It’s an agony, Dear Aunt

I can’t live without seeing him at least once, Dear Aunt. Yet we can’t meet, his family insists on eating beef. Mine is puritanical and goes through the day with greens and other non root vegetables! Oh how shall I meet him without alerting my parents and the vigilantes. The vigilantes are real badmash you know they have actually beaten him up on suspicion of carrying beef, when actually he was carrying a blouse stitched by the neighborhood tailor for his mother, wrapped as he always does in a newspaper.

The parent’s of the boy are agreeable, my parents are not. My mother won’t hear of it, not to say about my father, he will beat me up. I am writing in considerable agony dear Aunt. We exchange missives through a reliable intermediary. The missives are very small and can’t be mistaken for beef.

Oh how can I resolve this. He is willing to give up meat, yet it would be uphill task to make my parents understand that the boy is free from beef. In my colony a beef eating couple were beaten up and paraded through the street, in full view of the police. They did nothing, just chatted among themselves, smoking beedi on the sly.

We have often thought of jumping off the roof of our homes, but onlookers would just think we fell off while hanging clothes on the clothesline. I am sure you will resolve my problem and bring us together, you have done such wonders for others.

 

I beg to differ

India is at it its old game again, trying to isolate Pakistan and tarring it. With India deciding not to participate in the SAARC summit it has silently communicated its wishes to other SAARC members to stay away, and stay away they did: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan decided to not attend the meet. India has been crying out loud that Pakistan exports terrorism, that it cannot fight a conventional battle.

India is sowing clouds of war. India is trying to paint everything black – terror black. The latest bid to fiddle with the Indus Water Treaty can have catastrophic consequences for the south Asian region. So also the Most Favored Nation status in trade for Pakistan.

He [Modi] even threatens to use water as a weapon in the conflict. He feels that by deepening India’s strategic collaboration with Afghanistan and other regional countries, he could have Islamabad on its knees.ZAHID HUSSAIN in the Dawn, Pakistan.

It seems quite contrary to what India says in the international summits that it believes in dialogue. The reality is that that since the Congress government could not get Pakistan to take punitive action against the Mumbai bombers, the present dispensation wants to show that it can take proactive steps in dealing with the problem of “cross border terrorism,” and avenge the killing of 18 soldiers in Uri.

Life within India’s borders has become restive. There are clashes in many parts of India, so it does what it has been doing since Mrs. Gandhi’s days, point a finger at the nearest neighbor which anyway has been viewed, thanks to social-political engineering as an enemy by the average Indian. India ignited the Baloch issue, it nurses the Baloch rebels. And then it foments trouble in the region.

Then it becomes Holier than thou, a sacred cow.

Things go better…

My Camel, my Jeep and coke, what else could you want. Back then brands completed your ensemble. They still do. One needs to accessorize to be counted. In the past that I have recreated in the first line, the man would have been wearing Levi’s jeans. He could have been wearing a Rolex, or whatever was advised for such occasions. Coke was one brand that went with everything…Big Macs or french fries, Kentucky fried chicken, school canteen, snack bar of an express train, or on your seat on a transcontinental flight.

Then came the epidemic of obesity among children. The cause: sugar content of proprietary products. Kellogs was another product that seemed to be a constant on the breakfast tables across the world. The ads boasted the wholesomeness of the product, each spoonful of cornflakes contained the required amount of goodness that put junior on the top of his class. Except, junior was bursting out of his pants. His buttons broke at strategic points.

However, nothing drastic was done to curb foods that made junior look out of shape (ship-shape?). Then came the order banning certain products from being sold to minors; according to the Daily mail dated January 23 2015, Russia banned western fizzy drinks from Coke to Pepsi and Mountain Dew and a domestic product Baikal. Restrictions did not apply to tea or coffee. The items were banned to minors in the Vologda region of Russia. The decision was taken by the regional legislature. The ban included such places as schools, sports centers, centers of cultural activities, etc.

The Gujarat government banned the aerated drinks from sale in the canteens of the government schools. This applied to the urban schools. The rationale was that the drinks contained high amounts of pesticides. The colleges were also part of the ban. Parliament of India also banned the drinks from their canteens for the same reason.

But the products are available in India. Although their value as a product is almost non existent, its chief selling point is that it is non alcoholic and acceptable as a beverage in a family gathering. Kellogg’s also continues to be sold and it splashes its healthy and wholesome properties although nothing has been proved independently.

Therefore, it is safe to assume that these products act as accessories to whatever occasion that they are ordered in. They are like bread, butter and jam. The breakfast table would look quite empty without them, the party at the canteen would loose its celebratory value without the fizzy drinks. One would go to the MacDonald’s and order the Mac Burger and Coke and french fries would come in huge quantities.

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Pakistan Russia in defense ties

There was a time when the slogan was Hindi Russi bhai bahi (India, Russia are brothers). For defense hardware India would look to Soviet Union, Pakistan was closely aligned to the US for defense and economic cooperation. During the 1971 war Pakistan looked up to the US. The tables have turned. Now Russia is in Pakistan with their mechanized infantry unit for the first ever military exercise between the two countries. As India joins hands with the US, and intensifies its defense cooperation with that country, the alignments have seen a sea change.

“A contingent of Russian ground forces arrived in Pakistan for first ever Pak—Russian joint exercise from September 24 to October 10,” army spokesman Lt—Gen Asim Bajwa tweeted along with some photographs of the Russian and Pakistan troops.

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“The joint military drills are aimed at bolstering and building military cooperation between the two countries,” the statement said ahead of the opening ceremony on Saturday

THE HINDU

The objective of deepening military cooperation is a major departure from the past; Pakistan is coming to terms with a new ally and the world is witnessing changing patterns on the geo-political map, wherein China, Russia, Pakistan are defining a new world order. As India gets closer to the western powers, China, Pakistan’s old ally has remained a constant, now Pakistan is building bridges with Russia.

The south east Asian countries look to their old ally US as China flexes its muscle in the region. North Korea remains a threat to peace in south east Asia. North Korea sees China as its ally, although the former has angered China recently.

What final shape would emerge on the geo political map remains to be seen. These are times of rapid changes and nothing is cut and dried.

Beamed from radio station….a wealth of emotions

Ameen Sayani

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On the highway of frequency waves the tuning needle flitted from one station to the other…either you remembered the frequency on which your program was broadcast, or the position of the tuning “needle”, approximately, told you whether you were on the right place to hear your favorite program, then all that was left for you to do was to check the clock or your wrist watch.

Ceylon Radio broadcast Hindi film music…Ameen Sayani bacame a household name. The program known as Binaca Geetmala is remembered by the older generation most vividly. You can hear the programs on YouTube. The program has been lovingly preserved in crystal clarity. It was because All India Radio broadcast only classical music, which could be appreciated by only a few people, Ceylon Radio became popular.

If people wanted entertainment then they had to have a radio that was good enough to receive the broadcast from Radio Ceylon. To get the program was a chore, because the station could be found only after considerable fiddling of the tuning knob. Those days the radios were huge sets that occupied the pride of place. The older generation would need to displace the younger ones when they wanted to listen to the news.

Entertainment, otherwise, meant either going to the cinema or the theater. In the really old days before the advent of moving pictures the only way one could get some entertainment was by visiting the theater. The theater would advertise a stage play or a musical performance. But that was much before my time, perhaps even before my father’s time. Or the circus would visit the town where you lived.

Much depended on one’s own initiative…someone may have been a good singer and could entertain their audience of friends and family, or they could have been good at playing the piano. However, financial considerations forced the hands of the bureaucrats and commercial program began on All India Radio. It was during the prime listening time that a chatty voice would take away your attention from more immediate concerns. However, the die hard listeners of Radio Ceylon never gave up.

Ameen Sayani’s voice could be heard on All India Radio. He used to present film music based programs. His style of presentation and voice modulation was exactly like it was on Radio Ceylon. AFS Talyarkhan was a well known cricket commentator, he had a sponsored program whose name I could not find in Google and have forgotten it. Even people who had nothing to do with cricket would listen to his end of the day talk on the day’s play.It was in English but was hugely popular.

The cinema held sway over All India Radio, soundtrack of a movie used to be played on Sunday before DoorDarshan the government owned TV put an end to it by telecasting movies every Sunday.

India’s romance with the TV began in the early ’80’s when color telecast began as a result of Asian Games being hosted by India. For me who liked radio, TV was almost a nightmare, because you would be called to watch boring people do stupid things in front of the TV cameras under blazing light. It wasn’t all gloom or doom there were some very interesting programs too, but they were so few.

Now even BBC radio does not have the charm of those days when the famous signature tune told you that it was time for the BBC World Service News from London. The news would broadcast world events. My interest in global politics can be traced to this beginning. Reporters would present news stories from various locations around the globe! Whereas All India Radio read news that was vetted by India’s “Kremlin.” I wanted to be the person who sat at the 24 channel console ensuring that what was broadcast was heard on various radios in crystal fashion; but here I am a blogger who thinks he is a broadcasting guru.

If things could be set right…

I still don’t understand, why Japan had to be bombed with the most powerful bomb known to mankind. Was it in retaliation for the Pearl Harbor bombing? Was it in retaliation for the all crimes committed by the Japanese during the war? In that case shouldn’t America face reprisal for what it did in Vietnam, Lagos and Korea, in the name of stopping the spread of communism?

Americans have created the monster called Taliban and now the ISIS. Terrorism unleashed in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria etc has made normal life impossible in these countries. There hasn’t been any positive outcome from the Allied intervention in the middle east, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Should not the global cop be facing trial in the international court of justice!

The Iron hand becomes feather duster

After the violence is almost over in Bangalore, the CM said that the miscreants would be treated with “iron hands”. In case you believe him, let me disabuse you, no such thing has ever happened. People understand how these things work. After all the state’s political machinery was behind the riots that took place – against water sharing as ordered by the Supreme Court. Buses were attacked and set on fire. The vehicles bearing Tamilnadu license plates were targeted, shops and other establishments were burnt or damaged, people were set on fire.

The reaction from the administration was to prohibit vehicles from Tamilnadu. They did not take action against the “miscreants.” This is nothing new. that is how state machinery works; party politics comes into play. The Karnataka government approached the Supreme Court with a plea that the apex court order had caused violence therefore it should reconsider its decision on the quantum of water to be shared. The Supreme Court expressed its strong views that the state government plea was in response to violence.

Time and again there have been occasions when the experts have warned that certain actions would embolden the vested interests. The precedent is thus set…if once the state makes a wrong move there is a repeat of the incidents of violence. Notwithstanding all this…why can’t there be amicable sitting down and discussion instead of violence. Parties often take it out on each other through these means. In India dialogue has given way to mob violence.

Those were the times, when white kurtas, dhotis and angavastram (a cloth that straddles the shoulder of a true blue south Indian politician) would gather in a conference room to discuss issues of gravity affecting the nation or a state. The atmosphere sometimes became heated but nobody resorted to breaking the furniture. This conveyed to the people that their representatives were honest men or women who were truly concerned about the issue at hand. Now in a sneaky way the state government made known its displeasure about sharing water by tacitly encouraging violence.

 

East is east and west is west, never the twain shall meet…! They did meet in a manner of speaking

The British tried to “civilize” the natives, eventually they had to beat a hasty retreat…no I am lying it did not work quite like that. The British laid the railways, strung telegraph wires around the sub-continent, and set up a postal system which according to some statistics is still one of the largest. They gave us a system of education which is maligned by one and all. However, this post is about the things like railways, telegraphs, etc. Some of those things were used by everyone till the advent of the last decade of 20th century. The telephones were also established by the British. All these things hastened the end of the empire, somewhere in the middle of the twentieth century.

To the railways of the time, it was vital that there was a means of communication that was faster than the postal service, the telegraph sent messages in Morse code, it was used by the station master to inform the next station if there was a problem on the line. The single line sections required the use of tokens…the locomotive driver holding the token had the right of way and any other train on the line had to wait on the siding, called passing loop. Then there was the track side telephone, if there was a problem on the  line drivers could inform the next station about it or some other designated authority.

How beautifully everything came together and worked together was an amazing feat of engineering excellence. Telecommunications working with railway systems for traffic management fault detection and communication to all those using the affected section. This kind of synergy helped to make possible not just train travel, but air travel as well. In the context of air travel, communication is the foundation on which the whole thing works…the pilots are in constant touch with the air traffic controllers. They are handed from one ATC to another as they pass the territories miles high in the sky.

The high speed trains of today which try to mimic air transport in speed and efficiency are a result of evolution in the field of communication. From the basic semaphore signals of yore to today’s state of the art signaling systems there has been a sea change in the use of technology. Now it is all digital electronics, computers computing at the speed of light and monitoring the location of various trains. Not just trains and airlines, even buses are now being monitored to provide efficient service to the commuters.

From simple wires strung over telegraph poles to state of the art communications that fetches data for the convenient use of the passenger on his smart phone, communications are in a state of continuous development. Twain shall meet, or have they already.

Just a thought

If only for a day our politicians would allow themselves to be garlanded with old, dirty shoes, and showered with rotten tomatoes it would make everyone think highly of them. The PM should inaugurate the event and be garlanded with rotten onions, rotten cauliflower; this would highlight the plight of the common man who is facing shortage of commodities like vegetables.

I have periodically brought out the fact that our leaders are cossetted to such an extent that they fume at the slightest inconvenience. The three letter abbreviation has come to mean Very Inconvenient Person (VIP). The public-VIP interaction takes place at such venues as conferences, inauguration, etc. Mantriji launches a diatribe against the opposition. They wax eloquent about how the people are upper most in their minds forgetting how much disruption their arrival created.

In this respect the organizers of the event are also at fault they forget the futility of calling a politician. I remember a news story in one of the national dailies about how a minister was invited to IIT Delhi, to inaugurate a conference on tribology. The minister launched a speech on how tribal people were important and what the government was doing for their welfare. Tribology is a study of friction, wear and design of bearings. The minister was not at fault as he was in-charge of tribal welfare.  The organizers may have thought it would be good prank…who knows!

In the aircraft the leaders show their true colors. There have innumerable incidents where drunken VIPs have indulged in indecent behavior with the cabin staff. If I was the captain of the airline I would require them to be put under restraint so that the passengers who have paid the fare have a peaceful journey. This is another thing, the mantriji does not think how poor we are as a nation and how much his trip is costing the people. he still demands the he be treated as a maharajah or better still like a Mughal emperor.

Imagine the plight of an elderly cart puller, struggling to take the load to its destination for a pittance and a mantriji making a useless trip at cost to the public exchequer. Most such journeys are futile and unnecessary. It is not just the mantrji but a whole paraphernalia that goes with him.

Rio…and all that

Women power saved India from a medal less Olympics. Tavleen Singh in her column, Lessons from Rio (Indian Express August 21 2016) wrote, that India, a country the size of a continent came away with fewer medals than little Island nations.

CNBC and BBC asked the question why India can’t seem to get any medals. CNBC pointed out that country punches well below its weight. China, Russia walk away with many medals at every Olympic event. It points out that the country is one of the most populous, has the fastest growing economy, etc and yet the event is an exercise in despair..

However, look at Malaysia and Singapore which have managed between them 6 medals: Singapore 1 and Malaysia 5. These two countries have world class facilities for sports and people keen on sports, no one seems to ask them these questions. According to CNBC, India’s reason is neither ethnic or poverty of its people, according to experts CNBC spoke to. One explanation put forward was, lack of sports culture. Those who participated in the event are exceptional people.

Tavleen Singh points out that international sports events are not the only things that India does not shine there are events like Program for International Assessment (PISA) where students from the all over the world participate. The Indians came second last. Tavleen says that it is the failure of the government to address India’s abysmal record in human development. She points to the colonial hangover where there were one set of rules for the colonials and another for the “natives.”

I realize that the explanations put forward are the same for perhaps a number of our other failures. The nation failed its people because the leaders pandered to their ideological cronies: Nehruvians pandered to Fabianism, BJP pandered to the Hindutva ideology as a reaction, perhaps, growing “westernization of India.” The people came last.

Nothing remotely disagreeable about Apple ad…

The ad from the famous Cupertino, Ca. company is quite pleasant indeed. Its a pleasant departure from the usual Apple ads. The two images that caused so much consternation to an Indian newspaper are actually quite pleasant and portray India’s diversity.

Any PR department of an Indian government agency would have used those pictures, and such pictures have appeared in glossy books on Indian tourism. I think Ms. Manisha Singh was carried away by the moment and wanted to cause sensation.

Apple ad rubs India the wrong way

An Apple ad has caused dyspepsia in India. According to the Times of India, the ad shows India in stereotypical way. In one of the frames according to the newspaper, it shows sadhus (holy men), and an emaciated farmer looking towards the sky hoping for rains to come down on his parched fields. The article goes on to say that the image is as much part of India as the successful mars mission. It goes on to say that, “Apple we are proud to be an agrarian society.”

Dear Times of India, if you are so proud to be an agrarian economy then why do you tolerate the disrespect to the farmers who because of decades of neglect and misplaced priorities of the government had to take the extreme step of ending their lives. Not in the hoary past but a few years ago. And as to being information technology superpower, you should read Manu Joseph’s article in New York Times (Searching for something good to say about India, June 29 2011), it clearly states that the claim to being an IT superpower is exaggerated, there isn’t a single software in the average PC for which India holds the licence.

Indians are averse to hard realities of India. We look at ourselves with spectacles that transmit only unreal images. India’s growth statistics in GDP terms don’t show India’s prowess, but indicate that there is a lot of room for development or large industrial houses shifting their focus to India because of the saturation of markets in their own countries. The GDP growth rates of all developed countries would be somewhere below 5 percent. And look at the GDP growth figures for developing or emerging economies they show higher figures…the poorer they are the higher would be the growth figures (as always provided that everything else remains the same, this statement may not apply to certain countries experiencing inept and extremely corrupt regimes). So where does it leave us vis a vis the western propensity to stereotype India. It leaves us with cold water thrown at us to bring us back to the real world.

India-Pakistan: The questions no one in power asks

“Tell me about the birds and the bees, if you please, he got that glazed look in his eyes, I realized then and there I have to rephrase the question. (Harry Belafonte)” Something on similar lines takes place between the PMs of Pakistan and India. the Indian PM or Foreign Secretaries of the two countries meet and then it fizzles out.

The press communique says something like this:

“The woman piaba and the man piaba
and the Ton Ton call baka lemon grass,
The lily root, gully root, belly root uhmm,
And the famous grandy scratch scratch.”

The Press says “it was clear as mud but covered the ground, it made my head go round and round (Harry Belafonte).” The two nations shy away from facing realities, even today. They stick to their ground and dialogues become meaningless. Then the media war begins; Indian media attacks the PM. After all, the experts had known what would transpire. The foreign office johnnies perspire. Matters don’t move beyond the K word.

Many initiatives have seen the light of the day and then fallen by the wayside, in the badlands of nihilism. Now there is another threat. The terror groups are not in favor of a dialogue between the nuclear armed countries. The pain and suffering of those living in Jammu and Kashmir are real enough. To them a day without a bullet ringing out is a day of grace. No country can prosper till such time that every man, woman and child is truly safe.

 

Education to nowhere

Cartoon by RK Lakshman

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According to the National Employability Report of the more than 1,50,000 engineering students who graduated in 2015, 80 percent are not employable. These graduates represent 650 colleges of engineering. The Corporate houses say that the graduates did not have the requisite skill set or talent (Times of India ,January 24 2016).

Low employability of engineering graduates is an indication of poor standards of education. Employment in the present context is highly dependent on multifarious skill sets, that include analytical skills, cognitive skills, command over language – for example English. In India while every parent and child either aspires to be a doctor or an engineer, opportunities that the nation offers are meager. The private institutions that claim to provide first class engineering education or IT education are actually lacking.

graffiti | Wall that knows in its post spoke about absence of quality primary education in India. The emphasis placed on the elementary education is important because it lays the foundation for individual’s future growth in higher education. India has not made a definite commitment towards improving basic education. The quality of education imparted at the primary level is in a large number of cases, abysmal. Also faculty absenteeism and their suitability to undertake classes at the primary level is also questionable – the better quality schools are beyond the reach of the average family.

When the foundation, in terms of basic primary education is insecure, then when they go into colleges, they are not able to make the best of what is being imparted and therefore they are not equipped for higher education – a professional degree that would propel them towards gaining a lucrative job. Therefore it may be safely presumed that the high unemployment and underemployment rates may be because of the poor educational infrastructure.

We cannot aspire to be a superpower in anything unless we take reforms to the educational infrastructure, starting with basic primary education.

Bombs and after

After the bombs explode…and after the trite speeches, the victim’s family, especially its women are left with silent tears and sobs. They lost a son, they lost a husband or a mother, daughter…! Every column inch of the newspapers outline the horror, blood spilled over nothing. They were there because that is where they had to be on that day, it was what they did day after day, weeks, month and year.

From France to Iraq, from Bangladesh to Pakistan, India, US…oh just about everywhere the daily news round is a bloody trail. It never ends…it may be a lone attacker, it may be a jihadist; who knows what they had in mind. It wasn’t this bad before…every day rings out with the cries of the victims families…vigils outside hospitals as the families swing from hope to despair. It may be a little girl, or a little boy…hanging on to life, sometimes barely so.

Atrocities go on. Victims join statistics; leaders give speeches – cowardly act, we will not be intimidated…a dastardly act. Then another day the scene is repeated. Same speeches are made…TVs switched off. “Just another day in paradise (Phil Collins).”