MNIK Episode: Show of strength or sensational publicity or a last ditch effort or Intellectual bias ..

Guess the title leaves it very little to decode/decipher/infer but a lot to argue. I sincerely feel like doing a survey poll, and letting the viewers write that what was the real cause of fiasco.. Where did it all start? And my sixth sense says that not more than 2.37% will be able to chronologically narrate the incidents as they happened, and more improtantly what was the real cause? What every one can tell and know is ” Battle lines were drawn, every one seemed to be opiniated, TV coverage was just like another 26/11, Mumbai looked like a fort, every 5 minutes, there was another breaking news, and there were conflicting statements on any given instant at different channels. ”

The question dying to be asked and I refer to Pritish Nandy’s article in TOI is that” If Shahrukh Khan was so concerned about the Pakistani players, then he being the owner of one of the IPL teams, why did he not bid for them?”  To which, I gently add my small question. “If there was a pressure on him not to bid, then why did he not oppose it then, or disclose it afterwards?”   And who mounted the pressure? Wat it BCCI, or was it Central government, or was it some other element. Truth shall come out.

The answers are simple my friend… Every one was out there to prove a point. Some one wanted a good overseas opening for the film, some one wanted to show that days of some people calling the shots in Mumbai are over, some wanted to show they still can not be written off, the others were almost feeling suffocated being out of news for these days.. So, every one had an agenda, no one was a saint, and all were prophessing themselves as the true saviour of humanity/minority/ Indianness and all other things possible under the sun.

Some points to be looked into—

1) Where was Mr. Chavan, when North Indians were beaten mercilessly, and what stopped him to take any action then?

2) Why did Mr Chavan give an evasive answer to Rajdeep Sardesai when asked ” Will he react equally, if what is happening to SRK today, happens to a poor taxi driver tomorrow?”

3) Needless to say, when will people understand that divisive and politics of hatred can catapult you once( History is witness to the same and so we need to respect it), but to stay there, you need much more. The words have to be followed by action( The actions need not be riots and rampage  all the time)…

Before signing off, strong protests were made all over, and question of fundamental and human rights and all those legal questions were asked about the protest. The most unfortunate part was ” THE INTELLIGENSIA ALSO GOT CARRIED AWAY IN THIS STREAM”. To condemn the wrong, they perhpas went too far.. Else, how can you justify the 5 star and 4.5 star rating by known review columnists. Many of the cine goers defnitely did not echo the same. ( Refer http://movies.rediff.com/report/2010/feb/15/mnik-after-grand-opening-comes-slump.htm).  So, guess you are equally responsible for misleading the public, and a more mature behavior from you would have been more appreciated.

Just a small question to all of you.. WHICH OF THE FOUR OVERWEIGHED THE OTHER IN THIS EPISODE?

1) Show of strength

2) Sensational Publicity

3) Last Ditch effort

4) Intellectual bias

Or do you feel, all these together were a defeat for all of us. Comments welcome.

India:A Land threatened on all sides

Over last two days, the news making headlines were:

1) Chinese incursion in Ladakh,where they entered almost 1.5 km into our territory,

2) Two Indian priests manhandled in the famous Pashupatinath temple,

3) Pakistan putting his foot down  on punishing 26/11 attackers

4)Rai, a noted terrorist killed in North -East ahead of Durga Puja celebrations. Threads linked to Bangladesh.

This apart, time and again Sri Lanka finger also raises towards India, be it for being Pro-LTTE, or otherwise.

And if this was not enough, the recent declarations about the efficiency of Pokhran test forced former Army chief to ask for reassurance to the forces from the government. Now, questions are also being raised about the No-first policy for nuclear arms as well.

Looking within the country, Maoists are striking at will. Atleast in four states, they are running their parallel government. Operation Lalgarh was claimed to be a success. Ask ordinary person there, he is still afriad to venture out in night, and CRPF forces admit it.. Cobra force was forced, but is it that well-equipped? 

At this junture, I remember few lines from Dinkar..

re roka, yudhishthir ko na yahan
jane de unako svarg dheer
par fer hamein gandiv gada
lauta de arjun bhim veer

kah de shankar se aaj karen
ve pralay nrty fir ek bar
sare bharat mein goonj uthe
‘har har bam’ ka fir mahochchar

Time has come to be assertive, time has come to be assertive in appearance and behavior as well, time has come for hard core retaliation, time is ripe to tell the world that while our hands are always for handshake, these hands can throw grenades as well, and are quite capable of so. If the dragon can breathe fire, the tiger has its sharp claws as well, and time has come to bare it in full flow. 

Tough times call for tough measures, else the fall out is simple: the golden bird will again disintegrate, and all of us would be equally responsible for it.

Bye bye capitalism, Welcome Policapitalism….

As a young child, the Economics teacher told me about three forms of economy, with Capitalism and Communism being the main two poles and the third one a mix of the two. For communist economy, the pet examples were USSR, China and Cuba. The passing time saw the disintegration of USSR, Cuba being not an economy to look at, and Chinese dragon following “GOD KNOWS WHAT” economy. This was the time when advocates of capitalism were most shrill in their voices, and tried to propogate it at the top of their voices. Even a country like India with mixed economy was not spared and shown innumerable ways to move towards capitalism.

Today, I wonder if any Indian knowledgeable citizen would not like to thank Indira Gandhi. Had it been not for nationaliztion of banks, the results are difficult to even imagine. Moreover, lets remember, we Indians are never used to Hire and fire policy of employers. What happened to an Executive in Noida and to Naresh Goyal recently is known to all.

As they say the character of a man is tested in difficult times. So came 2008 with the worst Economic crisis in recent times ever( I am yet to understand meaing of word SUBPRIME CRISIS, help solicited). Stocks and heads( i mean of corporate czars) rolled like dice in a Las Vegas casino. Every day brought the news of some more tumbling. Soon, the economic crisis became the humanitarian crisis with unemployment levels at an all time high. With more and more filings for bankruptcy, the choice was limited. Perhaps the cascading effect forced the White House to react. And react in an unprecedented manner. Guess, there would be limited number of I-Banks in private hands now. Proponents of Capitalism, what is your take?

Back to India, as a naive student of Economics I never believed that our politicians will let capitalism bloom in its full manner. It one of its kind of economy, where in the ruling party, by virtue of its post, gets a stake( even if it is undertable), and each changing election has new stake holders. What started between the Ambani brothers is nothing but a small example. I remember reading Vijay Mallaya’s interview saying ” I am not exactly an orphan”. (details available at http://www.businessworld.in/index.php/I-am-not-exactly-an-orphan.html). It leaves little to imagination. We may cry hoarse,but the undertable regulation is a phenomenon very much prevalent. The war between Ambani brothers allows us a better peak, as the political hawks are forced to show their preferences, exposing themselves. Not that it did not exist earlier, but with Hawala transactions under tighter scanner and global terrorism financing leading to stricter regulations, guess poliCapitalism is the new favor of the country. Though there are still business houses who are safe from this contagious disease( trust me, it is deadlier than Swine flu), but for how long is a more important question…

10 years of Kargil War…

For the uninitiated, Kargil is a district of Ladakh( co-ordinates 34.57 N, 76.1 E), with India’s Kashmir valley to the south and  Pakistan’s Baltistan to the west.

Located very strategically, this place was a witness to firece struggle between Indian armed forces and Pakistani army( This is official now, with Parvez Musharraf claiming today that Pak army would not have withdrawn, if not forced by Nawaz Shariff) in 1999.  Today, when Indian citizens were celebrating 10 years of the success, with Mr. Manmohan Singh payin tributes at Amar Jawan Jyoti and Gen V P Malik at Drass, I thought it was the right time to relive what had happened, and some soul searching as well.

On records, 527 Indian army personnel lost their lives, many of them were officer rank personnel.  The likes of Captain Batra, Nair and Mukesh kumar became almost a folklore story in those days. The stories were epitome of bravery, selfless love for the country, and overall putting oneself ahead of their subordinates. ” YE DIL MAANGE MORE”  was not the catchline of Pepsi in Indian army, but were one of the last words of Captain Batra, and expressed his thirst for more peaks. The war comes to an end, and the felicitation of these personnel is carried out with much fanfare.

But, guess there is an irony. May be winning 20-20 world cup was a bigger achievement. Or being auctioned in IPL is a more lucrative option than serving Indian Army. Some times, corporate people talk of a phrase called” IN LINE OF FIRE”  and use it very strongly. I wonder, it they know, what it actually means. When the stench of  burning flesh fills your nostrils, and everywhere around you can see death dancing, and your friends who were alive moments ago, and still you have to march ahead to capture the elusive bunker, guess that defines “IN LINE OF FIRE”  in an apt manner. Sadly, all the promises made gather dust in the files of bureacracy. Every other month, you will come across a story of a sad mother or a grieving widow, or worse a helpless ex-soldier, who is runnng from pillar to post for something which is duly theirs. Or, the peanuts which were promised were never enough in the first place. Its a pity for country, where a surrogate mother chares more than what the mother of an officer gets who lost everything with his son. 

I offer few simple questions to you. Why should a mother send his son to army, if we are so indifferent? Not to forget, when the bullets in Siachen are countered by mortars, then only we can afford to sleep peacefully in the cosy confines of air conditioned rooms. Why should an officer lead from the front, when he is not sure that his widow will get even two meals a day or not? Why should they rush to the battlefield, cancelling all their engagements, when they are not sure that their family back home will get even their second glimpse or not. Some say, army is a passion, not a profession. No wonder, these passionate lunatics only have preserved our intergrity.

Some general rightly asked for the name of any three politicians who have sent their kins to Army. Guess, there was an eerie silence in corridoors of power. Friends, they don’t ask for your mercy, hey don’t ask for verbal gibes from the Red fort, they don ask you to shed crocodile tears, all they deserve is what is their due. It is left to your self introspection to think a second time.

Bad, if you can not think of anything. Worse, if we don’t do anything. Worst, if we still claim to be proud of our army.

Crashing Maharaja( AIR INDIA): Tip of iceberg or an aberration

For a normal Indian citizen, it began with a news article declaring salary delays of top brass of Air India, which soon escalated into delay for all of its employees. What followed in coming days was hectic parleys across offices( read ministries and AI alike), some of which is still going on. Then came the news that bailout remained the only option, and the tune was not a marginal sum( to the tune of Rs. 15000 crore). While the Primer Minister with his found confidence declared his support for Maharaja, he was equally vocal about it being a conditional support.

Looking from an Indian citizens’ point of view, a simple question arises? Why was the situation allowed to detoriate so drastically? Why was the mess not cleaned in the beginning, and allowed to rot. Its not a Satyam scenario, and the fall has been steady and continuous. Blame it on economic recession, but then in last one year, how many airlines operators are out of business?

Another side to the story comes when we know that the average personnel per aircraft is as high as 1.5 times the number of personnel for any other full service carrier? Given the fact that salary costs are alone as high as 3000 crore, why is it necessary in the first place? And not to be unfair to the top brass, what is the need of 60 odd GMs, and equally high number of superiors? Its not only a bottom heavy workforce, but the top is overloaded as well. This begins the second question into limelight. Of all these gentlemen, who has taken the responsibility for the debacle? How many heads have rolled till date? How many people have been asked and held accountable? The public today has a right to know the same.

Last but not the least, the governement also need to look at as what message is it sending across to other PSU units? Can they take a cue, and relax fullay aware that when on the verge of disaster and collapse, the government will come to its rescue. While in India, we still are very sensitive to employee issues and sentiments, the situation some times also calls for a firm willingness on part of governments. Let the PSU staff also know that PERFORM OR PERISH  is the mantra. Let them also know that tomorrow they would be responsible for their own state arising out of their actions. A case in point is the case of US auto giants. While disinvestment proponents may jump at the opportunity to push their case hard, but what about continuing without diluting the equity and making a remarkable comeback.

May the Maharaja fly back in its full glory is what all of us hope in coming days, and the present crisis seem to be a mere aberration and not sign of things to come.

Tolerance and forgiveness: Present day relevance of twin Gandhian principles

Before you start reading this post, a word of caution. This may appear to be the rattlings of the youth, of some one,who has never tried to delve into the real reasons, whose knowledge of the incidents is at best superficial. I take the blame.

Guess many of the educated souls in India could but have watched/read following news articles in last few days:

1) Ghanshyam Kewat, the dreaded dacoit shot dead, but not before the encounter raged for 50 hours, we lost 4 of our men, rank holders were injured, and he even managed to slip once before he was captured.

2) Operation Lalgarh reaches a decisive phase with CRPF troops moving in, and naxals using human shields have taken their positions as well. Maoists have claimed this territory as their own and “liberated” for quite some  time now.

3) Manmohan Singh acts tough with Zardari, says action a pre-cursor to talks..

Makes little sense so far, doesn’t it? Add to it further, few lines from poem KURUSHETRA of Ramdhari Singh Dinkar.. The ones which Bhishma said to Yudhisthira post the war, describing how tolerance and forgiveness is always misconstrued as acts of cowardice by others.

SAHANSHEELTA KSHAMA DAYA KO, TABHI POOJTA JAG HAI..

BAL KA DARP CHAMAKTA, USKE PEECHE JUB JAGMAG HAI…

Now I request you to go through the three news articles once again, and ponder your responses to such situation.

My take is simple:

1) We should have killed Ghanshyam Kewat in the first hour, ( if onyl our forces had relevant, forget the state of the art weaponary)

2) Bulldoze one and all, who came in the way of Lalgarh.. With ballots gone, it is the time for ballots.

3) Feigned inorance on who Mr.  Zardari is, and keeping all options open for internal security.

Before you write me off, read the second part..

1) Bulldoze Lalgarh, and offer amnesty to all Maoists who surrender within a week. Else they will be meeting the same fate. The action has to be so bizarre, that let them shudder in their spines even thinking of the same. Then, we will see how many still offer resistance?

2) Three encounters in UP, and the other outlaws  will prefer surrender. In the end, who does not love his life?

3) One strategic strike in POK, and then talk of peace. Lets see how many still have the guts to refuse the offer.

I said in the beginning, these are ramblings of youth, who, you may claim, does not understand the pit falls of International pressure and bans, who is unaware of nuclear capabilities of neighbouring states, who has not followed the history since 1960′s uprising of West Bengal, or who never tried to read as to why Chambal riverine have always been notoriuos.  But its always better to die once, than a painful death which an ordinary citizen is dying everyday in the country, unsure of, where the bomb will go off today, where the bands will make the life impossible, or worse, where the indiscriminate shooting will maim me for life.

 

 Historically, peace has been treated as nothing but mere refuge of those, who were considered incapable. It took Allied forces good many years to tame Hitler, rockets after rockets to flush Taliban from Afganishtan, and now the same story in Pakistan. The words, pleas, request were best laughed at.

So, do Gandhian principles of tolerance and forgiveness still hold good, or time calls for a demonstration of what awaits the perpetrators, if they don’t follow the same.

Views solicited from one and all.