What Patel would have done and Nehru didn't

Whether India gained independence by a quirk of fate, or by distinct design or by the selfless sacrifice of martyrs or by the moral fortitude of the teeming millions who followed Gandhiji from Dandi to Delhi is a debate that will never tire.

But what is substantially clear is that the freedom was dearly bought and  that we cannot afford to pay the cost twice.

The leadership at the time of independence had caliber, commitment and a collective conscience, all of which seem so remote from the people who drive the country today that we are set to wonder if we are indeed the same country.

While the world is looking at the progress that India has made with some awe and significant amazement, not because the progress has been so rapid, but because, they believed, due to the perception of a post independence apocalypse created by the British, that India would plunge into anarchy and chaos, the moment she would be free.

While India did make her tryst with destiny, she at the same time, reigned in the chaos that the British so much expected her to inevitably plunge into, the moment they left.

Today, when a giant statue of Vallabh Bhai Patel is being erected, the marginalization of a stalwart by the Gandhian ecosystem once again became the hot topic of debates right across the country.

There was a very large section of people eg. my grandfather, who wished Vallabhai Patel had become the first PM of the country for reasons which varied from Patels understanding of rural India, of its malaise and their faith in his ability of executing to perfection. While this section found Nehru charming and magnetic, it would rather catapult Vallabhai Patel into lead the Cabinet and let Nehru be the quintessential foreign minister whose oratorical prowess would charm the international audience to a nascent yet resurgent India. But that was not to be, as Gandhiji’s preference for Nehru to a strong headed Patel was no secret.

A few things that I am sure Patel would have done far better than Nehru due to his background and superior understanding of what India stood for would perhaps been :

1. Maintaining a strong, motivated and modern defense force
2. Laying the foundation of a robust rural self governance model
3. Casting a cabinet with an immaculately clean reputation and government that was free of corruption
4. No dynasty

At Hamburg I referred to the Ancient Indian Rope Trick

I watched with relish, the interview of Raghuram Rajan, the new governor of RBI, who seems to have an uncanny flair for flirting with the stock market - a shoulder-shrugging demeanor that gives confidence to investors - despite India having slowed down to a 5 pct GDP growth - having stayed course for about 3 years with 8-9 pct. It is imperative for the Government to set up some corrective mechanisms, as without them, the country will dash asymptotically to the Hindu Growth Rate.

That, India would not lose it’s sovereign-rating, is an event, with much higher odds in its favor and far-fewer against it. The credence with which Rajan assertively stated that India could pay off its short term debt the next day was for sure, confidence giving.

While he was sensible enough not to sound pompous, he appreciated in full measure the propensity of the markets to react to cues which may not always be fully rational.

 

Few months ago, the Economist's cover page screamed if India had lost its magic. While presenting at Hamburg, to a group of Pharma professionals, I had shown this cover page to them as a barometer of mood of disappointment with the India Story.

Of the 9^th century India, the World believed, the Indians had a rope trick. The rope when beckoned by the magician, would rise vertically up into the sky. The Jhamoorah (the English language does not seem to have a parallel to this word) would climb up the rope and disappear, till his body, split in multiple pieces would drop down, and be re-assembled and spewed with life by the Magician.

While I have seen several Magicians and Illusionists, I have never witnessed this rope trick myself. But it has been chronicled in many ancient texts, the earliest being some Buddhist texts dating to 700 AD’s, And such references to the trick continued to appears even in British accounts of people of eminence of none less than Sir Ralph Pearson.

While the cover page of the Economist could in some measure be a barometer of the view of the international media, I still believe, India, under the right leadership, has the wherewithal to perform such tricks.

The Story of a Cabin Bag

Each time I travel overseas, I feel how much better I am back home.

Hear this. Lufthansa business class and non-discounted ticket, which means first-class like fare.

The flight was Mumbai - Munich - London Heathrow. Munich was as transit point. i board at Mumbai and I wake up at Munich to find one of my cabin bags stowed right above my seat was missing.

I informed the crew about my missing bag no later than the touch down at Munich, from where I was supposed to connect to London.

They made no precautionary announcement of a missing bag.

Did not volunteer to check the cabin

Had no provision at the entire Munich Airport for lodging a complaint

Were not able to provide assistance

For their luck, I raced out to see of some co-passenger or miscreant was walking away with the bag. And as I did that, the crew was saved of the ruckus that I would have otherwise created. While I did pace, lugging the suit slip and a laptop bag that I still had on my person, I could not spot my bag.

So the next step was to register a complaint. It turned out, for cabin bag, there is no provision to register a complaint. And overseas, they don’t accept plain paper complaints, the jokers have a format for everything. So regardless of the muscle that I flexed of being a gold card holder, frequent flyer, Lufthansa patron, nothing worked.

This was a cabin bag and I was supposed to be responsible for it, just like one is of his / her possessions on a bus/train, argued a Lufthansa supervisor.

I then thought of registering a police complaint, and there was no police presence in the transit area either. You should first clear passport control and then go into the Schengen area, subject to Schengen Visa to register the complaint.

But my complaint could well be logged at London, as the London police would have jurisdiction, London being my final destination. Munich was merely a transit point.

At London, the lost and found said, they were handling agents, and not Lufthansa and could take complaint for checked in baggage. Since the bag was not in the custody of the carrier, the question of compensation also did not arise. But, I could log a complaint with London police, and that I could do anywhere in London.

I thought I would log a complaint at Central London police station, knowing fully well, it being a case of Munich, they could really do nothing, but the complaint would have helped, for insurance claim at least.

But again, firstly, they said, the jurisdiction would be of Heathrow Police and secondly, the theft took place in the air or in Munich, and hence again they had no jurisdiction. So no complaint was filed whatsoever.

Then I had to think like a Bania, and called my agent, and asked him to inform Lufthansa sales, that RPG could review its travel policy and stop patronizing Lufthansa. And this is what drove some seriousness.

I am sure, in India we could have found a solution. 

Durga Shakti Nagpal

Durga SDM Greater Noida has been suspended. Another action by the political masters, which is both ham-handed and high-handed.

The politicians sometimes naively believe, since they derive power from the people, and in democracy, that power is supreme, that gives them the legitimacy to molest and maul other institutions, which at least in their reckoning, are lower in the pecking orders of democratic polity.

But, this premise is presumptuous in that, it disregards the fact, that the babu too derives power from the constitution, which has been given to the country by the people. To add to the power from the people, the constitution has an additional legitimacy of the antiquity. If the Americans can swear to a constitution of 1787, and the English by the 1300s Magna Carta, then we can certainly find relevance in a document that was thoughtfully conceived just 60 yrs ago.

Today, I read an article by Srivatsa Krishna, an civil servant from the South, lamenting the suspension of young member of his service. His ire was all about an honest IAS officer – Durga Nagpal being victimized, and not an honest and dutiful person being victimized. He, for once did not curse the IAS officer – UP State Chief Secretary who would have signed the suspension order. How can a CS – the top bureaucrat of the State be bullied into signing an order that was wrongful? Why did he lack the spine to protect a junior and dutiful member of his team?  Did he curry favors or bribe his way to this position?

Srivatsa’s article also highlighted the appalling conditions in which the IAS sometimes works, and like all bureaucrats, he likened it to the much better conditions of work of the “hallowed” army. Again, I see a dichotomy of sorts in the use of the word “hallowed”. It is presumed a civil servant will be a nationalist. And it is known, a nationalist will always be supportive of his country's armed forces. Why does the Indian bureaucracy then always betray this sentiment and speak of the army pejoratively? This is a subject on which I have blogged in the past as well, and it continues to intrigue me.