Desi Beats

        It was my favourite night of the week- Ladies night!  My friends and I flocked to a club at Dubai Mall to get our share of free drinks. By midnight I had had one too many drinks for the night. As I staggered out of the ladies room, I lost balance and stumbled. Suddenly a young man appeared from nowhere and held my arm to keep me steady. Even in the dim light of the club, I could make out that he was a ‘desi’ (the term that Indians use for each other overseas). Dubai definitely has its fair share of desi population, and the number is surprisingly large.

         

        As our groups of friends mingled and got talking, I took a moment to put things in perspective. I had been in Dubai for over 4 months, my longest stay out of India ever. Yet the most carefree and candid conversations I had ever had were with ‘desis’ overseas. When we are outside India, we are more accepting of people and their fallacies. But when we are in India, we become judgemental and look at people as Marathis, Assamese, Biharis, Hindu, Muslim and so on and so forth. We are even ready to kill each other over such differences.

       

         The word ‘desi’ is endearing for it breaks our regional boundaries and gives us one unifying identity. I feel that we are much more of a desi when outside India than when in it. In all my life I had never celebrated Independence Day with as much energy and ardour as I did this year! There is a beautiful bond between all Indian families here, oblivious to any differences. Its so beautiful that it makes me wish for the hundredth time that this was happening in India and not in a foreign land.

       

         Maybe the unifying force we need is that of a neutral government, one that will keep the various entities in check.  My friends and I miss India a lot. But then we wonder what would we go back to – communal riots, sexual assaults on women, scams and forgery? Is it worth it? Every ‘desi’ abroad mulls over this question.  

       Almost on cue, the DJ played a Punjabi number (yes in Dubai too!). And all the ‘desis’ in the house were on their feet in no time, just like that.

  

A dying species called the carefree Indian girl

       Every time there is a case of sexual assault against a woman, I get sick to my stomach. The fear begins to creep around me afresh. Most people don’t know what it is like to be a working girl living alone in a big city. We have programmed ourselves to never let our guards down!  There is always a constant fear at the back of our mind, prompting us to be vigilant. We, girls, have been living with this feeling for so long that we’ve forgotten what it’s like to feel safe. We are not safe at work, or in public places, or at home. Where do we go? Why can’t our society make us feel safe?  The society rejoices when a girl wins an Olympic medal, but it doesn’t think twice before it stifles a newborn girl child?

      

       Working and living alone in India is a nightmare for a single girl. It definitely makes you question the double standards of the society. With the recent cold blooded murder of Pallavi Purkayastha, there is now another strata of men from our society that we cannot trust- security guards. The list already included- cab drivers, autowallahs, servants, cable T.V men, internet cafe owners and landlords to name a few. If the protectors of people (read the security guard, in this case) become the perpetrators of crime then who can we trust? The irony here stinks.

       

         During my stay in Mumbai, there were often occasions when I would return home late from work, and on some occasions drenched in the sudden downpours. The sight of my security guard seemed relieving. But after this incident, I am beginning to wonder if I had had my share of narrow escapes back then. It is an extremely disconcerting feeling! We, girls, already have a long list of Dos and Don’ts to follow to ensure our safety, such as- no stopping at random stores for milk & supplies at night, minimal late nights, keeping away from strangers etc. My point is, will there ever be a Do’s and Don’ts list that will assure us of our safety?

       

       The term ‘be careful’ is engraved into our psyche right from a young age. We are so accustomed to it that we have forgotten how to be carefree. With every such grotesque act of crime, the carefree girl within us, hides even more. Why should there be a trade-off between our freedom and safety?  Why can’t we have both?  What is the cure for this malaise afflicting our society?

  

       The carefree girl within us just wants the freedom to live without fear, is it too much to ask for?

  

My Internship Experience

      It was 14^th Feb, 2005, my first day as an intern. As I walked into the office for my internship I was aghast to see red heart shaped balloons, red roses and chocolates on each desk.  I rechecked to confirm if this was the same MNC bank that I had been interviewed with. I expected Monday morning tensions, energy, stress et al. But, definitely not Valentine’s Day celebration!

      So that is how my internship began, not too bad actually. I was a fresh graduate in Economics honours from one of the best universities in India and well, had a mountain-size chip on my shoulder. My plan was to work exceptionally hard and dazzle the company with my performance and ultimately land a permanent placement with the bank. There was just one problem though, the plan seemed a lot easier in my head than in reality. I had to lose my chip first, which seemed like a herculean task then.My immediate team had a very diverse mix of people, comprising a rather older age group, with mixed backgrounds, culture and different mindsets. These were the people that I had to work with for six months, and most importantly, learn from. And of course my “attitude” did not help. My bohemian, straight-from-college-I-don’t-care attitude rubbed my colleagues in face. People were quick to judge me, some even took wagers on how long I would last. Honestly I wondered so too.

      Even though I picked the work within a week’s time, my colleagues did not warm up to me for over 2 months. I learned to not be ‘miss snooty’ but I still had trouble finding company for lunch. I was miserable and lonely. And then it happened! My boss requested me to help in organizing a birthday celebration for a colleague in office. Having a special qualification (non-certified, of course) in organizing parties it wasn’t difficult for me to rise up to the occasion. And just like that, over snacks and colas, I finally managed to break the ice with my colleagues.

     The rest of my internship was rather smooth. I made great friends and learnt some valuable lessons in life. Looking back, I think part of the reason why my colleagues disliked me was because of the fearless courage and hope of the youth that I carried with me. I reminded them of what it was like to be young and so free. Had I been more intuitive then, I would have identified the real problem sooner.

    Great lessons in life are learnt from living them. Those six months of internship taught me new lessons in humility. I learnt to respect people who had different opinions. And more importantly, I learnt to differentiate content from flak. In many ways the first internship is like a rites of passage, coming of age etc. In a span of six months I lost my rough edges and ahem,’ yuppiness’. I learnt to be a professional  As Steve Jobs said, ‘you cannot join the dots looking forward, you can only join the dots looking backward’. I wouldn’t be the person that I am today had I not taken back some hard hitting lessons from my first internship.

Talking About a Revolution

Talking About a Revolution

   August 2011 was marred with an unusual event signature of riots and chaos involving an estimated 4000 youths in the UK.  More than 5,175 offences were recorded by the police (Berman, 2011) and damage to business was more than $250 million pounds (Lissaman, 2011). Dejection with social and economic inequality was deemed to be the underlying reason behind the burning anger of the mob. This was further fuelled by growing rates of unemployment post the subprime crisis, which increased the inequality gap. What UK faced in those four days of August shows the ugly side of capitalism. We are quick to discuss the financial impacts of bankruptcy, but why don’t we put more stress on the social impacts of such events? This article offers a study of the dark side of economics.

  The Euro zone is struggling to survive today with unemployment statistics in these economies becoming ever so alarming. The Eurostat estimates that 25.112 million men and women in European Union (EU-27) were unemployed in June 2012. Out of the given figure, about 17.801 million were in the Euro zone (EA-17). European Union’s unemployment rate was over 11.2% in June 2012, with total youth unemployment rate being 21.3% (Unemployemnt statistics, 2012). The unemployment rate  in Spain was 24.63% in second quarter of 2012, which means that 1/4^th of the working population is jobless in the country! The unemployment rate for those under 25 years of age rose to 53%.  The unemployment rate in Greece was equally alarming.- total unemployment rate was 22.6%, with youth unemployment being 52.7%. (Global youth unemployment 2012, 2012). A shocking 75 million youth worldwide are looking for work. (ILO Global Employment Trends for Youth, 2012)

   Much literature has been written on Euro Zone crisis. “The problem is more in the design of the euro zone” says Jamie Daniel, IMF mission chief for Spain. If that was so, then pray what were they waiting for uptil now? How does he justify this to the millions of jobless people who have no means to sustain themselves? Why do we have experts and economists if this is what it has to come down to, or have we begun to run economies by trial and errors? Whose fault is it anyways? Who is paying for whose greed? These are the real perplexing questions that bare warrant. Millions have been rendered jobless, without the means to earn a living wage, to support their family, and to keep a roof over their head.

   These questions cannot be ignored. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and the unemployed youth will definitely seek their due. The difference lies in the underlying temperament. As in case of the UK, riots aptly depict the violent response of the unemployed youth that felt neglected by their own politicians and economists. They turned to looting and rioting to draw attention to their cause. In another instance, the dormant frustration of the youth fuelled by years of oppression erupted like a volcano, leading to the revolutionary movement called the Arab Spring, in 2011. This famous revolutionary wave brought down the much feared local monarchies, declaring the power of the youth.

  Youth unemployment was one of the prime triggers of the Arab Spring. The youth unemployment in this region, as per last record, was as high as 23.4% in 2010 (International Labour Organization, 2011). In the Middle East, unemployment rose to 26.5 percent (Arnold, 2012). The turn of events in Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Bahrain, Libya and elsewhere was an outcome of repressed frustration with unemployment, especially in the youth. The anger and frustration that was already there within people found a voice with the youth uprising. The enemy may not have been common, but the emotion was definitely felt similarly across the countries. The rate and intensity of the discontent brought major monarchic changes in the region (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen), another nation, Syria  is still struggling for democracy. The fury of a mob deprived of basic livelihood can be unrelenting, as evident in each of these cases.

  Civil disorder is an obvious outcome of unemployment. When the outburst manifests in this fashion then it is scary but, what would happen if the feelings of frustration, dejection remained under the surface? Even more damaging are the wounds that are left on the psyche of the unemployed. The hopelessness and the lack of courage in the youth can leave a damaging blow to their lifelong productivity. Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leader. What leaders will they make if they lack hope and courage? Imagine a country manifested with people filled with no hope and courage. There couldn’t be a bigger price for an economy to pay or no sadder reality.

    

        The movements seen in 2011-12, the Arab Spring and the UK riots, had different agendas, but their cause of grievance was the same: historically high rates of youth unemployment (25 percent in Egypt, 50 percent in Greece, 16.5 percent in the U.S and  9 per cent in the UK.); high rates of inflation, frustration with cronyism, inequality; and the loss of faith in the economic system. The people of Egypt, then Bahrain, then Yemen, and then Libya and Syria came forward with courage and showed that they had had enough.

    The social impact of the recession is not discussed with the same breath of emergency as the financial impact of it. We are so busy with the numbers that we are missing out on the true grave reality. We are busy looking at the hand that is pointing to the moon, than the moon itself. One can imagine the plight of twenty- somethings graduating from colleges in Spain, Greece and Italy not finding jobs. With loans to repay, such realities can lead to desperation and degradation. Imagine how desperate a family man would be without the means to provide for his family. Let us not forget that desperation is the root cause of many evils!

One of the scariest prospects of unemployment of the world’s young adults is that jobless youth may turn to crime and terrorism for solace. Unemployment is gradually transitioning from an unfortunate social ill to a major threat to future economic and political stability.

            Between the raging, seething, unforgiving anger and frustration of the unemployed youth to the silent, hopeless, brooding surrender of it, there is not much choice. The angry youth can create violence that may put the 20^th century to shame. The hopeless youth can create an era of low motivated, dejected, depressed and suicide prone work force, which would never quite reach its productive optimum.

            Let us not underestimate the strength and power of the youth of a nation. All the greatest revolutions in the history of the world have been made possible because of the power of the youth. Politicians should fear, because the youth believe with passion, they live with passion and they are ready to die for that passion.  Governments across the world should unite for a common purpose - to save the youth. Financial instability is important to address, but isn’t it the moral duty of every government, from Spain to Syria, from Greece to USA, from UK to Spain, to safeguard its youth?

Poor people will rise up and take what is theirs..

Finally the tables will start to turn.....we are talking about a revolution

 

References:

Inspired by Tracy Chapman’s song called Talkin’ ‘bout a revolution,1988. The song was used as an inspiration during the revolution in Tunisia, 2011

Works Cited

Arnold, T. (2012, May 23). Youth unemployment in Mena soars to more than 25 per cent. The National .

Berman, G. (2011, October 26). The August 2011 riots: a statistical summary. Retrieved August 3, 2012, from www.parliament.uk: http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/SN06099

(2012). Global youth unemployment 2012. business and finance.

(2012). ILO Global Employment Trends for Youth. International Labour Organization.

International Labour Organization. (2011). Youth unemployment in the Arab world. International Labour Organization.

Lissaman, C. (2011). Riots claimants in England hit by legal woes. BBC News England .

Unemployemnt statistics. (2012, June). Retrieved Juy 30, 2012, from Eurostat European Commission: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Unemployment_statistics