Voices from the margins in COVID era

In an urban village of Devachi Uruli on the outskirts of Pune; the drycleaner has his business down by 90 percent from 100 pieces per day to hardly 10. The owner is not even making 500 rupees daily to meet ends as people are not coming out.

Reading Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance by James C Scott. An inference regarding the role of Tamil Chettiars caught by attention as the exploitative money lender in British Malaya and Burma. Roots of Malay Politics is historical. #history

It takes privilege to call out privilege. Earning money is often the only tangible way to empowerment, as it gives options. Empowerment will not come through radical postering. It comes by earning well, so that one can’t be easily bullied. Tenure track academics can afford their politics. When one cannot pay bills, politics seems hollow as the tenure track academic will get back to ones comfortable life. Think how to negotiate structures when does not have the resources to retire or an insurance. We live in a precarious era, where we have lost touch with the basics. Boring is good.

Saudi petropolitics just nudged the Gulf into a post hydrocarbon future. Low oil prices, large employable populations and COVID-19 will make the next few months interesting for the world. The disruptive decade has started.

There are fundamental recalibrating pivots that are needed. The question is whether there is the political capital to expend ? Kuwait (a quasi democracy) and UAE (Abu Dhabi has enough for a rainy day) are safe as is Qatar (population is small) while Oman, Bahrain and KSA will need severe reforms to adjust to the new normal.

What is the role which Indians shall play? The Banias were there before oil and will be there after it as a dear friend quipped. It does not matter for us as Oman and UAE are maritime neighbours. 8 million Indian workers are there in the Gulf with 40 billion in remittances. Gulf in India and India in the Gulf both matter.

A few days back, Foreign Minister Jaishankar met the grand old man of Omani Diplomacy Yusuf Alawi. A slew of Royal Decrees were issued today among which is a RD formalising agreements between India and Oman.

Will these trades be replaced ever? We need to fix more than buy. The non digital will persist and thrive in phygital manner.

When Public Health gets mainstream, in a global pandemic. The important question is why can’t be make health as a bigger priority in ‘peace time’ ?