Talking Shop: It is all ephemera

"(For) in every adult there

dwells the child that was;

and in every child there

lies the adult that will be"

—John Connolly

Childhood is fantastic, hypnotic even. It often sends the inner senses spinning into a spiral, notching up magnificent fantasies of what could be and perhaps will. My formative years were effervescent, tilted and titillated to the point of being virulent. I shamelessly bunked school and walked Delhi's then pristine and empty roads, jumped on and off DTC (Delhi Transport Corporation) buses or trudged along railway tracks near Safdarjung Airport, pulling my bicycle with me on those rocky isthmuses.

My rickety black bicycle and I would together dream of what could be our tomorrow. If the Gods were kind, I could be lucky enough to become a railway engine driver, while my bike dreamt of becoming a Harley, at least a Yezdi. For me, becoming a top Bollywood singer was easy, since my music teacher had told me I was bloody good. Or why not be an airline pilot, given all the relevant goodies, ladies et al, my young and already-lustful mind wondered? Perhaps an officer in the Indian Army, given my build and gait... Or India's cricket captain; well, I did have hundreds coming to watch me bat and bowl every Sunday? The possibilities were endless and mind-blowing. The future was bright and near-soporific.

And yet, I turned out like this. A recently un-retired journalist and advisor to some of India's top Corporate honchos, guiding the big-shots on how to keep their breeches up and around the waist in all matters business, or else. Through all the growing up and understanding what life stands for, I understood one thing, something that stands me in good stead even now, that one needs to be feisty and honest, for that keeps the light burning bright and the sparkle glowing. I said I could have been a singer, so let's revisit what legend Bruce Springsteen said once: "The great challenge of adulthood is holding on to your idealism after you lose your innocence."

Enough said. Let's move on to the crux.

What about others?

I sometimes wonder what the other little ones went through while growing up. I am talking many who are celebrated and some who are not—Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindra Nath Tagore, Sardar Vallabhai Patel, Indira Gandhi, Amitabh Bachchan, MS Dhoni, Vladimir Putin, Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Napoleon Bonaparte and many others. What was childhood like for them? Did they imagine or dream that they would be as loved or reviled as they are? And do today's big guns, good and bad, realise that they too, one day, shall be made to answer by history? Apparently not, as today's good and bad are exhibiting by their actions.

It is distressing at times that we appear to be surrounded by a new breed of leprechauns, mystic supernatural beings partaking in mischief, playing with the present and drafting a redoubtable future for us all. They claim to have a hidden pot of gold at the end of the proverbial rainbow, but remember, leprechauns were ultimately exposed as being shoe-makers (there's nothing wrong in being a 'mochi', by the way). What is lamentable is that most of today's leaders and the successful are exhibiting a vicarious trait of greed, crassness and/or lack of vision, making them totally unworthy of the positions and respect they enjoy.

Look around you. Anywhere. Sudan. Somalia. Mozambique. Myanmar. Congo. Nigeria. Yemen. Ukraine. Syria. Lebanon. Afghanistan. Pakistan. Sri Lanka. All have been ravaged by dictatorship, poorly-endowed or (de)motivated leaders, conflicts and economic breakdown. Closer home, we have had a ringside view of runaway bulldozers, burning railway bogies and a rampaging youth brigade.

Dented old minds

Back to the children of the yesteryear, who have since turned into adults and now wield the baton (or is it a scalpel?). I know I am being harsh, but that's only because many a child of yesterday has now turned into a savage tormentor. Most countries named above have experienced unending conflict for a decade, hampering their ability to respond to challenges like COVID-19 and Climate Change. They are home to just 10-12 per cent of the global population, but account for nearly 90 per cent of those needing humanitarian assistance.

What of their children? Not much to say, as they are homeless, hungry and dying. Displaced families, in particular women and girls, are disproportionately affected by the crises. "It is not just that there are more people who are poor and being displaced, but the scale and nature of distress around the world constitutes a complete systemic failure," says a recent report of the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The IRC used to produce a peremptory 'Annual Watchlist'. Over 10 years, this has evolved from a purely internal study into a public report that is now warning global leaders, policymakers and citizens not just about where crises are deepening, but why these are and what can be done to put an end to the misery.

There is a double take confronting the world today—pandemic and war—and the globe's ability to deal with these is getting complicated by the growing jeopardy of fragmentation of the world economy into geopolitical blocs, with different trade and technology standards, payment systems and currency reserves. Let's talk about this a bit.

I am no numismatist

I am not an expert, but even blunder-some me can see that there is a tectonic economic shift at play, one that is incurring high and painful adjustment costs. Supply chains, R&D and production networks have all broken down. Forget the deep semantics—automobiles, mobile phones, ACs and electronic goods have become dearer because there is a global paucity of semiconductor chips due to China's meltdown. That's one indicator. The other is inflation, which, for the first time in years, has become an omnipotent danger for countries around the world, a massive setback for global recovery. In economic terms, growth is down while inflation is up. In human terms, incomes are down and hardship is up.

This leaves the world quite impotent to meet challenges such as the threat of Climate Change, starvation, poverty, hunger, homelessness and, of course, COVID-19. Today is a significant moment for global leaders, for their actions will ultimately determine the future in rather fundamental and deep-seated ways. It may remind you of Bretton Woods in 1944, when, in the dark days of World War II, allied leaders came together to put an end to the misery and challenges, because a loaf of bread or a litre of gasoline had both become impossible to come by. Today, we are eerily close to that precipice.

That catapults me back to my spiel on childhood, as yesterday's young have become today's elders. A leader's life is challenging, no matter what he/she is leading, but the resultant actions stem from childhood upbringing and education. To understand, look at me. I am a near-nobody, but no vagrant still. I do what I do to make you think and ponder. Those in greater positions need to revisit their mothers and fathers, and remember their teachings. Perhaps then we may see less of our youth on the road, torching public property or screaming their unemployed guts out.

The writer is a veteran journalist and communications specialist. He can be reached on [email protected]. Views expressed are personal