Life in Dhaka
Amar Economics by Sen
The Sen Factor (SF) has hit Bangladesh (after the recent flooding)! Genial and disarming Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen came, saw, and conquered the Bengalee hearts (how he conquers the Planning Commission and the Bureaucrats remain to be seen). We do not mind such capitulation (to rejoicing), as, on recapitulation, it turned out that it had happened only twice in history.
Au revoir, Sen-da, and many happy returns of the day! Socially, we take leave of the host/s by purring "Aashee!", which means coming (taking leave, not going), instead of saying 'jai' (leaving). Sen-da, you are coming back, because that's what you promised. You have left us charged into a state of higher consciousness. It is for us to bring ourselves down to earth; although there is many a slip between the cup and the lip.
What was remarkable in our family drawing room that evening was that the whole family hugely 'enjoyed' the television interview of Amartya Sen broadcast by BTV. It was an informal chat show dealing with high and new theories of economics at the very frontier of formal knowledge; but all seemed to enjoy it, inside and outside the studio. The secret was that the tone of the talk was not high flown technical jargon. Simply put: development is awareness. The rest of the exercise is nuts and bolts.
I felt jealous that amongst the viewers in our drawing room, there was no evidence of female and age factors, as wife and sister-in-law hugely enjoyed the conversation on high economics; and my 5-year-old niece also listened without disturbing us, as Sen-da spoke in fluent Bangla, hardly using English words and expressions, and avoided technical jargon. The performance revealed a remarkable command of the subject and the language. When I talk hi-tech, my family audience desert me.
The month of December in 1998 added two more development factors (DF) in the psyche of the nation: the computer show held the preceding week drew huge crowds of families (two lakh people attended the show) making it a sort of social movement on computer awareness. The second was what we can affectionately term as the 'prodigal's return': Amartya Sen brought down the economics of the poor to the middle-class level, as far as awareness is concerned. The proof of the daal-bhaat lies in the eating.
Economics theories are a dry subject (unlike a PC demo of a game) which take generations to prove (there are too many variable and human factors), followed by eclipses of doubts and ambiguity, as this decade is observing, which perhaps resulted in the award of this Nobel prize. The civilisation said good-bye to the Soviet type of socialism after 70 years of application, now the economics of the poor is under the microscope, compared to the current application of the economics of the rich and affluent, which calls for a slimming course on the part of corpulent 'Miss West'. The reported successes in the field applications of Grameen Bank type of micro-credit schemes are hugging the headlines. Now at least Bangladesh is not deprived of ideas.
It might be mere coincidence, but what is common between Sen's articulations and GB experiments have to be evaluated by the experts, remembering that two Bengali minds used Bangladesh as the field models in many areas of their theoretical studies and field applications.
Amartya Sen's findings may provide a fill-in to make Economics a popular subject in the third world campuses, as the TV interview indicated that this obtuse discipline, toying with the fate of billions of lives at the marginal levels could be brought down to the popular level of awareness.
The social trend is changing. The recent Book Fair in Dhaka, which almost coincided with the BCS International Computer Show, failed to divert the curious and enthusiastic crowds from computers to books. Computers have two added advantages, the AV factor, that is the presence of audio and video, compared to the books, which is confined to the print medium only. There is another advantage, the same computer could be used by all the family members, regardless of age and academic level; that is, the field is bigger and more varied.
Globally, the impact of economic theories will never be the same again, as the human factor (HF) has been brought in. This HF factor is considered a nuisance in the labs and in R&D. Mathematics is a popular tool, because the mathematical terms and treatment are pure and precise; but might falter in the field, as the HF becomes the bug. Bangladesh can take off sweetly once this HF bug could be contained. The challenge is there, but it has been identified.
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