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.

THE X MEN

The X-Men

There is a growing obsession of Hollywood with the weird and wonky which is creating an all-together new genre in Hollywood movie making. I saw the movie X-Men. ‘Mutants’ as they say, was the exalted subject on which this movie was based. People genetically different from normal and having the X-gene that bestows on them some type of super human capability. A 20^th Century Fox creation of Marvel Comics.

It seems Hollywood has run out of themes. Regardless of what international critics say about Bollywood, I think they make very good movies and regardless of the fun the some people make about the song and dance sequences of the Bollywood movies, I think they are still a major source of entertainment for a substantial section of homo sapiens which tread this plant. The complexion of their movies too is changing though as the multiplex audience is now a major revenue source, and describably more wannabe than the erstwhile cine goers.

Indian movies seem to be acquiring a larger reach and greater impact also. Times have travelled beyond the popularity of Raj Kapoor socialist films and Avara Hoon melodies in the communist world. Traveling in the London cab, a cabbie once asked me if I was a Thakur, taking a cue from my family name. It turned out that he had seen the film Sholay many times over. Sholay indeed portrayed a significant panorama of Indian life.

Another immigrant who was from Iran in his considered opinion believed Bollywood movies always carried a message - something I would not disagree with. Sholay too promoted widow re-marriage – a taboo still in much of India. Therefore, Bollywood’s were the only movies this Iranians daughters, brought up in orthodoxy were allowed to view – for the good message. Indian pop cinema was making a dent though in a fashion at best desultory.

If you would take the theme of mutants, then X men is a stupid movie. I think the Ramanand Sagar was much more creative than Stan Lee. Ramayana is much better take on the concept of Mutants. Albeit, true that Sagar can at best be credited with depiction. The original creation of our holy mutants predated Sagar by only 5000 years. And Sagar just took the rights free of charge as the content was open source. I don’t intend any irreverence whatsoever to the Ramanyana, which I can say with certitude is one of the greatest epics of the world, I can aver with even greater certitude that Valmiki or who ever the creator was, clearly leaps ahead of Homer, but speaking specifically on the aspect of mutants, I think it beats the creativity of Stan Lee hands down.

But it is clear, much of the Hollywood mega budget creativity like AVATAR or X Men are over rated. But the power of the media is such and muscle of money and propaganda is so potent that audiences are scared to criticize or even objectively judge. They are impelled to like and lap up the product even though they may not have internalized its import so much.

In fact, in the mutants that constantly dot our mythology have something that Stan Lees mutants grievously lack, that is bestowing their power by transposition on some faithful subject by way of a boon or blessing. Stan Lees or Bryan Singer imagination falls short of this. But there is time for them to catch up.

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Well my involvement is only from the fringes. The main battle is being fought and brunt borne by my father and of course some of my friends are supporting him.

Sons like me make parents lament for daughters. I leave my parents alone always to fend for themselves. I was not there when my mother's arm was being operated upon or when my aunt, more than a mother to me was operated upon. Although, they do well themselves. They are resourceful and well connected and I can at best be only a moral support. But that too is difficult to come by from me.

So if my father’s fight to protect our ancestral land from encroachments was again something that I let him handle on his own, it is no surprise. I am too engrossed in my work. What else can I say. I will not admit - I am not concerned.

But there was some queer learning in all this turmoil that I am a witness to from the periphery. The land records being used and followed are pretty much of Akbar’s time. Yes I am talking of the medieval Mughal ruler, who many historians treat eponymous with medieval greatness, though my view is a little different on this subject. I would reserve comments on this issue for another time.

The old records are still in Urdu and Persian and have not been transcripted. The method used to maintain is that which was started by Todar Mal Srivastava the Raja of Sitapur - even today a district near Lucknow in UP - one of the Nav Ratnas. That, the accuracy or integrity of the method is not questionable is true, yet, the integrity or venality of revenue officers clearly questionable.

The biswa and Bigha system has its complications though. Todar Mal was a very intelligent man. Usually the people of his community are literate and educated. The kayasthas as they are called claim descent from Chitragupta. Though some sociologist believe they are sat-shudras. Some believe they were Brahmins who showed allegiance to the muslim rulers and were therefore relegated to the position of Kayasthas, and not allowed to be a part of the hallowed caste Brahmins.

Akbar had asked Todar Mal to device a system incomprehensible to common man. So Todar Mal, to avoid a blot on his escutcheon, devised a complex system. He informed Akbar that he had set the metrics at 99 so that making a quarter will be complex for most people. If it were 100, dividing by 4 would be simple.

The Todar Mal’s system was followed by the British and it was only post 80’s that the government decided to eschew the remnants of this medievalism and change to the metric system. The outcome is to be seen.

HOW MUCH WOULD BUCKINGHAM BUCKLE

Buckingham’s woeful timetable of apologies

Today the queen of England placed a wreath on the memorial of martyrs of Irish freedom struggle, and also observed silence at stadium where the British soldier killed many Irish people. The same stupid queen and her most inane son, wanted to skip the visit Amritsar to avoid the Jalianwala controversy and of course refused to apologize.

The British parliament believed that such an apology would serve no purpose. Just for those who don’t refer to history so much, Dyer wanted to revenge the attack on two English ladies and as a consequence ordered firing on an unarmed assembly of people that too on Baisakhi, which is a very important festival in the Indian and particularly the Sikh calendar. As a result of the firing, official British estimates claim, 250 people died but the Indian estimates place the number at more than 1000. The number bungling has continued in India since the time of the British and the brown sahibs are still following the gora sahib strategy of manipulating statistics.

The bagh was once owned by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and derives its name from Jalles clan that owned it.

Clearly Dyer was a cold blooded murderer. He was tried in Britain and … Painful to know, he went on record to say that “they deserved it”. Of course there was no remorse. The massacre was followed by martial law and a crawling order.

Sympathetic British public raised a purse of £20,000 for poor Dyer. The then Lt Gov of Punjab O Dwyer, condoned his action.

You can blame the Raj, Brig Gen Dyer, Elizabeth or Victoria or who ever. It is all about Indian character. I have always argued, it is all about Indian character. We lack national character. We have no concept of a nation. We lack pride. We don’t attribute too much to national honor. Caste and clan honor yes indeed. Dyer was a brute Britisher with false and exalted notion of duty toward the Union Jack. But the people who followed his orders and fired on the helpless crowd were all Indians. Did not one have the courage of conviction to refuse such an order.

Also, I would like a typical empathetic Indian, hate to call spade a spade and look at it from Elizabeth’s perspective. She has apologized to the Irish people. She apologized to the Maoris of New Zealand. One of our troupe apologized for the “stolen generation” of Australia. Blair apologized for potato famine of Ireland. Where does the poor woman’s woeful timetable of apologies end.

LIFE REVISITS YOU

Childhood was pretty much protected and sanitized. I was brought up supervised and chaperoned like a girl. My mother, off work hours and intermittent to examining patients would keep an eye on what my brother and I did. But at the same time, I was allowed freedom to grow. It was a delicate balance that my parents would achieve.

Of course, like any child would, it was normal for me to detest the third eye following me at all times. More so because, most of my friends came from creolized families where the traditional mores were somewhat diluted to levels of practicality and convenience and that what was western was sometimes quite desirable.

One occasion that I do recall, when I was in class IX, my class organized a trip to a movie. It was IKT ( Insaaf ka Tarazoo). I was not allowed to go. My mother believed the theme was stupid and scenes vulgar. Though, she had not seen it herself. Then another movie was planned. This time it was a largely innocuous family movie of Amol Palekar. I was again denied permission to go with my class, as watching too many movies was not indicative of good upbringing.

In those years, spending time with class mates out of school in party clothes was too much of a charm to stay away from. The dejection from the denial was perhaps too much for me to hide and out of sheer pity, I was allowed to join my class. But there was a caveat - I would be accompanied by my grandparents – the third eye and of course my younger brother, who like an appendage accompanied me to all my outings. I was happy about my brother and never grudged it. But the grandparents stuff was very embarrassing.

Trust me, if you would ask me today, my grandfather, an educationist, bureaucrat, and man of great erudition is one who I admire most in my family. But, that is today. Then, I was if not ashamed, at least very apologetic about my grandfather. His usual attire when he stepped out, was a black achkan (Indian tunic) and a churidar, and Gandhi cap. He drove a car as grand as him – a 30 year old Landmaster, the previous avatar of the ambassador. So this outing was no exception and he donned his achakan, churidar and Gandhi cap and with my grandmother in tow, the family strutted to watch the movie with the class. Of course, his attire got him special treatment, which he was quite used to and always expected.

But what mattered at that age was, what your friends think about you and particularly what the girls thought about you. And they did not find this normal. Particularly, when I was not a diminutive, under-confident and meek fellow shying away from facing the world.

But now when I am parent, I behave the same with my two sons, both bold and confident. Athletic. The only saving grace is that I did not force my wife to sit in the hall with them but park herself in the café outside the theatre for 3 hours while they watched a movie. Life revisits you in many ways.

POLITICIANS OF ALL HUES

One conclusion that I have reached after a lot of reading, analysis and social observation is - politicians everywhere are rotten breed. Many of my wiser friends arrived at this conclusion with much less diffidence than I did. Ingrained in the very nature of politics is the perpetuation of present hegemony, even if it calls for mortgaging the future. So, even when the good people enter politics, although they don’t eschew their good personal traits, but it is the arena or karma bhoomi that urges the behavior that eventually they show.

Look at what Mayawati is doing. The once most elite state of the country is in a shambles - non productive expenditure stupendously rising. She and her likes have presided on the decay of the state. Industry is shy of the state. She is building statues of Ambedkar at exorbitant costs, probably siphoning funds as well in the process, through trusted conduits and channels. The gain and game is incumbency, and the loss is state exchequer’s and what suffers is development for the future. Even though the statues don’t bring jobs to the Dalits, it does give their social being a sense of legitimacy.

Look at what Obama is doing. His country is wallowing in debt. Putting in simple terms, USA is so much in debt that the largest lender to them, that is China can buy them over or at least stake a claim to portion of their land. Or, if this were to happen in corporate world, China would have by now filed a winding up petition against USA. Curiously enough, even though the country is writhed in debt, growing unemployment, crashing real estate, collapsing banking system, and stock market that is moving sideways, Obama has doubled the aid to Pakistan, is leading the barrage against Gaddafi and perhaps will be the first to jump into the fray or Syria as well. So the American experimentalism with Pax Americana has not dwindled despite disastrous performance on social and economic parameters. Besides, all the wrangling and dirty politics over medicare, medicaid, social security and tax cuts is not hidden from the world.

Look at Japan, where for 24 hours post Tsunami, they could not reach meters to measure the radioactivity due to the leak from Fukoshima, and what the extent of leakage was only the best guess of the wise. Yet the ex-prime minister Hutoyama is busy conceiving a grand plot “Harmonious solidarity for the Grand Coalition to Tackle the Earthquake Disaster” to topple Mr Kan.

Look at Russia, corruption rife, mafia still ruling the commercial landscape, extreme poverty in segments still at large, and the geographical extremities like Chechnya and other republics still simmering, the kushti expert ok let me say Judo expert Putin is staging a grand comeback and this time for another 2 terms. His innovative scheme of demitting office and putting his protégé Medvedev whom he dandles on his knees, in his place keeping his seat warm for him to return in grand style is still the uber innovative way of perpetuating political power.

Let us look at the homunculus like French President Sarkozy, who struts around with a wife twice as tall and a confirmed exhibitionist. Instead of turning the country around he is focusing on populist issues like banning burka on public places. A predominantly catholic country will find comfort in banning the burka, but mind you, the burka clad people are coming from its own erstwhile colonies.

But politicians are elected by the people. So does that mean that the rot is down below as well.

PAX AMERICANA - AMERICAN INTERVENTIONISM

So in a single stroke, Uncle Sam bushwhacked both Osama and his patron state - Pakistan. In a curiously conceived stealth operation, USA killed the king pin of global terror, and also exposed beyond doubt the duplicity of Pakistan.

Pakistan is numbed, the hoi polloi in the street are discussing in hushed tones what hit them -a foreign power conducts a military operation right under their noses, exposes both their countries criminal complicity and also its helplessness against America’s military and financial might. To some there is sense of shame, to others, violation of their sovereignty, to a miniscule minority, justice done.

Today I received a joke via sms, no one is safe is Pakistan, not even Osama, everyone is safe in India, even Kasab. Sardonic, yet true. Sad yet undeniable.

Whereas, the purported purpose of this operation Geronimo was clearly weakening the “axis of evil” by liquidating the king pin of terror in his own bastion, the understanding of the timing could be interesting. The sagging popularity ratings of Obama would see a fillip.

In one of my previous blogs, I had mentioned that Americans like a papa and the mild mannered Obama has now proven beyond doubt that he can behave like a Papa. Poker faced he announced to his countrymen, the largest enemy of USA has been gunned down – “we got him”. He is a papa now, and no more a mama. And should he lighten his skin somehow, his second term is pretty much secured.

There is a stark difference between Indians and Americans. Much as Americans love their country immensely, Indians seem to be lacking the concept of a nation or country, but they for sure love their culture immensely.

History witnesses, despite the Vedas very clearly defining the land that constituted Jambu Dwipa ( Island of the Jamun Tree - the pre-vedic name of India, the name used to describe this land before Bharat - yet a territorial or geographical identification by its inhabitants of this nation is weak. Nonetheless, the cultural identification is excessively solid and strong.

One reason could be, that while territorial integrity of India though was defiled many times by foreign invaders the culture remained puritan and predominantly untouched. This was probably due to its assimilative nature of this culture. Since the culture defied definition all external influences were either shrugged off or assimilated. Yet the original form was maintained.

Tsunami of Corruption

Tsunami of Corruption

I go back to my favorite refrain. People get the governance they deserve. So actually we are getting what we deserve. The only problem is, we don’t wish to admit that this is what we deserve. Since a candid admission of a malaise is the first step toward a remedy, being in mode of chronic self denial, we never set ourselves to cure it.

Also, corruption is not unique to India. If there are few who believe there is none in USA, they are deluding themselves. I am not particularly a fan of Micheal Moor but I am indeed a believer of the old folk truth, that there is no smoke without fire. In fact I feel the colonial powers both old and new, are plagued kleptocracies, which systematically loot and ravage geographies. Can someone justify the American misadventure in Vietnam or the shameless ingression in Iraq for the ennobling cause of toppling a dictatorial regime or Afghanistan or even the apparently innocuous policy of turning a blind eye to Israeli “ nuclear ambivalence”, or continually funding Pakistan knowing fully well that such aide was being used to fuel anti India terror.

That Lincoln reshuffled some his top aides on charges of corruption, Watergate compelled Nixon to resign. The pursuing investigation of Watergate, exposed the Americans further. But clearly, all prevalent and pervasive corruption is peculiar to only some 3rd world countries. Clearly, it is symptomatic of dictatorial regimes, of banana republics and of communistic oligarchies. India is one unique example of a vibrant democracy plagued with rampant corruption.

On corruption in India, a history professor of mine used to joke, when a despot like Allauddin Khilji could not curb corruption, then no one can. Manmohan, you have an alibi. In India the ire has been, foreigners ruled far too long. May be 1000 years. Just about when the Muslim rulers were forgetting their foreign roots and were integrating with the civilization of the Ganges, they got replaced by British and the saga was retold. To the British, duping India and exploiting her resources and oppressing its people, was a their duty to the crown, and the underlying principle of colonial burden. A brazen and most depraved devouring of a land was clearly not corruption. It was an institutionalisation of corruption. In India there is lot of hypocrisy. At least the well meaning minions and mandarins, an ever dwindling miniscule minority thinks nothing less than bringing in Ram Rajya, knowing fully well, it is utopian and not practical. So the starting point is itself is wishful. We often extol something that we call personal integrity. This means, “I don’t touch money”. Yet I have a pocket that you could put this in.

If money has changed hands for the nuclear liability bill, Manmohan who was championing this, is tainted. How can he claim impeccable personal integrity? Who cares, if the money did not go into any of his personal account or those of his kin. A government he was stewarding has used unaccounted and ill-gotten wealth to buy votes and trounce democratic opposition. In India, there is another issue that ails the system. You are everything first before you an Indian. The only moment you are Indian first is when playing cricket against Pakistan. The Pakistanis should think so, is clear, that is indeed always the psychology of the younger delinquent son, whose fortunes have been compromised vis a vis his illustrious elder brother. He is destructive, envious and conniving. The fault lines moved, wreaked havoc – 8.9 on the Richter scale. The buildings swayed yet did not collapse. The quality of construction was so good. The damage in Japan was due to the Tsunami, ie. the water not the earthquake. Do recall, there was an earthquate in Bhuj. Just 6.9 on the Richter scale and all of Bhuj saving some buildings of the Airforce was razed to the ground. This is corruption too. 3G / Adarsh / CWG, they have just got highlighted. Pick up anything, you will find a scam. Police and army bharti ( selection at Sepoy Level ), liquor licenses, the list is endless, and most honest or their offices or their parties are beneficiaries of this slush income.

The Children of Tutakhamun

It was one of my usual business trips when I try and cover all contiguous markets to save time and money. So from Istanbul I flew Turkish Airways to Cairo. Turkish Airlines was an accidental yet a good surprise.

Infact I had protested to HRG Sita my travel agent why they put me on Turkish, an untried though Star Alliance carrier. HRG told me I had approved it. This must have been those hypnagogic moments when I say yes to many things which I believe do not merit minute attention. But as you can imagine I later regret.

But the airline was a delight. The Business class was good, hospitality I think second to may be Singapore Airlines, fare competitive and food choices enough. The Business Class was also quite sparsely populated that added to the comfort.

The day I landed in Cairo, Tunisian dictator Ben Ali had sought asylum in Saudi.
Cairo was whispering. The soothsayers predicted turmoil if not doom. The contagion of the Jasmine Revolution was deemed to take over this north African land of the Nile.

Call it determinism or the operation of the anthropic principle, the children of Tutankhamun seemed destined for a period of unrest and strife. I say anthropic as I think the conditions are determined by the outcome as much as the outcome by the conditions. The argument may sound counterintuitive on a logical plane but on a platonic one you will see it holds merit.

Well Egypt indeed bears similarities with India. The society is hierarchical. The culture is rich and ancient. Anthropomorphisation was integral to both cultures till the wave of Islamisation swept the land of Nile like it did all the contiguous lands. The only difference being that India retained its culture in some variegated form, like wine maturing in a bottle, and Egypt lost it to Islam. It took the westerners to help Egyptians recognize the science of the Giza Pyramids or the pristine nature of their cultural richness and heritage.

In fact in some respects, the rot in Egypt was evidently more than India. I traveling with my agent whose car bore the sign of the Parliament. He was hailed by a cop for overshooting the zebra at A traffic light. Noticing the sign of the Parliament on the car, the cop smiled and stepped back. In India now a days they do make a pretense of the equality before law.

Also at the entrance of the museum I got a feeling some Americans were let in with out proper identification. When I shouted/protested, the security officers were apologetic. This too was familiar. First allow in violation of a rule and upon being checked behave sheepishly, in fact the guards at the entrance thought I was some person in authority even though not Egyptian. The only difference being, that in India they would perhaps not allow foreigners without frisking but anybody in white khaddar or an I card with steel chain (a bureaucrat )they would.