Black or Green

A sabbatical can add perspective in one’s life. I was not on one. I was absent for about a week and a half, hardly enough time to be called a sabbatical. But I guess time is not of the essence when what one is looking for is an open- minded view, a perspective.
So what could I have mused on during my stay with my cousins? Something on familial ties maybe? Yes, that too but what I am writing about here today is not the stay, I am talking about the trip. My journey to my natives had me take a train journey across three states along the eastern coast of India. Each state unique in its own way, but I was not looking for differences. I was looking for similarities, rather I saw similarities and that’s what I speak on today.
Every train journey I have taken has inevitably passed through the countryside, the fields and the villages. This one was no different. In all three states, there were fields, lush green. They may have been growing different crops but to me they were just fields, green and the source of my grub. These images were not permanent. Interspersed with the green colour was the white, and grey and black of the cities. Urban settlements on what was probably once a farmland. What intrigued me most, in fact what intrigues me still is the question the balance of green and black pose. How much of each is required for a progressing, stable society? This sounds contradictory, so let me rephrase it, how much is needed for a steadily progressing society? Where should the boundary be, or where should it have been between green and black?
So I did some thinking and came up with a list of pros and cons of each. I am not judging, nor am I imposing my opinion on anyone which is why I would request all those reading to leave there thoughts in the comments.
Let’s start with green. If there were a lot of green it would imply that the country had a predominantly agriculture dependent economy. Exports would be agri products and variants of it. People would be living in or near the farms and urbanization would be minimal. How would that affect the country? Agri based economy is stable. Because the bottom line is no matter what the world does, it cannot stop eating. So that ensures a steady export business. Yes the recession will affect the prices of the fertilizers, the necessary material will be dearer, and food will become costlier. But the good thing about agriculture is that productivity is not as dependent on the economics of the world as is industry. The farmers will produce the same, they may however pay more. But we have already established that income to the country will be more or less stable. So the government can bear the load of the farmer on its shoulder. So all is rosy. But is it? The downside of this is that progress is at a snail’s pace. The economy is stable but not growing. So while the world keeps going ahead during the good times, this country stays behind. It is like a seasonal tree that bears fruit only in winter. The rest of the year it is just a tree doing nothing. But when winter does come, everyone turn to it for nourishment. So the question here is how much can we afford to be like this tree? Can we afford to be depended upon only during times of recession?
If not then we must start urbanizing, and industrializing the nation. Progress is ensured in this economy. We keep pace with developments in the world and grow as everyone else does. We generate the technology that runs fuels development. This ensure quick bucks in quicker time. This alternative sounds wonderful so why not industrialize and depend on the agri countries to feed us ? This has a downside too. Industry is very much dependent on the world economy, a flutter in any countries economy and it affects us. This is not stable option although quick progress is guaranteed. When the world goes into recession we dive in too head and toe. Prices spiral out of control, and we pay through our noses for essential commodities. Fuel, and everything that runs on it becomes costlier affecting nearly everything in sight. So can we afford to live with the uncertainties?
How can we strike a balance? There are a million different opinions and thousand different solutions not all viable though. What I propose is a simple plan. Both have to be implemented which is obvious but they need not be independent of each other. They can be boosting to each other. Industry can be developed around agriculture and agriculture can fuel industry. Research can be done to implement bio-fuels more efficiently. Genetically modified plants can be used to fuel great industries and industry can be used to increase productivity and efficiency in agriculture. So when one falls the other can be used to pull it up and get it running. The plan sounds simple enough but I know there are lots of things involved and lots of factors that I cannot fathom, but I know that man’s reach is beyond his imagination.
Here is hoping for a better tomorrow! Cheers!!