Jadoo ki Jhappi - doesn't have to be physical

A few days back Ratan Tata said, “You don't know what it is to be lonely, until you spend time alone wishing for companionship”; to many of us that was happening to someone, somewhere else.

A common description of loneliness is the feeling we get when our need for rewarding social contact and relationships is not met. Loneliness is a state of mind. Loneliness causes people to feel empty, alone, and unwanted. It is marked by feelings of isolation despite wanting social connections. It is often perceived as an involuntary separation, rejection, or abandonment by other people. There is a difference between Loneliness and Solitude. If the latter can be therapeutic at times the former is corrosive.

 

Speaking of Ratan Tata, we subconsciously compared his situation with ours - Lonely, old, rich, unmarried gentleman without children, living alone in a big house. We may not be as rich or may not have that big a bungalow; but we have family, children, friends and so many other social contacts and engagements never to have a lonely moment. Simultaneously we started thinking of our relatives who already are rendered lonely or will become soon because of the death of their partners or the migration of their children on a gravy train. We worry about them while counting our many blessings and thank God that we are not in their situation.

 

Really? Now take this test.

 

Imagine these situations. You are elated after meeting someone who validated your conviction of an idea you have been working on for the last few years. You had an awesome meeting with your client and almost bagged the deal of your lifetime. You feel utterly defeated because you were let down by an associate. You felt utterly ignored by a friend you knew for years at a party. Now you want to share your joy and sorrow with someone who has the time to listen to you and empathize with your feelings? You have some 1500+ numbers in your phonebook; now select five. 

 

You don’t have to tell the result. Most would not have found the first one even. Let’s face it.

 

Despite being amidst a sea of people, most of us are lonely. It feels like being at a social gathering of people you know no one. The difference here is that you know everyone but there is an invisible barrier that is preventing the human connection. Many of us lack empathy and compassion for others. All are so busy with our life’s problems that there is no time in their hand to think about others’ lives and to check if anyone would be needing them. The virtual clamour on the social media platform successfully hides the lack of human interaction or touches in the society we are living in at present.

 

What do you call a society where humans have become stones and teddy bears and pet dogs have replaced humans when it comes to exchanging human touches? 

 

Is the problem of recent origin or has exacerbated by the dramatic change in lifestyle triggered by nuclear family structures, migration, and technology?

 

Leo Tolstoy captured this emotional state of humans through the feelings of a father who had lost his son that morning and his desperate attempts to share his grief with someone. After failing to find a human to share that with; he discharges his pent-up grief on the horse that drew his coach. He didn’t want money or any help; Just someone with compassion who agrees to compassionately listen to his grief. 

 

As relevant today as when it was written.

 

When in 1970 Neeraj Sridhar used the phrase ‘Bheed Ke Beech Akela’ in the song Phoolon Ke Rang Se, he never could have imagined how relevant, and representative his metaphor of the general feelings of a society of lonely people is even in 2020. 

 

I was listening to Ruskin Bond at the Bhubaneswar Literary Festival and he before signing off requested the audience and readers to keep writing to him. He light-heartedly said that the validation of the readers still matters to him at this age too. We thought an author of his level of accomplishment wouldn’t care what his readers think of his writings. 

 

How wrong we are.

 

If I could never forgive my closest friend who didn’t think it was important for him to speak to me even once when I was losing my father slowly over 15 days and showed up two days after his death; I also will not forget the compassionate gesture of that angel who packed all her furry friends in a car let them loose in our house one full evening the very next day I lost my dearest pet dog. While my closest friend didn’t have the eye to see the pain I could be going through, this girl who hardly knew me thought of relieving me of my grief of losing a family member. 

 

The above two examples describe what compassion and human touch mean to a person in grief especially when he is falling apart. Our personal lives are rife with experiences of disappointments meted out by our close ones and surprises coming from unknown persons. 

 

Let’s accept that though our bodies are designed to respond to touch, not just to sense the environment around us; we have a network of dedicated nerve fibres in our skin that detect and emotionally react to the human touches of another person — affirming our relationships, our social connections and even our sense of self. 

 

For a social person of higher emotional order, these are the essentials on which his identity exists. 

 

When we are overcome by the feeling of loneliness, we are not craving human contact, but human touches. If we want a society that provides us with all the human contacts and touches, we need, are we ourselves doing it for others? 

 

Bruce Springsteen in his song Human Touch writes…  

 

I ain't lookin' for praise or pity

I ain't comin' 'round searchin' for a crutch

I just want someone to talk to

And a little of that human touch

Just a little of that human touch

Share a little of that human touch

Feel a little of that human touch [2]

Share a little of that human touch

Feel a little of that human touch

Give me a little of that human touch [2}

 

Dial into others’ lives to check if they are fine and need your time and compassion; It’s time we stopped waiting for someone else to call. Jadoo ki jhappi doesn’t have to be physical.

Sustainable Living – We are facing the consequence of ignoring our traditional values.

A recent UNEP article stated “To combat the climate crisis and secure a safe future below 1.5°C, the world needs to cut emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gasses by 50 percent within the decade. Individuals and policymakers can help secure a healthier planet through their sustainable choices. Research shows that lifestyle changes could help the planet slash emissions by up to 70% by 2050. For many, ambitious targets such as this can induce a sense of dread and paralysis. But experts say there is a lot we can do as individuals to counter climate change.” 

At the core of this statement is the expectation of the global body to reduce our load on Natural Resources, Waste, and emissions. What we are asked to reduce now, basically emanates from our routine and mindless consumption of our past which we termed as Anthropogenic Activities. Sustainable living means changing our consumption in the areas of food, mobility, housing, and leisure so that our load on Earth comes down. 

A few questions come to mind.

Why does the phrase ‘Sustainable Living’ sound like some exotic recently discovered secret lifestyle formula? Is that so? Do we need a scientist or an expert to tell us about the outcome of unbridled consumption?

The same people who propounded the consumption-based economic models of development making us follow them like the rats of Hamlin are the ones who are advising us on how to lead a sustainable lifestyle leaving us in awe and a state of paralysis. So much has been our development in these years that we have forgotten how to find our way in a city in the absence of Google Maps.

Anyone of us who is old enough would recall how just a few decades back life was small, houses were small, vehicles were small and few, roads were narrow but there was no traffic jam, calories in our diet were low, we had fewer clothes to choose from and the need to commute was not beyond few kilometres. All our friends stayed in the neighborhood and very few of them were obese. The aspirations of that generation were basic. Anyone of us who had the good fortune of seeing the tribal communities from close quarters would remember their beautiful basic houses - built with locally available materials which had articles not more than a dozen which met all their lifestyle requirements. In the subsequent decades, we also witnessed the deterioration in the name of development and now these memories adorn our minds and the pages of a few bloggers.

Didn’t we inherit that as our traditional wisdom? Do we need empirical evidence by scientists and academics to realize or accept it; when our mythology, literature, words of the sages, and philosophers have been advising against falling into the trap?

When did we stop consciously living a small life and enjoying things small?

Today, on the 1st Death Anniversary of my father, I remember how negatively he reacted to my second car purchase. His verdict was clear – he wouldn’t enter the house unless the commitment to sell off the first car was given to him. I learned early that I could never impress him by acquiring material wealth as a sign of success. How my close relatives went back with earfuls for daring to buy him new clothes when he felt that the need for his clothes stands at zero now that he is retired. When he fell sick, those visitors who brought him a Bournvita would carry a Horlicks back as a return gift and the one who brought a Horlicks would go back with a Bournvita. He ensured that he had just one of each type needed for his recuperation. He disliked if more items were served on the table or if anyone ate more. He was never in awe of someone having more material wealth and assiduously stayed off people in power and position. In my lifetime, I have never seen him trying to be accepted in any exclusive club and hobnob with powers bigger than him. He despised wearing a suit and being seen at the Governor’s At Home where he was expected to be present officially. He left behind a cupboard which had a few clothes, a pair of shoes and a sneaker and just two files. One is his pension papers and CGHS details, and another is the ownership documents of his landed properties. I, throughout the last year, have been searching to find any unfinished task left behind by him – I have found none. He had completed all his tasks and discharged all his worldly responsibilities fully. 

He could do it because he had internal brakes on his needs and consumption.

His credo was simple. Live small and within your means. Living with dignity was more important than living a life of luxury. Lead a modest lifestyle and don’t invite the jealousy of your neighborhood. Don’t be over-ambitious and leave most of the things unfinished; you are not expected to leave behind an empire or legacy – just complete your life’s responsibilities. And the list didn’t include him, there were many in our family who not only espoused those values but lived them by example.

Many of the previous generations lived a sustainable life which we find exotic and impossible to adopt now. Where are such people now who represent a sustainable lifestyle? Our ancestors have left behind no liabilities but a chest full of values and principles relevant to the present crisis which we are desperately trying to come out of. When did we exactly throw that inherited wisdom from our societal value systems and agree to be a part of the model that equated consumption as the sole measurement of development? 

A closer look will tell us that the current society is led by those who are in their 50s. And this generation since the 90s has untiringly tried to scramble up the material ladder to be termed as successful. It has reached the speed of a running train. The momentum is so much that it is becoming difficult to break. This cohort has lost the habit and the opportunity to be the sustainability models; hence the task seems daunting. 

But have we lost the right to be so? Nah!

We can achieve our goals of a sustainable lifestyle if and only if we redefine success and start celebrating small again. Parents, Teachers, Leaders, Community Leaders, and Spiritual Leaders must start talking about the various ways to lead a small life by reducing our consumption, thus reducing our load on resources, waste, and emissions. We know that the logic of Scientists and the purposeless mechanical efforts of the Government has never been effective in changing people’s behaviour and attitude. Even after 75 years of independence, the gaps in the policy intent and the outcomes remain glaringly static on the ground unless some have been led by people themselves. Let’s not shirk our responsibilities by delegating them to others. 

We must lead by example not to save Earth but ourselves. When it’s about doing less and not more, it’s easy.

Celebrating Men Seen Cycling to Moon

Are you planning to cycle today too?

4th June, early morning, after being fed an overdose of pictures of people cycling with their friends the day before, I, in my churlish best, threw this question to the air on my social media walls – many responded. Many in the picture wore that MeToo happy smile, and many wore those cycling gears making them practically unrecognizable.

A friend from the Rotary fraternity who is familiar with my wicked wit, calls me. Suppressing his chuckle to tell that they have no plans for cycling that day as they are busy arranging for World Environment Day the next day. The task of organizing the club event rests on him. Chief Guest, Media Coverage, Photographers, Commemorative caps and Tee Shirts, Banners, Location, Saplings, logistics, and funds must be arranged, and disinterested members must be nudged to join the celebration. Then there are organizational politics to handle.

By this time, he had gotten serious. He went on and on.

Their club always manages to get the top awards in their district. They consistently and successfully manage these events. In the past, their members had brandished Jhadu (brooms) when the country had to be cleaned of the garbage of 75 years, pulverized the Thali out of shape beating it up when the PM called for their support to wage a war against the Covid Virus. They have always risen to the occasion and responded to such calls when the nation wanted their service. On June 21st they have International Day of Yoga to celebrate, and they will have to do some events for that day too with the right hashtags. So many things to do! They must earn the scores to meet the target their club has promised.

I could by then mentally visualize a blend of a sales executive who is worried about his monthly targets and an armoured hero in a white stallion with a halo around his head galloping his way into the horizon to annihilate every ill of the society that comes his way.

I was mentally trying to assess what a wretched place the world would have been, had my friends not created the awareness in time. I couldn’t stop myself from respecting these social warriors for the work they are doing to create awareness of the issues that are troubling the world. The list of woes that abound on our planet runs into hundreds - Environment, Health, Disease, Poverty, Social ills; the list is endless so also the engagement of these social awarers (sic) so also the opportunities associated with it.

Starting from today, the World Environment Day to the Vana Mahostav week, Individuals, Clubs, Organizations, Corporations big and small, and Government departments, all will be desperate to show solidarity with the cause of the earth. The media will be filled with pictures of responsible individuals living responsibly and responsible Corporations running responsible businesses.

Some will be seen in solidarity, some creating awareness, and some showing that they are leading the action. Some voice inside me silently asks a few uncomfortable questions.

If everyone is busy creating awareness for others; then who is left to follow it in practice?

Had all the saplings planted by all the people in all the environment Days and Vana Mahostsavs been cared for and survived, India surely would be looking like an Amazon rainforest by now.

Sadly, there lies the unpleasant truth - about the gap in the discourse and sincere action on the ground by the same person. How when humanity is standing between the jaws of death, the real issue which requires dramatic changes at every level of corporate value creation to value delivery and how individuals consume and lead their lifestyle has been hijacked to make this a routine annual event is a matter of concern. Why do we feel that our task is complete by wearing a badge to look like a responsible citizen?

What are we hiding? Who are we cheating? At whose cost?

It’s a truism that every industrial activity results in some damage to the people living around it and the environment in general. It’s quite like a brain surgery we opt for after evaluating the risks and benefits associated with it. If people in the capital city must live in comfort and govern, millions around the thermal plants have to live in the furnace-like heat and breathe noxious air. Nothing in the immediate future can resolve this development-environment paradox unless new generation technology miraculously appears everywhere from nowhere. We are left to make the best within the given constraints.

To break this dilemma, a middle path is chosen and ways to compensate for the damages caused to the people and planet are carefully thought about. Corporates are now evaluated just not based on their Governance (Profit) score but on what they are doing to ameliorate the impact of their business actions on Society (People) and the Environment (Planet).

This framework of evaluation is called ESG.

But there is general doubt about the real intent of the corporates in implementing that. Will, they seriously get down to action, and lead by example, or will hire experts to prepare reports and documents, and buy awards and certificates just to be a regulatory complaint entity. Business interest has always been successful in blunting the teeth of the law and rules of the regulator and has reduced their responsibility to smart reporting for compliance certification.

Sadly, they are not alone in the game. This game has a new name – Greenwashing or SDG washing. And it's big.

A report by The Financial Express states that the demand for ESG jobs in India has grown by 468 pc in the last 3 years. Demand for ESG roles might continue to rise as more sectors incorporate the functions into their organizations and make sustainability and community relations a key part of their actions. Its importance is felt as global investments can only be accessed by the ones having good scores. The vultures see this ESG hype as an opportunity to bill millions of dollars for consultancy, rating, and assessor fees.

The Earth is crying in pain scarred and burdened by our reckless lifestyle and corporate greed of the last two hundred years. We have no second planet and the time to make course corrections is running out. Scientists have been shouting from the rooftop about this and the evidence of it is felt by one and all in terms of rising temperatures frequent cyclones and erratic rain patterns. The sea, water, soil, and air are irreversibly damaged. But the feasting by the corporates and merry-making by the individuals at such a critical time is a matter of grave concern.

We know that the lure of profit and publicity and the pleasures associated with it throws our conscience into some dark corner that demands sacrifices in terms of our business and lifestyles. But if we choose not to realize this now and continue with our festivities on the gravy train, we can’t when it would have flown off the cliff taking us along with it.

Time to bite the bullet and not tell lies to ourselves anymore. We are too near the cliff.

The Sleep-Restfulness Conundrum

The thing that we secretly desire to do on a Sunday is ‘Not Doing Anything’ which in common parlance broadly comprises a post-lunch siesta and a good night’s sleep.

The symptom of the need for rest usually starts showing up in our minds from Wednesday. That is why Wednesday is called The Hump Day. Because if we had started our week on a Monday, we would have reached our peak by midweek and are expected to drag ourselves till Friday and take rest on the weekends and revive.

The brain has been conditioned to seek rest and feel restored if we sleep well.

The adage goes, that even God rested on the 7th day after completing all his work of creation. The humans are expected to get ready from Monday to take on the workload of the weekdays. The cycle continues routinely like a point on a Sin x curve plotted on a sheet of graph paper or it’s expected to behave in that pattern normatively.

The big questions for us to answer are.

Are we at that stage where our work and Life are well balanced?

Do we understand the message sent out by our body and mind of its requirement for rest? 

Is sleep the only circuit breaker we know of to rest and rejuvenate our body and mind to take on the next batch of workload?

Our own experience shows that many of us even after doing our Sunday rest, and sleep routine feel mentally overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and physically tired by Tuesday.

The weekend looks far away - why?

Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith who is known as a work-life integration researcher seems to be having the answer. She says - “Identifying your rest deficit is the first step in being your personal and professional best self”. As a busy physician, author, and mom, she understands that life's demands can leave you feeling mentally overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and physically tired. Daily she helps high-achievers deal with their work-rest imbalance and find actionable answers to the thriving lifestyle they desire.

She says sleep and rest are not the same things. We’re suffering from a rest deficit because we don’t understand the various types of rest we need and their true power. She says that there are 7 types of rest that every person needs. Rest should equal restoration in seven key areas of your life.

Seven! And we were trying to open all the locks with just one key – Sleep.

The first type of rest we need is PHYSICAL REST, which can be passive or active. Passive physical rest includes sleeping and napping, while active physical rest means restorative activities such as yoga, stretching, and massage therapy that help improve the body’s circulation and flexibility.

The second type of rest is the MENTAL REST. We all experience that when arrear work builds up on our desks. We lay down at night to sleep; we struggle to turn off our brains as conversations from the day fill our thoughts. Ideas and worries come to visit us in our sleep and keep knocking on our mental doors. Despite sleeping seven to eight hours, we wake up feeling as if we never went to bed. That is a mental rest deficit.

The third type of rest we need is SENSORY REST. Pressure to Stay alert during long commutes, reading traffic signals during driving, Bright lights, Computer screens, Background noise, and multiple conversations touching multiple issues — whether they’re in an office or on a VC — can cause our senses to feel overwhelmed throughout our active hours of the day. The effects of it can eat well into the time we dedicate to rest.

The fourth type of rest is CREATIVE REST. The pressure to come up with new ideas to solve problems at hand and to anticipate them to prevent them from happening occupies the mind of the senior management. They are also expected to brainstorm new ideas to come up with newer value propositions for the organization they lead. The pressure of this leaves them staring blankly at a wall. This type of rest is especially important for anyone who must solve problems or brainstorm new ideas. Creative rest reawakens the awe and wonder inside each of us. Allowing ourselves to take in the beauty of the outdoors — even if it’s at a local park or in your backyard — provides us with creative rest. Select companies are offering unlimited paid vacations to their C-suite executives to let their creative juices flow.

The fifth type of rest is EMOTIONAL REST, which means having the time and space to freely express your feelings and cut back on people-pleasing. Deep inside us we feel ignored, neglected, and used by our family members, relatives, friends, and colleagues at our workplace. We are conditioned to say ‘I’m Good’ with a sunny smile each time someone wishes us a ‘How are you? We are taught to rise spiritually and not to complain but to accept things as they are. This can lead us to a pressure cooker situation which can explode unless released periodically. With our ever-expanding social and professional circles, we can ask ourselves if we have that person, we can be open with our feelings be it sharing our joy, frustration, and sadness, and hope to be understood?

Unknowingly we could be suffering the sixth type of rest deficit which is SOCIAL REST. Many a time we find ourselves in situations in which have people we are inseparably intertwined with who exhaust us with their predictably frustrating behavior. Despite flagging it politely, objecting to it, and warning them not to repeat it, people who are close to us force us to bring out the worst in us. Repeated exposure to these situations exacerbates it. To experience more social rest, we need to surround ourselves with positive and supportive people who inspire us to ignore our situations and revive us.

The final type of rest is SPIRITUAL REST, which is the ability to connect beyond the physical and mental and feel a deep sense of belonging, love, acceptance, and purpose. To receive this, we must engage in something greater than ourselves and add the practice of gratitude, prayer, meditation, or community involvement to our daily routine.

The present-day society celebrates only the success of a high-achieving, high-producing performer. This puts enormous pressure on its actors. It doesn’t bother to know what the person is going through in his personal life or deep inside his brain. 

We all experience residual fatigue even after resting well the day before, we call it by so many names stress, irritable behavior, frustration, feeling used, defeated, and exhausted. As you can see, sleep alone can’t restore us to the point we feel rested. Now we know that each word above points to a completely different cause which is behind the feeling of rest deprivation. 

So, it’s time we focused on getting the right type of rest our body and mind need to function normally, or else we will be a society of high-performing, high-achieving, chronically tired, and chronically burned-out individuals who are ripe to pop anytime like a soap bubble.

The choice is ours.

That Missing Credible Voice

Two incidents and a vitriolic exchange of words between two interest groups kept the media space filled towards the second fortnight of April. The one at the national level was the high fuel price and closer home it was the Puri Heritage Corridor Project.

The fuel price kerfuffle was centred around whether the centre or the states should reign it in by reducing the percentage of taxes that they are collecting per litre of fuel. The rigmarole of Puri was around the huge opacity around what is being planned to be done to the heritage site – people demanded facts be presented. The presenters were paraded but none were believed. The HC intervened in the Puri incident and all the parties including the ASI were asked to submit their statements under affidavit for the HC to take the final call. 

The credibility of the court is also not above public suspicion.

 

Statements in dozens – each contradicting the other; political blame games, efforts to create a controversy and take political advantage, an allegation of trying to earn a political dividend by creating controversies flew around engaging the common man and leaving him more confused. It was quite like when the two local stray bulls locked horns and pushed each other. The bystanders get startled, some shout in amusement, traffic comes to a halt, dogs bark in unison, a few cyclists topple injuring themselves, women run to safety, smart bikers sneak past, and to everyone’s surprise, they suddenly choose to stop. Life settles to normalcy in just a few minutes. And those two jostling bulls stand masticating their cuds as if nothing had happened between them.

 

No one gets to know what it was about and why the fight was started in the first place.

The poor common man is destined to see such exchanges either coming from the politicians or the bulls whenever and as long as both parties choose to fight. When they stop the common man would be still groping in the dark to know what exactly the fact was.

 

The absence of a sane credible voice was never felt so much by our society.

 

Let’s go back to the recent few decades. That need was served by editors of important newspapers, columnists whose independent voices were much sought after, and academicians whose personal conduct and academic track record added credence to what they said in public space.

 

We have seen how Late Harekrushna Mahatab in the 80s wrote one editorial in The Prajatantra urging people to stop the practice of animal sacrifice in temples and that resulted in a mass movement and a hundred temples joined voluntarily. Such was his understanding of the pulse of people and his influence over the society of that time. We have seen how RK Laxman’s daily cartoon lampooned the people in power and depicted the situation of the common man of Mumbai which struck a chord across the country. People like Arun Shourie, and Ramnath Goenka not only were the voices people listened to but believed to a large extent. Such was the weight of their opinion and influence over people that the politics of that time was influenced and configured around those voices. 

They were high on credibility.

 

Similarly, we have had academicians adorning various discussion panels in the TV shows of the 90s whose voices and opinions were just not insightful but impeccably presented and were surgical in many ways. They had their decades-long research, field trips, meetings, and observations as their strengths to bolster their arguments. Their deep understanding of their subject, their neutrality, and their aloofness to the political dispensation gave them the power to call a spade a spade.

 

That brings us to my core concern, in the age of information explosion, why it’s still difficult for a common man to access facts (truths)? Why the messenger of truth is weak to stand up and speak? In other words, who now is the credible voice in our midst who is well-informed, politically neutral, selfless, and has the guts to tell the facts? 

The problem is the source of truth or the dearth of carriers of truth?

 

Institutions like newspapers and universities had nurtured free thinkers and built their talent by providing them security. If there were fearless journalists, there were strong management of the news outlets who stood strongly up to the political powers. If an academician could work on his subject freely and deeply, there was a strong leader of that organization who saw merit in such people and gave them the resources, space, and liberty to voice the facts. 

Where are we now?

 

How practical it is to expect news outlets to be free from political influences when most of them are owned by various political parties by proxy. If few traditional newspapers who haven’t sold their ownership yet, are doing their best to be in the good books by crawling when they are expected to bend to the wishes of the government to curry financial or political favours. If we believe in the adage ‘Nothing succeeds like success, then we surely have many winners and many waiting to join the game. The academic space has long ceased to be a place of intellectual pursuits. It has chosen two to play second fiddle to the coaching centres that dot the landscape for various competitive examinations. It’s now a playground of personal interest and political one-upmanship. Lustreless, faceless and anonymous leaders are not given responsibilities to build institutions on principles and values but are deputed to stand guard and carry out official instructions.

 

We are seeing an unprecedented situation in our democracy where the earlier credible voices have either fallen off their pedestal or have been effectively silenced. Now manufactured truths are presented to the homes of the hapless public through various social media channels like Twitter and WhatsApp by faceless authors who are not accountable for defending their stories. Though this strategy of silencing the sane voices of society seems to be working in favour of achieving immediate political goals, its long-term impact on our society is far deeper and much more damaging than it meets the eye.

This loss will take a few generations to regain.

 

Society and its institutions that don’t recognize talent and nurture it; silence the free-thinking and truthful voices will be desperately searching for a capable leader and a credible voice when it would one day be standing on the edge of the cliff facing dystopia and crying to be rescued. 

Climate Change: Can we afford to be the ostrich when the storm is not temporary?

[Science is unequivocal about the impending danger the world faces and the proofs it has presented.  Our own experience of the last few decades corroborates that. When the crisis is knocking on the door and the knowledge to deal with it is available; what are the factors at the level of general attitude and belief that is preventing mass climate action? It’s our life and it’s our planet. Do we have any alternative? My take on Earth Day]

Let’s do a social experiment - randomly strike up a conversation with someone and ask them to list 5 problems that are facing Earth.

Most likely you will find mentions of COVID-19 first, overpopulation, poverty, communal conflict, war, and violence in various orders and combinations. You paraphrase the question and tell them that you didn’t ask about the problem faced by humans only; you meant Earth; with all its physical features and living beings. That might unsettle them for a few seconds, but the knowledgeable ones will rattle off terms like global warming, rise in GHG emissions, pollution of air, water, and soil, climate change, and blah blah.

That proves that the Knowledge regarding the danger posed by Climate Change is not limited to the laboratories of the universities and scientific communities but has reached the common people. The role of media in highlighting the issue is indeed laudable – it has alerted the world about the impending danger and brought it to the personal, national, and international agenda.

But has it succeeded in telling the world that their single-minded pursuit of happiness through material consumption and their depredatory arrogance to alter the face of the earth for its convenience, what is called the anthropogenic activities over the last hundred years that have brought Earth to this place? Also it is said that everyone must mend their ways if they want to invest in Earth to save themselves. The answer is surely negative. The gap between Knowledge and Practice is huge.

It’s time to assess if Knowledge alone of the impending danger is enough to change our attitude towards the things around us, our Beliefs that one day someone will find a solution to it which acts as barriers to us from adopting new practices and doing our bit which will contribute to the collective actions?

The newest IPCC report [1] paints a troubling picture. Climate change is already impacting every corner of the world, and much more severe impacts are in store if we fail to halve greenhouse gas emissions this decade and immediately scale up adaptation.

These days words like sustainability are mentioned in every written and spoken word by every possible type of organization - Corporations or Political Leaders. The words of the corporations try their best to show that they are doing their bit and in absolute compliance with the environmental norms of the country. Green Awards are bought and sold telling the world that we are the best at it. The words of the political leaders only talk about what we need to do soon not what shall have to be done.

The next few years offer a narrow window to realize a sustainable, liveable future for all. Climate change endangers the well-being of people and the planet and any delayed action risks triggering impacts of climate change so catastrophic our world will become unrecognizable. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the IPCC report "An atlas of human suffering and a damning indictment of failed climate leadership.”

While the window for the world to do something is closing it has not shut entirely and there are tools that can now be quickly and cheaply deployed.

But some of these steps must be drastic, like a major transition in the energy sector by particularly moving away from fossil fuels, use of carbon capture and storage technologies, various demand management strategies like building compact cities where walking and cycling are easier, public transport is electrified, and buildings are retrofitted to cut emission.

IPCC for the first time also published a chapter on demand-side measures, which are in fact, lifestyle changes that can bring large reductions in GHG emissions.

These include low-carbon buildings, optimizing floor space, minimizing food waste, encouraging plant-based diets, shared mobility, greater use of electric vehicles, teleworking, and extending the life of products.

Science in the last few decades has unequivocally prescribed what needs to be done by the leaders, policymakers, policy implementors, industry owners, investors, and the public at large under the various categories of activities; what is missing is the serious determination at the level of individuals in their various capacities to resolve to catch the bull by its horn and not only preach but practice both at the organization and personal level.

One thing you are realising after talking to many. They all have heard about it, but they have not thought that they had contributed to it. This reaction is not limited to the common man. Everyone almost everyone waiting to be told what to do daily at the level of their organizational activities and lifestyle.

The knowledgeable and the privileged who have houses overflowing with appliances, wardrobes filled with clothes, and multiple cars spilling onto the roads after filling their garages are now thinking of buying an EV. This is one more consumption that satisfies their purchasing impulses but this time it is riding the moral high horse of being pro-environment. Many have already installed Solar Power Plants on their rooftops and the acquisition of an EV will earn them the Green Badge and a license to continue with their old lifestyle. Someone must break their heart by telling EV is not that green and they need to cut their unnecessary travel and to the SPV owners that their responsibility wouldn’t end after installing the plant, they must remember to clean the panels regularly to keep it working at its expected efficiency. That’s the kind of change in lifestyle which is needed. And it’s not easy to establish it across the society.

At this stage what we don’t want anymore is further scientific evidence or forecasts. We don’t need more activists led by a few green terrorists but millions of sensible people who commit themselves personally and through their organizational action to a dramatic lifestyle change.

Can they be us? Time to think about it on Earth Day today.

The Smart City Administrators and It's Over-smart Citizens

Let there be no mistake about the age of Bhubaneswar. It’s not 74 years young. 

It existed for centuries and was known by many names like Toshali, Kalinga Nagari, Ekamra Kshetra, Krutibasha Katak. 

The Temple City part and the new city whose establishment we are celebrating today are two different entities culturally speaking. While the former is fondly called Bhonsar and the latter by its more formal name Bhubaneswar. The residents of the temple city call the other part Capital and the denizens of Capital City Bhubaneswar identify the other part as Old Town.

The Capital City of Bhubaneswar is celebrating its 74th Foundation Day today. On 13th April 1948, Pandit Nehru founded this new city which was planned by the German architect Otto H. Königsberger in 1946. On 19th August 1949, the Capital of the State was officially shifted from Cuttack. 

Around the same time in 1949, planning for the city of Chandigarh was also started. 

In these many years both the cities have been shaped and molded by the people who lived there earlier, who migrated to it, and the people who administer it successively. While the City of Chandigarh still prides itself as a planned city where the civic laws are seriously followed and enforced, the deterioration of Bhubaneswar from a planned city to a collapsing urban cesspool forms the conversation of many of the old-timers who have seen the city as a breezy township to its present avatar which sees flooding of rods and houses during the rainy season and houses some 400 official slums.

That brings us to the core of the issue of looking at the role of people and government in making our urban habitations unliveable even after a massive infrastructure push in the last few years. Should we continue to ignore the attitude and behavior of people who inhabit the city and continue to push capital and hope for things to change on their own?

Time to introspect on the Foundation Day of our City.

Let’s, for the time being, ignore all other factors which have contributed to forming the urban mess we live in and look only at the roads and the houses which are built over them.

With wide roads, pedestrian pathways, road dividers, overbridges, multiple lanes, every crossing having traffic lights, speed cameras, and CCTV surveillance coverage, Bhubaneswar can pride itself on its road infrastructure. You can see hundreds of crores being spent to put up this international-grade infrastructure. 

After painting a beautiful picture at the night and a few hours into the day, the picture-perfect road of the city gets filled with Cargo Trucks carrying construction material, Intercity Speeding Buses, School Buses, and Private cars of various sizes, Autorickshaws, Bikes, and hand-drawn trolleys. Driven by frenzied drivers each claiming their rightful place through absolute wrong means. A few hours of driving on a busy thoroughfare at the peak hours can cause a heart attack to a driver who plays by the grammar of driving.

While the drivers have accepted and normalized this as a fait accompli, the policemen are busy collecting fines in their bid to enforce belt, helmet, mask, window film, and parking rules as if they have daily sales targets to meet. The city sees small to big gory accidents daily which leave people dead or maimed. Luckily the city is yet to witness an accident big enough that will stir the collective conscience of the people and the authorities to do something to mend the behavior of the drivers.

Coming to the structures which are on these roads. The city administrators are yet to find the correlation between the collapsed traffic condition and the nature of the buildings abutting those roads.

Commercial establishments like hospitals and shopping malls are allowed to operate on narrow service roads which can barely carry two parallel cars, legalised vending zones are allowed to operate on either side of the road till the neck of the crossings which occupies the total pedestrian path and occupies one lane for vehicle parking. 

Rule books are referred to in letters, not in spirit. BDA and BMC have their priorities and regulating urban development aren’t one of them. 

The city has some 400+ official slums. They enjoy excellent political patronage as their loyalty (votes) can be predicted as pocketed because of the strong quid pro quo. We picture the image of encroachers and squatters who have occupied public land and made it their shops and homes. Such encroachments are a result of urban migration and a lack of economic opportunities in our villages. 

So ingrained is this typical image of encroachment in people’s minds that someone who hasn’t done the above looks like a saint. There are various ways our over-smart denizens adopt to hoodwink the laws but still manage to keep land under their de facto control by preventing others from using it.

• Running a Commercial Establishment or a shop in a building meant for residential use.
• Unauthorized cordoning off of the front area of a building in the name of the plantation or by planting trees without gaps or huge trees inappropriate for avenues.
• Building platforms around trees and planting Gods under them.
• Erecting signboards by the side of the road
• Building raised platforms in front of plots above the road level and building ramps or steps to plots on public land
• Leaving high mounds of clay or building debris and abandoned vehicles on the road.

Utilities and administrative departments are not above the blame.

• PHED building manholes and inspection chambers well above the road level.
• Electricity utilities build space-consuming distribution transformer structures adjoining roads instead of using pole-mounted structures.

Practically, anyone who indirectly or directly prevents the government or general people from using the road and space adjoining it for commutation or such purposes amounts to encroachment. The above cases demonstrate how the enlightened citizens of our cities wilfully annex land abutting their houses for exclusive usage. One such occurrence on a road is enough to affect the general flow of traffic in the whole stretch. Here the administration takes an ostrich approach towards such events encouraging the number of such events to increase.

Proper buildings, un-encroached roads, vendors and squatters free roadside, and adherence to traffic rules and parking are few of the predictors of the general attitude of the citizens towards their fellow citizens and the efficiency of the law implementing authorities. Research shows that the more disciplined the city, the more liveable it is.

So, there is more smartness in being disciplined and enforcing discipline than waiting for the magician’s magic wand to turn our cities into a piece of heaven. 

Instead of blaming the center or the earlier governments and waiting for them to solve our self-created owes, shall we start the initiative of the good citizenry from our side first and expect the administrative departments like BDA, BMC, and the STAs to do their bit to make the city livable and the roads drivable?