Unity in Diversity

It is plain silly if one thinks that there is some magic in diversity that promotes unity. Diversity is just that – diversity. In a country like ours where there are numerous divisions – by state, region, district, language, religion, caste, and family name even, how does one promote unity?
Three avenues to promote unity from age 5 upwards: school, clinic and housing. Government schools, government primary health centres and government doctored housing policy could serve the cause of unity. [See blog on inclusive growth for details].
Why then are the policy makers silent on such initiatives? How come not one social activist agitates for such outcomes? How come not even Communist Party of India leaders do not speak about them?

Stopped Going to Malaysia

At the time of the Gujarat plague in the 1990s, Singapore was very meticulous in allowing people from India with understanding and respect. It took precautions to ensure none arriving had any fever symptoms, and all those arriving had knowledge on how to deal with any situation requiring urgent medical attention. That is about all.

Malaysia was a sharp contrast. I heard from highly reliable sources that a senior minister from India then in Singapore was keen to go to Malaysia, but was told that he could go but not his entourage!!

That was the end of my personal visits to Malaysia, a country of research focus for my doctoral dissertation.

 

I do not visit Australia

It was in the 1980s Australia among others took initiative for the formation of the vibrant Asia Pacific Economic Community or APEC. Aimed at economic linkages and free markets, I thought it should naturally and logically include India. That was not so.

I decided on a one man protest. I never visited Australia until then but decided not to do so as long as India was not invited to be part of APEC. That was in the 1990s. During that period an Australian diplomat based in Singapore called me for tea and was seeking my reasons for my one man protest. Tea was good. He respected my reason.

Call it dumb patriotism or whatever. There is one more country … see next blog.

 

 

Pure and Unsullied Love in the Form of Sai -2

A Heart to Heart Note

None can destroy or disturb your experience

For all of us – His children, these are testing times. Swami took leave with a final namaskar. Electronic and print media have all sorts of discussions and debates with multiple colourings and shades. For us His children these do not matter. We go by our experience – as, for instance, the one narrated below.

Here is how He had entered our lives

His entry into our lives was as much a miracle as any others attributed to Him and experienced by His countless devotees.

It all started at Jamshedpur. During August 1963 through July 1967 I was working at the Tata Iron and Steel Company. My family and I were living in a company flat. In addition to my wife, the family comprised my parents, grand mother and a dependent uncle. My wife was expecting with the estimated delivery date put at around July 20, 1966.

Though aged 62 then, father was quite healthy and active and was employed at Jamshedpur by a small local company to look after their accounts. The company bosses asked father to join on a trip to Durgapur on July 10 with the promise of returning back to Jamshedpur by about the 15^th in time for the expected delivery of the grandchild.

Despite the confidence of the attending gynaecologist that delivery will not be before the 20^th, my wife delivered a healthy girl child on the 14^th. We were a bit unhappy that my father was not present at the time of delivery, but our consolation was that he would arrive the next day, 15^th.

The weather was relatively cool due to rains that have been continuing for a couple of days. When father did not show up on 15^th, it was surmised that the whole party on tour must have been held up either due to work or rains. By 16^th, Bihar was in serious floods, with disruptions of rail and phone lines. It was reported that at several places road and rail bridges were washed out.

All of us at home were concerned about the safety of father. The joy of the arrival of the beautiful child has been almost wholly erased by worry and anxiety. The situation at home by the evening of 16^th July 1966 was one of nervousness and fear of what news might come at any minute from some source or the other. July 17^th saw the intensification of the crisis, with the Jamshedpur office of the company where father was working refusing to provide any information about the safety of my father or his current whereabouts.

On 18^th when I went to the office, it was for me one more day of deep agony and sorrow. I shivered every time the phone rang worried about the prospect of some bad news coming on the wires. That afternoon, an ardent devotee of Sri Sathya Sai Baba came along to my office and left behind a copy of the Telugu edition of Volume 1 of Baba’s biography with the title “Sathyam, Sivam Sundaram”. The devotee requested me to read the book at my own time and return it. I was in such an awful mental frame that the last thing I desired was to read some book. Still almost mechanically I kept the book in my brief case and brought it home in the evening.

As I entered the apartment in the evening, mother and grandmother asked me about news regarding father’s safety. I was in fact hoping that they would tell me some good news. None at home say it openly, but each of us had the fear about the worst happening to father, especially because the party was traveling by car throughout and the weather was truly against such travel.

The gloom in the hearts and around home was unbearable. Not knowing what to do, I quickly finished the evening bath and began reading ‘Sathyam, Sivam Sundaram (volume one)’ rather reluctantly. It was slow reading, covering the birth and early childhood details of Baba. A quarter of the book was completed by dinner time.

The reading continued after dinner and by 2200 on the night of 18^th, I realized that each and every miraculous act described in the book was leading to profuse tears from my eyes. Consider this. A devotee who had immense faith in Baba accidentally falls into a deep well, and soon finds himself lifted up by some unseen force and brought out. After the incident when the devotee pays a visit to Puttaparthi, Baba comes to him and says something to the following effect: “You were so heavy. I had to take extra care to lift you up on my shoulders and bring you out of the well.” The book was full of such incredible miracles which He calls casually as His visiting cards and introduction to His abode.

Each miracle I read, and I cry profusely for reasons I can hardly fathom. How come He whom I have never seen has such a profound effect? Am I really reading about a divine force – an avatar of the Supreme Being as described in the Bhagavata?

I had no clue what came upon me. I started telling mentally: “Baba, you have done so many miracles, saved many from all sorts of calamities and blessed numerous people in many ways. Who could You be? God? If You are indeed God, please bring my father safely by the time I complete this book. If that were to happen I shall believe in your Divinity and You will be my own God from now on. If not I shall throw the book out and reimburse the devotee who has given the book.

Having taken the resolve, I started reading the book. I was reading, with tears rolling down profusely and every page confirming that I am reading about none other than the Supreme Being.

It was very close to mid-night. Suddenly, the doorbell rang.** I called my mother and told her to open the door for father. I was so sure it was him. I continued reading the last page of the divine biography. Mother opened the door and found it was indeed father. We were all thrilled. Father travelled on various transport modes, and somehow made it to home precisely at the designated time – a few seconds before completing the reading of the book, which introduced me to Baba.

Again I was in tears, this time out of gratitude. The wow this time was that I shall never forget the Supreme Being in the form of Baba, who has come to my rescue just like He has saved the mighty elephant caught by the crocodile, ages ago.

I went to a few picture shops in Jamshedpur and in one found a black and white picture of Baba. The picture was placed in the prayer room.

His divinity is revealed only to some

The loving link between my family and Swami, which began in 1966, grew stronger by each passing month and year. Over four and half decades He granted many experiences. They stand by us at all times and keep our minds free from distractions – distractions for us, but work that is worship for those truth finding media missionaries.

Devotees do not debate; they do not get entangled in endless discussions on the Truth they know. If someone wishes to know, they are ready to share their experiences – not to publicize their divinity but to share the Supreme Love that had granted the experiences.

In the full view of an auditorium in late 1990s, He told me “all countries are God’s countries; all work is God’s work.” What then is there to debate!

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** The episode had been published in the October 1985 issues of Sanathana Saradhi in English and Telugu.

Pure and Unsullied Love in the Form of Sai -1

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba left His physical body on the 24th of April. HE had been known for His selfless service to humanity in the fields of education in general and education in human values in particular, health care in general and specialist care in particular, and water supply to the thirsty millions. This is a dimension of His Love for ALL manifest as Service for ALL.
There is another dimension of His love – the highly treasured love experienced by millions of devotees all over the world. In the blogs to follow this love is covered in detail as experienced by me over a 45 year period.

China Gini

Jun 17, 2010

Rising income disparity and despair

By Bhanoji Rao, For The Straits Times

Perceptions matter. If people feel the state is acting to redress unjustified and unacceptable inequalities – economic as well as social – then the rising Gini may not have much significance. But if many citizens think the state is not doing enough or, worse, if they believe the state is encouraging inequality, it could be a problem.

THE recent string of factory strikes in China has highlighted the clamour for higher wages in the country.

Last month, the same issue – income inequality – was the subject of a discussion session at the Global Asia Institute of the National University of Singapore. Dr Pundarik Mukhopadhaya of Macquarie University was the speaker. The central theme of his presentation was the growing income gap in China as indicated by its rising Gini ratio.

This ratio, a measure of inequality, was developed by Italian statistician Corrado Gini in 1912. If every household or individual unit has a more or less identical income – that is, if income is distributed equally among the units – the Gini ratio will be close to zero. If among a few million people, just one individual has all the income and the rest no income at all, the ratio will be almost equal to one. Thus a lower Gini implies relatively greater income equality.

National household income and expenditure surveys are the usual sources of information on expenditure and income distributions from which one estimates the Gini. Although not foolproof, such surveys provide a fair degree of information on household income and expenditure and help track trends in Gini.

In general, Gini ratios for expenditure distributions tend to be less than those for income distributions. Hence, if both sets are mixed up when making comparisons across countries, the results could be grossly misleading.

In India, for instance, National Sample Surveys provide detailed statistics on household expenditure. Yet one can never get an insight into income inequality by looking at expenditure inequality alone.

The United Nations Development Programme has put together Gini ratio estimates of 142 economies in its 2009 Human Development Report. The estimates are based on household surveys from the late 1990s to the early years of this decade. Even after eliminating the Gini estimates that refer to expenditure distributions, there is still enough in the report to show how the Gini varies across different countries.

At the lowest rung of the Gini ratio – between 0.25 and 0.3 – there are nine industrialised economies, including Denmark, Finland, Japan, Norway and Sweden. Between the range of 0.3 and 0.35, there are 12 economies, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France and South Korea among them. Between 0.35 and 0.4, there are 29 economies, including Italy and Britain, while 25 economies have a Gini ratio in the 0.4 to 0.45 range.

In the 0.45 to 0.5 range, there are 18 economies. The top range – a Gini ratio higher than 0.5 – has 23 economies. Around half of the economies in the last two ranges belong to Central, South or Latin America.

It is revealing that China, along with its remarkable economic growth performance, has climbed up steadily on the Gini front. According to the estimates provided by Dr Pundarik, the Gini for household income distribution in China has increased steadily: 0.33 in 1980, 0.38 in 1990, 0.46 in 2000 and 0.51 in 2008.

When people move out of poverty, thanks to greater employment opportunities created by massive injections of domestic and foreign investment, a rise in inequality is inevitable. There will be large numbers at the bottom of the pyramid and a few at the top. That in itself may not be a problem if people appreciate that rising income inequality is just an offshoot of changes that will ultimately give them the chance to get out of unemployment, underemployment and poverty.

Perceptions matter. If people feel the state is acting to redress unjustified and unacceptable inequalities – economic as well as social – then the rising Gini may not have much significance. But if many citizens think the state is not doing enough – or worse, if they believe the state is encouraging inequality – it could be a problem.

Credible academics would not like to link China’s rising Gini ratio to the suicides by factory workers. But a Gini of 0.51 can hardly be brushed off.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to identify any particular Gini level as the breaking point of a people. But governments can offset the pain of a growing income gap by fostering inclusive growth.

This means giving all children equal facilities for at least the first 12 years of their education and access to uniformly good primary health care. Decent housing and state help for the needy are also necessary.

Ensuring equal opportunities and inclusive growth could go a long way in minimising the negative consequences of a high Gini.

The writer is a visiting professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS.

Economics Upside Down

Secondary school economics students are taught that countries with huge b-o-p surpluses would have their currencies appreciating. This happened to many in the past and must happen to many in the fast globalizing world. The currency exchange rates – some appreciating while others depreciate – is the mechanism that ensures globally some sort of trade and payments equilibria.

This does not seem to apply to the Dragon economy. Specifically the US Dollar to Yuan rate should be way below the current level of 6.8, say something like 5 thus giving some advantage to US exporters and also developing countries that could compete with China.

Ha, it is no fault of the Chinese people and policy makers. It has to do with the massive constituency within US to canvass for China and not USA!!!! It is not just the super supermarket owners who sell China made goods; it is even some intellectuals who use such diplomatic language as ‘gradual appreciation’ at China’s own pace and find fault with ‘foreigners’ seeking quick appreciation of the Yuan.

No, please do not fault the Chinese. They are working hard and never ever said others should not work hard. They also never proclaimed that their nation alone should stick to sticky exchange rates. If there are great American businessmen and intellectual who argue the case for China, it is US who taught how free markets work in lobbying. 

China, I love you.