Where are ‘WE’ heading ?

“Colours“, symbolises joy . We feel so happy when we see different colours (red, yellow, brown , black). Obviously who doesn’t like colour ,right ? But it feels so ironical that when this same colour is used to denote skin colour, we start prejudicing. Then in that particular case , every Indian wants ‘whiteness‘ . (No doubt the beauty cream companies spend shellings on uplifting this prejuduce ‘Fair & lovely’ ; only if you are fair , you are lovely !!)

In fact, the harsh truth is ‘Having a brown or black complexion in India is a curse now’ . We Indians have gone so deeply in love with this ‘White‘ blinded mentality that we have turned intolerant towards any other skin colour. People don’t realize but it’s so damn true. I don’t need to prove this anyway, though to put some data on table just read recent news on attacks on African students in Delhi -NCR. Not to mention , the way we see and treat our own fellow citizens from North East , bullying & insulting them by calling ‘chinese‘ & ‘chinkys‘ .

And not just that , we discriminate even between north and south indians on basis of their colour ofcourse , taking no note of how good they are in person . Particularly, these north- eastern brothers are highly talented guys ,still they are being ashmed by us so called ‘Proud Indians‘.

 To bring to light , Indians have inherited this ‘White‘ superiority mentality from the 200 years long British rule . Britishers were very much successful in implanting the “White Man Burden” philosophy (‘blacks’ are burden to be born by ‘whites’)inside Indian culture which still has it’s vicious effect. Talking about one of the many recent cases of mob  violence  against Africans , may be if those three african students have been ‘Fair skinned‘ , they wouldnt have suffered the brutality for false drug peddling suspicion . But unfortunately they were wearing the WRONG colour. 

Based on that study, Washington Post released a “fascinating map of the world’s most and least racially tolerant countries,” a nifty infographic that paints the world in hues ranging from deep blue tolerant to a dark red racist. 
In the map, India was coloured in crimson, symbolizing “most racist”.

This Zero tolerance policy of us is putting all shorts of hardships and vicious race crime against Africans . 

This vicious race crime is a clear sign of terrible ignorance, arrogance and the recycling of old tropes of Africans as“
uncivilised”. Indians,with their preference for “whiteness”and their total lack of information and exposure to Africa’s rich cultural heritage and its contemporary politics, have denied Africans in India their basic humanity which is demonstrated in their accusations of“cannibalism”—the ultimate denouncement of the“in human other”

Nana Peasah, a Ghanaian student, has returned recently to Accra after studying at the University of Mysore for two years. He was the international students’ co-coordinator at the university in 2015-16. He sought to learn about India and joined the Rotary Club East of Mysore. While Mr. Peasah had a lot of foreign student friends from around the world, it was harder to make friends with Indian students. To make friends with women students was almost impossible, as Indian men were quick to accuse Africans of making advances at ‘their’ women even if they were merely studying together.

What people  don’t see here is that Indian students have an opportunity to meet African students and learn about a part of the world of which they know little. 

And what seems more hypocritical is when Indians raise voices against racial crimes  suffered by Indian students in other countries like Australia . 
……. A ray of Hope 
 
In the backdrop of all those prejudice thinking , racial absuses, assaults, there is still a hope for a new Dawn. 

Arrest of people who incited the attacks on Africans will not solve the problem. These are only temporary measures. Another attack can happen anytime in a matter of days or weeks . Social diseases like ‘Racism‘ can only be cured by treating  ‘ignorance‘ with the light of understanding about different cultures. What we need to accept is ‘ We all are one big family  & every big family has differences  ‘ .  We need to look above this “white“ complexion blinded mentality  & see every individual on equal platform of humanism. 

~~~ Special thanks to Anubhav Dey & Shruti Bajaj for helping me in pening down & editing this blog .~~~

‘Brexit’ sets off a cascade of aftershocks

 

Pic courtesy: abibitumikasa.com

On 24 June,2016 Britishers woke up in a new country. The Britain that existed till 23 June was not in existence anymore.

For all those who ran the Leave campaign & those who supported brexit, it was a day to celebrate. For them the  day is marked as the independence day. But for the other 48% who voted to remain in the European Union, & for the majority of people around the globe, the news came in a way that sink the heart. It’s most unhappening for the people of Scotland. All major political party collectively voted to remain in the EU; but, being a part of United Kingdom, they were dragged forcefully out of EU, against their collective will. This yet heightened the possibility of Scotland to be separated from Kingdom & be the guardian of their own destiny.

Brexit even resurfaced the rift between the old & the young, the rich & the working class, and obviously between Scotland & England.

Brexit, probably the most important news in the decade, brought a cascade of aftershocks as were being feared about. Apart from the fear of division of United kingdom, there is a constant risk of economic turmoil. Britain losing the AAA credit rating and falling of euro, certainly backens the fear. Moreover, the decisive win of the Leave campaign certainly costed high for prime minister David Cameron, who had to resign, putting a big question mark on his political career too. 

Britain, no doubt, got certain advantages through its decision of leaving the EU, but the cost it paid & most probably has to pay in near future mocks the ‘freedom’.

1. The UK loses influence over EU regulations without gaining much freedom to regulate independently
2. The UK is less attractive  as a gateway to Europe, as a base for corporate HQs & as a location for investment from Europe
3. The Brexit victory sent economic shockwaves through global markets & Britain lost its top AAA credit ratings.
4. Immigration is tightened, damaging competitiveness, particularly London, but now can make their own regulations regarding the same
5. Regulatory divergence grows over time increasing the cost of trade, impacting on volume & the UK place in supply chains
6. The UK gains flexibility over industrial policy, but loses the benefit from scale & influence in some areas
7. The UK loses the benefit from being able to influence both in & through EU, impacting on economic & foreign policy interests.

 

 

Hidden indoor factors underlying Greek crisis

Greek  government has  a long  history  of problems  with  its  public  debt—it has  spent  more than half  the years  since 1832, when  it gained independence  from  the Ottoman Empire, in default. Deep analysis on Greek history point to several deeply  entrenched  features of  the Greek  economy  and Greek society  in general  that have  prevented sustained economic growth and created  the  conditions underlying  the current  crisis. Chief among these are :

1.   State ownership of majority of resources  – As recently  as  1990,  the Greek state controlled about 75% of  all  business assets in  the country and  tightly regulated other sectors of  the economy.  The state reduced its stake to  about 50%  by  2008; however, according to the report of OECD , much of  the  private  sector  continues to  “suffer from  weighty  and  complex  regulations  and from  the  lack  of  a  coherent  and systematic  approach  to  rule-making.”
2. Hefty public expenditure – In  the  decade  before  the  crisis, a  significant  portion  of  rising  government  expenditures  was  allocated to  rising  public sector  wages and  benefits.  As  recently  as  2009,  Greek  government  expenditures  accounted  for  50%  of  GDP,  with 75% of  (non-interest)  public  spending  going  to  public  sector  wages  and  social  benefits.  However, there was no critical evidence for ‘improvemnet in quality of services’.
3. Political stereotyping –    Greek  politicians  have  traditionally  viewed  the  provision  of  public  sector  jobs  and benefits  as  an  important  way to  grant  favors  and  thereby secure  electoral  support.
4. Tax evasion & Political clientelism-  Clientelism may also  be  an  important  factor  behind  pervasive  tax evasion and  a  complex tax code  that  grants exemptions  to  numerous  professions and income brackets.  According to  Greek government  officials,  until  the debt crisis, the  state  taxed only  one-third of  officially  declared  income, at  an  average  rate  of  about  30%.  This  excludes profits  from  an  unrecorded  economy  that  some  value  at  upwards  of  30%  of the  official GDP.
5. Widespread corruption –     According to 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index,  Transparency  International  ranked  Greece  as the  most  corrupt  country  in  the  EU,  just  behind  Bulgaria  and  Romania.