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.

The Monumental Folly of Demonetization

Sahaya Sadhyam Rajatwam Chakram Ekam na Vartate : Chanakya

This was one of the maxims of the great statesman economist of the 3rd Century BC : “The King and the Council are the two wheels of the cart and the cart cannot move on one”

Chanakya was very clear. The king should be extremely diligent in nominating his Amatyas, but having done so, he must resign the governance to them, retaining titular, veto and dispute resolution powers with himself. I believe, this was a very evolved structure which provided autonomy to the permanent executive but at the same time had built in checks and balances.

It is very essential that the King has learned council and that he heeds it. The king must not be surrounded by sycophants or people who are not ideologically soaked into making his monarchy a benevolent state that works for the safety and happiness of his subjects.

People say, one of the advisers of Modi for the demonetization was Ajit Doval. I don't believe this one bit, as why should an IPS officer who spent a large part of his professional life snooping in the IB, be the one to advise Modi on matters of economy. This would mean, there is a drought of economists and thinkers in this country. I don't have high regard for Doval as I believe his handling of Pathankot was highly ham-handed. Besides, any man, who lacks the conviction to own and admit failure in my view is a timorous and weak kneed namby-pamby. And Doval despite he being lionized by the media as the James Bond of India, I would place in that category.

I am sure, a whimsical Modi, had not imagined the scale of disruption and misery that the demonetization would cause. This is the very reason why you need strong council with stalwarts who can stand up to you and decant your disastrous decisions.

I feel, with Rajan as the Governor of RBI, the demonetization would have been implemented with far greater preparedness. The mint, the currency chests, the ATMs the banks, their rural outreach, the cash distribution channels, the cash transporting staff and vans all needed to be in order to make the operation smooth and successful.

The Finance Minister Jaitley and ilk are now shamelessly changing the narrative. The whole narrative of black money is now being morphed into transitioning to a cashless economy. It is child’s logic, that a certain element of cash in the economy is actually healthy for the economy. So the logic of a completely digital economy, and that too without fool proofing security features needed to support such economy being put in place really beats me. 

Regrettably, since the woes and throes of demonetization don't seem to end, and most of the money that used to be in the channel now demonetized is reaching the banks back, the specter of black money is now fading away, and a hapless government with egg in its face is now changing track from black money to a cashless economy, and who better to shamelessly trumpet this than Jaitley himself.

I am Modi supporter and I want him to succeed, but it saddens me no end to say, with such measures he may not.

Aggravated Reality of Modinomics : Arun Jaitely you must answer

Aggravated Reality of Modinomics : Arun Jaitely you must answer

Ministers like Jaitley could be Modi’s undoing. His apathetic comments in a speech has all ingredients for it.

Jaitley people say was instrumental in peddling Modi as BJPs prime ministerial candidate and also unflinchingly standing by him when Vajpeyi condemned him and contemplated his removal in the aftermath of Gujarat riots. Vajpeyi somehow could never comprehend how Gujarat could be retribution for Godhra and condemned Modi for not acting fast enough to quell the violence.

Additionally, Jaitley unknots the Lutyens Delhi’s Machiavellian spoils system, in which he is far senior to Modi who is still a struggling neophyte and relies on the outreach of Jaitley’s tentacles for facilitation - or let us call spade a spade - fixing. There is also a tacit understanding amongst all parties how much of the others’ corruption they have to ignore - chor-chor mausere Bhai.

But it is true, Jaitely’s criticality to this government and the cabinet is more for these softer skills that he brings than his distinction as a legal luminary or a financial wizard, or even a statesman, who harbours some grand vision for India.

In this backdrop, we should not grudge him his failure in triggering growth, his ineptness in handling industry or his reforms, and not being able to fire the imagination of the countries’ youth. As that is clearly not what he is retained for. 

There is no gainsaying the fact, regardless of the good intentions, the drive for demonetisation has been handled in a ham-handed manner. But we should also not grudge Jaitely his uncle Podger like handling. Organisational excellence is not his forte. And permanent bureaucracy has no accountability. 

There is a lot of goodwill riding on brand Modi. A vicious opposition not-withstanding, a large majority of people want Modi to succeed. I too want him to succeed. I think, he is the best that we have. The people are inclined to support any move that he undertakes. It is true, that lots of people are braving serpentine queues and the concomitant trouble of demonetisation smilingly on the promise or greater good of the country. 

But Jaitley apparently is the architect of the demonetisation’s mismanagement. Several of his political polemics and public posturing has also been most cavalier, crass and contemptuous of the hardships that people are facing. Yesterday, he was shown on TV equating demonetisation to the August 15, 1947 freedom and its news paper coverage of the historic moment then. He pitched that if the 1947 period media had the sentiment of the today’s media, instead of euphorically reporting Independence they would have reported the carnage and dance of death that unfolded as an aftermath of Independence.

I have some questions to Jaitely :

1.Can one suffering condone another. If there was misery and suffering at Independence then it does not imply that misery is a rule

2.Do you understand that Independence and Partition are two completely historical events although concurrent

3.The misery of partition mitigated the joy of independence and for that reason Gandhi refused to celebrate an independence so dearly bought. But you are not denying yourself anything.

4.Do you know that Britain was a colonial power and had no reason to be empathetic to the plight of the people. Is your government to be evaluated in the back drop of a exploitationist colonial power.

5.Has anyone from your family queued up for cash? How are you running your household?

I know there are no answers with you. And you get to power anyways, hence even if you had answers, you would not deign to reply to my questions. But never underestimate the electorate. Their anger sometimes survives eons….

A Paroxysm of Petulant Patriotism

After an extremely diffident and dilatory Manmohan SIngh whose allegiance was more to a decadent family than to the country and its constitution, the people foisted to power, Modi, a diametrical opposite. Self assured and unapologetic about his roots, and with no family to fend for, he rose like a phoenix and gave the nation a sense of confidence that it perhaps was longing for. 

While his electoral demagoguery was unabated, a calibrated dispersion of statistical content in his speeches made him stand tall in front of contenders like Rahul Gandhi, who were still using the old guard's - Dig Vijay Singh - rhetoric to connect with a youth that had since moved on.

In stark contrast to a matronly Sonia, whom it took many decades to even accept Indian citizenship, who had made silence a virtue, who scripted a model that divorced accountability from power, Modi was a man who in a presidential style campaign profusely pledged to take back India to its golden era; he would chest beat to showcase the green shoots of his model in his home state of Gujarat.

A savvy politician, who recognised that perception of performance was as critical as performance itself, Modi took extra care of the optics. Prostrating before stairs leading to the Parliament or addressing POTUS with his first name, all went into defining what he was and stood for. He was poised to lead India on the path of economic vitality, political resurgence and international stature.

His message was loud and clear. His ascendancy would mark the end of decades of plundering and looting of the country by either siphoning off the tax payers money, or conceiving convoluted schemes, which although would pass without demur an accountant’s scrutiny, but fail miserably in the test of ethicality - like the land grab of Vadra, or the National Herald Case for the Congress.

And all these promises he made with an air of Hindu resurgence without any overt reference to it. And it is never difficult to make that, as Hinduism is not a dogma and does not ordain its exponents to interfere, regulate or dominate any other religion, faith or school of thought.

In a majoritarian Hindu country, which though partitioned on religious lines, yet chose to stay secular, where it had become fashionable to appear modern at the cost of tradition, and was led by darned apologists, an overnight shift to Modiism was a transition with its own complexities. 

Besides, a perpetually hostile neighbour - Pakistan - upped the ante in Kashmir which further spiked the surging saffron nationalism.

As a consequence of all this, lot of rowdy elements, like advocate Chauhan, till date marginalised under the erstwhile regime of the apologists’ joined what they believed was the ideological mainstream by asserting their nationalism. Prime time TV programs - the contemporary pulpits of society - started streaming a brand of jingoistic nationalism. 

While Ma Bharti convalesced under corruption, poor health of its women, under nourishment of infants and joblessness of its youths, the chant “Bharat Mata ki Jai” became the new litmus test of nationalism to which this rowdy fringe started subjecting others.

There is a growing crop of people who proclaim to be more nationalist that others because they are willing to chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai. A lot of such people are residing abroad and from their comforts of their homes incite passions in India. They upload provocative video and try to pontificate to you on nationalism, when they have themselves left the country for a better life overseas. 

Ma Bharti is venerable, and is the underlying soul of Indianness. Its a call for nationhood from times when the concept of nationhood was not even born in the western world. But the stage at which the country is, it would be better if nationalism would be tested by ones deeds and the contribution that he makes to the nation and opportunity of personal growth that a person forsakes for a social cause.

Despite having acquired the best education, one is still willing go return to his mofussil town or village to impart education

Despite being a great doctor , one is willing to forsake crores to serve teeming million who lack access to primary health care

Despite being a great actor, one does a social cause commercial like Polio eradication or of Dengue or on the girl child free of cost

One declines positions of political importance because he knows there are others who can contribute more than him in that role

One pays his taxes with honesty

One waits at a traffic signal even when there is no cop on the other side to fine him

One stops to clear the litter of person who was walking ahead of him

A bureaucrat forgoes a sight seeing tour during an over seas trip and works over night to make a good presentation about his country at an international forum and brings back a qualification or membership that would hold his country in good stead.

Corporates vie to bring best quality products and work ethos to be called world class in their respective segments

People ask their representatives if they are working in interest of the people

All of the above is a better test of Nationalism than merely chanting Bharat Mata Ki Jai

That there is no gain saying the fact that Vande Mataram or Bharat Mata Ki Jai of course should be a given for any one of us and not a test.

Why give so much cognisance to what a Khan says...??

We are a democracy and as such we are obligated to not stifle any view that is contrarian or conflicting to ours. But at least we can exercise a self imposed restraint on televising views of stupid people. Let us decide on an IQ threshold. Views of people having an IQ below a stipulated level should not be aired. 

If we could do this, at least we would be spared the tyranny of views of Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt, Mahesh Bhatt, Saif Ali, Kangana Ranout........., Robert Vadra.......Rakhi Sawant, Poonam Pan

These guys make a stupid comment and our media scampers to air it. Today it is Salman Khan, tomorrow it would be Rakhi sawant pontificating to the country on what needs to be done...Give us a break.

I can be completely wrong, but my considered belief is, anyone who can emote as directed has a diminutive cerebral capacity. And that is what these actors do, and they do it for money. If you dance on orders to save a life, like Basnati danced to save Viru's life, it is still pardonable. But not in any other situation.

Science has limitations. There is no steroid that can increase the power of the brain. So you can see, tho the body of Salman Khan is bulked up to twice of what he used to be, the size of his brain has remained same.

I feel incensed when these jokers make irresponsible statements. Money I guess gives the rich a misplaced sense of confidence to become social commentators.

Ironically, Baramullah firing is happening while I am scripting my comment.

India Hits Back - Indeed a big Day after decades of political Indecisiveness

As facts stand, and as experts of military history would unhesitatingly corroborate, each time India has gained an upper edge in war (I deliberately refrain from saying "win"), as that was never the stated objective of any of the wars that we waged, Indian army has done it despite the political dispensation, despite the elephantine bureaucracy, despite being poorly equipped, despite not having any back up support and despite the red tape. 

And our politicians and bureaucrats, with support of media have always succeeded in appealing to our misplaced sense of nationalism, the recrudescence of which is seen both in times of a cricket match and war and in that order. The truth is, we sacrifice our soldiers for our lack to integrity, inactivity, inaction and red tape. In 1965, after having walked into Pakistan, Indian Army did not know what it was supposed to do. The objectives of war, which have to be stated before going to war, were not stated till what you can call the end of the war.

We have won wars only because of the personal valour of our soldiers. Sit with an old fauji, and he will fill you up with countless hair-raising tales of personal valour of our soldiers. In 1965, emboldened by the American magnanimity of donating Pakistan the M 47 and M48 Pattons, they misadventured to attack an unprepared India under surrogate leadership of a noble yet tentative politician called Shastri. 

We won, not because we had an equally powerful armoured division that could brave the Pattons. But we won, because our soldiers feeling so helpless against the Pattons and bereft of air support, lay with mines under tanks and blew themselves up. The Pattons - the first generation smart tanks made with light metals for smarter reaction and swifter shoot and scoot capability, while completely outsmarted the Indian Centurion Tank of British Vintage, but could not take the heat of a mine burst below it. We lost soldiers but captured tanks. The battle of Asal Uttar is testimony to this. Pakistan lost 200 tanks to the brave Indian soldier and India commemorated the feat by calling the place Patton Nagar.

I hope, this time was a paradigm shift. I hope this time a departure from the past. A win not due to personal valour, but due to military tactics, warcraft, political expediency, planning, well rigged fighting machine and clearly stated objectives of the strike. 

In our zeal for war jingoism, we must not be unmindful of the lives of our soldiers, and the plight of their families after they martyr themselves for those who create the situation for which they are martyred.

I also feel, in fact I am convinced, perhaps, the only positive aspect of our almost derelict caste system is valour. I feel, the Rajputs primed for valour from childhood, have a point to prove, and the brave Sikhs and hardy Jats will up the Rajputs, and each regiment, so loyal to its caste and so loyal to its tradition of valour, so loyal to its highly embellished regimental pedigree and its icons, misses no opportunity of leaving a legendary legacy.

Pakistan. Failed State true. Shameless State more true.

Response as expected #UnitedAgainstPak pic.twitter.com/jj0N6str5Z

— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) September 19, 2016

Churchill - Who says he had Foresight, Just a keen Opportunist and Risk Taker

Power will go to the hands of rascals, rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low caliber and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight amongst themselves for power and India will be lost in political squabbles. A day would come when even air and water would be taxed.”

India is merely a geographical expression. It is no more a single country than the equator.

-Winston Churchill

A man who I would, at least in the context above, consider down right stupid, and devoid of foresight - and what can be a more egregious reminder of the tyranny of his ineptitude - in handling India than the foregoing quote. But of course, he is believed in England to be the hero of the War and key in bringing Hitler down. I am also not too sure, if this so called victory over Hitler could have been achieve without the active participation of India on the side of England in the war.

A man who did his utmost in keeping India maimed and minioned for as long as possible is described as the principal proponent of free world by David Cameroon. But positions can be so divergent due to distinctive standpoints that sometimes it is impossible to make sense out of them.