For a happy Deepavali

As we celebrate Deepavali/Diwali, greetings and best wishes pour in as people exchange social pleasantries. However, there is a subtle but noticeable change in the way people do it now. The traditional expression was to wish a happy and prosperous Diwali. Slowly, there has been a change. A new kind of expression is now in vogue. More people are wishing a safe and peaceful Diwali to one another. Is this a mere change in style? Or do we read a deeper concern which is bothering the unconscious that is being manifested? Difficult to judge at this stage but one thing is certain,  the gaiety and fervour of Diwali is not of the same degree as it used to be. A kind of despondency is taking over the spontaneity of the festive mood as concerns grow about shape of things that exist and that are expected. A rather paradoxical state. Human productivity, potential and ability is rising. Millionaires joining billionaires’ club are also rising. GDP, growth rate, per capita income and other such indices that project economic well-being and development are also consistently rising. But amid all these heartening pieces of statistical data, there has been a rise in the discontentment level of humanity at large. And this is not just an assumption. The news of disharmony in the society, the stories of discord, growing violence, rise in aggressive behaviour, increasing number of youth in self-destruction mode, higher suicide rates all portray a different picture. There is a need to think why hate crimes are becoming societal trend these days. Despite a growing tribe of economists, misery and want continue to bother humanity globally and locally. There was a Nobel Prize with Indian connection for scientific research and experimentation on poverty alleviation. A little over two decades ago, there was another one. And way back in early seventies, there was one more. However, the attempts in tackling misery and poverty still do not seem to be making much headway. For a country that has been religiously worshipping Laxmi, the Goddess of wealth for ages, this must raise a concern and an answer must be found out. Maybe, there is something wrong with the model we have been relying on to alleviate poverty and it needs to be redesigned. Perhaps, because solutions that are not working will not work. Econometric models rely excessively on mathematics but poverty is more a problem of sociology. One weakness in our over mathematicised solutions to socio-psychological issues is the excessive reliance on the unitary method based models. In our school days, we were taught that if 10 people can do work in 20 days, 20 people can do it in 10 days. But the question is will they do it? This gap between ‘can’ and ‘will’ has to be filled. And it calls for a change in approach. As we become more and more “me” centric the problems of the society are growing. There is time to change from “me centric” to “we centric” approach. From trickle down to share across models of development. Of course, such models will involve more of psychology than economics. And yes, worshipping Saraswati along with Laxmi will make more sense. But that can be a prescription for happy Diwali.

The world of paranoia

A popular acronym doing round these days about the kind of world we are living in is VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous). Whosoever coined this may not be credited with finding a path breaking idea as the world has always been like that. But the emphasis on volatility certainly makes a lot of sense given the present day milieu. While uncertainly, complexity and ambiguity were always there, the degree of volatility was not as high. Truly an era of disruption. The logical culmination is the growing paranoia. It is this paranoia that is telling on the health of this world. Physical health, mental health and even fiscal health. In fact, they are all related. Paranoia causes delusions and delusions are resulting in a trust deficient society as people are playing cloaks and daggers with one and another. Why this is so may not be difficult to find out. When every human being is a potential competitor, this is what can be expected. A basic fault with an intensely competitive societal paradigm is this assumption that you can only win at the cost of others. Therefore, the focus of every individual is on others. What others are doing, what others are thinking, what others are plotting? In such a situation when one apprehends threats from every quarter, peace is the first casualty. And it is this that has given rise to a kind of mental disequilibrium in the human beings. Look what is happening. Rage, depression, hatred, violence and all other kinds of negativities are on the rise. Seems as if the world is on a short fuse. A stressed world, a traumatised world and also a dramatised world. Dramatised because there is a mask on every face. Mankind is trying to come to terms with itself. Mental health has thus become a global issue. More so, in India which according to a WHO report is leading in number of depression cases. The irony is that it is not because of deprivation. Surveys are there to suggest that around 50 percent of professionals, the rich and the prosperous, are suffering from stress. Where lies the rub? Stress and anxiety, then are not necessarily afflicting only the deprived. Rather, they are affecting the depraved more. This depravity of the mind is burdened with wants. The result is incessant hankering for something. As Buddha said, when someone seeks then what happens is that his eyes see only the thing that he seeks, and he is able to find nothing, to take in nothing… Because he always thinks about the thing he is seeking, because he has one goal, because he is obsessed with his goal, seeking means having a goal. But finding means being free, being open, and having no goal. It is this obsession with goal that burdens the mind, which is always destabilised. Little wonder, the world is witnessing rise in mental illness resulting in societal distress. Suicides mounting, the divorce rates rising, number of gunmen going on shooting spree in prosperous societies like America becoming more common — where are we headed? Difficult to forewarn, but certainly not the best of the signs. The answer is to realise that, “In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.”