Whither Lokpal or Wither Lokpal

I am in favor of a strong and effective Lokpal, but even if we get one, I know, we as Indians excel in destroying and debasing institutions and making them defunct.

Lot of thought has gone in the drafting of the Lokpal bill. There is a version of the civil society and there is a version of the government. The two versions differ but are clearly not dichotomous. Of course the Governments version makes the Lokpal less effective and process of prosecution more tedious and iterative.

But I can tell you, Lokpal is not a panacea for the lot of India. No government, no bill, no measure even of unforeseen authority or independence can cure India from the abjectly abysmal state of systemic rot and dys-functionality that it has reached. I can tell you, only two people can bring about the needed change in this stinking system, one is you and the other is I.

The Constitution of India is one of the best in the world, but what have we made out of it. One of the very unique articles of the Indian Constitution is the Directive Principles. Our constitution enshrines this set of exalted values in addition to the Fundamental Rights, the latter finding a place in most constitutions of the world. But what have we made of them.

The institution of the Governors was purported to be equally exalted. People of eminence, completely non - partisan were supposed to grace this office. The office was accorded all possible immunities to ensure such non-partisan discharge of duty. The office was also integral to the federal architecture of the Indian polity. Look at the stately mansions in which they are housed. Look at the perks that they are entitled to. But what have we made of this institution. This gubernatorial assignment has been reduced to being a stooge of the High Commands, regardless of who the high command of the party in power at the centre is.

Don’t go far, look at the President of India. The largest democracy of the world. The position of the President is so tall, that even the most maverick mind has not demanded to bring it in the purview of the Lokpal. A person of extremely high stature, station and scholarship was supposed to be appointed to this position by an electorate well defined by the Constitution. How are our presidents appointed? Who are appointed? Who appoints them? How independently do they function? All this is a matter of record and may not merit any greater discussion than what I have done here. Pratibha Patil, does India deserve such a controversially tainted president?

We have the uncanny knack to sabotage the sanctity of any institution without much effort. Such is the tyranny of our post independence political acculturation.

Very soon you will see, if the UPA is in power, Rahul Gandhi aka voice of the chairperson will be appointing the Lokpal. The beautiful process enshrined for such appointment will merely adorn the book. If it is the NDA, another coterie could be appointing the Lokpal. May be Ranjan Bhattacharya. The Lokpal will have clearly understood loyalties.

The answer to this is national character and nation building. Two ways that can help us do this, inculcation of good values at home and at school and call to serve the nation before self either by way of an enriched NCC program or something else, that captures the imagination of the children while their value system is still being conceived.

Joining Politics

Joining politics was Faustian. This was the impression that most of us grew up with. Our parents gave us to believe, we must work hard to get good employment, stay away both from police and politicians.

But the Babalog (the scions of political families) not withstanding, there are some good young smart people in local level politics today and this tribe we hope will grow. There are MBAs from good universities abroad and in India who are doing exceptional work at village level, as Sarpanches etc. The media needs to highlight their good work and encourage more such people to come forth and contribute. If democracy is to succeed as a method of governance, more and more good people must come forth to selflessly serve the electorate.

Also, we need more people like Subramanium Swamy in the younger generation also. And the moment I say this, I would invite the wrath of many pseudo intellectuals, who feel impelled to react both with outrage and indignation on his essay that touches such aspects like illegal immigration, purportedly anti-muslim. The voice of these intellectuals will hereon resonate as Havard too has removed Swamy from visiting faculty. But it may be noteworthy, that in 1987 Swamy fasted unto death demanding enquiry into killings of Muslims by police in Meerut. A fact that has received little media coverage.

Deny it if you can, but truly, if India was saved of the PM Ship of Sonia Gandhi, it was due to singular achievement of Swamy. He was also the one to expose the lie about Rahul Gandhi being an alumnus of Havard. It does not matter if Mr TOM DICK HARRY lies about being from Havard. But clearly, if Rahul the PM in waiting or any parliamentarian for that matter lies about his credentials, it should get a treatment worse than perjury. It is quite possible if Swamy's claims about the KJB connections of the Maino family could be overstated. But the fact is, and we all know, politicians of all hues, survive on the tested principle of I scratch your back and you scratch mine. Both their jibes and vendettas are reasonably well calculated and neither the ruling side nor the opposition truly want to expose each other. In hindi it is quite well said -एक ही थाली के चटटे बट्‍टे !

Nobody is right all the time. Nobody is perfect and everyone may not agree to all that Swamy says, but that is not needed also. He can dare those who are in extreme power right in the face. And those who can do that is clearly a dwindling breed and that breed we need to nurture, propagate and bring forward.

Merry Christmas

We booked it because it was cheap, but the hotel that I stayed in Lugano turned out to be a heritage building of late 1800s vintage. The staff too was warm and cordial. The lady at the reception was a German origin polyglot, though the city fell in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland.

Overseeing the lake ensconced in the mountains, the hotel spoke of all that is serene about nature, and being right by the side of the railway track it also bore testimony to ruckus that man has created in his zeal to exploit that nature. Regardless, the room that I had was good size, which itself is a luxury in Europe.

Indeed I am talking about the Continental Park Hotel close to the Train Station of Lugano.

On the eve of Christmas, the mood was surely festive, the sunny weather too did banish a depressive somberness that descends generally during this time of the year, but clearly the absence of snow would make this Christmas not so usual.

Hamburg too, which was the previous halt of this hastily planned troubleshooting trip, too was warmer than what is usual for this part of the year. Though the evening hot wine seasoned with herbs and spice continued to be savored at the Christmas markets with unabated fervor. Luckily here too our hotel Europaeicher Hof was reasonable in price and conveniently located opposite the Main Train Station.

In the city centre of Lugano, every 30 mts was a Christmas show, using projection systems to run animation film on Santa and usual Christmas stuff with carols in the background.

Surprizinly, for the all quirky modernization of the west, and all sexual emancipation that that brings in, all the stories of broken families, with more people living with dogs and cats than human companions, the west has not yet evolved disco version of their religious celebrations. So they don’t have lurid Bollywood numbers like we play during some of our festivals. While the Indian middle class is casting-off ven its most rudimentary connection with the past, the western middleclass seems to preserve their connection more than ever in the past and with ever increasing vehemence.

While we are assimilating all the garbage of the west, like promiscuity in relationships, utter disregard of age and station, impudence and brazenness in public conduct, the west is purportedly imbibing the good elements from the east, like the exalted philosophy of Karma and physical and metaphysical import of Yoga no matter how seemingly esoteric or transcendent for them. Who then is smarter?

Infralapsarianism

Yes this word exists. It has not been coined by me. If this could be true for the Augustinians. This could be true for USA also.

USA is withdrawing from Iraq, and had plans to withdraw from Afghanistan. So its penchant for war, better touted as need for preserving balance of power, actually policing of the world, should seek a new geography for the same.

Hugo Chavez has been lately chattering a lot. Something which only Americans claim to have the right to. He is even trying to collect some of the ‘truant’ countries together under an umbrella – CELAC. Interestingly, China is increasingly figuring as a friend in to many of these rogue republics of Latin America. India as usual is in deep slumber, playing parochial politics of caste equations, while a strident China seeks a larger role on the world stage.

China is doing similar things on our NE Frontier. Since the British left, India has not really been able to integrate this region into mainstream India. The efforts too have been half-hearted and shoddy. Corruption is another factor that delimits the stray measures that a government may take to bring that region into the realm of India. The customs department abets and assists those very activities that they are supposed to reign in. They assist smuggling of drugs and currency both, along with all other contraband. The illegal immigration from Bangladesh is happening in connivance of the BSF. The police, wherever it retains control from the over arching reach of the military and para-military forces, propagates subversion of the very law it is supposed to uphold. If the region is geographically under Indian control, it is because of the plenary presence of the army, which is actually a shame for a democracy.

Should a bipolar order re-emerge, it could well be China against a decadent United States. Perhaps, both would do well to quell each other’s ambition of gobal hegemony.

While Churchill sauntered around on his intermittent successes in war, there was a resurgent USA stealing its place under the sun. While the Americans bandied their military prowess, there was a China controlling the American debt.

While this should happen, India must build its competencies, resurrect its pride, strengthen its institutions, control corruption, prime its economy that now clearly needs a second resuscitation and silently torpedo its way to where it was 300 years ago. In that alone will be its redemption.

WHY THIS KOLAVARI DI

Why this Kolavari Di?

This is a very true reflection of the Indian ethos and mind set. Kolavari D! Which I think in ancient south Indian Language – Tamil - means excessive rage.

Today, 88 people died of asphyxiation from smoke in a Kolkatta hospital. The grassroots special Didi reached the spot earlier than any Italian origin national leader, or dalit messiah or any of the octogenarian rickety gaited yet more virile than any trotful teenager, CM could reach.

The onwers of the hospital, who I believe are also the founders of Emami, were arrested. The arrests would fray tempers temporarily. Then time is a healer. More than time, it is Indian fatalism. Indians take pride in moving on, and they will. Americans did not move on. They got stuck in the wedges of 9/11 and solved it.

Of course hospital owners and authorities are responsible and should be arrested. But what about the fire authorities who would have taken money to certify the hospital fire-safe despite zero compliance? Why should the chief fire officer not be arrested just like the owners were?

It is a fact proven beyond doubt, that private enterprise is profit driven. It is meant to be. Left on its own without regulation, it would turn a nelson’s eye to any measure that would impact its profitability or cashflow.

Union Carbide / BP / Enron all MNCs and all exemplifying culpability for a common reason – compliance - bear eloquent testimony to my claim.

And now my favorite refrain - people get the governance they deserve. The Americans felt that national security was paramount, taking primacy over all other concerns, and re-elected a president who sanitized the country and did not allow another 9/11 to occur on American soil.

When have Indians elected a government which would secure our border or work for economic development or resurrect national pride? When have we chosen politicians who would accord precedence to national interest over petty parochialism. So many educated readers of mine would already start calling me ‘fascist’, ‘rightist’ or overly jingoistic. That is how our mind works.

Mahipal Maderna got a village midwife killed because she was blackmailing him. What impunity? And it was cautioned that his arrest after a furore raised by the media, would upset the Jats. It should have been the Jats who should have disowned such a scoundrel than standby him in support. But in India politics is a caste equation. Admittedly, everywhere in the world, politicians have their vote bank and protected constituencies, but in India, this reality is accentuated.

The rich have always had it good in this country, be they under Moghul or British rule. The poor have always struggled for 2 square meals regardless of who holds the reigns of the nations destiny. So why should they care. The attitudinal callousness is not making of one day, but of generations of misrule, mis-governance and consequential cynicism.

The media would run the hospital fire news bytes incessantly for 24 hours with a high pitched maniacal fervor. An hysterically animated Barkha would hurriedly conjure a panel, comprising a poker faced retired health secretary, a verbose hospital manager, a strident khadi clad NGO/human rights activist to debate real time on how norms are ignored at the cost of human lives. However, the next day it would be a different story brutalizing our sensibilities and dignity - possibly of blast or a rail accident. TV screens would show bytes of another wailing mother being pacified by her sobbing husband!

The next day it would be another story that would rule the byte world. The people also forget. This frailty of public memory politicians recognize all too well, and the bureaucracy of course is cast in a steel frame and escapes any accountability whatsoever. What a scourge?

The peoples’ ire against the politician can still be felt, but the same against the bureaucrat is unknown. Queasily, I wonder why he always goes scot-free. The power that he enjoys, due to our British legacy is enormous. But he just would not use that power against the “people who matter”. The handful few who do, get marginalized by their own creed. Who should we blame but ourselves for this attitude?

A friend of mine narrated a story to me. He went to file an FIR to a police station for theft of his car side view mirrors. The SHO gave him such a sob story about understaffing, and frivolous deployment of his force, and how such things can be prevented by deploying private security, that my friend felt guilty of having wasted time of a helpless state mandarin and came out sympathizing for the force instead. But should he have contacted one of the “people who matter” to put in word to the SHO, his mirrors would have been not only recovered but replaced.

WHY this Kolavari D.

Birthday of Lakshmibai

Khoob Ladhi Mardani…. and the rest of can be completed in chorus by all without any assistance from Subhadra Kumari Chauhan. We know who we are talking about, the Rani of Jhansi - Lakshmibai. And yesterday, it was her birthday.

We celebrated it too, with my son writing a poem on her, as an ode to a valiant warrior, and to a woman who can be held up as an example to generations and to a mother who nursed her child till her grave.

I would grant it to the British, though such occasions were much too rare, when they would admire certain values that India stood for.

Such stellar was the Rani’s courage and such stark her valor so Spartan her lifestyle, so all of which she displayed with characteristic defiance till the last that she breathed, that Gen Hugh Rose who took the surrender of the forces of Jhansi post Indias first war of independence in 1857 was impelled to acknowledge at her grave – “here lies the woman who was the only man amongst the rebels”.

But such words of praise never came from any Muslim ruler or man of influence for anything that was indigenous. They, despite having imbibed a lot from the country, continued to deny all that was good and stable in that civilization.

Well this queen of valor, grew up not far from where I studied. Bithoor was where she and Nana the son of the Maratha rulers frolicked as infants, was just 10 kms from IIT Kanpur. this was also the place where she learnt warfare. But IIT Kanpur community chronically gaping in awe and wonder toward the west would rather be mindlessly celebrating Halloween, than be mindful of the birthday of Lakshmi bai. I have never heard the UP Government too celebrate her birthday.

Zero point one

Studies by Jared Diamond a well-known anthropologist revealed, human beings and chimps share 99.9 pct of the genes. It is always the 0.1 pct that makes all the difference.

“Life is a race” said the nerdy dean of 3 Idiots of Amir Khan - in his characteristic and syllabic lisp - and in this race the chimps lost, in what you could well call a photo-finish. Till about 5 mn years ago, they were at par with us.

What I would be very curious to learn is, if humans and chimps or apes could be inter-fertile. May be I should give this idea to Spielberg, and he could drive the world crazy with his creative conceptualization of a third specie - this one a hybrid of the winner and loser ie the human and the chimp.

I remember, a schoolmate of mine, who could have qualified for this hybrid category. One skill that he surely had more than rest of us was of effortlessly climbing trees. He could also neigh like a horse with fidelity enough to smite a thorough bred mare. Although, he could only hem and haw at any question that would be asked in class but somehow his answers usually far from correct, would for sure make all laugh.

In India for sure, the 0.1 pct is well understood by all. The difference between he who tops and he who does not is only 0.1 pct. The difference between who gets selected and who does not is also 0.1 pct. On every significant digit, there are ten rank holders standing.

The Indian education system model is not bad, but the mode and method certainly leave a lot of room for improvement. The latter reeks of a system fighting fatigue and futility. Kapil Sibal is also firing stray or shooting in the dark, and is not able to provide a sustainable recast to the rickety system. Much to ones dismay, he is focusing more on how to flabbergast a baba or foil an anshun.

As a consequence, one would be surprised to note, in a country of millions unemployed, not one industry in the country has access to skilled manpower. They all train people on the job. If you train a person on the job, then he is fit for just the job. Any innovation in the job becomes difficult to come by and the adeptness is more at copying than creating.

The country today is at an inflexion point. Depending on how we do our things, we could go either side. an for this reason the mode and method are more critical than the model. Yet, let us not stop hoping for the best.

When Noise degenerates into Rowdiness

I don’t believe in the caste system. At least that is what I like to believe. I do believe in the varna vyavastha, to the extent it is not hereditary.

But the varna vyavastha is indeed hereditary and hence what I say is indeed dichotomous. But I still clarify as I use the word Baniya in this piece and I am not alluding to any caste in particular.

I say this, quite so much in the perspective of Deepawali. In my high-school, I had read in my book of short essays, that Raksha Bandhan was patronized more by Brahmanas, Dussehra / Vijayadashmi was a festival of Kshatriyas as it symbolized victory in war, Diwali of Baniyas and lastly Holi of the shudras. Whether, the rest belong there where my high school essay book decreed them to be or not, Diwali is clearly a bania festival, not in as much as it marks the onset a new business year of the trading communities as in the flirtatious and flamboyant demeanor of its celebration.

One thing that is very cute about Hindu families is the multiplicity of faiths that live in the ambit of one culture system, one value system and one house. So ours in not an exception, with my father being a devout devi bhakt, my mother a shaiva, I with inclinations toward Ram, but funnily enough, all under the over arching penumbra of Vedic Arya Samaj. So, havan / yagna - invocations with the chanting of mantras around the sacrificial fire is a ritual that is practiced by us on all important festivals and even birthdays.

Today, if you would ask me, I would not know 95 pct of the Indian festivals. Even those that are national in significance and not regional. The only festivals that the generations with higher disposal income (DI) know are the shopping festivals. Nevertheless, I with Gizmo addicted kids (GAKs) do sit down to perform the yagna at Diwali. When we do so, we feel just like Vishwamitra would have with all asuras trying to obstruct the offering by their staccato bursts of fire-crackers and rockets.

The noise element seems to be rising unabaited with every passing diwali. It seems to do so in direct proportion to the DI factor. Despite Supreme Court, which while disposing off a writ petition made pro-bono in public interest set the limit of noise at 140 db at 4 mtrs from the site of burst, and other government directions, the Baniya enthusiasm sees no limits and its noisy expression of its festive mood seems never to ebb.

One rocket landed just 10 ft away from the ritual fire. Rockets are banned by a High Court. But my father leading the chanting plodded on un-dettered, just like Vishwamitra would have, saving the fact, that there was no Ram guarding the yagna from the asuras, and here in our case, we were at the mercy of 100 – the emergency number - at which a festival fatigued force we knew would find the complain too frivolous to respond or even take cognizance of.

In a lately liberated society, the definition of freedom takes a while to evolve. In the times of yore, when India was an advanced civilization, even kings’ rights and freedoms were checked by the council and also self imposed restraints. But in a civilization which is evolving, the definition of freedoms are also evolving. A free for all mindset does not see noise as infringing another persons freedom, but merely as a expression of his own freedom. More than noise, what peeves me is the spontaneous degeneration of this noise into rowdiness. The Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in Mumbai are a case in point.

The local laws of the Montgomery County Noise Control Ordinance imposes “quiet hours”, in which noise prone loading and unloading is also prohibited. But for us to get there, it will take lot of public will and prudent legislation.

The Toddler learns to Walk

Rahul Gandhi is finally walking but sleep walking. He has come of age. At 40 plus he has learnt to read a speech in the parliament. He is genetically programmed to sway sideways for rhythm and empahsis while he speaks. He has also learnt to spend a night in a dalit home, he has learnt to court arrest and he has learnt to blame the opposition for all the ills that his party and government is responsible for and his family has presided on. He has finally learnt, that to become PM or PM in waiting, he does not need to lie about not having a Harvard Degree. It has finally realized – who cares.

So I would say, he is homo-erectus finally, and no longer a toddler crying for milk or pokemon cards or just attention. But he still needs that glance of approval of his mother, encouragement – “we all have done it, you can also do it” - of his sister and strategic inputs of Diggy uncle, Jayanti Aunty, Pranab dada ………………

So he is finally walking but still sleep walking. When he finally made an appearance in the parliament he took a line that was completely tangential to his parties line of which he is also the GS on the Janlokpal Bill. The Indian democracy is robust but not so cruel. But it is increasingly acquiring the ruthlessness or rigor that some of the other modern democracies have. Gradually, it could happen sooner than expected, that his family name, which is also assumed, his grandfather was not really a Gandhi, or his flawless complexion may not get him votes.

RTI in letter yet not in Spirit

There are so many issues that bug me no end and equal number that I wish to write about to vent my disgust. But the moment you delay writing, you actually deny yourself this fundamental right to express – write - as the thoughts are ephemeral and those that you would have liked to crystalize, vaporize. Spur of the moment is key. Such is my experience and wonder about others’.

The fundamental right to expression! Today we take this as a given. We were lucky that our constitution was born in an age, when this right was recognized unchallenged. But the Bill of Rights introduced through an amendment to the Yankee constitution happened in the late 18^th century, and although the yankee version was preceded by the French one during the revolution, the yankee one too gained credence and legitimacy not without struggle and bloodshed.

Compared to that, an equally revolutionizing right to information found its way in India as an act of Parliament in June 2005 relatively peacefully. Similarly, we hope that the Jan Lokpal will find its way into the country, again without bloodshed albeit after half a century of delay and deferment.

But the issue is not of the letter but of the spirit. I don’t think that the government has been able to imbibe the spirit of the RTI although I must admit, it complies commendably well with the letter. The spirit is - as much information as is reasonably possible shall be shared with the people – and mostly suo-motto. The time allowed for sharing this information is very tight and consequence of failing to share the sought information by an officer with the people dire. Interestingly, the procedure for seeking information has been unbelievably simplified. This most un-government like but true.

Nevertheless, the spirit of the act is yet to sink in the mandarins, who even today, try their best not to share than to share. Why? It is the culture of governance that the country has been subjected to from eons of time gave rise and then perpetuated this mentality. If the Mughals were trying to impose their culture as must as governance on to the Indian subjects, the British were trying to impose the most unfavorable economic policies, although not so much culture. But they did fall a victim of what most rulers do, even if not imposing, trying to establish the superiority of their culture over that of the subjugated. This is not only a common mistake but also a misconceived strategy that most hegemonizing nation states adopt – rule by aura and awe of racial and cultural supremacy.

In India particularly, since the British were chased out not alone by the resistance and revolution of the then 30 crore people of India, but also due to the setting fatigue and increasing frailty of the British Empire post WW II, debilitating their ability to hold on to the jewel in its crown – India; the Indians got self governance sooner than they expected. The elite of the society quickly stepped into the shoes of the gora saabs to provide good governance. The governance was seamless, unlike in many African countries where post independence there was anarchy, or as you will see in the Arabic world, where even today the biggest fear will be anarchy after the collapse of the regimes. However, the mentality of this Indian elite who stepped to provide stability and seamless governance post British-era, was not very different from the goras.

Today you will find increasing number of officers in the Indian bureaucracy feeling obliged to behave as the friendly face of the state technically by / for and of the people, the only distinction between them and those they are supposed to serve being a qualifying exam, yet many others sneer upon such colleagues for their lack of officer like qualities – OLQs. These OLQs are precisely not mixing, not being approachable, not being amenable or receptive to logic and embracing 24x7 an air of superciliousness.

So, an RTI application is often seen by the supercilious babus as an act of defiance, as erosion of their erstwhile unbridled and untamed authority and by some of more feudal descent even as increasingly imminent futility of being in the bureaucracy. This accentuates the mentality to not conceal so much, as withhold information. Mind you, the mentality of the minions of government is not to conceal but withhold information, as sharing seems to subject themselves to bourgeoisie scrutiny or Marxian triumphalism, which is unacceptable to their saheb mentality. So they seek refuge in the fine print, like not being obliged to respond to applications in question formats etc. But it is in our hands to change this attitude, and we all must set ourselves to doing so.

Even the Password

The password of the wifi network in the business class lounge at Gdansk was Lech Walesa pronounced Walenza. This is the type of the iconic status if not divine, that erstwhile Nobel Laureate Mr Walesa enjoys in this sleepy port town of Gdansk in the extreme north of Poland from where he hails, and which was the seat of command of his Solidarity Movement. He still has an office in the port which he visits.

But the port has now been hijacked by some French companies who are using the infrastructure to build luxury yachts, each selling for a million Euro or more. So very principles that fired the movement seemed to have been given a go by.

When I traveled from Gdansk ( Danzki ) to Starogard, another small town about 80 kms from Gdansk, I saw lot of development work. Not too many workers though like India, as the work was mostly mechanized, but Poland had access to significant “Accession Funds” which are being deployed in the infrastructure projects. In fact, in some these countries which were later additions to the much extolled European Union, the infrastructure created far exceeds the current need and hence capital is locked in idle assets. But regardless, since someone else had paid for the same, some decades down the line, this effort would hold the country in good stead. In fact I personally believe, at the country level, unlike corporates, country balance sheets should not be shying away from asset creation.

The Polish economy is growing around 4 – 5 pct which is good by any advanced country standards, hoping that there is no doctoring of numbers.

Culturally, these Eastern Bloc countries are closer to India. They espouse similar if not identical value systems. They respect family values, respect age and station and believe in the institution of marriage. At dinner two friends that I was dining with, had been married for 29 years and 20 years respectively and to the same woman. The years can often be matched in so called advanced countries, but may be spit between 4 different women.

Interestingly, dinner was at a restaurant called Goldwasser, literally meaning gold water. It is a brand of Vodka invented by the owner of the Restaurant, which has gold shavings. The gold is supposed to bring special flavor and properties to the Vodka, hence Goldwasser.

Russian is not a liked language though most of the older generation can speak, read and write the language. This was imposed on the people at the time of the communist regime and hence detested. Today the younger generations learn other languages, but not Russian. In India, the state did not impose Hindi and I think that was a very forward looking strategy.

The acceptability of Hindi since independence has increased many fold only for the reason that it was never imposed. All educated people have a functional knowledge of Hindi, and in times to come, this could be a unique uniting thread to the various cultures of the country. If I were in Nehru’s place, out of jingoism, I would have made Hindi compulsory for all at the time of independence, and I think that would have wrung the death knell of a language so beautiful much ahead of its fated time.

High on heels

It was after years that I was traveling like a young business manager would, covering many cities in just one trip. Starting with Hamburg, Frankfurt, Bad Vilbel near Frankfurt, then to Paris, Amsterdam, Zurich, Lugano, Mano, Madrid, Warsaw and Gdansk.

All these cities have something unique to boast and something unique to offer. Of course in most of them I have been many times over.

The weather in Madrid was splendid by European standards, 31 deg C and sky still sunlit even at 9 pm. I stepped out of my hotel to take a walk and feel the city. I was coming to Madrid after very long. I walked on rue Fuenceral to Montera and finally to the Puerta del Sala cutting across Grand Via.

It is known that Spain is clearly one of the most relaxed countries in Europe, the people are a somewhat happy go lucky indulge themselves with leisurely lunches and sometimes even a rejuvenating siesta, but in this trip I noticed something more.

In all the previous cities of this tour, high heels seemed like an affliction with women. In Amsterdam, a girl about 184 cms which is more than 6 ft, was walking on heels at least 4 inches. The minimum irrespective of age and height is 4 inches. Ironically in most of these cities, the centre squares have stone tiles with grooves - not so friendly to the gait on the heels - which often stuck in the grooves and then ensues a struggle in which usually the tile wins. Usually, the only class of girls that denies itself the joy of gyrating on heels is house-keepers in hotels. They are always in flat shoes. The hotel norms perhaps demand that. Unless of course, your mission is to do a Straus Kahn.

But in Madrid, I noticed, all girls without exception were wearing flats. The only girls in high heels on were those on Rue Monterra and were actually the highly painted late night business ladies. Perhaps, their heavy makeup and heels was a statement setting them apart from the other girls.

Having propounded my thesis on heels sufficiently, I proceed to the Porta del Sol. Every European city prides itself with statue of a king or a sea farer on a horse back. Usually he should point his finger to the horizon, and Madrid was no exception to this rule, and there was the horse, and a figure on the horse but somehow, the hands were pretty much by his statues sides.

Underneath the statue was a protest demonstration. Such demonstrations are taking place all over Europe these days. Cannot say much about USA. The reason always is the cutting of dole. These countries prospered due to high productivity, industrial revolution and also to a large extent their colonies, which they exploited to the fullest. That is in part the reason that they extoll their kings a lot, as it was they who got, even though illegitimately, the wealth from the colonies on which the infrastructure of these countries was built. With time, as systems advanced, these societies developed a high sense of egalitarianism, as a consequence of which almost every one got some benefit from the state like unemployment wage, health benefits or retirals. In the past decade, given the decadence and de-growth of these economies, declining productivity, and increasing debt and deficits, the dole is being withdrawn in phases. University grants are being cut, health support is being whittled, public hospitals are being closed, and cap is being put on the unemployment benefits. This is hurting the lower and middle classes of society which had started treating these benefits as their constitutional right. Hence the protests.

So there was a big protest (as a Spaniard told me) against the policies of the Spanish government, which meant about 50 people had gathered. Usually in India, this is the number vending water and snacks to protestors.

Anna Shun

Anna is compelling. He is also shunning food ie anna in Sanskrit, and hence anshun, his hunger strike may not be compelling to the rulers but it surely is for the people.

But there is another compulsion playing somewhere nearby - the compulsion to genuflect before a family. Why is it, that intelligent, able bodied, powerful people feel completely enfeebled, and apparently compelled to jettison their good sense of priority, propriety and privilege, for accommodating whims of a family – the Gandhi Family of course. I just cannot understand why a long-standing convention of zero hour was violated to accommodate a completely tangential speech of Rahul Gandhi by the speaker. The PM too raced to attend his speech. Of course the answer is child’s logic.

Goonga gudda of goongi gudiya! The media and opposition go berserk highlighting this, but why are helpless and not able to do something about this? This element of our otherwise robust democracy is really farcical. Why do we feel impelled to carry the burden of this dynasty. England is carrying the burden of a dynasty, because during the time of the monarchy, it ruled the seven seas, and the saying went, the sun would never set on the British Armada. They owe their greatness to the time of the dynasty. The regalia is constant reminder to them of the great past the multitude of colonies that they exploited.

Rahul read his speech. On a subject that has set the country simmering, he was not able to pull his thoughts together till 11^th day and then also not able to speak extempore. He once again had to read his speech. His mother does the same even today. So why am I hoping against hope. I dread to imagine when he would become the prime minister.

What an irony. The youth icon is only able to inspire the old people of the Amethi / Rae Bareili belt or those young people who believe, being seen with him could improve their prospects in life. The 74 year old Anna appears to be the real youth icon, as he has successfully been able to fire the youth of the country.

When there is Hope....

In my last blog, I had written and I reiterate that most successful revolutions are bourgeoisie led either petite or grand. But at the same time, I had shown great pessimism about the Indian middleclass really shelving their mall lolling weekend plan, eschewing the evening drink with friends to participate in a movement with a missionary zeal.

But over the past few days, what I see happening had proven my gravely wrong, yet I am happy. My shaken faith in the Indian middle class, my misplaced perception of their priorities, my lack of understanding of their longing and desire to live in a country that moves away from chaos to at least a semblance of orderliness and conceive a system that works were all addressed in one go, when I saw the sea of humanity on the streets sloganeering in support of a seventy four year old self effacing person taking on the powers that be, for the cause of change.

I am also very happy that the revolution is led by a Marathi mother tongued Hindi speaking simpleton and the English educated/speaking socialites who in 64 years of independence are so wont to hypocritically championing and hijacking seemingly social issues, are conspicuously absent from the scene. So I see no Suhel Seths on TV or in the arena where the action is. No Arundhati Roy’s expressing the extremely contrarian views, or Shobha De’s waxing eloquent. These Indian by birth, western by aspiration people are little bit left out of the movement.

Another fringe benefit of Annas movement is the dumping of the motor mouth Manish Tiwari the congress spokesperson. I found him most sophomoric and shamelessly blatant. His tribe now growing, believes, by their verbal adroitness, they can deny and dismiss even the most obvious. They play on the fact that public memory is short-lived. This tribe is of spokespersons. Then there are some self appointed spokespersons like Dig Vijay Singh. They also have been temporarily extinguished. You don’t hear him. Kapil Sibal, another, koi farak nahin padta type politician has egg on his face. I love the sheepish smirk that he has on his face these days. These tacticians or even strategists failed their political masters; they failed to catch the pulse of the people; they kept faltering and falling in pits dug by their ownselves.

Fear these Furrows

Zero Resistance

It was the 13^th century, when the first attempt was made by the western world to reign in the absolutism of the kings who drew power from the theory of the divine rights of kings. This attempt appeared in Latin and not English in the form of the magna charta or the ‘great charter’ conceived by the feudality to restrain the powers of King John. I am sure, there were checks and balances to power of the kings even before the charta, but that was the time of the republics of Greeko-roman empires.

In India, the systems contemporaneous to the Greeko-Roman were quite evolved, and Kautilya clearly enunciated “Sahayya Sadhyam Rajatwan chakram ekam na vartate” – which meant that the king and council are the two wheels of the cart and the cart cannot move on one. So the council exercised restraint on the King.

The Magna Carta ( the ‘h’ got dropped somewhere down the line ) inspired many chaptalized versions of world constitutions, including some of the best in the world like the American or the Indian, and may be even the Aussie and Kiwi as well.

In that backdrop, it intrigues me no end, that today, in the same India, the democratically elected representatives of the people are toiling overnight to obstruct any public scrutiny or accountability which the Lokpal Bill may bring into the system.

I hear, that the Lokpal bill has been pending for 50 years. Parliament after parliament has, though not so inscrutably, glossed over the bill administering a peaceful demise – holus bolus – to the bill as it could have checkmated the systematized devouring of the tax payer’s money and the methodical loot of the state exchequer.

Exemplary means are used making my home state of UP the hub of innovative corruption. The latest in the litany of scams in UP is in health care, where few CMOs have even lost their life. Crores of central grant is being fraudulently siphoned off into pockets of a chosen few. The usual story. The next steps predictably being an enquiry commission, a judicial probe, 10 years of down time, and a report that my not clearly indict anyone - the powerful perpetuate their power and the loot continues unabated.

Stupor and slumber and archetypical armchair yellow journalism. These being the hallmark of Indian media, it takes an Anna to bring back focus to such a crucial legislation.

The government which today is so inimical to the Lokpal, will not be so, should it be allowed to bring its own moth eaten, watered down and toothless version of the bill, create an investigative agency Lokpal et al but keep it subservient to its whimsical mandarins, manipulate and manoevre it for political priorities just like it does to the CBI.

The problem is far deeper though. It is not only about an obstructionist government inimical to a bill that could bring all its actions under perpetual scrutiny of an institution whose probity would be taken for granted. It is about the people. Today there is a general rot in the society.

The people who vote are not educated enough - and here we should distinguish education with literacy - for exercising their right to franchise in right prudence. In south for example, usually people vote for dole. Any party promising a color TV would garner more votes than one promising a black and white one. What then will become of a democracy? This poll for dole community could be as much as 300 million strong. It is not that dole does not exist outside of India. In many western countries, social security exists which if withdrawn can create a havoc. See London and Burmingham. People are used to live on state benefits, unemployment stipends, free medical care etc. So India is not unique.

The middle class, or the bourgeoisie as many would like to call it, and both the haute bourgeoisie and the petite bourgeoisie is usually the class that spear heads a revolution. Any social scientist would easily testify to this. Once instigated, the rest of society joins in, the lower classes bring it critical mass and an element of universality and invincibility, and the so called elite, some visibility. The problem is that Indian bourgeoisie is still engrossed in enjoying the newly found freedom of higher disposal incomes. Their favorite pastime is snacking while watching cricket on TV front or lolling in the malls. Today it is not so concerned about taking serious and affirmative action curb corruption.

Nonetheless, it is true that the middle class is sick of corruption and they discuss and debate on this issue for hours on end. This somewhat lackadaisical attitude of the Indian bourgeoisie encourages politicians, granting them, their sycophants and the bureaucracy some sort of immunity.

But we all know, that the Government if fighting a losing battle against Anna and it is a matter of time that the right now apparently unconscionable bourgeoisie will stand up to resurrect a revolution that will be unstoppable and that will be the time when such bills will sail through with zero resistance.

Gain position of Strength

Technology is the key to winning wars. The capability of winning wars is the key to effective diplomatic posturing. If you have military capability backing you, your diplomatic manoeuvres gain far greater legitimacy.

Germany’s early gains in the WWII were due to the iron that they melted to make tanks and other armoured vehicles and even planes. Hitler commissioned the Luftwaffe. But this aeroplane squadron still could not overrun Britain, though this time the English Channel that protected Britain even from the Napoleonic avarice could not have protected Britain from the brute air power of the Germans. It was the discovery of the Radar, which gave Britain the strategic capability to defend its territory against aerial attacks.

Interestingly, it was the Radar invented by Watson Watt that protected Britian from the Luftwaffe. Yes, Watson belonged to same family as the inventor of steam engines – James Watt. Sometimes, the almighty gives too much to just some and too less to many. Seems that the Watt family was one such example.

It is well established that the best inventions have been prompted by military mandate or the compulsions of war. The internet is one example. Infact, a bewildered Britain, toiling hard not to supplicate before the brute German advance, set the pace for the discovery of computers, by designing a machine that could break the German code. The code that they used for internal communication.

The Jet engines were also discovered during the same period, surprising by-standers who watched in bewilderment the flight of an aeroplane without propellers. Whittles invention of Jets of course did put the propellers made by Rolls Royce in disuse, yet it brought in a new paradigm in flight technology.

It is just child logic, if a cop comes to you with a begging bowl in hand, you would never listen. Whereas, some advanced countries have a police very polite and highly sensitized to the needs of the people, yet, their uniform has symbols of power and authority, sometimes even arms, that gives them a legitimacy.

Due to the criminal neglect of armament and technology the regional hegemony that India could have enjoyed by now, by its sheer size and the traction of its economy is lost. In the ‘60s the military might of India and China was pretty much at par. Similarly, though we continue to enjoy superiority over Pakistan in conventional weaponry, they have more than offset that advantage by creating a significant nuclear arsenal. But, corruption and more than that, the traditional rivalry between the brass and bureaucracy has damaged the fine balance that was supposed to exist. In this the bureaucracy is the clear winner but the country is the clear loser. Defence is a priority area even in spending, and the babu cannot deny Defence expenditure, so he delays it. He though establishes his over arching dominance on the brass but in the process the country loses. But who cares.

America comes again

The Americans come again

Hillary is back in India just in months of her boss visiting and acclaiming India as a great emerging power. Clearly, those who matter in the US, know it too well, any recovery in USA is at best temporary. The current generation in the US is not that of builders. You need a different stuff for that. A crop grows on a particular soil in a particular season. The maintainers follow and those who reap or enjoy are basically the destroyers of the crop. One man cannot don all three hats. It is only God who can don all three hats at the same time, of the builder or creator, maintainer and destroyer and that is probably why we believe in the Triumverate of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh.

The US economy is in shambles, and the nation lacks the builders, and needs partners to boost it. India could be one such enduring partner. So she is here again. A wee bit of praise for India, and an askance criticism of Pakistan, does the trick for the emotional Indian, willing to work over time for American attention, and our media, which drools over such slices of journalism.

But regardless of what Hilary’s covert or overt intentions of her India visit were, it seems, she has an Indian mother who seeks vindication in feeding her well. Her full cheeks at least bear eloquent testimony to that.

I had a personal theory that those you are glib of tongue are gaunt intellectually but both Hillary and Obama consistently defy my self-proclaimed stereotype.

I heard Obama address our Parliament and even wrote about it. I also heard his address to the people of Ireland, where one of his ancestors were traced to. The cliché notwithstanding, his speeches were extremely well informed flawlessly rendered without demur, and with an articulation nothing less than immaculate.

But while extolling strengths of this great civilization – it is always safer to call India that than a country or nation - the undertone of Obama’s speech was clear. Do business with USA, and do those businesses that create jobs in the USA.

How many Indian politicians including our pedagogic PM Manmohan Singh, can address the US Senators without a shred of paper in hand, and solicit business the manner in which Obama and Hillary have been repeatedly doing. Sometimes I feel, a pussy footed nation of pacifists that we are, making ourselves economically strategic partners of powerful nations could be the only strategy to position an economically resurgent India at a pedestal of strength and also and this may also be our antidote to terror exporting Pakistani nuisance.

I remember a friend of mine who was posted in a Latin country describe the non descript encounter that he had with the President of India when she visited that Latin Country with an extended family in tow enjoying a state sponsored free jaunt, and of course an official entourage of flunkies that could put the erstwhile Maharajas to shame. And all this not withstanding her interaction with the Indian diaspora was most uninspiring and insipid and all of them there walked out bewildered how India works with such lack-lustre, nay, lost and seemingly without purpose politicians.