Tweet tweet twee...oops.

I find it truly absurd that censorship in its form continues in China. Ahead of the Tiananmen Square protest anniversary, the last Commie outpost seems to have pulled out all the stops to curb discussion, conversation and dissent. We truly live in an absurd world where the power of money has resulted in the free world pretending to be friends and sleeping with a regime which is as bad, if not worse than those in Burma, North Korea and some of those despicable regimes in Africa that China patronizes. 4 years ago living in Shanghai I was increasingly frustrated at the lack of any stimuli or news from the outside world other than meaningless American baseball reports and a few side clips on tennis. Politics was mostly rubbish and business news was propoganda about how the Chinese behemoth was advancing.

4 years hence things seem to have gotten worse. Tibet has been crushed in a systematic way...cultural genocide at it's best. Free speech is almost impossible and money and a better standard of life is being offered with one hand and liberty, freedom and self-discovery has been brutally snatched with the other. Nothing suggests that this trend will change soon, if ever. But then no one imagined the collapse of Communism in Europe in the spectacular fashion it did happen so one can only hope that sooner rather than later, the Chinese people will take matters into their own hands. But nothing right now suggests that to be so. Till then, I will continue reading about Tibetan culture and spirituality and hope one day I can discuss these things with Tibetans in Tibet. In my lifetime...? Perhaps...perhaps not.

How not to matter

I was waiting for my daily dose of Asia business news this morning on the BBC and right after, there came a story on the elections in India. This news clip's focus was on interviewing the Hurriyat conference leader Mirwaiz Omar Farooq. From previous debates and discussions on Kashmir that I have seen, I remembered the Hurriyat as an incendiary, unreasonable and mostly illogical group, given to chest beating and nay saying more than anything else. And this short interview with this Mirwaiz fellow was no different.

His spectacular demands and opinions included:

- Discussion on independence of Kashmir with India Kashmir and Pakistan.
- Debate and decision on independence of Kashmir to be decided by Kashmir and Pakistan (quickly corrected to Kashmiris)
- Allegation that elections in Kashmir are rigged since according to this chap the "Indian army counts votes". ( Hmmm...maybe he hasn't heard of electronic voting machines the poor fellow.)

Initially, this misguided chap mouthing his party's stance angered and puzzled me. But as I thought about it on my drive into work, I realised that he was also not completely dumb. The Hurriyat was formed on the basis of seeking independence for Kashmir. However, "independence"really means integration with Pakistan. I don't know now how many Kashmiris and indeed separatists want to integrate with Pakistan! So now Mirwaiz and his ilk are drumming for self determination and choose not to test their own standing in India's general election, instead choosing to use the almost comical reason that elections are rigged. The entire free world looks at the Indian election process as free and fair but of course its not good enough for our dear secessionists, separatists or whatever it is they call themselves today.

This of course comes back to the old problem of how this all started in the first place. After much reading and cross referencing I have arrived at a few simple conclusions. I may not know all the facts but basically:

- Jinnah and his cronies wanted Kashmir to be part of Pakistan. Why? Because they were a muslim majority state. Someone should have tapped him on the shoulder then and told him that creating a nation based on such an idiotic ideology would only lead to disaster. I believe Gandhi tried but obviously failed (but he failed because creating Pakistan wasn't at all about a separate homeland for Muslims. It is clear for anyone who cares to look closely now that it was more about a slighted Jinnah wanting to leave his legacy on the world. Why else would a pork eating, whiskey loving atheist demand a separate homeland for Muslims?)
- When the Hindu King of Kashmir wasn't sure about joining forces with the newly formed Islamic state, the Islamic state sent in about 40,000 irregular pathan goons into Kashmir to foment trouble and to try and annexe Kashmir
- When this tactic was seen, the King went to among other folks Nehru and requested Indian assistance to repel these goons. The condition put forward (and conveyed by Krishna Menon) was to sign the accession document to India and India would then be able to intervene
- The King signed, Indian troops went in, the goons were thwarted and the Indian army was reclaiming the land occupied by the goons. However, this is when Nehru made one of his legendary mistakes: he went to the UN to seek mediation instead of allowing the army to do its job. The UN came, decided on a plebiscite but troop withdrawals on both sides were not adhered to and hence the plebiscite was never held
- Status quo seemed to hold for a while with even elections happening in Kashmir and then in 1965 came Operation Gibraltar.

Of course post 1965, things really go to hell and breakfast. There are massacres, vote rigging by India, more massacres of muslims and hindus, incursions and then in 1989, militancy is born, funded by Pakistan and this continues to go on despite all of Pakistan's platitudes. The Lashkar e Toiba has as recently as last month issued a "warning" to all people in Kashmir that suicide bombings would be conducted if Kashmiris voted in Indian elections.

All this is grist for the mill. The bottom line is this: there is no point revisiting 1947, 1965 or 1778 or whatever date when whatever atrocity or injustice occurred. This Mirwaiz wallah and his minions are living about 2 decades back and are unable to realise how the world has changed since, especially post 9/11. While there may have been sympathy for Islamic secessionist movements before, it is fast drying up today. The solution for these guys to be heard is to participate in whatever available democratic processes there are and then raise issues about injustices. However, it is far easier to sit in a house in Kashmir or Srinagar, fuming and fulminating about injustices to the BBC than it is to actually draw up an election manifesto, fight elections and win the trust of people by creating jobs, developing the local economy through sound public policy initiatives. Instead, what our dear ewe lamb Mirwaiz is insisting upon is "talks with India and Pakistan" to resolve the "Kashmir issue". Yes, yes let us sit on the same table with Osama's minions and the greasy Zardari and talk about how all girls' schools in Kashmir can be destroyed. The BBC reporter interviewing this gent was at his sardonic British best, resulting in much squirming on the part of Mirwaiz. Such fun.

To conclude this post at least, sadly there is no doubt that Pakistan must be involved in reaching some consensus about Kashmir. But that possibility has been put back by years after Mumbai. Even if Mumbai didn't happen, I think India and the world have many more things (nukes, Taliban, more insurgents etc) to be concerned about first with regards to Pakistan than the plight of the poor Kashmiris who have become nothing but victims of a cruel circumstance, almost exclusively not of their own making. So long as the Mirwaizs of this world are given importance and Kashmir looked at through the lens of being an Islamic society, things will never be resolved. Only if religion is taken out of this equation can Kashmir truly be solved but sadly a state that is founded (by an atheist!) on this very basis cannot well set that aside and more importantly, the guardians of Kashmiri people who believe Kashmiris are Muslims first and Kashmiris second have only doomed themselves and their people to a lifetime of hardship and uncertainty.

I realize also that people may have varying opinions on what I have written, some may be enraged, some may differ in their view. I just want to make it explicit that this is not about Muslims in Kashmir nor is it about Pakistan - baiting. Faults if we want to apportion them will I am sure be apportioned across the board. I am all for finding a solution and I sadly do not see a solution materialising when there are the likes of the Hurriyat who claim to represent aspirations of a people without in any way, earning legitimacy to that claim.

Salute!

Republic Day is another one of the many Indian public holidays which hold no significance anymore...indeed if it ever did. Our constitution was unveiled and India became a republic....there was a big ad in the newspaper that quoted the Preamble to the Indian constitution...big words like liberty, freedom, equality & fraternity. So much nonsense when girls are being attacked for drinking a beer andNarendra Modi's Gujarat is corporate India's favourite destination (how could Ratan Tata share the same podium as Modi? It still rankles) but that isn't the half of it.

Remember this? : (from Amit Varma's India Uncut)

She allegedly protected her brother from murder charges, and mismanaged a cooperative bank she controlled by cancelling loans taken by her relatives.

Reading the above you'd think this is the story of R. Raju's close associate but you would be wrong. This is much bigger and better than any corporate scam. That above excerpt was about none other than our dearly beloved first ever woman President of India! The most disturbing image I have seen in recent times was not the Israeli massacres in Gaza nor of the Taliban whipping people in Pakistan nor even of young girls being roughed up in Mangalore but of Pratibha Patil saluting the armed parade on Republic Day. Can irony get any more bitter?

Read Amit Varma's commentary on our honourable President here

At least I still live in a country where I can publish such posts...if I was in Beijing or Peshawar I'd probably be fertilizer by now. Small mercies I guess...

Just say "no" ?

"New Delhi: Condom and safe sex terms that will find no mention in the new sex education module being devised for school students in India. It will instead stress on abstinence, the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) announced Monday.

NACO director-general Sujatha Rao said the module would be adopted after intensive consultations with all partners, including parents and teachers.

"There will be no mention of condom or safe sex in the revised module life-skill education programme. But we will be focussing on the aspirations of the youngsters and will also talk about being faithful to one's partner and abstinence There should be no hypocrisy on the subject," Rao told journalists at a meet on Response to HIV/AIDS: Forging Partnership with the Media.

The decision to introduce sex education in India's schools was aimed primarily at creating awareness about HIV/AIDS since 2.5 million people in the country suffer from the disease. However, the module created a furore.

One of the main objections was a flip chart prepared for teachers jointly by the UN Children's Fund (Unicef) and the government-controlled NACO.

Educationists themselves turned against the programme and after states like Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, UP, Kerala and Karnataka banned it, NACO formed a committee last year to make a new module."

Continue reading...

The doublespeak and hypocrisy continue unabated. As someone who works on the periphery of Education in India, this is representative of the challenges facing educators and progressive elements in the sector. How can progressive stances be adopted at a policy level when, like any other issue, Education is used as a pawn in political games? This is teeth gnashing stuff right here...and at times, fills me with a faint dread that in the game of helping our kids be smarter, more productive citizens, we are failing and badly on a mass scale; while isolated "experimental" schools continue to push the boundaries of education to create even brighter children increasing the intellectual inequity that already plagues Indian society. The intellectual divide will only spawn a larger, more dangerous wealth divide and the circle continues. I really wonder sometimes if hope does spring eternal...

Kick It

In Singapore over the weekend, I went to a trendy bar with the gang and didn't come out smelling, tasting and feeling like a charred ash tray after an all night house party. I felt normal; no distant sensation of aching chest and my breath was as it should be, no mild gasping on the long, brisk walk over a few blocks for coffee after.

Smoking is prohibited across most bars, restaurants and cafés in Singapore. And as a result, not even the smokers carry cigarettes with them. Every time we went out I never got a whiff of cigarette smoke and I felt much the better for it. I am all for personal freedom and liberty and all that what; but maybe this smoking ban does serve a purpose after all. I now dread the thought of walking into Tavern on a Saturday night or Koshy's on a Sunday afternoon...

Built to last

In our current elitist, educated circles, talk often revolves around or touches upon occurrences, practices, characteristics and popular culture in the United States. In our insulated, supposedly cosmopolitan lifestyles, we lap up American television shows, movies, music, magazines, fashion, food and more recently it's politics too. All exclusively the pastime of the classes. When I returned to India almost to the day today 3 years ago, there was a distinct change in consumption patterns with regards to America and all things American.

Consumption of many things American among the classes had increased several fold, thanks to India opening up more of its markets, globalisation etcetera but also because the classes seemed to lap up so many things American. However, I also noticed a curious dichotomy at work. People around me were consuming all things American but were also deriding many aspects of the culture and the values that created those things that were being consumed. I commonly found myself in the midst of discussions where American culture was seen as shallow, American tastes viewed as crass, American people talked about as lacking a world view and being misinformed about pretty much all aspects of life outside their little town tucked away in the Midwest.

I found that opinion of the country was and is being shaped purely in light of popular media reporting (and like most media reporting sensationalist) and by some aspects of its foreign policy. I was recently also privy to an ugly argument between a friend and another acquaintance on the merits / demerits of living in America where one had an obviously anti America stance but this was to me merely an illustrative example of the popular sentiment that existed among my demographic. Many of the values that America was built on and till today upholds were being lost in what I feel is a silent frenzy whipped up by Anti American sentiment prevailing in many countries.

While America is not without her share of faults, misdemeanors and skeletons, we must not allow these to blind us to her overwhelmingly positive traits. Thinking about this same issue recently, I realized that to me, America is the single most enduring institution ever created in the history of humankind. An institution is born on a certain set of ideals commonly decided and then goes on to thrive if those ideals are strong enough and are based on positive values.

In 1776, a document was created which among other things proclaimed, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

These words resonate till today as the basis for this institution we know as America. I personally know of scores of friends who went to the States and were successful not because they belonged to a particular caste or race or colour, not because they spoke a particular language or subscribed to a certain political or religious view; they succeeded because they subscribed to a certain set of values which included hard work, freedom and acceptance of an egalitarian society. And there are millions more like them. We who berate so many things American would do well to take a step back and examine why it is that this institution continues to thrive and why its citizens continue to be the torch bearers leading us down tunnels as yet unexplored.

A close friend & American sent me a speech recently: Ronald Reagan's address after 8 years as America's President. Describing how he saw America, he said, "In my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it and see it still."

We could all do well by adopting some of this remarkable experiment's ideals and values. A Republican President said those words above and once again, despite popular perception it might just be that possibly, another Republican will give this institution its best chance to shrug off the slack, jettison unneeded baggage and start afresh in taking its place as that "shining city on a hill". But that's a story for another day.

Bollywood 1 Economist 0

Most people who have some Indian connection would have either seen Lagaan or at the least, have heard some of the melodious tunes composed for the movie, not to mention the graceful dances only Bollywood can conjure.

VJ & I were discussing how, despite all the rhetoric, Indians are pretty oblivious to religion in most aspects of our pop culture. I then proceeded to name a remarkable list of "most favourites" in Bollywood & Cricket: actors, musicians & players. Inevitably, Lagaan came up as a name and here is where VJ pointed out something interesting:

One of my favourite songs in Lagaan is "Radha kaise na jale" which translated means "how can Radha not be jealous". The song is a reference to Radha, the consort of Krishna: one of the most famous figures in Hindu mythology and the central figure of the Hindus' most revered of books, the Bhagavad Gita. The song incorporates a well known and liked theme in Hindu mythology: Radha admonishing Krishna for his alleged flirtations with other girls (Krishna being somebody much in demand by the nubile nymphets in those days). In the song, Krishna goes onto rebuff these allegations by saying that, even when he meets attractive princesses, his heart only thinks of and sings for Radha. The point here of course is not to debate whether Krishna actually was telling the truth but to examine this song a little more. Its easily one of my favourite movies and one of my favourite Bollywood songs: as much for its melody as for the lyrics of the song and the fantastic choreography and dancing, all depicting a naughty Krishna and a besotted but angry Radha.

The credits for the song are as follows:

Depicting Krishna in the song: Aamir Khan
Choreographer: Saroj Khan
Music Composer: A. R Rahman
Lyricist: Javed Akhtar

Care to guess what they all have in common?

As much as the Economist blares its alarmist horn (and the magazine is becoming increasingly and irritatingly strident in recent times), India is still a free country and a place where religion only raises its (sometimes ugly) head when politicians or terrorists poke it the wrong way. And obscene generalizations like the ones made in this article "It is not known what role India's 150m Muslims, who include 40% of Hyderabad's population, play in the violence. Probably a supporting one at most. But that could change. India's Muslims have long suffered politically inspired communal violence and casual discrimination. Were they ever to become seriously riled, India would have a problem indeed" only serve to highlight how out of touch even this standard of journalism is with the reality on the ground.

Gujarat of course was a crime that can never be excused or explained but please let us not claim only Muslims are discriminated against or only Muslims are singled out for unfair treatment in India. I am dark skinned and I get discriminated against in this country. If I am a dalit I get discriminated. If I am a sub caste within a caste, I get discriminated. If I have a surname "Mehta" in Karnataka, I get discriminated against. But hey I haven't become a terrorist. Nor have the millions of dalits and shudras and the thousands of other "lower castes". So I'm not really sure wtf the Economist is trying to say here by fingering 150 million people as potential terrorists. Indian history and culture is replete with central figures who are Muslim. India wouldn't be half the country it is today if we were to take away some of the Indian Muslims from the landscape or if we were to show scant respect for Muslims outside our borders even. Can we even begin to contemplate cricket without Azhar or Saeed Anwar or Bollywood without Aamir Khan or music without Zakir Hussain?

Indian society today has intertwined people and religion to the nth degree, so much so that a Muslim prancing about as the Hindus' most revered and worshipped of Gods, mouthing a tune composed by 2 other Muslims is not just accepted but universally applauded and sung across the country. And it was important for me, as an Indian to refresh that particular discussion about "Radha kaise na jale" because therein lies the ultimate truth really.

Plausibly deniable but...

Caste systems are traditional, hereditary systems of social restriction and social stratification, enforced by law or common practice, based on endogamy, occupation, economic status, race, ethnicity.

In August last year I spent 6 weeks in Gujarat. I blogged extensively about those experiences and I will revisit them to reflect on the year gone by since my time there. Given a more resolute will, I would have stayed back and continued to work there indefinitely: such is the pull of the people who continue to create change there. I met several ordinary people who were anything but.

One who I didn't meet then I got to meet last evening. Stalin K heads an organization called Drishti Media. They believe "with a firm faith in the ability of video, theatre, radio, other media and the arts to contribute to struggles for a just, humane and peaceful society." Two of his movies on untouchability and the caste system in India have been shot in association with Navsarjan.

Last evening, I saw a screening of his 2nd movie on the caste system in India titled "India Untouched - stories of a people apart". You can read a little about the movie here.

I have a copy of the movie and I hope to screen it for as many people as possible and make as many copies of the film as I can for those who might want it. Like "An Inconvenient Truth", this film too is one that needs to be shown and seen. Unlike climate change however, the solutions for addressing issues spoken about here are far easier to adopt and yet, will be far more difficult to confront for an India where an egalitarian society is unthinkable, where dignity of labour is unheard of and prejudices continue to thrive in the most upper class and educated of households and institutions. But watching this film could be a start. Engaging in a discussion with the Director after the movie, he says "I don't know if I'm a film maker or an activist first...and I try not to draw that line". We can be whatever we choose to be to earn a living and yet, we can also be an "activist". But I think realistically, lets sensitize to the problems first. If you're in India and want the film, let me know. If you're outside India and want the film, let me know as well and we'll figure a way so I can get it to you.

PS - Quite a contrast from the movie I saw on Sunday night what! heh.

Woman Power

India truly is a democracy in every sense of the word. Truly I am proud. Otherwise, how else would this be possible? In a true democracy, almost anyone has the chance to become President no? Well...OK I said "almost" didn't I? Amit Varma agrees and evidences too.

Taking what you get

I am no guru but I have spent a fair amount of time in my professional life talking to companies in India & Western Europe on issues of corporate responsibility, sustainability and their perception on what a company's role can & should be when it comes to engaging with the community in which they operate.

I've come across varying opinions; some inspiring, some practical & some appalling. One common thread across all these meetings & conversations has been the fact that the companies that are serious about sustainability have the right frameworks, talented & passionate people heading these initiatives and most importantly the complete backing of management & resources to carry out engagement programs.

The Tata Group & Godrej Industries made a huge impression on me very early on. As an 18 year old AIESEC member, one would hear stories of how Ratan Tata knew more about AIESEC than we ourselves did or how Adi Godrej's door was always open for AIESEC to meet for assistance or consultation. Usually, these stories rarely bear themselves out but 3 years later, meeting these two gents and seeing for myself repeatedly that the tales were actually true made me a believer that it was possible to be ethical, socially conscious, philantrophic & still do enough to keep your shareholders happy. Indeed the characteristics I just mentioned became as important to these shareholders as profit did. Astounding. This was my first interaction & exposure to how a company viewed the now threadbare acronym that is CSR.

Just as well because I always revert to those experiences when cynicism takes over in the present day. Having interacted with several companies recently its equally astounding to see the callousness with which engaging with the community is viewed. At best, engagement is sought but on terms that would be unacceptable in a commercial agreement; at worst it is a completely public relations driven effort, short term and without any overall strategic objective. I have always believed that engaging with the community in which any company operates should be one of the most important strategic goals. Creating an ethical & socially aware brand only leads to brighter people wanting to join or stay longer with the organization. This is the basic premise on which many of AIESEC's corporate partners work, which is why they are so successful in hiring & retaining AIESEC's brightest.

It will take many years before Corporate India & indeed global corporations reach this stage of thought and until then we'll just have to grin & bear it because the reality that money does grow on trees requires a leap of imagination we aren't yet ready to make.

With us or against us

Getting into work this morning I noticed a curious sticker on the back of a car. From a distance it appeared like the word "Jesus" emblazoned in the tricolours (Indian flag colours of green, white and saffron). On getting closer to the car, I saw two stickers on the back, one below the other:

" Exposure to the SON may prevent burning" - the word burning was in italics and in bold red

"There is no history without Jesus, AD or BC"

I guess for every 10 radical Islamists, for every 5 trident totting saffron clad "Hindus", there also has to be 1 hungover crusader too it would seem.

There are several things I can extrapolate from these 2 stickers: blind faith, forced conversions, fake evangelists (is there something like a real one?), rallies and crowds and congregations all of which pretty much add up to one big naught. Organized religion & its preachings lose meaning for me with each passing day.

Rare

I recently saw what I think is one of the most influential (for me) 2 hours of audio visual footage. Joan Baez, Martin Luther King Jr., Woody Guthrie & Johnny Cash serve but to accentuate the genius that will forever be Bob Dylan.

No Direction Home is a treasure I shall gift to the people who I think will see it the same way I did, to those in need of or seeking inspiration, to impressionable young minds, to anyone wanting to learn about how they could probably lead their lives.

There are many, many recountable scenes & moments from the film. One of them that struck me was a photograph (black & white of course) of a very young Dylan (probably around 25 years or so) standing next to a poster as tall as himself, that said "Fight against the rising tide of conformity"

He saw it back then...before most people did. Most people actually still don't. Watch the film.

Who's to say?

Most often, I eat lunch at a nearby south Indian fast food outlet which is 5 minutes away from my office. The road leading to it takes me through slums and narrow winding roads. I spend about Rs. 20 on average for my meal (50 eurocents). The restaurant is small, clean and with no seating space. One buys their food ala McDonalds and stands their plates on granite platforms lining the sides of the walls, quickly runs through the meal and leaves. The interior of the restaurant is kept spotless and clean; plates are removed as fast as they are emptied, spots of curry or bits of food are mopped up instantly and glasses are disposed into plastic trays and taken to the wash. Its a great place to eat for a quick & clean meal...cheap & tasty.

But off late I have begun to enjoy the food less. Plates, spills and glasses are wiped, picked up and removed by 2 or 3 young boys ostensibly "working" in the restaurant. The boys can't be more than 14 years old. They aren't legally allowed to work which makes things worse for them. Going by what usually happens, they must be kids brought in from a town in one of the outlying districts of Karnataka state, sent by their parents to earn some income. They would get a place to sleep at night (usually the same floor on which I stand and eat my lunch), they would get 3 meals and any income they would earn would be sent directly to their parents. These kids would almost never pick up a cricket bat on the streets, wouldn't know the meaning of a holiday.

There's many questions here: Where do you stop enforcing your moral standards and temper it with practicality? I feel increasingly uneasy eating as the kid goes about his bleak existence. Because I don't go up to the manager and speak on this issue, am I just another of the herd...going about my life without living the values I claim to work for? Or am I just being practical in accepting the sad yet ultimate truth that we can't change the world. Or am I just reverting to my elitist roots, metaphorically rolling up my car window and driving on whilst nodding my head in sympathy at the sad state of affairs that exist today...forgetting about them the moment I am in my favourite coffee house?

Is there a right answer? Or for that matter, is there even a right question? As hard as I try to distance myself from the work I do, its a struggle at the best of times. How this struggle manifests itself in my daily life, I shall write separately. For now I don't feel so good about that lunch I just had because a spoonful of helplessness is the most bitter of tonics to swallow.

Then, who?

Last week I changed all the light bulbs in my house. I discarded the incadescent yellow light emitting ones and replaced them with white compact fluroscent lights or CFLs. I then went on to tell my Mom that we've just reduced our carbon footprint a little bit.

Cut to another scene, there is a water crisis of gargantuan proportions looming over the city of Bangalore. With 9 million people and growing, there simply isn't any water to go around, or if there is corruption is seeing to it that people pay 3 - 5 times the normal amount they would for it.

Conservation of resources and preservation of the environment are two behavioural characteristics closely tied to each other I think. Those who understand it...well understand it. Those who don't, don't seem to really apply much thought to it. Nobody likes being preached at and hence for those few beacons of hope that are out there are shut out or laughed at or have a now common phrase thrown at them, " But there isn't enough science to support your theory". Ludicrous of course....friends of mine actually believe in this rubbish or even if they see what is happening to our natural resources, aren't worried enough so long as you open the tap and have water flowing or flip the switch and there's light.

This brings me back to a basic premise of being a responsible citizen, not just of your community or locality but of the entire planet. Once we internalize this concept, we allow room for change. I keep saying that its not about awakening any latent change agent characteristics...you can't go around expecting people to wake up and do volunteer work or save the whales. The only thing that can be done is to provide easy access to information and hope that people will eventually become more sensitized to these pressing issues. Once people are sensitized, its amazing the things they do. But till such time I can only sit back, read how a 100 countries came together, all agreed climate change is real and went back home...meanwhile the lightbulbs burn bright all over Bangalore and commercial renewable energy is but a distant dream and hundreds of thousands of people go without potable water and electricity in one of the world's biggest technology hubs.

Irony likes its jokes cruel.

Rewind

This might as well turn into a music blog. I was sent this song by a friend and the lyrics brought a big smile to my face and a knowing nod...I keep saying that I was born twenty years too late....here's another validation of that belief (minus the flowers of course)

From "Wish I was a punk rocker..." by Sandi Thom

Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair
In 77 and 69 revolution was in the air
I was born too late and to a world that doesn't care
Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair

When the head of state didn't play guitar,
Not everybody drove a car,
When music really mattered and when radio was king,
When accountants didn't have control
And the media couldn't buy your soul
And computers were still scary and we didn't know everything

When popstars still remained a myth
And ignorance could still be bliss
And when God Saved the Queen she turned a whiter shade of pale
When my mom and dad were in their teens
and anarchy was still a dream
and the only way to stay in touch was a letter in the mail

When record shops were on top
and vinyl was all that they stocked
and the super info highway was still drifting out in space
kids were wearing hand me downs,
and playing games meant kick arounds
and footballers still had long hair and dirt across their face

I was born too late to a world that doesn't care
Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair

We are like this only

My Government is totally against imparting sex education. The Government is against aping Western culture in the school syllabus. Sex education does not go well with our country's culture and traditions

And since I hadn't ground my teeth in frustration for a couple of days, our beloved, charismatic & iconic Chief Minister Mr. H.D Kumaraswamy had the above to say yesterday as a reaction to the central Government's directive to impart sex education to school children. I didn't vote for the gent mainly because I wasn't in the city then and am not likely to vote for him or the travesty to democracy that his coalition represents, in the future. And if we were to trace back to how the honorable gent came to power, we will see that it really is HIS government and not the people's.

But that's besides the point. Obviously Mr. HDK is oblivious to 1.2 billion people living in the same country he does, not to mention Khajuraho or Bollywood. And of course he doesn't read...I mean the Times of India that is. So we are all children of God and were brought into this world by way of immaculate conceptions or severe "yajnas" (rituals) & penances performed before Agni, Vishnu, Shiva and the hundreds of other Hindu gods. How dare you say we have sex to procreate??! Preposterous...

And interestingly...Mallya Aditi Int'l school ( an ultra chic premier unaffordable-for-most institution) offers sex education as part of an integrated life skills curriculum that includes conflict management, health & hygiene. The divide is only on the increase & I can feel but pity for some poor (literally) kid from a government school who'll contract AIDS because he or she had no idea what a condom was. I think its time to see that "free hugs" video again, dream sweet Netherlands dreams and go to sleep.

Livemint

Is a Wall Street Journal newspaper recently launched in Bombay. Among other things, it carries 2 regular columns which I thoroughly enjoy: "Mobius Strip" by Ramesh Ramanathan & "Thinking it Through" by Amit Varma.

In his latest piece, Amit Varma eloquently echoes a sentiment I keep sharing with anyone who cares to listen: that the Nehru - Gandhi legacy in Indian politics is the prime reason India is about 50 years behind several other Asian nations and about a 100 years behind Western Europe. And the scary bit is it isn't over yet.

Jawaharlal Nehru was one of our foremost freedom fighters, but the freedom he fought for was restricted to the political domain. Once the British had been ousted, he replaced them with a new oppressor: the Indian government. He distrusted free trade, and once famously told JRD Tata that profit was “a dirty word.”...continue reading

What's your number?

I have been an admirer of Janaagraha's work for a while now and like many successful entrepreneurial efforts, this one too is inspired by one person who decided to follow through with his passion & energy. Ramesh Ramanathan pens a regular column in MINT, published in Bombay. His articles always provoke thought and at times ask subliminally uncomfortable questions. Below is his latest as it appeared last week

What is the Number?

One morning, early in my banking career, a business manager publicly chastised a colleague for what seemed like a fairly minor infraction.

“Man, I wish I didn’t have to take this from him. Wish I had enough money to tell him what he could do with his opinion”, Pablo said.

I asked, “How much would be enough? What would the number be for you?”

This got the conversation going among our group of young associates. Chris, the American wanted a million, so that he could get a sports car and a summer home. ‘The number’ was different for each person. Pablo wanted two-and-a-half million, so that he could go back to Ecuador and start his own tennis club – his original passion.

Soon, other senior colleagues got involved and highest value that The Number got to was ten million, with justifications about children, parents and mortgages. By now, the discussion was loud and lively, with a lot of ribbing and day-dreaming, when the head of the trading floor saw the cluster and walked over.

“What’s going on?”, he asked. When told about The Number and what it was at, he said, “Sounds reasonable”, and then added, “I’d say double your numbers, just in case you get divorced”, as he walked away.

That was seventeen years ago. Since then, my own relationship with money has gone through many phases. Eight years ago, my wife and I returned to India to start what a friend called a “no revenue model” phase to our lives, with the security of having made our Number.

Beyond our personal journey, however, what has been extraordinary in these past eight years is watching the changing relationship that Indians are having with money. From a time not too long ago when overt financial aspiration was frowned upon, it seems now that middle-class India is trying to make up for lost time. I suppose this is inevitable - we will become a developed country only when millions of individuals improve their financial position, across the social spectrum. This means the poor become less poor, the middle-class become rich. And a few become extraordinarily wealthy.

There is much work left at the lowest end - evidently, we need to supplement trickle-down with bubble-up economics. However, the middle and upper income brackets seem to be like the Australian cricket team of a few years ago – they just can’t lose. And boy, are the numbers beginning to add up. Last week, Forbes announced that India had more billionaires than Japan – already 36 in number, having a total wealth of more than $191 billion. The financial fever is evident everywhere, from 1 crore salaries for IIM students to freshman design graduates asking for 5-lakh starter pay packages.

When it explodes onto a society’s consciousness, money changes all the old rules of engagement. It becomes an obsession that insinuates itself everywhere. Writers, artists, scientists, spiritual leaders, no one is untouched. It’s like everyone suddenly acquired a personal mental calculator that is constantly whirring away, creating one giant humming sound. I wonder at the pressure this must be placing on people, and how they are coping with it. For instance, in my interactions with senior government officials, I wonder, “How can this person be expected to support liberalisation and private enterprise, change laws so that people can become millionaires, and yet go home with Rs 30,000 a month? Won’t his daughter also want Nike shoes and summer holidays?” It would be naïve to ignore the attendant temptation of corruption, and the moral consequences of the corrosion of character.

This is to be expected. It is impossible not to feel disoriented and unhinged. We are getting knocked off our feet by the onslaught of a new order. I am not suggesting this is all bad, or that we reverse the clock – how could I, given my own comfortable fiscal perch. I do however wish – with little hope - that there can be measured change. Little hope because I recognise that when the people of an impoverished country finally discover economic empowerment, it’s like a dam breaking. We will just have to wait until this thing washes over us for the next few generations.

I think about our country’s historical relationship with wealth – after all, we dominated world trade for centuries – and wonder if we can recollect any subliminal consciousness of this relationship. I sense this often in Indians - most people know that money isn’t everything - but I sense it as a yearning for an old mooring that has been wrenched away. As hard as it is to get on to the financial treadmill, I guess it is equally hard knowing when to get off it. Knowing The Number. After all, even John Rockefeller, the world’s first billionaire and for long the richest man alive, when asked “How much is enough?” replied, “Just a little more.”

Beer's beer, people are people

I just got back from attending a summit in Hyderabad on education & employment issues in several developing economies. It was a first in many ways for me, not least because I hoisted a jar with a Pakistani delegate and also spent a fair amount of time exchanging views with the Pakistani delegation. It was great to see them feel at home in India, talk about how its like any other Pakistani city and how politics is politics but people so similar can & should get along & enjoy sharing culture, food, tradition, music and many other things.

But the beer along with dissecting all the teams & their chances at the world cup was the most fun.

Enough's enough

And for the 2nd time in a short time, another innocent little kid has been mauled to death by stray dogs in Bangalore. I find it unbelievable that this happens within Bangalore city limits. I have personally also experienced the dog menace first hand - on my nightly jogs, very often I am faced with a pack of 3 -4 hungry or just plain mad strays who charge at me only to be warded of because I pick up the nearest thing in sight and really try to hurt the damn mongrels. And believe you me, if I didnt do that I would get bitten.

My solution for this has been consistent with logic and inconsistent with karmic laws, religion and all those poor, bloody misguided animal rights activists and so called ''dog lovers''. Either have enough pounds for the dogs to live out the remainder of their lives in peace, ensure they get adopted by these activist types or exterminate them. If you see a rat in your home, would you (even if you were a crazed animal rights activist) sympathize with the fact and spout slogans saying they have a right to co exist? What rot. You would set a trap or just try to swat the damn rat right there.

I cannot imagine if my little niece or the child of a close friend was to be mauled by a bloody stray animal that was left on the streets because some animal rights activist didn't allow it to be exterminated. I am all for animal rights, I love dogs too but this is pushing it way too far. If animal rights activists still continue to oppose more (drastic?) action such as extermination, then they stand to lose all credibility even amongst libertarians & sympathizers. And what's more they stand to be further marginalized by society as a group of crazed idiots...unless that's what they already are.

Money honey

India's Harvard educated Finance Minister was addressing a massive press conference after presenting the annual budget. Watching him parry & answer questions with the panache only he can garner, one is reminded of a combination of a boxer, a ballet dancer and an arrogant young man (though he's well into his 60's)

Being a South Indian, a funny and common occurence throughout the press conference was when a journalist ostensibly from the North or some such other part of India asked a question in Hindi. Mr. P Chidambaram would lean to his right, get the question translated and then answer in English. What the hapless journalist from say Ranchi or Allahabad comprehended, I am really not too sure but it was funny all the same.

To a question, ''Sir, why don't lawyers fall under the service tax net?'' he smiled and said ''Because no one believes that lawyers render service of any kind!''

Lets go ''shopping''

Ah! I rub my hands with glee for it is approaching that time of year again. Polish your tridents, spears, iron rods, crow bars, cricket bats or hockey sticks; don the saffron bandanas or head bands preferably with ''Om'' on it, stock up your supply of discarded old tyres and diesel oil; don't forget the book of matches and lets go "shopping''. All because it's soon Valentine's Day! I am unsure about the etymology of the verb ''to shop'' but in and around this time in many parts of India, it takes on hues similar to the act of ''working up a frenzy and having a jolly good smash up''

For those unaware of the interpretation of Valentine's Day in India, we like to celebrate what the day symbolises (i.e. - love, courtship & romance) by getting out onto the streets of our cities in frenzied mobs & smashing up shops, restaurants, bars who have the audacity to decorate their surroundings with despicable & immoral artefacts including cute pink hearts, heart shaped candy, cuddly soft toys & cards with warm expressions of love. And no, hanging pictures of Dr. Raj on your shop fronts won't help either. Although a garlanded life size cutout of Bal Thackeray, L.K Advani, Narendra Modi and a few of the RSS- Bajrang Dal chappies with tridents might hold you in good stead. Oh lotus flowers might help too. Valentine's Day here we come!