STEVE JOBS AND THE INDIAN AUTO RICKSHAW DRIVER



One aspect of American life that is illuminating is that for every ten authors who eulogise an American hero three writers will tell us the unsavoury news about him or her. Steve Jobs is no exception. While the world bemoans the loss of a man ranked next only to Thomas Alva Edison there are discordant notes about him—more about this shortly.



Let’ s look at the controversy playing out in Mumbai these days. I refer to the bitter and at times violent tensions between the public and the auto and taxi drivers in the city. Not long ago Chennai was singled out for rude and extortionate auto drivers. Slowly I saw the same phenomenon taking place in Bengaluru –some people attributed this to the presence of Tamil speaking auto drivers as if to say that there was something ‘ ethnic’ about this. When the problem spread to Mumbai people were dumbstruck for an explanation.



The Mumbai public has been complaining—even as they were contemptuous of other cities –about rigged meters, rude auto drivers and refusal to ferry to nearby destinations. The auto drivers who rarely own the autos have demanded to the utter shock of the public that the fares ought to be fixed in a manner that guarantees a monthly salary of Rs 25000 plus medical insurance for every driver. Now the public recoiled with horror at this ‘ extravagant’ demand .



My questions are –why is it unreasonable for the drivers to make such demands? Why is it that we want fares to be as low as possible even as we want our salaries to be as high as possible? Why is it that we want our kids who may be mere graduates or even less to be paid large sums but baulk at an auto driver demanding Rs 25000 which in Mumbai and other cities is far from a princely sum ?There is in this phenomenon something of the dog eat dog mentality. Sociologists call this phenomenon ‘ merchant capitalism’ in which each of us tries to exploit the helpless and may the devil take care of the hindmost.



Is it a surprise that we are increasingly using the term ‘food chain’ to describe this phenomenon of exploitation of the weak by the relatively strong as is the case in the animal world? Scarcely to do we stop to realize that it is our exploitation of cheap labour that enables us the middle and rich classes to enjoy a good life style. Thus it is possible for one of India’s richest industrialists to employ 600 servants in his mansion at an average salary of a mere RS 6000 pm.



We the lesser mortals also get away with paying small sums for the services and goods that we cannot do without and which are markers of is having ‘made it’. We rarely stop to look at the sweatshops where ill fed, maimed workers toil for a pittance to produce the handbags, the shoes ,the bread that we cannot do without.



Now let us turn to Steve Jobs. A few writers have told us that Steve was aware that most of his path breaking products were made in sweat shops in China where workers were exploited like in the middle ages—terrible working conditions, poor wages, total disregard for safety of life and limb. Indeed researchers tell us that many workers in such factories had their arms severed in accidents but no compensation was paid. Steve Jobs looked the other way when this was brought to his notice –much as do when our domestic help is ill or the Auto driver is maimed in an accident.



I recall talking to a World Bank executive who had just then returned from a visit to the Chinese countryside. He had gone there along with his wife and small child. He happened to visit a factory where woman workers toiled for over 14 hours a day in sub human conditions. What attracted his attention and then went on to change his opinion of China’s so called spectacular growth was the profound affection that the women displayed towards his child.



He assumed this to be just the usual ‘ Asian’ display of love for children. A deeper study revealed the truth. These women were forcibly brought from their rural homes to the factory to work in these dungeons for a pittance of an income and were allowed a day off once a fortnight. They were able to see their little kids maybe once a fortnight –hence the display of extraordinary love for the World Bank executive’s child!

I wonder how many of us are aware that such things are happening in our own cities. A glimpse of merchant capitalism and exploitation of the poor in India is available in sociologist Deepankar Gupta’s writings.



K.R.RAVI

WWW.KRRAVI.COM