The Yaksha Prashna: Version 2.0

It has been going on in my mind for sometime now. I have mentioned it to some, I have not mentioned it to many. It has been suffocating and illuminating my mind at the same time. You know the feeling somewhat close to a headache? The one induced by serious contemplation? The one which you get when you try and think about the origin of universe? No I don’t mean read about the origin of universe, I mean think about the origin of the universe, origin of the consciousness. I won’t comment about others, but I have strong suspicion that my brain is designed not to be able to think about it. I remember going into that thought for like two hours straight, without any other thought claiming an iota of my mind, and then comes Mr. Headache. It aches as if the god damned Big Bang is happening in my ever so reverberate head. If God exists, I’ll kill him for that.

If you are not getting what I am saying, then it is like five times the effect, a bottle of vodka lodged in your head leaves you with. Ok so well now you know the pain, so let’s come back to what has been lingering in my mind for a long long time now. It is another question which is not as humongous as the origin of consciousness, but is as narrow as a dagger-thrust-in-tender-most-part-of-my-brain, in its scope. It is about the being of a man. Being a man has two aspects to it. We all have known that Homo Sapiens is a social animal, and he formed societies and all the greatness we quote from the past, is about how great men were great men because they contributed to the society in one way or other. At the same time, Homo Sapiens sapiens. He has his being as a wise man. I don’t know what wise man would mean to you, but to me in its purest form, it must have been all about discovering knowledge, reflecting on it, questioning it, rejecting it, adding to it, and not allowing self to accept any thought without letting it pass through this process.

If you observe, the former has been dominating the world thought for millions of years and getting re-enforced by every great civilization coming into being, and it has made it almost impossible for the latter to exist. What all can I reflect on, what all can I question, what all can I reject, what I can add to, and what all should I not allow myself to accept without letting it pass through the process? Is the battle already lost? It is like the mythical gift of free will, which exists and not. We can blame the myths / god / scriptures for the failing of free will, but who is to blame for failing the other aspect of our being? Are we meant to be like this, or is it our collective failing across ages, or it is the wrong question at the first place?

Commonwealth Ganes 2010 v/s Beijing 2008: A new Dimension to India v/s China Debate

Part I

The quotes above reflect the urge of two Asian giants, which have had a gargantuan influence over the ancient and medieval worlds, to announce their claim – for global leadership and supremacy. In the recent years, especially after the term BRICS came into being, India and China have been touted as the next economic superpowers. A lot has been said about how the twenty first century belongs to India and China, and a lot have been achieved by both the countries to substantiate it. In 2007, China’s GDP was growing at the rate of 13% and India’s was 9.7%, as compared to 2% of United States- a feat very difficult considering the size of their economies. Never before, the world has seen such a phenomenon: the emergence of two ancient civilizations - yet nubile nations from the shadows of deprived state of being. It is the redemption of two phenomena, which have served as the womb for innumerable feats in human civilization. It is similar, yet grander than the emergence of United States on the global scene in the late nineteenth century. They possess enablers like favorable geo-political realities, a young and dynamic workforce, and a large domestic market which fueled the great American rising in nineteenth century: strengthened by more than one-third of the world’s population. To cut the long story short, India and China are growing rapidly and feel an urge to announce it to the world.

However, looking at the timing and consequences of the two similar sounding quotes, this clubbing of India & China as a phenomenon seems devoid of sense. The former is from the inauguration ceremony of Beijing Olympics 2008, which was also dubbed as the greatest opening ceremony ever by media across the world – followed by a sporting heaven been witnessed: the stadia, and the city infrastructure. The latter is from a ceremony to launch the Games Anthem, while construction work was still ongoing, roads were still occupied by construction materials, tiles were coming off the walls, roofs of the stadia were still leaking, wash-basins were being crapped into, beds were being occupied by stray dogs, over bridges were about to fall, a national shame was about to emerge while charges of corruption were already being leveled. Both these quotes sound similar, yet paint two different and contrasting pictures of seriousness of intention and efforts on the part of China and India.

Part -II

Preparations & Preparedness

Beijing's Olympics were by far the most expensive Olympics ever, but the bill of about $40 billion, as a news report puts it, was akin to mere pocket change for the roaring Chinese economy. Unlike previous hosts that dug themselves deep holes of debt, from Montreal in 1976 to Athens in 2004, China's capital could afford new stadiums, subways and roads. Even before the China’s bid for the 2008 Olympic Games won, a massive investment of more than US$20 billion in its infrastructure project had already begun. It was one of the largest construction projects ever in China since the construction of the Great Wall, which dated back some 2000 years ago.

As planned Beijing tripled the length of its expressway networks, expanded and upgraded its public transport system and built dozens of competition and training venues. Twenty two new stadiums, fifteen renovated facilities, two new Ring Roads, one hundred forty-two miles of new infrastructure, eight new subway lines, two hundred fifty two new star-rated hotels, forty km of cleaned rivers, one million new trees and eighty three km of planted greenbelt were put in place. Even an artificial mountain and lake, at the scale of the projects of the Qing Dynasty Emperors, were built in the Olympic Park. The Olympic Park itself was three times the size of New York’s Central Park, and the North-South Central Axis linking the Olympic Park with Tiananmen Square was conceived by no less than Albert Speer Jr. Entire new Central Business Districts had sprung up in the vertical image of HongKong and Shanghai. These vast additions to Beijing had come at the expense of older hutong streets and housing fabric being forcibly demolished, or socialist-era factories relocated, releasing huge tracts of land—all land is state-owned—for urban renewal. The organizers recruited more than 400,000 volunteers. About forty million pots of flowers were brightening up the city's streets. More than a million cars had been taken off the roads and two hundred factories closed to ease air pollution. A 100,000-strong security force of armed police, commandos and other troops were stationed around the city. The authorities had installed 300,000 surveillance cameras and sited anti-aircraft missiles next to the Bird's Nest. The Beijing Organizing Committee for the 29th Olympic Games, in sync with the Government was giving out a clear signal to the world, that not a single stone will be left unturned to make the Beijing Olympics an iconic event.

On the other hand, the initial total budget estimated by Indian Olympic Association in 2003 for hosting the Commonwealth Games was US$358 million, but official total budget estimation in 2010 became US$2.5 billion, which excludes non-sports-related infrastructure development in the city such as airports, city beautification and roads. Originally the plan was to build a completely new athletics stadium, one that would outrival Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. However lack of funds and available land pulled curtains on it. Instead a new aquatics centre in the Delhi University with five swimming pools, a new Table-Tennis hall in the Yamuna Sports Complex and new stadiums for Badminton and Squash in the Siri Fort Sports Complex have been built. However, with less than two months to go to the opening ceremony, much of the Indian capital still resembled a building site. To worsen it, heavy rains exposed multiple chins in the armor of commonwealth game preparations. The construction of thestadia was not over, long after it was declared by the authorities to be over. The shooting range got damaged by heavy rains while monsoon downpours cause water to seep through the roof and walls of the newly built swimming pool complex. If it was not enough, a loose grill tripped and injured an Indian swimmer at a test event.

However, Delhi with much flexible deadlines, has finally put in place a four-lane, 2.2 km underground stretch linking the Games Village to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium; construction of road under-bridges and over-bridges along railway lines; expanding road infrastructure by constructing flyovers, cloverleaf flyovers, and bridges that had been planned to improve links for the Games and city in general. The Delhi Metro got be expanded to accommodate more people and boost the use of public transport during the 2010 games – ironically at 420 km long, it is now one of the world's longest networks extending to Gurgaon and the Noida. Indira Gandhi International Airport also got modernized, expanded, and upgraded costing nearly US$ 1.94 billion. It improved airport passenger capacity to more than 37 million passengers a year by 2010. A new runway also got constructed, allowing for over 75 flights an hour and – at over 4400 meters long – it is one of Asia's longest. The airport got connected to the city via a six-lane expressway and the $580 million Delhi Airport Metro Express. Having said that, some serious doubts about the credibility of the infrastructure were raised, when a pedestrian over-bridge collapsed outside Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, injuring 23 people.

Part - III

Outcomes

The Beijing Olympics were deemed as a great success by most: there were no terror attacks, no pro-Tibet protests at the podium, and even the much dreaded air-quality was much under control, thanks to the prompt planning and action on part of the organizing team. These games provided world class infrastructure, world class facilities, a wonderful display of sporting action, and as an icing on the cake - in the medal tally, China topped with its athletes winning more gold than any other country. This also established China as a sports superpower.

Moreover, the development from 2002 had been one of the best periods since Beijing’s reform and opening-up. The annual urban economic growth rate increased by 12.1% from 2003 to 2008, 1.3% more than that between 1997 and 2001. In 2006, the city’s production value amounted to 772 billion Yuan, ranked the 10th in China, 2.1 times that of 2001. The per capita GDP calculated according to permanent residents reached USD 6,210, 1.9 times that of 2001. Thus, the goal of reaching USD6,000 for the per capita GDP by 2008 had been realized. While economic aggregate was increased and development was enhanced, the mode of economic growth had witnessed important changes on the track of scientific development. The technology development had accelerated, making greater contribution to economic growth. In 2006, Beijing invested 85 billion Yuan in science and technology development of which R&D spending was 45 billion Yuan, 5.8% of GDP, 1.2% more than that of 2001. Beijing approved 11,238 patents, 80% more than those in 2001. Among them, there were 3,864 invention patents, 3.1% more than that of 2001. A large number of innovative results have been created and many original enterprises have emerged, the innovation system of the capital has been fostered and the creative ability has been enhanced.

On the other hand, the Commonwealth Games 2010 were marred from the beginning. The way its state of affairs was being handled, it had brought disgrace to India and raised questions over the capability of the Indian nation to host an event of such magnitude. Couple of months before the extravaganza was due; three senior organizing committee officials were suspended over financial irregularities during the Queen's Baton Relay launch in London in 2009. The government's anti-corruption watchdog identified sixteen projects where financial irregularities are suspected. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ordered an investigation into the corruption charges. Corruption was suspected in award of contracts and in hiring or purchase of equipment such as air conditioners and treadmills and even toilet paper. Each toilet paper roll did cost Indian taxpayer Rs. 200. Sometime later local media alleged stagnant pools at construction sites that had become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, thus expose the participants to dengue in the Games Village. Media also published pictures of dogs sleeping on athlete’s beds and filth all around the Games Village. The response of organizing General Secretary to the appalling conditions of the Games Village was a shame – he said hygiene standards of westerners are different than Indians. It almost became a joke then, and aChannel Seven crew tried to pull out a ting operation saying that they could carry to the Games venue - a large trolley suitcase having explosives capable of triggering up to two hundred explosions if fitted with a detonator. Although it was later claimed to be fake expose in a counter story by another Australian channel –ABC.

Howsoever, the public outlook towards the game was still getting worse every passing day. While a lot of foreign athletes were pulling out and some countries were also threatening to pull out of the event, India’s very own badminton star Saina Nehwal said “"Looking at the stadiums and looking at the progress, I don't really think we are capable of holding such big tournaments.” She however, retracted her statement back later; but it resonated with what many others were thinking, within and outside India. The Commonwealth Games 2010 were fast becoming the butt of jokes on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Mike Hooper denied put all the blame for problems in the lead-up to the Delhi Games with India and denied any responsibility. This resulted in a bitter war of words between him and, Suresh Kalmadi Chairman Organizing Committee Commonwealth Games. However, a little comfort came to the much agitated minds of Indian people when Union Sports Minister M S Gill visited the Commonwealth Games Village and said - "Each group is enjoying food and the spread of facilities. I am personally satisfied to see all facilities provided at the Village".

Finally the Commonwealth Games have been declared open today, October 3, 2010 amidst a hollow boycott threat from Scotland, the Isle of Man and Canada. To the delight and shock of many, the opening ceremony was quite a show. As a Reuter’s report put it “Indians emerge out of gloom with colorful Games opening”. A large crowd turned up for the opening ceremony, and it was not disappointed. The opening ceremony was a grandiose affair, and let us hopes that the great Indian resilience takes over to ensure that rest of the event stays grandiose. If rest of the Games continues in similar fashion, the damage which has already happened to the Incredible India image could be lessened. This or not, the Commonwealth Games 2010 should be seen as a rude learning for India as a nation and Indians as people. A good display of games should not just wash off the irregularities, inefficiency and corruption on part of the people in charge of organizing the games.

Part - IV

Putting the Comparison in Larger Perspective

The stark contrast that we see in the organizing and the being of these two events also contributes to a larger debate of China v/s India. While comparing the two economies, the Chinese economy is much superior to India's in just about every measure. In 2008 China’s GDP was US$4.327 Trillion, almost three times of India’s US$ 1.159 Trillion; and still was growing at 9% as compared to India’s 6.1%. These figures even though, draw attention to China’s superior economy explicitly, but implicitly they also lead us to the reason behind it. These are the same reasons which make Beijing Olympics-2008 better organized than Delhi Commonwealth Games-2010.

China's fast-acting government implements new policies with blinding speed, making India's fractured political system appear sluggish and chaotic. It was evident in the efficient and organized way Beijing was prepared, and the lackluster way Delhi was going about it. Moreover, infrastructure and infrastructure development remains a big issue with India. Compared to India, China has a much well developed infrastructure. Some of the important factors that have created a stark difference between the economies of the two countries are manpower and labor development, water management, health care facilities and services, communication, civic amenities and so on. All these aspects are well developed in China which has put a positive impact in its economy to make it one of the best in the world. Although India has become much developed than before, it is still plagued by problems such as poverty, unemployment, lack of civic amenities and so on. In fact unlike India, China is still investing in huge amounts towards manpower development and strengthening of infrastructure.

Most importantly beyond the physical aspects of this contrast, somewhere deep down, in the mindset of Chinese and Indian people, lately has developed a contrast: which reflects in the balance of power shifting towards the Chinese side. Originally, China and India have been culturally not very different and have had a great influence on each other’s way of life. They both have been agrarian cultures with fatalistic and collectivistic outlook towards the life. Though with the world moving from agrarianism to industrialism, which later translated into capitalism, both the countries have moved from their fatalistic and collectivistic self to more ambitious and individualistic way of living. However, when compared to an all western culture like United States or the countries from the European Union, we can still see aplenty cobwebs of fatalistic attitudes and collectivistic values being prevalent in India and China. However the different being and reality of both the sports events, exhibit the paradigm shift the Chinese nation is going through, while India still struggle with the said cobwebs. The association and disassociation of the people of these two nations respectively, with the Games highlight it. Not taking away the efforts of many, like the school children in Delhi who came out to clean the construction debris from the road, it is going to take many more such efforts, much often and in situations related to day today affairs of even lesser significance, for India to take on the Chinese Dragon.

Part - V

Lessons for Indians - as People

The following figure of cultural polarity shows the Chinese caterpillar is moving closer to the American caterpillar, and away from its cultural counterpart – India.

India has got a lot of introspection to do, as a nation, and as a civilization. The fact that none of the deadlines were met during the preparation phase of Commonwealth Games 2010 in a way shows that Indians sub-conscious does not resonate with the concept of Linear Time yet, and has been ever so comfortable in its innate concept of Time being Circular – cycles of creation and destruction and recreation with a different Prajapati, Manu and Ved Vyasa each time. For a country with oral traditions has to be difficult to see value in written agreements. The way estimated budget for the games shot up while organizing committee members and the government were promising great games amidst all the chaos, substantiates that assumption. Knowing that taking accountability is a function of others seeking accountability, but the collectivistic out look of the society makes it sound a very alien and uncomfortable a concept. Fixing individual accountability in a society built up of people with collective identities – is virtually impossible, because the the concept of accountability has its roots in the concept of individualism. While individual self is not different from others, how to differentiate the individual output and thus accountability? Moreover, the indifference of the common man towards the inefficient preparations of the games, even after all the hullabaloo media had created, exemplifies the philosophy of defeat – staying content with the existing state of affairs – withdrawal in the garb of the concept of Karma. Thus, valuing ascription over result and not getting bothered about fixing the uncertainties. Just do your part and do not bother about result, because it is Karma – if something bad happens - it must happen. It happens because of bad Karma from the past, even past lives which must be satiated. If you do not have past bad Karmas and still bad things are happening, well don't you worry, everything will all be evened out: if not now, surely in the next life. Concept of cyclic time re-emphasized.

Maybe it will sound weird to us, but we all are these people underneath - subconsciously. We need to address these issues, stuck in our subconscious, as individuals, and as a society to achieve the success which in today’s world have been defined in terms of western ethos of individualism and ambition. It is not easy and will take conscious efforts on our part to do so. However, we have to do it: sooner or later; because we have already started that transition long back; and now it is just the matter of letting go off the past, and its cobwebs.

Leadership Myths

Leadership has been one of the most researched and opinioned aspects of human behavior and it still remains a mystery to the majority. The answer to the question “Who is a leader?” is often answered by “The one who leads!” by common folks on the street. Following which if the question “Who leads?” is put up, more often than not the answer happens to be dominated by the words like politicians, army generals, royalty, corporate heads, sports stars, movie-glitterati et cetera. Interestingly all these terms represent a section of society which holds a significant status. They represent larger than life personalities, personalities people want to be. In these answer we can clearly see the conventional outlook of leadership.

Social hierarchies and taboos along with a tinge of culture-specific influences have given rise to the conventional skewed approach and outlook of leadership. It in turn has conditioned an average human-mind in a way that it sees leadership as a distant concept. Although modern educational institutions and organizations worldwide have strived hard bringing this “distant concept” much closer to people, a lot of myths still remain associated with it. Most common of such myths are:

1. Leadership is a rare ability only given to a few:

“Leaders aren't born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that's the price we'll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.”

-Vince Lombardi, Legendary American football coach

A lot of people still think that leaders are born not made. It sure defies any logic and is in fact a self-defeating belief. Leadership is like swimming, everyone can learn it, but it takes time, trial & error and the more you practice the better you get. We can see leadership being exhibited in the most insignificant of the acts all around us: a traffic-constable regulating the traffic, a cricket coach giving batting tips, a student helping is friends with a math problem, a good Samaritan stopping getting the people around to carry the accident-victim to a hospital and many more. If you look back in your life, you’ll find yourself donning the leadership hat in different situations and can reflect and learn the ways to improve upon what you did.

2. People with good position / title are good leaders:

"Leadership is action, not position."

- Donald H. McGannon, Revolutionary Broadcasting Executive

True spirit of leadership is not dependent on position or rank; it is driven by action, performance, ability, and effectiveness. People suddenly do not transform into a good leader by getting a position or title, but it actually happens the other way round. Had the position or title been the absolute indicator of a good leader, we would not have seen so many cases of leadership derailment.

3. All the leaders are charismatic:

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”

- Lao Tzu, Chinese Taoist philosopher

Many leaders are charismatic, but closer scrutiny shows that most leaders are not. Some of the world's most famous leaders were a far cry from being charismatic. Genghis Khan, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Bill Gates would not have fitted the stereotype of a charismatic leader, but nonetheless have been exceptional leaders. A leader’s cause, his purpose and his mission in life adds to his charisma, not the other way around.

4. Effective leadership is based on control:

“You do not lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership.”

- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34^th president of United States

Leadership is not about command and control — it is about "getting people excited about a common goal and enabling them to achieve it." Good leaders gain followers out of respect and their ability to cause people to work toward a particular goal or achieve a destination. Being an excessive control-freak of a leader can risk you to be put in the league of Hitlers and Saddams of the world.

5. Leaders are perfect:

"There is no such thing as a perfect leader either in the past or present, in China or elsewhere. If there is one, he is only pretending, like a pig inserting scallions into its nose in an effort to look like an elephant."

- Liu Shaoqi, Revolutionary Chinese leader

Leaders are people too without super-human capabilities and that is why can make mistakes and should not be expected to be perfect. It is but natural that good leaders will take risks and in course of time will make mistakes. Had Christopher Columbus not committed a mistake, the complete world order would have been entirely different. On course to great success leaders will make mistakes but it is also very important for them to “own it up” and learn from their mistakes.

To make a better world for the children of tomorrow, we are going to need better leaders. Getting rid of these myths can be a start for creating a fertile ground for the leaders of tomorrow to sprout and blossom.