Story of Indian Economy

On the eve of Independence(1947)

1. Life expectancy = 30 years

2. Literacy level = 18%

3. Poor infrastructure, almost zero industries, dependent on foreign countries for food, famines, poor health infrastructure.

All this was because of colonial brutalities at the hands of British. Organised loot and plunder. India was a supplier of raw materials to British industries and a flourishing market for finished goods of British. Dual strike. India saw its own industrial sectors destroyed at the cost of massive Industrial explosion in Britain. 

(1947 - 1990) - Socialist tilt in economic policies by the government

Since, India was already at it low, Indian government ensured protection for local industries from foreign competition by regulation, high tariffs on imports, license permit . A closed economy. Produce in India, by India for India policy. It lead to growth in industrial sectors with many new PSUs established, several new private enterprises also established. Green revolution, White revolution, Planning commission - 5 year plans, setting up of higher degree institutes like IIT, IIM. 

Hope was that people will move gradually from agriculture towards industry as new industries will setup. About 70% India used to be in agriculture at the the time independence, it declined to 50% percent till 1990s. Industrial sector did grow but it couldn't absorb all the people coming out of agriculture. Service sector grew dramatically. 

1991 reforms - Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation - capitalist tilt

Emphasis was on growth, modernisation, self-reliance and equity. Lack of competition in Indian market led to substandard products, creation of monopolies. 

India was facing huge deficit at the time of these reforms. Liberalisation allowed foreign investments, removal of tariffs and quotas on import, reduction in taxation to promote industries setting up in India, moving away from license permit raj. It increased competition for local producers, no protection. Subsidies getting slashed, agriculture sector faced pressure resulting in committing of suicides by farmers in hundreds. Underemployment in agriculture sector. High skills required to work in service sector which 90% India lacks.

Privatisation - government has no business to be in business. selling up of PSUs, reducing government's share in PSUs. 

Unfair trade agreements with WTO. India opened their economy, allowed foreign companies to establish in India and trade almost on equal terms with Indians working in India but US didn't relaxed its import restrictions which meant Indian market was open for western countries but western market was not open for Indians to sell their products there.

Jobless growth - Technological advancement, machines doing work of man and man is pushed on streets to die. We witnessed growth in GDP post 1991 reforms but there was meagre improvement in employment opportunities because machines, industries did work which labor use to do. Exploitation.

Disorder in society

 1. Race for survival - More population, less resources. Quality education is a rare thing in India. Education system has failed for most. From personal experience and from the media reports, discussions, it is clear that education system needs revamp. It needs good teachers up and down. Content also needs to be revised taking into account things that people lack - morality, independent thinking, courage to go against the wind, observing rationally, impartially, love, compassion, non conformity. 

How to do it?

Hiring and training teachers to work with children on basic things which define their character rather than focusing on technical details. People are able to do complex tasks if they are calm and at peace with themselves, their life. Emphasis should be on to make children/people cultivate patience, love, compassion, creativity. One can introduce spirituality as a subject right from beginning like we have science, maths, history right from very early classes. Whatever the course teacher teaches, emphasis should always be to encourage people to think on their own, reach the solution themselves, giving ample support as needed, trying to focus if possible on individual problems of any child. 

2. Greed - Selfishness - Me, me, me :  Materialism is bad for the world and we are way too deep into it. Identity politics, various divisions in the world. Not concerned about anything else than self. It doesn't bother me because it is not happening to me. All the walls, security measures. Yes, we need physical security, that is a must. We are concerned about psychological barriers here that we create to keep the chaos at bay. Chaos - not physical but psychological like being aware of harsh reality of the world like poverty, violence, wars, injustice be it caste, gender, race, religion. Apathy. Indifference to the outside world. Struggle has meaning when you are struggling to survive but it becomes vulgar when you have every basic thing and still runs like a mad dog after money. Earning money is not evil but losing your humanity for it is pure evil. One must remain civilised not for sake of anyone else, but for his own sanity.

3. The fool has all the answers, wise sits quietly. Its a great thing this life. We don't appreciate subtle beauties that the universe offers to us for free. We are always running towards shiny things, spending most of our lives running after one thing or other which gives momentary pleasures and then it is gone and we start running towards something else. Whereas, most good things, things which make life beautiful, meaningful are free. These things we are talking about can be understood by bourgeoisie, so, yeah there are classes already there. We want to end this feudal society which has existed I don't know for thousands of years. If we end it once, it will end forever, so, yeah task is huge but if accomplished, reward is beyond imagination because it will be a totally new society - a transformed society, an enlightened society - this work will go on. 

J. Krishnamurthi - 'The Ending Of Time' (Notes)

 The One

Watched Matrix again. The MATRIX and this world of appearances and images is much the same where people keep themselves engaged in petty self conscious things. Labyrinth of images and people protect theirs at any cost. We have become machines. I have been reading Krishnamurthi lately. Let's explore his 'The Ending of Time' - read some, much left, will keep adding to this post as I go along with the book.

Note: 'Me' refers to the individual existence of man separate from anything else. When we do things out of pure selfishness, or when we do something that satisfies our ego, 'me' is operating.  Now, there is also an existence that is free of 'me'(ego) i.e. selfless actions without any demands in return.

Q1: What has gone wrong with the man and the world? Why is there so much conflict? What is this conflict? 

A: Man took a wrong turn many years back when he became self conscious - when he created 'I'. This created a division between man and the universe. Now, the man thinks he is different from the universe and that he will conquer the universe. Most people live with this 'me' - all activities are centred around this me and it needs to be protected at any cost. 'Me' is thought, is time. Outward movement of time has gone inward. We are always becoming. We want this, that, don't want this, that. Always some form of division is taking place with this me. 'Mine', 'Not mine'. All the state boundaries, conflicts arise because there is division between you and me. People associate themselves with an image of how they should be, what the world should be and this creates division. The particular mind - a human mind is part of the universal mind. Universal mind doesn't change. It is eternally same and we don't let this mind operate because always our particular mind is operating and creating division, images and resisting universal mind. The conflict is 'me'.

Q2: Is 'me' really the source of all our problems?

A: All the wars in the world are fought over 'me'. My country, your country, my people, your people. This division exists because there is a 'me' operating all the time making decisions, dividing things. First division is the 'me' because it cuts you away from the universal and we think we are something separate, individual existence. 'Me' is the flow of time as we think. We need an outward time like what time of day it is but that is purely mechanical, outward. Now, the problem is time has moved inward and psychologically we are trying to move through time. We are becoming something and that is flow of time, all the future exists because 'me' wants something in the future. It is not satisfied with what is or is not able to see what is. We project past into the future. All this past, future exists to give significance to me. My experiences, my memory have a significance because we think it matters. We create an image of ourselves right from childhood and carry it with us throughout life. This image is time. We get offended if someone insults us because that image of me is attacked and I need to protect that image because we want security within that image. There is so much uncertainty in the world, so, we have been taught or we learn to protect ourselves against that uncertainty. We create an image of ourselves and hold on to it, expanding or contracting it, never leaving it. This need for security creates huge conflicts in the world, make people hate each other, kill each other. The idea is so ingrained that we accept wars as rational way of living. We are so eager to label, blame others. It is our whole conditioning that we need to see.

Q3: What is time and how it is associated with 'me'?

A: Knowledge, thought is the accumulation of time. What we have learnt, our experiences, preferences gathered over the course of life, all the education that we have received, all the various interactions, relationships, all accumulated gives 'me'. This is what most people follow including me but I am trying to go beyond and as Krishnamurthi says there is no trying, no forcing that can bring about this realisation. It has to happen instantly when we see the whole truth of our existence. He says Time is our enemy because there is the sense of yesterday, tomorrow when in fact there is only now. If there is no me, there is no need of time. It is me who is always looking for something, wanting more and more which creates time. I will do this, I will get this - this is all movement of time. We need time for 'me'. There is no psychological time as such. Krishnamurthi is suggesting if we move beyond 'me', we will move beyond psychological time also. 

Q4: How can we free ourselves from 'me'?  

A: Imagine a life without this 'me'. Can we imagine that? Can the 'me' imagine itself to be non existent. It can't because it is self contradictory because imagining or thinking about 'not me' by 'me' is still within the field of 'me'. So, is it possible to be ever free of 'me'. This is the enquiry of Krishnamurthi. He suggests that we should see, find out if it is possible and how can it be brought about by. All these are words - representations, the truth lies beyond words and words will never actually represents the world without 'me'.  It needs actual seeing without any agent, when thought has come to rest, thought i.e. 'me' has seen the truth of how utterly futile it is to force anything. Thought is needed for basic functions like driving a car but it's utility is only limited to that because psychological thought of me becoming something, me making decisions, choosing one thing over other, rejecting other is all futile. We are trying to reach what is without our judgements, biases, prejudices.