The red herring of Technology

The Educated Morons, who advocate smart phones be bought by all the undernourished villagers, need to be put on a rocket and sent away - to USofA or to Mars, I couldn't care less.
Paalaguttapalle (Dalitwada)

Arun K. Shanker Adoption of new technology is the key in progress, we cant shun technology and give reasons for not adopting it, we at our org ICAR and all the State Agricultural Universities are working towards this - weather based advisory for agriculture field oper...See more

 

Aparna Krishnan I would suggest that you base in a village for one year, with no agenda to teach or develop the villagers. It is only out of an understanding of ground realities that we have a right to presume to offer answers. You are welcome to our village.

 

Arun K. Shanker Our job in the villages, we just do that, we have adopted remote villages, and do the job

 

Aparna Krishnan :). Precisely my point. Simply stay and understand. The nuances. For a year. Before 'doing the job.'.

 

Arun K. Shanker Aparna Krishnan First we understand the place,stay with them, interact with them and then decide on the course of action

 

Aparna Krishnan We would be gald of your suggestions for our village also. Water dropped to 1000 feet, rainfall now erratic, and we need to grow crops that can sustain the community.

 

Aparna Krishnan Paalaguttapalle (near Pakala), Pakala (Mandalam), Chitoor (Dt), AP. 517152

 

Arun K. Shanker That is nice, we will work on it, would be glad to visit and inetarct with you and you team as our goal is the same, will inbox you details

 

Chidambaran Subramanian Do you advocate pesticides?

 

Prakash Thangavel Tied up with govt, what do u expect?

 

Aparna Krishnan Draw on what we can from each source. The reality is anyway deeply compromised, and if the farmers of our village start moving towards crops that bring back sustainablity into farming, i for am am willing to make fully-organic step two.

 

Aparna Krishnan When lives and livlihoods are winding up, we need to recoup somehow immediately. Theoritical perfection is another story.

 

Sridhar Lakshmanan lets not be this pessimistic, ICAR has done some really good works also in ICT for agriculture, i was remotely associated in some. this will bring relief to at least palgattupulle , it will be a pilot but that shouldn't stop us. they have resources at their disposal and are more sensible compared to many other

 

Sridhar Lakshmanan Aparna Krishnan i think you should let involve Nagesh in this , they do work a lot on dryland farming, remote sensing etc

 

Aparna Krishnan He's not on FB. So I am putting him and Uma Shankari and Arun together on email. In the village Chandra and Krishnanurthy and others will be fully involved. Now after the horse has bolted all the farmers are alert and willing to listen, think, act.

 

Sridhar Lakshmanan may be mark me too , i can be silent too

 

Aparna Krishnan Yes, definitely. And please dont be silent. All your experience will add to the richness.

 

Hariharan Sukumar By making the hard working to buy smartphones we are making them hardly working

 

Vandana Bhagat Technology has its advantages Aparna ... There are many here you connected with through technology only 😊

And it is technology that is helping you, however minimally, to generate alternate employment , case in point, your bags ...

Rather than shun everything out of hand, maybe one needs to evaluate what can be beneficial on the whole ...

 

Aparna Krishnan Yes, to to make it the 'saviour' is the problem, vandana. The real change we need is a deep internal questioning on where we are headed. And also the vast problems that technology has landed us into ending in the climate change.

 

Paranthaman Sriramulu Technology has good and bad. Like knife. Most of the people we connect is via technology. On the negative side, we miss the real people.

 

Shyamala Sanyal Technology started the problem in the first place : with deep borewells and commercial crops

 

Aparna Krishnan Yes, taken as a whole technology has damned the earth. After that a few of us are using us to do a little (far too little) damage control.

 

Paranthaman Sriramulu It is going in right direction.

http://www.rmai.in/.../5-how-smartphones-are-penetrating...

How smartphones are penetrating deeper in rural India

The penetration of mobile phone in rural India has increased from 22 per cent to 38 per cent in the last four years. We take a look at the factors tha...

 

Suraj Kumar Just being the devil's advocate here... say they said that they will "gift" smart phones instead of asking the villagers to buy on their own... then?

 

Suraj Kumar Aparna Krishnan That may sound funny, but I really meant it. If the rich feel remorse, how else can they pay it forward? You must see that most people have good hearts, even though circumstances imprison them in the system. In such a situation to unentangle and be with the village is a hard problem. Too many commitments, too many unknowns... It is not that the rich are *free* - they are privileged, but not free.

 

Aparna Krishnan Now this is true blue devil's advocacy. Yes, the rich need to lay waste the earth, and then also apply some salve to their concsiences. As by giving away their own smart phones to their maids !

 

GV Suresh I feel sad . The so called education has not provided any competence to think comprehensively or from some one else 's position. I doubt people are aware of ground situations to recommend smart phones for everyone ..even if its given free. Sustainance, service and capability to handle it ... need for prioritising such things when we are struggling to fend for food.. Oh God ...Do not save this homo sapiens...

 

Krishna Kanth Telikepalli Buying smart phone is 1, who'll pay for data usage. With incomes around 2-3k, it is impossible even to pay 100 bucks.

Rahul Banerjee smart phones aren't necessary because even ordinary feature phones can be used to transact through banks. only problem is that the person must be able to use numbers and read the messages. this is a challenge for at least 40% of the population of whom more are women.

 

Aparna Krishnan The simpler and the more down to earth processes are the more people can stay in control. Annapurna's cell stopped working a month ago. The repair shop in the nearest town Pakala 10 km away failed to set it right. Now a Tirupathi trip will cost 200/- and it means a full day gone. So that repair has been kept pending for a month. But as in a sense a phone is a convinience, and not a necessity, its been OK. If gadgets are made necessities, god save the villages.

I do not understand if the PM is utterly ignorant of the realities of villages, or simply scandalnously unconcerned.

 

Aparna Krishnan Failing to deal with drought, with eroding livlihoods, and with pervasive malnourishment, the PM has successfully managed to divert us all into discussing various types of phone !

 

Rahul Banerjee the Government is hostage to national and international corporate interests!! ultimately we are all at the mercy of the crooks on wall street as i never tire of saying!!!!

 

Aparna Krishnan Yes, it hardly matters who is in power. The centralization and the capitalistic processes and the modern industrial ways that devastate the earth, all only grow stronger by the day. We seem to be only raving and ranting. And doing some sweeping and mopping on the edges inbetween the ravages.

 

Velmurugan Balasubramanian Arrogance and inhumane is what Modi is.

 

Naveen Manikandan Periasamy I think the digital divide and education gap can be bridged within a decade in a manner sufficient enough for anyone to type and read simple text messages for transactions.

 

Rahul Banerjee Well since I am trying to do that on the ground I am not so optimistic because the quality of digital access and education at the grassroots is abysmal!!

 

Aparna Krishnan Naveen Manikandan Periasamy The problem is that technology is neither the question nor the answer here. It is a red herring. Mr. PM has distracted the discussion into methods of handling money, when actually every way of earning has got eroded for the poor.

 

Aparna Krishnan Also, to hook the poor into more gadgets is to increase their dependency and financial liabilities. The educated upper class know only technology and it does their concsience good to feel that the technology world they are gambolling in is also good for the world. It is not. One end is e-waste, and the other end is total dependence on electricity and power.

 

Naveen Manikandan Periasamy For how long is it practical to maintain the status quo(no electronics, no power) for the poor?

 

Rahul Banerjee Best to leave Modi out of the discussion altogether as he doesn't have a clue!! First he tries toilets, when that fails he tries digitising india and when that also fails he tries demonetisation which is an unmitigated disaster. Lets see what else he produces from his bag of tricks!!

 

Aparna Krishnan Naveen Manikandan Periasamy the present levels of growth have brought us here! How much more do you think the earth can bear. And please spare me the solace of GreenTechnology, and the magic wand that it is.

 

Naveen Manikandan Periasamy Aparna Krishnan There are two choices. One is villages much completely be cut-off from the rest of the country and self organize and completely localize on all fronts to make possible what you suggest. If that is not possible, the increasing digital divide will only make it even more difficult for the poor.

 

Sridhar Lakshmanan Naveen Manikandan Periasamy i have worked a lot in the ground in the past in the same field of digital divide etc, it is really really very very tough . if distortions are introduced due to digital divide or technology intro of same can help in relieving the stress but if its more fundamental or dependent on other factors out side technology then it becomes a failure. my two pennies worth

 

Aparna Krishnan Sridhar Lakshmanan yes, your experience with the medical van is relevent here. Why dont you explain that in brief ?

 

Aparna Krishnan Anyway this one move is going to put back the effort for local self sustaining communities and work on that front by some light years, and rather permenently. But please answer my question Naveen - the present levels of growth have brought us here onto a space of rainlessness and total rural unemployment ! How much more do you think the earth can bear in our fight for 'equal electricity for all' ?

 

Sridhar Lakshmanan i still believe its not technology alone but greed that did the damage, technology is just a tool u do wat you can with it at the same time its not a cure all it also has limitations

 

Aparna Krishnan In the present state of humankind, given all our weaknesses, the industrial revolution opened the pandora's box. i think the only virtue that was saved in that box was Hope ! And that we are trying to live off !

 

Sridhar Lakshmanan we are all just trying to synchronise our annihilation, nothing more to be glorified. we don't want some one left behind or someone leaving before us

 

Aparna Krishnan yes.

 

Prakash Thangavel We have all the tech we need like sat pics, smart phones, data packs, paytm, internet banking but no water in canals nor rains as promised by met dept. Sugarcane fields became grazing fields, turmeric fields are wasted, even sorghum has dried out. After water crisis, 200 borewells were dug and only 10 have some water. All the wells are dry and micro sprinklers are wasted with increased salt content. And the river we depend upon is being polluted tannery, garment, dyeing, huge industry, city sewage etc. Any "green Tech" to save our future?

 

Prakash Thangavel All agri produce price has crashed because of scarcity of money and many farmers have decided not to farm until rains next year to minimise loss. Price will increase manifold next yr and we can see arguments about inefficient farming methods, lazy farmers and imported tech from israel

 

Aparna Krishnan There ia a pattern to this madness that most do not seem to see and I start wondering if I have a particularly devious mind. But every seemingly disconnected action (and inaction) of the powers that me are firmly entrenching corporate interests, eroding every small player, increasing centraization, and establishing a pervasive survelliance to establish all this beyond every possibility of revolt.

 

Prakash Thangavel Imported food, corporate agriculture, private water companies, closing ration shops, all electronic transactions, branding every other view as anti national, snooping everyone .. Most become salaried, very few will pull the strings...

 

Aparna Krishnan Yes, the writing seems to be there on the wall.

 

Aparna Krishnan Already another gentleman on another thread (whom I promptly unfollowed and unfriended, with my own instincts of self preservation strong) has informed me that farmers are draining the 'hard earned' money of the well off of this land - and that my posts seem to be geared to try to further make them give that 'hard earned money' to 'my village'. He added that American farmers (of the land of his adoption !) are capable and farm thousands of acres, and feed many more. And that indian farmers are not even able to feel themselves (implying that they need to move on, move out, or perish.)

 

Prakash Thangavel Idiot talking about farning when he does not know where his food has been grown or his water was bottled. He deserves the american model where factory grown chicken goes to China for processing in a container and comes back as cut pieces, weeks after chicken was killed and sold in supermarkets as fresh chicken.

 

Aparna Krishnan oh, i did not know this story. yes, its madness running wild. that we are on that path rather than trying to work towards local sustainability is the biggest pity.

 

Aparna Krishnan we will reap what we sow.

Prakash Thangavel So many stories like these, nestle stealing water in south cal mountain springs and selling as spring water in bottles for $2, meanwhile impacting local water supply. No msm reported it, no urbanite supported rural folks, just like happening here. Water is being rationed

 

Prakash Thangavel Does this idiot not know american agribusiness is a cartel and heavily subsidized? Thank god i am out of that zombie land

 

Rupa Bajwa Let us at least spare Mars!

 

Aparna Krishnan ok, USA !

 

Mark Johnston Bit of a shame for the remaining Native Americans though, they have had a hard enough five hundred years or so already. ;)

 

Aparna Krishnan i never saw it that way ... ok to the north pole. all our farmers and labourers will contribute their mite towards a palace for them there. I will certianly contribute too.

 

Raghurama Rao Suswaram That shows how poorly they understand the economic conditions of the people in villages. When moralizing attitude takes over, empathy is lost.

 

Sridhar Lakshmanan i never thought this will become such a long thread, like my example of tele medicine van in philips that i shared with you i have few anecdotes on computers and smartphones too

 

Aparna Krishnan Tell ! You have so many grounded stories that yu really need to put them down. It removes the false halo that otherwise stays stuck on 'technology can save the earth'. 

Aparna Krishnan Yes, this kind of an off hand post usually gets an angry response or two, and a couple of unfriendings by some offended Educated FB friends who hate the mirror ! This thread became long ! 

Sridhar Lakshmanan it would only lead to a longer post, there is this famous story of e seva centres, where they speak of assisted electronic transaction, going for almost now 17 years . i have been part of few initially called sari project then it become raise , then shared service centres and now e seva centres. It was a big big scam and the cat in jharkand or chattisgarh bought out a scathing report , even today if you go to most eseva centres you will find the computer in one corner in its packaging covered by a bed sheet.

 

Sridhar Lakshmanan problem is people don't want to take effort to look into all these, they want to argue from their point of view at max they would say it was one by congress not we have Modi he has a magic wand, i don't know if you saw that video where a e transaction happens in a village mandi. the day looks clueless as to what happened who much she knows is visible, i have been part of many such promotional videos for few corporates and INGOs you know what happens in video and what really happens. sad part is people cite it as a reference

 

Aparna Krishnan But i wish you would put these anecdotes out in public. Technology as the solution is simply a red herring to divert from the long ardous process on the ground, and the collective personal and political change required by civil society. It is an easy way from the Educated to feel they have contributed to society, and save them from the real and huge answerabilities that they need to face.

 

Sridhar Lakshmanan this is the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FriTsCHK9bU, now go to this village and see you won't see a shred of evidence. it is all gimmickry. these have been tried and failed many many time. people don't see that education is a fundamental and technology is a factor multiplier.they think every one is same .no point posting or arguing with them

Digital Village Cashless purchase demonetisation of 500 1000 notes…

How a small village go Cashless transaction!…

youtube.com

 

Aparna Krishnan Still write. These stories need to be out there. Or these fake videos will smoothy direct every policy that is made.

 

Sridhar Lakshmanan true but they will do it with video or without. one look at this video you will know how orchestrated it is

 

Aparna Krishnan yes, clearly an ad job !

 

Ravi Badri Aparna Krishnan you keep using this metaphor of showing the mirror. u have read gandhi so deeply and he lays out so much emphasis in nv which i see is missing in the way u show the mirror. it is interesting that even though u have so much anger and angst in the way u show the mirror, yet ppl respond to it and are impacted by it which i think is because of the power of truth. the mirror wud have much more power if it is softened and glistened by non-violence dont you think.

Aparna Krishnan right now my concern is not violence or non-violence. it is to show people what i see. That the Teja and Varalus struggle for the 500/- to buy a 25 kg sack of rice in India. And in another India people spend that much for a haircut. The fact is that it hurts the lady or gntleman with the haircut, and they would prefer I delivered that fact in a kinder and gentler and more loving fashion. My energies need to go into selling cloth bags and not into dealing with the delicate sensibilities of the privileged. As for 'losing friends', no problem. My present need is to cull. The ones who matter have stayed forever and will stay forever. Because our concerns are greater than our personal sense of slights or otherwise.

 

Ravi Badri I am also not interested in delicate sensibilities Aparna. I have seen enough privileged ppl who have their head in the sand and will refuse to see the reality. The folks who bother me more are the progressive types, they can see there is a problem and yet will not act in the interest of antyodaya, will engage in endless individualized approaches without really being willing to understand the system and acting together to transform the system. i am sick and tired for this breed. you are after the breed who do not see the contradictions and i am tired of this group who see the contradiction and yet will not do anything to act to dismantle the system.

You have two standpoints in your analyis, Hind Swaraj and Gram Swaraj as the way forward and 2nd is to show the disconnect and contradiction, the total dehumanization of this 'development' paradigm. What I am trying to say here is that these two are only two elements of the framework proposed by Gandhi. He has other equally important elements like non-violence, satyagraha among others. Gandhi's philosophy has many elements and the tragedy among 'Gandhians' is that most have picked one element or the other and taken it to extreme instead of recognizing how all these elements are equally essential for bringing about change and I see that you are also in a similar situation, i.e., not recognizing all the elements and their interactions as an ecosystem in bringing about a change for a more just and equitable society.

We are part of a violent society and each one of us inherit a portion of this violence in our selves. no single individual is above the rest. yes consumption born out of want instead of need is a form of violence, especially when that consumption has direct implications on the livelihoods of another section of society but then isn't speaking from a holier-than-thou position or instigating fear, anger, divisiveness, othering the other also another form of violence ? There is so much violence within movements, people's organizations, ngos etc that reduce the efficacy of their interventions. Of course one may argue that these two forms are worlds apart in terms of their effects but the bottom line is non-violence as a whole is absent or weakened and violence as a force is becoming stronger and more prevalent. You say doing social work should be done as an end in itself and this is path of spiritual development. So also developing non-violence in us is part of our own spiritual development and when we do it in the field of social action, it is a form of grounded spirituality.

There is one group of society that is totally disconnected from the other section of society. Then there are some usually from the first group who in their own way try to cross-over and work with the other section, often with many "mistakes", yet at least they are engaging. Now those whose eyes are open are often unable to take this understanding back to their own communities. Why is that ? Why do people shut down when they hear an activist speak ? It is easy to respond with very superficial answers like they dont care, they are insensitive etc but we do not look at our own mistakes in the way we engage with our folks. If we ask better questions we may chance ourselves in better answers. What questions are worth deliberating ?

 

Aparna Krishnan For one thing I at least have no holier-than-thou attitude even when I rage, because I clearly belong to the ranks of Haves by brith, class, education etc., and stand roundly implicated. And secondly yes, the personal and the policical need to go together, and all dimensions need to be remembered. And thirdly, Gandhi can only be understood with his spiritual basis - there is no secular Gandhi.

 

Aparna Krishnan I dont say that karma yoga will lead to spiritual development. I am actually not even thinking of spiritual development, apart from holding onto my Geeta classes as there is something deep within that it addresses. I am simply doing what little I can do. I am only selling cloth bags these days.

 

YunusThe well healed criticise the poor and hardworking farmers, who sweat it out to get two meals a day! Disgusting really.

The well healed also know how to handle those in power, so one never sees them suffering in any way, no matter who is in power.

 

Rakesh Dogra since technology is useful in many ways too, some intermediate solution can be worked out which keeps in view the economic condition of people with lesser material means, like applying their age old custom of sharing which is scare in modern society. they can pool in a gadget to take advantage of its strengths like participating in e-commerce etc. though there needs to be a pillar for providing guidance and motivation amongst them but then there isnt an Aparna in every Paalaguttapalle...

 

Sowmya Kidambi Idiots Aparna...what more can one say to the acceptance of this madness by the educated who don't understand the plight of the poor.

 

Aparna Krishnan Sownya, you have seen every part of rural India. You have been one with the people, as well as with the officers. Write in some detail. Raghunandan Tr has also been writing searing posts. The sheer apathy of the upper class is numbing.

 

Sowmya Kidambi What does one say to literate people? Especially when the arrogance of that very literacy & education leaves very little empathy for the poor who need time to catch up with urban elite who use technology with ease. I am fed up of arguing with the educated elite class I belong to because they just don't get the point. When one has decided this is right and the way to go...we need to just carry on finding solutions for the poor and supporting them. What do I say to a 90 year old woman who is going hungry because she cannot stand for hours to get her old age pension. Those who have stood get turned away with " no cash" responses. We have lost our soul as a society Aparna, our collective conscience is gone. That's why reason loses it's battle to rhetoric!

 

Aparna Krishnan Sowmya Kidambi Thats the upper educated class. The rest are ok. My only dream is to wish them all away to the first world country of their choice - if i could. Then India will find her soul.

 

Sowmya Kidambi We are stuck with jingoistic elites who have never ever had to struggle for anything. They sit in their comfy ergonomic chairs making policy for people who have no such comfort. My domestic help asked me to pay her cash, I mentioned bank account and cheque. She said to me, how can I stand for hours at the bank? Who will do my work in the houses that I clean? What happens to my children who I have to take care of, I don't have the luxury of hiring domestic help to take care of my children like the middle and upper class ( in her simplistic terms, pedda vallu) and to think this Government first said surgical strike against black money, now slowly says that it is for ensuring cashless economy. Bloody soulless folks supporting a mindless surgical strike over the poor and have nots, by a government that is solely the agent of big corp interests at the cost of the downtrodden. Absolutely bloody shame. The media talks about the emergency, in the last few weeks no national media has had the guts to write or publish about the absolute chaos this well thought out surgical strike to destroy the poor has unleashed. Vinasha kale vipareetha budhdhi. The poor will give it back, we saw India Shining go to India pinning. Now we will see Achche Din go to Bada Din, when this govt goes down!

 

Aparna Krishnan Sowmya Kidambi all of us are dealing with helpless rage. The heart of the matter is the disconnected deracinated elite never stepping into villages, into huts, sharing meals and stories, sitting and spinning our policies in their superciliousness. Till that structure gets shattered, your domestic help, and and Eashwaramma and Sasi will have to learn to live on high flaunting theories instead of roti dal. If not, too bad - seems the current thinking.