Give Us This Day...

Our daily bread comes to our doorstep in the morning. On a bicycle. The man who brings it is just one of the many vendors sent out by the many small old world bakeries that dot the city we live it. They’ve held on in the face of competition from the big guys and the array of different breads in the supermarkets. We don’t buy from him every day because I get enough for a few days and freeze but I do know people who wait for him every morning so they can have that hot, crusty bread for breakfast.

Maybe the loaves don’t look as symmetrical or as perfect as the ones in the stores but the freshly baked smell is to die for. Even when it comes out of the freezer, all you need to do is thaw it for a bit, slice and toast – and you’re in bread heaven! There’s a choice – small loaves that are soft and melt-in-the-mouth, crusty loves that are soft on the inside, puff pastry squares that are delicious with tea, flat breads that have such a wonderful flavour, buns with sesame seeds scattered on top and they taste divine with a dab of butter.

The thing is, how long will our bread man survive? Will the younger generation continue to buy from him? Or will he fade into a ‘the way things were’ memory? Will high-rise gated societies and huge supermarkets take away his livelihood? Whose responsibility is it to see that not only does he survive but keeps doing better? It just has to be our responsibility. I’ve realised that electing leaders and expecting them to do anything for anyone just doesn’t work anymore. Politicians are a number-crunching breed apart whose only worry is where the votes come from and how to get them. Not for them the headache of seeing that our taxes go to help the unfortunate ones amongst us. So that leaves us. And if we pull together, we can be a force to reckon with.

Why promote the small businesses around you? Because in the long run, it means you are shaping your surroundings to become better. By supporting people like the bread man and helping him earn his livelihood, it means his family eats better, his children get educated and they have enough to stay healthy and happy. Without that, what does a man do to feed his hungry family? Can you blame a man turning to crime?

When the oft-used phrase Think Global, Act Local was used in a business context, it meant that multinational giants were putting down roots at the local level to improve their bottom line. What we need is an upturning of that system. What we need are local roots that need to be nourished so we need to think local first. We need to become more aware, we need to spread the word and if need be, we need to make it fashionable to buy local produce and to encourage the small people in business around us. If we need things around us to change, we cannot wait for a faceless government to do it for us. We need to do it ourselves. So it empowers us as much as it does the ones at the grassroots levels around us. When we empower the microcosm, the macrocosm will automatically get better. Our positive actions with a local focus will only help us act better in a global sense.

For me, I’d be happy to continue seeing that smile on the face of my bread man and the many like him.

Why the majority MUST matter

For too long, democratic governments all over the world have followed a policy of minority appeasement and one wonders when a volcanic upsurge of reactions will happen. For too long, minorities have been seen as vote banks that can swing the results in favour of a particular party or candidate. For too long, the vast majority in most so-called democracies have remained a silent mass, mere mute spectators.

How long will this go on, is the question. Like an ocean that is usually calm, all it could take is one little shift way below the surface to cause a tsunami. And not taking into account the majority viewpoint is a tsunami waiting to happen. The burning question is, why do politicians do what they do and ignore the many to pamper the few?  The answer probably is that their priorities are short term. After all, winning an election is much more important than long term plans for the general good. If winning means divisive politics, so be it. Any problem that arises after that can be dealt with on a need-to basis. Or so they firmly believe. Sufficient unto the day is the success thereof.

The majority versus the minority can exist simultaneously on various levels in most countries. It could be a division along lines of religion, colour, class or castes, race or even age or gender. When it comes to the majority having to matter, the argument would be, wouldn’t that make it a totalitarian state? The thing is, in a totalitarian state, it doesn’t really matter. There are certain rules set and they must be followed, whether the original community is the majority or not. However, in a democracy, that isn’t the case. Elected representatives come into power because of the majority vote and they stay in power too often because of divisive policies that involve the minorities.

Religion is perhaps one of the greatest dividing factors. When minorities are indulged and the majority is made to feel their religious sentiments have been disregarded, there’s a simmering underbelly of tension that grows unseen. And then, one day, a little spark sets off a flagrant fire. Too often, self-styled leaders of the minority take advantage of politicians’ largesse and try and squeeze as many favours out of them. In the long run, this can only be to the detriment of the large number of the minority community which doesn’t really want to get into a conflict with anyone, least of all those who form the majority. It gets worse when the simmering resentment becomes apparent in slights, in nuances of speech, in a word or a look. This has the effect of the minorities bunching together for safety and the lines are drawn more sharply.

Why does it make sense to ensure that the majority’s rights are protected? Because then a government could be in for the long run. Too often, governments in power in democratic countries are voted out rather than voted in. If a party wants to be in there for the long haul, it might want to think about majority politics. When you keep the majority happy, you’ll find a more benevolent attitude towards the minorities and that augurs well for peace and prosperity.

When you break it down, it’s all about human nature. Let the larger group feel that they are being looked after and they will in turn be more tolerant of the smaller group. When the smaller group flexes its muscles, you can be sure there will be retaliation some day. Now a flexing of the muscles need not be a mere show of strength. It could be manifested in so many ways. By asking for special exemptions, for reservations, for tax deductions.

In most democracies, there has tended to be a kind of apathy when it comes to the majority and maybe this is why governments have gotten away with what they have. Flashing smiles, false promises and a great big ‘Pretty Please’ usually work with the ones who bestir themselves to go and cast their vote. It’s only when the majority wakes up and realises that while it is paying to keep the wheels of the country turning, it is being taken for granted and very often ignored, that the first rumblings begin. Astute politicians will hear and take note – unfortunately, most are too busy enjoying their new-found power to bother. All it takes is time for the rumblings to grow to a full-fledged revolution. Then, a ‘let them eat cake’ attitude will only fan the flames.

It’s time to think about what democracy is all about. It is of the people, for the people, by the people – the people who are in the majority. It’s time to realise they matter. They must matter before it’s too late.

Education vs. Learning

When so many of us agree that education is the key to freeing the mind, to solving most of the world’s problems, to making people from all corners of the globe come together, we also mean education in the traditional, conventional sense, maybe because we’ve never thought of anything different. Education for us means a teacher, a school, a set syllabus. perhaps time frames within which certain bits of knowledge or information need to be imbibed, digested and then displayed so we can be tested on our understanding. Maybe it’s time to change our way of thinking. In a world that is changing so fast, should our old ideas about education be the only way there is? Yes, there have been changes through the years in the way education has been structured and perceived but it was all done within a certain framework. Is it time to think out of the box? Sugata Mitra seems to think so and to prove his point, he’s been experimenting with new ideas over the last eleven years all over the world.

What seems to be emerging is that children have an innate sense of learning and that need not be within the narrow functions of education. Maybe what we need to do now is to give them the tools and the opportunities and set their minds free to learn what can be learned in the way that they want to learn it. It means leaving them to go out into the unknown and helping them explore and go forward to conquer new ideas and frontiers and even forge new paths to get to their goals. Pretty much like a guided tour as against a voyage of discovery. Maybe one would learn a lot more facts the first way but a lot more experience in the other.

Experiments like these amaze us who have been educated in the conventional way because it defies all logic – or rather, logic as we know it. If we need to facilitate a brave new world for our children, maybe it is time we took a step back after providing them with the opportunities. With technology racing ahead, it’s their world – a world they understand and grasp much better and much faster than we do. Maybe it’s time they started learning instead of being educated. Maybe it’s time we stopped putting boundaries to their boundless imagination and capabilities. Maybe it’s time we guided from behind rather than lead from the front. Maybe it’s time we cut them loose to discover rather than fence them in. Maybe it’s time.