Scruitawl

Of Fanaticism, Leaders and Fear

2011-05-04T01:56:00.000-07:00

Just a day after I wrote my last piece “The Blasphemy of Tolerance”, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani made a public announcement that his government has no plans to amend the blasphemy law. This announcement by the number two in the Pakistan People’s Party government, especially after such hue and cry over its senior member Salman Taseer’s murder, was shocking. It proved to be tsunami of sorts that jolted the very foundation of the fragile toddler of a liberal bustle in Pakistan. While the champions of this liberalizing movement were still overcoming from this jolt, another pillar of the anti-blasphemy law movement Shahbaz Bhatti was shot dead. Bhatti was the Federal Minister for Minorities, a practicing Roman Catholic, founding member of All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA), a prominent voice calling for scrapping of anti blasphemy law, and thus logically the next target of the bigots.

Slain minister Bhatti’s car was intercepted by “unidentified gunmen” who opened a burst of Kalashnikov fire over him, left his Muslim driver unhurt, ensured Bhatti’s breathing has stopped, and fled comfortably leaving a number of Tehrik-e-Taliban pamphlets behind. Interestingly Bhatti had informed the authorities about dozens of threats he received every day and had requested to beef up his security, but when Bhatti was killed there was not even one security guard with him. Authorities blamed it on his own insistence to leave the security cover back at his office. I am not implying that the ruling PPP government is hands-in-glove with the perpetrators of Taseer’s and Bhatti’s murders, but I blame it for failing to rein in the holier-than-thou bigots and protect liberals in Pakistan.

Failing to rein in bigots is not new to the sub-continental governments, especially for the Pakistani governments – civilian and military governments alike. However, this time it was not a common man or an opposition party member who bore the brunt of religious extremism; this time ministers of the ruling PPP government were murdered in broad daylight. This fact makes ruling PPP government’s failure more conspicuous than its predecessors. More so when leaders in this PPP government, including President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime-Minister Yusuf Raza Geelani, had blamed Parvez Musharruf’s government of being scared of hardliners over its inaction following the assassination of their erstwhile leader Benazir Bhutto.

Yet again PPP leaders are being assassinated, but this time PPP is in power, and still there has been no conclusive action taken against the perpetrators. How PPP’s inaction against hardliners different than that of Musharruf? Is this inaction a part of the legacy that has been passed by one Pakistani government to other? Why this inaction on part of PPP government?

We will explore most of these questions in the coming articles, but to arrive at the root of this inaction by PPP, let us first explore how extremism spread in Pakistan. A much influential Pakistani army, ever since Zia-ul-Haq’s time, has been overtly and covertly supporting religious extremism as a fuel for cross-border-terrorism. This cross-border-terrorism in real terms has been another name for Pakistan’s India (read Kashmir) policy. Even though army initiated the spread of a jingoistic vehemence amongst Pakistani youth, it was the civilian political leadership (including that of Benazir Bhutto) that propagated it. Now this plague created by civilian and military leadership has returned to haunt both of them. Even Pakistani edition of the big brother, military, has been attacked by the extremists in recent times; not many have forgotten the attack carried by the extremists on the army headquarters at Rawalpindi in 2009. So, it is highly unlikely that the army would not want any action to be taken against the hardliners. Having arrived at this, let us avoid the trap of believing that civilian governments can’t take conclusive action against extremists because army won’t approve of it. So what is the reason behind the inaction on PPP government’s part?

From where I look at it, the situation presents itself as a modern day Pakistani adaptation of Mary Shelly’s Dr. Frankenstein; only difference being that there are more than 170 million monsters that Victor Frankenstein thinks he is at peril of. Victor Frankenstein in the said equation is Pakistani leadership who thinks that it has created a monster out of the Pakistani masses by allowing a continuous promulgation of religious extremism and jingoistic filth in their minds. Believing that it has created an inexorable monster, Pakistani leadership at a subconscious level harbors a fear of religious extremism being now fixated in the Pakistani consciousness; it fears that fanaticism has now ingrained itself in the DNA of Pakistani identity. As in the original classic Frankenstein got increasingly engaged in the fear of the monster and finally died in its pursuit, Pakistani leadership is being asphyxiated by its own fear of Pakistani masses being intoxicated with extremism to the point of no return.

This fear in the minds of leaders of current PPP government is being reinforced by events like rose petals being showered at Salman Taseer’s killer Mumtaz Qadri in appreciation by lawyers of Lahore high court, a thousand member strong Facebook fan page popping up overnight singing Qadri’s glory, protests breaking out in support of Qadri across the major cities of Pakistan. Having said this, all these events at best can reflect only the sentiments of a selected few of the urban Pakistani society. They do not reflect on the majority of Pakistani population that resides in villages; not a single protest was reported from the rural parts of Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan and North West Frontier Province in support of Qadri. In this Pakistani adaptation of Frankenstein, monster is not made up of the extremist masses but it embodies Pakistani leadership’s fear of Pakistani masses being ultimate extremists.

This situation demands Pakistani leaders identify the real monster that is reinforcing its roots in their own minds, and then slay it. Pakistan needs its Frankensteinian leadership to start its journey for slaying the monster by actually relating with any common Pakistani living in a small village of Punjab or Baluchistan to discover that he does not care more about blasphemy than he cares for security of his children. Following which it needs its leaders to challenge the ideology of fanaticism not out of selfish reasons rooted in its feudal lifestyle but for the sake of the idea of a forward looking developed Pakistan high on happiness quotient. Could Pakistan fare better with its own adaptation of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk?

Blasphemy of Tolerance (TLR Vol. 3)

2011-04-14T23:31:00.000-07:00

Cries for a separate state for Muslims were growing louder and louder since the Sepoy mutiny of 1857 and ultimately under Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s leadership the Islamic state of Pakistan came into being in 1947. While dream for the Islamic state of Pakistan was being realized, thousands were massacred on both sides: Hindus and Muslims, on the name of religion. Ironically a year after that Jinnah in an Australian radio broadcast said “Make no mistake: Pakistan is not a theocracy or anything like it.” This disconnect in the ideology, wherein a state created in the name of religion striving to be a democratic republic, has been the cause of over thirty two years of Military rule in Pakistan. Starting from Ayub Khan, to Yahya Khan, to Zia-ul-Haq – military dictators, left to their own devices played the hardliner Islamist card to distract the masses from the anxiety of living in an autocracy.

Zia-ul-Haq, the most brutal of military dictators, to the horrors of the minority introduced a series of blasphemy laws in Pakistan. The archaic laws laid out death for insulting the Prophet Mohammed, and barred the minority sect Ahmadiyas from behaving like Muslims, proclaiming to be Muslims, and trying to convert Muslims. Over the years they have been the instruments of harassment and subsequent murders of many innocent civilians from minority communities on the hands of local landlords, intolerant clerics, and establishment. Sadly, these laws introduced by Zia-ul-Haq are still being forced on Pakistani society, but not without opposition from the intellectuals and liberals.

Ever since the blasphemy laws came into being veterans like Asma Jehangir, Hina Jilani and Julius Salik have been waging a war against the blasphemy laws, but could never garner any significant support – even from the so called liberals. Even in the protests from minority communities, notably Christians who make up most of the minority in Pakistan, calls for removing blasphemy laws remained concealed under the garbs of demands for protection from Muslim hardliners.

Conversly, the post 9/11 world witnessed a gradual shift in the mindset of Pakistani youth towards peace and democracy from radical Islam. A lot of credit goes to Parvez Musharraff’s efforts against radicalization, or for that matter Armitage’s legendary “Bombing back to the stone age” admonition. Since then, a new crop of journalists, human rights activists, philosophers, students, and bloggers have provided much needed support to the struggle against Blasphemy laws.

However until Aasia Bibi case, where a Christian woman Aasia was condemned to death following the allegations of defiling Prophet Mohammed’s name, and a subsequent appeal from the Pope and various human right groups within and outside Pakistan, the protest against blasphemy laws seldom came out of selected print and online forums. The movement actually gained momentum, after Salman Taseer became its face.

Having an uncanny resemblance with Jack Nicholson, Taseer was one of the most charming and influential leaders of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party. He rose to power when he successfully built the bridges between Mushrraff and Asif Ali Zardari, and later helped Zardari oust Mushrraff to become the new President of Pakistan. He was a very powerful man, but what make his support against blasphemy laws more interesting are his xenophobic inclinations. In the words of his own Indian born son Aatish Taseer, “He harbored feelings of hatred, for Jews, Americans or Hindus, that were founded in faith and only masked in political arguments.”

Although, Salman Taseer maintained his anti-India ways, which in Pakistan is a political necessity, he was championing for the rights of minorities. This however, was not going down too well with a lot of religious bigots –well-known and closeted.

Ever since Taseer voiced his opinion on blasphemy laws, a lot of personal vilification and threats came his way from the clerics, terrorists, clerics and terrorists like Azhar Masood, and even from self-proclaimed enlightened media personnel like Hamid Mir. A lot was said and printed about his “non-Islamic” ways of consuming alcohol and allowing his daughters to freely mingle with men in parties, mostly to reject his opinion on grounds of him lacking “Islamic morality”. The whole generation of Taliban-like extremists, originally raised to be used against India and with consent of Taseer, saw a new enemy in Taseer. On January 4, 2011 he was shot dead by his own securityman Malik Mumtaz Hussein Qadri.

What came next can be described as the most powerful opposition religious-bigots ever faced from the liberals in Pakistan. Salman Tasser became the face of movement against the blasphemy laws, and the liberal activists gave him the title of “Shaheed” (translates to martyr in Urdu). The calls to “deny Taseer an Islamic funeral” were fiercely matched with chants of “Long live Shaheed Taseer”. Even established hardliner leaders like Maulna Fazalur Rehman had to come out and condemn his killing. This condemning of Taseer’s murder from known extremists becomes of great significance, as it also implies condemnation for killings due to difference in opinion. It is a progress for the country where law spells out death for alleged insults against a particular religion and religious figure.

Sherry Rehman’s private member bill proposing amendments to the blasphemy law has long been presented in the National Aseembly, and it is going to take a while before blasphemy laws will be reduced to the history books where they belong. Nevertheless a national movement has started which promises to go beyond the blasphemy rules, and interestingly it has been fueled by the blood of an alleged extremist Salman Taseer who was assassinated for not being extremist enough. The situation is so replete with irony that a dramatist would not dare to invent a scenario like this. A life-long fanatic, perpetually suspicious of the ‘other’, gunned down for not being hard-line enough. Of such unlikely clay is the chariot of change fashioned.

The iPad foe and the Indian behind it

2011-04-14T23:06:00.000-07:00

(This feature was published in the second volume of The Leadership Review)

Rohan Shravan seems to personify the effervescent energy pushing Indian youth to explore and conquer new dimensions. He is the founder of Bangalore based Notion Ink with an employee strength of close to a hundred and an average employee age of 22 years. Notion Ink describes itself as a firm dedicated to pushing computing devices towards Singularity. {The Singularity being geek speak for the technological creation of smarter-than-human intelligence through merging the thresholds of multiple technologies. Convergence, apparently, is when humans achieve Singularity.} Notion Ink’s breakthrough product Adam Tablet which is a beguiling mix of a computer, a phone, and a camera all by itself, is deservedly making the headlines. Shravan himself is, perhaps prematurely, touted to be the Indian version of Steve Jobs.

The Shravan style

An Indian Institute of Technology alumnus with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Shravan’s description of himself on his LinkedIn profile speaks volumes.

He describes himself as “(one who) Design(s) devices which will enable people to realize their dreams!” He does not use ‘mediocrity crutches’ like wants to, is enthusiastic about, plans to, is going to et al, which characterizes the patchiness displayed by the products of our education system. His certainty that he is an achiever comes from his conviction that he is different, and he tells us why– “First time when I earned through direct business was when I was 12 years old.” What he seems to mean is “An average twelve years old does not normally achieve what I have. I am an achiever. I have always been an achiever.”

As to his future ambitions - “Convergence excites me and I will constantly be working towards the same. Adam is my brainchild and it’s just one of the first few devices I want to realize.” It is clear that his ambition is his passion; he does not say that Convergence is the next big thing, or Convergence as a concept has enormous unrealized potential. Instead, he emphasizes that he is in the game for the sake of the game itself. He concludes that Adam is just a harbinger towards pushing computing devices towards Singularity, and in no way represents finality. This ambition of realizing more devices is powered by his passion for convergence, and seems to be an innate expression or authentic quest for growth.

This sort of confidence has been seen before, but usually in Silicon valley, not in Bengaluru, and especially not at this age, a ripe old 25. If he can pull it off it will be exhilarating, and a very good thing for all the repressed, suppressed and oppressed entrepreneurs of Young India.

Caveat

With all these game changing promises that Adam makes, it sounds too good to be true to many, more so when it comes with a relatively unknown brand name Notion Ink. Even The Adam’s coming into being has been questioned a lot, as almost one year had elapsed between its eventual availability for pre-order in December 2010, and its first presentation at Consumer Electronics Show in January 2010. Besides this their loyal followers who had avidly followed and posted on their blog written by Rohan, felt cheated when they were allegedly not given the first access to Adam. While the pre-orders are still being taken, people questioned the security of their payment processing gateway, as many Banks were denying transactions thinking they were fraudulent.

Having said this, The Adam can very well be the next technological breakthrough which we all were looking for, and Rohan may turn out to be India’s answer to Steve Jobs.

The Yaksha Prashna: Version 2.0

2010-10-08T02:16:00.001-07:00

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?

2010-10-05T01:43:00.001-07:00

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.

2010-10-05T01:41:00.002-07:00

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.

2010-10-05T01:41:00.001-07:00

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.

2010-10-05T01:39:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-10-05T00:34:00.001-07:00

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

2010-01-05T00:13:00.000-08:00

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.

Our Iceberg Is Melting!!!

2009-11-04T05:47:00.000-08:00

Hi Guys :-)

"Our Iceberg Is Melting" is one of the most user-friendly change-management book ever and I highly recommend its reading for all those interested in the concept of Change Management. Following is a humble attempt at summarizing it -

Foreword by Spenser Johnson: One the surface, the story of this book appears to be a fable that is relatively easy to grasp, but it does subtly impart an invaluable lesson on change. The book covers John Kotter’s Eight Steps to bring about successful organizational change and can be equally useful for a high-school student as it is for a CEO of a multi-national organization.

Welcome Note by John Kotter: People do not often understand the need for change. Businesses, school systems and even nations do not know understand what to do, how to make it happen and how to make it stick. This book shows the traps in which people often fall while facing the challenge of change - using a fable. A fable is used in here because fables are so powerful tool of learning because they can turn a serious and threatening subject into something fun and easy to decipher and remember.

Summary

Once upon a time a colony of Emperor Penguins used to reside in the frozen Antarctic in on an iceberg near what we know today as Cape Washington. The penguins have always lived there and but of-course loved their home very much were assured of its being their home forever. Since they lived in a harsh cold environment they needed each other to huddle together and fight of the cold. Probably this need made them a big happy family. In this big happy family there were two hundred sixty-eight penguins and out of them all, was one Fred. Fred was a curious and observant penguin who spent more time observing sea and the iceberg than fishing like others. Though he was a social bird with a wife and a son, but unlike others he spent more time by himself. He used to take notes of his observations and had a briefcase stuffed full of observations, ideas and conclusions. All the stuff from his briefcase gave him disturbing information – The iceberg is melting and might break apart soon!!

Melting and breaking apart of the iceberg would spell death of his fellow penguins as the colony was not prepared to counter this eminent danger. Fred knew he should do something very quickly, but he could not dictate terms for what others should do. He was not an important penguin and had seen what happened of Harold when he tried to warn other penguins about the danger. His warnings were ignored and he was almost ostracized. With all this going in his mind, Fred started feeling lonely.

The colony was governed by a Leadership Council which had ten members led by a Head Penguin. Out of the ten members was Alice, who was a tough, go-getter but approachable to other penguins. Fred went to Alice and told her about the melting iceberg. On the first thought Alice thought he is having some personal problem with his wife or has eaten some mercury infected squid. Still partly because of curiosity and partly because of her open mind, Alice agreed to swims below the iceberg with Fred. Once under the water they saw fissures and a canal on the side wall of the iceberg which led to a cave filled with water. As the temperature falls, this water would freeze and thus dramatically increase in volume breaking the iceberg into pieces. Alice was shocked and told Fred that she’ll talk to fellow leaders and will find a way. She also warned Fred that some of the birds would not want to see any problem and will resent him. Fred was left with a mixed feeling of relief and sadness and the awful Antarctic winter was just two months away.

After realizing the danger, Alice somehow got a nod from Louis, the head Penguin, for having Fred present his finding to the leadership counsel. Fred chose a noble approach of explaining the issue with a real model of iceberg instead of presenting the stats and concluded that the iceberg is melting. As he presented his observations an old penguin from the leadership council called NoNo who was responsible for weather forecasting, interrupted and said “It is just a mere speculation. It may happen or it may not. Can you guarantee it to be 100% accurate Fred”. Fred was an unknown penguin and NoNo was a veteran, so some birds nodded in agreement. At this point Alice came in and asked the council “It might not be 100% accurate but God forbid if something bad happens and penguins die, what will we answer the orphaned kids? Will we answer that we knew and did not act?” She continued “We should let everyone know about it and arrive at a solution which everyone will agree with.” On this again a section of council led by NoNo said that it would create “unnecessary” panic and we should stick to creating a committee like we do in normal problems. Hearing this Fred came up with an idea and said while showing a glass bottle “This looks like ice, but is not ice. It does not melt and my father had found it near the shore. What we can do is to fill it with water and seal it with a fish bone. If on freezing during the night it explodes, we call an assembly or we go with business as usual.” Everyone agreed and the bottle was kept under supervision of a penguin called Buddy. Next morning the bottle was found broken and Louis ordered to call an assembly without letting the birds know why it is being called. The meeting began and Alice told abut her swim to the cave, Fred about his observation and Buddy about the bottle to all the penguins. Louis concluded by saying that they will find a way out of it – together. Penguins were shocked but aware and were all thinking. As leaders Alice and Louis had taken the first right step by “reducing complacency and increasing urgency”.

After the meeting, a lot of people gave all kinds of advice to Louis on who should be assigned to solve the problem. Louis however kept his head and called Alice, Fred, Buddy and Jordan aka Professor to form the core team for finding the solution to the problem. Louis had experience and commanded respect of others, Alice was aggressive and treated everybody as equal, Buddy was well-trusted and liked, Fred was curious and creative and Professor was well-read and fascinated by challenging questions. The team looked perfect but had their initial struggle because they were trying to contribute as individuals. At this time Louis took them out for a team building activity in form of hunting for squids. Louis had been successful in taking the second step of “pulling together a team to guide the needed change.”

Later in day Alice suggested that the core team should take suggestions from the rest of the population and the team agreed after a brief discussion. After a few well, weird suggestions from some birds one old penguin suggested that they should now try something new. Professor nodded and took the team westwards. Just then Fred spotted a seagull flying in the sky. Everyone was surprised because seagulls are not normally found in Antarctica. Fred said that seagulls do not have fixed houses and so can we and doubled the shock of the group. Regaining her composure Alice said “I guess we should find out some information about it first.” When they finally found the seagull again, Buddy approached him in a gentle manner and asked about him. Seagull now comfortable with their presence told “I am a scout and I go ahead of my group to find out where we go next. We are traveling nomads, you see.” Hearing this, everyone got thinking and could see it as a way of life for themselves. Of course, with some modifications. Even though Professor had a lot of questions in mind, he slept well that night. He knew that they have succeeded in creating a vision.

Next morning Louis called for an assembly of the entire colony again. He wanted to talk about what the core team saw yesterday and wanted to keep it simple for there were a lot of slower birds in the colony. He was very charismatic in his approach and asked the colony “Do we respect each other? Are e disciplined? Do we have a strong sense of responsibility? Do we all stand for brotherhood and love for our young?” Each question followed with an enthusiastic “Yes” from the audience. He then to make a point asked “Is this because of an iceberg? Are we an iceberg?” Many got his point and some were confused and after a lull, a big “No” came up. Louis then called Buddy to talk of the seagull story and penguins were mesmerized with his wonderful story-telling. After the assembly was over, Alice suggested that ice-posters should be placed all over the colony and even under the sea, to remind the birds of the vision which was communicated in the meeting.

A small group of thirty to forty birds started working on selection of scouts, mapping the trips and logistics of moving the colony. Louis was happy but then he received mixed set of news from various quarters of the colony. The enthusiasm in the birds was increasing and a lot of teenagers wanted to be scouts, less for the vision and more for the excitement. NoNo and his friends were trying to brain-wash the colony, and a few were listening. Young kids were getting nightmares because of the stories kindergarten teacher was telling, nobody knew why she was doing it. Some members of the Leadership Council wanted a committee to select scouts and were infighting for its chairmanship. Penguins needed to eat a lot of fish to build up the fat for fighting the winter and the scouts would not get enough time to fish. Moreover it was not a tradition in the colony that adults fish for other adults. All these factors led a lot of birds to give up the work they were doing to realize the vision. Concerned by all these events the core team met and got their heads together to fix the problems. To start with Louis got Professor to go wherever NoNo went and prevent birds from being brainwashed with his immaculate logic. He then addressed the infighting of the members of the leadership council with a firm “Enough”. Meanwhile Buddy met the teacher of kindergarten and removed her fear by telling her that she will still be needed to teach even more in a changing world. Inspired by this the teacher told encouraging stories to the children and inspired them to be a hero. Alice inspired a young chick called Sally Ann and with the help of the teacher she got the students to celebrate a “Tribute to Our Heroes Day” wherein the parents of the chicks would catch fish for the scouts. It was a new thing; everyone was feeling empowered, even the small children.

Looking ahead Louis told Fred that now they need to get some evidence that they are moving forward in the right direction. He asked him to dispatch a chosen group of scouts while ensuring they all return safely. While NoNo was spreading more and more fear, Sally Ann’s idea of “Tribute to Our Heroes Day” worked wonders to gather the fish for the scouts. This day was to include a raffle, performances, a band and a flea market and entry fee was two fishes per adult. Children ensured that both their parents attended it: awkwardness on the parents died a slow death. Eventually the scouts returned with a lot of information and some injuries. A quick response team set up by Alice tended to their injuries, but the scouts were beaming with joy of accomplishment. They feasted on the fishes from “Tribute to Our Heroes Day” and were given an ice-medal with hero written on it from the children. Sally Ann too received one of those. Colony had tasted what an MBA looking penguin called “short term win”.

Inspired by the work of the first wave of scouts a lot more birds volunteered for the next wave. Louis knew that it will be more crucial than the last wave, selected scouts for this trip himself. The scouts from this wave again returned with safety and were engaged in discussion by the Professor to filter the opinions from the facts. With what he gathered they had found a new iceberg which looked suitable. Under the able leadership of Louis the migration began. Problems arose but were addressed successfully by collective efforts of the core team. NoNo was still predicting doom. However the new home had lesser problems than some skeptic birds had anticipated. Next season the scouts found yet another iceberg which looked better – bigger and with better fishing grounds. The colony moved and the migration this season was easier. It was a critical step: not being complacent and “not letting up”.

The colony was happy and its then Alice convinced Louis that he should shake up the leadership council and let go of the stuck-up members. A tough selection process was put in place for scout selection and the scouts were fed extra fish with their status going up in the society. In the school “Scouting” was added as a required curriculum. Fred was made head of scouts, Professor was made the chief weather forecaster and Alice subsequently took over as the Head penguin from Louis. All this to ensure that the hard brought changes would not be overcome by “stubborn, hard-to-die traditions”.

Changing and Succeeding: Read and Reflect, this two point approach will do wonders.

The Eight Step Process to Successful Change:

Set the Stage

1. Create a Sense of Urgency

2. Pull Together the Guiding Team

Decide What to Do

3. Develop the Change Vision and Strategy

Make it Happen

4. Communicate for Understanding and Buy In

5. Empower Others to Act

6. Produce Short-Term Wins

7. Don’t Let Up

Make it Stick

8. Create a New Culture

The chicken crossed the road because -

2009-09-05T04:21:00.000-07:00

He smokes two joints in the morning and smokes two joints at night, he smokes two joints in the afternoon and crosses the road alright.
- Bob Marley

Daylight coma and it wanna go home
-Harry Belafonte

He had a home, the love of a hen, but chicken get lost sometimes, as years unfurl, one day he crossed some road, and he was too much in this world, but I guess it doesnt matter anymore.
- Don Henley (Eagles)

He never cared for what they say, never cared for games they play, never cared for what they do, never cared for what they know, and I know.
-James Hetfield (Metallica)

She's packin' up her stuff and talkin' like it's tough and tryin' to tell me that it's time to go, but I know this chick ain't wearin' nothin' underneath that overcoat.....I go crazy, crazy, baby, I go crazy.
-Steven Tyler (Aerosmith)

He was told "come as you are, as you were, as the hen wants you to be, as a friend, as a friend, as a known memory, take your time, hurry up, the choice is your, don't be late, take a rest, as a friend, as a known memory"
- Kurt Cobain (Nirvana)

It's a chicken who walks alone, and when he's walking a dark road, at night or strolling through the park, when the light begins to change, he sometimes feel a little strange, he's a little anxious when its dark, fear of the dark, fear of the dark, he has a constant fear that someones always near, fear of the dark, fear of the dark, he has a phobia that someones allways there
- Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden)

She's a chicken who's sure all that glitters is gold, and she's crossing the road to heaven, when she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed, with a word she can get what she came for... Oohooh ...and she's crossing the road to heaven.
- Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin)

The reason is you.
- Douglas Rob (Hoobastank)

He dreams of Californication.
- Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chilli Peppers)

He crossed a lonely road on the boulevard of broken dreams, where the city sleeps
and he's the only one and he walks alone.
- Billy Joe Armstrong (Green Day)

Disamusement Park Visit

2009-05-20T23:14:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I went to the place which I had pledged as a five year old to never visit again. I believe that this evil design was on the agenda of it's-complicated-duo for some time now. Zoozoo supposedly had this childhood dream of going to this place where children are supposed to 'enjoy'. She seemingly did that after some good 15 years of her no longer being a child. Gone Abraham didn't seem to enjoy the place though. He had to be all macho shit even though he was terrified of the 'attractions'. The it's-complicated-duo got sexually-frustrated-lads on board with the lure of some girl friends of Zoozoo who would be accompanying them. In turn they got me on board and since I am working on increasing my 'expressed inclusion' scores : I agreed. The place was an age old amusement park with lots of rides with all kind of rotations possible. Way back in time, as a five years old I had puked my heart out there. My father almost disowned me there because of that!

So here we were with the planners - its-complicated-duo and they had planned nothing. Gone-Abraham's GK of local trains' shit was horrible too. As an icing on the cake, they didn't bring any of Zoozoo's friends. Of course 'sexually frustrated lads'' were grossly demotivated. Meanwhile I was happy as my girlfriend (who is no less then Lara Dutta of No Entry) would not get another reason to torment me any further. She by the way had expressed her displeasure that I once vetoed her proposal of going to this childish amusement park and now I was going with my friends. She also made me promise that I would take her there next time she's in Bombay. But that day was very much dominated by Zoozoo. She was being the mother of us toddlers. I and 'Hairy' one of the two 'sexually frustrated lads' decided to put our foot down and say no to all rides with 'circular motion'. 'Stalker' the second of the two 'sexually frustrated lads' was almost matching Zoozoo's zest for these rides, and he was visibly sad as I and Hairy deserted him in one of the circular-rides. He did not take that ride and did not talk to us till we took the next water splashing ride with him. At the end of the day Gone Abraham was totally gone. He gave up his pretentious macho self and slept under a tree. Yes under a god damn dirty tree. We and Zoozoo meanwhile went to the mazes and a haunted house. Now it was the time to turn the tables. Suddenly we were the braver ones and Zoozoo was the chicken. This gave us a good opportunity to balance the power-equation and even Gone Abraham took his revenge from her. I named her Zoozoo, but she thought it was Hairy. In retaliation she named him zoozee which actually is neither funny nor intelligent. So we will stick to calling him Hairy. While coming back from that hellhole we all reached a secluded beach instead of the place we took our boats from, in the morning. Thanks to Zoozoo. There all five of us had to adjust in a three-seater auto-rickshaw. Zoozoo's over indulgence with the auto-guy's meter almost got us kicked out of it though. I have again taken a resolution that I will never go to this place again. I hope my Lara Dutta will let me keep it!

Anyway we are going to neo-family-guy's place this Saturday for dinner. His family had called us and re-extended the invitation. We are enjoying this motherly affection. I am also reading some stuff on 'behavioral economics' these days. I am sure I'll have some good stuff to post here in coming days.

India: A Wounded Civilization

2009-05-14T02:44:00.001-07:00

I have just finished reading ‘India: A Wounded Civilization” by V.S. Naipaul. It is second among the famous Indian trilogy of Naipaul. May seem insensitive and hurt “hurtable” sensitivities of a certain section of Indian population. It is actually good if they get hurt, for it may give them a chance to escape the clutches of their blindness towards India. If you think people pooping on the railway tracks are ‘just having their being’, you ought to be blind: blind to what India should be. In this case, stay warned from any further reading of this post and reading the book should be as bad as rape for you!

P.S.- The book was written during the emergency days. Please keep the circumstances and the context in mind.

I have put up my interpretation of the book and some 13 odd quotes from it. If you want to contest it, please feel free to contact me.

Summary

Part I - The rich cultural heritage and history of ancient India seems to just go on. The riches of the ancient world and the plunders of the medieval times do not seem to bury down with the burden of centuries which India has been through, since then. Indians, awed by their history, prefer to recreate it, rather than create a new future with some inspiration from the outside as well. Even the Vijayanagar capital, he says, was a recreation of past glory - built with ancient-looking monuments in medieval times. Looking at all the wrongs all around them the Indian attitudes inspired by the inertness of Hinduism’s concepts of whatever happens is god’s will do not let the average Indians act and make these wrongs right. They are so deep rooted that a “freedom fighter” refuses to pay sales tax, for he was never a ‘freedom fighter’ anyway. He was just following the Hindu tradition of following the sage, who happens to be Mahatma Gandhi.

Part II - The urban India of 1970s was represented by Bombay where Shiv Sena was assuming power on the streets and the chawls which were perennially ignored. At ground level, Shiv Sena’s inception was against the rejection the deprived class faced every day in Bombay. However looking at the chawls closely people lived among their own excrement because cleaning it was not their business – it was the sweepers’. Again the Indian attitude of inaction surfaces under the wraps of caste-system which Indians feel so secure in. This class divide is also present in the poorest and remotest of the villages. There are people who have land and people who do not have land. Amongst those who have land some are masters and some yet are not. The landless flee from the landlessness and the tyranny of the masters; the masters find solace in the feeling of being masters. They both still lead a pitiful life. In such a scenario came Naxalites who “knew solution better than the problem”. Suffering persists.

Part III - Looking at MK Gandhi the hero, the mahatma himself; he as a young man went to England and later to South Africa, to explore and returned with a reinforced conviction to focus inwards. This came from the ‘Hindu need’ to reassert, to protect its identity among hostility. It is often not the hostility but it is the Indian fear of being corrupted by the foreigners as expressed by his Gujrati merchant family for him. An Indian’s identity comprises of one’s surroundings. It is lost if the system, caste, background and relatives collapse. It took India a ‘foreign made Mahatma’ to assume independence. ‘Foreign made’ as it was only in England and South Africa’s unfamiliarity and hostility did Gandhi go through soul-searching and chose to become what he was.

Post independence for the benefit of masses the concept of ‘intermediate technology’ assumed shape. The concept seems good but the mix of imported science and Indian sensitivities are making ‘intermediate technology’ a hindrance rather than an enabler. In the ‘National Institute of Design’ which is an imported concept, students work on peasant’s equipments and the furniture is being repaired by somebody from the family of the wood smiths. A hotchpotch of two irreconcilable concepts indeed! To fulfill the needs of India the use of technology calls for the clearest vision and highest skills. Same is the situation with press, law and the administration. They have to match Indian needs with a very clear vision driven by the skills sets desired for the same. India has to break free from the past it has been clinging to, which probably has been given to Indians by the foreigners and which may not be true.

Post independence the Gandhian way has been talked a lot about. Gandhians hardly follow it in its true spirit though. They do of course practice the rediscovery of old ways – simplicity. It is exactly opposite of what India was committed to post independence. It was committed to glory. Only opposite of this simplicity is seen in the red-tapism and dirty politics. This sense of simplicity perhaps is the withdrawal from the challenges coming India’s way on road to development which seemed almost impossible. Same old Indian attitude of defeat and disconnecting from the external environment to preserve a false sense of calmness!

Gandhi was able to do what other leaders of that time could not because he was not representing a religion, caste or region. He was representing the Indian race. This concept was alien to Indians who always saw differences amongst each other. After Gandhi was long gone, his followers through their actions exhibited that they do not follow Gandhi’s version of Gandhism. Gandhism to them was a solace still of the conquered people. This happened because Gandhi though awakened India, he did not leave an ideology behind. Or probably his ideology got diluted when he practiced his Hindu version of nationalism and was declared a mahatma. His uniqueness of being the leader of Indian race was engulfed by the Hindu traditions which has been fostering Indian attitude of withdrawal. The bottom line is that the attitudes (religious and political) Indians have been sticking to are like the trap-doors to the bottomless past and Indians need to shut them for once and for all.

Quotable Quotes

1) “No civilization was so little equipped to cope with the outside world; no country was so easily raided and plundered, and leaned so little from its disasters.”

2) ‘India in the late twentieth century still seems so much itself, so rooted in its own civilization, it takes time to understand that its independence has meant more than the going away of the British; that the India to which Independence came was a land of far older defeat; that the purely Indian past died a long time ago.”

3) “It (non-violence) is only a means of securing an undisturbed calm; it is nondoing, noninterference, social indifference’.

4) “These modern-sounding words (non-violence), which reconcile Srinivas to the artist’s predicament, disguise an acceptance of karma, the Hindu killer, the Hindu calm, which tells us that we pay in this life for what we have done in past lives: so that everything we see is just and balanced, and the distress we see is to be relished as religious theatre, a reminder of our duty to ourselves, our future lives.”

5) “Hinduism hasn’t been good enough for the millions. It has exposed us to a thousand years of defeat and stagnation. It has enslaved one quarter of the population and always left the whole fragmented and vulnerable. Its philosophy of withdrawal has diminished men intellectually and not equipped them to respond to challenge; it has stifled growth. So that again and again in India history has repeated itself: vulnerability, defeat, withdrawal.”

6) “It was the business of the sweepers to remove excrement, and until the sweepers came, people were content to live in the midst of their own excrement.”

7) “Hindu India, decaying for centuries, constantly making itself archaic, had closed up; and the rules of Gandhi’s Gujrati merchant caste- at one time great travelers – now forbade travel to foreign countries. Foreign countries were polluting to pious Hindus; and no one of the caste had been to England before.”

8) “’We Indians’ Kakar (a psychiatrist) says, ‘use the outside reality to preserve the continuity o the self amidst an ever changing flux of outer events and things.’

9) “To match technology to the needs of a poor country calls for the highest skills, the clearest vision”.

10) “At its core were the old Indian attitudes of defeat, the idea of withdrawal, a turning away from the world, a sinking back into the past, the rediscovery of old ways, ‘simplicity’.

11) “But perhaps this idea of simplicity – though backed up in the Indian way by quotations from Western sources, and presented as a basis for political action – was something more debilitated, something older. Perhaps it was no ore than a turning away from the difficulties of a development that had been seen to be impossible, a consequent intellectual surrender, a religious giving up, a yielding to old Indian fantasy: the mythical sense of the Indian past, the idea of eternal Indian forever spontaneously having its rebirth and growth, the conversion of the destitution and serfdom of rural Indian (and the heavy-footed vultures squabbling in the rain over the bloated carcasses of dead animals) into a memory of pastoral: a memory of the time, so recent, just out of reach, when people knew the undefiled gods, and the gods gave Brahmins all the answers, and the bull drew the plough and the cow gave milk, and the manure of these animal enriched the fields, and the stalks of the harvest thatched the simple huts of the pure.”

12) “Gandhism to them was a solace still of the conquered people.”

13) “Gandhi swept through India, but he has left it without an ideology. He awakened the holy land; his mahatmahood returned it to archaism; he made his worshippers vain.”

Shallow Hal

2009-05-12T03:16:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I was at this neighborhood mall. My friends were accompanying me. The neo-family-guy and the other two sexually-frustrated-lads. Now this mall is famous for the PYTs it attracts. These PYTs are not so visible in the other malls and regular places. It is like a babe-attack. They come. They conquer. They vanish. I mean as soon as you are out of the mall. Whoop and they are not there. They are not at the station. They are not in the car nearby. They are not on the road. They just dissolve in the thin air. NASA can actually look into it.

Speaking of the babe-attack. There is another attack - the 'chink-attack'. We witness it every now and then at the same blessed place. Now I am not racist. I am even for allowing business/romantic/business-o-romantic relations with the aliens. You go hump an alien me no give no fuck. My shotgun may. Anyway you can safely call me the most liberal dude who ever smoked weed under the dark perspiring sky. So coming back to the 'chink-attack'. They are chinks as we need to have chinks for a 'chink-attack'. So what's so great with it? Well they are all posh chinks. They stand out. No man all chinks do not look the same. There are some Indian chinks. Good chinks yet dirty chinks. Then we have some Japanese chinks. Posh chinks. Probably some extra dollars on the Indian side would have wiped out the difference. Anyway I could not figure out their 'town centre' as yet. Will let you horny bastards know as soon as my 'sexually-frustrated-lads discover their 'town centre' in one ot their voyages.

So, we were at this mall this Sunday. By devil's grace none of us are overweight despite of the gallons of beer running through our veins. So I was there to buy two chickens which I usually finish over a period of five days. Till the time we reached our usual supply centre in that mall, we encountered a lot of people - men and women. What was surprising that a majority of them were either very fat or very old. For a moment I was wondering if Baba Ramdev, the one eyed pirate was around or we were cursed with fat and old inhabitants of some alien land. Here we were and there was no babe-attack, no chink-attack and all the fatsos and oldies were looking down upon us, or only I felt so. A disappointing trip for my sexually -frustrated-lads. Me and the neo-family-guy were more bothered about our respective chicks. In my case I mean the chicken.

However we ended up buying two futons for us that day. We did not go there with an intension to buy anything that is not food or alcohol. That is the power of recommendation. Neo-family-guy's family gave some good review and highlighted all the plus points of a futon. If you do not know what a futon is, you should go and kill yourself. Yes I love saying this. 'If I were you, I would have killed myself' is something I have said to almost everyone I can. Anyway now we have a stinky flat we rented last year full of cigarette buds and beer cans with two futons trying to fix the haunted-house kind of look it has.

What is Hindutva

2009-05-04T02:51:00.000-07:00

"Hindutva is the escape for some from the sense of violation, deprivation and above all weakness. It is the weakness of character and the bankruptcy of the civilization itself. It has been the same thousands of years ago when the same village idiots of the victims labeled their to be plunderers as 'malechas'. Some Hindus still choose to identify with them. They choose to be proud of the kingdom of Vijayanagar without knowing a shit about it, while hating the Mughals without knowing Akbar from Aurangzeb..

This escape is like the fate of Trishanku and the eternal fall and suffering of Lucifer. The remedy to that sense of weakness is not outside, but within.

I'll recommend cutting your own chicken to cook, for the Hindutwa brigade."

This excerpt from a random post of mine in a random forum is good enough for being the dictionary meaning of the term sanghis have created.

Pakistani Call Centre

2009-03-17T02:11:00.000-07:00

"I was so depressed last night, and I called a counseling helpline. Incidentally my call got attended in a Pakistani call center. I told them that I was suicidal, and they excitedly asked me if I am comfortable wearing a wired vest!"

2008-12-05T02:54:00.000-08:00

Periodic attacks over and again in Bombay have made "New York minute" more relevant to our lives than ever before. Why don't we have Himesh Reshmiya sing us a "Mumbai minute"? I think a minor change in the lyrics makes it very relevant today!

Hari got up
Dressed all in black
Went down to the station
And he never came back
They found his clothing
Scattered somewhere down the track
And he wont be down on Dalal street
In the morning
He had a home
The love of a girl
But men get lost sometimes
As years unfurl
One day he crossed some line
And he was too much in this world
But I guess it doesnt matter anymore
In a Mumbai minute
Everything can change
In a Mumbai minute
Things can get pretty strange
In a Mumbai minute
Everything can change
In a Mumbai minute
Lying here in the darkness
I hear the sirens wail
Somebody going to emergency
Somebodys going to jail
If you find somebody to love in this world
You better hang on tooth and nail
The Terrorist is always at the door
In a Mumbai minute
Everything can change
In a Mumbai minute
Things can get a little strange
In a Mumbai minute
Everything can change
In a Mumbai minute
And in these days
When darkness falls early
And people rush home
To the ones they love
You better take a fools advice
And take care of your own
One day theyre here;
Next day theyre gone
I pulled my coat around my shoulders
And took a walk down through the park
The leaves were falling around me
The groaning city in the gathering dark
On some solitary rock
A desperate lover left his mark,
Baby, I've changed. please come back.
What the head makes cloudy
The heart makes very clear
The days were so much brighter
In the time when she was here
But I know there's somebody somewhere
Make these dark clouds disappear
Until that day, I have to believe
I believe, I believe
In a Mumbai minute
Everything can change
In a Mumbai minute
You can get out of the rain
In a Mumbai minute
Everything can change
In a Mumbai minute.............

Couple of Questions: Out of the "Blues"

2008-12-01T04:57:00.000-08:00

Terrorism is now replacing the recession as the biggest of the woes in the Mumbai offices. Everybody has their own set of questions and few of them actually make sense. The other day I was wondering of what happened to those young fellows sitting on a wooden desk with carbines in CST, when two idiots opened fired out of nowhere. Another question which came to my mind was that what should be the approach of government of India in the light of lot reports indicating a clear Pakistani connection.

First question was answered by a friend of mine who is still a regular at V.T. station. As per his account he saw a cobbler refusing these young security men a matchbox. Had it been a polite refusal, I would have somehow discounted these guys but the refusal was accompanied with a volley of abuses. Not that I expect these security men to beat that cobbler, but when a cobbler who sits in the premises of the station without any license wasn't scared of them; how can we expect those lunatic and trained terrorists to be intimidated by these boys in uniform.

Second question was answered for me by two anti-terrorism specialists from Israel and U.K. respectively. On a show on Times Now when Arnab asked Dr. Kedar from Israel what should India do now to gather support from the world community? In a very heavily accented English Dr. Kedar replied nonchalantly that India first needs to act itself and then look for world support. I mean isn't it stupid to look for the world to support it when the government of India itself is failing to counter these terrorists who are attacking us from within and across both the eastern and western borders. Right after this Mr. Maroof Raza a Delhi based military affairs specialist who obviously was enraged by this attacked held the state of Pakistan directly responsible for this attack, and I agreed.

However a British anti-terrorist specialist whose name I don’t recall added a point which was one of the most balanced point in the whole discussion where ex-ISI chief remained dead for most period of time. The British guy said that India should not give a knee jerk reaction as it may adversely affect the much needed cooperation Pakistan can offer and is at the moment offering India. So, I think Indian government should utilize all the support Pakistani establishment is providing in fighting the terrorism. After all they too are suffering at the hands of the same bunch of morons who need to be wiped out from the face of earth.

And yes, last saturday Leopold reopened and was closed because too many of the students and "pair of hands" reached there to express their solidarity.

2008-11-28T01:23:00.000-08:00

Fellow Netizens,

Bombay was attacked yesterday and one of the very first attacks was reported from Cafe Leopold, a place where majority of the crowd is of students and young folks who are yet "a pair of hands" in their respective organizations; apart from the 'firangs' of course. Since till a month ago my office was in Fort and I am 24, I was one of these 'pair of hands' too who jump out of their offices and head towards Mondegars and Leopold on every weekend (sometimes even on the weekdays) to let their hair down for a very reasonable sum of money. Post a quick beer or two kebabs from Bade Miyan or a beef fry with Kuboos at Baghdadi's used to give me a different high.

Coming back from my drink and food choice lets ignore the 'firang' part of the Leopold crowd to an extent, and we can conveniently say that this crowd is the part of the population which is the catalyst for the change India Inc. and rest of the world is experiencing today and has been experiencing over last ten years or so. This is the part of population which is most liberal in its approach and minds its own business. This is the demographic group which believes in working hard and partying harder. This is the group which is responsible for creating a new way of life we are experiencing today.

Various reactions have come after these ongoing attacks. Prime Minister gave an address to the nation with very intangible to-do list. Some of my acquintances with RSS mindset were quick to summerize it as an Islamic attack on the Hindus. On the other hand on some forums I saw posts from the Pakistanis who dismissed it as an attack carried out by righwing Hindus to blame Muslims again (after malegaon incidence).

However to me, it is an attack on my way of life. It is an attack on what I all represent and believe in. It is not just an attack on Cafe Leopold or South Bombay alone, it is an attack on the values the civilized world represents.

I am going to Leopold this Saturday and this will be a Mumbaikar's way to say that we ain't scared of any terrorist living or dead.

Jai Hind!