02 May 2020  |   05:25am IST

From dystopia to utopia: Will we see a brave new world?

Sujay Gupta

O wonder!

How many goodly creatures are there here!

How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,

That has such people in't.

— William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act V, Scene I, ll

 

Even in Shakespeare’s Tempest this paragraph was set in Irony and was a reflection of how the speaker of these words knew not the evil that was lurking. 

As the full gamut of what COVID has done to us, globally and locally sinks in to depths that no coffin will ever reach, we understand that as the world churns, with the most powerful reduced to pygmies, in an ecosystem where no one really has the levers, this is the end of dystopia as well as the ‘New World Order”- a conspiracy theory which has been raging of late about a secretive power elite conspiring to rule the world, through a dictatorial world government

 COVID increasingly, if not by design, but by its fallout has arrested the dystopian world. And this is played out in countries, states, and even villages. The conversion from a state of dystopia marked by recklessness and insensitivity to utopia, or going back to the old way of life will be seen. In fact, its conception has taken place in the manner in which humans across the world and even in quieter, calmer environments like Goa are looking at their new lives. Yes, the “Brave New World of Aldous Huxley”, the world of dystopia, a society that is undesirable or frightening, will change to a sane new world of ordinary human beings, and its very opposite- utopia. But this utopia will be real.

But a quick look back at Huxley’s book, the genre of dystopia, and how it played out in the pre Corona world is justifiable. To see change, one must see from where it is changing. George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 are among the genre of books that looked to the future and imagined existing societies, many of which are or have been totalitarian states or societies in an advanced state of collapse.

In Brave New World, Citizens are environmentally curated into a social hierarchy based on intelligence combined to make a dystopian society which is challenged by only a single individual: the story's protagonist.

 Today in 2020, COVID-19 is the protagonist. The lone man standing, telling us that this world order of powerful individuals and countries needs to end and a simpler order of thinking small, shrinking the world into communities living locally with laws that are equal and meant to help all. We have no option but to move towards smaller equitable societies and yes, moving to the hinterland, to our rivers and forests, because the real world lies there. 

In this sane new world, people not governments will make decisions. And these decisions will come from the power of ideas. 

This is how the land we who live in and love Goa will move forward. In the power of ideas where the direction is only one way, we will think local, think practical. Ordinary people, Goa’s citizens across walks of life should and will come together, through organized platforms or in a free-flowing manner to ideate on key areas or beliefs or touch points which will completely re-imagine, re-think, re-shape and restructure Goa.  Enjoy this rediscovery. Understand where the power of ideas will work and the sectors where it will work. Just pick any. Tourism, food systems, agriculture, farming, fruit cultivation, fishing, managing and working in riverine systems, handicrafts, local music,  reviving traditional customs, giving power to village communities, stronger local self-governments, eco-friendly housing, preserving coastal areas, protection of sand dunes, creating waste management systems, developing real estate in sync with need and not greed, kick-starting economic drivers like IT and retail, managing issues of migration and labour, and assimilating outside labour into a system driven milieu based on mutual respect and understanding. And there’s more.

Speaking to colleagues, friends, work acquaintances, and connecting with the larger world of Goa on social media, there is absolutely no doubt that ideas are flowing. The churn is visible but even more significantly, it is not towards scale, but sustenance. 

Refreshingly health and wellness are being looked at in Goa from an entirely new perspective, which is bottom-up. The patient is finally getting attention. And those in the spotlight are high-risk probable patients like the elderly. For the first time, we hear of using technology to help the elderly connect to health care through simple apps on which appointments can be booked with doctors who can home visit. This has been extended further by looking at food deliveries to recuperating patients by outlets catering to just this kind of food. We are sure that if these ideas flow primary health care centres will become equipped to deal with the health problems of each village rather than becoming just a transport company moving patients to district hospitals or GMC.

Importantly, what do these ideas teach us? Several things really a) It’s a journey from greed to catering to simple needs. b) Power will cease to be the quotient of happiness, self reservations, and being in sync with nature will.

If this works, who are likely to be most threatened? The dictatorial ruling class, the gurus of dystopian societies and countries, which sadly is what most of the ruling class looks like.

The power of ideas is like a commission into the future. It is not a fervent hope like ‘andrà tutto bene’, Italy’s current hit slogan of reassurance to oneself and to the country, meaning “everything will be alright”. It is a playbook where the definition of public service will extend to the shop keeper, the café owner, the proud manager of a village tavern, the poder, the fisherman, the toddy tapper and coconut plucker, the flower seller on the road, the cycle repair mechanic, the artist, the sculptor, the painter, the ghumot maker, the saree weaver, the lavo mat maker, the mandolin player and the mando performer, the tiatrist, the bank clerk, the photographer, the panch member, the beat policeman, the health care worker and the doctor. The list goes on. It doesn’t matter if you a hippie or a hipster, or a breadwinner or homemaker, this is the playbook you will love to- as opposed to have to- follow. 

Let us bask in the power of these ideas. This is our sane new world.


IDhar UDHAR

Idhar Udhar