INDIVIDUAL

We’re facing problems today that weren’t even words in the dictionary till a few years ago. Lifestyle-diseases, for instance. Currently the largest claimer of human lives around the world. A dangerous by-product of industrialization that can manifest itself in the form of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, asthma, Alzheimer’s and many others.

And where does it all come from? Stress. Jobs. Responsibilities. Conflict. Discontent.

Today, more and more of us are busy hating our jobs, paying too many bills, getting divorces, and falling prey to manic depression. And why wouldn’t we? Our quality of life depends exceedingly on the amount of money we make. The house we live in, the time we spend with our kids, the education we want for them, the food we eat, the healthcare we can afford, the comforts we can provide to our old parents, the size of our refrigerator, the screen of our TV, the cars we drive, the brands we wear, the places we visit, even the respect we get in society – the endless list all boils down to the mighty paycheck. And to keep the paychecks coming, we have to keep working, battling stress all the way.

It’s the paradox of our times. And it shows no signs of ending.

• 76.5 crore (765 million) people work in India. ?35% of them die of heart diseases.
• In a 2003 survey of call centre employees, 40% suffered from sleep disorders, 38% from stress, and 34% from digestive disorders.
• Bangalore sees over 1500 divorces a year, in the IT sector alone.

NATION

A country with 6000 years of vibrant history, took just 60 years to slip into dark times. And the contradictions only get bigger.

• Among the world’s fastest-emerging economies. ?Home to half the world’s hungry population.
• World’s largest democracy.? More than 50% of which, doesn’t vote.
• Nation of 50 of the world’s top billionaires. ?Where 456 million people live below the poverty line.
• Over 765 million strong workforce.? Over 211 million of which will be out of a job by 2020.
• Among the world’s richest agricultural lands.? Where 2,00,000 farmers have killed themselves since 1997.
• World capital of diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.? One of the world’s lowest health spenders (used to rank 171 out of 175 countries).
• World’s largest producer of milk; second largest of rice and wheat.? Where 350 million people are malnourished.
• Driving 1% of the world’s automobiles. ?Suffering 8% of its fatal accidents (largest in the world, 13 deaths every hour).
• Seat of 742 political parties.? Scene of 5 million crimes per year (and that’s just the ones reported).
• Operating the world’s second largest road network. ?Where 52.7% of roads are unpaved.

PLANET

When we stare rabid globalization in the face, we realize that the most basic problems we face today are not individual challenges anymore.  Money, corruption, hunger, housing, inflation: these are all global challenges.  The statistics may differ for all of us, but the problems don’t.

Yet we continue to cling to our precious identities. Man-made labels of country, religion, class, colour, race and others, each one fabricated to divide, not unite. Through our myopic self-preserving perspective, we fail to realize just how much damage we are causing to our eco-system. So not only does the planet have to face its own environmental problems, it has to suffer human conflict too.

Now, if this isn’t the most mind-bending irony of being human, then what is?

• Hunger kills one person per second.? Per Second!
• Preventable diseases kill 35,000 kids per day.
• One person commits suicide every 40 seconds.
• 10 countries possess nuclear capabilities.
• 21 armed conflicts were resolved only in the past decade.
• 17 wars are ongoing even today (2 of them, including Kashmir, since over 60 years).
• We’re losing 1 hectare of forest every 2 seconds.
• One species goes extinct every 3 minutes.
• Since the 1890s, the top 5 warmest years have been 2005, 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2004, in that order.