Atool Dupta in the age of major disruptions and the Rip Van Winkle effect

THIS is a universal story about a prodigal son and a moneyed man who through irregular and vile means amassed a fiefdom in a foreign land.

He began his financial journey with humble beginnings in a modest computer business and as a result of his adeptness in pecuniary matters he moved on to accumulate a pot of gold through state capture and patronage. He set up front companies all over the world and siphoned off billions in foreign currency to an oil-rich destination where he built a mansion fit for royalty.

It was here that he intended to fritter away his ill-gotten gains in the belief that together with the monies he hoarded and his dexterous financial skills he would be able to secure a future empire in the sun.

He made a lot of friends in high places and with malevolent intentions he spent his wealth lavishly on wining and dining his associates, even sending them on vacation to foreign exotic destinations. In return they had to sell their souls at the expense of the poorest and most disenfranchised in the land of his adoption.

While outwardly he seemed to be a man of all seasons, in essence he was a man of straw. He believed he was a mafia-styled “godfather” and was simply untouchable.

Unfortunately one day, while Atool Dupta was spending time at a secret luxury villa in revelry with his cronies, a magical spell befell him. He went into deep slumber and awoke 18 years later to find that he was a patient in a coma ward of an ultramodern hospital housed in a giant 15-storey futuristic-shaped building. It was a green facility powered by solar energy.

Atool had awoken in an era of mass disruptions. It was an epoch of new and dynamic technologies based on the “internet of things” when everything was environment-friendly and energy-saving. It was a period of robots, 3D printing, driverless cars, digital organisations as well as artificial intelligence, automation and the cloud. Almost all data was stored in the cloud. This era also ushered in smart production where there was no need for workers to control machines.

The adoption of digital technologies increased transparency and efficiency and improved overall governance. All levels of management and administration, whether in the public and private spheres benefited from improved governance.

Even other areas such as education, health care, entertainment, transport, and agriculture experienced quality improvements as a result of the use of new technologies. The availability of super-connections allowed people and machines to link up and enable equality in services across varying geographies.

The hospital facility where Atool was a patient boasted innovative, time saving “smart rooms” which automatically recorded and wirelessly conveyed patients’ vitals and additional information to the system’s electronic medical databanks and used robot-drug-dispensing devices.

In addition to this, the centre offered advanced imaging services and featured intraoperative teleconferencing technology, which allowed doctors to use augmented digital health platforms to communicate with pathologists and other international specialists without leaving the operating theatre. The infirmary also had air beds, a fleet of robots delivering health care services and an interactive children’s virtual cinema.

As he slowly regained his memory, Atool realised that he had woken up in a drastically different world.

Hospital records stored in cloud revealed that he was an “unknown citizen” and was identified as civilian number SHRee420-1 (a generic code used for a patient with a questionable character). In an attempt to regain his previous status, he attempted to bribe officials simply to be informed that it was impossible because artificial intelligence governed all administrative processes at the health facility.

Bribery was a human phenomenon and robots were not programmed to encourage or abet in crime or corruption.

Despite his protestations that he was a “billionaire” and a man of “good standing”, he was informed by the robots that he was a pauper and a patient at the hospital as a result of the benevolence of the state.

The authorities at the hospital could not find any record to show that he was a legitimate contributor towards health insurance. For the first time in his ageing life he realised that he was an ordinary man.

Given that he had regained consciousness and was in reasonable good physical health, he was given a discharge. He responded positively because he wished to urgently return to his family compound in an upmarket suburb called Shebeenville and assure himself that the wealth he had accumulated through “state capture” and stashed away in thousands of brown paper bags was intact.

At the hospital he was informed that loyal members of his family and close associates had betrayed him and absconded with all his wealth. He was alone in the new world. It frightened him.

Just before he could exit the hospital, a human health giver, noting that the patient had not received any visitors throughout the stay in hospital, out of empathy offered Atool some pocket money for his journey back home.

Atool scoffed at this kind gesture feeling extremely patronised and promised that when he returned to his compound he would “make” his benefactor the head of the institution.

As he alighted from the hospital on to the pavement Atool noticed that he was surrounded by order and cleanliness and the air was crisp, clear and fresh, unlike the environment he was previously accustomed to.

He was also astonished to find that the road alongside the hospital was used by private driverless vehicles and public buses which were extremely silent and did not discharge any carbon emissions.

Moreover, in his excitement to return home, he stopped a passer-by and asked to use her mobile phone to contact the Atool residence and request his chauffeur to fetch him. He was informed that she was the owner of a smartphone which only recognised her voice and “eye print” and accordingly facilitated heliographic images of those whom she knew. As a result she could not accede to his request. Initially he thought that she was being deliberately unhelpful until he stopped another passer-by who informed him similarly.

By now Atool was totally disheartened. He could not believe that this could happen to him. He was beyond rejection. He could “buy” and “sell” people. In frustration, he asked the first passer-by to phone his residence on his behalf and demand a car to fetch him. She did so generously, and was informed that the telephone number did not exist. So he tried repeatedly, only to be told the same.

In exasperation, Atool thought that he would flag down a taxi, but sadly he was informed that the driverless limousine service was only available to a privileged few who were heroes of the state and that if one qualified for this special status, one had to book in advance in order that the internal ecosystem of the vehicle could be adjusted to one’s personal biological and other needs.

He was encouraged to use the state subsidised bus service or the underground mass transit system. All of these transport systems were foreign to him. He had never travelled by public transportation.

Nevertheless, against his better wishes he plucked up enough courage and decided to use the underground mass transit system which was recommended by the first passer-by. She had used her navigation application on her smartphone to decide which public transport system was the cheapest and most convenient in terms of his desired drop off station.

He used the “pocket money” given to him by the health-care worker to buy a day travel pass. Within minutes he arrived at the station closest to his destination.

He now hurried forth, and hastened on foot to the place where his compound in Shebeenville was located.

His compound was nowhere to be seen. He could not recognise the buildings in the area except the address.

NEXT WEEK: PART 2.