Challenge of living is a superset of ease of living

Life is in a continuous dynamic mode. Among the more significant elements in the dynamic flow, there is the physical and the cognitive system. The periodic changes inside and outside the body are obvious indicators of change. Simultaneously, the intellectual and the emotional systems undergo a change. As it happens, most communities have little or no formal systems in assisting people to transit through this change.

Thus, the role of an individual in their own growth is a critical aspect of their coping with reality. This they learn through informal processes and from the environment in which they are embedded. This is an important element to keep in mind in studying how formal education through schools and colleges and informal learning from the context and the environment mutually support each other.

Thus, it is that learning that becomes a very important attribute of the act of living. The changes which one goes through physically, intellectually, and emotionally are significant to the very art of survival. This process is embedded in other features.

One grows up and gets married. Children are born out of marriage and the unit of reference changes. Like everything else, this too is a passing phase; children grow up and parents become again a unit of two.

All this is enmeshed in a dynamic social environment. The external governance systems evolve. This raises two important questions in the creation of civil society. One is access to resources and the other is opportunities for growth.

If there are too many moving parts then the challenge of living becomes bigger.

The challenge of living is a superset of the ease of living. Ease of living has to do, among other things, about forms and formats, screenings and verifications. The challenge of living has to do with the very act of availability of inputs such as energy, water, and security. In all this, the act of healthcare is fundamental.

Once this distinction between the challenge of living and ease of living is recognised, progress becomes simpler and therefore amenable to solutions to a higher degree.

Both the above issues, the challenge and the ease of living, cannot be handled without understanding the unit of reference. The unit of reference is often undefined. It can vary from community to community.

Consider the basic act of garbage collection. It is so basic that most people take it for granted. This is an oversimplification. In an upmarket colony of New Delhi, a little over a decade ago it was found that the sewerage pipe was laid parallel to the water pipe and during the monsoons, contamination of the flow in the water pipe took place from the flow in the sewerage pipe. Illness flowed.

Then proper garbage collection was started. One was the segregation of garbage, between the biomass type and the non-biodegradable type. Disposal of segregated garbage was recommended. This practice is yet to take root in many colonies of even the more evolved cities.

This recognition has to go hand in hand with which agency is charged with the level of collection of what type of garbage.

Illustrations can be many. The solutions will have to do with the recognition of the unit of reference: How is the agency for garbage collection decided? Who will be responsible for ensuring the fair distribution of energy, say, electricity? How will water supply be ensured? Put simply, there is a need to focus on identifying the basic unit of reference of understanding and operation of all systems at a local level, just as much as at any other level. Some work has begun, much more is needed.

(The writer is a well-known management consultant of international repute. The views expressed are personal.)