What? Why? How? and When? of economic reforms.

What? Why? How? and When? of economic reforms.

Have the reforms moved away from clandestinely favoring the few to actually benefiting the many?

Are these reforms are of any worth to India's economic growth? 

To all those who want to know the facts beyond political mudslinging and  ideologically extrapolated interpretations of reforms in the past 4 years. (what?)

To all those who feel suffocated and uneasy in various businesses and activities in the realm of trade and commerce in the past 2 years.( why?)

To all those who may not know the real global scenario and comparative economic growth potential of India and the concomittant advantage of investing in India both by Indians and others ( how?)

To all those who are wondering is there any tangible outcome out of all the loud noises of reforms (when?)

First the reforms have not been mere tinkering here and there or just cosmetic changes to existing modes of operations or mere over hyped projections.

Second reforms are at macro economic level and therefore it is possible that the micro impacts and inadequacies will get only proportional attention and will be addressed and they may not be or cannot be prioritized. Though it is harsh on the victims and those at the receiving end.

However, in the over all interest, especially, of a nation as vast and varied in almost all parameters, even trying to effect drastic macro economic reforms is a very difficult and daring political risk.

The task is rendered further difficult through a predominantly ill informed, misinformed and anti-development attitude imbued mainstream media who set the negative narratives for the illiterate and semi-literate masses as well as a easy tool to provoke some victims by exaggerating and ascribing political motives to the suffering of those victims.

Besides all these, the very foundation of bringing in reforms depends on creating primarily a paradigm shift in the very perspective of economic activities with a great movement towards positive growth strategies i.e. from excessive politics in government towards governance; from anarchy towards rules, systems, processes, procedures based functioning; from clandestinely favoring the few towards actually benefiting the many; from blindly believing and parroting the narratives towards properly educating through producing impartial data on tangible outcomes on ground.

 

To all those who are or were experiencing discomfort through uncertainty, I am sure these two short speeches will give much clarity. 

Actually one short speech made in English and well translated by a sincere Chartered Accountant in Tamil.

I wish someone translates them in all other regional languages in India.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuvsfYeyrcA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgo4YQB4bbU&feature=youtu.be

20 Points that education in general needs to pay attention.

20 Points that education in general needs to pay attention.

1. If realistically narrowed down the trade off of time, money, energy, and more importantly the mind-space that is occupied by role and relevance of education by all stake holders -from students to parents to teachers to insitutions- is focused on certain expected outcomes.

2. We need to be clear first about what outcomes? and why?

3. This write up is because I had the luxury of reading center page of TOI Chennai in the morning.

4. It was more than worth it because of the interview of Rupamanjari Ghosh.

5. There are two things that are inevitably interlinked:-

a) Clarity of understanding a subject or issue through grasping it by subjecting it to contextual relevance and interpreting through proper perspective-which is visualizing the wider ramifications and requirements.

b) Being able to articulate such an understaning lucidly and precisely.

6. Having said that, mostly, the discourse and narrative on various types of learning are hugely confused from using multiple frames of reference based on expected results, resources and restrictive ideologies.

7. Therefore, very often the canvas of learning is painted with a brush dipped in many colors starting from basic literacy to curious interest based self generated avid learning to acquiring academic qualifications for various purposes to over philosophizing the concept of education into some abstract idea.

8. This creates a great confusion among those who are entrusted with the responsibility of imparting learning to youth.

9. I always maintain that there must be more emphasis on quality created through effecting synergy (at all levels starting from 6 year olds) of at least the following aspects:-

Content and methods of delivery;

Experiment based activities;

Exploration- driven approaches;

Giving adequate scope for curiosity based activities, creative and original thinking and freedom to question;

10. We need to steer clear of all assumptions and prescriptions based on either copied models or over zealous addiction to any traditional methods even though they may be good or great.

11. This does not mean that we need to ignore either of them, as both are very essential for continuity as well as global competitiveness.

12. However, knowing the ground reality of purpose of academic pursuits will enable us to suggest a package that will synchronize with constant churning of life in all spheres.

14. Let us be frank in accepting the fact that a vast majority of academic courses are pursued in nations like India by the majority for livelihood.

15. In present day context, despite vast range of opportunitues, livelihood depends on various factors some of them may be listed as focus, perseverance, updation of development across various domains and countries, predicting probable changes (most of which are not gradual but sudden and disruptive now), a comprehensive survival tool kit that enables a person to work with knowledge and awareness through the legal rights and duties, social responsibilities, economic imperatives, humanitarian and environmental concerns ( which include primarily knowing what are the natural resources near one's surrounding), financial management, cross cultural adaptability, domain knowledge and specilization, personal and family health care and so on.

16. In short one must be equiped to relate effectively and efficiently with everyone and everything.

17. Real intense motivated learning will anyway happen in the realms of following one's innate interests, hobbies and passions and enhancing some unique talents.

18. Institutions and those at the helm of affairs of running educational institutions must keep in mind to prioritize the livelihood based requirements of academic pursuits and draft and deliver contents accordingly.

19. Most importantly we all need to be aware that everything and everyone in this world are interconnected, interrelated and interdependent and hence, any academic pursuit in order to have a comletitive edge must incorporate, as Rupamanjari Ghosh points out, 'interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach' to be of some relevance in the intensily competitive context of present existence and life. I would like to add academics must also take into consideration the various dimensions and the multiple dynamics of all the dimensions.

20. http://contentwriteups.blogspot.com/2018/01/education-academic-commercial.html?m=0

https://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/the-interviews-blog/goal-of-higher-education-cannot-be-to-mimic-robots-if-you-are-industry-ready-today-you-may-be-jobless-tomorrow/

Why media needs to exercise some self discipline to get rid of its insecurity.

Why media needs to exercise some self discipline to get rid of its insecurity.

“The information we consume matters just as much as the food we put in our body. It affects our thinking, our behavior, how we understand our place in the world. And how we understand others.” ~Evan Williams

I would further add:- how we interact, interpret, react and believe too.

The purpose of this write up is to drive home the point that modern media in the name of unbridled freedom,

unfortunately, gives out selectively more negative news - there are some probable explanations for this which I shall briefly explain while concluding.

Documented information by virtue of easy accessibility has greater impact among the major means of knowledge acquisition.

There are three ways of acquiring and assimilating knowledge:-         

1,Pratyaksha pramana=Direct experience

2,Anumana=inference or logic

3.Shabda pramana=Verbal testimony or verbal account or verbalizing a fact or imagination or lie or concept or idea or thought or opinion and so on .

Major portion of the knowledge of majority of us are inevitably through Shabda pramana [Verbal testimony].

Most of our belief systems , frames of references to grasp and understand are, therefore, based on Shabda pramana [Verbal testimony] starting from belief in heaven and hell.

It is inevitably so , as everyone cannot have experience of performing a brain surgery or everyone cannot visit moon.

So, we must believe in the versions of those who have done them with ample empirical proof and other evidences and probability of existence of such things or events or personalities etc.

This has its own inherent importance as Isaac Newton has said, “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants”-

Therefore, it would be better in the interest of all life on this planet that those who have the privilege of being in the media feed in positive news and report negative and nauseating facts too with lesser visibility.

Media is born with a sense of insecurity and suffers from  survival dilemma which causes all negativity.

Modern media nudged its way through very a very fast evolutionary growth in many domains pushing to the background even many myths and religious edicts , and more so, it had to wade through dominant human mind influencing and thought provoking classical literature, great philosophical concepts and ideas, emerging immense advancements in science, innumerable intellectual analyses  and the churning in social systems migrating from empires and dictators to democracies, economic studies going beyond mere marine trade, intellect surging with rationalizing free from many restrictive religious doctrines etc.

In this competitive milieu where most of the activities enumerated above where vying with one another to occupy the mind space of human beings, media made its humble roots as a mere tool for imparting information and reporting facts and developments.

Besides all these, politics, politicians and certain institutions started dominating the discourse, deciding what must be chosen and prioritized for and on behalf of all.

Media for its own survival started acting as a opinionated narrative generator for these types of political ideology peddling and ideology extrapolating agents as that would ensure not only its survival but may also enable it to get extra favors.

At the same time, it also tried to sound and adopt a sort of  holier than thou attitude by masquerading as a know all and judge all universal umpires appropriating some terminologies with lofty connotations like liberal, rational, intellectual freedom of expression bal bla [in the process rendering those terminologies sound banal now] while selectively targeting certain victims who lacked political power.

So, while political leaders wielded power media empowered itself by all these superficial posturing,

Now that the social media through technological advancement has transferred that crucial opinion molding factory and ideology extrapolating activity to many groups and numerous individuals the status of insecurity continues to haunt the media.

So, MEDIA as an acronym , now may be defined as:-

Mask as master of

Everything;

Desultory deception of

Involvement to inform

All about everything.

The greatest irony as well as tragedy is that media today has made a majority of the past few generations and the present generation into collective obsessive consumers of opinion templates which is an easy option over analyzing issues and incidents from multitude of perspectives incorporating various possible ways of original thinking, allowing various interpretations , providing valuable understanding with contextual relevance ,evaluations based on intrinsic attributes of any issue or individual.

Media is the only platform which can allow extrapolation of social justice while evaluating an aesthetic classical art form or evaluate sports performance with political affiliation and a host of such nonsense and romantic drivel which will put to shame the druids of the Middle age.

Marya Mannea has prescribed to media a great message long back ,  " It is not enough to show people how to live better; there is a mandate for any group with enormous powers of communication to show people how to be better ".

Of course, even this can be done only where the people want to become and be better.

Culture What it is ? and how do you define it?

Culture

What it is ? and how do you define it?

It is both wrong and narrow perception to  portray such sweeping generalizations.

Every region and every society has its own culture and traditions which you may like or may not like.

https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/features/white-people-have-no-culture2018

Etymologically from the Latin ‘Cultura’ or French‘Culture’ primarily meaning “a cultivating, tilling agricultural activity” or probably from Latin ‘cultus’, which means 'care’ from thereon from late 18th  century it expanded in connotation with varying degrees of impact figuratively mostly to refer positively to tending ,guarding; and psychologically and socially creating a common social coherent identity based on certain activities, attitudes.

For information:-The term 'cult' which suggests some kind of a religious organization is also from the word culture, indicating a group identity.

Culture, in its multiple avatars definitely affects us but it need not necessarily determine every act we do or define or confine anyone of us, especially if we are grown up adults who can make our own choice. We need not reject any culture but we also need not become susceptible guinea pigs for deculturization.

A typical anthropological definition of culture by Henry Pratt Fairchild in his Dictionary of Sociology:- “A collective name for all behavior patterns socially acquired and transmitted by means of symbols; hence a name for all the distinctive achievements of human groups, including not only such items as language, tool-making, industry, art, science, law, government, morals and religion, but also the material instruments or artifacts in which cultural achievements are embodied and by which intellectual cultural features are given practical effect, such as buildings, tools, machines, communication devices, art objects, etc”.

William Butler Yeats, “For without culture or holiness, which are always the gift of the very few, a man may renounce wealth or any other external thing, but he cannot renounce hatred, envy, jealousy, revenge. Culture is the sanctity of the intellect”.

https://contentwriteups.blogspot.com/2016/04/culture-its-various-dimensions.html

From a speech of  Prof S.A.R.P.V Chaturvedi 

"CulturePerfect system of action and reaction is the soul of culture. It deals with personal behaviour, about his instincts and reflexes, spherical behaviour in the environments of learning, family and occupation, and public behaviour, which is action and response in various social circumstances.

Any wider impact is a reflection of collections of inner-space transitions. Culture shapes individual and paves the way for spreading of the same luminosity in a mass. As per Culturalism theory, all perfect systems emerge from a resourceful cultural pool.

Human mind is prone to anger, avarice, aversion, anxiety and apprehension. The ethical dimension of culture produces virtuous antibodies for the suppression of the same, and replaces the space by estimable attributes. Onerous exercises for self control and determination are prescribed by ethical guides.

In social angle, ethical section of culture denotes

Respect and Obedience to nature, elders, learned, leaders, masters, faiths, nation, law and parents.
Love and Dignity in marital relations, friendship, customers and clientele.
Mercy and Service to downtrodden, inefficient, abandoned, aberrant and the animals.
Decency and Discipline in the forms of non-intrusion, non-violence, perseverance, magnanimity; truth, honesty, and transparency.

Education and elite association are few among the methods for gaining culture.

Culture directs the intelligence to configure different explicit forms of arts through its aesthetic dimension. These cultural derivatives offer innumerable options to celebrate and boost joy, exhaust and eliminate fear and misery, and relish tranquility and valuable opportunities to expose and absorb others to share and unite.

Music, dance, drama, painting, natural appreciation and humour are few of the aesthetic models of culture.

Culture is one among the hottest topics of debate today. Cultural nihilism says that culture is a self organised product for self and external conveniences. It prevents the society from understanding the values of life and makes existence and achievements lifeless.

Cultural Extremism is at the rigid end which never admits tolerance and change. It never minds about the reason and adaptability factors. Cultural extremism is accused by liberals as a cordon for social affinity, scientific and national progress.

Cultural Liberalism is the liberty to fashion ones own culture without any standard base. It represents adaptation and fusion from all sides without assessing its suitability. It is an abode for recurrent modifications on fascination grounds.

Personality is defined by appearance along with attire and etiquette. Tradition blames the modern way of dressing and cosmetic bounty that they naturally lead to precarious exhibitionism.
Co-learning and Co-working of genders have become a necessary part of the society. Lack of parental guardianship and modernity license have patronised new art forms of dating, valentine bondage, premarital and extramarital relations, addiction and various levels of ethical calamity.
Opportunities which have promoted the excellence of a minor society cannot be justified for the moral insecurity and depreciation of the mass.

Self control and avoidance of unfavourable circumstances, both are eyes of cultural vigilance.

Tradition includes dress-code, demeanours and flexibility or by its popular name, social freedom, as diagnostic devices for nature, impression and depiction of inner discipline. It describes about the subtle impact of every inch of thought, exposure and action in character, which may not be digestible to the fashion world.

Modernism thinks that this in and out has no connectivity at all and discipline can be maintained with self determination, irrespective of any external frame.

Unfortunately, this is branded as a western culture, whereas it is a degraded form of global cultural stamina, which has infected the western community. Due to continuous engagement in scientific and economic pursuits, west has lost its immunity in self and social control, which has made it the first and the worst vulnerable region for ethical degradation.
Failures in parental, matrimonial and generation bondage have created a new trend of untouchability where there is nobody to touch and care. Juvenile prisoners, addicts and suicidal warriors throng in competition. Social refineries of the west are now in serious rumination about regaining ethical awareness and consensus by investing all the time and resources that they have minted by its dereliction.

Without cultural framework, any self styled discipline, audacity and insecure freedom will certainly dismantle any orderly society or even an organised one.

In the present context of Interfaith, cultural exchange, in its level-headed way, can tremendously lubricate collective survival mechanism. Festivals and art forms of every faith and system are to be demonstrated with their essential messages, so that it can kindle involvement in their own people and others. This get together shatters the cloud of selfishness and egoism, thereby binding everybody with inborn love."

Ideology based identity homogenization

Ideology based identity homogenization - its foundation and fallibility.

Social Media is just one more new tool in this operation.

Social Media's active right wing or left wing groups follow every event like investigative agencies and pass them on.

But then my fear is they tend to wallow in confirmation bias and mutual admiration with a simmering competitive jealousy too which sometimes becomes obvious through criticisms.

This process has many positive outcomes but susceptible and very often vulnerable to one failure which may be lurking round the corner.

This is the failure to take into account all other sorts of activities that are happening outside the radar of these groups with well orchestrated diplomatic and appealing execution of hidden agenda.

For example some erudite interpretation of certain ideologies or scriptures etc..

It is actually worth admiring such interpretation and erudition, rightly so.

But then the problem arises when there is hardly any similar reciprocatory gestures from other dispensations.

The socio-political enemies are always visible but then the social engineering cultural crusaders are deceptive.

We need an army of decent, non vociferous, diplomatic, clandestine operators to counter this.

Some groups have done it more effectively than others in countering such cultural invasions.

There is subtle art of invading the mind space ; then the emotional appeal to heart simultaneously assuaging the needs of material comforts and assuring that one is capable of giving the recipients some sense of social security and cultural continuity.

This is where the elements of appropriating and assimilating mainstream cultures and traditions take place on one side while provoking the elites of that very culture leading to let the irritation boil over so that such justifiable irritations can subsequently be portrayed as intolerance.

Simple observation is that anyone or any group which wants to consolidate and to increase the number of followers with certain ideas-based or ideologies-based identity, then, there are certain processes that must be followed; chief among them being institutionalizing the ideologies followed by incentives to venerate and propagate those ideologies.

The main ingredients of the propaganda or brainwashing material must be ensconced between normal emotional and humane feelings ( with all concomitant factors of entertainment and activities that evoke spontaneous interest) on one side and posturing of great humanitarian and social concerns on another side with a facade of fine tuned fortification of frequencies synchronizing with all the average human fallibility ( this requires fabrication of concepts, hypothetical situations that generate phobias and logical fallacies, at all times ensuring that no in depth intellectual analyses interferes in the process of this high voltage, vibrant and hysterical herdish homogenization process).

Once ensconced on the sides and the facade fortified the hidden agenda works behind.

This is a over simplified and generic version template of many successful religious and political movements and outfits with nuanced variations according to contexts and regions.

Most important aspect being there must be at least a dozen souls that must operate with involvement and conviction in the ideologies.

Ultimately, there would be many who may internalize those ideologies to such an extent that those indoctrinated ideologies become almost a second nature and start obsessively extrapolating those ideologies almost on all domains of life.

How and Why

"The person who knows ‘how’ will always have a job. The person who knows 'why' will always be his boss". - Diane Ravitch

The one who knows the 'why' can live his life any'how'.....

'why' should the person who knows 'how' to live bother anyway about life.

Jokes and debates apart.

Without why? What? And how? Our lives would be unimaginative, dull and passive like inanimate objects.

It is not only in questioning but exploring to seek the answers for these why? What? And how? Whatever source they emanate from and in all possible ways, is what educates and emancipates mankind.

In this process of enquiry, we must steer clear of impenetrable jargons, lukewarm sea of half-baked theories, the illusion that life and its meanings and problems can be reduced to some specific straight-jacket dogma, and delusions of fettering axiomatic certitudes like something is said to be so and therefore, it is so; and a whole lot of other such aspects of the culture of escapism, and indifference and lies.

Of these ubiquitous trinity of why? What? and how?

Let me take up only why here. Why is a magical word. Small children use it to keep their parents talking on and on without end. Unfortunately, it is not only to keep their parents talking but also out of inquisitiveness. Inquisitiveness is what produces a wide range of characters starting from an eavesdropper, a scandal monger or a clandestine voyeur or a gossip giant or a spiritual mediator or a social inventor, etc. So the type of reply a parent gives to a child’s enquiry of a why? (out of inquisitiveness) will produce such a “deep” impression that, the child’s mind would sta

​​

rt using the question why to get a particular expected answer and also produce any of the above referred characters depending upon the parent’s reply.

Very often parents tend to give clever replies like a tourist guide who, when once, a lady asked him “How a row of fine rock formation were piled up”, said “they have been piled up here by the glaciers”. When she anxiously asked him “Where are the glaciers?” he replied “Madam, they have gone back to get some more rocks”. Such replies are often the result of ignorance, half-knowledge or impatience or all of these.

I, for one, would rather like to go to the maximum extent possible to find the answer for all the whys that arise in me.

Reforms and social engineering

Most reforms evolve with schemes devised by the actual stake holders to effect a change.

But, ideologically perpetrated schemes to effect a specific model of social engineering and promoted by media sponsored narratives and extrapolations could become divisive and change and affect most of the actual stake holders.