Amartya Sen’s in the house!

 

It’s the time of the year when the head quarters of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) brace themselves to host the Annual Spring meetings. Within the labyrinth of tight security, as the international delegation scuttled from one meeting to the other, what caught my attention was an announcement on the advertisement board that read, ‘Debating Development and Globalization’. The guest speakers were Eric Maskin, Ory Okolloh and Amartya Sen. Did I cipher that correct? Yes indeed it is Amartya Sen. So as I froze, my mind raced back to the first time I heard his name in 1998, the first Indian (of Independent India) who won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.  Then it was in high school, where I was introduced to him through a chapter on Social Choice theory, and I sat with a triumphant smile, as I could well understand what a Nobel laureate’s theory in Economics espoused. During my years of studying masters in political science I met him again in the ‘Argumentative Indian’ and the analytical writer in him impressed me. The way his collection of essays knit the traditions of India’s past and reached its present, together with his arguments on caste, gender and democracy makes it an excellent read.
 
So as I gathered all my senses back, I was in the auditorium waiting for the debate to commence. Ms. Okolloh walks in, followed by Mr. Maskin and as my patience reached its brim an elderly figure walked in. Dr. Amartya Sen just entered the august gathering. He looked a lot different since I last saw him receiving Bharat Ratna or even his interview on news channels. Nevertheless, I was way too excited to be seated in a gathering of economists and could not curtail my excitement that am just about to hear Amartya Sen speak.

 
The discussion was led by Kaushik Basu, the Chief Economist of the World Bank, who in himself is a recipient of Padma Bhushan. So the discussion burgeoned on the promises and perils of globalization. The panel debated effectively on social development, the lack of informal sector’s inclusion to the country’s GDP etc.  Dr. Sen optimistically stood by and affirmed the importance of social welfare that is being shortchanged in the worlds’ fastest growing economies.
 
So as I heard Dr. Sen with all attention, I do see age corroding him physically but his scholastic mind is unscathed, so much so that in a busy office hour time the small auditorium was brimming with ardent crowd thus, if Dr. Amartya Sen’s in the house, no matter when, a houseful of earnest ears will pop up to hear him philosophize the bridge between socialism and economics.

 

Remembering my Sanskrit teacher’s widely used phrase that falls apt for Dr. Sen:

 

राजः तु पूज्यते स्वदेशे  I 

परः विद्वांसः सर्वत्र पूज्यते  I I