The Great American Bargain

“For most of their fifty years, these IITs were one of the greatest bargains America ever made.”- Thomas L. Friedman

The American journalist in his bestselling book, The World Is Flat mentions that how Indian Institute of Technology(IIT) have been instrumental in giving India what is called her Silicon Valley, namely Bangalore oh wait, Bengaluru. But what the Pulitzer Prize winner overlooked was the inefficiency of the IITians to solve the problems of the farmers in Mandya, a district adjacent to the IT city where one farmer committed suicide every 12 hours at the same time when he was writing his book.

When Jawaharlal Nehru, creator of IIT envisaged these institutes to be “symbolical of the changes that are coming to India”, little would he have known then, that his change makers were more interested in the development of what was already developed. Since 1953, 25,000 IITians have immigrated to America. They have a huge hand in creating 15 percent of the jobs in places of power like the Silicon Valley of California along with their Chinese colleagues.  

The Indian Government paid 80 percent of the cost of education of these exported whiz kids (and continues to do so), who came largely from the top 10 percent income group in India. Disproportionate, generous grants are still given to these “Institutes of national importance” in a country where the number of children who cannot read or write is the largest in the world. Not to forget, according to the UNESCO, India also has the lowest expenditure on higher education per student (US$406). But obviously, the rest of the country’s youth cannot be par with these 27,500 students just because they cleared an exam to fulfil their great American dream at a subsidised rate.

Where only 0.37 percent of the country’s Gross Development Product (GDP) is spent on higher education, IITs have miraculously produced more millionaires than any other graduate institute, per capita as reported by Salon magazine. These intellectually elite kids also enjoy a faculty-to-student ratio between 1:6 and 1:8, regardless of the fact that most of the primary schools in nation struggle to maintain a ratio of 1:40. In fact, till 1989, according to the All India Education Survey, 60 percent of primary schools had one teacher to take care of five classes but our IITs remained completely immune even back then.

When IIT is often described as “Harvard, Princeton and MIT, put together”, a question arises whether IITs are actually a part of India which ranks 105 out of 129 countries as per the United Nations Education for All report. Looks like our IITians were busy day dreaming (and we know what they were dreaming of) when President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, addressed them on the first convocation of the second IIT, IIT Bombay saying, “The strength of a country is judged not by the number of millionaires it has created, but by the poverty it has eliminated.”

In September this year, the IIT Council somehow realised that the subsidies given were not as productive as they should have been and proposed that 25 percent of the students who pass out (other than SCs/STs and OBCs) who can afford the hike, will pay Rs. 6 lakh back to their institutions, which was earlier paid by the country’s tax payers. And we are left to wonder why no proposals for people who join a foreign firm in a foreign country have been made. May be the Council has some dreams for itself as well.

The Government of India is also working on opening nine more IITs and plans to make National Institute of Technology (NIT) function on the same lines are next son the list . No concrete solutions for increasing the average time an Indian kid spends in school, which at present is just 4.4 years have been made till now, though. But we have always been a friendly nation and the progress of those millions of kids who struggle to reach their schools, which are mostly non-operational, can wait.  The board rooms in Delhi don’t have the time to work on increasing the average efficiency of our school system which is less than 5 percent. Of course, Mr. Kapil Sibbal is occupied with a more important job; giving wings to the IT geniuses to make economies boom while people can sink.

Our Indian Bazaar

It’s not the huge, breath-taking Tommy Hilfiger store; no it’s not even the fancy looking bookstore with a cafeteria, down the corner. Also, it’s not the brilliantly designed furniture shop and definitely not the Louis Vuitton showroom and the likes which make the Indian markets look the way they are.

The guy selling chanas under the peepal tree, the paan shop adjacent to the rain shelter or the chai waala at the auto stand are the ones which give vibrancy and liveliness to our Indian bazaar. It is these miniature shops (if you could classify them as shops) on the busy roads what defines our markets.  They bring are the ones bringing colour to the soon turning grey concrete jungles and not the neon lights in the posh pubs.

Some would think of them as illegal acquisition of public property or would simply term them as non required add-ons to the flea markets. But imagine how dull and deadly our roads and markets would become without them.  What’s the harm if some of the uneducated, underprivileged and the ones who were not born with a silver spoon like us want to progress in life, more importantly want to earn a living? So what, if they are using a little piece of land in this seventh largest country in the world. Is it not their country as well?

They have not caused any drastic crisis in the economy so far. In fact, they are the ones who let you bargain for the cheap nightdress you want even when they know that you would never open your mouth to reduce the cost for your running shoes at a Nike store.  They also bring you stuff for which you would think twice before buying in a shopping mall, at a far affordable price. Remember the hammock in your cousin’s balcony or the poster in your own room ten years ago.

Be it sitting in the sun all day long or waiting for customers under a tree to make ends meet for them and their families; this class of businessmen has unknowingly given a very distinct appeal to Indian markets, the kind of what has lured photographers from all kinds of places.

How much does technology matters to a common man

In the eyes of a normal upper class man in any ‘developed’ city electricity enjoys the same status as air and water, the place of worship is a shopping mall and gadgets, gizmos and technologies are more respected than nature. For him the idea of living without the earlier mentioned ‘basic commodities’ is beyond his imagination. And then there is another man who is completely alien to all such concepts. His place of work is piece of land, his sweat is his offering for which he may or may not be blessed with some bread in return.

The futile efforts of erasing the gap between these two men have given rise to a new breed of men. This man lives in a city but originates from the villages. The various development policies, the evolutions in technologies, the globalised institutions where every sort of information is just a click away are all responsible for his migration from his homeland to the fast paced cities where he becomes just a part of the crowd filled with more people like him. This is the common man.

To know more about this interesting creature and his views on technology and information which supposedly aims to benefit him I interviewed three men from different fields, age groups but with common needs and problems.

My first interview brought me to an auto driver who was in his late thirties and who did not wish to share his name. For him information and technology were not very familiar terms. The only words he could relate to were mobile, radio and television. When asked about their usage he said that he no more owns a radio, there is a television set at his home but he rarely gets the time to watch it.  On the use of mobile phones he explained that though he is not a great admirer of mobile phones he needs it for his work so that his customers can contact him if required. “I only know how to answer and make calls and that is all what is required for me to know” he retorted when questioned if he knew all the functions of the mobile phone. Though he had heard about computers he seemed completely disinterested about knowing more about them and the existence of the mighty internet made no difference to him.

My second interviewee was a worker in a daily goods shop, K. Pradeep Pujari(21). “Mobile phone has now become a necessity for me” says the young man who wants to be as up to date as his engineering student customers are. “Television and radio are for my leisure time but I can’t stay without my cell phone” remarks the shopkeeper completely awed by the product of evolution of Graham Bell’s invention. Pradeep showed keen interest in learning in computers about which he had little heard of. To my surprise, Facebook was not a new word to him and not did he wanted to know more about it but also wanted to use if he gets the time.

The third interview took me to a gatekeeper who had come all the way from Assam to Manipal to earn a living. Rahul Das (28) shared a very interesting observation he made by simply sitting on a metallic chair everyday and watch people pass by. “Seeing small children roaming around with cell phones and other gadgets has become a very regular sight for me. That I used to think that toys were the only things kids should play with” he mocks. He does not despise the use of electronics but feels that they should only be used if needed. He himself can’t think of not owning a phone as that is the most cheapest and convenient way for him to communicate with his family back home. “Now the time has changed and I need to change with it, I can’t write letters to my family everyday especially when I have a better option” he justifies his use of cell phone. But he still felt that these electronics, gadgets etc. should not be treated larger than life and should not replaced by their natural competitors. “I will make sure that my kids only get to play with toys”, he jokes.

Based on my interviews I have come to a conclusion that technology may have not received a very warm welcome but has managed to have a very strong hold on its users in some or the other form through its products. But to term technology as a necessity is underestimating man’s efforts to fulfil his needs on his own and there are millions of people untouched by technologies that are a living proof.

Giant African Snails.

Plantation farmers in Shirtadi Kukkentodi near Moodabidri are facing the most difficult times ever. The Giant African snail has harmed their farms in every possible way. The pest has proven disastrous to every crop that is grown in the village.

The invasion of the Giant African Snail also known as the Ghana Tiger Snail started two years back. The reason I choose the word invasion is because these snails have affected more than 150 hectares of agricultural land in the village. These snails are so large in number that one can collect 500-600 snails in one hour. A big snail can be as long as 9 inches and lays around 1200 eggs a year. Scientifically known as Achatina Fulica Bowdich the pest can feed on almost everything. In plants it targets the stem and in the trees its main target is the bark.  The first thing which I saw in the one of the plantation farms was a fallen papaya tree which is more than enough to describe how dangerous these snails are to the vegetation of the area.

The prime plantation crops such as papaya, banana and areca nuts are harmed in the worst possible manner and even the vegetables like lady finger, pumpkin etc. are badly affected. Mr. Jason Lobo, a plantation farm owner, “We have stopped growing vegetables now and these snails have also prevented us from planting saplings.” Mr. Lobo used to grow 6-7 vegetables on a commercial level earlier.

Three months ago officers from Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Mangalore visited the farms to study the situation. The officers had assured provision of lime which is helpful in killing the pest to the farmers but nothing has been done till now. Moreover, lime is ineffective on the snail in humid conditions. The farmers have not received any sort of help from the State Government and the local administrative bodies so far. As the village Panchayat are poorly funded and the number of plantation farmers is less these farmers see no point in going to the Panchayat and raising their voice against its ignorance over the issue.

These snails can be killed using pesticides like urea, salt water and lime to a certain extent. Metaldehyde is a better option as suggested by the researchers but it is a costly affair. As it does not fall under the subsidized pesticides it cannot be used for large scale killings of the snails.

The problem of the Giant African Snail had also showed up its ugly face in and around Cochin last year. There was a report on the same mentioning that the snail should never be touched bare handed. Even the authorities there used gloves while killing the snails. On the other hand, the farmers in Shirtadi kill the snails by picking them with bare hands and by burning them. No authority ever warned them against the use of bare hands, their negligence can prove really harmful to the farmers and the labourers in future. I say so because the snail is a carrier of the rat lungworm which causes eosinophilic meningitis in humans.

Mr. Lobo’s mother informed us that she goes to the field every morning and evening to kill the snails so that they do not enter her house. Mr. Lobo faces a loss of more than Rs.14000 every month because of the highly invasive species. He is thinking of using urea in his fields as it seems to be the best option.

Though the Zonal Agricultural Research Station (ZARS) is now conducting programs on the management of the snails in the affected village but the question which arises is whether the authorities were sleeping from the past 2 years. If the Government had been a bit active then may be the farmers of Shirtadi and other villages of Karkala taluk might have not been facing so much miseries.