Hi To All My Friends,
I must admit I have been lazy. It doesn’t really convey the whole emotion, but that’s the gist of it. This post is something close to a self-reflection, a result of the sudden calm that I have been experiencing, thanks to the absence of the metallic roar owing to the Corona driven lockdown. The title here is my version of the notorious phrase, “Islands of Prosperity in the Sea of Poverty”, often used while discussing inequality.
The year 2020 started on a happy note (for me at least). I had weddings to attend, places to go to, and Mom to accompany me all through January. February came in with much flair. Rekindled friendships, unexpected and much-awaited reunions in a gist. And just like that, we traveled back to our home base after taking a few detours here and there. It was all fun. But that was it. Things took a sudden detour from thereon.
The indications of a catastrophe had started show right from December 2019, however ‘Human’ as we are we paid no heed to it until it had a sudden global impact, one that could not be controlled. Hence came the Lockdown, one of a kind that had never been witnessed by humankind before. For a distributed demographic that had seen everything from the World War, Indo-Pak War, Afganistan War, Refugee Crisis, Syrian Civil War to the Tsunamis, the Earthquakes, the Floods. A generation that witnessed the great technological revolution too, for that matter. Oh! the Proud Us!!!
We now have one more thing to add to the list. We are officially the generation that witnessed the world in lockdown. And just who would have thought something of this sort would even happen as we live and breathe? We are now living in a time where the future is unpredictable, yet in other ways a time where we can rethink and reexamine many aspects about life, society, politics, economy etcetera. I, for instance, have been having thoughts that lead to further thoughts about how conflicting life really is. Oh, don’t take that negatively. To put it in simple words, while I live safe, secure, and healthy within the walls of my house, the workers, migrants who actually built this high rise walked in the scorching heat to get to their homes, isn’t that an irony? This points towards the plaguing question of the socio-economic divide, which keeps growing even as I write this post.
“The oceans of poor and the islands of rich.”
While there are talks about self-reliance, decentralization, investments in micro-levels, promotion of the small-scale, self-help groups, etc., the major focus still remains in sectors where cost-output ratios remain too high. What we lack in terms of equal wages in every state now stares back at us in the form of thousands of migrant workers stranded at various parts of the country trying to find their way back home.
To top it all, public-private partnerships are being pushed from a 50:50 ratio to almost 30:70 or even further, which is alarming considering the power-economy dynamics in our country. While this might sound like a lopsided viewpoint, it is just how I see it.
Across the world, protests have died out or have been restricted to Twitter battles, and silent prayers and the same goes for our country too. A nation valued to give equal rights and opportunity to all its citizens is gradually moving towards something different. And while I was still wrapping my head around all of this, a year went by.
Come 2021, I managed to squeeze in a quick travel schedule to meet my loved ones and got back to base just to adjust once again to the ups and downs of lockdowns. Mayhem is the word that comes into my mind. That is how I would describe 2021 so far. While there has been a lot going on: the vaccine rush, the farmers protest (ongoing), the Israel-Palestine conflict, the household issues that keep building up, the social issues that keep adding up, and the disparity that keeps growing. But it’s still not that bad.
Humanity still prevails through acts of the Robinhood army, community kitchen, the environmental actions, and the sustainability initiators, to list a few. You might not be able to move the mountain, but you can definitely chip off a portion. Will never know until we try, right?
The divide exists, and it becomes clearer as days pass. It is time we thought about an inclusive system that unifies people, provides an equal starting point through education, skill based training, alternative income source. There’s a lot to think about, and I will keep adding my two cents’ worth here.
Wrapping up this random train of thoughts for now.
Open Skies
By Linu Job Gaurav
I am fortunate, I know
No complaints there.
The Comfort of living,
and the necessities,
a clear paradox of privilege.
So, what more do I need?
A view? I got one though.
Engagement, Interaction? Aye, that too.
But, I miss something these days, for sure.
What Exactly? Is the question I asked myself too.
I racked my brains and even asked around.
Researched and searched,
All within the four walls.
And one day, I decided to step out.
Out of my haven, and there it was,
The answer I sought so desperately.
It struck me then, the thing I missed,
Was the freedom of choice.
The choice to move around,
The choice of freely going places,
And most of all the choice of seeing,
the unfettered and uninterrupted,
Open Skies.
Blues neither lined by cables,
nor bordered by concrete.
Little did I know,
That while my mind wandered,
My eyes sought those little pleasures,
& its love affair with nature.
That my Nomadic heart and the wandering soul,
sought a life where choices were mine,
and the burden mine too.
And where the freedom,
to wander under the Open Skies,
wasn’t a choice that needed reflexion.
Addition read:
https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/the-real-reasons-for-economic-inequality-in-india/cid/1718757
This is Satrangee Parachute, being pushed around by the torrential winds.