(Un) Common Sense

There is lot of talk on social distancing in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic all over the world. I find it interesting that this terminology is being used in this situation. The media being used worldwide to stay connected is “social” media, and this distancing may be keeping us physically apart, but it has made us more sociable than ever. So why are we calling it social distancing? Let’s call it physical distancing instead. In these days of lockdowns and janta curfews, what society needs is social proximity . Without that, people in isolation for three weeks and possibly more, will lose touch with humanity. Worldwide people are trying their best to maintain social proximity: My niece is in self quarantine at my place in one room – we call each other on WhatsApp during breakfast, lunch and dinner to at least feel connected while eating My daughter who is stuck in London (thankfully at my cousin’s place, and not in her student apartment / pigeon hole) talks about : o ...

Does India need a Private Police Force? I don’t know the answer to this tricky question. Let’s start by answering a simple, related question - If you were to have a small theft in your house, or were to get involved in a minor road accident, would you feel comfortable to call the Police? And once the Police arrived, how confident would you be that the Police will be honest and professional?  Fortunately, my interactions with the Police have been limited to minor car accidents in India, UAE and US. In both UAE and US, the Police arrived within a minute, looked at the facts, spoke to both parties, determined whose fault it was, gave the relevant paperwork to both parties and left – the whole process was pretty smooth. I cant say the same of the experience in India though. Another question we need to ask is – if you were not the average blog reading individual that you are, but were from the poorer and more vulnerable strata of the society, how confident would you be in deali...