WELFARE SCHEMES – BRIDGING THE DEEP INCOME DIVIDE

 

Economic growth and social welfare are interdependent for India's progress, as each one fuels and sustains the other. Growth provides the resources for welfare, and welfare builds the human capital necessary to sustain long-term, inclusive growth. A balanced, two-pronged strategy is essential for achieving equitable and sustainable national development.

Welfare schemes should never be confused with election freebies, which are the manifestations of fiscal irresponsibility of an incompetent government. I have written about election freebies in one on my previous blogs, and you can read it by clicking: https://surajitbrainwaves.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-malady-of-election-freebies.html

Welfare schemes are a moral, political, and economic necessity of our journey towards Vikasit Bharat. This is our answer to the question of inequality.

 

The importance of economic growth

Economic growth, measured by a rise in a country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is crucial for national progress for several reasons.

• Generates resources for development: Growth increases national income and tax revenues, allowing the government to invest in essential public services like infrastructure, education, and healthcare.
• Reduces poverty: Growth leads to higher output, which in turn creates employment opportunities and increases average incomes, lifting millions out of poverty and significantly improving their living standards. In the last 10 years India has lifted 27 million people out of poverty.
• Drives innovation: Higher profits encourage private firms to increase investment in research and development (R&D), leading to technological advancements that enhance productivity and global competitiveness. A growing economy encourages businesses to invest, innovate, and expand to meet future demand. This creates a virtuous cycle of investment and growth. 
• Enhances global standing: A strong, growing economy boosts a country's influence and competitiveness on the global stage. Countries can make independent geo-political choices that suit their national interest and not be a yes man to superpowers.
• Funds for welfare programs: High economic growth generates more tax revenue for the government. This increased revenue can be invested in welfare programmes and better social security schemes.

 

The importance of Social Welfare

Despite the benefits of economic growth, it is insufficient on its own. Welfare policies are necessary to ensure that the benefits of progress are shared across all sections of society.

• Promotes human development: Welfare schemes focused on health, education, and nutrition improve citizens' overall well-being, which enhances human capital and labor productivity. The free ration to 80 million people in India is a big step towards this goal. Programs focused on health, nutrition, education, and skill development (like the National Health Mission and Skill India Mission) create a healthier and more capable workforce, increasing overall productivity.
• Alleviating poverty and inequality: While growth can reduce poverty, it doesn't guarantee an equal distribution of wealth. Targeted welfare schemes, such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), provide a safety net for vulnerable populations and help reduce income disparity. When mothers receive monthly DBT of Rs. 500 for two years after childbirth in Jharkhand, it was a 10% increase in family income which was spent in food improving the entire family's health as well as the child's cognitive and motor skills. Needless to say that it was a big step towards gender equality.
• Ensures social and political stability: By addressing poverty and inequality, welfare programs help reduce social tensions and discontent, fostering greater political stability. Persistent inequality and lack of access to basic services can lead to social unrest. By addressing the needs of marginalized communities and ensuring social justice, welfare policies foster a more cohesive and stable society.
• Provides a safety net: Welfare acts as a crucial safety net for vulnerable populations during economic downturns, natural disasters, or other crises. Singapore prime minister Mr. Tharaman Shanmugaratnam has introduced a subtle difference between safety net, and a better alternative, trampoline. Both protect people when the fall but the net can trap them but the trampoline bounces them back. Many of our welfare schemes like farm loan waiver, agriculture subsidies tie people to low productivity farming and are like the net. A direct benefit transfer in their bank account, or offering free skill development however enable people to migrate to higher productivity jobs and are like trampoline.
• Broadening economic participation: Schemes that promote financial inclusion, like the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), enable more people to access credit and banking services. This expands the consumer base and empowers entrepreneurs at the grassroots level, contributing to broader economic growth.

 

The symbiotic relationship between growth and welfare

Growth and welfare are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary forces that create a virtuous cycle of development.

• Growth funds welfare: Economic growth provides the revenue stream necessary to fund government welfare programs. As the economy expands, the government can allocate more resources toward welfare initiatives without jeopardizing fiscal health.
• Welfare enables growth: Investments in welfare, particularly human capital development through education and healthcare, increase the skills and capabilities of the workforce. A healthier, more educated population is more productive, innovative, and better equipped to drive future economic growth.
• Inclusive growth is sustainable growth: A development model that prioritizes equitable distribution of wealth and opportunities creates a larger, more skilled, and empowered consumer base, which in turn fuels further economic expansion. Inclusive growth is therefore more sustainable and resilient in the long run than growth that benefits only a select few.
• Empowering the marginalized: Inclusive growth moves beyond just high GDP numbers to focus on the quality of life, empowerment, and access to basic services for everyone, regardless of their background.
• Sustainable development: A strategy that invests in people, especially the poor and marginalized, is essential for sustainable and long-term development. Empowering these groups enhances their productivity, ultimately contributing to a more robust economy.
• Fulfilling a constitutional vision: This approach aligns with India's constitutional vision of securing social, economic, and political justice and minimizing inequalities. India's progress is measured not just by its GDP but by its Human Development Index (HDI) and other welfare indicators. 

 

India's approach to balanced progress

India's development model explicitly seeks to balance growth with social responsibility, often referred to as "inclusive growth". 

• Government initiatives: The government has implemented numerous schemes, such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), to provide employment, ensure financial inclusion, and mitigate the disproportionate effects of rapid growth.
• Policy framework: As reflected in the approach of organizations like NITI Aayog, India's strategy is to enable private initiative and competition while ensuring equal opportunity for all through carefully designed policies. The goal is to maximize the benefits of growth while minimizing its negative side effects.

The debate should not be so much on the amount of GDP spent on welfare but on its effectiveness. They can be powerful engines of both equity and efficiency if they are planned well, targeted properly, executed timely and regularly, monitored periodically for its short term and long term benefits and altered timely to meet newer challenges.

 

Where do we go wrong?

We go wrong when welfare schemes are not the offspring of a deep ideological thought but of electoral anxiety. Every election witnesses a flurry of welfare schemes or electoral freebies. Tamilnadu pioneered this are when Smt. Jayalalitha, a former Chief Minister, offered everything except a spouse to her voters – television, mixer-grinder, fans, laptops, goats, rice and wedding gold. West Bengal, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Telengana, Karnataka and now Bihar is becoming more and more fiscally irresponsible – the incumbent Chief Minister offering Rs. 10,000 each to 1.27 crore (12.7 million) women and the aspirant matching it with one government job fr every household! Even if the new government jobs pay Rs. 15,000 a month, the budget will surpass the Union budget! These can not be well directed welfare schemes because they are neither well thought, nor well planned, nor prior budgeted and fiscal discipline is being sacrificed at the alter of electoral arithmetic. Such fiscal hara-kiri keeps the states perpetually poor and in debt.

How can we improve?

·        There are many overlapping schemes of central and state governments. Though politically difficult, but consolidating them into fewer, better funded, more coherent trampoline programmes will increase their reach.

·        Sporadic announcements before elections and erratic delivery after elections can not be helpful. Welfare should arrive in time every time like the Kisan Samman Nidhi.

·        Welfare should not be forced upon them but the beneficiary must have the choice of choosing the welfare that will be most useful - input subsidy or income support. This will offer them an opportunity to migrate from non productive farming to the more productive urban jobs.

 

Economic growth and social welfare are both crucial for India's progress because they create a self-reinforcing cycle of development, leading to long-term prosperity and stability. Growth provides the resources to fund welfare programs, while welfare programs empower citizens, creating a more productive workforce that fuels further growth. 

The welfare programme should not be just a safety net, because a net like a farm loan waiver, can trap the receiver into an low productive farming.  It should be like a trampoline like a Direct Benefit Transfer and skill development, which can bounce them back to a better and more productive job and a brighter future. Improving their design and delivery of welfare is essential so that this responsible fiscal commitment translates to maximum impact. Done right, welfare can protect the vulnerable, empower upward mobility, and boost productivity. This is the only way to achieve Vikasit Bharat.

FUN WITH CONTRONYMS AND PALINDROMES

 

 

CONTRONYMS

We all know about synonyms and antonyms. But have you ever heard of contronyms? When the same word has two meanings that contradict themselves we call them contronyms. These are ‘two faced’ words and their meanings can be opposite of each other, or contradictory, depending on the context. Other ways to refer to a contronym are auto-antonym and antagonym. Contronyms are also sometimes called Janus words. Janus was an ancient Roman god who had two faces looking in opposite directions, so the parallel between contronyms and the ancient Roman deity is pretty apparent. This is the same God in whose name we have the month of January! Let us look at a few examples of contronyms:

 

Cleave: This can mean both – divide and hug tightly. Rudra wielded his axe and cleaved the log into two, and Young beaver pups cleave to their mother in the water until they are strong enough to swim on their own.

 

Sanction: It may either mean to authorize, approve, or allow as in “My parents wouldn’t sanction video games in our home because they thought they were too violent” or to penalize as in “The school said they were going to sanction the students for arriving late to class.”

 

Left: Harish had already left the supermarket and drove home when he realized that there’s no milk left in the fridge. In this sentence, the word left means to “depart” in the first instance and to “remain” when it appears for the second time. These two meanings are opposite, which makes the word ‘left’ its own antonym.

 

Dust: In its verb form, dust is a clear contronym. It means both “to clean up dust” and to “sprinkle with powder.” So, you could ask someone to dust the shelves before the arrival of visitors or to dust the freshly-baked cookies with powdered sugar before guests arrive.

 

Custom: There’s a big difference between a customary dress and a custom dress. The first refers to the meaning of the word custom as "a practice or tradition shared by a society or culture, for example, there is a custom to wear traditional headgear during a Rajput wedding. The second however means "a tailored or unique garment."

 

Seed: When you are asked to seed a watermelon, you’ve got to pick out the seeds from the fruit. But when someone tells you that they’re planning to seed tomatoes in their garden this spring, you know that they will be planting seeds into the soil.

 

Trim: Trimming your new pants could either mean cutting them to fit the length of your legs or embellishing the bottom hems with lace or ribbon. The verb trim could mean both of these things and so is a contranym.

 

Finished: “I tipped the vase over by mistake. It fell, and it’s now finished.” Here finished means destroyed. But when we say “The potter has been working on this vase for hours, but it is now finally finished” it means that the job is done. So in the first instance finished was used for destruction and in the second instance for construction.

 

Screen: In “when a new film will screen at local cinemas” we are inquiring about - the premiere date. But in “I lost my hat, so I had to use a book to screen my face from the sun” we are using it as a barrier.

 

Clip: If the hedge in your garden is unruly, you need to clip it with a garden shear, but don’t reach for scissors if someone wants you to clip a bunch of papers. Your tool of choice should be a paper clip because you need to fasten the papers together. But when it comes to clipping the hedges, it’s an entirely different story.

 

Fast: The word fast has two opposing meanings. One meaning points to something moving with great speed, a fast moving vehicle, whereas the other denotes a static, secure, and steady position, a glue that holds objects fast and such that dry fast.

 

Overlook: If there’s one contronym you shouldn’t overlook, this is it! To overlook is a verb that can mean both that you missed or failed to consider something and that you supervise or oversee something or someone. So, when a teacher overlooked a mistake in a student’s homework, they probably missed it rather than observe it with great care. And vice versa, the same teacher is responsible for overlooking the intellectual upbringing of the class.

 

Weather: A weathered rock is old and almost disintegrating, but a person who weathered the storm is the opposite: seasoned, tireless, and unwavering. Therefore, the verb weather has two opposing meanings - one showing the ability of someone to endure, and the other pointing to apparent wear and tear. “If you want your home to weather the rain and snow, replace those old and weathered windows.”

 

Fine: What’s the difference between a fine bottle of wine and a bottle of wine that’s just “fine”? First and foremost, it’s your attitude! That’s because the adjective fine has the potential to mean both that something’s excellent and simply the best, and also that it's barely satisfactory. So, when you want to say that something is of superb quality, it’s best not to use the word fine when describing it. The risk of being misunderstood is far greater than you think!

 

Original: This can either mean ancient or belonging to the beginning or brand new. “Despite being hundreds of years old, the painting was still in its original frame” is the first expression where as “While sitting in the bathtub, Archmedes was struck with an original idea” is the second expression.

 

Pitted: This can either be marks or indents like “The sailor’s face was pitted and craggy from childhood chicken pox” or it can mean having the pit removed (in the sense of “stone of a fruit”) “My mom reminded me to buy the pitted cherries, because she didn’t want to take out the stones herself”

 

Bound: It can either mean tied, fastened or secured with a band or bond “The Railway Police rushed to save the woman who was bound to the railroad tracks” or it can mean destined as in” With all his talents he was bound to succeed.”.

 

PALINDROMES

The term ‘palindrome’ means that a word, a sentence, or even a number sounds the same when you read it both forward and backward. Palindromes have a considerable history. The first recorded palindrome was graffiti found in the Ancient Roman town of Herculaneum from around 70 AD. It read, “Sator Arepo tenet opera rotas,” which can be translated to, “The sower Arepo holds the wheels with effort.” Ancient examples of palindromes can also be found in Sanskrit and Greek texts.

Creating a whole sentence that reads the same back and forth is not the easiest of tasks, so not all of these sentences make perfect sense, but that’s what makes them so quirky and funny. So, here they are

1.      Sit on a potato pan, Otis

2.      Cigar? Toss it in a can. It is so tragic

3.      Did Hannah see bees? Hanna did.

4.      Murder for a jar of red rum

5.      Borrow or rob?

6.      Step on no pets

7.      Too bad I hid a boot

8.      Mr Owl ate my metal worm

9.      Was it a car or a cat I saw?

10. Poor Dan is in a droop

11. Taco cat

12. Evil olive

13. Madam

14. Race car

15. Aibohphobia

 

Incidentally, aibohphobia is fear of palindromes!

I hope you had fun with these contronyms and Palindromes. The English language has plenty of contronyms, some with exact opposite meanings and some with nearly opposite ones, but all of them are interesting, when you come to think about their peculiar use. Palindromes are being manufactured by language wizards and you need to have an eye for them!

IS YOUR BODY MAKING FUNNY SOUNDS?

 

No, I am not mentioning the unmentionable ones, which have to be endured with an embarrassing silence and a handkerchief on your nose. Our body has a tendency to make strange sounds from different places, and as you grow old you get introduced to newer members of your body orchestra, who were otherwise quiet till very recently. Now and again, at unanticipated moments, our body can make all kinds of weird and abnormal sounds. At best, these make us raise an eyebrow and continue on our day. At worst it can make us very scared. No doubt you know some of these sounds, the joint clicks, the jaw 'knacks'. All these sounds, and others, just appear out of nowhere. However, these sounds can also be our body's way of signaling to us that something is wrong.

Let us today, talk about a few most common unexplained sounds our body makes, and when there is cause to see a doctor.   

 

1. Popping or cracking sounds from the knees and ankles.

These sounds can suddenly appear as we stretch our legs or fold them in a sharp movement in preparation for walking or sitting. There are 3 different reasons for these, and they're usually natural:

·        the tendons may latch on to the joints during movement

·        the explosion of small 'air' bubbles caught inside the liquid between the joints which is called synovial fluid

·        a small deviation of the joints from their location.  

As we get older, these sounds will appear in high frequency, as our joints and cartilage naturally get worn out. However, as long as they appear without pain, it does not indicate a medical problem. In order to alleviate the reoccurrence of this phenomenon, simple stretching exercises can be performed that will 'grease' the knee and ankle joints.  For the knee joint it should be the quadriceps stretch and calf muscle stretch and for the hip the flexion and extension movements of the joint.

When to see a doctor: If these sounds come with pain, swelling or a sense of the joints 'locking in place', they made indicate the beginning of arthritis, damaged tendons or even a torn meniscus in the knee. You may be requiring a MRI and even surgery!

 

2. Growling and gurgling sounds from the stomach 

"My stomach is growling, it must be time to eat" - this will be the first thought jumping into our head when our stomach starts making weird noises. Usually these sounds are caused between meals when the digestive system goes through a series of intense cramps, often loud ones, which are getting rid of the unwanted materials accumulated in the stomach, making room for new food.   That said, these sounds do not always indicate hunger. The noises may point to the digestive system encountering difficulties in dismantling certain foods such as bran-rich food like avocados, raisins, peaches, grape juice, apples, pears, peanuts, beans etc. In other cases, drinking liquids will cause gurgling sounds as they pass through the digestive system. So unless you feel hungry, don't hurry to the fridge to get rid of these sounds. In addition, if you are on your way to something important and are worried about embarrassing gurgling sounds, avoid carbonated drinks and foods that cause gas such as certain vegetables, processed carbs and dairy products.  

When to see a doctor: In some cases, when these sounds come with a bloating sensation and stomach-aches, and especially if you hear a watery sound when pressing on the stomach, it's advised to check this with a doctor. In rare cases, these sounds may indicate the bowls over-contracting or maybe even blocked – acute intestinal obstruction, a situation that requires surgery.

 

3. Buzzing, ringing and humming in the ears 

Sometimes, without warning, a high and lasting beep or buzzing will appear in our ears. After a few seconds or minutes it will just disappear. This sound, which may be alarming, is called tinnitus.   The source of the sound isn't related to anything external, but is created within our brain. We hear it when the brain identifies electrical signals as sounds. The reason may come from damage to the outer ear caused at times by spending too long in a very noisy environment, pressure and tension, a lack in sleeping hours and an overdose of caffeine.    That is why a change of lifestyle - using earplugs, reducing our caffeine consumption and a good night's sleep may reduce these phenomena. If the buzzing comes only rarely, it does not indicate any disease or actual damage.  

When to see a doctor: If you feel the tinnitus for a long time, at a loud volume and in one ear, this could be a symptom of an infection or more significant damage to the hearing system. If needed, hearing aids or surgery may help. Tinitus is caused by normal aging, certain drugs (certain diuretics, anti hypertensives, anti cancer drugs, pain killers NSAIDs), otosclerosis (stiffening of bones of ear – Maleus, Incus and Stapes), auditary tumours, head injury, and circulatory issues. You may need a few investigations and a change of your regular medicines.

 

4. Cracking or clicking sounds from the shoulder 

While we lift, turn or move our arm forward, we may hear a clicking noise from the shoulder. When this sound comes without pain, it shouldn't bother you. It comes as a result of rubbing between the swiveling muscle and the shoulder joint, and it most appears naturally as part of getting older.   That said, repetitive and strained lifting of the arm, such as throwing a ball or taking stuff off shelves, may cause inflammation in the tendon or a rip in the cartilage. The symptoms will still sound the same, only pain will be involved.  

When to see a doctor: When the sounds are accompanied by pain, especially if the source of the pain is deep within the shoulder joint, then it is highly advisable to go see an orthopedic expert. There are a host of different inflammations types that can appear in the shoulder joint and the tendons or there could be a rip of the cartilage or muscles. MRI will often clearly demonstrate the ailment and assist in future treatment. Physiotherapy for the various shoulder muscles may alleviate this pain and noises, but it is best done under the supervision of a professional.

 

5. Clicking or other sounds from the jaw 

The joint which opens and closes our mouth is called the TMJ or temporo-mandibular joint. As the name suggests it is a joint formed by the lower jaw, mandible and the temporal bone of the skull, with a fibrous disk called meniscus in between. This disk slides between the jaw and its cavity in the skull – the glenoid cavity, and helps them open smoothly. Sometimes, the fibers of the disk may change their shape, especially if they have been stretch too much. In such a case, the disk might get a concave shape that will cause disruption when we open our mouth. The lower jaw will move on its concave parts, deviate from its natural track and will not sit exactly under the upper jaw. This will cause the click and noises you hear.  [ Click this hyperlink to understand better: https://sl.bing.net/97KKN70UHA ] Don't worry, if this is rare for you, then you probably don't have a problem, and it may indicate a momentary effort by the jaw.  

When to see a Doctor: If, together with these sounds, you are unable to open or close the mouth all the way, or if the sounds are very loud and sharp, you have probably over-extended the disc fibers. These sounds may also happen if you over-lock your jaw at night (usually caused by mental stress). Since the fibers aren't elastic, they cannot go back to their normal place. It is very advisable to see a doctor at this time. Some people can self correct their lock jaw, while others may require medical attention.

 

6. Beeping or cracking noise while turning your upper body

When a sharp turning motion occurs in the upper body, there may come out a beeping noise. Don't panic, your body isn't falling apart - this is a normal phenomenon that occurs when air leaves the body - or when the air in the lungs or the stomach passes through narrow air passageways. There is no need to change the exercise routine or to stop those exercises after those sounds are heard.  

When to see a doctor: If during these turning motions you hear the beeps and you have trouble breathing too, you may be suffering from any one of a host of breathing problems – bronchitis, asthma, or just common cold. For those with asthma, for instance, these kinds of movements are not recommended.

 

7. A clicking or cracking from the elbow 

The elbow joints tend to make sounds and noises from the constant rubbing of the joint surfaces against each other, especially when under stress. So 'mechanical' problems may arise and the elbow's behavior is no different.   However, besides the wearing out of the elbow, which may cause these sounds, there are various disorders and syndromes that may cause an elbow to thicken and become stiff, and so ever increase the noises and sounds.  

When to see a doctor: If, while moving your elbow, these sounds come with pain or if there is a feeling that the elbow gets 'locked' in place, it's time to go see a doctor. This could mean an inflammation of cartilage or the elbow's nerves. 

 

8. A loud thundering during sleep

Similar to tinnitus, this is an internal beeping created by the brain and perceived as if by the ears. There is another phenomenon, much scarier, which occurs in the brain and is called "exploded head syndrome". This happens during deep sleep, when you suddenly hear a very strong thundering noise, which causes you to wake up in a panic. People have described this phenomenon as a pistol shot, an explosion, a firework going off or even a very loud clapping. This may be scary, but it isn't harmful and we still don't know why it happens.    One theory is, as the body gets ready for sleep, the brainstem is responsible for shutting down the various brain systems, such as the hearing, visual and motor nerves. When something in this process goes wrong, all the systems shut at once, which causes the sudden noise in our head. This phenomenon isn't common, but it happens more to people of ages 50 and up than to younger folks. Many claim this is mainly caused by stress, tension and a lack of sleep hours.

When to see a doctor: Though not a very serious issue, but usually people are concerned and tell their doctor petty soon. After checking their health parameters the doctor may choose to offer a tranquilizer which does the trick.

9. Beeping / wheezing while coughing

When our airways are blocked - whether due to infection, allergy or by a shortness of breath - the air inside them gets compacted, and so when we breath out hard, such as during a cough, this wheezing sound is created. These are called ‘ronchi’ and are heard at the end of expiration by your doctor when he auscultates your chest.

When to see a doctor: Almost immediately; this sound must be checked because in most cases it is abnormal and unnatural. If you suffer this kind of cough for more than 4 weeks (for instance, after a bad cold) and it shows no signs of improving, you may suffer from one of the aforementioned conditions which may cause pneumonia or asthma. Any unexplained caugh more than 4 weeks old in a smoker may also warrant investigations for lung cancer.

 

10. Hearing your heartbeat in your ears

This is called palpitation. If during the day, or close to sleeping time, you've felt the beating or your heart right inside your ears, you may need to cut down on your caffeine intake or go on a relaxing vacation. This phenomenon of hearing your heartbeat in your ears occurs when the heart rhythm quickens or when the blood pressure rises. These lead to the blood flow being stronger and louder. Drinking alcohol or caffeine, consuming sweets or have an anxious state of mind - may raise the heart beat and blood pressure.  

When to see a doctor: If this happens often, it may be a sign that you are suffering from problems in blood flow - one of the risk factors for a heart condition. In other cases it may be a sign for pressure in the spine fluid, which can lead to very serious conditions or even blindness.

 

11. Hiccups

Thank your diaphragm, the muscle beneath the lungs that helps you breathe, for the loud “hic!” sound that appears at the most inopportune moments. When the diaphragm contracts involuntarily, vocal cords close, causing the common hiccup noise. Eating too quickly, drinking too much alcohol, or taking certain medications have been associated with hiccups, though the exact cause is still unclear. Anything that causes your stomach to become distended can cause hiccups.

When to see a doctor: Prolong and unexplained hiccups need medical attention. Prolonged hiccups, though, could be caused by direct post-surgical irritation of the phrenic nerve, which is the nerve that helps the diaphragm muscle to fire, or the vagus nerve, which is part of the autonomic nervous system that controls the heart rate and breathing. Irritation can also be caused by cancers of the chest or neck. Rarely, hiccups can be associated with disorders of the brain — including tumors and strokes, among others — or heart disease. 

As if all this was not enough the ears often get blocked and the sounds get muffled!  A congested Eustachian tube, which links the nose and throat to the middle ear, can muffle external sounds. You must have experienced it during take off and landing of flights. It will typically clear on its own, but a decongestant may help. 

 

And we can’t even think of the list of sounds which our nose and mouth are capable of making –  Snore, Groan, Snort, Sneeze, Laugh/giggle, Scream/shout, Sniff, Sigh, Grind the teeth, Whistle, Belch, Gasp, Growl, Gargle, Mumble, Whisper, Slurp, Cough, Smack, Yawn, Hum and the list goes on…..

FRIENDLESS-NESS – A NEW EPIDEMIC

                 

The WHO estimates that 1 in 6 people worldwide report feeling lonely. This epidemic causes over 81,000 deaths annually, roughly 100 deaths every hour! Internet and social media has withdrawn people from real life friends into a circle of virtual friends. AI has gone a step ahead and made our youngsters withdraw from the real world into an imaginary world with AI confidants, AI partners, and AI alter egos. And then there are Ani and Valentino, the AI flirts that live on social network X and real life robots that have become man's best friend. 

 

Besides propagating a weird social behaviour pattern these AI inventions are creating ethical dilemma, social withdrawal, delusional behaviour, gnarly privacy and IP rights, these AI friends push us towards unnecessary purchases, extreme political viewpoints or even suicidal tendencies. 

 

We all fell in love with the American Soap Opera of the 90s, Friends. This was a story about 6 besties. In today's world, having 5 best friends is a luxury only a handful can boast of. According to American Perspective Survey 12% have no close friends! [1] For decades, Americans consistently spent about 6.5 hours a week with friends. Then, between 2014 and 2019, that number plummeted to just four hours per week. Americans are spending more time at home and economic realities of life have eaten up their time for friends.

The rise of the gig economy and the economic pressures have made free time a luxury. These factors have made friendship more difficult, and policy makers, urban planners, and venture capitalists are searching for solutions. Can you imagine, Stanford University is now offering a course called Design for Healthy Friendship, dedicated to helping students structure their social lives with intention!

The Indian Scenario

In urban India the situation is fast changing. In our childhood we spent most of our time either on the mango and guava trees in our lawn or playing a bunch of outdoor games. Our children were precociously career conscious and would spend the same time either in tuition or guitar lessons or dance classes. Their children spend the time playing video games on the console or on their parent's phone. There is a huge social crisis looming ahead, a friendship recession, which will surely derail the society. 

 

Rural India too has changed remarkably, but the society still is reasonably close knit. As taps at home have replaced wells in the common ground, as people bathe and wash clothes at home and not in the community pond, the social interactions are decreasing, but they are still present. The elders are respected, and the lit cigarette is either thrown away or hidden when they are around. 

 

Cities however have changed tremendously and in high-rise buildings very few intimately know their neighbours. Both our neighbours are more than five decades old; we grew up together and are the best of friends. They both lost their mothers early, and when they got married the only mother-in-law their wives knew was my mother, and she commanded that respect as long as she was around. Our children know each other, but their friendship is nowhere near ours.

 

The government slowed down its investment in and construction of third spaces such as community centres, parks and coffee shops, which has left fewer spaces for organic social interactions. Incidentally, the first space is where you live, the second space is where you work, and the third space is where you meet with friends socially - in parks, baristas, etc. I have, in the past, written about these Third Spaces in a blog, which you can read by clicking: https://surajitbrainwaves.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-third-places.html

 

Robin Dunbar is an anthropologist who has worked extensively on friendship and in 1992 he published that humans can't have more than 150 casual friends and of them beasties can be five. He felt that this limitation was there because remembering faces, names, traits, histories, likes and dislikes, conversation points require brain power, which is limited in us. Today, because we are not using our brain to accommodate so many casual friends and beasties, this part of our neocortex is in disuse. And, you know what happens when an organ in the body is in disuse, it atrophies like the appendix.

 

Not having friends impacts our physical and mental health. In fact, one of the leading causes of death today is solitude and friendlessness. When a data of 308,000 people was analysed, not having friends at all, or having poor quality of friends was found to be more damaging than smoking 20 cigarettes a day! Good friends reduce stress, thus producing better control of blood pressure. They produce endorphins, which keep us happy and healthy. Tough task seems easier with friends, academic learning, trekking, hiking, marathon running, long distance swimming are very difficult if tried alone, but tend to get easier with friends. In an experiment people perceived a hill to be less steep when climbing with friends!

 

Jeffrey Hall, a professor in the University of Kansas is of the opinion that it takes 50 hours of together time to become casual friends (getting infatuated by the opposite sex takes 50 seconds, perhaps) and next 90 hours to become a closer circle of friends, and perhaps 200 more hours of together time to become beasties! Are we ready to invest such amount of time in friendship today? And, let me remind you, just as taking the children together to school doesn't count as a date, working together in an office or a hospital doesn't count as friendship time.

 

But, there are more challenges in the life of friendship; becoming friends is just half the job done, friendship thrives on rituals and repetitions. The blog that I send you every week is my friendly gesture towards you. Your 'thumbs up' and smiley emogies are your reciprocal gestures, that keep us friends till we meet again in person. This is our virtual friendship bridge which we both maintain.

 

As we have defaulted to working long hours, solitude has become our natural preference. This invariably leaves us friendless, and what is even worse, we are forgetting how to befriend strangers and even maintain old friendships. So, we are neither establishing new friendships nor sustaining old ones. Humans were social animals, but now they are becoming non-social. If we don’t consciously reshape our priorities and re-learn how to cultivate meaningful relationships, we risk a future where connection—one of the most fundamental sources of happiness and well-being—fades into the background of our lives.

 

Real Friends and Virtual friends

Online friendships require a different set of social behaviors than in-person ones. Maintaining a friendship online relies on skills like crafting the perfect message, interpreting text-based interactions, and engaging in asynchronous exchanges with multiple people at once. In contrast, in-person friendships thrive on undivided attention, and are built through spontaneous moments, reading body language, and navigating the vulnerability of face-to-face connection. It won’t be wrong to suggest that young people, growing up immersed in digital interactions, are losing the opportunity to develop the in-person social skills that once defined deep human connections. This can not be good because a socially underdeveloped childhood leads to a socially stunted adulthood. 

As people have fewer friends, they are spending more time at home. So, what are they doing with this extra home time? Are they spending good quality time with their family? If yes, then why are the divorce rates, substance abuse and child suicide on the rise? In fact, minus friends people are retracting inwards, spending more time online, and engaging with virtual friends on social media. Each member of the family is busy in his/ her own virtual social circle or aimlessly watching bot generated, reels which try to entrap them in indoctrinated socio-political echo chambers, which only give anxiety and depression. Now imagine what they have traded this against - real world friendship, which releases the feel good endorphins that fights pain better than morphine, anxiety better than anxiolytics, and depression better than antidepressants! A very poor choice, indeed!!

 

References:

1.      https://www.americansurveycenter.org/research/the-state-of-american-friendship-change-challenges-and-loss/