SaatKaahon

The year 2020 will remain indelible in the history of mankind — not for any ground-shaking scientific discovery, nor for the humankind winning a war against any millennium-old scourge, but because the world fairly stopped in its track, probably for the first time in written history. A microscopic virus took over the earth, humans scurried into their homes, if they are lucky to have one, and stayed inside. Those who do not possess a roof over their heads or who lost their jobs because all industries halted their wheels and those who were forsaken by their elected governments, stared into a black hole. Then a storm named Amphan visited South Bengal, nothing like which came in previous two centuries.

When established machinery fails, individuals step up. Innumerable initiatives blossomed — distributing food to hungry, donating to relief funds and taking care of the less fortunate, in general. Dr. Bappaditya Mukhopadhyay, a talented artist, organized an online auction of his artwork, the proceeds of which went to various trusted NGOs.

By trade Bappa is an economist and a Game Theory expert, the theory popularized by the movie A Beautiful Mind. John Nash was the discoverer of a mathematical equilibrium, which is the fulcrum of the Game Theory. Among other things, Game Theory talks about how rational humans interact. The assumption of rationality is its strength as well as limitation, because it has been argued that often humans do not behave rationally, when confronted with difficult situation.

So how Game Theorists raise money for charity? They auction their paintings by sealed bid first price auction. This is not the auction that we see Mr. James Bond to participate in for the Faberge egg in Sotheby. There is no silent nod nor raising of half-an-eyebrow, no hammering and the auctioneer’s shout “Going ….. Going …. Gone!”, eiher. Nevertheless, this silent sealed-bid first price auction is as efficient as any other alternative.

Bappa put his paintings online with a reserve price through links in his Facebook.   Each intended buyer is supposed to put in his or her bid on one or more items. Next to each painting is a designated NGO with bank account information. No bidder is aware of what the others are bidding and there is no negotiation. The painting goes to the highest bidder. The buyer then directly sends the bid amount to the NGO designated for that painting. Once the donation receipt is shared with him, Bappa sends the painting to the buyer. Simple, isn’t it!

The art work he is putting up for auction this time are being auctioned using sealed bid first price. The winner pays what (s)he bids. Bappa is doing this to raise as much donations as he can. He soon plans to auction a few more using sealed bid second price auction. In this the winner pays, not what he bids, but the second highest bid. The sealed bid first price auction is recommended by Game Theory to be a win-win situation at the Nash Equilibrium. Each bidder bids the exact value, which he or she thinks is worth the purchase. With a reservation price, the seller limits any potential loss. The auction was done in two phases and the total amount donated by the buyers is over 2.30 lakh. Not a mean feat, right?

A few of Bappa's paintings that were autioned are shown here.