HALF THE WORLD’S POPULATION OWNS JUST 2% OF PLANET’S WEALTH !

This morning, I was reading the findings of World Inequality Lab, Paris School of Economics, Paris. It finds that the Covid 19 pandemic had increased the share of the wealth of the billionaires of the world and had brought down the share of wealth of the poor, that made fifty percent of the world’s population own just about 2% of the planet’s wealth.

This means, the pandemic Covid 19 had, while increasing the share of wealth of the billionaire on the world, increased the existing chasm between the rich and the poor.

It was earlier believed that as the number of rich people increases in the world, the ‘tricks down’ effect will uplift the poor from poverty to higher living. The effect of Covid 19 on the planet was that it had not only created much more poverty but also made the rich, more richer. During Covid times more than 100 million people got added to the world’s poor list.

Within the developing nations such as India, inequality has only soared. Same-country disparities now account for more than two-thirds of global inequality, gone up from roughly half in 2000,

Today, around 2,750 billionaires own 3.5 per cent of the world’s riches, up from 1% in the year 1995.

Latin America and Middle East has shown higher levels of income disparity. 75 percent of the wealth of these nations are in the hands of just 10 percent of the population.

The case of India is no better. As per the Inequality Lab findings, India now has a challenge of the ‘missing middle class’. Clearly, the pandemic had been very harsh on the Indian middle class and the poor. More from the middle class had fallen into the poor slot now. The country got shocked by the huge second wave of the Pandemic and stuck by its enormity, the country’s leadership went numb and inactive.

It is important that we understand the scenarios well, learn from it, so that we do not repeat the same.

BASKING IN REFLECTED GLORY

GR Gopinath, founder of Air Deccan, has published an article with the above title in The Hindu on 07/12/2021. The article is made on the background of Parag Agarval taking over as the CEO of Twitter which gave the Indians the hubris to tom tom the Indian CEOs in the leading US corporates.

Basking in reflected glory (BIRG) is a self-serving cognition whereby an individual associates himself with known successful others such that the winner's success becomes the individual's own accomplishment. Thus, on the social media, every one is living it out as Nooyi, Nadella, Pichai, Banga, Agarval, Krishna and others. 

Gopinath has a different perspective. He is not thumping the chest but is seriously asking on why these people who are trained in India, go out to a foreign land to make it great there? Premier institutions of the country, the IITs and IIMs have become the breeding ground for corporate honchos of foreign companies. He asks, why can’t such people make it big in India to take the country & its economy forward? 

He also speak of the insecure Indian diaspora who in spite of the success there, still have not become part of the American culture and mooring. The first gen immigrants there, despite their vocational success, always have to live with a borrowed identity which is not a comfortable situation. That get naturalized only with the second and the third gen. He goes on to compare these successful Indian honchos with their Chinese counterparts who goes back to their native land to build up hugely successful business organizations, often with borrowed ideas from FB, Google & Amazon. And, he closes the article asking which of the above model is the best, leaving the readers to find the answers themselves.

These days thousands of Indian students go abroad for higher studies. As per Assocham, over USD 13 billion is spent per annum by about 450000 Indian students for education abroad. The reasons of them going abroad are the lack of quality universities and job opportunities in India. How would the authorities view this to stop the brain drain? When it comes to creating quality education, our planners are clueless and the not-so intelligent ones left behind are working hard to please the powers that be by recreating the ‘pushpak vimana’, ‘brahmastr’ & the plastic surgery of Sushruta, trying to live in the past. 

The migration trend that started with India’s globalization in the 90’s continues but now, India is trying to imbibe the spirit of nationalism based on right wing ideas. However, at this juncture, we must accept that we are neither here nor there. The aspiring youth in the country knows where to go & what to study to make his career and life, the insight of which is totally lost on our nation makers. We are only indulging in scoring brownie points by taking the names of Nadellas & Pichais without knowing how we create them here.

Till we realize and learn, let us live basking in the reflected glory.

Cheers!

THE INCREASING NEED OF THE PRESENCE OF THE SPOUSE

Padmasri Vinod Dua is no longer with us, he could not recuperate from the health challenges that accompanied the Covid 19 infection he caught some months back. 67 years is not an age to depart for a person like Dua who had immensely contributed to media journalism for more than 4 decades. How we wish he lived and contributed more to the the profession that is today completely entangled in the ‘post-truth’ mess that the country is going through! My utmost respects to him!

It is read and heard that Vinod Dua and Padmavati (fondly called as ’Chinna’ by Vinodji) made a fantastic couple. The Radiologist Dr Padmavati Dua surrendered to the second wave of Covid, probably a reason for Vinod Dua to mentally give up the fight for life. They had wonderful friends and belonged to the elite group of the rajdhani, Delhi. 

May the departed Souls of the Dua’s rest in eternal peace!

That takes me to another thought, that of the wife departing from the world earlier than the husband. It simply is not the same as that of the husband dying earlier than the wife. Globally and specifically in the Indian context, the women have the wherewithal and the adjustability to live without the husband than the other way round. As age goes up, men are much more dependent on the wives than reverse. I had seen plenty of such cases within my relatives and friends that prove the point. Why, even I cannot imagine of living these senior years without my dear wife around. 

When one retires from profession or vocation, there must be something going for him post that, lest things will be very difficult to continue. Most of the purpose and obligation of life would have been fulfilled by then. Mind turns negative with age and one starts to pity himself of the present stage and then the diseases follow and soon, you become a picture on the wall. For creating a sense of purpose for the senior living and to be living happily, the invigorating presence of your spouse is an essential thing. ‘Chotta-motta’ fights apart (even there is happiness in it), the life becomes worth living only when your loved one, which is none other than your spouse, is with you.

THE ESSENCE OF BEING ASHWIN RAVICHANDRAN

Saw the BCCI tweet about Ashwin Ravichandran becoming the third highest wicket taker in Indian Test cricket. Of course, the # 1 man is far ahead of him, the wrist spinner Anil Kumble, who is 200 wicket ahead and Kapil Dev @ # 2. Apparently, Ashwin could surpass Kapil Dev but reaching the record of Anil Kumble looks tough, considering his age and also considering the geopolitics of Indian cricket.

Ashwin is a thinking and applying cricketer. Normally off-spinners fade away fast, if he doesn’t reengineer his finger spin continuously. Ashwin Ravichandran, an engineer by qualification, does apply physics a lot in the spin art. Ask him the the rotation of the ball and the angle, he would be precise in replying, of course in CGS units!

In his communication, one observes that Ashwin is very straight and upfront. To survive in Indian cricket you need a Godfather and play realpolitik. I am not sure if Ashwin has any of it. The result is that, lately, he is often sidelined when it come to matches. He is now identified as a Test player and not in ODI & T20. Rumour goes around that he is best at red ball and not in white. Of course India has plenty of good spinners and they need to be given a chance but not at the cost of the best one. What if Australia sidelined Shane Warne and Sri Lanka did so with Muthiah Muralidharan for the sake of youngsters, as India had done with Ashwin? This must be considered on the background that champion side captain of IPL, MS Dhoni, often used off-spinner Ashwin to open the bowling !!!

The fact that Ashwin took 418 wicket at the lowest number of Tests and with the best average & strike rate show that we simply cannot hide a heera (diamond). This is further endorsed by the new Captain of Indian T20 team, Rohit Sharma that he finds Ashwin as a weapon to control runs in the mid overs. It is also a fact that Virat Kohli the captain haven’t used Ashwin to the fullest. By seeing the body language between them, it was evident that things were not that smooth between them.

If Ashwin keeps himself fit and play his politics little more tactfully, one sees good opportunity for him to cross the 600 Test wicket mark and also making his mark on other forms of the game. What a joyous achievement would that be!

Keep going Ashwin Ravichandran! Wishing you the best!