Corruption, Facebook, Egyptian upheaval and us: A story of sleepy beings

Kaleidoscope's Facebook:

kaleidoscope is yet to become and declare himself a professional facebooker. He often goes through the updates that keep pooping up on his wall whenever he turns the facebook page on. The threads mostly involve crispy and smart tags like: who said what to whom, Who is happily traveling across the country, who has finally got a 3G sim, who has spend some time with some special friends, or having anniversary dinner. At more frustrating level Kaleidoscope finds the purposive presentation of ones charismatic personality reflected in his reading, paper presentation, and so on. The list is never ending!

Corruption: who cares

A study by International Advocacy Group in November 2010 argues that Global Financial Integrity found that Corruption, tax evation and trade Mispricing have cost India hundreds of billions of dollars over the past two decades. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports that allocation of 2G spectrum licenses by department of Telecommunications have been done through gross violation. The report states that licenses were given at throwaway prices, ignoring the advice of the Prime Minister and Ministries of Law and Finance (CAG, 2011). These discrepancies cpst a presumptive loss of Rs. 1.76 lakh crore to the national exchequer.

Although, the example of 2G spectrum related corruption is huge, there are other sub-huge examples including scandals relating to Adarsh Hourins Society in Mumbai and the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

The corruption perception study shows that 75 percent of the people in India have first hand experience of paying bribe or influencing to get public services (Transparency.org 2010).

Perception of corruption across continents

Our learnt PM, the chief of UPA - II, after lasting demand for Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe 2G spectrum scam finally agrees on JPC today (24.02.2011) and argues that all those found guilty would be punished (Netindian.in news). However, the culture of corruption remains and increases each passing day.

Egyptian upheaval:

Since January 2011, Kaleidoscope's television screen is often filled with thousands of Egyptian people shouting for an exit of President Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled the country with an iron hand for 30 years.

Finally, Mr Mubarak steps down on February 11, 2011 owing to a movement that brings thousands of Egyptians at Tahrir Square.

The new generation postmodern time facebookers and twitterists have successfully used these social medias to spread and organise people to protest against and throw off a man who has virtually silenced voices against him (Topnews NZ, 2011). The wikileaks source in March 30, 2009 confirms that the government has jailed bloggers who have insulted either Mubarak or Islam. There were an estimated 160,000 bloggers in Egypt in 2009. The Egyptian authorities had even tried to block internet access.

The sleepy facebookers:

A quick search in available facebook groups indicates that among 9 anti-corruption India groups the membership range from 1 to 743 (Till 24. 2. 2011), while Kolkata's south city mall group has 429 members!

The feeling good/ bad and the other:

Kaleidoscope formulates these ad-hock arguments by relating seemingly unrelated matters: A) facebook - a space to present the good in you to initiate a thread of "meaningful conversation" with B) India's corrpution: one is least concerned until his 2G sim continues to work, and has a dream of purchasing a 3G device, and C) finally to the Upheaval - it is interesting to see thousands being gathered with a cup of evening coffee until the never-ending episode starts!

Kaleidoscope is part of the happy going crowd sharing the same attitudes, and is happy about he being a part of this sleepy public sphere!

However, sometimes, he finds whispers "If only he could learn to be more facebookish..."

REFERENCES:

CAG (2011). Report on 2G spectrum. Download from http://www.cag.gov.in/html/reports/civil/2010-11_19PA/contents.htm

Transparency.org (2010). download from http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/results

Washington post: Hosni Mubarak steps down

download from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/11/AR2011021104283.html

Net Indian news (2011). Download from http://netindian.in/news/2011/02/24/00011225/pm-assures-parliament-those-guilty-corruption-would-be-punished

Topnewz.nz: Download from http://topnews.net.nz/content/211868-facebook-twitter-played-major-role-egypts-upheaval

Kolkata converts: Kaleidoscope sleeps in a strange bed

Kaleidoscope cannot say that he sacrifices things for the city he likes. First, because kaleidoscope has never abandon anything to live for the city. Second, and more importantly, he never has something to abandon for the city. As a participant (Can he say? well make it clear, he resides about 15 km away from the heart of the city) he has stronger attachment with his city. "His city" means Kolkata in late 1990s and early 2000s.

The inevitable:

While, the market principles dominate Kaleidoscope's world's governance, some say the transformation is inevitable. The question is what is this transformation. Transformation which makes Kaleidoscope feel that he is sleeping in some strange bed.

Principal nodes:

With his dangerously biased eyes, Kaleidoscope finds several nodes speeding up the transformation. First, the software boom - eighty percent of Kaleidoscope's friends work in this sector. "A lot" is the most suitable adjective - they work (a lot), earn (a lot) and spend (a lot). Second, and ever-increasing - the not bengali businessmen - they earn a lot, they chew a lot and their sons and daughters spend a lot. Third, and finally the bengalis who invest so much of their brain in imitation. Therefore, they cannot earn as much as the first two, they try to spend as much as them, and they obviously chew a lot...!

Reflections:

Kaleidoscope finds both material and social/mental reflection of the inevitable.

The material part:

The material part represents monotony. Kaleidoscope finds worlds are becoming world.

Two shopping malls, the first one is from USA (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/02/online-shopping-vs-driving-mall-greener.php) and second one is Kolkata's south city mall.

The social/mental part:

This segment represents increasing love and faith on brand-names, increasing calculability in every sphere from dot pen refill to relationships. Kaleidoscope finds increasing use of electronic gadgets, a displacement of privacy of body by privacy of the mobile phone!

Come on - sleep on

Kaleidoscope continues to live in this world with increasingly small and yet large number of available alternatives and tries to win over his self which finds this city as a strange bed to sleep on. However, he is also getting a reminder that this rapid transformation makes it easier for Kaleidoscope to grow old!

Personapub: the political egology of facebookish friendsphere

When kaleidoscope and the queen face uninvited troubles to be ended up in complete absense of one of the most precious components of their life, their life experiences personapub.

Personapub is a perfect imbalance of emotional shower and political egology. A complete conflict between expectations and actual situation preoccupied with egoistic selves. For Kaleidoscope it is a trendy facebookish friendsphere where he presents his unknown self and expects those facebookish masks to operate.

The inactive network: onslaught of Publics

As the queen opens her heart with narratives of pain, fear, anxiety and restlessness in thought of possible future, Kaleidoscope consoles without proper language. As he lacks the language, he thinks only the presence has the ability to create a comforting firewall to ease queen's pain.

Relying on this thought Kaleidoscope uses (tests) his facebookish 'strong' network by intimating their uninvited trouble to one of the endusers, whom they have faith. The experimentation yields unexpected result as the rest of the network remains inactive until the final loss. With his emotional self, Kaleidoscope blames the enduser for his failure to yield expected result. The enduser, however, wonders and questions Kaleidoscope's authority. As Kaleidoscope's stronger message remains ignored he does a restudy of the failure to find his repeated inability to empathise the enduser.

Bridging the gap:

When Kaleidoscope finds his empathic inability he forces himself to activate more endusers. This time he gets prompt response.

Network reactivates: the sphere is personal again!

While his facebookish friendsphere reactivates, the queen develops apathy to the existing network. The network tries to instigate personal discourse which now faces another firewall of Queen's apathy. Kaleidoscope knows only a few endusers will survive while facing this firewall. With the friendsphere increasing tries to restart the personal mode of existence, a threat of political egology remains the same.

~~~Kaleidoscope can now visualise an emptiness in ever increasing number~~~

Fundamental assumptions:

1. Facebook is not about faces its about masks.

2. Political egology or egoistic politics is a virus that is spreading across networks.

3. Political egology will bring a complete transformation (if not end) of weness or community feeling.

4. Loss of community feeling is capitalised by the corporates.

5. Presentation of self and/or wearing masks is most prominent sublimation of this time.

See if you wish:

http://ishkbooks.com/presentation_of_self.pdf

http://www.clockwatching.net/~jimmy/eng101/articles/goffman_intro.pdf

http://books.google.com/books?id=IA-_po38YB0C&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Presentation of self in everyday life

Why did we fail to make Rizwanur a hero?

‘…mysterious death of 30-year-old graphics designer Rizwanur Rahman on September 21, just over a month after he married Priyanka Todi, the daughter of prominent city businessman Ashok Todi, chairman and managing director of Lux Hosiery…’ [Indian Express, 30.9.2007].

I don't know what happens to Rizwanur's case. Yeah, thats how we refer to Mr. Rizwanur - a case!

Okay, a case!

The final verdict according to CBI probe confirms Rizwanur's death as suicide (find here). However, CBI charged Ashok Todi, Pradip Todi, Anil Saraogi - all Priyanka's close relatives and former deputy commissioner Ajoy Kumar, ACP Sukanti Chakraborty, Sub Inspector Krishnendu Das and Mohiuddin Alias Pappu, who was the link between Todi's and police. They are said to responsible with abetment to suicide of Rizwanur. One of the investigating officers Arindam Manna is found death in 2009 (Find here). We are yet to know the actual phenomenon.

We don't know about future of this case.

The civil and voices:

We have witnessed civil protests. Their demand for justice, and movement have a stake in quick disposal of the issue. Thanks to our conscious(?) civil society which raises voice, but, eventually fades out when politics enters.

Progress stopped: politics does not

With time we witness politicisation of the tragic love story. We have seen Rizwanur's brother participating in election. His mother walking with Mamta Banerjee. As the mainstream politics enters, the civil tends to fade away.

Why did we fail to continue the process:

It is difficult to ascertain, but I wish to reflect on a few issues:

First, we are preoccupied.

Second, we are taught to be self centered during our early days of socialisation.

Third, Being for others is an impossibility.

Fourth, We have short memory.

Fifth, We avoid mainstream politics.

Sixth, Civil is highly politicised.

The result:

We appreciate Bollywood films depicting cases like Rizwanur, but we fail to empathise real people and real life.

Farmers’ Suicide: The fragmented class and their unconsciousness

With his inquisitive mindset Kaleidoscope travels through some of the highest potato producing villages in West Bengal a few months back. Last week one of the villagers calls him to inform that one of his research participants, Mr. X has committed suicide.

Why?

Apparently, it is a heated debate between Mr. X and his wife which compels Mr. X to consume pesticide to die eventually. Pretty straight in surface. However, underneath of this incident there is an endless story of his debt to the cold storage owner and local money lenders. Cumulated by the huge loss with potato cultivation and business for last two years.

What happens in potato business?

It’s a tricky game of investment and return. Sometimes you are paid enough. Sometimes your property is at stake. An unpredictable fluctuation can haunt you and can change you. Usually, the small scale cultivators invest in the business, as series of middlemen hinders them from profit making. When you are into the business, you are given loan from storage owners, middlemen, and local money lenders. Either you pay back with high rate of interest or you sell the “potato bond” – the paper containing information of stored potato. When you take loan, you are to exchange the “bond” to pay off or simply to sustain as the interest increases rapidly. When you exchange “bond” the buyer takes loan – again a debt remains unpaid.

A journey to nowhere!

A small scale farmer can have a big dream with potato investment. Kaleidoscope finds examples and rumours about investment in potato business and overnight profit. When, one enters in the business chain he is aided. With aids, and cheap availability of potato (highly perishable) he is easily motivated to invest even more. Eventually, even if the price raises, existing debt, family maintenance, and labour cost gives a marginal return.

What does it have to do with class consciousness?

While one might find difficulty in placing these phenomena with the concept of trade union, it is not difficult to understand the nature of exploitation through formal and informal channels. The small scale investors do not form a group. They are not organised, they do not have an organisation. The oligopoly of cold storages, coalition between existing power groups use this fragmented sector to maximise their utility.

Well, bringing class consciousness and organising their activities is a day dream. The sector is inherently fragmented in different ways including location, class, caste, religion, and political ideology.

Either we can wait for class consciousness to disembark and watch thousands (more than 17,500 farmers between 2002 – 2006, Patel, 2007) of farmers committing suicide which is increasing each year (Meeta and Rajivlochan, 2006) or we can raise our voices compelling our Govt. to come with concrete policy principally by breaking this oligopoly and developing micro credit facilities.

See for more details:

Harris-White, B. (2008). Rural Commercial Capital: Agricultural Markets in West bengal. New Delhi: Oxford University Press

Meeta and Rajivlochan (2006) Farmers suicide: facts and possible policy interventions, Yashada, Pune.

Patel, R. (2007). Stuffed and Starved, Portobello Books

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/3/2/142224/7768/77/703705

http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/15/stories/2006101514820800.htm

http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/15/stories/2006101514820800.htm

http://www.yashada.org/organisation/FarmersSuicideExcerpts.pdf

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7383662.stm

http://books.google.com/books?id=npZ3xnaY7FYC&dq=Meeta+and+Rajivlochan+(2006)+Farmers+suicide:+facts+and+possible+policy+interventions&source=gbs_navlinks_s

My 2010 publication

Find my co-authored paper on recent political situation in rural West Bengal in Common Wealth Journal of Local Governance

click on the link:

http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/ojs/index.php/cjlg/article/view/1490/1581

For the poor and the environment: a victory

Civil matters.

Orissa's unrestricted mining by vedanta groups has been halted by Ministry of Environment and Forest. A reason to celebrate. The order has been issued yesterday. Have a look by clicking here

Cheers