Network of Opportunities -an optimistic approach- By Rohan Mukherjee 1st Year National Law University, Orissa

GUIDELINES This diagram represents the network that availability of abundant opportunities. It has a normative and not a positive approach The double-headed arrows in the diagram represent various routes/means (AB, AC, BC) The point where two lines meet is the point of opportunity (A, B, C). Lines do not have to be of the same size, shows how different means take different levels of time and effort.

BENEFITS If a society follows this, say an individual X can go from one point to ANY point He can go from A to B via ANY route, longest one or the shortest one. If one route is broken, say a line disappears. Then instead of AB we have to take ACB, in that process more lines come up as we discover more opportunities.

What if a Route Breaks?

In this case, AO, CO, and BO appear in place of AB when we use the route ACB. These new means only appear because we humans have a sense of adaptation. We find more ways to reach our goal.   So if this was the case then we are talking about a place that is like the land of opportunities. No goal is un-achievable, a short route, or a long and winding one there is always a way to get there.

CRITICISMS

Question no. 1 How will a person know which route to take? He knows his goals and he also knows that no matter what route he takes he will reach his destination- be it time consuming or not. The real challenge is to make the person aware of his routes so that he can CHOOSE which route to take. Otherwise this whole process will be extremely time consuming.

…and its solution This problem can be solved in a simple way. Picture a fork road in front of you. Now you have two options right? You need to know which road to take. That problem is solved in real life with the help of a sign board. A sign board that tells you where both the roads will lead you to. Now to what relevance does this sign board have in the Network of Opportunities? I replace it with the Right to Information. This represents transparency. Transparency that enables an individual to see through all his options. It’s obvious that the State has to look after this. Nothing can run smoothly without State intervention, however minimal it may be.

Question no. 2 So everyone knows that he will reach his goal. Everyone knows that there are many ways to get there. Each individual also knows which route he should take. But that individual is not alone. There are a million others who might want to take that route. No matter how many sub-routes it disintegrates into. There is bound to be chaos. A stage of massive rush-hour will take place. Is there no way to prevent that from happening? Any way to keep the process smooth?

…and its solution A rush hour. That seems like a huge problem. Now picture an actual rush hour on a busy street. We still manage to get to our destination isn’t it? Many factors help in making it possible. I would boil it down to the traffic police. Traffic police men make it possible to a great extent by ensuring that the roads don’t remain congested forever. Now this traffic police is the State too. The State should keep a watch over the number of people demanding for a particular route and the availability of such routes to a particular point. This, I feel will regulate the Network of Opportunities and ensure maximum efficiency.

To conclude I would say: This is my idea. A tiny theory which breathes optimism. I have tried to keep it grounded to reality as much as possible so that criticisms of this being a near to fairytale concept is kept at bay.

Words of Appreciation: T his presentation/paper would not have been possible without the generous help and guidance from my Political Science professor Dr. Afroz Alam Thank you Sir