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.

Students as Citizens

Students according to the Indian Right should be students, then work as employees, pay taxes as consumers and die rather than be active citizens participating in the discourse on ideas as they would not be conducive for ‘Make in India’. Students should aspire to be good loyal employees sipping coke and eating burgers for lunch in their call center housed in a fancy office block in Whitefield/Cybercity/Airoli/Saltlake.

Note on Writing

Writing is very personal act for me. I let the stories stir me before I write them. It’s self expression, activism and performance all rolled into one bundle. There are inequities to be called out, inspiring tales to be narrated and conversations that need to be captured. Independent , fearless writing unlocks an energy which is catalytic. I shall write these tales of social change. ‪#‎writing‬

Why Mr Pai is Wrong?

The JNU+FTII+HCU episode is an attempt to reduce students as ’employees’ and ‘consumers’ and not nurture citizens who should understand and aspire for a better polity. Anyone with activist leanings is labelled as ‘non-employable’ borrowing from Mr Ratan Tata as his/her spirit needs to be subjugated to the majoratarian narrative in order to work. The contrarian spirit is essential for innovation. Make in India needs ‘ignited minds’ in the words of late President APJ Abdul Kalam.

This sentiment connects with the entirely bogus conversation on liberal arts majors being not market worthy and wasting taxpayer rupees/dollars. In the words of Mr Mohandas Pai in a NDTV article, activist students waste money and the subsidies are for education. According to Mr Pai students are supposed to treat their opportunity at JNU as a social elevator and train themselves to be call centre workers. Tax payer cash is not only the perogative of supposedly more productive STEM majors, who will be ‘Bangalored’ for fulfilling headcount for North American IT Outsourcing Project. 

The average student at JNU would not be able to pay the fees at Manipal Education which he is chairman at. Kanhaiya, an aaganwadi workers son, was reading his PhD as Umar. JNU is very competitive to enter, and fortunately not the same as Manipal and as competitive as an IIT/IIM. Mr Ratan Tata, as per his logic should shut down TISS, one of the best social science institutions that bears the Tata brand. The positive from this episode is raised conciousness regarding nationalism and identity.

Questioning the status quo for the better is nationalism.

‪#‎Vemula‬ ‪#‎JNU‬

The App-ization of Development Discourse

In the recent aftermath of the Deonar dumping ground fire in Mumbai and the non collection of garbage due to union action in Delhi; the conversation on urban environmental governance has been brought into the limelight again before it disappears in the face of other eminent news such as a celebrity scandal . The Swatchch Bharat programme now has a World Bank expert helming it as lateral entry into the bureaucratic leadership which is rare. India, is distinctly urban nowadays  with a constellation of townships around the metropolitan city creating an urban agglomeration; case in point being the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority auspices and the National Capital Region.

The cities are simply revenue generating centres with the real political capital emanating in the hinterland. Western Maharashtra vis-a-vis Mumbai and Noida versus the districts of western Uttar Pradesh. Indian cities do not posses the ‘real’ political architecture for contemporary governance. The Mayor of Mumbai is still subordinate to regional authorities sitting in Mantralaya. Delhi as a semi-state is better even sans law and order powers based in the federal home authorities. New York and Bloomberg or Blasio is a dream for the well heeled crowd in Bandra or Malabar Hill. But, does the South Bombay boy vote on polling day rather than taking a drive to the cooler realm of Lonavala?

With the anvil of Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor cities of Dholera, GIFT City and Shendra Bhidkin touted as Smart Cities being built as India’s answers to Shenzhen and Pudong Delta, urban solutions have resorted to the technocratic cookie cutter approach rather ground up community centered governance such as ‘Mohalla Sabhas’ or community forums, which the AAP Government in Delhi is pioneering through the Delhi Dialogue Commision. The Shiv Sena is a largely urban party having ruled the Mumbai Corporation for the last 25 years but it has a very different operating system unlike the Aam Admi Party. Delhi certainly voted in last year a very smart ‘App’. Well, that is to be seen in the aftermath of the dengue break and the garbage crisis.

Smart Cities may have the waste management facilities and recreation spaces figured out, but how will the political governance with a small ‘g’ flesh itself out?

The technocratic model of building a smart phone application for all developmental ends seems like a band aid fix. The data needs to be acted upon, and big data needs thick data for the questions to make sense. Geographic Information Systems spatial set and information platforms at a go enables good decision making, but will it tackle the landfill cartel in Mumbai? Or will it simplify land acquisition for the next Metro Project expansion?

Start Up India is well and good with all the sops, but where is the 24×7 power and data grid for such an initiative. The entrepreneurs need to be politically savvy to hack the bureaucracy. Are the App developing start up kids developing a killer app to enable smoother traffic in our cities. Simply more e-commerce unicorns won’t make a better India.

The Development agenda is a political animal. Voters in Mumbai and other metros have voted for the status quo apart from Delhi as the entrenched actors have been re-elected. Urban Development needs a multiplicity of actors  working in sync to execute a level of livability which is aspirational. Sadly, not every problem has a big data fix. South Asia is the hotbed of mega cities, a few solutions need to be drawn from London, Singapore and New York in terms of decentralization of power at the mayoral level.

Thoughts on Guru

Guru (2007) is an inspirational biopic based on Dhirubhai’s life which is fresh every time I watch it; gives me a rejuvenated spirit. I watched it for the first time nine years back with two classmate-friends in Ruwi Cinema. Moni Bhai is how I was addressed in college 😊 AB Junior best film by far. Mani Ratnam could only make him act. License Raj and its follies are depicted in the film well.

Reflection on the past year in Singapore

Reflection on one year of my Singapore 2.0 journey. Last year on the 28th of January I landed up in Singapore to join work CARE NUS which is a research hub on social change communications after a few years in consulting for the big boys. CARE has taught me the language of community led action and how multi stakeholder engagement leads to results on vexed issues. Mentored by a kind and talented boss, I have learnt to think on development the alternative way. The community partners have taught me guts but also the limitations of the ‘agenda’. As I move ahead, I would like to build on these valuable experiences to help frame policies for better communities.

The Cinematic Voice of the Gulf Migrant: Airlift

‪#‎Airlift‬ is a film which I love totally. The gulf based migrant was placed into focus, which is rare. The treatment was nuanced, the geopolitics was right on dot. Akshay Kumar is a shrewd producer, appealing to the newly nationalist middle class. The flag waving made my cry. The streets and deserts of Ras Al Khaimah doubled up as Kuwait City. The topography reminded me of the backlanes of Ruwi and Dasrait in Muscat. The Arabic makes me homesick! This film is special as the gulf migrant takes centre stage, and i am a gulf migrant kid who grew up in Oman.

The cinematic voice of the gulf migrant is usually missing from the narrative as the USA/UK NRI is eulogised in ‘Namaste London’ or ‘Swades’. The fictional take of the film, is representative of the despair of the gulf migrant, a person who is the financial light of his family but hardly has any recourse to legal mechanisms in case of political disruption such as the Iraqi Invasion or the recent Arab Spring protests.

The indifferent behavior of Indian Diplomats towards the diasporic ‘subaltern’ is depicted in flesh and blood. The Gulf Desk is a neglected posting for the elite Indian Foreign Service officer dreaming of Manhattan and Trafalgar Square.

I am glad that Akshay Kumar and the Malayalee Director (who is aware of the territory of the Keralite migrant life) made the film, bringing an elusive neglected voice to the discourse, albeit in commercial cinema.

 

Wazir : Miscalculated Cinematic Mov(i)e

‪#‎Wazir‬ is such an undewhelming film with Amitji and Farhan in it. The plot is interesting with a J&K political angle, old school Vidhu Vinod Chopra from1999 blockbuster Mission Kashmir. Powerful star cast; partially impressive performances with the lack of a punch. Bejoy Nambiar, the director could have layered the film the execution. The good part was the deft cinematography and the loose end was the excessive music in the flow of the film.

Madras Cafe was way better. It’s not Check mate, Mr. Chopra!

‪#‎Bollywood‬ ‪#‎changethinker‬ ‪#‎micromoviereview‬‪#‎singapore‬

Navigating migration through language

Language is the first barrier for a migrant as soon one lands up and clears passport control in an alien land. For a migrant from the hinterland of South Asia, English is familiar but not a friend; and English becomes a cultural resource, and a tool for survival.

The local variant of English makes the language known to the migrant familiar. ‘Singlish’ is a bridge between the local population and the migrant. I have met migrants who speak fluent ‘Singlish’ as having lived in the island for a long time. The lack of knowledge of the language, becomes a constraint in communicating with their bosses, public sector agencies and the wider community in their everyday life.

When a migrant does not have an understanding of English, he forfeits the ability to convey the symptoms of his sickness to the doctor, or standing up to the unfair behaviour from the superiors.

The things that we take for granted such as writing a letter, is a matter of life and death for the migrant.  Due to this communicative inequity, the worker’s contract is substituted without his knowledge and legal papers are being forced upon his throat, as he does not understand the language of power, the Lingua Franca called English.

I would like to illustrate a case in point, a migrant brother known as Sromik Monir, a poet with the Bengali Language Literary Group ‘Banglar Kantha Cultural Foundation’ communicates with his superiors and fellow workers in Chinese; the language which he had to learn upon landing in Singapore from Bangladesh as most of his fellow workers are from China.

There are Bangla to Chinese Language books available in the community grocery shops in the mini Bangladesh neighbourhood of Desker Road and Rowell Road. They call their  all powerful Chinese bosses as ‘Long Chong’ which has entered the local lexicon of the migrant.

Banglar Kantha, the local Bengali Language newspaper in Singapore publishes a section in the paper on learning the English language. Singaporean Social Enterprise Social Development Initiative conducts English Language Classes for the migrant community. Other Non Profits/Faith Groups also conduct similar language classes for the respective community groups for migrants.

This will be thus truly, empowerment through language.