Amartya Sen's book, 'The Country of the First Boys' : A review - Part 1 -

Dr L Krishnamangol Singh *

In his latest book, "The Country of the First Boys", Nobel Laureate Professor Amartya Sen explored the different opportunities that the favoured boys get as compared to the meagre opportunities that the underprivileged girls get in the Indian society.

In fact, the last girls or the neglected girls get very little or no benefits from the development process of the country. Sen emphasised that the "last girls" or the girls from underprivileged families "suffer not only from economic hardship, social deprivation, and political powerlessness, but also from a lack of opportunity to benefit from their intellectual potential and from enjoying the rich intellectual heritage of India and the world".

Thus, Sen used the concept of "last girls" who failed to get the fair share of benefits of development when they grew up or in the later stages of their life. In fact, the neglected girls or the underprivileged girls lag far behind the privileged boys in all respects. Thus, Sen compares the higher degree of disadvantages of the neglected girls which they face, than that of the advantages or the opportunities that the first boys or the privileged boys get.

In fact, the central idea of "the country of first boys" is different from the country of the last girls. While the first boys become the beneficiaries from the percolative process or the well intentioned regulatory measures of an Independent country like India, "the last boys" (i.e. the underprivileged group or class) and the 'last girls' (i.e. similar group or class like the last boys) are bypassed in the development process of a developing country like India.

In fact, the last boys and the last girls cannot be left to themselves in the development process. Nor could they be brought within the framework of development through ill-conceived or ill-intentioned regulatory and development programmes or policies of the country (India). Again, it is also found that there are a large number of youths in the country (India), which cannot fulfill or meet even the basic needs of their life.

It is, therefore, necessary to address the development issues of the youths without considering the criteria of caste and tribe, gender differentiation, minority or majority. In fact, in a heterogenous society like India, there are a large number of boys and girls, who still belong to the poor families.

And also, a large number of boys and girls fail to get adequate or even moderate employment opportunities or incomes due to the lack of employment and job opportunities in the process of economic growth and development. Thus, there are many missing links in terms of the benefits and facilities for the youths in the development process of the Indian society.

While Sen is aware of the different historical and social issues of development, the book essentially deals with the gaps in the benefits of development that exist between the privileged boys from the richer families and the underprivileged girls from the poor families.

It is also interesting to note that the book, 'the country of the first boys' is basically conducted at three levels (i.e. culture, society and policy). In fact it is interesting to note that Sen has emphasised the different aspects of the culture, society and policy in the Indian context .

And, the underlying philosophy depicted in the book is that they are all interrelated in his systematic analyses of the various development issues and policies. In dealing with the Indian culture, Sen explored various aspects such as the wealth of Indian calendars, the variety of Indian play and games, the story of the world's oldest university in Nalanda.

In fact, the Indian calendars still shape our culture and civilisation. Today, the concept of economic development also involves cultural changes and development. Again, economic development with modernization of culture also promotes social changes. Thus, Sen's latest book of "the country of the first boys" analyses the social aspects of wealth of knowledge based on Indian calendars.

And, it also emphasizes development of cultural institutions in our society in order to promote economic development with cultural changes. Interestingly, there is already development theory that economic development determines cultural changes and cultural development. Likewise, cultural factors also determine economic development.

Thus, the two aspects viz., economic development and culture are intimately interrelated. And, there were various calendars in the past, and they need further research and reforms for social changes and development among various communities.

Thus, Sen's article, "India through Its Calendars" contained in the book influences the decisions of the Governments for development of cultural institutions and (cultural) universities in order to promote research and development in the field of various cultures in the country. In fact, the book seeks to address the cultural conflicts, and promote cultural harmony and cultural development among various communities in the Indian society.

To be continued...