THE COUNTRY OF FIRST BOYS
Author: Amartya Sen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Pages: 273
Price: Rs 550
About ten days ago I saw in the newspapers, indeed in all of them, that India has entered triumphantly into the 'elite club' of the world. The Times of India's headline said: "GSLV-DV Launch Successful, India Joins Elite Club." As an Indian citizen, I immediately lost all fear about not being able to get into the elite club. However, I had a problem in not knowing what GSLV-DV is. Or does. On probing I found that GSLV-DV is famous because it carries a GSAT-14 communication satellite. That seemed just what I needed. And so I decided to use the GSAT-14 communication satellite to communicate well beyond my station in life.
High above the clouds I came across a figure who looked very impressive, who explained that she was the Goddess of Medium Things. "Gosh," I said. "Medium you may be, but you look very impressive….but are you sure that you are really a goddess?" "Yes I am," she responded firmly,… "But, you are right, I am very informal, and you can call me GMT-that is my pet name." "Isn't GMT some kind of time?" I asked her. "Yes," she said, "I can give you the correct time, also one of my specialties, but more importantly I can grant you a wish-in fact more than one wish-for your country."
"How jolly," I said, "May I have seven wishes - a wish a day for my country for a week?"…
So I jumped in: "Classical education in language, literature, music, and the arts are being seriously neglected in India… In India's increasingly business-oriented society, there is generally far less room today for the humanities, and that is surely a problem, is it not, goddess?"…
"So," asked the goddess, "you wish to have a greater role for humanities in Indian education?" "Something like that," I said. "What a vague statement: 'something like that!'" GMT said, "you must have clearer ideas." "Clearer? Do you mean more precise, dear goddess?" I asked. "No," said GMT, "you are making the common mistake of assuming that a clear statement needs to invoke precise magnitudes. A good statement of an inherently imprecise concern - and most important concerns in the world are imprecise - must capture that imprecision, and not replace it by a precise statement about something else. You should learn to speak in an articulate way about ideas that are inescapably imprecise (as a man called Aristotle put it more than two millennia ago). …. Okay then, now go on to your second wish."
"Well," I said, "may I go into politics?" GMT looked unsurprised and said, "I think I can guess what you are going to ask, knowing your left-wing views-you are on the left in India, aren't you?" "Nothing escapes you, goddess," I replied, "I am. But my big political wish is to have a strong and flourishing right-wing party that is secular and not communal." … GMT said, "Surely there was such a party in India, led by some very smart people, wasn't there?" I said, "Yes, madam, there was-it was called the Swatantra Party, and among its leaders was Minoo Masani, an extremely smart fellow indeed - but the party died. I wish it would be revived." …
"Okay," said GMT, …"but can you make your explanations short…What's your third wish?" "I would like the parties of the left to be stronger, but also more clear-minded and much more concentrated on removing severe deprivations of the really poor and downtrodden people of India." "But what about the priority that is attached to their dedication to fighting against American imperialism?" GMT enquired-and then went on, …"And in giving priority to their dedicated pursuit of that philosophical priority, they have made various Parliamentary moves that have reduced the number of seats they themselves have in Parliament. It is not easy for me to make them politically stronger until they themselves think afresh."
"I hope they will," I said. "What the left really has to concentrate on is reversing the terrible state of the really poor people of India, rather than nursing an antiquated understanding of imperialism, or joining the other political parties in agitating for cheaper amenities for parts of the middle classes." "Another lecture!" said GMT, "But I am a patient goddess, and ready to listen to your grumble about your own friends; so go on - what's the fourth wish?"
"I would like the media to be more responsive to the needs of the poorest people, and less single-minded in their coverage of the world of glitzy entertainment and shining business opportunities. …
Reading the papers or listening to media on fiscal irresponsibility of supporting employment schemes and food subsidies, you would scarcely guess that many times as much governmental money is spent on subsidizing electricity for those who are lucky enough to have power connection…, subsidizing diesel, cheapening fertilizers, offering low-cost cooking gas…than on supporting food and employment schemes for the poor. …[T] he cost of subsidizing electricity, fuel, and fertilizers for the relatively better off is minimally 2.63 per cent, and possibly closer to 3.63 per cent of GDP-more than three times what is allocated to feed the poor and provide employment to the unemployed….
"Enough, enough," said the goddess, "go on." "My fifth wish is easy to speak about," I said, "since it concerns persistent deprivations I have been nagging about for decades: all children must have decent schools to go to; every person must have medical care beginning with preventative care; women should not have to lead more deprived lives than men; the country should not be full of undernourished children …; every child has to be fully immunized…; everyone should have a home with a toilet …; and there should be generally good higher education and a sustainable environment." GMT said, "You ask for a list of different things as parts of one wish. However, I will not be small-minded, since I am medium-hearted.
"But all that you have asked for should be very easy to achieve if your countrymen start making intelligent use of the resources that economic growth generates. …That is the biggest lesson of East Asian development that India has missed."
"Since we agree on that, may I put in a wish, dear goddess," I said, "which concerns a peculiar judicial decision in India, which has recently recriminalized homosexual personal behaviour. The British rulers had made that a criminal offence in 1861, and made many people vulnerable to blackmail by the police and to penalization… Can you reverse the reversal of the reversal, dear goddess?" "Let me see," said the goddess, "How I can persuade the Indian Supreme Court to think again - may be they will listen more to the voices of the Indian people than to the plea of a goddess above the clouds.
Let's go on," continued GMT. "Do you really want another wish?" "May I? I wish we in India will recognize our strength because of the nature of the country as well as the opportunities given by India's democracy, which has been skilfully used recently by Aam Aadmi Party… We have a lot of corruption, but it has become a major electoral issue, which, in a democracy, is the best way for a long-run solution, which will require many administrative reforms. But there are many achievements already, and it is not the case that nothing happens here other than what the business community does, and the state, in particular, cannot achieve anything ... India was the country of famines until the empire ended, and we haven't had a real famine since Independence; thanks to public action, India was expected a few years ago to have the largest concentration of the AIDS epidemic, but the public attention and social engagement has removed that threat. Since polio eradication became a politically sensitive issue, things have happened and India is now polio-free. … So there is much to learn from within India itself. Can you help in this, GMT, in making Indians less defeatist?" I asked.
"I can't do that," said the goddess, "it has to be the Indians who change their defeatist mindset." "That's a let-down," I said with frustration. "Not at all," remarked the goddess. "I am telling you that you can solve these problems yourself-you don't need anybody's help. You have to know what the problems are, and how they can be solved." "But," I complained, "even if it becomes clear what our problems are and how they can be solved, how can we share this knowledge, and make all Indians take an interest in our real problems?" "Well," said GMT, "the social media can help, and - very importantly - you must read more books…."
As the good goddess suddenly vanished beyond the clouds, I returned to my little GSAT-14, launched by the world famous GSLV-DV, to come straight to the festival. And I am grateful that you are all here. Thank You!
Author: Amartya Sen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Pages: 273
Price: Rs 550
About ten days ago I saw in the newspapers, indeed in all of them, that India has entered triumphantly into the 'elite club' of the world. The Times of India's headline said: "GSLV-DV Launch Successful, India Joins Elite Club." As an Indian citizen, I immediately lost all fear about not being able to get into the elite club. However, I had a problem in not knowing what GSLV-DV is. Or does. On probing I found that GSLV-DV is famous because it carries a GSAT-14 communication satellite. That seemed just what I needed. And so I decided to use the GSAT-14 communication satellite to communicate well beyond my station in life.
High above the clouds I came across a figure who looked very impressive, who explained that she was the Goddess of Medium Things. "Gosh," I said. "Medium you may be, but you look very impressive….but are you sure that you are really a goddess?" "Yes I am," she responded firmly,… "But, you are right, I am very informal, and you can call me GMT-that is my pet name." "Isn't GMT some kind of time?" I asked her. "Yes," she said, "I can give you the correct time, also one of my specialties, but more importantly I can grant you a wish-in fact more than one wish-for your country."
"How jolly," I said, "May I have seven wishes - a wish a day for my country for a week?"…
So I jumped in: "Classical education in language, literature, music, and the arts are being seriously neglected in India… In India's increasingly business-oriented society, there is generally far less room today for the humanities, and that is surely a problem, is it not, goddess?"…
"So," asked the goddess, "you wish to have a greater role for humanities in Indian education?" "Something like that," I said. "What a vague statement: 'something like that!'" GMT said, "you must have clearer ideas." "Clearer? Do you mean more precise, dear goddess?" I asked. "No," said GMT, "you are making the common mistake of assuming that a clear statement needs to invoke precise magnitudes. A good statement of an inherently imprecise concern - and most important concerns in the world are imprecise - must capture that imprecision, and not replace it by a precise statement about something else. You should learn to speak in an articulate way about ideas that are inescapably imprecise (as a man called Aristotle put it more than two millennia ago). …. Okay then, now go on to your second wish."
"Well," I said, "may I go into politics?" GMT looked unsurprised and said, "I think I can guess what you are going to ask, knowing your left-wing views-you are on the left in India, aren't you?" "Nothing escapes you, goddess," I replied, "I am. But my big political wish is to have a strong and flourishing right-wing party that is secular and not communal." … GMT said, "Surely there was such a party in India, led by some very smart people, wasn't there?" I said, "Yes, madam, there was-it was called the Swatantra Party, and among its leaders was Minoo Masani, an extremely smart fellow indeed - but the party died. I wish it would be revived." …
"Okay," said GMT, …"but can you make your explanations short…What's your third wish?" "I would like the parties of the left to be stronger, but also more clear-minded and much more concentrated on removing severe deprivations of the really poor and downtrodden people of India." "But what about the priority that is attached to their dedication to fighting against American imperialism?" GMT enquired-and then went on, …"And in giving priority to their dedicated pursuit of that philosophical priority, they have made various Parliamentary moves that have reduced the number of seats they themselves have in Parliament. It is not easy for me to make them politically stronger until they themselves think afresh."
"I hope they will," I said. "What the left really has to concentrate on is reversing the terrible state of the really poor people of India, rather than nursing an antiquated understanding of imperialism, or joining the other political parties in agitating for cheaper amenities for parts of the middle classes." "Another lecture!" said GMT, "But I am a patient goddess, and ready to listen to your grumble about your own friends; so go on - what's the fourth wish?"
"I would like the media to be more responsive to the needs of the poorest people, and less single-minded in their coverage of the world of glitzy entertainment and shining business opportunities. …
Reading the papers or listening to media on fiscal irresponsibility of supporting employment schemes and food subsidies, you would scarcely guess that many times as much governmental money is spent on subsidizing electricity for those who are lucky enough to have power connection…, subsidizing diesel, cheapening fertilizers, offering low-cost cooking gas…than on supporting food and employment schemes for the poor. …[T] he cost of subsidizing electricity, fuel, and fertilizers for the relatively better off is minimally 2.63 per cent, and possibly closer to 3.63 per cent of GDP-more than three times what is allocated to feed the poor and provide employment to the unemployed….
"Enough, enough," said the goddess, "go on." "My fifth wish is easy to speak about," I said, "since it concerns persistent deprivations I have been nagging about for decades: all children must have decent schools to go to; every person must have medical care beginning with preventative care; women should not have to lead more deprived lives than men; the country should not be full of undernourished children …; every child has to be fully immunized…; everyone should have a home with a toilet …; and there should be generally good higher education and a sustainable environment." GMT said, "You ask for a list of different things as parts of one wish. However, I will not be small-minded, since I am medium-hearted.
"But all that you have asked for should be very easy to achieve if your countrymen start making intelligent use of the resources that economic growth generates. …That is the biggest lesson of East Asian development that India has missed."
"Since we agree on that, may I put in a wish, dear goddess," I said, "which concerns a peculiar judicial decision in India, which has recently recriminalized homosexual personal behaviour. The British rulers had made that a criminal offence in 1861, and made many people vulnerable to blackmail by the police and to penalization… Can you reverse the reversal of the reversal, dear goddess?" "Let me see," said the goddess, "How I can persuade the Indian Supreme Court to think again - may be they will listen more to the voices of the Indian people than to the plea of a goddess above the clouds.
Let's go on," continued GMT. "Do you really want another wish?" "May I? I wish we in India will recognize our strength because of the nature of the country as well as the opportunities given by India's democracy, which has been skilfully used recently by Aam Aadmi Party… We have a lot of corruption, but it has become a major electoral issue, which, in a democracy, is the best way for a long-run solution, which will require many administrative reforms. But there are many achievements already, and it is not the case that nothing happens here other than what the business community does, and the state, in particular, cannot achieve anything ... India was the country of famines until the empire ended, and we haven't had a real famine since Independence; thanks to public action, India was expected a few years ago to have the largest concentration of the AIDS epidemic, but the public attention and social engagement has removed that threat. Since polio eradication became a politically sensitive issue, things have happened and India is now polio-free. … So there is much to learn from within India itself. Can you help in this, GMT, in making Indians less defeatist?" I asked.
"I can't do that," said the goddess, "it has to be the Indians who change their defeatist mindset." "That's a let-down," I said with frustration. "Not at all," remarked the goddess. "I am telling you that you can solve these problems yourself-you don't need anybody's help. You have to know what the problems are, and how they can be solved." "But," I complained, "even if it becomes clear what our problems are and how they can be solved, how can we share this knowledge, and make all Indians take an interest in our real problems?" "Well," said GMT, "the social media can help, and - very importantly - you must read more books…."
As the good goddess suddenly vanished beyond the clouds, I returned to my little GSAT-14, launched by the world famous GSLV-DV, to come straight to the festival. And I am grateful that you are all here. Thank You!
Excerpted with the permission of Oxford University Press (Published in collaboration with The Little Magazine)