BJP In Karnataka: Time For Introspection

The whole sordid tale of BSY, Reddy brothers and illegal mining has been very disturbing to all of us who have treated the BJP as a party with a difference. The Jana Sangha and then the BJP WERE the party of difference. The supporters and members alike were proud nationalists. When the BJP came to power, they still were the party we could rally around. But they expanded too rapidly and that kind of growth created a vacuum, which was filled by people with love for power but not ideology. The suddenly big party needed lots of money to keep up with the Congress. This need brought in dirty money. Very soon, the BJP started to look like any other party albeit with few oases of hope (Gujarat and MP for example). Some of the older party workers were weak and fell prey to the lure of money which came along with power. BS Yeddyurappa is a prime example of this. We can say that he is still better and a lot less corrupt than others but that does not absolve the BJP of the responsibility of putting up with him and some other non-BJP partners. The aforementioned vacuum aside, how did we come to such a pass?

Long time ago, we saw a similar example in UP where the Lodh community held the entire UP politics hostage. The BJP had to put up with Kalyan Singh who like BSY is an ex RSS worker. Kalyan Singh worker tirelessly for the state and the party but his rule was one filled with distractions. After loosing, he could not do much to revive the party and he did nothing to make room for newer leaders. He saw himself as indispensable because he knew at the back of his mind that he had the Lodh community votes with him. Essentially, his ambition and his vote advantage overrode the BJP, UP and eventually the Indian concerns. Why Indian concerns? After loosing UP, the BJP lost their core base and could never come back to power with the support they needed and deserved. Now we have a sequel to that movie. BSY was clinging to the power with the knowledge that he has the support of the Lingayat community. If the BJP looses the state in the next election, we will know why. It is a pity that caste politics is still ruining and corrupting the entire nation. Of course, we the voters are to be blamed for that.

We cannot blame the entire episode on BSY only. Some others from the BJP also must have benefited. As we say, the flow of 2G money goes well beyond the doors of DMK. Yes they need money to run a national party but they still have to rise above the filthy quicksand in which all other parties have sunk. If the BJP want to be called the party of difference then they have to find a way out of this without any excuses. Conservatives, the world over, are blamed of self-righteousness. That is their cross to bear. They set the bar higher for personal character and integrity. They need to live up to it.

Before we expect others to follow the example of Gujarat and Narendra Modi, we should make sure that every one in the BJP is emulating that example. You see, at the end of the day, good governance wins over all other issues. It is the “trump ka ikka”. Votes from a community are something the BJP should leave for Congress and other pseudo-secular parties and focus on strong performance. That is what is going to win them the next election and make our dreams of a strong and united India come true.

India Pakistan Peace Talks: A Soap Opera!

India’s FM, a vapid septuagenarian and a family loyalist. Pakistan’s FM, a 34 year old, well made up rich brat with a silver spoon still sticking out of her mouth. That is the cast du jour of the latest episode of the soap opera that is Indo-Pak peace talks!

This show really gets the aman ki aasha brigade riled up like a bored housewife. Who else gets excited? Well, the PM for sure because he looks good to the western countries who are in awe of our restraint in the face of repeated terror attacks. He also gets to fulfill his legacy of being the first guy to bring peace in the subcontinent when everyone else has failed. English language media also gets pumped up. They get to cover the Paki glam doll going from meeting to meeting to masjid to dargaah. To what end one does and must ask?

These talks like most vacuous TV shows or a Bollywood flicks, have the excitement, dream sequence, locations and (this time) some glamour. However, as soon as the credits roll, you realize that nothing really happened. You are out of a few rupees and now have a headache.

Is there any point in talking peace with Pakistan? I have written many articles on this blog and am not going to repeat myself. I request the newer readers to read our thoughts on the subject in the urls given below. However, one must say that this time we knew this was just a charade when they sent us a newbie with a degree in hotel management with experience in parenting (rich woman like that does parenting by proxy) and running a restaurant at a Polo club. She comes to India and meets up with the Hurriyat terrorists. Who do you think she was instructed by? Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry or the almighty Paki army / ISI / Mullahs? Until we know whom we are talking to, is there any point in carrying out these charades? Who are we fooling anyway? The Americans are too smart to be fooled by this playacting. Let us not waste anymore time and money of the taxpayer. The GoI owes us more than this.

The following articles by us must be read in conjunction with this post:

http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2011/03/is-peace-possible-with-pakistan.html

http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2010/09/does-india-want-stable-pakistan.html

http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2010/06/isnt-pakistan-perpetual-enemy-of-india.html

http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2011/05/delusional-pakistanis-and-kashmiri.html

A Conservative India or A Liberal India?

Love and hatred are all consuming passions. Love can build or destroy but hatred ALWAYS destroys. Like Tina Turner, you may ask: “What’s love gotta do with it?” What indeed? I am talking about the increased polarization of the Indian polity where hatred has become the order of the day and civilized discussion between liberals and conservatives has become impossible. This destruction of civility in dialogue is going to hurt all of us. Both of them claim to love India but whose vision is better? Whose vision is better suited for our demographics? Whose suits the current day and age?
I would say it is the conservative vision. What drives my decision? Is it confidence or arrogance? It is but a thin line, which divides the two. So with the sliver of doubt in my mind, how can I convince my liberal brothers and sisters about my beliefs? At a philosophical and an emotional level, I will have a harder time doing that.
But with Mother India and aam aadmi in question, this discussion must and should take place. Name-calling and low blows should be kept out. Occasional sarcasm, which is often important to drive home, a point should be allowed. That said, I would like to present my case. Being a man of technology, I need to see proofs. In absence of proof, overwhelming statistics will do as well.

In terms of sheer performance and long term impact, PV Narsimha Rao was slightly better than Atalji. Until PVNR became the PM, the Congress was mired in Nehruvian socialism. PVNR ably assisted by Manmohan Singh set the country on the road to our current position. All things considered we’ve come a long way. We still have a very long way to go. But credit has to be given to PVNR and MMS team. Fortunately for them, they did not have to deal with as many dominant regional parties.

But after PVNR’s death, you have to examine which party followed the success recipe to a higher degree of success with lesser distractions like corruption, minority appeasement and dynastic politics. The answer is the BJP / NDA. MMS as PM has not been able to succeed like MMS as FM. As FM, his hands were not tied. But now he is dealing with everything except doing the right things. Compared to him, Atalji and the NDA have done better than MMS and UPA.

Even at state level you can see that the best performers are those from the BJP / NDA. People will bring the non-BJP states of TN and Andhra. The fact is that if you have economic centers like Hyderabad and Chennai, it is very hard to stop economic growth. Such is the momentum of today’s India. Look at Karnataka. Despite of Yeddyurappa’s subpar performance, the state is doing well.

Detractors will say that Gujarat was always a good performer. That is correct but during Narendra Modi’s rule, the central government has not helped the state (rather they have done everything to bring the Modi down) and yet Modi has converted a prosperous state into a juggernaut. People from all walks of life have acknowledged this fact. This includes Maulana Vastanvi who has since paid a price for praising Modi. A very conservative Economist Magazine calls Gujarat India’s Guangdong. China has been an economic miracle since mid 1980’s. But Gujarat did not achieve that level of productivity until Modi took over. Liberals often treat his US VISA refusal as his indictment in the post Godhra riots. They are welcome to their petty victory, which seems to soothe their frustrated souls. Other states like TN are now trying to explore the Gujarat model of development.

The point is that from an economic point of view, the conservative pro business policy works. If you follow the Gujarat model and balance the production and agricultural sectors then you have a recipe for success. If you include social responsibility in the corporate practices then you have a model for perfection. That way all strata of the society can enjoy the prosperity. In short, a conservative vision for India is good for prosperity.

But what about the social aspect? This is where I find myself on unsure grounds. Is a conservative society better or a liberal one? Unfortunately for this, we cannot draw graphs or quote numbers. The proof for this is empirical at best.

India is a land of Hindu ethos. Our culture and way of thinking is Hindu and it shows in all aspects of our lives. Even people of other religions in India have Hindu rituals incorporated in their lives. Just compare the weddings in Indian Muslim community and that in other Islamic countries. It is our faith and religion, which has kept this land of more than two-dozen languages together. No less than a Muslim intellectual like M J Akbar has said that India is secular because of Hindus. Since secularism is an essential ingredient of democracy, we can safely say that India is democratic because of Hinduism. Moreover, can you cite examples of Muslim democracies (Turkey because of Ataturk and Malaysia because of their eastern culture, do not count).

That said, I would like to add that the secularism in India of today is a perversion of the concept. Under a secular rule, all religions should be equal to the decision makers. If Muslims get Haj subsidies then Hindus should get their “teerth yatras” subsidized as well. Unfortunately, the definition of secularism as per most political parties is dovetailed with their need of Muslim and other minority votes. We need a political party, which will be an impartial guarantor of rights to all citizens of India. Which party has the moral courage to do that? A liberal party cannot do so. We have ample proof of that in the history of our young nation.

The point is that the social conservatism may not fit well with the Indian youth of today because it imposes boundaries on their lifestyle. Hinduism / social conservatism is not “cool”. I will concede that social mores are part of social dynamics and thus ever changing mostly for the worse. For instance, the urban Indian life is wreaking a havoc on the single most important unit of our society – the family. We need only look at the European countries and the effect of extreme liberalization on the society over there. We do not want to replicate it. So what is the solution to the problem? The perfect solution will involve holding on to our traditional values which have sustained us as a society and accept modernization as unavoidable. It is a difficult task but we have no other choice.

Hungry India

The most beautiful sight in the world? A happy healthy child. That always has been my answer. Of course other than the rich circles in India, you do not get to see that sight. In fact the sight gets uglier and uglier when you move away from the economic centers. Our children are worse fed that some sub-Saharan African countries. That is fact that should weigh heavily on us. Despite of being a complete basket case, Pakistan can feed her children better than us. Why is that?

Poverty would be the easy and obvious answer but it is incomplete and almost incorrect one. By most economic indices, we are way ahead of Sub Saharan Africa and Pakistan. Is it poor grain production? Judging the last few years agricultural production, we have done well. Can't blame it on rain gods either. The real answer is wastage and abysmal distribution system. A very rudimentary example of this is illustrated by the following:

In the back of his faded red transport truck were 27.2 metric tons of pineapple, ripened and ready for sale. With temperatures approaching 50 degrees, the fruit might as well have been ferried in a broiler. More than 20 per cent would be tossed aside by the time he arrived, fought over by cows, dogs and the children from nearby slums.

Yes folks, the villain is mismanagement and wastage. Completely human errors. Our farmers, braving the elements and poor infrastructure (financial, distribution and lack of any scientific and technical help) are producing more than possible. They are keeping their end of the bargain. However, our nation is not ready with something as rudimentary as food storage yet. We can host Commonwealth games and make our urban areas swankier than ever imagined but we cannot build covered storage facility. Here is part of a very damning report:

By January, the Government was aware that it would be a bumper wheat crop this year. Yet, it failed to lift a ban on wheat exports. According to the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the Government has, as of June, a stock of 65 million tonnes of wheat while it has a storage capacity of just 62 million tonnes. Of that, only 57 million tonnes can be stored in covered areas. The monsoon has set in over much of the country and eight million tonnes of stored, uncovered wheat will almost certainly rot. The Government has invested little in increasing FCI's storage capacity.

This is just this year. Last year the situation was as bad. Grains rotted away in the rains. We do not have adequate buildings for grains or cold storages for perishables. The power infrastructure is so bad that we have to decide whether to keep ourselves cool or the food safe. With blackouts extending beyond major parts of the day, is anything safe?

Meanwhile poor people are hard-pressed to feed their kids one meal a day. In parts of UP children were eating clay because it tastes like "besan" (powdered grams). That seems to be because due to some bureaucratic mess, these kids are not classified as poor and thus not eligible for government help. Astonishing stuff that! Meanwhile the people who are eligible for help have been given ration cards with color coding. The poorer the person the cheaper the grain. Except, unscrupulous business people are loaning money to the poor in exchange for their ration cards and then selling the grains for the poor in the open market. Quite a vicious circle has been created for these unfortunate souls. What is the use of our prosperity if people have less to eat now that when we were mired in Nehruvian socialism. The following is quite an eye-opener:

Today, there is less food available for each Indian resident that there was 30 years ago. In 2008, the most recent year for which statistics are available, India produced 436 grams of food grains per person per day, a drop from 445.3 in 2006.

Since Congress has ruled the nation most of our independent existence, they have to shoulder most of the blame. However, what is galling is that the BJP did not do anything about it while they were in charge. At the very least they could have initiated the development of the food storage and distribution infrastructure (well, the Golden Quadrangle project could have improved the transportation which was initiated by the BJP but has since been stalled). Of course the corrupt neta - babu - businessman nexus have contributed greatly to this problem.

If we do not do something about hunger, then we may not have peace in the nation for too long. The hungry will eventually storm the citadel and ruin the party for the Indian Nouveau riche. Those Porches and Audis will not be fast enough to escape the wrath of the aam aadmi!

Meanwhile I would like to urge the readers of this blog to do your best to help out the needy. If hungry, feed to the best of your ability. If unable, teach them something they can use to feed themselves. We all need to pitch in. We cannot depend upon our politicians.

More is available from these articles:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Not-enough-food-so-children-learn-to-eat-mud/Article1-527187.aspx
http://www.thestar.com/printarticle/1026114
http://in.news.yahoo.com/decline---stall-of-the-congress-empire.html

Who Is Responsible For The Blast?

After the 26/11 attacks, Home Minister Shivraj Patil’s performance was so bad that he was described by the then US Ambassador as “spectacularly inept”. The rest of the Congress leadership also cut a sorry picture. Maharashtra politicians were treating that event as a photo op and a way to score political points. Statements by the Muslim Congress leader Antulay were nothing short of adding insult to fatal injuries. The aftermath of those terror attacks were a bigger disaster. I tell my kids that mistakes are not necessarily a bad thing if you can learn from them. This is a lesson that our politicians never learn. If anything the mistakes get compounded and bigger.

So what happened to those responsible for our safety? Shivraj Patil who is a major loyalist of la Famiglia, held on to his job. After much consternation he was relieved of his post and then given another plum post of state governor. In any self respecting country, man like him would have been investigated for gross negligence of duties. The other politicians were also shufffled around. As far as investigating the actual crime is concerned, we have one terrorist in hand who is yet to be punished. We were led to believe that thirty odd men from Pakistan came in without any local help and committed mayhem. In fact, the next Home Minister went on to coin terms like Saffron Terror and went on Hindu Hunting trip. Digvijay Singh was supporting Muslims who were accusing RSS for the 26/11 attacks. Bhai Narendra Modi was being tough on terrorism and he got accused of staging encounters. Situation was beyond pathetic. All in all, no one was punished. Aam aadmi was left to mourn his dead.

But what did we do after that? In the next election, we brought back the same administration with a bigger majority. The definition of insanity is to repeat the same act and expect different result. We epitomize the word.

Now we are facing yet another terror attack. People are looking for answers. They are complaining that the government is not providing them with adequate security. They are scared. Who is responsible for this mess? Well, surely the terrorists are responsible for the actual blasts but what about the aftermath of it? Please look in the mirror. Yes, we the voters are responsible for it.
We had a chance to bring in a Hindu Conservative government in 2009 who had shown better ability to deal with terrorism but we did not. In democracy, we deserve the government we elect. I hope that the people of Mumbai and elsewhere who elected Congressmen are happy with their choice. I have no intention of being cruel or callous at this tragic time but we have very short term memory. Very soon we are going to forget it all and fall for all the pro-Pakistani propaganda of the Aman ki Asha brigade and relect Congress. We need to break this cycle and vote for a different party in the next election or be prepared to be face this recurring nightmare.

2G Relay Race Loot

With the 2G scam, the country was introduced to a new height in financial malfeasance. That said, it is entirely possible that there are bigger and better scams waiting to be unearthed. Growing economies run by corrupt politicians are especially vulnerable to such activities. Had it not been for A. Raja’s sloppiness and arrogant handling of the 2G allocations, the scam could have not come to light. It would be pertinent to look at the roots of this whole nefarious scheme.

It may be recalled Dayanidhi Maran was doing well as a Telecom minister when he was abruptly withdrawn and forced to resign from his ministerial post. Sighting a family feud, DMK then recommended A. Raja as the replacement. The reason given out by the DMK party was the survey conducted by Dinakaran the Maran familys news paper. The Dinakaran published results of a popularity survey between the Karunanidhi son’s M K Alagiri and M K Stalin, wherein Stalin was projected as the popular heir apparent. This was supposed to be the reason for the people of Tamil Nadu and the reason for Dayanidhi Maran’s dismissal from the Telecom Minister post. A poor excuse, this almost certainly was a way to divert the people’s attention from speculating the real reason. Could it be that the immediate family members of the Karunanidhi, namely Azhagiri, Stalin and Kanimozhi gang realized the money swindling potential of the plum Ministerial posting of Dayanidhi Maran and they might have wanted to increase their share of the loot. As per the Economics Times report “CBI evidence and material prove in the chargesheet filed with the SC that Kanimozhi “actively” lobbied for “re-appointment” of A. Raja as Telecom Minister in UPA II government as the process for allocation of 2G spectrum was initiated in his first tenure in the ministry in 2008”. Only difference being Maran executed the scam in a very polished and sophisticated manner leaving less room for undue suspicion. Maran’s actions were made to look like a corporate rivalry and takeover. Whereas on analyzing the actions of Kanimozhi and Raja we notice a bad reproduction of Maran events right from forming a rival TV channel, the Kalaignar TV to the other Telecom & Real-estate companies. It’s anybody’s guess the Karunanidhi clan could have become jealous of the Maran’s Sun TV enterprise phenomenal success or Maran’s didn’t share the booty as agreed. Who knows?

With the Dayanidhi Maran involvement in the 2G scam coming to light, this very much looks more like a Relay Race to Loot the Nation. Unlike a standard 4X100, this one seems to have many participants. Only two have been exposed so far, Dayanidhi Maran seems to have begun the race and A. Raja was the one to finish it. But who were the beneficiaries? As is the case in any organized crime like the Mafia in Italy, portions of any money stolen is given to various levels of the management. It goes all the way to the Godfather. It does not stop in the middle. In this case, A. Raja has not talked but with time, the dominoes seem to be falling. Of late, the recent exposure of Mr. P. Chidambaram involvement in 2G, is making him look like one the runners in the middle of this relay. Today we are hearing the name of Kapil Sibal. Now we are getting close to the top of the ladder. Ahmed Patel who is PA to Sonia Gandhi has been found to be a close friend of Hassan Ali who is a major player in the 2G scam. This gives you an idea, how far and wide this thing went. Obviously, the players are trying to protect themselves and the other VIPs. How long will they hold out is anybody’s guess. Hopefully, as the case progresses the nation gets exposed to other heavy weights. All the runners in this 2G relay race have not yet been exposed.

Rahul Gandhi As PM? Only In India!

Oscar Levant once said cynically of a politician, 'He'll double-cross that bridge when he comes to it.'

That is one of the large number of quotations on the integrity and honesty of a politician. That is no longer an unfair stereotype or a joke for people in the know. Everyone thinks so. Then why do we still send more and more dishonest MPs to the parliament? In fact the last Loksabha has more than 150 MPs with serious accusations like murder against them. Even the aware voters of West Bengal have elected a very large number of criminal MLAs.

Why do Indians settle for things instead of reaching for things? Why have we come to a pass where we take pride in our ability for “jugaad” rather than doing something by the book? Why does the “chalta hai” edict get adopted by every new generation? It is most likely because it is easy. To fight for something or to make a stand takes effort and courage. Collectively as Indians, we are showing remarkable lack of both.

In the west, when politicians contest elections, they go out of their way to showcase their families and their “regular” lifestyle. It is because the voter in the west thinks that a person who can identify with them, is more likely to understand their problems. Makes sense, doesn’t it. Moreover, when you elect a politician, you are trusting your motherland to him or her. Wouldn’t you rather know everything about them, including their private lives (generally speaking)? You really want to know if you have the right person making decisions which will have tremendous impact on the lives of our families.

When Atalji was elected, all we knew about his private life was that (in his own words) he was a bachelor not a “bramhachari”. A man like that will NEVER get elected President in the USA. However, in India, no one questioned his value system. Of course in his case, we knew about his public life and his achievements due to his very long and illustrious career. We also know that he has an adopted daughter whom he has raised well. Therefore in his case, there was a semblance of normalcy.

Manmohan Singh is a great family man, an academic and an honest person. At that level, we have never had a person more qualified for the job. Before becoming the PM, by most claims, he had a good run as a Finance Minister in the Rao government (there are some doubts about how much credit should be given to him though). However, he has never won a general election. A good person, he lacks the ability to lead a country. The way he has dealt with the corruption issue is making us believe that his love for power is stopping him from doing the right and the honorable thing.

That brings me to the point I wanted to make. Congress insiders are doing their damndest to make Rahul Gandhi look like a Prime Ministerial candidate. Let us examine this man as they would in western democracies. His education credentials are not clear at all. They would like us to believe that he has degrees from exalted places but there no records substantiating that. This guy has never held any kind of public office. He has never created anything or any wealth. He has never had to prove himself to anyone because of his name. General Secretary of Congress is not an accomplishment because he is still not answerable to anyone. He is enjoying all kinds of power with no responsibility. When things get hot, he and his mother recede into the background. His henchman come to fore and fight dirty. The only thing they keep harping on is his youth but he is more than 41 years old. That may be young compared to Karunanidhi and Pranab Mukherjee but that is not really young. Bobby Jindal became the Governor of one of the most conservative states in the US at the age of 37. That is young and remarkable. From what we have seen so far, Rahul Gandhi is a man given to irresponsible statements, a loose cannon. His utterances in front of foreign diplomats (as per Wikileaks) have been most irresponsible. Per some reports, Congress insiders claim that he is not coachable in the matters of politics. He is a very rich single man closing in on middle age. He has never dealt with problems of raising children or providing for his family. Do we get a sense of responsibility from him? How can we expect him to feel the pain of the aam aadmi from his perch. One evening of daal roti in controlled environs will not solve this problem.

India is at crossroads in time. We are on the verge of becoming an economic success story. New prosperity and ancient culture will be very hard to balance for the society. We live in one the worst neighborhoods in the world. Security of the nation is of supreme importance. The world economy is faltering and we have a very young and a rising population. We need a statesman who looks at the next generation and not a politician who looks at the next election. India deserves a man or a woman of character, vision, gravitas and courage. A good looking playboy just won’t do.

On the Ethos of Present Day Indian Middle Class

I joined the managing body of the owners' association of the housing campus where I live in a major Indian city. This was to be my “baby” step into politics. I wanted to put my feet in the public life in this tiny way, and see how people think and act on community matters. I also wanted to influence the community life in whatever way I could.

The experience brought home to me certain aspects of Indian middle class ethos and I would like to share them here.

The place where I live is one of the richest campuses in the city, perhaps in all of India. You will find the elite of Indian society living here e.g. CEOs of top multinationals, rich entrepreneurs, top notch professionals, and so on. We were lucky to buy a place here cheap when this place was not much thought of or else it is unlikely we would be living here.

The governing body has nine members. It concerns itself with community issues, e.g. maintenance of the place, interaction with builder who still has some stake in the campus, formulating and enforcing bye-laws etc. All members are very rich (I being the only exception !), some quit the corporate world early in order to be free to work as they like.

They are all highly educated of course. All of them have seen many countries in the world. Some have also lived for extended periods in developed countries.

Unlike people who have never seen what a developed country looks like, they are unlikely to say that something is not doable. For instance, if a suggestion is made to the association body that we should ensure landscaping quality improves, no one will say that this being India, “ye chalta hai”. They will at least express serious intention to improve things and try to act all they can.

I have seen them take up and implement a number of initiatives. They show a good degree of perseverance that is needed to execute anything new. I have also seen them act on emergencies such as water shortage and implement measures that improved life for all of us.

However, there is a deep flaw in their behavior and perhaps values. Before I explain the flaw, let me give a quick primer on societal ethos and how these influence society's progress.

I believe that societies' ethos plays the most important role in it's progress. I believe that there are good ethos and bad ethos. I also believe that at any point, a society has an entrenched ethos. This ethos is primarily a set of values – what the large body of people consider right and wrong. But the ethos is more than values. It is also a set of habits. The habits are learned through experience of individuals in their interaction with others. The habits may be completely nonsensical, but once learned, individuals figure out a way of justifying the habit.

I would like to give an illustration of a society's ethos, how it can be utterly wrong and why an individual need not accept something only because it is part of the society's ethos. Of this, there can be no better example than caste system and untouchability.

Let us go back to pre – modern India, say middle of 19th century. The society's ethos at the time had, amongst other things, a firmly entrenched caste system. Untouchability of certain very “low” people was part of this caste system. It affected the society's progress in that it seriously weakened the society and enabled enemies of India to overpower us more easily than they could otherwise.

Let us assume there be an individual in this India who feels passionately that untouchability is wrong and should be abolished. What chance would such an individual have of convincing any significant section of Indian society of his views ? How much support he would get for his views of how society should conduct it's affairs ? We can safely say that in pre – modern India, such an individual would be alone, cut off from the rest of the society.

So, the point is – society has a sense of right of wrong and that sense of values may be utterly wrong. For an individual, the implication is that something he believes is not wrong only because society won't accept it. Of course, in such a situation he would need to figure out ways of managing pressures because of his being different from society. He would also need to understand if and how much he can push his views. But he won't be wrong only because all else believe otherwise.

Now, let us come back to our rich people's campus. One of the responsibilities of the association body is to enforce the bye-laws formulated in line with authority given by the general body.

I find great reluctance amongst all members to enforce the rules as soon as it involves any kind of confrontation. Every time a matter comes up whereby the body members have to confront a resident about violation of law, it is as if there is an elephant in the room no one would like to face. If the issue is forced into discussion by pesky members like me, you immediately get to hear fluffy talk such as “we should resolve everything in a good – neighborly fashion” or something like: “we want a peaceful campus where everyone is happy” and so on. This, mind you, for small violations such as dog owners not clearing dog poop or someone playing music too loud.

There are more serious matters such as coercion by local (outside) thugs not permitting all to freely provide services in this rich campus. On these matters, there is not even a desire to bring up the matter. As if the very mention of the matter gives everyone a fear and embarrassment. At most, the body would like to ensure that the thugs don't conduct their fights inside the campus.

It has been very disheartening for me to observe this rich Indian class. All they seem to want are secure enclaves for which somebody somewhere ensures there is peace and order. I do not find one of them willing to take responsibility for law enforcement. Supposedly, the police is to do all enforcement. But they would not like to face the question what a body such as this can do within the confines of the law. There is much that is possible, but it takes a little courage to confront the matter and be willing to get into unpleasant situations. Rich India would not like any of that unpleasantness.

This is not to say that they do not ever face unpleasant situations. There have been occasions when body members did face thuggish people and made an attempt to stand up to them. However, I find they go to great lengths to avoid any confrontation and it needs to be forced on them for them to be involved in one.

It is a deep flaw in Indian ethos. If those in leadership positions want only a secure cocoon, without having to pay any price in terms of dirtying their hands to create security and peace, then we leave the political field wide open for crooks and thugs and also for the enemies of the country. Our “secure” people, living in their shells then endlessly complaint about politics being the haunt of crooks alone and good people being absent from politics if not public life.

Such is the ethos of leading India that has made us into a soft society and state. I am not at all surprised that they always vote for someone who is ambiguous in everything he says and does – men like Atal Behari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh, rather than one who will formulate clear policies and do what is needed to implement them, such as LK Advani. Let us face it, it is because of our ethos that Pakistan is able to nearly get away with horrific terror attacks. Those who would face such problems and try to solve them not only do not get support, but are actually reviled as unnecessary confronters.

What should an individual do when faced with society nurturing a sickness such as this ? Now again let us go back to our Indian in pre – modern India who opposed untouchability. What should he have done ?

It is unlikely he could have changed the society. He would actually struggle to simply remain part of it. The best course for him would be to remain in the society with minimum compromises on his principles. He should advocate his views at every forum. He should try to win as many followers as possible and if nothing else, he should leave a record that he opposed his society's ethos. Those records would be inspiration for future generations.

This is what I try to do now. Oppose the values and behaviors of our body when possible and advocate a different approach at every opportunity. But I tell you, the pressures are significant and it is not easy on me !!

Rahul Gandhi, Ahmedinijad and Indian Media

When Kids in UP eat clay to fill themselves, you have to read the BBC news to find out about it. When Rahul Gandhi eats Dal-Roti, you just have to pick any mainstream newspaper to read about some jackass reporter fawning over this act of humility. I guess for the poor kid, it is not much of change from the daily gruel to clay. But for the Rajkumar who has grown up on his mother Steak Pizzaiola and pasta puttanesca, dal roti must be a quite a drop.

If that were all it took for a person to become a good leader, then Mahmood Ahmedinijad (MA) would become Gandhi, Dalai Lama, Roosevelt and Lincoln rolled into one. You see, Rajkumar Rahul is doing this for a couple of days (winning UP is his last chance) but MA does it and has been doing it all his life. MA comes from a poor family and like Lalloo Yadav, rose as a student leader. He has won two elections in Iran. He lives in an old house, drives his decades old car, wears rumpled suits and brings food to work from home. I saw a picture of him taking a nap on the floor. He does this every day. National leaders with such Spartan lifestyles are extremely rare in the world. He also has a PhD from a top Iran university. Despite of his admirable background, the guy is an ineffective leader given to virulent rhetoric. Compared to him, Rahul Gandhi’s meal as a measure of humility and austerity is nothing. Compared to MA’s education, Rahul’s education is nothing. Compared to MA’s political acumen, Rahul’s acumen is nothing. And yet somehow, Rahul’s handlers (read Digvijay Singh) think that a stunt like this will somehow endear him to the UP voters which in turn will lead to a unimaginably different results than Bihar and Tamilnadu.

There are two things that are really bothersome about all this. Congress is filled with political survivors so they must know something about elections. If they think that supping with a farmer (must be a well to do farmer. How many of the Indian poor can feast on daal these days?) will somehow win them the UP elections. If they are right then it is clear that they do not think too much of the UP voters. I pray to Bholenath that the UP voters prove them wrong next year. The other thing is that why does the entire mainstream Indian media act as Congress’s propaganda arm? I realize that when you become a media person, you do not have to take the media equivalent of the Hippocratic oath but there must be some measure of integrity needed for this job. If there is, then it cannot be seen in the mainstream Indian media. Shame on all of them!!

Telangana: Nation Needs Unity, Not Division!

Jayalalitha says: “Seems days of single party rule are over”. She of course is talking about the power of regional parties. By definition, the focus of these parties is very narrow and they tend to overlook the national interests. Powerful regional parties empower local leaders who are very often selfish demagogues. Like we saw, the Communist party with 60+ MPs in UPA-I essentially held the nation hostage. History of the last twenty years in Indian politics is rife with such examples. Never has a regional party been good for the nation and seldom for people they claim to champion. They are a testament to a narrow focus of the voters.

I should be enjoying the tight spot Congress is in vis a vis Telangana. However, I am one of the India first kind of people. I think that Telangana is a very bad idea. Just like Jharkhand and Chattisgarh. My reasons are as follows:

1. Despite of common language and quite similar culture, people of the so called Telangana region and the Andhra region have not been able to reconcile on issues like water sharing and view the revenue disbursement with suspicion. I dare say that such issues are going to become less contentious after the states are formed or at the time of division. The four major southern states are still not on the same page with water sharing.

2. Fight over Hyderabad is going to be a tough one. Is it going to become another Chandigarh? What about the places where a lot of central money on infrastructure has been spent. Who gets those? Geography is not a very good way to settle this issue. When money was spent on developing such areas, it was done with the entire state and the nation in mind. Being a free democratic nation, people should move to economic zones rather than move the boundary of the economic zones closer to their homes by playing petty politics.

3. Two states means twice the number of ministers and bureaucrats. This essentially means multiple fold increase in corruption.

4. Proposed state of Telangana will have a very high percentage of Muslims. Looking at J&K and Kerala, that is a recipe for disaster.

5. What has division done to the states of Jharkhand and Chattisgarh? Instant prosperity? Far from it. Jharkhand was stuck with Shibu Soren until the BJP leadership took over the state and started it on the right path. Chattisgarh was stuck with the corrupt Ajit Jogi regime until Raman Singh from the BJP took over. Therefore, an independent state is no guarantee for success. Choosing the right leadership is.

6. As we have seen from other cases, people of the divided states do not benefit. Politicians who do not amount to much in the unified state stand to gain in the divided state. People of the proposed state of Telangana need to see and verify before they succumb to the rhetoric of ill meaning politicians.

At a time when our nation is facing terrorism, insurgencies, inept central leadership and extreme corruption, we need to be looking at the big picture rather than obsessing over resolvable differences. We need to find ways to unite rather than divide. By standing firm and united against the enemies of the motherland, we will be able to defeat all our enemies, external and internal. By dividing, all we do is strengthen the hands of demagogues and terrorists.

Indian Temples and Pseudo-Secular Politics

I have always held that the liberal Indian media, encouraged by Congress policies, has carried on the demonisation of all things Hindu. We have more proof of that. Publicized by Indian media, the news has been seen all over the world that treasure worth billions of dollars have been found at an Indian temple. They make this sound sleazy like drugs or other contraband has been discovered. I don't think that the Indian media has ever reported the worth of the Catholic church or the amount spent by the Church in settling the pedophilia lawsuits. The desi media has never reported the worth of the Waqf board or the actual amount of taxpayer money spent on the Haj subsidies. No one has ever reported the money taken from the temples in Andhra which found its way to the Andhra Churches.

Needless to say, by sensationalizing this news, the media has revealed more about their own intentions that the actual event. I am of the opinion that donating money to religious organizations is not as important as donating to responsibly run charities. That said, the same rule should be applied to all religious places of worship and similar courtesies extended to all instead of picking on the Hindu temples. As it is, the pseudo-secular and communist state governments are taking money from the Temples and spending it on their own causes rather than the temple initiated causes. As the intrepid Prof. Vaidyanathan says:

The present times are most inappropriate to try to list the billions of rupees worth of diamonds and rubies and sapphires owned by our temples. We all know that a significant portion of our politicians have a criminal background and even parts of the judiciary are corrupt. The bureaucracy is compromised by a saga of loot and plunder.

In this context, where government finances are completely out of alignment with revenue realities, the temptation will be to use these invaluable treasures to fulfill the insatiable personal and political greed of our politicians to fund populist schemes like “food security” for all with resources belonging to Lord Vishnu. Already more than 80% of the incomes of major temples is used for “secular” causes rather than for “sacred” purposes.

Temples should not become political battle fields for the pseudo-secular politicians and the immoral media. As the good professor says:
Hands off the treasures that belong to Lord Vishnu

The article can be read at: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/hands-off-the-treasures-that-belong-to-lord-vishnu-35998.html

Amitabh Bachchan and Politics

Someone told me a new Bachchan movie was out. Like an amputee reaching to scratch his nonexistent limb, I read the reviews. The reviewer gushed over Big B’s performance. I was taken back to a precious time in my childhood when lot of good things were happening. My uncle took me to see Deewar. A slip of a lad, I was floored. I continued to watch his movies whenever I could get permission. I saw Don the day my high school exams were over. Like every kid of my generation, I started to emulate him in every way that I could without upsetting my father. I would pick up fights with people who criticized him. Amitabh Bachchan has the sly, cool charm of Sean Connery, the screen presence of Clint Eastwood and acting ability to more than match any star in the world. Like Haley’s comet, once he is gone, there won’t be another one like him for a long time. He was a demigod.

Yes folks, I was a fan (more like a fanatic).

Why do I use past tense? I was a Bachchan fanatic but also a member of the RSS. I was and am a Hindu nationalist. It is in my nature. I cannot give that up. So when Big B decided to throw in his weight with the Congress, you can well imagine my heartbreak. I was lost. But I managed to get back on the Bachchan wagon by saying that there were some good people in Congress and that Congress is not the same as the Gandhi family (Aaah! To be young and stupid again!!!). I even watched his trashy movies and supported the man. Such was my love for the guy.

But then he did the unthinkable. He joined forces with Amar Singh and Mulayam Yadav and became a star campaigner for them against the BJP. This of course was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Enough is enough, I told myself. How could I support the man who was being seen campaigning for people epitomizing all that is wrong with our nation. I could not go on supporting the guy anymore. I quit watching his movies. Every time I would see his picture with Amar Singh, it would chafe me to no ends. God, how I hated that. He may have had his reasons but I had mine as well. Since then, I have seen a few of his movies due to unavoidable social pressures. Of late, he has redeemed himself to some degree by becoming a spokesperson for Gujarat tourism under Bhai Narendra’s rule. But I cannot go back to being the same fan I was. It was his politics which ruined it all for me.

My suggestion to all public figures (actors, athletes and other artists) is that please stay away from politics as long as you want to maintain your fan base. For major stars like Bachchan, they have a responsibility to be neutral lest they break hearts of saps like me.

You may say that I am taking this thing too seriously. Folks, I am not as forgiving as fans of Sanjay Dutt (AK47 fame) or Salman Khan (vehicular manslaughter / hunting endangered animals / domestic violence). Sometimes we have to take a stand no matter what the cost. Other than casting our votes, that is the only weapon the aam aadmi has.