Celebrating Easter in Poland

Polska or Poland, as it is known, though geographically located in the central part of Europe, has been politically a part of the east-European communist block. I spent my Easter holidays in Krakow – the cultural capital of the country. Three months ago, I had no idea that I will be visiting Poland. But an unanticipated friendship produced through the International Sociological Association’s PhD laboratory in Nigeria made it all possible. It began during the travel in Nigeria after the conference, where two newly introduced people were strained to travel together due to the unpredictable socio-political situation and gradually became good friends. As a result of that beautiful friendship, I was invited to visit Krakow – the home town of Karolina, who I met in Nigeria.



Poland, being a catholic country, as Karolina told me, is a nice place to celebrate Easter. I planned my visit accordingly and got my flight from Malmo (Sweden) to Katowice (Krakow). I was traveling from Malmo because all the budget flights from Copenhagen were booked during the time. Traveling from Malmo was also comparatively cheaper. I thought Malmo Airport, like Copenhagen, would be besides the train station. When I got off at Malmo Central train station, I did not know that the Airport is 25 K.M away and there is also no frequent bus services. There is only a private coach, which leaves every one hour. Luckily I had some time, which gave me the opportunity to walk around Malmo city. It was a very nice city similar to Copenhagen. Finally I managed to catch my flight and arrived in Krakow.



Karolina came with her friend Agatka to receive me at the bus station in the evening at around 9 pm. It was indeed wonderful to see her there after our scary and exciting trip in Nigeria in December. Both of us could not believe that I am in Krakow. We headed to a pub. She bought me a cup of nice warm coffee that let my mild headache go away. I also met Pawel, a gentleman who, although initially looked like a rock star to me, is in reality a philosopher. His long hair and thick glasses later compelled me to revisit my first impression. I had a wonderful evening with them. A walk around the dazzling city and vibrant night life sensed magical. The time spent in Singer bar was lovely because of its nice table arrangements. Each table had an old singer sewing machine that reminded me of my village, where the tailor’s place was one of the most vibrant place during my childhood days. Anyway, it was a happy evening that made me interested in the city’s life and style.



The next day began with a smiling face. Having had our breakfast together and we went to the university, where we met Agatka and Pawel. Karolina and Agatka showed me around their department. The department looked like the old colonial houses in India – tall buildings with majestic architecture. The houses looked really beautiful. One of the interesting things is to count the number of churches in Krakow. Almost every hundred or two hundred meter you find a church. It was interesting for me to see the religious vibrancy in the city. Even the college going young people were very religious. I visited a number of churches and I liked this whole idea of celebrating festivals or being religious.



I should mention here that I am a very religious person. This also reminded me how much I miss these things in my life and how things have gradually changed in my village. When I was a kid, I longed for festivals and religious celebrations because it was fun. Community living and collective social life in my village was strong. But with the changing times, as I see now, things have changed. Religious functions and collective celebrations do not have much vibrancy in village life. Community living has given way to individualistic behaviours and practices. This is what I was explaining to a friend of mine in Belgium, when he asked me what I miss about my village.



Being religious has often been misunderstood as being fanatic or fundamentalist. However they are not the same thing. Being religious for me is to believe in God or some supernatural power or having faith – it could be any religious faith. But when you develop some rigid ethnocentric attitude and judge one’s religion as superior or inferior, it gives way to fundamentalism. Recognizing the existence of other religious faiths as equals and an attitude of syncretism can solve the religious conflicts of the world. Though I am born in a Hindu family, I enjoyed my visit to the churches during Easter. I enjoyed it because of the “sense of community” or religious faith it spreads among the people and revives the collective social memory in the age of amnesia.



I visited many places of historical and cultural importance. I went to Wawel castle that represent a symbol of Polish royal traditions and history. It was majestic in its look and had occupied a beautiful place besides the river. The main market place, the cloth hall, the town hall tower, the St. Mary’s church and many others were simply beautiful. I was amazed to see so many tourists, who added vibrancy to the city’s already busy and bustling life. The city of Krakow can not be defined in one word. It was beautiful, it was colourful, it was vibrant, and it was modern in look with a traditional soul.



I had also no idea about the difference that the so called eastern Europeans feel in their life style and moral underpinnings from the so called western Europeans. We, in India, take things for granted about the life, love, marriage and family of westerners. This was good to know how people are so strongly attached to their families and share a strong sense of belonging. I got to understand that how the simple dichotomy of west being individualistic and east being communitarian belies many aspects of social reality.



I also visited the Welizka salt mine, which was 30 minutes by bus in the south-east of Krakow. It was truly amazing to see the salt mine which had been ceaselessly operating since the Middle Ages till 1996. It took me almost one day to go around the mine underground to its various sites. Since Poland is a catholic country, you get to see a lot of churches and statues of Jesus and Mary in all places. There is a beautiful church down in the salt mine where people can also get married. A statue of Pope John Paul II is recently established there who visited the mine perhaps in 1972 before became the Pope. When I get out of the mine, I was very happy to see it snowing. I loved it. It was beautiful. The earth looked like being covered with a white blanket. Winter was back again in Europe. In the evening, Karolina and I went to her mom’s place. I met her mom and Andre (I loved Andre’s songs). They were really nice. Her mom was a beautiful lady, who was surprised to know that I am a strict vegetarian who does not even take eggs and who does not drink and smoke.



During my stay in Krakow I also visited Auschwitz. Located about 60 K.M from Krakow it remains one of the most explicit symbols of the terror and tragedy created by the Nazis during the World War II. It was the Nazi extermination camp, where almost 1.5 million people were killed. Though it was horrifying and depressing to see, it was one of the best museums that provide details about the Nazi brutality. As per the data, 430,000 Jews from Hungary, 300,000 Jews from Poland, 69,000 from France, 60,000 from the Netherlands, 55,000 from Greece, 46,000 from Czech Republic, 27,000 from Slovakia, 25,000 from Belgium, 23,000 from Austria and Germany, 10,000 from Yugoslovia, 7,500 from Italy and 690 from Norway were deported to Auschwitz (data reproduced from a picture taken at the museum).



The next day, Karolina and I came to her mom’s place to make the Easter eggs. After having breakfast, we painted the eggs and prepared a chocolate cake. I painted the egg in the form of a soccer ball, which belonged to the Karolina Company. She then prepared a basket of food representatives (one piece from each food group), which we took to the church for prayer. The priest prayed for the food and we then returned home with the basket.



Finally came the big day – the Easter. Karolina and I went to her mom’s place. Though Karolina had told me before that the Poles eat a lot during Easter, I had no idea about it. I was surprised to see the amount of and the kinds of food were placed on table for breakfast.



After wishing a very happy Easter to each other, we started our breakfast. First the food from the food representative basket that had undergone sacred prayer was served on the plates. After that we were free to eat anything from the table. I was offered to eat eggs. Since eggs represented the symbol of Easter, I thought of trying because my vegetarianism was due to personal choice and had nothing to do with religion. So I thought of trying it and also not to disappoint my lovely hosts. Andre had prepared the eggs stuffed with mixed vegetables. They really tested nice and I kept on eating more and more eggs.



Karolina and I visited the cemetery where her grand father and grand mother’s bodies were buried. The cemetery looked beautiful. Everyone had decorated their relative’s graves with colourful flowers and candles. It happened that it was also the cemetery where the Pope John Paul II’s father was buried. When he was the Pope, he used to visit to that cemetery. It was nice to see this and have a unique experience.



We then visited a church and came back home for Easter lunch. Karolina’s uncle and anti had also come. Her anti and uncle were really nice. It was lovely and wonderful experience for me for being a part of her family to celebrate Easter together and having such wonderful time with them.



I felt how and what it means to stay away from the family. But then, I guess sometimes it depends on the nature of your family. Sometimes, for some, it is perhaps better being away from rather than being with the family. Whatever it is, my visit to Poland was truly unique and memorable. I thank Karolina and our friendship for letting me experience such a beautiful aspect of Polish culture, religion and social life.

Gothic Structure of the Notre-Dame

The Guitar Guy

Gate between the Louvre & the Tuilerie

Erotic Sculptures at the Tuilerie

The Long & Wide Boulevards

The Majestic Louvre

The Lamp-Post of the Stray Tourists

Palace de la Concorde

Paris Experience

Paris, besides other things, is known as the city of love, romance and beauty. It is also the city of lights. It is the city that forces the most cynical person to appreciate it and to realize its magic. It is the city that lifts a person’s heart. The heart and mind dichotomy seems to be widening, where the most scientific individual would like to shut down his/her rational calculations to give space to emotional expressions (given the fact that rational and emotional are two extreme opposites). Heart predominates over mind and emotional feelings over rationalist calculations.

It is one of the most beautiful cities I have traveled to. It’s lovely and majestic in its look. Seeing the city, I wondered if this is the place where the modern democratic ideas like freedom, equality and liberty emerged. It was primarily because every house looked like a king’s palace and royal in its look, which gave me the impression that it is perhaps seat of a powerful monarchy. The beautiful architecture of the houses, the erotic sculptures and paintings, the long and wide boulevards, the tall trimmed trees, the colourful market places, the strong flow of water in the river, the dark blue sky in the evening, the sparkling golden lights, the street performances of the musicians and young dancers, the majestic louvre, the gothic structure of the notre-dame, the lovely tuilerie garden, the lamp-post of the stray tourists – the eiffel tower and many more were in their best to enhance the beauty of the city and to attract the aliens as well.

I loved my stay in Paris. The best part of my experience here that made me smile were at the “palace de la concorde” when I saw the lights were turned on in the evening. The city looked like as if it is filled with dazzling golden stars in the dark blue sky. The second best experience that made me smile was the evening near notre-dame at the University of Paris. This was perhaps the best part of Paris for me. The market looked colourful with varieties of stores and restaurants. After grabbing my dinner from some vegetarian restaurants, I was walking around the market where I saw a person playing guitar. He was playing beautiful songs and an old man was dancing. People stopped by him and dropped coins. A beautiful young girl was standing with her boy-friend. She came forward and started dancing with the old man. A huge group of students also gathered and started singing with him. Girls started dancing with absolute strangers. A group of young dancers also performed lovely dances. Sometimes people in the audiences also challenged the dancers through their performances and in the end one of them was declared the winner. That was the loveliest experience I had in Paris. Every evening after making my tours around the city, I make sure that I come back to notre-dame area to enjoy the street performances. After this, I take long walk to the Eiffel Tower to watch its beautiful lighting before ending my day.

The Christianhavn Lake

The Colourful Canals

The Theatre

The City Square

Basides the Canal

The Walking Street

From my office window

Outside my office

Snowing in Campus

Snow outside my house

It's a Cinema Hall

I have no idea who is this !!

Carlsberg Glyptotek

It's not a Mosque

Chinese Dragon Perhaps

Tivoli Garden

Display of Modern Arts

A Cathedral

A Church

Museum Architecture

Kobenhavn Central Railway Station

Eating Experience

I used to have a very bad schedule at NUS. I did n't know when I am sleeping, when I am waking up, when I am eating my food and what I am eating. Since I used do my work at home, I did not really pay much attention about my food and of having lunch buddies. But sometimes, when I go to the university, I do not find people to have lunch with. And it mostly happens during the holidays, when the graduate students hardly come to the department. I was the only lonely soul hanging around in the department, since the morning till late in the evening. During the lunch time, when I go to eat at the canteen, I find myself very lonely, emabarassed and bored. It so happened that it some times scared me. It feels like as if everyone is watching me and I am under constant surveillance. This idea of "being alone" is not a very good one, whether at lunch or in life. Nothing sucks more than feeling all alone no matter how many people are around.

Similar things also happened, when I used to live in Gillman Heights and go to have my dinner at S.P. Jain Management Institute, which is very close to the Condomnium. My experience during the first few days were very interesting. Nice indian food, pretty girls around and I didn't have to go far to find some 'vegetarian' food (my unique problematic). But after few days, similar feelings were developed. I felt myself being watched. I also felt that I was the only person, who eats alone. My feeling of their feelings scared me and embarassed me. To avoid this, I changed my time schedule and started going to the canteen very early, when it is not crowded. Often, I asked friends to join me also. Some other time, Maggie Noodles and Fairprice Bread in our refrigerator saved me from such embarassments.

The point I am trying to make is the longing of friendship while eating. The good thing here at Roskilde is that all the professors and dtudents' have their lunch together. They buy their food from the canteen and bring it back to the department, where they get to discuss many things. The short-term guests like us get the opportunity to meet other people and build a network of relationship - both personal and professional. But sometimes, the prevailed silence over lunch also scares like the loneliness. Sometimes, their interaction in Danish also leave the non-Danish speakers isolated. It feels like "feeling lonely in the midst of the crowd". The effect ultimately is "loneliness", whether you are with or without someone, not only at lunch but also in life. So we shouldn't wait for someone to make us feel happy!!

Encounter and Experience in Roskilde

After my pleasant encounter with Gonzalo, Reason and Elisa at Korallen on 15 February, we decided to go the next day to Roskilde, a small town near the university to buy food for the weekends, since all the canteens remain closed on weekends. We took the train to Roskilde, which is only 5 minutes ride from Trekroner. We knew the arrival timing of the train at Trekroner and we left our house accordingly. The train arrived 2 minutes before and I did not have the time to buy my train ticket. I travelled with Gonzalo´s extra ticket.

First Few Feelings in Denmark

On 15 February, looking through the windows of Turkish Airlines, I was overwhelmed to see the scenic beauty of the city of Copenhagen sorrounded by deep blue water. It was truely rare and I regreted sitting beside the aile, since I could not capture the moment in my Camera. Believe me, I am a camera crazy person and feel sorry if could not capture some of the memerising moments. Some of my good old friends thats why complain against me that I always take pictures and do not enjoy the moment, which sometimes could be true.

Anyway, the experience began with a smile. The smile turned into a laughter when I got off the flight and came out of the Airport to see the afternoon sun waiting outside with its bright golden rays to welcome me to this amazing city. My first feeling was happiness. Wah !! What a bright day? My fear of cold and cloudy days faded away and the scary imagination of expecting dark gray days seemed like day dreams. I spoke to myself, it will not be hard to survive here.!!



It was not difficult to find my way to the Roskilde University. People were very warm, nice and welcoming. I joined the line to buy my train ticket and an one way ticket from Copenhagen Airport to Roskilde University, which is not more than 30 minutes ride, cost me DKK 90 (SGD 26). My reaction was, what an expensive city?? Though I knew it is one of the expensive cities in Europe, I had no idea that it would be so expensive.

The train travelled through lands that looked deserted. I could not see any houses around or city centres. It looked like as if I am passing through a desert in winter. The stations and sorroundings looked scary, since there were only one or two people getting into or getting off the train at the stations. It was scary for me because of my experience in Indian train stations, which were crowded with populations fighting to get into the train to find a space to accomodate at least their two legs to reach their destination or the experience in Singapore, which may not be as disorganised as the Indian experience is, but people lining up for getting into the train. In comparison to those experiences, Denmark was a unique anomaly. But it was interesting.

I got off at the Trekroner Station, which is just 8 minutes walk from the University. I found myself in the middle of the station almost alone. The station, as usual, looked like a desert and as if I am standing in the middle of it. I was wondering how to go to the University from the station and found no one to ask to. After few minutes, to my happiness, found someone, perhaps looked Asian (I dont remember correctly the face now - no racist intention), who directed me the way to the University. It was freaking cold and my hands were freezing. I dragged my luggage trolley and on my way I saw pretty Danish girls and handsome guys making their way back from the University towards the station at around 2.30 pm, since the University closes at 3 pm on fridays.

The University seemed to be situated in the middle of an Industrial Complex. It looked isolated and lifeless. Close to the University, there is a nice small lake, where I saw swans and some other birds. But the water in the lake looked stagnant. When I went to touch the water, It was hard and had turned into ice.



The campus looked nice though, with its dark gray leafless trees. It was not hard to find my destination. I went to the Department of International Development Studies and Dora and Inge were there to welcome me. They were very nice and welcoming. Dora assisted me finding my house. She is a very nice smiling face. To her, I brought the bright sun with me to Roskilde, since this was the first bright day. So nice of her. I checked into Korallen Students' Dorm. its a nice place but isolated and boring. My first encounter was with its unclean communal kitchens. But, the rooms looked nice. It is not like the hostels in Indian Universities which are always (extra)lively and crowded. It is a very clam and quiet place filled with International students from various parts of the globe.

I met Reason from Zimbabwe, who is studying in South Africa. I also met Gonzallo from Cloumbia studying at LSE and Elisa from Italy working on Tanzania. These were the Guest PhD students like me. I also met some other exchange students at the Master level. The dinner was bought for me by Gonzallo and Reason, but they did not have the idea that I am a Vegetarian. Elisa was so sweet to cook some Pasta for me. We had a wonderful evening together. A warm eveneing at Korallen welcomed me with colourful, and diverse smiling faces around the world. Let this smile be continued....Thats all for now.

Arun Pandit's Dinner on Chrismas Eve

Pankaj on Chrismas Eve

An Evening with Prof. Bhat

Prof. Chandrasekhar Bhat teaches Indian Diaspora at University of Hyderabad, from where I received my Masters of Arts degree in Sociology. I spent a wonderfully memerable evening with Prof. Bhat and his wife in Sentosa Island. He was visiting Kuala Lumpur for the Indian Diaspora Conference organised by GOPIO. He found some time to visit Singapore, where Amit ji and Rashmi ji gave me the opportunity to meet them and discuss about my time and experience in Hyderabad.

Climbing the Slave's Cave

Yankari National Park, Nigeria

ISA Ph.D Laboratory in Nigeria

International Sociological Association organised its seventh Laboratory for Ph.D students in social sciences at the University of Maiduguri in Nigeria between November 18 and November 24. Students from various parts of the world presented and discussed their doctoral work. It was an interesting and wonderful experience to listen to other people's work and about other countries.

Newton's Law & Nike Advertisement

On the Banks of the River Ganges

On the banks of a holy river
The Ganges winds round and round
Twirling twisting shapes
Rising waves
Floating flowers
A conch shell the distance blows
A call beckoning asleep, arise
Raising rising mantra
Folded hands bowed heads Before the rising lord
Salute the sun
Saffroned splendour
Welcome the birth of daylight
A ray of sunshine joy to bring every life guide

Farewell night a tired traveller
Your part is done moments daylight entered

A lone woman sitting on a rock
Looks into water deep eyes
Searching searching for a silence....

What says the river today
What does she hear

Floating fragments waves bring
Lost flowers a light swimming bravely
Whose prayers are these
Who places a tiny light upon the heart

Of flowing floating river of might
Why do these flowers tremble to touch every ripple of water
Speckled dew, drops her eyes

Reverberating sounds mingled voices
Past and present
Merging streams of sound, waking light of dawn
Many answered dreams float in image waters Ganges
Eyes penetrate hidden depths silent bosom

A land of many wonders
Oceans away
Nestled asleep at the feet of the mighty Himalaya
Ganges rests with her sisters in deep sleep

And when torrid currents overcome an outside world too harsh
Waves of tapestry she lends covering naked bodies of grief.

___________________

@ Kavita in "An Amorphous Melody"

Love

There is a game of life people play
There is no turning back
With love it begins with love it must end

It is a charmed circle of life
From the silence of the womb
To the silent sounds of earth feet tread

Where is the choice
Where is the reason
Where is the wisdom

Who begins this play
Lights the way
Is waiting at the end.

____________
@ Kavita in "An Amorphous Melody"

The Crisis of Global Governance

The former British Prime Minister Mr. Tony Blair delivered a public lecture organised by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at National University of Singapore on “The Crisis of Global Governance: Challenges and Solutions”. According to him, the world is opening up and becoming more interdependent on each other. Each country is concerned about the other and we cannot afford to overlook the situation in the continent of Africa. Africa should be included in the development process. Due to the process of globalization, opportunities are far greater for people today than ever before.

He pointed out some of the basic challenged that world is facing today - economic challenges like poverty and exclusion, environmental crisis and climate change, energy crisis, crisis related to the movement of people (migration) and the humanitarian and economic crisis in the continent of Africa.

According to him, the solutions to these problems do not depend on any one country, but all. The solution today is not protectionism but opening up. The effort in this direction needs to be multilateral. For example, the USA would not sign the agreement on climate change without taking China and China would not sign if it obstructs the growth of the country. He pointed out three basic strategies to solve the crisis of governance in world today - (1) building strong alliances, (2) reforming multilateral institutions, and (3) empowering the civic society.

In his concluding remarks, he mentioned that the solutions to terrorism do not come from governments but from peoples’ of different faith at the grassroots. Democracy, freedom and Justice are the global values that should be respected and upheld by the people for peace and prosperity in the world.

Impossible is Nothing !!

Impossible Is Just a Big Word
Thrown Around By Small Men
Who Find It Easier
To Live In a World
They Have Been Given
Than To Explore the Power
They Have To Change It.

Impossible Is Not A Fact.
It Is An Opinion.
Impossible Is Not A Declaration.
It Is A Dare.
Impossible Is Potential.
Impossible Is Temporary.

Hotel Karalafonia

Onthe road to Trivandrum

Coconutoil in my hair

Warm smell of avial

Risingup through the air

Upahead in the distance

Isaw a bright pink tube-light

Mytummy rumbled, I felt weak and thin

Ihad to stop for a bite

Therehe stood in the doorway

Flickedhis mundu in style

AndI was thinking to myself

Idon't like the look of his sinister smile

Thenhe lit up a petromax

Muttering'No power today'

MoreMallus down the corridor

Ithought I heard them say

Welcometo the Hotel Kerala-fonia

Sucha lousy place,

Sucha lousy place (background)

Sucha sad disgrace,

Plentyof bugs at the Hotel Kerala-fonia

Anytime of year

Anytime of year (background)

It'sinfested here

It'sinfested here

Hisfinger's stuck up his nostril

He'sgot a big, thick mustache

Hemakes an ugly, ugly noise

Butthat's just his laugh

Buxomgirls clad in pavada

Eatingbanana chips

Someroll their eyes, and

Someroll their hips

Isaid to the manager

Myroom's full of mice

Hesaid,

Don'tworry, saar,I sending you

meenkarri, brandy and ice

Andstill those voices were crying from far away

Wakeyou up in the middle of the night

Justto hear them pray

Saveus from the Hotel Kerala-fonia

Sucha lousy place,

Sucha lousy place (background)

Sucha sad disgrace

Tryingto live at the Hotel Kerala-fonia

Itis no surprise

Itis no surprise (background)

Thatit swarms with flies

The blind man was pouring

Stale sambar on rice

And he said

Weare all just actors here

In Silk Smitha-disguise

Andin the dining chamber

We gathered for the feast

Westab it with our steely knives

But we just can't cut that beef

Last thing I remember

Iwas writhing on the floor

That cockroach in my appam-stew was the culprit,

Iam sure

Relax,said the watchman

This enema will make you well

Andhis friends laughed as they held me down

God's Own Country?

Oh, Hell!

㏕he Yeagles

THEMATHIAS"

Developing a Development Mindset

The panelists in the forum on “Bangladesh and Singapore: Developing a Development Mindset” touched upon various aspects of development in both societies. The panel on Singapore began with Mr. S. Dhanabalan who pointed out about three things that resulted in the success of Singapore - (1) political leadership – moral authority, (2) concrete action – pragmatism over ideology, and (3) structure of society. He also agreed with Prof. Yunus’s inaugural talk on defiance and argued that Singapore’s model of growth and development has defied the conventional western methodology. Public housing has not degenerated into slums; trade unions instead of becoming confrontational towards management have become partners of growth and profit.

Dr. Akbar Ali Khan pointed out that both Singapore and Bangladesh have gone through similar process of independence which he expressed through talak, talak, talak – Singapore first from the British and then from Malaysia; Bangladesh from India and then from Pakistan. Singapore followed outward looking globalization policy where as Bangladesh followed inward looking imports substitution policies of economic development. Singapore strictly denied socialist policies where as Bangladesh followed a socialist model of development whose ghost is still haunting it in three basic ways – (1) confrontational trade union, (2) inefficient public sector, and (3) incapability of public sector to provide incentives. He concluded by saying that “God has not made Bangladesh poor. Poverty in Bangladesh is man-made because it could not create institutions and run institutions”.

Speaking about the civil society movement in Bangladesh Ms. Farida Akhtar argued that there are 20000 NGOs in Bangladesh who covers 78 per cent of the villages. Poor people survive neither because of the public sector nor because of the civil society but in their own capacity. Bangladesh has a large NGO sector and constitutes a strong civil society movement in South Asia. However, it should be noted that the NGOs are not homogeneous. They are diverse in nature and are doing diverse things.

According to Ms. Euleen Goh, Bangladesh has demographic or human resources advantage which is required for development of a country and wished Singapore had more. According to her, the reason of Singapore’s success is that it has been able to create an open, competitive environment ease for doing business. It is ranked as the world’s 7th competitive country and ranked 1 in Asia. It has an efficient system, developed infrastructure, secure and welcoming environment, great education system and legal certainty – all of which are conducive for business. Shell Oil established its refinery in 1961 which is now the third largest. Though SingTel began as a government owned company, it is now fully privatized and 50 per cent of its share comes from overseas.

Syed Manzur Elahi spoke about the economic environment in Bangladesh. According to him, the primary reason of Bangladesh’s separation from Pakistan was economic because most of the commerce and industries were located in west-Pakistan. Though the first Bangladeshi government was pro-private in its manifesto, it followed a socialist pattern of development. Public sector could have done better in Bangladesh if the trade unions were not so politicized and if the political parties were not interfering in trade unions. There is an urgent need of transparency and accountability in Bangladesh’s public sector because the private sector needs quick decision-making in this globalised age. The government has to provide an “enabling environment”. It is happening today that all the agricultural land is getting transformed into industrial land which Bangladesh has also to think about. If Bangladesh has failed today, it is because of its “political leadership”.

Dr. Shapan Adnan spoke about the relationship between culture and corruption in society. According to him corruption occurs in that society where immorality becomes a part of society’s culture and where illegality and ethicality no longer is treated as a shame. Corruption is transaction between the bribe payer and the bribe taker. Poverty is not the cause of corruption because most of the corruption happens among high classes. Corruption has remained as a recurrent theme because of utilization of thugs by the political leadership to manipulate ballot for political office. Bureaucrats and tax collectors collect tax not for revenue maximization for state but personal profit maximization. Corruption is not individual but systemic or institutional and leads to unproductive accumulation.

Mahfuz Anam spoke about the mindset and leadership. He began by saying that Singapore has utilized its geography and demography to achieve its success where as Bangladesh has neglected these resources. Bangladesh has 5th largest reserve of sweet water in the world. Its population has turned to a liability from an asset. The government did not educate its people and did not give them hope. The reason of corruption and underdevelopment lies in its confrontational politics that began in 1991 through democratic system. It has two aspects – one, an arrogant government that tries to oppress the opposition, and two, an opposition that is irresponsible. This confrontational politics is fought at the street level through strikes and to oppress the strikes the government hires criminals. The ruling parties pay to gangsters to beat the opposition which has resulted in a strong nexus between politics and crime. Thus good politics in Bangladesh today is not about how to run a country but about how to control streets. As a consequence, a “culture of impunity” has evolved. The ways out for Bangladesh is thus to make a shift from personality based politics to a politics that emphasizes on institutions building.

Defying the System

The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy along with Institute of South Asian Studies organized a forum on “Bangladesh and Singapore: Developing a Development Mindset” on 2 November 2007. The inaugural address was delivered by Prof. Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Laureate. According to him, the problems our societies facing today cannot be solved by the existing system because it is the same system which has created these problems. The solution to these problems lies in “defiance”. If we challenge the existing system and explore alternative methods, the objective will surely be achieved.

According to him, he started Grameen Bank with a total capital of $ 27. He faced many problems from the formal system and existing institutions. Grameen Bank declared two things – (1) financial system is wrong because it rejects the poor and helps the rich, and (2) banking system is wrong because rejects the women. However, he also faced similar problems. Even though he wanted to help the women and bring them into business, they were very apprehensive. According to him, this denial or “no” is not her voice; it is the voice of history and when the women will say “let me try” that would be the success for Grameen Bank. It took 6 years for Grameen Bank to achieve this success. Though Grameen bank’s policy was 50:50 male-female proportion, in borrowing pattern it observed that money going to the family through women has tremendous impact than money going through men. The obvious question then was why 50:50? Grameen Bank extended itself to reach out to more women and today out of 7.5 million borrowers of Grameen Bank 97 per cent are women.

As policy, Bank tries to implement its 16 decisions in the grassroots through women. Some of them are sending children to school, stop giving and receiving dowry, etc. Today almost 100 percent of Grameen children are in school and 18,000 Grameen student are having access to Bank’s educational loan and pursuing higher education degrees in medicine, engineering and other fields.

He also mentioned that the world is going through tremendous transformation and the world is not going to be as it is today. The next generation would speak different languages and behave differently. Sometimes we may like it, sometimes we may not. This change in relationship will change the society and this change is happening in exponential way. What took Grameen Bank 20 years to achieve may now take 5 or 10 years to achieve the same.

Grameen Bank’s effort has been extraordinary. Today of the 150 million people in Bangladesh, almost everyone has a cell phone. The information technology will change our lives and this is only the beginning. He also mentioned about their success in solar energy among the rural population in Bangladesh.

Answering the questions he pointed out that human being is not a machine for making profit. They are not selfish individuals involved in economic business for profit. They are also involved in what he calls “social business” where personal profit takes a back seat and profit for the people or public profit becomes important; where individual think about common public good and try to include others in the process of development. This development will establish a humane world. This social business cannot thrive on “charity” because in charity you always have to look for funds but in social business you generate money from the initial capital not for personal profit but to be reinvested for common public good. In this case the concept of micro-credit becomes important.

He distinguished between micro-credit and money-lending. According to him, many of the organizations are imposing high rate of interest and still calling themselves as micro-credit programme. He divided micro credit into three categories – (1) green zone where the interest rate below 10 per cent; (2) yellow zone where the interest rate between 10 and 15 per cent; and (3) red zone where the interest rate goes beyond 15 percent. And anyone involved in the social business and charging more than 15 per cent interest are not in micro credit but in money lending process. The primary objective of Grameen Bank was to oppose the high rate of interest and help the rural poor have access to capital with lower interest rate. This will not only remove the poverty in rural areas but also develop entrepreneurship among them and help creating a more humane world. Micro-credit thus has become a tool to defy the conventional wisdom which indeed is the conventional stupidity.