The world, as we speak, appears to have been overcome by a severe bout of fatalism. Nothing good seems to be happening anywhere for anyone. Elon Musk and Donald Trump could be the exceptions. They make money irrespective of the catastrophes that beset the globe. Some might even say, ‘because of them.’ The rest of us are mere mortals. Consider the facts. An American engagement in Iran was touted as a quick in-and-out operation and the world will be a better place to live in. Like hell. However, like all American military engagements in various parts of the world over the decades, they have proved to be very competent as far as the ‘in’ part of the operation is concerned, but haven’t a clue when it comes to the ‘out’ part. They get irretrievably bogged down in the quicksand when it comes to the exit strategy.
As a direct consequence of the aforementioned misadventure, stock markets the world over, allied to fuel prices are bobbing up and down like the proverbial yo-yo, unable to make up their minds. The Indian Government has shown a degree of fleet-footedness when it comes to managing the petrol demand, supply and price situation, but for how long? Our Commerce Ministry pats itself on the back for concluding trade agreements with the European Union and New Zealand, but it has been unable to seal the deal with Uncle Sam. Any day now, any day now, just a few T’s to be crossed and a few I’s to be dotted, cry functionaries from both governments and we have been hearing this for the best part of two years. America’s Foreign Secretary Marco Rubio and Ambassador Sergio Gor have been mealy-mouthed on the subject during the former’s recent visit to India. Secretary Rubio had more pressing matters on his mind. Like the Ambani-owned oil refinery in Jamnagar. On reflection, I should add Ambani to that exalted list of people like Elon Musk and the American President who stand to gain, irrespective of the roiling the geo-political scene might be going through. Hope springs eternal, but just when (and if) the trade deal with America actually fructifies, our farmers, not to mention the INDI Alliance, will be up in arms, calling for protest rallies before the ink has even dried on the agreement papers. They have collectively provided a different spin to the idea of ‘rallying round the nation.’
In continental Europe, Paris is burning along with other European capitals. At least, most parts of it are engulfed in flames, as the youth brigade vent their anger at their respective governments for pampering their senior citizens and boatloads of immigrants at the cost of their own well-being. ‘Jobs for the boys,’ is their ostensible cry but most of them are quite happy to loot the luxury stores on the Champs-Élysées and run for cover. A section of Indian observers is dubbing these European brigands cockroaches or simply roaches, as a misplaced, back-handed tribute to our own cockroaches. I say misplaced because the Indian species of Blattodea, affectionately blessed with the naamkarna, Cockroach (note the capital C) have not resorted to arson and looting and have confined to venting their ire to protests at public spaces, notified or otherwise, at times causing traffic dislocation and the odd skirmish with the guardians of the law, but nothing much more sinister. Not so far. Let the cops start bunging more youngsters into jails and matters could turn ugly. Keep your caps on, cops and cockroaches! Shops and establishments, don’t down your shutters yet. Bharat is a land of peace. Meanwhile, the troika representing the leadership of the Cockroach Janata Party has been given a dressing down by the powers-that-be and told to conduct themselves in a manner befitting any decent Indian cockroach. Else the long arm of the law, or at least the long foot of the law, could come stamping down on them. CJP’s leadership will be happy to defiantly quote that ancient English proverb, ‘Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage.’ Though I doubt very much if they are even aware of it. All I can say is, ‘Watch this space.’
While on the subject of cockroaches, our esteemed courts have asked for a precise definition of the term Gen Z, a much bandied-about term in recent months. I think the question the honourable judges have posed is largely rhetorical and more ironical that people in their late 20s or early 30s can be classified as Gen Z. ‘We live in interesting times,’ as British statesman Sir Austin Chamberlain once said. Speaking for myself, I much prefer the quote attributed to the old Chinese maxim, ‘Better to be a dog in a peaceful time than a man in a chaotic period.’
As if all this is not enough, there is the AI headache to deal with. Nothing in our world is to be natural anymore. I am sweating profusely over this article, and you guessed it, dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s with great diligence. Always striving to write that elusive perfect sentence and seeking the mot juste. That is what writers are supposed to do. Then along comes this curse called AI peering over your shoulder and whispering, ‘Why are you wasting your time with all this rubbish? Just tell me what you want and I will give it to you on a silver platter in just minutes, if not seconds.’ I may have said this before but now I understand why some people who struggled to put one word in front of the other, are reeling off fluent blogs at the drop of a hat! At times I ask myself, ‘Is this all worth it?’ ‘Yes, yes,’ hoarse-whispers that persistent AI voice, refusing to shift from my right shoulder. All I am saying is that, notwithstanding all the brilliant work that AI can do in nanoseconds, at least leave some of us alone to write our weekly blogs in our own, plodding way. Thank you very much.
One last observation on AI. Press reports suggest, alarmingly, that AI is allegedly causing reverberations in giant financial institutions and banks like JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley by infiltrating into their software systems! Enough to give anyone, particularly depositors, the heebie-jeebies. Thankfully, nobody has reported a run on the banks yet. We ordinary Indian citizens always felt, irrespective of the stock markets’ frequent mood swings, that our bank deposits at miserly interest rates, were always safe as houses. Now I am beginning to wonder. Has Man created the new avatar of Frankenstein 2.0 with AI?
With so much volatility in the world, one hearkens to the days when we lived in secure silos in our own country and didn’t care two hoots about what happened in America, Europe, China. Russia, Timbuktu or anywhere else. Wimbledon and Lord’s being notable exceptions, of course, if you are a person of sensibility. Independent nations are now living out of each other’s pockets and that is not contributing to peace and tranquility across the globe. If the US sneezes, the rest of the world catches a severe cold. As the poet William Wordsworth put it quite neatly with great prescience all those years ago, ‘The world is too much with us.’
On the whole, given the current worldwide scenario over which we humble citizens appear to have no control, I am with the fellow who said ‘No news is good news.’ My television watching is confined almost entirely to crime serials (preferably British) on Netflix, Amazon Prime or Apple TV. YouTube is handy for all categories of Indian and western music and comedy snippets (preferably British). Haven’t you noticed, whenever there is a notified public holiday and the papers inform you, just below the masthead, that their offices are closed and there will be no issue of the paper the following day? Nothing ever happens. Peace reigns supreme. You can sit back, relax and do the crosswords or Sudoku from yesterday’s papers. Large Australian bird, 3 letters, E – U. Hmmm. This needs thinking.
