Author: changethinker

Born and raised in Mumbai, India with an undergrad degree from Oman and a masters degree from the National University of Singapore. I am an Environmental Professional with a passion for Sustainability, Social Innovation and Governance related issues. A Change Agent in the making who believes that small is beautiful and that impact can be achieved -one soul at a time.

Lockdown Field Notes 16/21

Day 16/21 #LockdownCoronavirus stringent measures finally to be seen. My apartment block security staff taking a log people entering and exiting the building. Roads to the Devachi Uruli Chowk are blocked by the local community. Hardly any crowd today. Good stuff.

Spoke with the chap running the poultry shop who is from Mushirdabad in West Bengal. He says that the business is moderate, up on asking the state of his business.

He said in Bangla-

‘Kharap o noye, bhalo o noye. Sobai ke khete toh hobe’

People have to eat to survive.

Cannot be truer words.

The chicken shop operator.

Renewing the Social Licence

In the neoliberal language of stakeholder engagement, Modi ji was renewing the ‘social licence to operate’ in a crisis. In a crisis these events are a way to engage but also gauge the levels of buy in from the ground. This can also be a good thermometer check on the sentiment, as trust is often the glue to implement wide scale policy interventions. No other leader would have been able to call this lockdown. DeMo was the trailer. Liberal arts needs an upgrade to comprehend Modiji’s grassroots linked politics.

COVID-19 Migrant Worker Cases

The migrant worker cases are an impending disaster. Every researcher, case worker, community leader, journalist who works with the migrant worker brothers knows the sheer density and pathetic sanitary conditions in dorms. The density makes the difference, sometimes 10 to a room.

The other concern is the stigma, and the loss of work. I hope MOM has a plan.

Shock X2

Upon skimming through again Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine, a text i was a TA for a NTU globalisation undergrad course in Singapore during my Sociology MA in 2011- It gives me enough reasons to that the healthcare shock of #COVID2019 will be followed by an economic jolt. Its hard to tell which one will be harder.