Can private actions alleviate extreme poverty in India? Every little bit you do could eventually help

Extreme poverty, early death, environmental devastation and everything else that must not exist anywhere in the world is there in that place. Any honest assessment leads to only one conclusion—that we cannot be forgiven for the abject neglect of such places. They are inhabited by our own people, so how can we let this go on?

Yet, visible in the same place is the resilience of people, the soaring spirits of young women and a hospital that is an oasis of succour. This confluence of darkness and light is not unique. You will find it in much of the country. Nothing can quash the human spirit. Goodness seeks darkness to spread light, like that doctor I mentioned in a hospital.

But the responses revealed much about the responders and the sort of people who read such opinion pieces. Only one person had a contemptuous wish. But about 70% expressed heartbreak and sadness, tinged with hope. That is reason enough to feel assured.

That so many people so distant from that reality can be moved by a short piece of writing tells us that empathy is not dead. There is a reservoir of yearning for action and change in society. We need to tap it better. This reservoir of goodness outnumbered crackpot responses by about a hundred-to-one.

The other 30% went further, asking “What should be done?" I could not engage with some of them because they wanted to tell the government or us what to do. How does one engage with someone who has good intentions but eagerly offers advice on one of the most vexed socioeconomic-political theatres of human misery and tragedy right after reading an 850-word newspaper column?

All I can say is that humility and common sense are super-essential antidotes to the follies of success and assumptions of expertise.

The most heartwarming responses were of two kinds: “Can you tell me the contacts of that hospital; I want to support them?" and “Can I visit that place?" Almost all others were in some way asking how they could help. These were business leaders, healthcare professionals, civil society people, writers, teachers, researchers, journalists and government officials.

Given the large number in this group, I was not able to engage adequately with each of them. So I am writing this piece partly as a response. Most of what I write is usually read by those who are sensitive enough to ask such a question; perhaps my experience is validation for them.

There are three aspects to this.

First, to help or contribute, do you want to use your expertise, because that may indeed be the most effective way. For example, if you are a researcher, do you want to research something relevant to that place which would be of help? As a journalist, do you want to highlight the issues? Or, if you don’t want to do that, what would you do?

The second is a simple matter. I wrote about a particular place in that column. But that place is a metaphor for the state of our country. It is unnecessary, in fact perhaps ineffective, for people to contribute to that particular place. Wherever you live, it’s far more useful to go out nearby and discover similar theatres of tragedy and hope and contribute there. These are all around us. We just need to step out of our cosy cocoons.

The third is a more complex matter. Whatever you choose to do may or may not have an effect on the lives of the people whom you are trying to help. Even if you do your very best, it may not work. The biggest reason for this is that the kind of work that you choose to do may have only second or third order effects on the actual lives of people.

If you are a researcher who comes up with some useful insight, those who could use it—for policy making or administration, for example—may or may not do so. That is the reality of everyday life. Getting administrators and policymakers to use such insights is not research but activism and politicking, but that is unlikely to be your arena of expertise. Similarly, the most brilliant of reports that a journalist may write may eventually have little effect on the actual lives of people.

In real life, it is practically impossible to spot direct links between this sort of work, which by its very nature has only second or third or fourth order effects on the lives of people, and any real change in those lives in the short or medium term.

This doesn’t mean that such work is unimportant; it only means that simple direct causality cannot be assigned. Yet, over time, it is only such work that shifts societal trends and thinking, which therefore makes it critical regardless of how ineffective it might seem in the short term.

So, the people who choose to do such work must accept that the measure of their contribution to the lives of people is not direct change, but how honest and how good their work has been. And they must keep the faith that this will count towards real change over time—because it will.

But there is one thing that each of us can do. Just go to these places. You will see angelic humanity shining a light amid pitch darkness. Whether you contribute or not is a decision that can be taken later, but that experience will surely contribute to you.

The author is CEO of Azim Premji Foundation.