Gateway Experience 2: My Rants

December 4, 2008 8 Comments

[Warning: Long Post]

I have a variety of mixed emotions as a landmark day in the history of Mumbai, and India comes to an end. During the day, I did my bit to spread the word of the event around. I sent out mails, twitters, facebook status messages, etc.  While I was doing it, I was not sure what the impact would be. I was expecting a large number of people. But my definition of large was a few thousand people. But the day turned out to be something else.

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This Sunday, Gullu and Shivani had come over. Despite Shivani being -x days into her due date for delivery (they had a beautiful baby girl the night before gateway), our topic was largely around the state of affairs and what “we” can do. We also agreed, like probably thousands of other people across the city, that the time to stay silent was passe. It was high time we did something. After a lot of debates and discussions, the only thing we left the day with was that if nothing else, we need to show that we are alive, awake and together. That we are in it together, and we are ready to fight this time. We may not have the final solution yet, but we need to show that we all are collectively thinking about it, and that we cannot be taken for granted. That day, I started writing a mail to Amit Varma, Prem Panicker, Ideasmith, Patrick, Greatbong, Kuffir, Sakshi Juneja, and several other prominent bloggers. The mail was around organizing a daily 1 hour silent protest at the gateway. To start a movement that does not die down after one candle vigil, one silent march, one round of slogan shouting. A movement that goes on till we get an answer. That mail is still saved in my drafts folder. 

You may ask – why did I not send it? Because when I logged on to facebook, I noticed that there already are several protests that go on till the next week. Every day. The social media that I would have talked to, was already spreading the word around, but in an unorganized way. And it works fine for me. I am not one of those leader guys who can initiate a lot of these, unless pushed to the wall (at least not anymore). And I did not need to. Because my brethren were already doing what I had hoped to. 

Anyways, I have been getting active on twitter for the last few days. And following Prem Panicker, I realized that this rally at Gateway (and India Gate, Delhi) will become big if we all do our bit. And I started reflecting back on my conversation with Gullu. And I did my bit. For many’s surprise, I did not work after 4:30PM 😉

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So, back to the rally.

First reactions – AWESOME! Its like the people are  really reacting and acting. For a change. And not succumbing to the hogwash of “the spirit of Mumbai”.

Second reaction – Damn it. We are here. What next? The good or the bad thing was that there was no agenda. There was lots of anger, hurt and frustration.

Reaction when it was over – overwhelmed, emotional. I haven’t seen something like this happen ever before. The last time I saw the whole country “talk” about the same thing in the same emotion was the Kargil war. And I couldn’t resist a chuckle – This country unites only for cricket or war.

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Reactions now – ?????

Well. I will call the spade a spade. It was a huge turnout. For a change, a lot of people agreed on doing something together. But it was, end of the day, jingoism. Extreme aggressive patriotism. But it was directionless. Who is going to channel this energy? For long will this last? And a lot of frustrated angry thoughts crossed my mind –

1.       Who’s rooting? – In the last 7 days, I haven’t seen a single taxi driver/ auto rickshaw driver being interviewed about how they feel, and whether they are also party to such strong display of anger. Maybe, they need to keep their kitchens active. They don’t have the liberty to be online and plan a revolution. They need to keep earning their meager daily incomes.

2.       Who battle is it anyway? Is it, then, true that this is a battle that the elites are fighting against the polity? Is it true that we are hearing so much uproar because it’s the people who are close to the mouthpiece who are making the most noise? Because South Bombay was hit? Because Ratan lost 500 crores in those 60 hours? Because Shobhaa De was having dinner closeby? And a film director escaped by a whisker? Or a journalist died? Would the uproar be similar if 200 poor people had died in a bomb blast?

3.       Why now? Ideasmith’s tweet read –I bet there were no candlelight vigils for those who died in the #mumbai train blasts last year. I agree. And I wonder if we will have the same number of candle light vigils if a bomb blast happens in Assam or Sikkim. Or Bihar.

4.       Which way are we headed? Prem thinks that the direction will become clearer in due course. Under the leadership of who? Its basic mob psychology that he observed through his tweets during the rally as well. People want answers. They will turn to anyone who is ready to give one.  And it’s a mob. AT some point, the collective wisdom is the minimum of all individual wisdoms, if  it happens to be the loudest one. You need a leader to channelize the force. And what we don’t have right now, for sure, is the faith in any leader.

5.       Leadership? Why did we have only celebrities on the mike? Javed Akhtar? Alyque Padamsee? And the likes? Are they ready to leave the comfort of their day to day life and contest elections for a salary of a 30-40 grands? For that matter, how many of the 1 lakh people are?

6.       Political Change? If I look around, I see that one lampoon will be replaced by another one. Politics in India will continue to be the farce that it is. To be fair, I think we have brought it upon ourselves by letting them go unquestioned for long. But right now, the reaction against politicians seems to be the collective trying to shirk its responsibility. We brought them to power, by voting or by not voting. And we want them out. Lets wait till the elections, shall we. Or, has someone got a brilliant suggestion somewhere that I missed?

7.       Criteria for Politicians? One brilliant suggestion, which I fully agree with, is to have an age limit on politicians who serve the nation. The reason why firms/ departments don’t allow people to work beyond the age of 60, because you are considered a spent force by then. You start losing your mental and physical agility, and you are, thus, not the best candidate for running a ship. How come we trust the nation in the hands of people who probably won’t survive one tight slap from a fit 20-something guy. Agreed. What else? Criminal records? A mix of written, oral examinations, inter-party debates at local/regional level, followed by voting? Scores and everything shared with people? I will come back to this separately in another post.

8.       We’ll boycott! Let’s go 49-0 -? I mean, c’mon guys. If all of us go and vote for no-one, the elections will be considered void. What happens then? Re-election. New candidates? Do we again vote for no-one? What happens then? How do we pay for so many elections?

9.       Through our taxes?  I forgot! We are withholding our taxes. How, if I may ask? How many corporate, HR and accounts department guys are ready to pledge that their companies will stop depositing advance taxes? Or, are we talking about the billions that are anyways not paid as taxes by the big guys? Or, are we talking about the taxes that should have been paid for the billions that our politicians hold in Swiss bank accounts? And do we just stop paying? Or keep it somewhere? Who’s keeping accounts?

10.   Anti Terrorism Fund? And where does this money go? In some anti-terrorism fund? Who handles that money? Who is the signatory? On what basis? This is a leaderless and faceless revolution anyway, right?

11.   Is this an opportunity? Bloody hell, this is! But I am still clueless on what next? Is it my fault that I cant help but think in a linear way. A leads to B leads to C. But here, the gateway is leading to another event at gateway. Gradually, the queues will start fading as the mundanities of day-to-day life set in. People need to earn their wages. Thousands of salaried people like me who must go to their jobs every day. Thousands of cabbies, vada pao sellers who must go back and earn their daily living. And thousands of students, who during the election month, must be preparing for their exams. And needless to say, that’s the fatalist in me talking.

 

There is another optimist in me, who does not care where it started, for whom it has meant a lot, for whom it has not, for what end are we doing, and how are we going to do it. THAT me believes that we will see change. Much before Obama made it his brand slogan, change was the only constant thing in life. But this time, we are talking about that point where a quantum change sets in.

Someday, we shall remember this day as the day the Kshatriyas of modern society were attacked, and that they took the war to the enemy. Someday, we shall remember this day as the day when the battle of a class became the battle of a nation, as the suppressed sentiments from three decades of tolerance give way to the enraged battle cries. Someday, we shall all look back, and say – Huh, so this is how it started!

 

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Gateway Experience 1: A friend’s narration

December 3, 2008 4 Comments

This is what a friend wrote after coming back from the Gateway rally. And I think its definitely worth a read

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Just back from the show of strength at Gateway (not that I intended to go but happy that I happened to be there)

While we will know the number of people who assembled to show solidarity and demand explanation from media reports tomorrow, I would be surprised if the number is less than 25,000. College kids (both genders) stole the show but suede white collar workers and people on the wrong side of 50’s also made their presence felt. It took us a good 45 minutes to walk through a distance of 200 m. And I thought why should I care just because some smart asses in the media are trying to create hype to fill their pages and timeslots !!!!!!!

When I first saw the crowd I though it was a recipe for disaster. Too many people packed in a narrow lane with no directions (or anyone to direct…remember this was not an organized event but people gathering because someone forwarded them a sms or an email) and fire in their hands (relax, its candles). But wrong I was once again. People walked in orderly fashion, held hands and gave way to elderly. I never thought women could be so vociferous and men so creative with their slogans and placards. 

If you are thinking that it a typical throng gathering for a netaji zindabad rally, a performance by a Bollywood star or a game of cricket, you cannot be further from the truth. For a change people gathered against the politicians and shake hands of the otherwise ordinary policemen / military / firemen. A glance at the mass of people and you could feel chalta hai is chalta hai no more.  

I am smelling like a pig and my shoes and trousers are all soiled but I am feeling quite good none the less. I thought the country was going to the dogs, but wrong I was once again. 

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Are you ready for it NOW? Protest Against Inaction…

December 3, 2008 1 Comment

As a lot of you might be aware, there is a protest rally today at the Gateway (6PM). There is a similar rally at Delhi (India Gate, 6PM) as well. However, unlike the yores of yesteryears, we do no want this protest to die after a rally or two. We want to pursue this. Maybe it takes an accident for us to realize what we have done wrong, but we as responsible citizens of this country, need to be responsible for the country as well. 

There is a group of people that have taken the lead in this movement, starting with the rally today. It will be a form of civil disobedience movement. Check out the draft of the manifesto here –  http://www.scribd.com/doc/8620255/Draft-Manifesto

The idea is to hit with the two things that we can hit with – our votes. and our money. Versions of this manifesto will be released at the New Delhi and Mumbai rallies today. The group needs a lot of support in organizing this and carrying the momentum forward. Lets not forget that tomorrow might be the same as yesterday, if we do not act today. 

If you can help organize things in your city, drop a note immediately, and I will put you in touch… 

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News Roundup (02-Dec-08).. Mumbai Aftermath

December 2, 2008 Leave a comment

link here 

Indian public beating Ajmal Qasab – the only terrorist to survive. This seems like one of the first user generated videos on the web…

In another news, India has asked Pakistan to hand over Dawood Ibrahim and Maulana Masood Azhar.

Emphasising that Pakistan must act on the promises made earlier not to allow the territory under its control for any terrorist activities against India, New Delhi also asked Islamabad to ban Jamaat-ud-Dawa, political outfit of Lashkar-e-Toiba, and arrest its leaders.

Needless to say, Pakistan government has agreed to it, and the world is going to live happily ever after. Following suit, Barrack Obama has decided to ask Pakistan to hand over Osama Bin Laden as well, while demolishing the Al-Qaeda outfits.

Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir summoned Indian High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal in Islamabad to give a “response” to the Indian demarche, rejecting New Delhi’s contention.

Ministry of External Affairs had summoned High Commissioner Shahid Malik in New Delhi to issue a demarche (protest note) for Pakistan’s failure to fulfil its commitment of curbing terrorism emanating from that country.

I love this. Such educated ways of dealing with terrorism. I say sir, we all follow suit. Lets issue a demarche by summoning the chief of Lashkar as well.

And today’s dose of terrorism has this to add –

1. Assam blasts – 3 dead, 30 injured.

2. 23 tonnes of explosives hijacked by maoists

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Beautiful Suggestion.. to honor the commandos

December 1, 2008 1 Comment

I vote for Krish Ashok’s suggestion –

A small request to the Taj hotel management. How about a one-week, all-expenses-paid vacation for these guys at your hotel? This was about the only time they could have afforded to sit in your reception

Do you?

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Awesome Video… Pakistani Media lambasting Indian Army

December 1, 2008 3 Comments

http://www.hotklix.com/?ref=content/152704

I had to post this!! this is some stuff…  I mean.. I have finally realized that people across the globe have the knack of picking the biggest lampoons for media and parliamentarian roles

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Mumbai.. the story isn’t over yet.. is it?

December 1, 2008 2 Comments

Having been fed news for what feels like an eternity, I am, I must say, numb.   Several people have checked on me. Several people I have checked on. Several people feel the anguish and want to do something. Nobody knows what to do. There are lots of opinions and great analysis in the air. Still higher is the amount of cynicism around whether the government and our security apparatus will wake up to this. I have my own share of views and opinions about what will work and what will not. But while thinking about all this, I realized one thing. I DON’T HAVE A SOLUTION. I can opine. Like Amit Varma, GreatBong, Arzan, NehaVish, gauravonomics, Prem, and so many others who are showing emotions  ranging from wisdom, anger, anguish, fear, dejection, sadness, fear, disillusionment, cynicism, hopelessness, pathos, terror, rage, hatred, … and I run out of adjectives that describe the dark side of humanity. They are all talking about this. Zigzackly was seen trying to help. Gaurav has been talking about the impact of social media in real time journalism. Talking about flaws, faults, faulty parties, how it hurts, how something needs to be done. Some people were ripping apart Farooque Shaikh, Rahul Bose, et al for their retarded opinions. And in the process giving their own opinion. Why do we think our rage is more rational than someone else’s? Why is it that we have the liberty to blabber, when those don’t? Will this opining make a difference? Being a commoner, stuck inside my apartment/office, typing furiously at a keyboard, mobilizing public opinion, voicing my dissent and concern, are any of these going to make even a mole of a difference? 150+ people have died. Will my opining bring even one of them back? Will my thinking of tomorrow with a lot of cynicism help? I doubt so. Will my participating in a rally, or lighting candles on ibnlive help? Will my sitting silent, and not doing any of this help?

I have already joined a few “condemn the attacks”, salute the brave, mumbai’s spirit kinda groups on facebook. I saw the protest rally at Nariman Point yesterday. I am already expressing solidarity to the causes. And I don’t feel confident that if this happens again tomorrow, our system will be ready to handle this. I am looking for someone who can tell me that there is a solution. A solution that does not ask me go infiltrate another nation, kill 10 terrorists and 50 innocents there. A solution that does not remind me how intelligence has failed. Especially not when it comes from people who don’t even understand what intelligence is, and how its carried out. A solution that does not tell me that there are better and sophisticated ways of conducting rescue operations, straight from Hollywood movies. Not unless someone tells me how. And has the balls to take the bullet should something go wrong. All this coffee table solution finding, derived from individual incompetence makes me sick now. In my company, we call it Partner talk. The big guys come in, say something without ever thinking how it will be done, and expect a deliverable as quickly as possible. What I need is a method that trains me, and several others to handle such crisis. Because, if we don’t know how, then we are the ones who die. I am fine if there are no heroes out of such incidents, because they took a bullet on, died saving someone else. I, for sure, don’t want this helplessness. The moment it happens, my bosses send out a mail saying that we should work from home till the situation improves. And I comfortably sit in the drawing room devouring as much news as possible, and opining. And nothing happens after that. The last time it happened in Delhi, my sister-in-law, and my wife had gone to Chandni Chowk. I remember how frantically me, bhaiya, Dad, Mom wanted to figure out where they are, and how we can get them back home. Despite the fact that the focal point of the attacks was away from where they were, we did not have any amount of faith on what may happen next. This time, I was frantically looking for friends, and acquaintances. In my 2nd/3rd degree of separation, the count of dead is 5 now. I was personally luckier in Delhi blasts. And the blasts before that. And I have always comforted myself.   And here I am, thinking about what I can do tomorrow, and the day after to make sure that next time this happens, I am prepared for it. Mentally, physically, financially, emotionally. 

… (to be continued) 

 

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Asia Cup Final – one beats eleven

July 7, 2008 5 Comments

Lethal weapon, I must say

It was quite something to watch him demolish the Indian top order. And barring a couple of bad shots (like Raina’s), the credit goes totally to the man of the moment. Did people notice his front wrist action and the way he was turning the ball both ways with an almost similar action? Not even the usual agonizing ways of doosra! But for the fact that the spin-inexperienced Indian side were getting thulped, I loved this young lad’s bowling.

And to classify my last statement, yes- that’s what I think. MSD, Yuvi, Rohit, Raina and Gambhir are all good and nice. But not the best when it comes to playing quality spin bowlers. Indian batsmen of yesteryears, known to belittle the spinners across the globe, where art thou???

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An Eye for An Eye? I want worse!!

May 24, 2008 5 Comments

I prefer not to write when I am very very pissed off. But at times, I still end up writing.

Aarushi (Noida) and Elisabeth Fritzl (Austria) got the worst possible in)human treatment from none other than their own father. And here is another one. Which one is worse – murder of a 14 year old? or 24 years of rape? Neha Vish writes that there is nothing more to it – In sum, a fourteen year old kid is dead, she says. Do I agree? Yes and No! Yes, the conclusion of the moment is that someone suffered.

No, because there are deeper repercussions and realizations associated with these two incidents. Its a criminal idea that many will harbor from now on. People do such things because our law and order gives them hope that they will get away with it. Mahatma Gandhi said – an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind. I say, I don’t want an eye for an eye here. I want something worse, something more horrific. Its a precedent which should not be allowed to repeat itself. Its an attack on the first fundamental right of “living freely”, and the perpetrators of such heinous crime should not be given such simple punishments as a death sentence or life imprisonment. They should be made to go through tortures that scares the daylight out of any living being. These people should be made the toys of sadistic pleasure to be derived by all. The society should be allowed to suggest tortures to be administered on such jerks. They should not just be made aware of their crime and left alone to feel remorseful about it. They should be made to realize the horrors that made someone else live through.

And yes – I am enraged at the thought that people give themselves the liberty to think of such heinous crimes.

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Changing redundancies…

October 20, 2007 2 Comments

We live in a world where redundancies are far too many and far too quick.

Last night, I was at the Mumbai airport, ready to catch a flight to New York, and I was reminded of my first trip to US back in 2004. Back then, I had taken a flight from Delhi. I did not have an iPOD then, I did have a cellphone which I used fairly sparingly. I  had borrowed a Discman from Moron with a few MP3 CDs adding to the weight of my bag.

Back then, people used to reach the airport 3 hours before the flight departure and there used to be chaos reigning everywhere. Now, even 2 hours gives you a 30-45 minute wait at the airport.

Anyway, back then, I had no idea how to kill my time, because Dad had ensured that I don’t have to go through the usual immigration queues. I was on the other side in about 15 minutes flat, and I was left with about 2 hours to kill.

Back then, I spent 2 hours just looking at people around me. I tried reading a book. I was a voracious reader back then. But my idea of enjoying a book is not sitting in a large hall where every minute someone is making an announcement about some flight leaving, and some boarding happening, and someone having lost his mobile phone. Back then, there weren’t too many people listening to pods or talking to girlfriends. In fact, those who hogged that solitary free phone (for local calls) talking to their girlfriends or their entire clan (yeah, the time required for both might actually be the same) invited hateful glances from those waiting in the queue. Back then, there were a lot of people like me. Looking around at faces. Eager to strike a conversation. Back then, there were laptops, but wi-fi was not the in-thing. Back then, Air India had television screens dropping from the plane ceiling showing movies that Indians and foreigners took turns at not being able to understand. People with nice CD players were given envious looks. People carried 2-3 books. And a whole lot of people looked bored. Dead bored.

Last night, I just noticed that things were different. People had cellphone, IPods, PSPs, and laptops with wi-fi connections keeping them busy. But these are gadgets that kept them busy while they were at the airport. Once you are inside the flight, the interactive TV takes over. There are 20-odd movies and several TV serials and music videos to choose from. Suddenly, the pod becomes redundant. The laptop is not needed unless you have some work that needs attention. Discman is history. Every seat has its own console. You can play some games too. These days, there are less people looking bored. Even on flights that keep you meaninglessly engaged for 16 hours at a go.  There are television screens with beaming newsreaders, several coffee and snack joints. There is free internet from Airtel for wifi enabled laptops. There aer sophisticated blackberries that people use to check their emails. There are English speaking Indians at the airport, a greater queue at the duty free, and a different kind of chaos. 80% of the young travelers have some variant of an iPod.

However, everything has a short-lived utility. Even relationships.

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Featured Institution : Mann Deshi Udyogini – B-School for Poor Women

July 16, 2007 4 Comments

Came across this TOI Story in the morning about a B-school aimed at empowering women.

“Our B-school, the Mann Deshi Udyogini (MDU), was launched in December 2006 with a Rs 7 lakh grant from HSBC. It is located at Vaduj near Satara. “

“Our courses on confidence building and financial literacy; bag-making, a two-hour biweekly session on spoken English (Rs 10 per session) and basic computer skills are immensely popular.”

This is a sign of where the rural India wants to go.

Our biggest challenge is how to meet the huge demand for such courses in rural areas. Also, our curriculum and training has to be innovative, low-cost and graphics-driven as most of the women are semi-literate. Another of our challenges is to involve the men so that they cooperate with their women, don’t feel left out and insecure.

I urge all you smart guys out there to think of ways you can help them.

Some other links to read about them are – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

They are based in Satara, Maharasthra.. Here is their website

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Quite a bit of stuff..

July 2, 2007 Leave a comment

The last three days had a lot of interesting stuff happening all around –

1. Movies like Apne, Aap ka Suroor released. And I consciously stayed away from theatres. lsat heard, people had totally given up on a capped Himesh facing stiff competition from an animated Himesh [ Caricature of a caricature.. that’s intriguing] … and the Deol family’s emotional action movie. One helluva tearjerker, I hear! And going by Dharam paji’s performance at the IIFA awards, nothing short of an oscar nomination!!

2. Indian team finally won a series against South Africa. Last night, the way they started their batting, I wasn’t too hopeful. But it was a good chase in the end. A very very scratchy Yuvraj managed to hold on till the end, thanks to several dropped catches! A cat with whiskers using all his nine lives…

3. The prancing horses finally managed a 1-2. It was good to see Raikkonen at 1. And after a while, it was not because someone else goofed up. They were right up there from the start! 🙂 Good pitstop strategies this time, reminiscent of their glorious days.

4. Was watching A B Vardhan’s (CPI) defense of Pratibha Patil’s various glorious acts. It was great to see a leading politician defend the case with the wisdom of a 5-year old. “Everyone does it.. So what’s wrong if we are also doing it” citing the numerous cases of inappropriate candidatures here and there! Interestingly enough, Pratibha Patil has finally claimed that the allegations are false and baseless. How? Well, that’s not really important, is it?

5. I was writing a post on Air Deccan. Will post it later during the day.. but even before I say something, I saw this post on Y-Lal’s blog. That’s one senior from IIMB days that a lot of people used to admire. In short, everytime I think of an Air Deccan experience, its an equivalent of caught in a peak-hour 2nd class compartment of mumbai local. Whatever you go through is your problem, because we offer cheap services!

Welll…. so much to write.. I think I will pass!

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Insignificantly Significant: Gooney Recovery

June 26, 2007 4 Comments

This image is a distressful reminder of the way business is done in our country.

Like a lot of us, I missed this incident reported in the newspapers. On the surface of it, its just another death. When I think about it, it reminds me that my life is not that significant. I might be too insignificant in a bank’s larger scheme of things, and 15000 bucks might be required to break or shake the fortunes of the company. So what if there are other defaulters dealing with several crores contesting for the apex position in this country.

And on my death, while my family would talk about the scared voice –

Around 12.30 pm, Sunanda says, Yadaiah called her up and told her to arrange Rs 15,000 at any cost. According to her, Yadaiah sounded scared. “He said that he would not be allowed to leave unless he returned the money, and then he hung up,” Sunanda has told the police.

I will have a bank manager fabricating stories– 

In a statement, Rahul Virkar of ICICI Bank, said, “We are informed that Yadaiah had come to the office of our agency for making payments for the overdue instalments. We are informed that during the interaction with the representatives of the agency he felt unwell and requested to be accompanied to a doctor. We are further informed that the agency representatives had provided all possible support for his medical treatment.”

And our friend, the Police  will say –

Narasaiah said Elite`s agents had admitted to having taken Yadaiah to their office in Ameerpet and asking him to clear his debts. [Zee News Article]

 And in the same vein of contradictory statements –

A case was registered today under Sections 342 (Wrongful Confinement) and 304 (Culpable Homicide Not Amounting To Murder) of IPC. Inspector G Narasaiah said, “We are awaiting the post- mortem report. If it turns out to be a case of murder, the sections will be altered accordingly.”

 
Talk about playful cajoling by a factoring agency. Gentle reminder – Supreme court had come down heavily on commercial banks (again, driven by ICICI’s behavior) for using goons for recovering bad debts.

 Its appalling.

In another development, the AP State Human Rights Commission taking suo moto cognizance of the case has asked the city police to furnish a report on the circumstances leading to the death of Yadaiah. Justice B Subhasan Reddy, chairnman of the State Human Rights commssion has asked the ACP Panjagutta to  furnish a report by June 29. The commission will initiate action after receiving the report.

William Gladstone had mentioned in one of his popular speeches– Justice delayed is justice denied! But then, I think we have already moved from the judicial theory of arbitration to the political theory of arbitration. Its about collective coercion, and analyzing the power of the parties requiring arbitration. Justice usually sides with the powerful.

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Book Review: In Spite Of The Gods

April 3, 2007 2 Comments

Before I start commenting on the back, for the uninitiated, here is a 2-line spiel on Edward Luce, the luminary writer of this book.
Edward Luce is a Financial Times journalist who has covered India for a considerable period of time. (And his wife is an Indian). As part of his journalistic experiences, he did get to read, write and experience a fair bit of India. And the true enigma that India is, Edward is tempted to share his understanding of the profound through this book.
The name of the book – In Spite Of The Gods – The Strange Rise Of Modern India, itself tells you how a lot of people feel about India. Despite all that plagues modern India, people often surmise about what has brought India to this stage of exploding growth. Why is there so much talk about India being the next big thing in the global economy? The real answer is – Nobody Knows! It reminds me of this joke where the whole of US is baffled about “Jugaad” – a technology which ensures a 5 year tenure for a government with 20% of the seats in the parliament, which tilts the scooter at 5 degrees to start it, which provides food and shelter for those thousands of good for nothing young ones in villages who think sitting at the chaupaal and talking about Indian Politics is the biggest form of entertainment (besides periodic consumption of Chai and Gutkha), and which sums up the sentiment behind this golden statement – “Ho Jayega Saab! Aap chinta mat kijiye. Kuch jugaad to lag hi jayega!”
Anyways, back to Edward Luce and his rendition of the great (and not-so-great) story of Indian evolution. The book is very good when it comes to research, and sharing experiential learning. However, the book suffers from a very common problem. People who have not felt India, often misinterpret the chaos that prevails. Particles moving in random motion with a specified purpose often contain a powerhouse of energy within. Luce’s attempt to generalize a lot of Indian undercurrents fail at striking a chord with an Indian. Some of the opinionated generalizations are unwarranted too. However, there is no fun in reading an author if he does not have an opinion! [;)]
The thing that struck me the most was the elevation of Sonia Gandhi’s character from the common perception of an opportunistic politician. Sonia is portrayed as someone who was and is naturally averse to politics and is there in the Indian politics for a social good. Sentiments I could not just wait and see what they were trying to do with the country sound nice, but very untrue. At the same time, the hatred for Sangh Parivar and the fact that BJP has played a puppet in Sangh’s hands for long are bloated magnanimously, with there being no equal stage sharing for some of the other forms of religious paranoia plaguing our country. Not one to support the extremist acts of religious atrocities in Gujarat, it somehow paints an incomplete and unjustified picture if a “journalist” never bothers to look at all faces of the coin before forming an opinion.
The place where this book suffers the most, according to me, and I am not great orator or journalist, is that it confuses personal opinions with research facts. In the same breath, Edward talks about the facts and figures of economic growth, Nehruvian model of socialistic economic growth, and his opinions about Ravi Shankar, Sonia Gandhi, etc.
It’s a good read for those who like hypothesizing about India and the way going forward (I am one of them!), and those who love reading (seemingly) interesting anecdotes concerning popular people (oxymoron – anything related to popular people is an interesting anecdote. That’s how they became popular, right?). A little depressing for die hard Sangh fans, a little too upbeat for Congress supporters, the book is a spicy read, if nothing else!

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