The coming out party!

The last 3 weeks have been phenomenally positive for the Indian spirit and there has been no better showcasing of what India stood for. Or at the very least what we wanted the world to see India for-Our reaction to Ayodhya and the staging and performance at the Commonwealth games.

The Ayodhya verdict was delivered in end September. The court ruling decreed that archeologically, a temple indeed existed prior to the mosque and that for centuries the collective consciousness of the Hindu society has believed that, that very spot is the birthplace of Lord Ram. So another ‘batwaara' was done, splitting the land between the two communities.

Enough ink has been spent analysing the verdict from all possible angles (social, political, religious, legal, socio-political and so on). To me what stood out is the maturity of the response to the verdict from both the parties. Any legal judgment by its very character creates victors and losers. Throw in religion and add the 'respect of minority rights' garnishing to this and you have a heady cocktail that could easily lead to social unrest.

The BJP has famously argued that ' Ram hamaari Asmita hai...' (Ram is our sense of pride, the identification of our ego) and in many senses, this verdict is a validation of the BJP's stance. There is no justification of the riots that followed, the murders that occurred and social divisiveness that was created due to the bringing down of the mosque. The BJP could have very easily gone around town claiming victory of a cause that they have espoused since their inception. But you did not have any BJP leader saying so. In fact, the RSS leader came out and said that this verdict should not be seen as a victory for one community over the other. What a stark difference from the strident voices that we have heard in the past. It could be well because they had a favourable verdict. But still, cut them some slack.

On the other hand, the Muslim leaders could have positioned this verdict not as a simple property ownership dispute but as yet another example of lack of minority rights protection and freedom in India. Though there are murmurs of this and a few politicians like Mulayam Singh Yadav did try to voice this, but by and large the response has been matured.

Given the relative calm with which the verdict was received the one statement that everyone is parroting is that India has finally moved on. I would argue that it is too early to say so. As a nation of 60 years that has lived with a collective consciousness of Ayodhya dispute and as a civilisation that has lived with collective subconsciousness of Lord Ram and Ayodhya, it is very difficult to wish away such memories overnight. Like one of my favourite columnist and one of India's most astute socio-political commentator Pratap Bhanu Mehta writes

"It is worth thinking about how these long-term trends will play out. We are perhaps being a little too blasé in our claims that India has moved on. The extent to which it has will be tested by our willingness to peaceably submit to the due process of courts. And there is reason to be optimistic on this score. But how much we have really moved on will be decided not today or tomorrow, but by how the long march of our history unfolds."

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As experts were scurrying from one TV studio to another in the first 3 days after the Ayodhya verdict, trying to provide perspective on a 11,000 page judgment that they had not read another spectacle was playing out in Delhi, the Commonwealth games. Following the terrible run up to the games and the negative PR that sometimes bordered on borderline prejudiced writing, the opening ceremony the national mood and international perception did a U turn. From being dismissive of the games, Indians as usual swung to the other extreme and started demanding Olympics in India. Sigh!

The pageantry on display during the opening ceremony was possibly the best display I have seen of India. This came closest to what I would call Incredible India. The drummers from all parts of the country, the famous train which open to display ambassadors and bazaars, the cultural dances that were thankfully without bollywood-isation, the Guru-shishya parampara .. oh! what a spectacle.

The opening ceremony possibly is the best encapsulation of not only navigating chaos and cacophony that is India but in fact celebrating it. The more I stay outside India, the more I realise the awesomeness of her diversity and character that I have taken for granted. (More on that in another post). We are a melting pot, an orchestra an avail, a khichdi. Each of the individual ingredients retain their identity but together they provide a different, pleasant and desirable taste.

The real stars of the games however were the athletes. 38 Golds and 101 medal in total- that is no mean achievement. And behind every achievement whether a medalist or not there is a story. A story that by now is so familiar. Lack of facilities and infrastructure; of absence of institutions and monetary support and of basic amenities. But there is also the other side. It is the story of hard work and pain, of sacrifices from the individual and family. It is also a story of fighting against all odds, biases and perceptions. A story of belief and ultimately triumph. It is a fairy tale that played out in front of our eyes.

To me the real heroes of the games are the women medalists and their families. Their challenges aren't just lack of facilities or training or monetary but that of social mindsets that they and their families needed to overcome. I hope the new found status (deservingly so) that these women have achieved in their society and community changes the entrenched mindsets which believes that women aren't as capable as men or have a role only inside the house. Many of the women athletes are from Punjab/ Haryana / Chattisgarh/Bihar. I hope the government takes this opportunity to communicate loud and strong against female infanticide.

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While the jury is still out on whether Sports builds character or not, I definitely believe it reveals character and helps you become better individuals. How to be gracious in victory, or how to lose and not feel a loser. Regardless of your background and talent, without consistent hard work there is no guarantee of success. In a sporting career, you will have ups and downs, victories and loses heartaches and heart breaks. As I read somewhere sports is life with volume turned up.

I was a very active sports person till I finished my college. I played cricket for league and clubs and basketball at university and state levels. I remember I would go to the basketball court, every evening after school, when I was 7th to 10th classes. The state team would practice there and I would sit and watch their drills. Post that college boys would play and I would sit there every day hoping that some guy would not turn up leaving a team short of players and I would be called upon to join them. I would run around fetching loose balls only to be noticed by them. There have been weeks I have spent sitting on the sidelines without a chance to play. And finally when you do get a chance to play, you are just filler. The ball would not be passed to you or even if it was you were to pass it back immediately. You couldn't afford to mess it up. For if you did, you wouldn't be called upon the next time.

While I was school team captain in basketball, I was nobody on this court. Patience was learnt by sitting out and waiting even though I knew I was good enough to be on court. I worked hard and turned up daily and waited patiently for that one chance to earn. I would be up early before sunrise to go to the court as it would be free for me to practise a few shots. Evenings I would be back again.

One very important lesson that basketball teaches you is that you may have a super star in the team but you need everyone to contribute. As Phil Jackson used to famously quip about Michael Jordon and the Chicago bulls - the strength of the pack is the wolf (that leads the hunt) and the strength of that wolf is the pack. You soon learn that you need to give respect and only then you can gain respect.

I continued playing while in college and now played with 'men'. They were well built and played basketball professionally. And frankly I was no match for them. I had to go to college and also play basket ball, while they could afford to practise 3 hrs in morning and 3 hrs in the evening daily. But those were fun days. The fun you have when you are surrounded by people who are as crazy and passionate about the same things that you are cannot be described. It is a high that has to be experienced. While my friends would be sitting cinema theaters, pubs, coffee shops and beaches, I would be toiling hard on the basket ball court.

I don't know what drove me so much in those days. And sadly I don't know where that feeling has evaporated. Guess Life happened :(

When I see these medal winners and other participants in the games, I feel like celebrating their success. I feel that I can relate to their hard work and dedication and discipline and know what it takes to reach where they are today. Their success is that much more personal to me. Commonwealth Games has thrown up a lot of new heroes for the nation and for the many communities they belong to. I am sure that it is only going to have a positive effect on sports and the sporting culture of this country.

Of memories and constructs

Two years ago, I argued vehemently with a colleague that Bihar and UP and Chattisgarh and Orissa will not remain Bimaru (backward) states forever. And change was in the offing. I had no framework or theoretical construct to explain this. Neither was I an astrologer or a soothsayer. . I just felt so. And I was duly dismissed as a romantic optimist, ever hopeful at heart.

I was lucky that as part of my work, I got to not just travel extensively to some of these states but also interact extensively with people across the entire socio economic spectrum. In fact in many a cases I got to life their lives for a day. And somewhere through all these conversations I felt the atmosphere was charged with hope and optimism. My argument was along the simple lines that there is development happening elsewhere. In Gujarat, in Delhi, in Madhya Pradesh and media and mobile phones were bringing the news of progress into the houses of people in these Bimaru states. I remember the analogy I used. Its like the habit of a man-eater. Once the people of have tasted blood (development here), you just can't wean away them from it. Of course to the left brained, analytical MBA, ‘I feel so; did not work. And I was unable to come up with anything better. I did not have an answer then to the question of why Bihar or UP or Orissa would vote against caste lines.

But today, my feel seems to have right. I seem to have caught the trend. No, I do not claim to be the only person who would have sensed this trend and no I am not writing this for ' See, I told you so' speech'. I write this today because I found a simple construct in corporate jargon to possibly explain this phenomenon.

Consider caste or language or religion as verticals running in the society. The matter when Identity politics are called up. Consider issues like defence, safety and security and other issues in national consciousness as horizontals cutting across the society. So regardless of which vertical you belong to you cannot escape the horizontals (national consciousness). Now, education, access to healthcare, performing governments any many such developmental issues have been added into horizontals.

Ok. The explanation is not mine but it is from Nandan Nilekani's book Imagining India. I have just finished the preface and am already captivated by his constructs. Of the many books on India I've read off late, this seems to be the most interesting of the lot. Should be a good read.

My earlier post on this is here

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For the past three years I have noticed this phenomenon in Bombay. This happens in regularly in month of May and I don't know why. At sunset as if suddenly all our eyes have magically activated orange filters, that so far lay dormant, the entire city is coloured orange-ish brown. No, it is not just the buildings but also the air. It is the gentle orange tinge and sepia, one that evokes a sense of nostalgia of the good times gone by. The memories from your past of innocence come flooding back. On one such evening, as I sat sipping my coffee, memories from my childhood, those carefree days came rushing back to me. I had no idea that I had such strong and vivid memories of my kiddie days. My indulgence with those memories lasted a few minutes. I blinked intentionally, transitioning from the distant past to the present in an instance skipping 18 years in between, when I realised that the night had fallen.

The orange phenomenon lasted precisely four days. While google and Wikipedia answered my questions on why this phenomenon occurs ( taking my back to Optics chapter in Grade 12), I don’t think I will be able to ever answer why this phenomenon evokes such memories and why it possibly has a different or even no effect of others.

Freedom of Expression

This is from The Constitution of India:

Article 19(2) permits the state to intrude upon the right to free speech when such intrusion is “reasonable” and is in the interest of any of the following: the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence.

Who defines what is "reasonable"? Public order, decency or morality? All these are such vague terms which can be interpreted conveniently and contextually.

And this is from the Constitution of USA

Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

I am no legal expert, but I think the difference is stark and begging to be noticed. While, the Indian constitution gives state the legitimacy for "reasonable" intrusion, the American constitution is clear and unambiguous in its stance. The state cannot intrude and any intrusion can be challenged under First Amendment. So while in India, the onus would be on the individual to prove the "unreasonableness" of the intrusion, in USA the state has to justify the intrusion.

And that is where the difference in freedom of expression starts! May be, its time to pass an amendment to our constitution!

Blot on my ForeFinger!

It is time to celebrate our democracy. The great Indian jamboree is here. We are complicated and an enigma to any political commentator from the west. We are living examples of plurality and diversity. Every 300 kms the language/ dialect spoken changes. We are possibly a nation of many countries. And yet India works.

I am not going to get into this patting-ourselves-on-our-backs phenomenon. There are enough people who do this on a regular basis. But we also need to recognise the reality - which is that India somewhat works. And it is up to us now to contribute to improving the situation.

It really is time to stand up and be counted. It is election time!! 731 million people are eligible to vote in India this year, compared to 131 million in the Obama 2008 elections, and yet let us be assured that each and every vote counts. It counts not because it will make a difference individually, but it counts because collectively we send out a clear message - that apathy and nonchalance towards the political process has officially come to an end. A message that while we as a country are far from being perfect, we will work to make this a better country, because we care.

We care enough to stand in queue one more day to cast our vote. Because, by choosing to vote, we make our voices heard on the issues that we are willing to espouse and those we want to discard. By choosing to vote, we are taking ownership of our collective future, a future that isn't incumbent upon us by default, but one that we choose to create.

Let us make plans for long queue vs. long weekend this election day. Join me and become an idealist, a hopeless romantic and ‘ We Can’ evangelist instead of the usual cynic. May be, just may be we can make a difference.

Republic Day

Happy Republic Day to all Indians, wherever they are in this world.

In its 60th year of the Indian republic, we are still a fledgling. There are corporations even in our own country that have been in existence for longer. We are young, dynamic and vibrant. A nation built on values of peaceful coexistence and mutual benefit.

It is an advantage to all narrow wisdom and narrow morals that their maxims have a plausible air; and, on a cursory view, appear equal to first principles. They are light and portable. They are as current as copper coin; and about as valuable. They serve equally the first capacities and the lowest; and they are, at least, as useful to the worst men as to the best. Of this stamp is the cant of not man, but measures; a sort of charm by which many people get loose from every honourable engagement.
- Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke argues that political maxims are often used as a substitute to truths and the two are often confused with each another. This is then used advance self interest, compromising on values. How true! An observation made over century ago, still holds good. Such little has the political class changed :) And I guess the apathy towards the political class has been institutionalised in our collective memory.

And it is precisely this apathy that we need to change. As JK Rowling puts it best in her stirring Harvard Commencement address (please don't miss the video..)

What is more, those who choose not to empathise may enable real monsters. For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy.

In this 60th year of We need to shred our political apathy and become active citizens in the political process And especially when it comes to voting. we have 3 choices

a. Not Vote - Continue with our Apathy
b. Protest Vote - Section 49-0 (of no consequence but popular)
C. Vote

A. Not Vote
There is this campaign going on..NOT VOTING. I haven't heard of a more ridiculous idea. It is a propaganda which is completely misaligned to larger interests while being fashionable over lunch conversations that people like me who can afford daily basic luxuries can afford to have . It is lethargy and apathy and nothing more. Election day is more of a long weekend vs. a day when we exercise our fundamental right i.e. to vote. To make our voices heard.

The section that talks about not voting consists mainly of people who can afford private water tankers, security guards and own personal vehicles may not need government for major developmental issues. The majority of this country still needs government for roti kapda makaan bijli. So they will still come out in droves and vote, just like the Kashmir polls turnout ( which was a vote for development ). Imagine if the entire middle class votes, demanding better amenities, you think the political class won't listen? And with the constituencies redrawn and more urban votes, our votes can really make a difference.

Of course, the standard FAQs are thrown about, all politicians are corrupt and no one choice is better than the other. But that is because of our apathy so far. We did not vote. and we paid lip service to accountability. If candidates are bad, let us get together, put up a candidate of our choice, fund his election and demand accountability. Like the municipal elections in Bombay recently where local societies put up their candidates who infact won the election.

B. Protest Vote - Section 49-O.

Section 49-O has been labeled as a 'protest vote'. This is completely false. I would guide you to Mr. Uday Singh's article which does a brilliant job of dispelling the myth.

Briefly, the system in India is designed towards number of votes for a candidate vs. number against or absenteeism. For. e.g. in a constituency of 1000 voters, even if 999 decide to opt for sectio 49-O and one person votes for candidate A then candidate A wins. We do not have a minimum percentage any such criteria. So by exercising 49-O we are infact not utilising our vote properly. And not just that. As it is our voting percentage is 60% and today the winner gets at maximum 15-20% of the total votes of the constituency he is representing. If you do not vote, he or she is likely to get at maximum 5-10% of votes and still represent us. And if a candidate with 5-10% of votes wins then he is more likely than not have predilection towards a community or caste as he would have got their backing.

C. Let us VOTE!
So let us all understand the importance of our vote and cast our vote in this coming election. Lets take our voting percentage upto 70%. And once we have exercised our vote and elected our leaders, let us be active citizens and demand accountability. Let us use RTI act, let us monitor funds usage, track and measure progress in our constituency. Let us get involved and seek answers.

I would like to leave you with this thought. Its time to stand up and be counted.

The Republic was not established by cowards;
and cowards will not preserve it …
This will remain the land of the free
only so long as it is the home of the brave. ~Elmer Davis

Linked from Pragmatic

A humble request

Humble request to everyone:

Let us all be responsible citizens and not indulge in rumour-mongering!! It can cause a lot of harm - intentional and non-intentional.

State of the Nation - A farce!

I am sick and tired of terror attacks. Yes, who likes them. But I am even more disgusted with sequence of events that follow. So damn predictable.

1. Immediate announcement of compensation to the kin of the dead and injured.
2. State government would blame the centre for not giving intelligence inputs
3. Center would claim that Intelligence was given, but local authorities did not act properly
4. State Chief Minister would appeal for communal harmony, would say that his government would do everything to root out terrorism
5. Intelligence agencies would blame groups with relations to either a particular community or support from other side of the border. They would also play the 'intelligent game' of asking people not to blame anyone without investigation, while we all know that all they are going to do is blame 'certain groups'.
6. PM would appeal for communal harmony
7. Home minister would say that terrorist attacks would not deter India from fighting terrorism and removing anti national elements. And that peace talks with Pakistan would go on
8. News channels would have a field day reporting LIVE. Each fighting with one another for 'breaking news.'
9. SMS poll in news channels... ' is India too soft on terror' with some 80% saying yes.
10. experts would write columns in websites and news papers on 'what the blasts mean'. All news channels would have talk shows calling one person from UPA, one from NDA and one 'independent' expert. UPA would blame the nature of terrorism, NDA would blame UPA for weak policies and removing POTA while independant expert would say we need better coordination, a joint task force, and systemic planning! Blarghk!
11. Countries from around the world would try to beat each other in being the first to condemn the blasts and call them acts of terror.
12. In all the melee, the masterminds of the synchronised attack would live happily ever after.

This is the story in Jaipur, in Hyderabad , in Bangalore and even freaking Mumbai. Security is a farce. All we can do is pray that we are not at the wrong place!

Mr. Prime Minister, I whole heartedly support you on the need for energy security, but do you understand that we need 'life security' first? Naxals? Terror attacks? Are there any other excuses that you can invent?