Botswana

There is this amazing tiny country in Southern Africa, Botswana, earlier called Bechuanaland. Long back, in the late 80s, I had a chance to visit this country as my parents had moved there for a while and we would go to spend summer holidays with them. Now from movies, media and general prejudices, I had the impression that Africa is always embroiled in violence. Nothing could have been farther from truth. Botswana was a surprise neat little package. A small plane ferried us from Johannesburg to Gaborone, the capital city. The first view was breathtaking – vast expanse of beautiful golden land and a general feeling of space and freedom. Gaborone itself had beautiful roads and seemed a modern well organized city. But most of all, the country was and is totally peaceful. I mean not just in the bigger sense of politics etc. but day to day interactions between people were easy going and harmonious. There was virtually no crime. My younger brother studying in a school there also told me that he never saw boys fighting – never. And if I could describe the general local culture it was, light, friendly and somewhat joyful / “jolly”. That part joyful I loved the most. People would be walking on the street, say coming back from a grocery store and on the way would listen to some music; they would stop, drop their bags and start dancing. Just like that.

Politically speaking, Botswana is the most stable, continuous and peaceful democracy of Africa. Although a single party has won all the elections but elections are free and fair. The economy is hugely dependent on diamonds exports but infrastructure is good as well as economic environment rather transparent. As measured by Transparency international, its index is 64, just a little behind the developed countries. In early 2000s Botswana faced a scourge in AIDS which the government worked promptly and with dedication to bring it under control. Botswana's press freedom index is 22.91, again quite close to the developed world. As a special mention, press freedom index is high for most African nations; on this aspect the continent does better than Asia as well as Latin America. Africa is also a nation of vast landscapes and space as population density is quite low and is in fact lower than in Europe; the chief culprit in population explosion again really is Asia.

On beautiful highways, we took a road trip to Niagara falls and on the way stayed with an African family in Francistown. He was a friend and colleague of my father and introduced his lady as “acting wife” and we had a great time interacting with them. Another time, a neighbor introduced his many kids as coming from different acting wives. My family especially my father had a liberal outlook and so we enjoyed such cultural differences.  They just basically have a good sense of humor and dance and laugh a lot. I really liked it.

Years later, I read a book called the “Cry of Kalahari” which was really awesome though I could not quite connect it to Botswana as I had experienced mostly the urban city life part.

But, let us give this memoir – ish post some serious flavor. Now, many years later, I started researching for a book I wanted to write on democracy. The moment I would read about democratic experience in Africa, it would be laced with terms like Tribalism, endemic culture of violence etc etc. I just could not relate to such sweeping dismissals as my early experience was awesome. Now, lacking such prejudices, my conclusions from the study of African politics were very different. For instance, refugees from Rwandan genocide escaped to Democratic F Republic of Congo as well as Tanzania. In Congo, civil war started few years down the line only after Mobutu Sese Seko fled the nation. Competing factions tore up the nation in the resultant power vacuum, ostensibly in a quest for democracy. Tanzania on the other hand had a strong centralized government and no such violence erupted. Rwanda too was brought under control by Paul Kagame. So, my analysis seemed to suggest there are factors at play other than tribalism and endemic culture of violence. To my mind it looks like sudden power vacuum at the top as well as premature political opening up never works in poor divided societies (and you may pick up my book ‘Democracy on Trial, All Rise!’ should you want to study that in detail). So maybe our starting assumptions will determine the conclusions we reach. And here I must say, having experienced Botswana as the African prototype my assumptions about Africa or the people would always remain positive and it is hard for me to relate to genetic tribalism or violence sort of sweeping theories. In my research too, I did not find this to be true.

Then again, there are some crazy theories fielded that power must change hands after two elections for a democracy to be genuine. That is because for many political theorists, democracy is the end not the means to good governance. So, among African democracies, Ghana was the more celebrated one but I quite see Botswana as the model African country.

Pity I could not go to the Kalahari… hopefully someday I would!

Unlocking the Indian Rural “Mind”

Now there is a thought I often have when I watch political rallies which have so much grandeur, pomp and ceremony to them, especially in rural areas and small towns. And it is not easy to pull crowds, so all kudos to them. But of course I do not know how these rallies work. I know some emotionally charged speeches connect with the crowds and if there is a communal angle to it, all the more better. But is there an intelligent connect with the crowd? I doubt it. Now you may laugh, what intelligent connect with the rural folks! But let me take you back to an eye opening experience I had with illiterate villagers in several villages in the back of beyond of UP.

So, we had some kind of social work project to popularize use of child de-worming tablets. Basically, people do not have access to clean water and children particularly suffer the most. In particular, stomach and intestinal worms are a major cause of malnutrition. So, I went to a UN office in Lucknow (or was it Kanpur) and brought some scientific video tapes on the subject. Then we selected the ones that had maximum video content (and less of the anchor talking kind of stuff). The tapes showed life size pictures of these worms inside the stomach and how they eat away up to 40% of the nutrition. With a mobile video unit, then we went to several villages, called a gathering and showed these tapes to them. I would then sum it up with a brief talk, no dumbing down, mind you. And after all this just for some celebratory mood and entertainment we would run a show of a Hindi movie – Jai Santoshi Maa. Now here was the response. The villagers would queue up to buy the tablets. The market price of the tablets was Rs 6 and that is what we sold it at – no giving free or at a discounted price etc. That was a big sum for them as for many of them, it would have been more than their daily wage. Within two weeks, we exhausted all the stocks we had of the tablets, bought some from chemists all around Etah and then got some from Delhi and yet could not meet the demand. It was a rout.

In my experience, I found them to be rather intelligent and smart in their own earthy way. They see through the empty rhetoric that is often flushed out at them. While 70% of India is rural, I do not know if anyone goes and explains policies and programs in an intelligible manner or connects with them at that level. Issues like population control, hygiene, water conservation, spreading development to remote areas etc. can be conveyed in a manner that can have a deep impact on them. I don’t see any such program/s afoot. I think most urbanites including the urban oriented media see them as some sort of an illiterate “mass” incapable of discernment. Well, they have limited exposure but once exposed to good ideas, in the right manner, they understand and are refreshingly open to change. I think we haven’t tried reaching out to them and connecting with them at that level, you know when you see them as your equal. We don’t show them enough respect and maybe if we do, their potential is unimaginable.

www.India

Taking the story forward..

What are the three things India needs the most? I’m guessing there will be a lot of takers for wine wealth and women, but our three issues really are: Water, Wealth and Women.

I have written on many of these topics before but let me summarize:

Water

Really the key to solving water problem is waste management which is totally lacking today. 

Traditionally cities have come up along river banks and as per the current model, all sewage, effluents etc. are simply dumped into the rivers and the rivers carry it to the sea. Millions living along the banks depend on this water and water borne diseases are a common affair. Once polluted, there is just no way to treat that stuff.  

So, a drainage system or waste management system is required to take the cities’ filth and excreta outwards (away from rivers) and treat them somewhere on the outskirts and surround cities with orchards which can use the treated water.  

Wealth

Development continues to be concentrated around metros which are bursting at seams. Rural folks come to cities to seek jobs, live in slums and become a part of the underbelly of the society. Instead development can be spread out to remote areas while making industries a partner in environmental protection and ecosystem development.  

Second, industry would benefit greatly by a predictable environment. For instance, let us look at the 2G so called scam, which to my mind was just a wrong policy decision – instead of auctioning the spectrum, it was awarded on a first come first served basis. Based on this, licenses to telecom companies were cancelled in retrospect for which they suffered great losses. That is unfair – it was not their decision. We may have gained in the auction second time (though nowhere near the astronomical figure cooked up by CAG) but we lost a lot of credibility and foreign equity by doing these kind of arbitrary things.

In fact, once a cabinet passes a bill, it should hold for at least two terms. You can not simply keep reversing decisions and after plants have been set up like Nano, close them or change the spectrum allocation rule and then cancel licenses after the companies have invested. Unless poverty is our aim, we have to present a better environment to industries but at the same time, make them partners in environment protection and ecological habitats development.

Women

About the status of women, well, the lesser said the better. The core solution is simply “law enforcement”.

We can work on social reforms etc. but that is a long painstaking process and no reason why we should not keep plodding at it. But law enforcement is key which is utterly lacking at the moment.

The more criminals get away with their wrong doing, the more they commit crime with increasing level of boldness. Unchecked crime increases exponentially. Filing FIRs, decent investigative processes and quicker judicial system are all easier said than done. There is so much inertia in the current non system.

This requires a bit of a positive approach. There are a few cops and investigative officers who do a commendable job in cracking crime – they ought to be rewarded. If fast track courts actually deliver on conclusion of cases, reward the teams that do so. The Nirbhaya fund can be used for this purpose.

Already some positive change has begun with the Supreme Court trying to pay attention to such matters and that needs to be highlighted in the media for creating a culture of positive reward system.

But, it is not easy to deliver on any or all of these for any government so public awareness and interest generation and cooperation is almost critical to bring about such changes. In that, the news media and entertainment media can play a huge role.

Well, well, well…

www…

Brazil on the Rise!

If you want an all encompassing rich introduction to Brazil, here is a book by Larry Rohter  - Brazil on the Rise! He makes the nation come alive. The book is engrossing and divergent – at one moment you are experiencing Rio de Janeiro, Jazz music, samba and soccer and another you are deep in the forests of Amazon. Even if you are well aware of the country’s history and politics, Rohter brings a different perspective – of how the political personalities are seen by the Brazilians themselves. Insightful and rich, the book reflects the author’s long experience of living and traveling there and I was not surprised to read that his wife is from Brazil too. So if Brazil interests you, you must read this book and if it doesn’t interest you, then you definitely must.

But, but...this is not a book review! I was cruising through the book, enjoying and learning and then I came to this section on Brazil’s foreign policy and it got me. I have a lot of unanswered questions and comments, so let me share them with you.  

Brazilians are thrilled, even flattered, to be grouped with Russia, India and China..... instead of being lumped together with the likes of Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela.

Hmm...and that is better because...?

Instead of being a part of the Third World, there is excitement around “South-South solidarity” meant to bring Brazil, China and South Africa into a single group.

Yes.. and not to forget South Africa!  

 “The image of Brazil as the land of soccer and samba, of beaches and beauties in bikinis.. both irks and embarrasses them”

And the problem with that is...?

In the early 1960s, Charles de Gaulle seems to have said that “Brazil is not a serious country”.. the remark has stung them so badly, deeply wounding their self image.

And the problem with being a fun country is...?

In 1982, Ronald Reagan offered a toast at a state dinner in Brasilia to “the people of Bolivia”, it really hurt them.

And what were you expecting from the president of Armenia...?

Brazil has a sense of being exceptional, a feeling of living in a nation blessed by God, with a unique historical role to play... some sort of manifest destiny.

Interesting

United States has, since its earliest days, been engaged in an ongoing effort to keep Brazil from achieving the greatness that otherwise would be its destiny.

I didn’t see this coming. And here I thought only the Middle East had this problem.

Of the four countries that comprise the BRIC group, Brazil is the only one that does not have the atomic bomb which rankles them. Incidentally, Brazil does not have any enemies or any kind of threat.

And atomic bomb has become what nowadays .. a status symbol?

And President Lula seems to have complained that “It is not fair that developed countries, who have nuclear weapons technology, demand that others not have them”

Innocent

“We are left holding a slingshot while they have atomic bombs”

Lol

Brazil’s foreign relations are guided by the main principle to simply minimize conflict and avoid making enemies whenever possible.

Henry Kissinger (US secretary of state in the 1970s) to Brazil – you need a foreign policy.

No comments

In order to overcome its laid back image, Brazil intervened in Haiti and is baffled by the mess it is embroiled in and learning how difficult it is to grapple with international crisis.

Oh, don’t take it so hard on yourself; that is the result of all international interventions. Here are the two equations that explain it:

Scenario 1:

Civil Faction 1 vs. CF 2 vs. CF 3..... = Right Royal Mess

All civil factions blame each other.

Scenario 2:

CF 1 vs. CF2 vs. CF3 .... + International Intervention  = Right Royal Mess

All the blame goes to the Intervening Powers.

Now here is an interesting piece of information I did not know about Dilma Rousseff, the incumbent President of Brazil.

She was involved in organizing a heist in 1969 which involved a robbery of about $2.5 million from the safe of a corrupt dictator.

Wow (I thought she looked like a boring banker sort of a person)

The heist was successful

Wow wow wow.

She has denied her involvement in it..

What???

Come on, how many heads of states can claim to have orchestrated heists? You got to own it. I mean it is not easy. If I thought of robbing a bank, it would be pretty hard, esp. these days – I mean with all this electronic transactions stuff, I don’t even know where they keep the money anymore.

Now here is the best part.

Brazil has harmonious relationships with its neighbors and in general the world. Its diplomats are among the best. It has a vibrant environment and despite racial heterogeneity, has little racial tensions. It has experienced an economic boom and yet it does not have an atomic bomb and has not generally gone around invading other countries. Therefore its perception is that of a diplomatic dwarf lacking in global leadership.

I don’t get it.

Well, don’t let my blog mislead you. The book is a serious one, rich in information and interesting with not a dull moment in it. 

Recommended!