Spoilt for Choice

I seem to have broken quite some rules for myself. I have quit my work- outs, increased my food intake and exhibit a morbid addiction to inane and melodramatic soaps that I access free of charge on Netflix or Amazon like Californication - a pathetic and puerile soap brinking on risqué

For this departure from a self concept, I sometimes pity but mostly curse myself. Being old school, any indulgence, and this clearly I see as one, which does not - build one by way of adding knowledge and skills, nor contributes to society - the very propensity to view on the soap box a drama that stimulates the nether regions far more than the neural pathways seems to be an act inane enough to wallow in self pity.

Today, we are so spoilt for choice. I was obliged to take some guests out for dinner, and we had the choice of 4 hotels in close proximity. In those hotels, we have the choice of multiple restaurants, and within the restaurants, we had the choice of multiple tables, on the tables we had teh choice of multiple waiters, and from the waiters, came rattling by way of rote learnt, the choice of multiple cuisines on offer and finally at the time of payment I had the choice of paying the facility of paying the bill by my multiple credit cards

In an experiment on mice, there were several paths to the same food. The direct path lead the mice to the same amount of food as the path, which has several options, from among which the mice could choose, and eventually get to the same outcome.

It was observed, that all the mice preferred the pathway, where they had the option to choose, and get to the same amount food in this case representative of the final outcome.

And it is these options which on one hand spoil us and on the other temper our attitude.

Patel

Patel would smile wryly when asked how he kept  India from dismembering, how he persuaded or bullied the princely states into submission, and strung India into one entity, much to the dismay and dis-satisfaction of the British, who did their best to ensure, that the India they leave behind remained at best a geographical expression, far less a nation that would survive more than 7 decades.

The specter of Sardar was enough to bring the princely states into submission. Sardar was a part of the landed pleasantly himself, but not of the Zamindar type.

The Rajkot satyagraha, where he participated with the peasantry, had sent a very strong signal to the Thakur of Rajkot that Patel would be last to support them against the people.

The Princely States had been reduced to status of paltry puppets propped up by the British as indirect and disingenuous tools of oppression. All states had British residents breathing down their necks, and administered their kingdoms not only on the directions of the British but also at the pleasure of the British.

The Rajkot Satyagraha had had the impact of establishing the character of Patel. It had also established that the power of the people will be far to great to resist after the support of the British is gone.

While Patel was himself a great grassroots leader, he always showed deference to Gandhi. When Gandhi addressed rallies, Patel often stayed silent. When Gandhi gave a call for Swadeshi, Patel was one of the first to cast his western clothes away and thereafter wore only a Kurta and Dhoti and never even a topi or a cap.

Once, at the Yerawada jail, Gandhi asked Patel, what post he would like to take, after gaining independence - he would become a sadhu - was his reply. The lure of power or pelf was non-existent for Patel. But for some reason, Gandhi had an unwavering soft corner for Nehru, and not Patel, while it was the latter who shared in measures far greater, similarities with Gandhi, nevertheless, it was Nehru who got benefits which in retrospect I would say did dis-service to the country far more than the benefits that came from Nehru.

On the day of his assassination, Gandhi and Patel briefly conferred with each other. That day, Gandhi agreed to let Patel “demit” office at the laters insistence, however Mountbatten vehemently opposed it. “Patel has his feet on the ground, while Nehru has his head in the clouds” he spurted very matter of factly. And Patel somehow agreed to stay.

This blog is not meant to be an encomium for Patel, but somewhere in my heart I do hold Gandhi responsible for debilitating the future of the country he so toiled for, by several of his prejudices that people like Patel and Bose fell victim to.

Invoke Gods to manage Disaster

It was a shoddy prayer that President Trump offered for recovery and restitution from the devastation wrecked by Hurricane Harvey. I doubt if he invoked the right Gods. He should have relied on his friend Modi, who could have sent a team of Pandits from Varanasi, the latter's own constituency. The Pandits would have enjoyed a foreign trip on state expense, and Harvey would have met more than its match in the power-packed invocations to Indra.

Well I never thought that American people would have to resort to such hypocrisy, particularly when they have moved so far away from nature and its divinations. For us, it is still believable, as alongside our cosmic culture that is extremely elite, philosophical and more about the one-ness of man with God, there exists a ritualistic tradition that is replete with “karmakanda”. But that notwithstanding, Vedic Indians did invoke Nature Gods to ensure their wrath did not befall them. So I am in my right to ridicule the shoddy invocation done by Trump, in public gaze, when the Pandits of Benaras could have done so much better. 

But it is indeed admirable, the alacrity with which the president and Federal administration reacted on Harvey. The coordination between the Federal and State agencies was superb, and I wish, India would learn something from there. I also saw some good vibes between the wheel chair bound governor of Texas and the president Trump. Texas was the most affected by Harvey.

The states in India, hardly have a disaster response mechanism, and when the centre, lethargically steps in to participate in rescue, it is the centre that is leading the relief charge and the minions of the state, particularly the IAS scoot out of the ring and take on the mantle of merely scoring the points. What a travesty of the system this is, when in peace you rule, in times of need, you side-step and return only when all is well again.

Take another example. Baba of Dera Saccha Sauda. That the police ran away and was not able to quell the rioting, was caught on camera. The gathered swathes were too much for an untrained force to confront. About 50 people were killed in various incidents mostly in police firing, yet not one IPS officer scathed. The army was called in take charge and restore normalcy. Today most IPS officers are property brokers, getting murky deals brokered. Traveling abroad for training. Helping politicians to get votes or settle scores. The constables are working in homes of officers and gunners are escorting wives and mothers in shopping malls. How will such a force lift weapons overnight and rise to an occasion which is like a rebellion. We must sit back and think.

Brutal Baba - Gurmeet Ram Rahim

I vividly remember, several years ago, when I was returning to Gurgaon from Hissar, a convoy of about 100 cars, all recklessly driven, packed with goon-like armed men, -aggressively posturing to get on the kerb any vehicle that was on the road - had overtaken my car. There was no police, to help normal vehicles, which were all hauled up by the facilitators of this motorcade.  

Besides, there were baton wielding men standing at every 100 ft for "Seva" (facilitation)  when the convoy of the Baba passed, it was an ugly spectacle orchestrated by a so called holy man, in a resurgent 21st century India. In an India which in technological advancement, not limited to IT or space research, is a frontrunner in the world, such god-men playing on the in-security, obsequiousness and superstition of people, is a dichotomy hardly anyone can comprehend.

Political class with the bureaucracy in tow, help the rise of such Godmen. They provide such self declared agents of Gods, VIP treatment, with perks like Category Z security at the cost of the exchequer, sometimes in return for votes, or loaning of cadres during elections and on others just godly blessings.

These godmen draw legitimacy from this political patronage and feed on the gullibility of the people to enhance their personal pelf and power from such legitimacy, and garner more followers whose teeming numbers add to the socio-political cloud of these self-styled godmen. With time, they acquire swagger, larger than life size image, and small funding from the bottom of the pyramid class and large funding from the biggies, along with land-banks at throw away prices from the government for their ashrams. They all build hospitals and orphanages, as they serve as a front to all their nefarious activities.

Their diminutive intellect eventually starts feeding fat on this sense of power and  entitlement which eggs them to be so covetous, that they disrespect the law, both in letter and spirit, disregard property and defile others’ women, not once twice or multiple times, but repeatedly till they get caught and punished.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim is just one such case.

Triple Talaq

Social democracy is the bed rock of political democracy. The courts in the case of triple talaq, took the expanded meaning of the term : ‘socialist, democratic’ enshrined in the constitution to imply social democracy and that ‘triple talaq’ is a clear aberration in the way of social democracy.

Triple Talaq, bad in law and bad in theology, its only claim to currency is an established code of conduct, age old custom with the force of law, all of which the courts have a right to strike down, in the interest of equity and justice and in alignment of the overarching values enshrined in the constitution and equipped with this right they struck down this provision, just as they did in the case of sati, polygamy or child marriage and thereby engineered a huge socio-economic transition.

While a regressive Kapil Sibal continued to argue on the behalf of the Muslim orthodoxy, one, on the premise of non intervention with personal laws, and two, court judgements leading to abrogation of the Triple Talaq in other theocratic and secular muslim states could not be treated as valid precedents for abrogation of the same in India, I think, the stance taken by the SC is path breaking and perhaps a step in the direction of the Uniform Civil Code.

People's Army and Indian Army : Variance of Ethos and Riparian Terror

While, Indian media has been more restrained this time in waging a blitzkrieg against a hegemonist neighbor, it is the Chinese media which is going overboard in revving up war hysteria much more than India and cautioning India of the consequences of the Dokhalam misadventure. While Modi has been firm, and his government more assertive on the Dhokalam issue, it is the Chinese premier who has been more pugilistic including his relentlessly poignant speech on the Chinese army day celebrations.

1962, once slighted, forever shy, India on the other hand, has been ghosting Chinese border infringements and incursions as a part of the Nehruvian policy of perpetual denial of Chinese threat,  under Modi however, practical realism has been much more pervasive than ever in the past, and the mood has been changing. Had a Dhokalam been orchestrated by Pakistan, the Indian media would have by now tried Pakistan on its multiple channels and declared war on it. With China, somehow, the reportage is more controlled and calibrated. The reasons notwithstanding, the outcome is good.

Relationship with China has always been precariously balanced. The Chinese army owes historical allegiance to the Communist army of Mao. That army was raised from a poignant peasantry, trained in guerrilla warfare and fed on the hate of the class struggle, very different from the Indian army, which fights more for valor and honor much more of the soldiers’ village than of the country.

While, the stand off at Dhokalam may continue for some more time, till China relents or reconciles with India's nascent penchant for upping the ante against China's policy of crawling encroachment, India must get prepared for the riparian rivalry that China will unleash to punish India's standing up to it. In defiance of the historical treaties and international conventions, China may release more water to flood Indian rivers or release so less that India craves for more, either way causing riparian terror to disrupt and distress the Indian NE.

The Black Swan

The Black Swan

The western world always thought swans are always white, till I guess as late as the 17th century, when some naturalists discovered the black swans. We like to predict life and all of us want to inhabit a deterministic world. Whether, determinism holds or not, is not clearly the subject of this blog, but using the past to predict the future, is clearly a fallacy that most of us fall pray to. And one black swan event, which may not always be for the bad, changes all that we have known and all that we plan or project. 

Russel in his own uncanny manner illustrates this using the example of the chicken  who starts to believe in the innate kindness of humans, as they feed it, till one day it is slaughtered. Events can always buck the past or currents trends, and take us by surprise and it for such contingencies that we need build personal and organizational resources.

But Black Swans could also be for the good for some, like a usual neighborhood girl getting married to a billionaire and everything changing.

Rezang La

But 1962 should have been a lesson bitterly learnt. India lost due to Nehru’s indecisiveness, lack of foresight and bonhomie with the Chinese. While an unprepared India, still reveling in the lately gotten independence, suffered a humiliating defeat, the Chinese must not forget Rezang La, where a mere 120 strong company under the leadership of Major Shaitan Singh repelled 3000 strong Chinese force and killed about 1200 of their soldiers.

War favors none and leaves a country bereaving its brave. If China believes, war would make it stronger, the example of a decadent USA, which though very smartly kept war off its own land, yet smarts under its deleterious effects, should be an eloquent testimony to the destruction that it causes both to the winning and losing side. 

China has clear numerical superiority. More than numerical superiority, it has very clear superiority in weaponry, which is a generation ahead of India. While, India still struggles to keep the bureaucracy and brass aligned with the IAS hating the uniform, but the subordinate services hold the men in uniform in awe, and this dichotomy delays defense deals, priorities and procurement. To the extent that a JS can tick a Brigadier off, he is happy to preside on this delay, But it hurts the army as a fighting machine in a time, when change in warfare is happening faster than in civilian life.

Chinese army on the other hand is under a monolithic ruling party directly and the bureaucracy works in tandem to support the army. The processed of procurement are aligned to making the Chinese army a robust fighting machine, unlike India, where the largest scams are buried under defense deals.

Xi Ping wants the World to Listen

Xi Ping is about 3 years younger than Modi, but that Modi will beat him in Yoga is something which none should ever doubt.

Ping is rather tall for a Chinese and should be standing over 6 ft with shoes on. I was, till date of the bounden belief, that leaders with dictatorial tendencies are usually short, Hitler (5’8”), Napoleon (5’5”), Mussolini (5’6”), Churchill (5’6”), Modi (5’7”), Lenin (5'5"), Stalin (5’5”), Putin (5’7”). But it appears, Xi Ping is a clear outlier.

Xi Ping, with a slight slant of neck, decked in battle fatigues, made a tough speech to a resurgent nation restlessly seeking the respect which it believes is now so much overdue. I don't recall having ever seen a Chinese premier in battle fatigues. This theatrics has shades of the Fuehrer.

While many political commentators may like to believe, Xi Ping’s speech was a call to the world to acknowledge China as an emerging super power and message to its neighbors to stay cognizant of China’s growing military might, but I think, that is a stupid premise. While China may be a straight jacketed single party polity, nevertheless, to a leader public opinion is something of paramount importance. Stanceful, strident and subtly pugnacious Xi Ping’s audience was determinedly domestic, and that he succeeded to do - draw international attention was a bonus.

Just like Fuehrer, he relies on re-kindling national pride, he relentlessly alludes to the century of humiliation of the Opium Wars and leverages the fear psychosis to drum a xenophobia that could be both dangerous and disastrous.

India for once showed adroitness in handling the Dokalam tri-junction ingress, and responded to the Bhutanese SoS with the alacrity that behoves a friend and strategic ally. The political polemics and shady shenanigans not, withstanding, she braced up to the blatant Chinese attempt to gerrymander geographical borders, and pushed the Chinese back to their position prior to their impudent ingress. She acted decisively with calibrated force and position of strength that for a change was devoid of chauvinistic chest beating.

It is China’s chastened belief that Tibet, Sikkim, Bhutan, Arunachal and several adjoining areas are a part of its territory of which India is in wrongful occupation. It would not be out of place, if on some parallel logic, India would set out to reclaim parts of Afghanistan, all of Bangladesh and Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Sind back.

The Mnemonists

The Mnemonists

In the olden days, the reliance on memory was excessive and it was an essential tool for interpersonal transactions.

The method of learning whether of academics or of the common person in daily life transactions depended largely on his memory. The learning was from mouth to ear, and I am surprised, how the fidelity of the learning was maintained in such mouth to ear methodology. 

More interestingly, the Vedas, Illiad and Odyssey, were all transferred from mouth to ear, and yet the fidelity of their length and metre was preserved.

How incredibly tough such an environment would have been for a person of my dispensation, for whom, rote learning was like a Sysiphian Labor, repeat to only lose what you thought you had  committed to memory already. But I must admit, while I may be challenged as far as the Semantic memory (memory for facts), but I am very cogent as far as the Episodic memory (that for events and episodes) is concerned.

While the written word did find existence even in the time of Socrates, but it was still disdainful to refer to the written word.  The reliance was still on memory, though the written word was primarily to aid memory and not so much to propagate the philosophy or the content. 

Interestingly, it took several of hundreds of years, to bring in simple innovation in writing like leaving gaps between words, and both poetry and prose were scribed as a continuum, which made personal judgment critical to decipher the difference in “God is now here” and God is nowhere” when written as a continuum : GODISNOWHERE (scriptio-continua).

But since the written word was not for propagation, but more as an aid to the author such deciphering was not an issue. Interestingly, it took about 900 years for the gaps between words in the writings to come in, and to that extent, it is very interesting, that the Indian scripts evolved with a structured gap built in into the script itself in the form of a headline.

And as one would imagine, the scriptio-continua was first over come by gaps in Hebrew than in Greek. But from modern research wherein sophisticated models of speech recognition have been developed it is obvious, that we speak as a continua and hence if the computer was to right, it would right as a continua. 

Even after the onset of writing and later printing, the books were not indexed, and to find the part of relevance meant trawling through the entire book to bait it. And the reason was that the book was more for the aid of the writer or for those who understood the context so well that could devour the whole document which in the old days used to be in the form of continuous scrolls sometimes 60 ft long, than for the education of the commoner.

Many civilizations over came this complexity by attaching an overarching importance to a Guru who would hand hold and guide you to the relevant parts of the maize of the knowledge.

I remember, even as late as the time of my grandfather, the reading of a book was about memorizing a book. It had to be returned to its owner - individual or a library, and before doing so, at least the relevant parts had to be memorized. And only that which had been memorized, was yours, rest was yonder.

A large part of the curriculum in monasteries was to skill the monks in the art of developing mnemonics so that texts particularly the canonical texts could be committed irreversibly to the memory lane.

Of course, as we know, technology, often the one that has recourse to the masses, has often been the singularly most important tool to disrupt ossified behavior and cause behavioral changes. And this was the case, with the onset of the printing press in early 1400s. With the access to books as a reference and guide in your possession, dependance on the memory lane declined and pattern of reading commenced the transition from “intensive” - which involved reading just a few books but committing them to memory to “extensive” where you will read many and yet not be obligated to memorize them.

And now of course with all time internet, the need to memorize or even to index has become redundant.

How to Make a Good Leader

As a youngster, I always dreamt of being a great leader, and not just a self doer or a goal oriented manager. And I believed, that in such pursuit, the single most important requisite was competence or capability .

As time elapsed, hair greyed, androgenic alopecia advanced and neural faculties felt challenged in recalling names of the multitude of people you met, wife and kids, finding my ways increasingly weird and rebelled more than ever, a queer realization dawned on me that pretty much altered my transactional style with the people that I engaged with, on and off work.

As a youngster I always believed, JRD could provide leadership to Air India, because he was an avid aviator himself. Wrong! Flying was his passion not his profession nor his primary domain, and the leadership that he was providing was across sectors of a diversified conglomerate and aviation was just one of his investments. It was therefore clearly not his passion that made him a good leader.

History witnesses, most leaders have not necessarily been good at what they have lead people into accomplishing. Our own ancient teacher, strategist and nation builder, Kautilya Chanakya, who was, I would say, one of the greatest leaders who not only united the frontier states of the north west to resist the Greek onslaught, but successfully united the peaceful and non violent Snataks (graduates) into picking up arms against the marching Greek armies. Churchill a poor soldier and more in staff than combat roles inspired the Brits into a successful victory against the Germans.

A leader must inspire people and inspire trust in his abilities and more than his abilities, in his commitment to the espoused cause. Both Chanakya and Churchill inspired trust in the hearts of the people of their time. One very easy way of inspiring trust is by listening to people, and being empathetic to their positions.

There is also no point in denying group dynamics. The head in the cloud scientist, steeped in research, will always disdain the ‘get it done’ engineer, and latter will always mock the former for lack of practicality and translatability. Even if we may deny, this group rhetoric and dynamic will exist and as a leader it is important that for the success of the product we smoothen this transition.

There is sometimes also a conflict in the gut oriented and the hyper-rational. The latter relentlessly relying on data and algorithms to forecast the future and the former going beyond data and taking a more emotional or sometimes more heuristic approach to the whole thing.

In leadership, cognitive empathy or emotional empathy is a very relevant aspect, and cannot be glossed over. Ability to decipher and decode the feelings of your team and where they are coming from enables you to help them, which in turn enables you to influence them, which in turn allows you to guide them, and that is what a non-positional level leadership is all about.

And of course if you are adept at reading emotions, you can exploit them also, and use them as part of an overall negative construct. Often, in the prevalent narrative of political pragmatism and petty political polemics, the leader exploits popular sentiments, and in doing so, he shows traits of a sociopath -a word now commonly used in place of the earlier used psychopath. With their ability to acutely gauge feelings or popular sentiments, sociopaths engage in a parasitic relationships in which they thrive at the expense of others. Such brand of leadership is seen world wide, and Trump archetypically one.