SAVE WATER, SAVE LIFE

We have been told that life began in water in the form of amoeba. History suggests that many of the famous earlier civilisations were river valley civilisations which developed on the banks of rivers. Thus, there was the Indus Valley Civilisation on the banks of river Indus in India, the Nile Valley Civilisation of Egypt, the Chinese civilisation on the banks of Hwang Ho, and around Euphrates and Tigris in Mesopotamia. The reason was the growth of agriculture as the source of human sustenance. It was easier to avail irrigation facilities due to proximity to the river. Why these civilisations declined may be a subject matter of major historical research, but the one basic conclusion can be the significance of sources of fresh water for human sustenance. History, it is said, has its own course of action and it is still not clear whether the change of the course of rivers, or natural calamities of enormous proportions or even widespread epidemics were responsible for the decline of ancient civilisations. But the important thing to ponder over is the importance of the availability of fresh water, fit for drinking, agriculture and life per se. While the human societies all over are aiming for more sophistication in science and technology, and achieving it also, the one factor that is not being given due importance is the geography, the ecology, and most importantly, water. The journeys of man to Moon and Mars and even further, do speak of the greatness of human endeavors, but the looming water crisis stares humanity directly in the face. Water covers around 70 per cent of the earth but all that is not the kind we drink, bathe with or use for irrigation. Only three per cent of water in this world is fresh water of which two third is frozen. So, there is very little water available for human requirement. Naturally, large sections of the population of the world have no access to water, whereas even larger numbers have to face acute scarcity. Water systems that keep the ecosystem livable are under stress. If we ignore the challenge of water scarcity, humanity may have to struggle for water by the end of this century. The scary scenes of places like Cape Town may become a reality in large part of the world. Countries like India having large population with high density and fast growing urbanisation are already vulnerable. Around 70 per cent of small rivers have dried up and 40 to 45 per cent of the population finds access to water a major problem. River water issue is just one problem. What further compounds the issue is the flow of effluents in the large rivers. To make things worse, the rampant deep bores have stressed the ground water sources which are drying up. In fact, the scenario is scarier than what one can imagine. The irony is that the severity of water scarcity issue is not getting the due consideration it calls for. Campaigns like Clean Ganga have not picked up the pace that is required. The problem is that the common man is not involved in the water conservation campaign. Water scarcity is the problem of the common man and his participation is vital. Without people’s participation, efforts to conserve water and save rivers may not be effective. There is need to realise that water is going to be the greatest crisis of the present century if we do not wake up.

TECHNOCRACY AND DATAITIS

The times are changing. Changing so fast that Lewis Carroll sounds almost prophetic when he makes the queen quip to Alice in his classic Alice in Wonderland — “Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!” In today’s world, ideas, words, expressions — everything has changed. In fact, the very grammar of life has changed. Thus, we have  two terms to ponder over — Technocracy and Dataitis. Technocracy has come to acquire a new connotation and Dataitis is now a new mindset. Technocracy in standard parlance is a system of government run by scientists and technocrats, people with technical sophistication or knowledge. Nothing can be farther from truth. Technocracy in its present form has come to mean rule by technology, and technology alone. It is no longer the rule by the meritorious. It has become rule by machines. Today, if you go to a bank and the link fails, which it does, the parroted answer would be that no work is possible till the link returns. Virtually, it is not the man but the machine that rules. And why only banks? This holds true even if you go to the railway reservation counter, or to big malls. Even in the ATMs, it is a regular feature. All thanks to this dependence, the human beings behind these machines have practically stopped applying their brain. Rather, they have outsourced thinking. This is amply evident in personal dealings where we use computers or mobiles to communicate with acquaintances. Recently, in the course of a railway journey, this columnist became friends with a family that was on the adjacent berth. There was exchange of business cards with a promise to be in touch through emails. The gentleman who was travelling was true to his word. So, after two days, I received a mail addressing me as “Dear Pyramid”. As I was reading the message wondering how Pramod became Pyramid, I found a one-line email following this one, expressing regret but categorically stating technological intervention or “autocorrect” was the villain in that story. Thus in these times of modern-day technocracy, it is technology that does all the thinking. God only knows whether technology is smart or not. But the human element is certainly missing and people are becoming dumb. And it is not just one stray case. A good many cases validate this assertion. But it is not just technocracy that is blunting human ability. There is a more dangerous syndrome these days that is afflicting human minds. Of course, it is in some measure a technocracy effect. Nevertheless, it needs a new terminology —Dataitis. Like all other words ending with ‘-itis,’ this also is some kind of an affliction. It creates a huge obsession with data. While some social networking sites are using data for commerce, the human obsession with data is one kind of a dependence syndrome. So, the time-tested learning and thinking techniques, observation and insight, that gave humans a unique advantage are being rendered ineffective due to what we can call disuse atrophy. It is this dataitis that is crippling human thinking. Big data notwithstanding, if sample is representative and population homogenous, even small data can do the trick. But if sample is not representative, no amount of data will suffice. Technocracy, then, is just the new fad and Dataitis, the new obsession. Much ado about nothing.

THE GEORGIAN FEELING

When I was in Standard II, we were prescribed a wonderful geography book titled Lands and Life: People and Children of Wonderful Lands. In the first page of that book, there was a message in the preface addressed to the teacher. It said, the book is intended as an introduction to the large world of strange lands, peoples and animals, all of which appeal so strongly to the imagination of the young child. To obtain the full value of the pictures and reading matter, each child should not only have a copy, but should be allowed time for “browsing” on its contents. It was suggested that the book may be read as a whole in order that the young child may receive some idea of the world as a unit, and so obtain some feeling for the similarities and dissimilarities of human conditions in different parts of the world. That was 1961, almost six decades ago, when the fashionable jargon of Globalization was not coined. But the spirit of Globalization was definitely inherent there- similarities and dissimilarities of human conditions in different parts of the world. Not just conditions, the similarities and dissimilarities of the human nature, too, in different parts of the world. Naturally, the invitation to conduct a workshop on Consumer Behavior for the Tourism Marketing students of European University, Tbilisi, gave me another opportunity to see the large world of strange lands, peoples and animals. And it was a great learning experience about human nature. Similarities and dissimilarities are there, cultural and social diversity is obviously a fact, but behind these apparent differences is a common thread, a connecting link that suggests that humanity had a common descent. It is this common descent that is the reason for the striking similarity in the way people feel, act and react. They befriend people for the same reasons, like and dislike people for the same reasons, their basic emotions are the same, though the way they express those emotions may differ. Yes, they speak a language that may be difficult to understand, the gestures may vary, but, that in no way changes the basic feelings that emanates from the heart. The feelings written in the eyes that can be read if one observes closely. The expression of the eyes which almost always betray the feelings, no matter how much one may want to hide. Georgia is beautiful, so are the Georgians. The country is endowed with bounty of nature, good people, beautiful ladies and cute children. Yes, the place is attractive in every sense of the term and if packaged properly Georgia can be a wonderful tourism destination. The landscape, the black sea, the clear environment, the green atmosphere and the smiling beautiful faces are all a tourists’ fantasy. Interestingly, the country boasts of a phrase in their language “StumariGvitsaa” meaning “Guest is from God” that is quite similar to our own “Atithi Devo Bhava”. A visit to the country would make one fall in love with its beauty. However, the important thing is the similarity of emotions that unites humanity though mannerism may be different. For instance the way the Georgians greet one another. It is unusual in India, except in the world of film stars.But the eyes always express the same feelings when you greet someone here. Interestingly, some Georgians still see India as a land of snake charmers, sorcerers and fortune tellers. Well dear, it is not so.

THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT

An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” goes the popular saying. Maybe it needs to be clinically correlated, but nevertheless, the present world owes a lot to apple. In fact, humanity’s descent to planet earth is due to apple, if we take a cue from The Holy Bible. Was it not the command of God to Adam and Eve — the first human family — to not to eat the apple hanging on the tree in the Garden of Eden? It was the forbidden fruit. This diktat or command not to eat that apple was also the first law from God. God thus spake, “Thou shalt not eat the forbidden fruit.” Ironically, it was the first law that was broken, too. Well, why humans like to break the laws may also be traced to the Garden of Eden. Many views ranging from blaming  Satan to the gullibility of Eve, to even Adam’s propensity to please Eve, can be researched. But that can be the subject matter of a much deeper study. What we are now talking about is the influence of apple on human life. So, it was the forbidden fruit that paved way for man’s journey to this world. Or rather, for his fall from Grace or the Garden of Eden. And, then, there was this second apple, which, as the legend goes, Sir Isaac Newton saw falling down and wondered why it was not going up. That led to the discovery of gravitational laws, the reason why man tries to go up but is pulled down every time by the all-powerful gravitational force, thus condemned to be attached to the trappings of the mundane world. But, there is a third Apple that seems to be influencing humanity the most these days. The apple that was discovered, nay, invented by Steve Jobs. Apparently it may seem to make up for the colossal loss of paradise due to the eating of that apple in the Garden of Eden. In fact, this apple seems to influence human life in such a big way that humanity appears to be lost in the apple-driven world. From iPad to mobiles to the app-driven comforts, human beings seem to have gone crazy to the extent of becoming techno-maniacs. Life on earth began due to the apple consumed in the heaven, but life on earth is now being run on apple. The day begins with apple as its users open their eyes to lay their hands on the device and then it continues to be a part of life till they close the eyes. And many even continue fiddling with the gadget without closing the eyes at all. What is not understandable, however, is the reason behind this addiction. Adam had a cogent one — he wanted to please Eve and risked losing the paradise. Well, there are many who risk their paradise for their Eves, but addiction to this techno-fruit is most intriguing. More so, because it might also be affecting, rather than just changing the basic human nature. It tends to drive him away from his social self, making him become asocial and sometimes even antisocial. Anxieties, depression, attention-related behavioral disorders, stress, insomnia and what not. In the process of helping connect, it often ends up causing disconnect as people glued to their mobile screens become unmindful of their milieu. This dose of apple everyday may, then, not keep the doctors away. It takes man through the journey of being a couch potato, a ‘mouse’ potato, and then a browse potato.

THE TIMES OF POST-TRUTH

These are the times of post-truth. Obviously, it is a logical sequel to the information age driven by data — cooked, invented and sometimes discovered. A scenario where the real is the surreal and the surreal is real. This is the post information society and media has become the instrument of awareness, information and education. From institutional media to social media to the cinema are all tools of information, agencies of information and instruments of change. The mechanism is story telling in all its myriad forms. But the dynamics of storytelling has changed. The media that was supposed to tell what is happening on ground zero or in other words report events and incidents is creating stories while the media that was supposed to create stories is reporting events and incidents with the help of stories. In other words reel news is real news and vice versa as cinema shows the truth through its screen plays while other forms of media are telling stories to camouflage truth. Thus the cinema stories are real while the media news are fake. Bollywood, the seat of Hindi cinema must be commended for its honest observation of the incidents and presenting the truth behind those incidents through its stories. In fact, it won’t be a hyperbole to suggest that the cinema stories are more research based and objective than the so called researches in the social sciences that claim to be based on analysis of real time data. Though the stories of cinema are based on observation and insight they carry more valid interpretation of incidents and events. A case in point can be the film, an Irrfan Khan starrer, Madari released a couple of years back. The film is about a man who lost his son in a bridge collapse and seeks to take revenge from the government machinery that has been responsible for the construction of the substandard bridge. The protagonist kidnaps the home minister’s son to bring the government to knees. In the last scene of the film there is the dialogue between him and the entire machinery of the government responsible for the bridge construction. The ministers, the contractors, the engineers and the administrators are all forced to come out as to what led to the collapse of the bridge. And what comes out appears to be the narrative that can describe any collapse. Including the recent one at Varanasi. It is not just one film. Film after film, the Bollywood has been telling the truth through its stories. It is only unfortunate that those agencies that were supposed to tell the truth are telling the stories. Even more unfortunate is the fact that the hitherto comparatively more objective print media has begun buying stories from the social media and has started presenting them as news. They are reporting from twitter handles and face book walls, though these may largely be the whims and fancies of the people posting them.  It seems as if the print media is committing hara-kiri. The people are not interested in knowing what a politician feels about other politicians or incidents or events. They are mere reactions, sometimes spontaneous and more often motivated. What people want is the truth, the real report from the ground zero. Faking has become the new normal and strategic reporting to suit interests and digress issues replaces truth. While falsehoods are means of information, information per se is coming out through stories.

REQUIEM FOR DEMOCRACY

Aristotle once said that “Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotism”. How prophetic? Something said more than two thousand years ago is being debated these days globally and for valid reasons. Democracy,the rule by the people is now transforming into authoritarianism. The system is in retreat in many parts of the world. Is the wheel turning backwards? Seemingly, if the findings of a research conducted by a team of political scientists is anything to go by. The interesting part of this finding is that even the world’s most famous democracies are there in the company of the likes of Russia and Turkey. What has happened? Why democracy, the best form of the government in the absence of better alternative is gradually slipping towards authoritarianism? Why people are losing faith in democracy. Particularly the young. The aversion is so high that the millennials are open to trying something new like absolute dictatorship or government by military coup. The study by a Harvard researcher and a university of Melbourne political scientist sound alarm bells for democracy. Based on historical data on analysis of attitudes towards government the research spans various generations in North America, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The findings suggest that citizens of stable democracies have got a sickening feeling about their government. It is largely among the millennials that this loss of faith in legitimacy of democracy is high. The entire set of findings point towards a crisis of faith of the young on the democratic system of governance and this is a matter of concern. The issue that needs to be discussed is this lack of trust. Has the system failed the people or it is the people at the helm who have failed the system. Difficult to resolve but one conclusion that can be drawn is that there is a considerable degree of disillusionment in the young with the model of the democratic governance that is in vogue. Powers-that-be have a tendency to usurp all power and run the show as per their whims and fancies. The representative form of government is suffering from a serious flaw. It centres around the charismatic power of the leader who thrives on his rhetoric and personality rather than commitment and values. The leader centric system that modern democracies have become makes those who get power, feel invincible and as such falter into high-handedness. This results into some kind of a leadership style that does not fall into any one of the conventional categories suggested by popular leadership theories propounded by management theorists. According to one, there were the two autocratic styles namely Exploitative Autocrat and the Benevolent Autocrat,whereas two Democratic styles were Consultative Democrat and the Participative Democrat. The modern day leadership style seems to be a different category that can be explained by a new coinage Arbitrary Democrat – one who acquires leadership through the democratic process but once in power starts behaving in arbitrarily. Thus democracy decays into Fascism. If history is any indication, both Hitler and Mussolini represent the class of Arbitrary Democrat. In the beginning Fascism shows a strong socialist inspiration and many leaders had come to Fascism from Socialist and Syndicalist movements.However, they differentiated themselves by maintaining an aggressive nationalistic position thus creating absolute statism. Will the history repeat itself? A theoretical question that needs practical answers if Democracy is to survive. Fascism and Narcissism are two sides of the same coin.