The meaning of poverty

It seems compulsory for anyone using the word ‘development’ in their official purview to do the following. Please board buses and trains and travel from Colombo, right across Sri Lanka for self-education. When you reach a certain point you will have to walk. Because there are no public busses. So, please walk. This is what the villages do. When you walk about 10 to 15 kilometres in the burning tree-less heat you would have realised a lot of things that would help you realise what is wrong with policy making in Sri Lanka pertaining to rural ‘development.’ 

Then the fallacy and the mirage may fall away. The fragile and tinsel filigree of the development dream that is woven in Colombo has to be torn asunder only when those in high policy making positions, in mid-career official status across diverse disciplines of responsibility realise that terms such as Sustainable Development Goals or Equality or Grass root based development that are discussed in so called poverty alleviation conferences are a sad joke when juxtaposed with the actual reality. 

Why is there such a mismatch in what is being theorised and what is being seen as reality? To begin with – the problem is that those who theorise do not see. If policies and decisions are taken in air conditioned rooms by those who travel in air conditioned vehicles then obviously their view also will be cocooned.

Sri Lanka has been talking of poverty alleviation for the past seventy five years of the post independent context without a clue as to what poverty or alleviation is. 

Below are a basic premise stated in point form as to what the term poverty could be at an individual and national level. Here we have focused more on water resource based knowledge. 

Poverty is when a child grows up into an adult without realising his or her own innate ability in terms of skills or what he or she is passionate about to do with great enthusiasm to change something for the better that could impact more persons positively.

Poverty is when the adults surrounding the child guides the child in a direction without themselves realising their own great worth as human beings who can create and change and pave the way for a prosperous nation.

Poverty is when an education system does not teach the children about the vast amount of resources of a nation. Sri Lanka needs urgently for a classroom subject to be incorporated where grade 5 and 10 and 12 students have to learn both theoretically and practically about the natural resources of their area. School children need to be asked to carry out practical tasks and projects on using these resources for innovative job creation ventures. 

Poverty is when ignoring the past knowledge one moves into a realm called modernity and uses the adage of development without understanding the core essence of what it should mean. Sri Lanka was a ‘developed’ nation in the era of the hydraulic civilisation because the then leaders had identified the basic root of development as needed for the nation. Without water there is no life. With water there is life – for the soil, the plants, animals and humans. What prevents famine is water. The ancient monarchs of Sri Lanka and the skilled set of officials and experts that the Guru Kula national education system turned out created today’s world heritage marvels because they had a vision for prosperity. Such skills and knowledge have to be rekindled. 

The basic universe linked premise of the season based cultivation patterns have to be studied. The attempting to change this and having crops grow out of season through synthetic routes is part of the core problem of poverty. This requires an in-depth analysis which will be provided in due course. 

Today it is known to link the word ‘expertise’ with foreign, often Western based knowledge. While there is certainly a world of good that could come about being open to non-harmful expertise from anywhere in the world that would safeguard all beings, climate and the environment, if a nation seeks what is outside its borders without first utilising to full their own expertise or attempting to rekindle that knowledge, then this is the root of poverty. This is the root of a crisis.

The hydraulic knowledge of Sri Lanka was not just a boon to this nation but to the world. This is why such knowledge has to be resurrected, and passed on to younger generations. To talk of culture or heritage without such efforts vilifies the nation. 

After four hundred years of colonisation it is obvious that those who grow up in a different setting will be separated intellectually, mentally, emotionally and spiritually from the core root expertise of the nation. This is why today we use water management expertise and water resource specialists of other countries without knowing, respecting, learning and re learning about our own expertise. Once again we certainly must have strong diplomatic ties with all nations keeping in mind sharing of knowledge and expertise that will uphold humanity and will create a global youth that will safeguard this earth and all of its beings. 

Poverty is when the entire structure of development is built within the capital and towns. The term we should focus on is prosperity. 

Transport is a basic need that should not be confined to cities. Strengthening rural transport is the root to strengthening the modern economy of the village. 

A nation cannot go forward without innovation. Invention, innovation and creativity is what is needed. Poverty is when this is not recognised and we kill creativity through examinations.

The village has always been the centre of prosperity, beauty and relaxation. To force the village to ape the stress and lacklustre of concrete is the root of poverty. To alleviate poverty what is then needed is to alleviate the poverty of our minds. The sense of keeping on exporting grade five students into town based schools has to be examined by any sane policy maker.

(SV)