Skills Development- A Quick Look Through The Lens Of Ray  

Ray is a term symbolising hope and light. Well, by Ray, I also meant Satyajit Ray, one of the world's most iconic and multi-skilled personality- a filmmaker, screenwriter, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. Yes, he had skills aplenty. Writing about Satyajit Ray, Akira Kurosawa (who is regarded as one of the most skillful and influential filmmakers in the history of world cinema) notes, "Not to have seen the cinema of RAY means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon"...

But, before taking a look through the lens of Ray, let's understand how we define the term skills. Skills are the capabilities needed to complete a task, and therefore a job (WEF, 2021). It is often said that skills of the people of any country reflects its development course. But how are skills requirement ascertained? Does macro-factors at a global or country-level determine the requirements at organisational and micro-levels of a society?

Well, it is at this juncture I shall briefly narrate one of Ray's most widely-acclaimed movies-Hirok Rajar Deshe (In the country of the Diamond-King). I remember watching it as a young child, I liked it then, as it was a children's movie. Thereafter, almost at every stage of life I kept watching it and found a new narrative and a new meaning to it. Now, even my child enjoys watching it. Needless to mention, that the movie is so skillfully made that it attracts the attention of multiple age-groups while communicating a message to each one of them.

Released in the year 1980, Hirok Rajar Deshe, is a Bengali dystopian fantasy musical film. The story is about a kingdom of the Diamond King which had its recognition all around as one of the finest kingdoms of the time. The perception of the kingdom was however marred when two innocent musicians (who had magical powers) travel to the kingdom, unaware of the machinations of the King, who is actually a tyrant. Diamonds and riches get pent up in his treasuries, while his subjects (who are usually either hidden or fabricated in front of the outsiders) starve and suffer. Those who protest are taken care of in the 'Jantarmantar', a chamber for brainwashing devised by a scientist. As expected, the king’s ministers were mere puppets. The only enemy, the king had, in his land was the school teacher, who was a believer of values and taught life skills to his protégés to live life with dignity. The corrupt king's mandate was not to educate any children and the teacher was to be caught and penalised for "polluting" the young minds.

He emphasizes, "je joto jane toto kom mane",meaning, one who knows more will question the status quo and ignore the king's orders. For, according to him, the only skills required for his subjects were that of absolute compliance to his orders. As long as the corrupt king was in power, he decided and ensured that the skills requirement for his subjects was not for their self-development but to feed his vested interests.

However, Ray concluded the movie on a positive note wherein, with the help of the teacher, musicians and their magical powers, the king and his ministers were in turn brainwashed. The King turns to the good side, who then, along with the villagers, pulls down his own statue situated at the center of the village, and everything went back to normal in the kingdom (Wikipedia, 2021).

From this story it is clear and fairly simple that if the control of the society is in a strong and ethical hand and well cushioned by a learned and disciplined civil society, skills development will pursue in the direction of sustainable development, else quality would be compromised and unfair practices encouraged. 

History has witnessed that any society has progressed more when there was a leadership vision (devoid of vested interest), ethical thinking encouraging fairness in the society. For example, the Mayan empire remained at the helm making it one of the most dominant civilizations of its time, when skills and societal development were a priority but met the fate of dramatic decline when vested interest and internal conflicts took prevalence.

Usually, the skills required in a society at any particular point in time are driven from the socio-economic priorities identified by the leader(s), who sets the direction.

Now, let’s come back to the current COVID/Post-COVID phase. The pandemic has redefined and disrupted labour markets and economies. With prolonged lockdowns, skyrocketing unemployment, reduction of GDPs, drop in consumer spending, the words stability, sustainability and recovery got redefined. A never-seen before wave has transformed the way in which businesses and economies function. The need to acquire new skills was felt. As after any major global event, the concern for many now is to work out how to get back to a fast-track mode and charge up economic recovery.

What skills are required, what skills to be given priority/preference is often driven by the societal goals set. For instance, at the global level, the World Economic Forum (WEF, 2021) predicts that 50% of all employees will need reskilling by 2025, with Critical thinking and problem-solving being at the top of the list of skills employers believe will grow in prominence, in the next five years. But as Jha (2021)notes, most countries would follow their own economic recovery strategies from the pandemic. Hence, whether a country is ruled by a diamond king or an equitable leader will majorly impact how quickly the economy can make a turnaround or lag behind and play a never-ending catch-up game with the global standards. For instance, how much is the genuine well-being of the youth being considered, how well the potential of the existing human assets are actually recognized and promoted. I still remember the conversation I had with a “community advocate” regarding the underutilization of the skills of migrants and how technically qualified skilled professionals driving taxis or being a kitchen-hand washing dishes could be better placed utilizing their respective skill-sets. And, how, to my shock the person exclaimed and explained, “What else would you expect them to do? at least they are making money".

While writing on this theme of Skills in need, Skills indeed: How to fast-track the post-COVID economic recovery, I chose this unconventional style to elaborate further, as I thought that it is not only technical analysis that is required but the fundamental issues also needs to be addressed. The question is as always- who is going to finally bell the cat?

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