Unnecessary survival

Just as recent spat of words between UPA constituents regarding the nuclear deal and 1-2-3 agreement with United States seem to head towards a silent death, Pakistan, an important ally of Washington in "war against terror", plunged into the deep crisis of emergency. As I sit glued to the TV news channels to gather what’s happening across the border while guessing what might have happened in our own country during 1975 – I disturb myself with a more fundamental question. Long back had Professor Darwin answered that when it comes to survival, only the fittest would be able to do so. But, neither he nor any sociologist till date has tried to pen down under what circumstances survival is necessary or to put it in different words – if there is a conflict between two survivals, which would be given the priority? The best and most popular answer would be to say – to everybody self survival is of paramount importance, yet I doubt that such sweeping generalizations would make everybody happy. When an individual assumes a position of influence or power, when an individual represents an institution or when individuals remain bound by social contracts – my personal choice of surviving priority should go to the institution or the valid contract. Unless, prima facie, the system is at fault, it is of paramount importance that we, as individuals, respect the institutions more than personal independence. That’s probably one of the reasons I have a liking of the way democracy functions in the west and not the way it is modeled in India. History shows that America has always valued independence fiercely yet has put institutions ahead of each and every discussion. We have been historically dependent on good kings and kingdoms and it’s not a surprise that India flourished under great kingdoms while plunged into depth when the ruler turned bad. Unlike Americans, who have bound themselves to the constitutions under the “Declaration of independence” on July 4th 1776, which till date remain supreme, we have only started experimenting post 1947. In any democratic society, laws and institutions are of paramount importance and when the choice calls for an "either-or" situation, they remain front runners. Back here, we have dug ourselves into a difficult situation by trying to please everybody. Even though the individual freedom is of highest accord, we should argue for institutions and country ahead of everything else – be it religion, ideological hardships or personal losses. Sadly, that’s not been the situation and we still remain hostage to age old ideas of compartmentalized ideologies at the risk of putting the nation at shame. A PM or a President or any person representing the country should be more criticized if they fail to honor national commitments rather than risking a mid-term election. Indians, in general, are more prone to be influenced by stars or individuals rather than institutional ideas. Our choices are driven by star system; we put more emotional emphasis on the individual star or celebrity rather than the institution itself. Our cricket, our films, our history, our religion and even our politics is so individual driven that every dishonest and fallen celebrity poses grave threat towards the base. In democracy, everybody remain equal (and importantly, no one or no section is more equal than others) and we are yet to digest this simple truth. Changing a rotten system and fighting for a transparent administration is centrally justified, as long as it is not guided by the hogwash of charismatic individuals. In any democracy, the ultimate goal and good intentions are of paramount importance, and even at the risk of conflicting ideologies, we should respect the opposition as much as the popular ideas. Just like in any relationship, individuals should cease to be of less importance than the justified institutional ideas, and even though, all efforts should be made to guarantee individual independence, a successful partnership should ensure survival of democratic ideologies. In democracy, a less popular opposition is equally respected till such times when those opposing ideas run contrary to the democratic fundamentals of the country and constitution. Under no circumstances should law be held hostage to popular emotions or whims and fancies of individual dynasty, neither laws should be framed with coveted biasness against genders or sections of societies and above all, a citizen must understand the importance of the fundamental fabric of this country. Just as we regret at the declaration of emergency in Pakistan we must ensure that back home, we honor the democratic fundamentals much more than individual freedom and when we discuss survival strategies, we could start with a more fundamental question – is survival every time necessary? Not every time, survival of individual is important and the biggest gift of democracy is the realization that defeat to an institutional idea is not the end of all independence. Our neighbours, to me, remains an example of how dangerous a flawed democracy could be and my fear is that, unless we change our attitude, we could head towards the same situation, albeit manifested in a different manner. Unless we prioritize our national and collective choices, we expose ourselves to a clash of egos, rather than of transparent ideas. Then, nobody could be blamed for such a shameful end to a so called vibrant democracy, which probably juggles with more right ideas than it could handle.

Devil's advocate...

As the whole country thunders and celebrates the win of young Indian team in the latest avatar of world cricket, so called “T20 championship”, probably it’s time to step back and relish this moment. True that such a moment comes rarely, especially in a country like ours with abundant talents and volatile temperaments. Even truer is the fact that we are perennially short of worthy national heroes who could inspire a generation to look forward with pride and self belief.
I am not a cricket pundit and hence wouldn’t go into technical details of how this could benefit our cricket and sport in general; neither would I think that this is a miniscule performance even if my attitude towards this new formed “tamashaa” has been hostile. But, I do reserve my comment about the potential of Indian cricket. The fact that these young boys jumped into adulthood with such poise and commensurate ease has pleased me beyond my expectations; Dhoni’s refreshing attitude towards captaincy, Yuvi’s daring shots while batting and Sharma’s poise in the death – should augur well for the future. If only we could manage to provide a supply network without congestion, a channel to harness temperament and a structure to fall back in distress – we could challenge the mighty Aussies in their own den. But, I am doubly sure that such things won’t happen in Indian sport, cricket in particular and hence this euphoria is short lived.

I call the modern T20 version a use and throw format – where you live by the sword knowing that anyway your life is not precious, you play for the gallery because that’s what you aim for in this tourney, you pray only for a burst of brilliance as sustenance wouldn’t bring any extra laurel. So, there is absolutely no doubt that marketability of cricket would increase only at the expense of glory, stamina and perseverance – traits any sportsperson would vouch for. Cricket has never been a rival to soccer; neither has it been thought of as global as other sports because of its very nature. But, that has not made ICC a beggar; neither has it stopped countries from playing provided they get the infrastructure. Probably, ICC’s greed has overshadowed its responsibility towards the game and lured it into using players as mere pawns to generate revenue. They don’t bother about the sport as long as crowd says – “I’m loving it”.

By now, majority of readers must be cursing me for being a spoilsport at such a joyous moment or even think of branding me anti national. I agree that I have always believed in giving sense precedence over emotions and personally I have always benefited.
What holds true for a singular collectively holds true for a nation also. Recent splurge of money into players coffers, attitude of governments in deciding the priority as well as drama of BCCI to grab attention in the glory of unexpected windfall – all these show a wholesale callousness prevailing in the society.
On Tuesday, 25th of September 2007, there were two news which were relegated to the second stage following India’s victory in T20 championship. The first one about a lady doctor being raped in a Delhi hospital and the second about the recent controversies in Pakistan and Thailand. Even if for argument’s sake I accord to the point that news of Indian team attracts more viewers than say events in Pakistan or Thailand, but I failed to get any excuse in the first case. Even horrific has been the reactions of government. There are two ways I look at it –
The government (starting from her highness to Delhi CM Ms Sheila Dikshit and honorable PM) is only trying to look around other way and fool people by giving money to cricketers who are rich anyway and at the same time abducting its responsibility towards providing safe society. The public has been equally guilty. There has been no protest whatsoever, no uproar in the parliament, no discussions on TV and total ignorance of priority. Delhi government has given 5 lakh each to Shewag and Gambhir, but not a single penny to the doctor who is in coma now.
The second is even more pertinent. T20 is not equivalent in stature to a World Cup and without dwarfing Dhoni’s achievements I can say that there is no sure winner in this format. Simply because, the format is such that everybody is vulnerable on a particular day. There was a proposal for BCCI (which is cash rich) to come out and support other sports to grow – but recent things don’t point in that direction. The players have been extraordinary, they have brought laurels for the country and I appreciate their work. There is a huge market for them where they would get more than what they want. But think of a player in chess, in badminton, in shooting, in weightlifting or for that matter in hockey. What is the attitude of Indian public towards such events? I am sorry to say, but ignorant Indians value T20 more than they value a gold or silver in Olympic – even though it is tougher to get the latter one. My memory fails to recollect such a welcome for – Rajyabardhan rathode, Karnam Malleswari, Leander Peas, Prakash Padukone, Bula Sen or even P.T Usha. Each of them has been great in their field but probably the only mistake they did was not to play cricket. The irony is, even a baseball player turned cricketer would earn more respect here than a champion swimmer or stylish badminton player.
And, I attribute this phenomenon of step motherly attitude to nothing but money and glamour. The hungry public only sees the dancing of money and this dangling carrot forces millions to think that everybody in their home could be a Tendulkar. People want their children to be a cricketer not because they love the sport, but it would bring more than they could dream about.

Sounds cynic? Feels like I have spoiled the mood of the nation? If so, I am happy to do that. There should be times when unnecessary histrionics and madness of the public at large needs to be condemned, even at the risk of being branded “pessimistic spoilsport”.
Good luck to “Team India” for their upcoming upheavals.

India's war against terrorism...

Thanks to the lack of any will (political or apolitical), citizens of India remain vulnerable to all sorts of terrorist attacks within their own motherland. We have a countless list of haves and only a single blot in the have not part – we don’t have any assurance of a natural death, or in a country with increasing life expectancy the life of citizens are cut short by non physiological problems.
The list of reasons for the unnatural death is long for India – malnourishment, pre natal negligence, pregnancy and delivery failures due to untrained nurses, rowdy drivers prowling on the roads – it goes on and on. Terrorism is the coolest entry in this list - an entry as destructive as any natural calamity and as mouthwatering for the political parties to cash on vote bank politics.
From Delhi, to Varanasi, to Mumbai, to Malegaon, to Bangalore, to Hyderabad – the list of cities under terrorist threat is increasing and if the latest statement from honorable home minister is taken seriously then Indians should brace for more such incidents. If my knowledge of geography is right then USA or China or Russia is bigger in size than India – yet according to official statement it is because of the vastness of our country that such attacks couldn’t be prevented. With all negatives to American adventures in foreign shores – no American life has been lost post 9/11 due to terrorist attack. A country which doesn’t give enough value to the lives of its citizens is rare to find – and as always all such records belong to India. How easy it is to blame the neighbors – even before investigation starts – to wash away hands off the responsibility. How easy it is to talk of resilience, to talk of being calm and composed and to talk of people being jealous about our progress and communal harmony. All successive governments irrespective of political ideology and power has shown nothing but callous attitude towards the value of citizen’s life – probably because a dead person is no more a factor in the voter’s list. Those hapless families – uncountable as they now must be, are left to the vagaries of the cruel liabilities – forgotten under heaps of garlands and hollow promises.
India has become a soft state and there is absolutely no debate on that. The focus has now turned into a grim reality staring in your face situation – how many more innocent lives need to be lost before the country wakes up? I am neither a knowledgeable bureaucrat nor a learned journalist – hence statistics is not my forte. But my simple question is – how much of it is a coincidence that till date, hardly any politician or people in the power circle have been targeted by the terrorists? The fact that they are capable enough to do that was proven by the attack on the parliament; hence their sudden change of focus is intriguing. I guess, by now even the terrorists have understood that government of India is only concerned about saving their own skins. Till such times when suicide bombers hit parliament or kill half a dozen politicians, none from Delhi would pose any challenge to terrorism. It’s an easy documentary – be aloof from such heinous crimes till innocent citizens are finished, keep garlands and speeches ready for such occasions laced with crocodile tears and blindly blame neighbors to avoid any meaningful investigation inside India.
Till even few months back, I used to think that I should be proud to be an Indian, but no more. Being an Indian was never my choice and given one, I wouldn’t want to be. I don’t want a life (not for me and neither for my children) where every step outside home could potentially lead to fatal separation, I don’t respect a country which gives a damn to it’s citizen’s life and I refuse to live just with the burden of a glorified past camouflaged to hide horrific present. Those gory scenes of shredded bodies, of spilled blood are not what I want to present to the future generations.
And how dearly I wish that I had a choice of choosing my nation – a nation where the citizen is not used as a pawn in the game of terror, where a child could enjoy a safe life and where people wouldn’t think twice before enjoying their life the way they want – a life colorful and joyous enough to be cherished and valued by every citizen of that country.

Plagiarism redefined...

If somebody watches advertisements very carefully and on a regular basis, it is impossible for him/her to notice the fight of Bollywood against piracy. It says piracy kills the originality, that the lost money makes producers turn into their graveyards and that with every pirated version of a VCD or DVD we are only killing the original goose. So, kill piracy and save the originality.
Not so long ago, India didn’t have a full fledged patent law to protect original inventions (it had for processes though) and recent Madras High court order showed that there is a clear fight between original intellectual monopoly and pirated copy cats. Hence, if you believe in original version, shell out more to get such exclusivity.
I almost take that argument for granted. For Novartis, but not for Bollywood.

On numerous occasions, I had an argument with majority of my friends about Bollywood and its quality. Without even a semblance of chance, Bollywood loses out on quality, screenplay, direction and script/story. The argument then shifts to an emotional plane – that “people need pure entertainment”. This is as vague as it sounds as by definition entertainment is personal and hence couldn't be the goal for a mass medium. That we believe in fooling ourselves and believe that some god send heroes and extraordinarily beautiful heroines would make our society livable is good enough to cast a shadow on our logical thinking. Then the discussion changes into “we” versus “them”. They are they, so why should we copy them, why should we not have our own dance and song item numbers and that by doing such great service we would be a proud producer of Indian culture and social values. Simply put, we can never argue with the emotional majority.

But I would have accepted their emotionally charged, patriotic sentiments if I would have got some originality in Bollywood. From the day I remember, best and most of the mainstream Bollywood movies (or so called successful movies) are nothing but an “inspired version” of either some regional ones or of some Hollywood flicks. To illustrate my point I give below a sample list of such inspirations.

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Agneepath -- Scarface

Aitraaz -- Disclosure

Agni Shakshi -- Sleeping with the enemy

Ajnabee -- Consenting Adults

Baazigaar -- A kiss from dying

Black -- The miracle worker

Chalte Chalte --- Forget Paris

Criminal --- The Fugitive

Dil Chahata Hain --- St.Elmo's Fire / Reality Bites

Dhoom --- The fast and the furious

Dushman --- Eye for Eye

Raaz --- What Lies Beneath

Roja --- Frantic

Saajan ---- Roxanne

Satte pe satta ----7 brides for 7 brothers

SHOLAY ----The magnificient 7/ The wild bunch

/ Butch classidy / Sundance Kid

Tezaab ----The streets of fire

Jo jeeta wohi Sikandar --- Breaking away

Josh --- West side story

Ghulam ----- On the water front

Hera pheri ---- The sting

Humraaz ---- A perfect murder

Hum Tum ---- When Harry met Sally

Murder ---- Unfaithful

Munnabhai MBBS ---- Patch Adams

Life in a Metro ---- The Apartment

Bheja Fry ---- Diner au cons

Partner ---- The Hitch

(Source -- www.bollycat.com)

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In such a case, where even the best of the outcomes are nothing but far from original, what purpose is served for the audience is far from my understanding. An industry whose own products are nothing but a duplicate copy of some other products, an industry which even doesn’t admit its reckless copying attitude or an industry which doesn’t have a scant respect for other’s originality and creativity – boasts of creating a platform for being the flag bearer of a country’s culture. For them “copyright” means – “right to copy” when it comes to foreign movies. That the numbers of critically acclaimed movies are mostly out of bounds for mainstream audiences and directors is a testimony of the stakeholders considering this medium only as a business and not as a creative expression. The very fact that Bollywood has been horribly poor in making good movies for children and comedy classics shows their incapability of creativity as well as originality.
Except the fact that Bollywood has produced most memorable music, songs, musicians and singers (even though personally I think songs are mostly a no no in movies, music should be the only expression) I hardly see any other benefits from this huge industry.
If it is an industry then its products need to be original and world class, or if it is a medium of expression then it should have a quality output – in my book they are neither here nor there. Fortunately they have an audience which is largely unaware of the beauties of world cinema and also entertaining emotion get better of their logical and artistic senses while viewing the products. It hates the English version only to gobble up the desi “inspired versions” for their entertainment purpose.
That the basic purpose of any industry is moving up the value chain has got defeated in this Bollywood story. Yet they continue to fight against piracy and unauthorized copy cats.
This might sound like a snobbish and intellectually charged statement but I support pirated Hindi movie VCDs/DVDs – as these movies are nothing but a plagiarized version of a better creative mind. An industry which thrives only on plagiarism deserves nothing better than piracy from its own customers – after all brand value comes only from what the brand itself stands for.

P.S. – I am looking forward to the recent news of SONY Pictures suing the Indian producer of “Partner” for alleged unauthorized copy of “The Hitch”. Somewhere the Bollywood needs to be taught a lesson about respecting the originality.

WHO will bell the cat???

Few years back Britney Spears sang - "don't preach me papa".. Now probably its time that somebody starts preaching his/her older ones. Not because there is a generation gap, but there is a black hole which would gulp all of us if we are not able to cool it down right now.
Are we heading towards a day when probably the next generation wants to discuss all taboos, secretly kept under the carpet till date? If the recent posts are anything to go by, there is a furor amongst the teacher community about imparting sex education among the students at an age till now considered being inappropriate for such discussions. This is probably a rare situation where the teaching community is feeling insecure about something which the government is trying to go ahead keeping in mind the danger that AIDS is spreading across India. But, this time again the "irrational majority" is against it.
As usual there are supporters and protesters in this issue and as my friend says "everybody has a right to protest". The neo liberals or the ultra modern liberals would jump guns because they think that it is of utter nonsense to keep something hiding from somebody just because of his/her age. The conservatives say this puts too much unwanted pressure of choice on that small head and also it won't be right to leave every interpretation to the mercy of an immature brain. Someone like me who safely passes staying in the middle faces a larger problem. This is of deciding whom to follow.
I mean, my biggest apprehension about this stems from the fact that the teachers themselves are unsure about the education. It's not that I rate teachers in India very highly. To be extremely honest, barring a few instances, where yours truly has been really moved by the aura and character that a teacher posses, most of the times they have been disappointing. This is without diluting the service that they provide to the society and keeping in mind the hardship that they have to face in our country. If the master is not sure of the path then even god couldn't save the disciple.
As a matter of principle and policy, I do support the sex education policy which is being prescribed by the WHO and the NACO. The fact of the matter remains that if we have to reduce certain taboos (which are harmful for the society in general), we need to break certain traditions also. It is a different matter that as a society we are still testing the waters instead of directing the action. But, the time is running out fast.
India houses the 2nd largest numbers of HIV+ patients (official record - unofficially, considering the taboo that we have, it might be much more than those) and also exposes a huge number of people to this deadly virus because of sheer lack of knowledge. People would argue that even the most economically and socially developed countries are also facing the same danger and so, there could possibly be no link between sex education and AIDS. But I beg to differ.
Not that I am very comfortable in answering such questions to the younger ones, but if it comes to improve their knowledge through gradual education then probably we have to start somewhere. We, for a long time, have been living under thousand such preposterous and irrational taboos. And it is not only related to the field of human relations or religion only - it starts from arts, cinemas, and anything which touches our senses but shows no end of this. Only today I was very pleased to read in TOI that some devout Muslim in Britain has asked for the "right to offend" which he believes is important in world democracy. Not long ago, we had nation wide debate about what is permissible in art, cinema and other such public displays - and what constitutes as unlawful in evoking sentiments. The challenge lies in handling too much sensitive people. The day we are able to move beyond the fears of such en mass moral code of conduct we would solve most of our problems.
I have always believed that, narrow knowledge only restricts the passage of fresh ideas and that is not a healthy sign for any vibrant society. If we leave the moral code of conduct to individual discretion (or at max as a family matter) then such transparency becomes easier.
I am for abolishment of censor board as it serves no purpose other than titillating the curiosity of adolescent citizens. How on earth could someone else judge my ability to segregate the good from the bad? What guarantee does he/she produce to satisfy my emotional and moral needs? I simply refuse to put so much faith and responsibility on another person on my behalf. Long ago, the best movie director that India has ever produced had commented that - we cannot make great movies on human relationships as we are forced to see the other way and we never give credit to the sensibility of the en mass viewers. I think, this is mightily true.
For long we have lived in fears - fears of antagonizing our elders, fears of offending our respected ones, fears about destroying the traditions and mostly fears about doing the unconventional. The result is there for everyone to see. We have a confused generation which lacks direction and motivation, we have teachers who are not brave enough to tell students the truth and we have society fearful of coming out of the closet. The suffocating wind has started polluting our lungs and not for long would we be calling ourselves living.
The fear was also there when we were deciding about our careers - we all played safe and did only what majority showed. Over a period of time all the energies flowed into technology and medicals. The result is dangerous - we have teachers who are basically people who had no other choice so took up this profession and then we have engineers and doctors who are nothing but a product of routine affairs. So, we lost on both counts. Now we are in search of a doctor whom we could rely upon, in search of engineers who could build this country and most sadly, badly in search for teachers who would take the responsibility of making us a great human being. All these because we all did what our brain whispered and not what our heart cried out. I am not too convinced about the pay off that we have generated.

I know, I might have diverted a bit in discussing the important issue of imparting basic and important education to save our dear ones. But I believe all these are interrelated. As a nation and as a society we have been too deeply engrossed within our own world that we forgot to keep our eyes open. The saddest part is, we keep comparing us with people less flexible than us and think that we are doing more than fine. But, the problem in human psychology is that it doesn't allow compartmentalized emotions in a single entity. If you are not open enough about your own self then how could one expect you to be dignified about others views?
Its time that we start looking at things from a different angle and always keep the perspective in mind. This time again the majority is wrong in not taking the risk and as usual probably government would bow down to the vote bank politics.

My only hope is to hope against hope and I am counting on my prayers.

Obsessive middle class hypocrisy

If anybody with an educative and inquisitive mind goes through Indian history and philosophy, the self proclaimed 'wow' factor would be clearly visible. An age old mountain of traditional burdens, a closed society with unknown fear of unseen future and the incapability to accept the inevitable have been the hallmark of this so called great country and civilization. Indians take pride in their history, culture and what not. Anything and everything which is nostalgic has to have an Indian touch and if something is not praiseworthy it could never have an Indian link. My only question remains - whom are we fooling?

I have dwelt at length in one of my past blog about the double standards present in the Indian mythology and history. We always preach "Adwaita" and believe in twin theories. We have created 33 crores of deities and have told the world that everyone is same. Back home, we were the proponent of casteism and division of labor theory based on social rank. Sudras could not be equalled with Brahmans and they had a different set of deities to pray. Yet we proudly announced the supremacy of our bramhinical knowledge. To have such an open policy of flexible rule only shows our eagerness to maintain the status quo.

We projected women as source of power and used all kinds of heinous crimes to suppress them. We told god is neutral and clarified that he had to do certain things for safeguarding his favorite protege. Our roots have been in deep shambles of fractured verdict though we speak of unified language.

Politics, the next populist brickbat is another prime example. We have all types of political ideologies flowing like rivers and in the back office of power while they are talking of national project of river integration. Here, the left is more right than their opposition and the ruling capitalists fear more of the working class for votes. The rules at center and state are different for the same political party, the economics mean something to prime minister and something else to his cabinet, while the executives are a bunch of hypocrites saved only to follow the lords.

This leaves only citizens to be fair. To my best knowledge, I have never come across anyone (including yours truly) who is fair, justified and rational. A south indian hates north indians in Bangalore but couldn't do without them in Gurgaon. East always believed that they were the unluckiest lot post independence, but never thinks of improving them on their own. Everybody wants industry, but exactly only at those locations where they think would best suit them. Indians say that materialistic world is to be denounced yet when it comes to decide social status money remains the sole deciding criteria. We are ready to discuss what Buddha or Christ did wrong but are not open for discussion about retrogressive hindu laws. We think politics couldn't be in isolation to religion but are opposed to theory if the religion is not Hinduism. We easily criticise Bill Clinton but shudder to even think about such things regarding some of our dear national leaders.

The time has come for the referendum. For the people to think and think from their heart. To come out openly and unequivocally about what they want. If they want a progressive country then north and south has to speak the same language, west has to embrace the qualities from east. We cannot remain indecisive and ask for a decisive verdict from the political class. After all they are only the public manifestation of the society at large.

A decision about whether we need a rule or prefer anarchy to suit our individual needs is the call of the hour.

Imported political ideology...

India is a land of wonders. India is a land of uncertainties, of mystique and of great solitude. As Mr.Gurcharan Das writes in his own submission - India Unbound - "It is an elephant that has begun to lumber and move ahead. It will never have speed but it will always have stamina." I am, for sure, as confused as ever and not convinced.

India got political independence way back in 1947 but took almost 50 years to start the process of economic liberalization. The political bankruptcy over the years has only compounded the misery. It is very important for any country to have confident leaders. When an ordinary person does something wrong it is less than half harmful than when a leader does so. Not because we place leaders in a higher pedestal, but as leader's wrong doing inspires the subordinates in the wrong way.

Out of many such compulsory trades India exported mathematics and spirituality but imported communism.

My friends call me a communist and probably a communist I am. An ideological one. The only political (or apolitical?) ideology doomed to be failed. Any sensitive and young person who believe in ideology and equality of human beings has to be a communist. An apolitical follower of the once famous "Das Capital" is only a mirage today. Indian politicians on their part has only compounded this in a unique way.

From independence we were a country not here not there. As pointed out in India Unbound we wanted a business community to serve the country the way politicians wanted, the license raj made sure a slow death of the entrepreneurial abilities of the society at large and created a corrupt bureaucracy to support the wrong doings. One of our leaders never trusted businessman and the other thought their money is needed but not they.So, what are we? A socialist state? A state who is confident enough to fulfill its citizens dreams? We were more draconian state than any communist regime (vide writings during emergency periods), lacked planning and believed that state would do everything for its citizens even if they were inefficient.So, why blame only communist for their doings? When the rightists perform the same things they rename it as a "human face" but the communists are criticized as regressive and anti business. The whole model of 5 year planning is a complete fiasco and self serving failed policy. Yet they are regarded highly in esteem. Is it because they were not created by communists?

I do agree that communists made a blunder of economics when they thought that they can make poor people rich by converting riches poor. But at least their ideology was not flawed. They presumed wrongly when they overestimated the powers of state but were correct to predict the rise of the working class and the perils of raw capitalist regime. But what did the others do to rewrite history in the right manner?

As it is said - two wrongs do not make it right. So is the case with India. We were never on the right side of left and fooled ourselves by walking on the left side of the right.We were friend for both - USSR and USA. We could not decide between non violence and violence and in the process ended up losing in the partition.

Communism is comparatively new to India but not alien to its confused ideology. Communism puts enormous faith in the state so does the confused Indian socialism, Marxists believe in liberating working class and the Indian polity believes in making everybody economically equal. Thus, as we see there is not much of a difference between them - neither politically nor ideologically. But to our much delight and dismay, imported communism didn't work well here. Its track record is even more dismal than imported Islam.

However, the twin sister of Marxism, locally known as socialism has found enormous favor with our policy makers and all the loop holes of capitalism come out in political mouthpieces in the election years. As long back, Marx pointed out, "We see the great advance made by Adam Smith beyond the Physiocrats in the analysis of surplus-value and hence of capital. In their view, it is only one definite kind of concrete labour—agricultural labour —that creates surplus-value....But to Adam Smith, it is general social labour—no matter in what use-values it manifests itself—the mere quantity of necessary labour, which creates value. Surplus-value, whether it takes the form of profit, rent, or the secondary form of interest, is nothing but a part of this labour, appropriated by the owners of the material conditions of labour in the exchange with living labour." The same philosophy has been in usage over the years by all parties in India albeit in a slightly different manner. To create a democracy we needed opposition and hence we have them. They are neither ideologically different nor they are designed in a different manner. The only reason they exist is either they had an internal feud with the parent body for power or they harped wrongly on the religious notes. Hence, their pedigree is always questionable in my view.

To the extent that even Marxism has been Indianized and changed conveniently for the gallery, it has created a yawning disparity among the middle as well as working class. They neither had any historical baggage for India nor did they understand the local philosophy. Hence they crashed badly. In the race of power they became corrupt and opportunist and we kept equating them with Marxism. The gap thus created presented a big advantage to others, who in the name of socialism traded the same path with sure ideological bankruptcy.

So, after 60 years of independence we are neither here nor there. We waited for long on the road for the state to become self sufficient but took almost 50 years to come back to capitalism. We have opened up now but in every election year we still fool the masses in the name of socialism and equality. The result is we have neither a strong working class nor a mass of nation building industrial houses.

We blame communists for failure in Bengal but barring 3-4 states I am not too sure about the improved status of living for the en mass. And even in those states, the pressure came from outside, like the population, business class or like in 1991 - the point of no return.

But, how easily and conveniently we bypass issues by putting the blame on those failed ideologies in the name of communism.The only thing we forget is that an ideological bankruptcy is more dangerous than a political one.

Investment at risk...

If the investment amounts to - Sunday afternoon, Rs.60 plus some commutation allowance combined with a vagabond yet exam stressed mind what are the returns expected ?
Guess nothing great. Even I didn't expect something marvellous when I went to Chandan, Juhu this afternoon. The only thing I expected was a slow poisoned death, a poison of highest calibre not to have difficulty in digesting or spitting out and good enough to ensure a pretty stay for 3.5 hours under the air condition.But to my utter exclamation these are what I got - 6 heroes and heroines, unthinkable and unfathomable love stories, innumerable plots and sub plots combined into a package called "Salam-E-Ishq".
Before watching the movie I had little respect for the writings (or should I say critical appraisals?) of Taran Adarsh, but after those gruelling time I have to lie if I do not respect his patience, originality about the movie and packaging skills. Hence one more addition to the list of returns.
As time passed and story (if there were any) started unfolding, I had more trouble in concentrating. Even though I am not a very focused person but this one tested my concentration to the hilt, giving a close competition to KANK. As time started crawling, I had a feeling of being cheated. What else do you call it if you expect poison but get what is called "expired cough syrup"? Thanks to recent "modern story lines" I have been privy to some scripts which had been successful in creating rubbish. As I continue watching more and more of present day famous bollywood director's movie I get more convinced about it's power of branding and selling ability. How else could one define the power of some three and a half hour video shoot being able to generate revenue greater than some SMEs in India?Even without any knowledge of arts, people like me could bring out some scintillating facts out of the recent bollywood stable -
Old hero and inconsequential heroine with scant costing in the dress design department combined with half villains and half jokers are essential parts of anything defined as bollywood movie.
In case the production becomes an "ethnic bollywood" one - dress design costs are the maximum creating latest fashion trend. All types of colors creating vision trouble even for blinds, a palace for the hero (bigger than the Birmingham, one premiere at the royal palace is sure recipe for decolonization) and middle class, Indian heroine with strong moral system who somehow has an eye for the billionaire !!
But,cut back to the present movie.
6 stories, 12 people (could have been more if director was changed) with numerous inconsequential dialogues and characters of all ages - combined in a package delivered at your doorstep. As a part of sales promotion comes beautiful locations, exotic wealth (god knows where do all the fathers of heroes work) and thoughtless dance or songs.Pure entertainment at its best when your mind have nothing to do, nothing to think and it refuses to believe what eyes relay - a close competitor for nirvana.
It demystified the very word "Ishq", it showed how horrible it looks if a girl proposes getting down on knee, how a husband couldn't look if his beloved wife is in hospital or how pathetically extra marital affairs could be handled. I couldn't believe that Indian people had to risk everything to love his legitimate wife. Never knew that foreign girls are so desperate for indian husbands and its only the boys these days who fear to get married !! But all these must have been made keeping in mind the greater audiences who feel captivated with such dramatic expressions.
To my horror I realized that I was served only an expired drug that too was not pure. The problem is the future addiction knowing fully well that they are never going to delight you with Hemlock.
Even getting a poison pill must be very tuff for the likes of Taran Adarsh !!!

Tribute to an unsung singer...

Few days back during a chat with one of my close friend I happened to say something about some famous singer (who is no doubt one of the best playback singer world has ever produced) which offended him as it was against popularity and as most would say showed my inept understanding about music and art. However, as I have described so many times through numerous blogs (on my page obviously) that in most of the cases I happen to swim across the tide and current. Whether that's good or bad only time will judge.
However, through this writing I would pay tribiute to my favourite female singer in indian film domain, who unfortunately is not as frequently remembered as her famous counterparts.

On 23rd of November, I happened to take a look at almost all the main newspapers in mumbai (thanks to our enriched library) and to my horrific surprise found that not a single line was mentioned about the fact which I had expected. It happened to be the birthday of my most favoured female singer - Geeta Dutt.
Geeta Roy was born in Faridpur District in East Bengal in 1930. In 1942 when she was just twelve her parents shifted to Mumbai. Over there in their modest flat at Dadar music director Hanuman Prasad heard her singing casually. He gave her two lines to sing in the film Bhakt Prahlad ( 1946 ). "I gave playback for some children." she said. But her rendering of those two lines stood out and astonished everybody in the recording studio. A minor incident became the genesis of a great musical career. Her major assignment come the following year, 1947, with Filmistan's Do Bhai. Music Director S.D. Burman had heard the song in Bhakt Prahlad and he promptly got hold of her address and met her to use her voice in the film. The music of that film clicked in a big way particularly 'Mera sundar sapna beet gaya.' Geeta Roy had arrived. Disc scales of the song rocketed to new heights. 1947-1949 saw Geeta Roy rule as the number one playback singer in the Mumbai film industry as she moved from strength to strength.
As time progressed, Geeta Roy started gaining new grounds but the fight started in 1949 when "Mahal" got released. A young singer, till then unknown to most of India, swang to stardom with only one song of "Mahal" - it was 'Aayega aanewala' and everything after that is history. She went on to become the greatest playback singer the Indian screen has ever seen. Only two singers managed to survive the Lata onslaught in the 1950s. Shamshad Begam and Geeta Roy. Geeta managed to hold her own against Lata for more than a decade and she and Lata were the premier two female playback singers of the 1950s.
To her own credit, Geeta Roy had created a popularity which was unique like her songs. Each and every song of her, even if as I listen them today was a boquet of emotions ranging from sad to bar music. The turning point of her career came in 1951, when Bazzi got released. This was the film which brought Geeta and Guru Dutt together and created a confluence which gave indian film industry some of the best productions in conjunction with S.D.Buman and O.P.Naiyaar. The song in this film "Taqdeer se bigdi hui" is one of the most verve song I have ever heard.
The first thing that strikes one when you hear Geeta Dutt sing was that she never sang. She just glided through a tune. Of all her contemporaries her musical training was perhaps the sketchiest but what she lacked in training and technique, she more than made it with her ability to breathe life and emotion into any song she was singing. In the recording room there was no matching Geeta's vivacity, vitality and spontaneity, her sense of rhythm unparalleled. Her capacity to be both sensual yet sensitive gives Geeta Dutt's voice a unique ethereal quality.

S.D.Burman and Geeta Dutt:
S.D. Burman was among the earliest to discover the magic in Geeta Dutt's voice. In 1947 with Filmistan's DoBhai. S.D. Burman effectively used the Bengali lilt in her voice memorably in films like Devdas and Pyaasa. Thesong 'Aaj sajan mohe ang lagalo' from the latter is one of the finest examples of the Bengali kirtan put over on the Hindi screen. No female singer has better articulated the spirit of Burmanda's music in its early years. In fact in 1957, when he fell out with Lata, Burmanda was looking to make Geeta his main singer rather than the upcoming Asha Bhonsle. After all by then Geeta was a mature singer while Asha was still raw. But due to her troubled marriage Geeta was not free to practice in the style required by S.D.Burman who was a hard taskmaster in matter of rehearsals. He joined O.P. Nayyar in shaping Asha rather than wait for Geeta. Some memorable songs sung by Geeta under S.D. Burman's baton are:

'Mera sundar sapna beet gaya' (Do Bhai - 1947 )
'Woh sapnewaali raat' (Pyaar - 1950 )
'Tadbir se bigdi hui taqdeer' (Baazi - 1951 )
'Aan milo aan milo' (Devdas - 1955 ) with Manna Dey
'Aaj sajan mohe ang lagalo' (Pyaasa - 1957 )
'Hawa dhire aana' (Sujata - 1959 )
'Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam ' (Kaagaz ke Phool - 1959 )

O.P.Nayaar connection:
Geeta suited O.P. Nayyar's ebullient themes to a T. He developed the side of Geeta which had emerged with Baazi. Under his freewheeling baton Geeta developed into a really hep singer who could belt out any number - soft, sultry, happy, snappy, romantic, teasing or tragic. It was Geeta Dutt's rare gift that she could effervescently sing for both the doll and the moll.Some immortal gems sung by Geeta Dutt underO.P. Nayyar's baton :

'Zara saamne aa'( Baaz - 1953 )
'Babuji dhire chalna' (Aar Paar - 1954 )
'Thandi hawa kali ghata' (Mr. & Mrs 55 - 1955 )
'Jab badal lehraya' (Chchoomantar - 1956 )
'Mere zindagi ke humsafar' (Shrimati 420 - 1956 )
'Chor, lutere, daku'( Ustad - 1957 )
'Mera naan chin chin choo' (Howrah Bridge - 1958 )
'Kaisa jadoo balam tune dara' (12 o'clock - 1958 )

This is not to say that Geeta Dutt was less effective with other music directors. Her songs in association with Hemant Kumar in Anandmath ( 1952 ), Bahu ( 1954 ),Ek Jhalak ( 1957 ), Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam ( 1962 ) bear testimony to this. It's just that for the sheer volume and the scaleof popularity that the songs of S.D. Burman and O.P. Nayyar reached make them special in Geeta's oeuvre.

Some comments on Geeta Dutt:
As O.P.Nayaar puts it: "..........Who will deny there is a unique quality to her singing. Give her a blatantly westernized tune this momentand a complex classical composition the next, and she will do equal justice to both with an ease of expression which a singer can only be born with. She is particularly good for songs accompanying boisterous jamborees. With that tantalizing lilt and fascinating curves she puts into her singing,she is the ideal choice if it is seductive allure you want in a song........Geeta Dutt is an asset to any music director. "

To quote Raju Bharathan, Music critic in Filmfare February 1-15, 1985 Page 89,
" Geeta Dutt was thandi hawa and kaali ghata rolled into one. The moment she came, you got the refreshing feeling of aa hi gayi jhoom ke. There was a rare swing in her voice. She hit you like a thunderclap..........This made Geeta Dutt the one singer that Lata Mangeshkar really feared. In training and technique Lata was way ahead but neither training nor technique was of much use when pitted against Geeta in the recording room........This put Lata on the defensive and I think she avoided singing with Geeta as far as possible. (They have sung few duets) I vaguely remember Lata acknowledging this fact when Geeta died on July 20, 1972."

Most of today's generation have not even probably heard of her let alone listening to her charming voice. I found it appealing to say the least. The depth and freshness in her voice is unmatched till today. She might not be as successful as others but who cares. For connoisseurs she was as brilliant as anybody else and for her small fan club she is unmatched in her moods and portray of sadness in the songs. Never ever has any singer touched the rawness in her singing as much she did due to her unmatched quality.
I still remain awed by those mesmerising moments she had created long back through her voice.

Thanks to: http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/ducksoup/26/GeetaDutt.htm

Saalam Bombay...Showed me the way

In the past one week I have witnessed so much carnage,carnage by nature and some man made,that sometimes I really feel that I am becoming numb, that my feelings are getting senseless and that I have stopped caring for others. I have really feared about that situation when I remain untouched while somebody beside me is in visible trouble and I would mourn that day when people would stop responding to pains of fellow ones.
But, thank god that I saw mumbai yesterday, the day of Mumbai's tryst with terror. I saw a city full of courage, a city with unflinching resilience and a city which would put even the safest and best city in the world to utter shame. I have never been out of India, but can safely claim that there can never be a better city than this one as far as resilience and camaraderie in the troubled time is concerend. We all saw how New York reacted to 9/11, we saw how Madrid gripped in fear after it was bombed and I saw Mumbai after it was shattered with serial blasts. The sheer attitude of these people should make any coward terrorist die in its bed.
For the statistics, almost 200 people died and 800 injured in a serial blast of 7 bombs on the western subarban railway line during the most peak and rush hours. But it hide the other side of the story. The story of inimitable courage, of a never say die attitude, of a city which when hit by a calamity, stopped and gathered itself and then again started running. I salute mumbai and all its people from the core of my heart for what I have seen in the past week.

But, during a freewheeling chat with one of my friend and even after that I was thinking an even more basic question. A question which I must answer for myself to come out of the grief, a question which I shouldn't dodge for a better and safe life, a question which transforms the basis of our life. It is this question with which I started off this writing. With no contribution to the fight (we went to donate blood but by that time it was too late and the requirement was met), with no contribution to the good work what we can claim to be a part of? I am still in trouble to find out about the apathy that we show towards these happenings. We would forget everything about this after a week and attribute it towards resilience. Is it so? Think of those who has lost their near and dear ones in this massacare. For them life will never be the same, for them there is no consolation and there is no word or praise. We would forget them also and probably like some celebrity or political leader would say that - "the show must go on". But is that so easy to happen for everybody? This is where I fear we have become senseless. We are living a so short and selfish life that till the time we are not affected by something we don't care.
We need to change our short sightedness. Can we all do something for those who have been really affected by yesterday's blast? The show should go on, but with everybody playing a part for every other person. We should not suddenly jump the gun of humanitism one fine day due to a terrorist attack, but should carry this caring attitude throughout our life. We all can contribute towards a better and caring India, an India where everybody can depend on others and where everybody is ready to help others on all occassion.
I put to rest my small rufflings by again saluting the common man (mumbai kar) of this city who has showed me what potential lies ahead of us if and only if we care for each other throughout our life.

Fighting in the battlefield –from Delhi to Luxembourg

For the last few days all eyes in the business sector in India were riveted to the news of takeover of one of them by the other. For once, people thought of having a giant Indian corporate house to take on the global challenge, for a short duration we thought of playing global and challenging some global corporate in that field. But, alas that was not to be. It turned out to be a bohemian flirting rather than any long term relationship. It became the story of an affair going sour before marriage. It once again became a story of a failed Indian saga.
Yes, I am talking about the much publicized Jet and Sahara deal which was cancelled in bizarre circumstances under unknown pretexts. This is not the right forum to talk about such matters, neither I am competent to analyze such a big deal in business. But what I felt at the falling of the deal is not something economic or business related. It was purely a feeling of a pain, a pain of unfulfilled promise, a pain of being unprofessional in a professional world. Its not first time in history that an acquisition has been cancelled at the last moment, neither is it the first case of an attempted takeover going awfully wrong. But what was wrong was the approach, the faulty valuation and moreover the mudslinging which continued (and still continues) after the deal turned backward. This once again showed the darkness of our system, the immaturity within our business as well as our political class and at the same time the unprofessional approach of some of our best brains in the respective field.
The Sahara airlines takeover, valued at Rs.2300 Crore was initially Okayed for acquisition by the Jet board of directors (read Mr. Naresh Goyel) and was duly notified by both the companies. Then the normal process of takeover started. Jet even went to the extent of overseeing day to day activities of Sahara and started giving change over training to erstwhile Sahara employees. Suddenly came the spanner in the spoke. Jet asked for revaluation of the airlines which Sahara rejected and the whole episode became tipsy turvy. Litigations, counter accusations, political pressures and legal proceedings followed one after another with stupendous indignity, and media coverage made the whole affair a public maasala rather than any business news. It then followed the same path as of the famous Ambani brother feud which only resulted in bad publicity and showed immaturity on their part. Events did not stop here. Tug of war started for the money deposited in the escrow account (Rs.1500 crore). The political clout followed and nothing was left to imagination.
The whole episode not only marginalized the goodwill of both the companies, it also showed how under prepared we are in business. We don’t have any business ethics and neither do we follow any business logic. We don’t have any long term strategy or vision to grow – be it business or be it politics. In the whole episode Jet got away scot-free due to its big brother status and Sahara was left in the lurch to fend almost a sure death (Sahara airlines has to pump in Rs.1200 crore for survival). A slow but untimely death (if and when happens) for Sahara would probably mean monopoly for the other. Sahara on its part was guilty of not evaluating Jet’s offers properly; they went into the deal hastily and paid the price. Now, there is nothing left in the wings of the Indian aviation. A booming industry with immature players showed how even with liberalization, we would not be a super power. This much was for an acquisition which went almost through.
But, in these gloomy days there was another battle being fought by another Indian. Another story of fierce board room discussions, competitive bidding and confident stride of a person, who, on his own has showed the world how to do business and how to turn around a sick plant. Year after year, through innumerable takeovers L N Mittal has showed his resilience and wisdom of doing business and his latest takeover of Arcelor is the latest feather in the cap. The whole thing started way back last year and after much deliberation, laws and discussions by the EU, it was decided to be allowed. Then came the crunch moment. Mittal approached the board of Arcelor with his new but elegant master stroke. He presented a mixed cash n share deal for Arcelor with higher than expected share price for existing shareholders. The result – the deal created the largest steel behemoth, 3 times larger than nearest competitor. There were some concessions made by Mr. Mittal himself in order to see the deal through, but he maintained a rationale attitude and gave preference to business logic rather than any silly market suggesstions.

The difference between these two stories has been the business acumen, the resilience of the concerned person(s) and also the maturity of the board of directors. This showed we are still way behind in the race of building a nation which can feed itself on its own, both politically and economically.

Raha, ONGC, Government - subverting business

It was announced on Wednesday, 24th May 2006 that there would not be any extension of the tenure of Mr.Subir Raha, CMD of ONGC India even though he has still almost 2 years of service period left. This is not quite the normal norm which is followed in the PSU sector where the government is charged with delay in action and going with the status quo. This was a rare case in point where they removed a head of a company even though he had time on his side.
Government said in business terms, Raha’s contract as CMD of ONGC has not been extended. They also said that this was nothing unusual and was not done to teach him a lesson for his past acts. We as law abiding citizens and passive followers of events have not uttered anything as this is neither illegal nor immoral. But, I guess there is something more to look into this from a totally different perspective to judge government’s action.
This was a case where government has terminated the responsibility of a CMD who has been credited with transforming the business of the organization he headed. ONGC earnings had increased from Rs.22,841 Crore (approx) to almost Rs.50,900 crores during these 5 years. Profit has become more than double (from Rs. 6,197 crore to Rs.14,175 crore) and also it has transformed itself into one of those behemoths in the Indian industry which generated enough funds for the country. Also he has been responsible for transforming ONGC Videsh Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of ONGC into a successful venture (having generated a streamline cash flow of Rs.4.19 billion for the next 4-5 years from 21 different countries), which, before his tenure was on the verge of shut down. These are in business terms real achievements and do not vanish like promises of political parties in India. The amount of wealth he generated for our country and especially for the PSU in question is real and through fierce competition.
Alas, government turned the other way and put emphasis (unofficially though) on his differences with higher authorities (read, former oil minister Mr.Manishankar Ayer and the then Oil secretary) as he rubbed them the wrong way. This was done because Raha, as a CMD, thought he owned his decisions and asked the minister not to interfere in business.
Any novice in business would understand that this is how business leaders work and make their company world class. To create a world class business behemoth you need to have business acumen and also strong mind. All business people would vouch for that. But our government is more concerned with meek subordination of bureaucrats to the ministers and is against building the country to a stronger, wealthier nation. This also shows their inflexibility and short-sightedness on their part. We expected better deal from a prime minister who understands economics and business much better than most of us and prefers to be known as an intellectual rather than politician.
Time and again government has acted on whims and vendetta, over the years they have shifted and altered the bureaucracy according to their personal choice to suit their political goals and never thought of excellence and competition for betterment of PSUs. They prefer to have rather underperforming but blind "jo huzurs" instead of excellent and straight minds. This has once again proved why best brains do not prefer to work in PSUs and also why performance oriented people does not like the set up we present to them as a country and society.
It is time we strive for excellence and performance instead of typical government clerical mentality of just surviving somehow through the odds by increasing salary and trade unions. It is time we pause and take a calculated look at our future to get a rude shock. Else we would be in real danger of loosing all the glories we are generating as an effect of globalization.
Probably, that would not be the India we would want to live in.