know that there can be change. Change is used in a very obtuse way over here but nonetheless it tries to encompass all that comes under change. Since change is neutral word, I will stick with it, though it being obtuse and let reader or co-thinkers think about it.
One thing that underlines democracy and is almost a cliche is freedom. I dont think that there is any need to stress on the importance of freedom. What rather is important is that is the freedom that we are talking about should be absolute or be relative (to society – pre-informed by history, connected with present, trying to define future). Another question that can be asked after buying difference between absolute and relative freedom is what should be percentage of each in a democracy.
Every society tends to ask different questions. Questions that are being currently asked by India are different than questions that are being asked by USA, and similarly Greece is asking totally different questions (all being democracies). USA is talking about gay rights after momentous passing of Gay Marriage Act in the state of New York. India is talking about corruption and methods to check it. Greece is talking about country’s dwindling coiffures (as if there is anything in there). In USA its primarily question of relative freedom. In India corruption hampers absolute freedom. In Greece its a gross mix of both.
Case in point being that the vary chaotic nature of democracy and freedom that adds to this chaos helps democracy thrive. And there lies the learning for young democracies i.e., to become brave and embrace the chaos. What will therefore become important is that chaos is informative chaos rather than pure chaos. For those who know basic science will be able to appreciate the analogy of coagulation in a fluid having Brownian motion. Lesson and single take away from this post for any democracy will be to avail conduits of information for individuals or groups so that they can produce informed chaos.
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Thanks to my sister for egging me to start a new blog where I can display my thinking hats.