Clarity to Confusion

Yes, you read that right – there’s no typo. Clarity to Confusion is the title of this blog.

My course was B.Sc. Economics and Research. I happened to be obsessed with numbers – GDP calculations, demand and supply, market transactions and profits margins. Everything under the sky seemed measurable in monetary terms. I believed I had complete clarity about the concepts. Until…

I started getting free rides from strangers, food from community without asking. Access to water tap inside home when need arises. Or stay when required. All without any expectations. In rural India, it’s common courtesy. My early schooling was in a government primary school but I seem to have lost connection to the roots.

Then came the JSW Foundation Fellowship, throwing me into an unfamiliar world. Living alone, with no close friends to socialize with, I believed I could handle everything. My liberal values had always prioritized individualism over community and social circles. Until things got messy & it become hard to be confined to the four walls after school engagement.

About school system, I thought if teachers do their job with integrity, education system would get better. Until I realised the corruption rooted at all levels & administrative hurdles. Teachers are burdened with documentation work & are restricted to follow state designed pedagogies which don’t fit in at the ground level.

While interacting with various stakeholders for my project, I often said, I’ll learn Marathi soon. But in my head, I questioned: Why should I? English is the global language—what’s the economic benefit of learning a third language? My native language, Hindi, is widely spoken in most of the states in India. If the global market doesn’t incentivize learning a regional language, why put in the effort? It seemed like a clear argument. Until…

I realized there is an untapped social market – far larger than the economic one I had focused on. I am still trying to define it – could be like a 3^rd pillar of the economy – COMMUNITY! As ex- RBI governor of India Raghuram Rajan advocates. Hopefully, by the end of this fellowship, I will have an answer.

I use to to think that socialism will solve all the problem until I read how USSR collapsed. I felt globalisation will overpower nationalistic interests until Donald trump returned to White house.

Many of us believe we have complete clarity about the world. I, too, was guilty of this. I thought that economists only take into account numerical aspects until I processed about developmental economics. We live in illusive clarity until we get more information about the surroundings & awareness about self.

As a facilitator for 120 students, I’ve learned that it’s okay to be confused. Confusion is necessity for better clarification and improvement.