interim thoughts...

The Age of Modi

2019-05-10T18:54:00.001+05:30

Ever so often, we are part of an age that cannot see it because we are in it. Post facto it all seems obvious, but while you are in it, less so.

And in that sense we as a generation have been very lucky. We were around when liberalization happened - arguably the most defining moment in Indias economic history post independence. We were there when the internet happened. When the GQ happened. The post liberalization consumer boom. Cable TV. Indias growth story. (...and then the Indian corruption story which nearly brought everything down..but hold on). The collective impact of all of these has been an avalanche effect - when you see it some quarter century down the line. This is one of the prongs of the India story.

Alongwith the euphoria was also the accompanying sadness/cynicism as to whether India would ever capitalize on the growth story given the abysmal poverty - so it was (and it) never a given that India would make it. Indeed, most of us thought and still think we would not. And that is another prong.

Today, we are living in the age of Modi - of a leader who has truly made a difference to a nation and in another 5 years, he will change the character of this national irreversibly. I am confident, he will be back at the helm in about 2 weeks from now, so this is bit of an optimistic post as also about putting my words where my mouth is.

The amount of love (and hate) he receives is immense - and like many leaders he evokes both viscerally from his supporters and detractors. But in an age of cynicism, social media, post truths, the man as a leader, his ability to hold his own is still something. I have myself been a critic of him for many reasons - zero overlap with the reasons why Lutyens and wannabe fake liberals criticise him, but his ability to stand tall amidst all others losing their heads is really something. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Let us see this from the context of India in general and Hindus in particular. And this is perhaps the most important prong of all this.

Consider this.

As the years have gone by, Hindus have become more and more politically correct. This is not to say that Hindus were politically incorrect before, but in a manner of speaking, the public space for Hindu expression is reducing. Look around you, Diwali is not cool anymore. Holi isnt. Navaratri isnt. Ganesha, well, thats loud. Everything is loud or patriarchal or polluting or primitive or all of it. So the question is, how did we get here?

It is partly our culture that religion is generally indoors (well, thats not true if you pause to think a little deeply about it). It is partly due to Nehruvian liberalism that somehow being Hindu was associated with being uncool - our education system slowly and deliberately took out Hinduism out of conscious study and relegated it. Our western orientation did a little damage. We adopted quickly, perhaps too quickly and in that process shed our inherent Hinduness. And when we did state it, we did it with a little shame. A little fear of being mocked. A little small.

Our leaders lit a lamp, sometimes said a prayer, but thats about it. Overly associating with any ritual was seen as 'backward'. Temple visits were harmless, but not so cool.

What has happened in the age of Modi is the assertiveness of Hinduness. The awakening - enabled in no small part by the advent of social media - which helps people go beyond the veil drawn by left liberal media. People no longer take Hindu culture or festival shaming lying down. There is a new found awareness and pride about being Hindu and awareness of the shrinking public space and the bias against Hinduism is becoming more and more apparent - both in law, in politicians promises and behaviours and so on.

More to write about this, but I wanted to put this out there as an unfinished part I

Rahul, an inspiration

2019-05-05T17:28:00.000+05:30

There I said it. Rahul is an inspiration. You think it is funny? No it is not. It is absolutely serious. But why am I praising Rahul on OpIndia? Because he deserves to be praised - he is an inspiration. Not convinced? Neither was I. But read on. I promise you that the end of this article, you will fully agree with me.

Rahul is a hope to the millions in India. Those who havent ever held a job - will see him and think - yes, I can become a Prime Ministerial candidate too. How inspiring is that? Sure, wannabe chaiwallahs can do that - but chaiwallahs have a job - this is about totally jobless people. And yes, the amount of assets. Go check your bank balance - with whatever experience you have. Look at Rahuls assets. Now go and dunk yourself in a small cup of water. Yes, this is hope. Not your measly bank balance and one small home that you are either saving for eternity or paying a loan for eternity.

Rahul can barely string a few sentences together without mixing up either grammar, gender, facts, figures, dates or language. Have you ever heard a speech of Rahul where he does not muddle up stuff? I mean, there are a thousand leaders who can articulate - either in their native language or in English or in some other language. We look up to them and say, what a leader. I can never become a leader - I can never speak like them. But one speech of Rahul and the persons eyes glimmer with hope. Yes, I can do it. I can be a star one day. Leader or stand up comedian. I can also be something. He does it for inspiring the people, you duffers.

Rahul is an investment genius. Any asset he touches just grows. And on the other hand, there are people peddling toothpaste and plastic containers and herbal health supplements to supplement their income from a job. Who wouldn't like to have this skill? Where an asset magically appears at your door and says, take my money, invest in me and forget - I will give you returns. I will grow on my own. Doesnt happen. You and I and everyone else has to slog. But Rahul, what an inspiration from the investment genius.

And to you corporate types - this is totally for you. Learn from Rahuls work life balance. I mean, I really dont need to say more, but I will. Imagine working for a few days and taking off for few weeks. Yes, Rahul never preaches work life balance - he does it. By the way, you corporate idiots get one thing wrong - you take pictures of vacation. He takes pictures of work, not vacation. Take pictures of every work you do, share with boss, prove that you are working hard and voila - you are not affected by performance appraisals and those measly pay hikes you slog for. Your team does it. They take those pictures and go to town with it and you get your increment and promotion while you are in some exotic vacation. Dont you wish you had a working life like Rahul? Yes, yes, you get the point. Tip: Empower your team so that they stand by you. This is something you wont understand. Second tip: Go big on Rewards and Recognition.

There is something very cool about some leaders. They give you absolute global gyan without telling you any details. And at the end you are either confused or confounded. But they leave you with the big picture. This is a very difficult skill. I mean, you are hungry and someone is speaking about Jupiter. Or Gold from potatoes. Or a fighter plane for 7200 rupees when you cannot even get a second hand phone with that money. You cannot comprehend it. The mouse brain that you have just cannot comprehend it. This is one thing that you cannot aspire for - this is beyond aspiration - this is sheer talent and genius. But isnt it inspiring? This is called big picture thinking. Yes, yes, you can thank me later.

There is a plan to make a biopic of sorts - it will be abstract art -just a blank screen for you to see and inspire yourself. And a book is on the way apparently, printed on invisible ink.

This is a short post and it cant do justice to the great inspiration that Rahul is. Words, especially from someone like me, who has been a loser on most counts.

But if Rahul becomes the Prime Minister (he is already Prime Ministerial candidate and that is inspiration enough), he will inspire a billion people....Dont you agree?

Cross posted at Opindia

Media announces alliance with Congress, waits for internet to come on board

2019-03-23T12:16:00.002+05:30

Congress patrakars have been very upset at the lack of Congress ability to stitch up alliances. They have been very vocal on social media - possibly emanating from the common whatsapp group that they are all part of - but this time it is not orchestrated, it is genuine. Given this circumstance, a logical next step has happened.

The media or a section of it has announced an alliance with the Congress for the 2019 election. They have decided to drumbeat the achievements of the prince and his new clothes that would put an alliance to shame. In fact, pseudosecular patrakaars who lost many a free airline seat and shopping trip have decided to pool their collective influence for the prince. After all, free shopping and travel is a thing to vie for. Sonia air loyalty miles go very far over generations; without an expiry date.

There is an entire team to manufacture his adventures like you see in the superhero movies. Somebody crafts all those backstories and sequels and prequels so that, you see a coherent stories while they mint money by you watching all those movies (sometimes thrice so that your kids understand what happened). Behind all those cute prince pictures is a story whose driving principles is “Life is but a series of photo opportunities".

Behind every speech is a story of a script painstakingly written, knowing fully well that it will not see the light of day or be laughed upon - think of the speechwriter who lives through this each day. But I digress, this is all about media aligning and projecting Rahul Gandhi as the numero uno challenger to the kommunal Narinder Mudi.

The media team is projecting every achievement of India (or Nehru or Indira) as his - after all, generations conspired to get Rahul here. What is an alliance here and there when the media is there?

Let me take you back to 2013, which incidentally was the 4th Rahul ‘comingof’ age. Slight digression: Unlike the geographic ages, Rahul has only one age - comingof. Rahul had won the UP polls in the newspapers and media even before the first vote was cast - not counted. Why, in some newspapers, Congress rules UP and Rahul is the CM. The EVMs may have counted the votes, but the heart - the pseudosecular heart beats for Rahul and Rahul only.

As part of the alliance, media wants no seats, not in parliament atleast. They do want seats on the plane that Rahul will travel. There a thousand positions to be filled. Rahul needs writers, editors, correctors, script rejiggers, input interpreters, output interpreters, photographers, dimple counters, food bloggers, achievement generators, history creators and more. With so many jobs at stake with just one person, it is no secret why the media has announced an alliance with Rahul. When one person can create so many jobs, what is Mudi?

Meanwhile as the prince goes about connecting rural areas with railways and promising roads and electricity mostly he is promising what Modi has already done apart from the easter eggs like promising potato gold factories and rafales at 1600 rupees - every house will have one rafale, media cleverly shows only the princes new clothes. Atleast one social media site has been reportedly part of the alliance, a bird tweeted.

Now, if only they could bring the internet on board this alliance - thats it - from then on, it will be Rahulman who will win...

(Posted at opindia)

Some notes from the law commission report

2018-09-19T18:20:00.001+05:30

An evening with nothing to do. Pakistan is slitting throats of Indian troops on the border and another group of idiots is watching a match with terrorist nation. Yes, no terrorism coming in the way of sports bullshit. So I decided to spend the time well reading the Law commission report. These are the comments that caught my eye.

Para 1. 3

In the absence of any consensus on a uniform civil code the Commission felt that the best way forward may be to preserve the diversity of personal laws but at the same time ensure that personal laws do not contradict fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of India

Para 1. 4

Therefore, it is urged that the legislature should first consider guaranteeing equality ̳within communities‘ between men and women, rather than ̳equality between‘ communities.2 This way some of the differences within personal laws which are meaningful can be preserved and inequality can be weeded out to the greatest extent possible without absolute uniformity.

Para 1.5

The fact that secular laws such as the Special Marriage Act, 1954 also continue to suffer from lacunae suggests that even codified or religion-neutral laws offer no straightforward guarantee of justice.

Para 1.15

This Commission has therefore dealt with laws that are discriminatory rather than providing a uniform civil code which is neither necessary nor desirable at this stage.

Para 1.19

Thus, while framing a law it has to be borne in mind and cultural diversity cannot be compromised to the extent that our urge for uniformity itself becomes a reason for threat to the territorial integrity of the nation.

Para 1.20

India has historically prided itself over its diversity. Conversations on ̳secularism‘12 and also ̳multiculturalism‘,13 have intrigued not only philosophers, political scientists and historians but also common Indian citizens.

Para 1.21

The term secularism only has meaning if it can also assure that the expression of any form of ̳difference‘, not just religious but also regional does not get subsumed under the louder voice of the majority; and at the same time no discriminatory practice hides behind the cloak of ̳religion‘ to gain legitimacy.

Para 1.35

Thus a ̳united‘ nation need not necessarily have ̳uniformity‘ it is making diversity reconcile with certain universal and indisputable arguments on human rights.

Overall, so far the tone is basically arguing for 'diversity' - basically putting away any chance of any reform. The report then delves into obscure tribes and practices and so on and so forth (very informative, I had no idea about these)

Para 2.3 is a gem I thought :)

For instance, the relatively easier procedure of divorce under Islamic law for men and women is also reflected in the relatively open attitudes towards remarriage of divorced and widowed women, a right that most Hindu women achieved through legislation. However, once the legislation was in place, Hindu law evolved through a series of piecemeal legislative interventions on recognition of women as coparceners in 2005, recognition of diverse customs within the Hindu Marriage Act (Madras Amendment) 1967 incorporating priest-less marriages among many others. Amendments to Christian marriage and divorce laws in 2001, and Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act,1956 and Guardians and Wards Act, 1890, in 2010 are also examples of how once codified, personal laws can be opened up for further public debates and scrutiny. Thus, history shows that amendments to codify personal laws is not only a tried and tested way of bringing targeted social legislation but also of developing jurisprudence on family laws.

Post that it rambles along all types of laws - Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Parsi, throws mud at HUF using the link of an article in The Hindu:

However, today, when it has been seventy-two years since independence, it is high time that it is understood that justifying this institution on the ground of deep-rooted sentiments at the cost of the country‟s revenues may not be judicious.

The rest of it was not very meaningful to me, but what is interesting is the thorough disinterest in going the UCC way.

As far as I am concerned, UCC is long way off, it is important for the government to remove laws that are openly discriminatory against Hindus....

Management by Vacationing

2018-08-24T17:37:00.002+05:30

Rahul Gandhi is on vacation yet again. Just at the time when the country demands his leadership. Well, atleast the country which he hopes to lead, demands to see his leadership chops, at a time of great calamity of floods across the Southern part of the nation. And what does he do, go on vacation.

(Yes, you can argue that it is not vacation, he is on a brand building tour across the world talking to developed nations about the backwardness of India since May 2014 - the same India which was counted among the most developed nation till April 2014. But before you jump at me, read this piece and appreciate the seriousness of it.)

Be that as it may, this is an important discovery. And people are making fun of Rahul Gandhi. This is unfair. Very unfair. Because, Rahul Gandhi is living a new paradigm - not merely talking. A paradigm which deserves to be researched. Written upon. Perhaps even a Nobel prize for management, if it exists. (If it doesnt, please create it, because, it is important. Hell, it can save the world.)

Presenting management by vacationing...

Years ago, Tom Peters (taking a leaf out of the Hewlett-Packard team) created a new acronym. MBWA: Management by Walking Around. It means, you, as CEO, wander around, talk to employees at random, customers, if possible and learn what is going on around the company, markets - at first hand. Simple enough.

Management by vacationing is the extreme other side or takes MBWA to a new extreme.

The leader vacations mostly, comes in to work for a few days, sets strategies, directions and then goes off on yet another, much deserved vacation. Imagine the capability of the leader who can vacation around while his team does the hard work.

Yes, indeed. Think about it, as the minions slog over files, pore over email drafts, collate twitter feeds and devote hours to promote the leader - the leader has empowered them enough to take a vacation himself. That is the power of the leader, his belief, his capability to create a strong team that can do everything. Indeed, the leader follows not a 4 day work week, but a 4 day work month. That is the level of empowerment and trust he has in the team.

Is there is a crisis? Leader goes on vacation. Team handles it. Seamlessly. And when the crisis has just blown over, the leader parachutes (mostly by Business Class) in, takes credit and goes off on the next vacation.

Is there a warning of a crisis? Leader plans a vacation in case leader is around. In case he is not around and already on vacation, he extends it. And the same template as above is followed. It is that simple.

These vacations recharge the leader. Every time. Each time the leader is back, from his recharged vacation, the team works much harder. Imagine a leader you see every day, slogging at work - why would be motivated. It is like having Rahul Gandhi as your neighbour - you would be bored. Daily presence is overrated.

No, you want the leader to be away, show up at work a few times a year and then every visit of the leader is special. The chairs are cleaned, the floors are mopped, special dinner is served and photographers are everywhere. Yes, dont you, in your corporate roles, slog for visitors who come to your office once a year?

Life is but a series of photo-opportunities. What else is life? See Instagram. That is all there is to life.

Every time the leader goes on vacation, newer job opportunities are created. Someone has to create a reason. Someone to quickly check a daft twitter post and then quickly plug it. Someone has to alert various whatsapp groups to coordinate a response strategy. Someone has to cover up tracks.

Also, each time the leader utters pearls of wisdom, someone has to erase the memories of people and reinterpret those random utterances into something nuanced and prized. This is an old idea, sorry for rehashing it.

Management by Vacationing is the new management mantra. Hard work? That went out of style long back.

Published at Myvoice.Opindia

PS:
I return to blogging after a self imposed hiatus of a few years. No, I dont plan to return to active blogging anytime soon. But this topic is important. And once I write this, I go back to vacationing (from blogging). Unfortunately, I have to work, so working between vacations wont work for me.

Once upon a time journalists reported news

2016-05-03T10:46:00.002+05:30

That was many years ago. Decades ago. Or perhaps even earlier than that. Then, both sides discovered that journalists, media by virtue of putting out stuff in print - the very scarcity of it can create, sway and even modify opinions.

And it is true. Much of our opinions come from the media we watch. Very little of our opinion is truly independent - unless you have read about it, inquired about it and created your own line of opinion. Which is why we all think secular. We all believed in the Doordarshan news and the news that our papers printed. Which really explains a lot of our 'thought' positions. Unless you truly read beyond that, you will believe in what the herd writes.

Be that as it may, people realized that one could pay to put news in print. And thus it happened - beyond advertisements. We began to see agencies put our news slanted in one way to influence opinions in one way and so on.

Just before a movie released, a news item would talk about an 'affair' between the cast. That raises curiosity and people often went and watched the movie.

Just before a major brand of soft drink was launched in India, there was a lot of badmouthing of sugarcane juice - who they perhaps considered as their major competition.

These are just examples, but there are many such examples. Because of the scarcity, print media and electronic media held sway, because once you had access to that inner circle, you could print anything and get the public to believe anything - including fake revolutions, fake honesty and what not.

Now this has been taken further ahead by newspapers - which are happy to take paid news. They will carry news - because it is paid for or (hold your breath) because they have a stake in your venture which they will pay through 'planted news'. And then lobbyists discovered it - which is why often one finds laudatory articles on companies, missile systems, even cricketers - hoping it will sway opinions of people.

Enron famously declared that it had spent a few crores 'educating' Indians - most of the money went into hands of politicians and perhaps media as well.

The latest scam here is all about the Agusta helicopters where some 16m Euro was spent creating a favorable impression of the helicopters in the India media. Now while we wait for the list to come out - it is to be noted that this is nothing new.

Covers with notes were distributed before elections, in party offices - all so that coverage could be bought.

Along the way journalists also discovered that with their access, they could lobby, they could sway opinion and they became opinion maker instead of reporting the news. We have had famous examples like the Radia scam.

Since then media has proliferated, social media has boomed and the opinion of old media has waned like no other. And media hates it.

Now when the Agusta scam broke out, hardly has a journalist come out in the open that this is a unethical practice.

If journalists were compromised financially in Choppergate, it's as important to nail them as those who received kickbacks. Same punishment.
— Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) April 29, 2016

Accepting money, favors, trips - and then writing about it is unethical. But some think otherwise...

This is anti-media McCarthyism. Abs fine for journos to go on such trips if Ok'd by editors, disclosed in coverage https://t.co/slCb4vfGsu
— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) April 30, 2016

And the last word from Chitra SD - the one who broke the Bofors scam decades ago

Journalists going on fully or partially funded trips is a PR exercise. Let's cut the crap about disclosure, editor's consent etc.
— Chitra Subramaniam (@chitraSD) April 30, 2016

A gust of wind

2016-05-01T19:12:00.004+05:30

The Agusta story is up in the air. Wiki here. Long story short: An Italian court has convicted the chopper company chief and many familiar Indian names are in it.

It is no secret that the UPA was corrupt. Many scams are in different stages of investigation. The Coal Scam, the 2G scam, the Airtel-Maxis scam, the National Herald scam and now the Agusta probe. (I am sure there will be many many more scams that will come to light, but leave that aside for now.)

What is common to each of these scams? None of these scams was accepted by the Congress and they said it was all politically motivated, propaganda and what not. And their political minions in media often toed the line.

The Coal Scam was broken by Hansraj Ahir - a BJP MP. The 2G scam was broken by Gopikrishnan of the Pioneer. Not one of these was broken by the Lutyens cabal of journalists.

But leave that aside for the moment. The NDA government is ensuring that the probe is happening independently - though I am not sure if anything will come out of it. It may only result in mud-slinging a la Bofors or it may result in real convictions.Whether independent probes mean that bureaucrats will take the probes to its logical conclusion or not is also not clear. Hopefully the government will ensure that these probes are taken to its logical ends - with the arrests of the accused.

Now, here is the situation today.

Most of our so called chattering classes never tire of reminding us that BJP and Congress governments are equal. They never tire of writing oped pieces that tell us this. Why, at the height of UPA corruption they wrote us this: Are Indians endemically corrupt? And this. There were many such pieces/debates and the subliminal kind of harassment that often passes off as intellectual speak. The essence of it was somewhat on these lines:

So what if the 2G license were sold off on the cheap and people made money on the side - that helped keep rates low. (A completely bogus if it were if you see the rates at which subsequent auctions happened)

In military deals, kickbacks are coming - everybody does it. Even if you took out the kickbacks, the cost of the equipment would still the same. (Ditto bogus - in the recent past, India itself has managed to renegotiate many a price)

The coal scam they told us was no scam at all, because the coal was lying there unused.

In the last two years, the NDA government has streamlined procedures, made things transparent and even reduced the level of 'human' 'discretion' that was the euphemism for allowing corruption into deals, pricing etc. They have done this from coal and spectrum auctions to procurement of cement to military equipment.

(The earlier NDA government also completed their tenure without a single scam, for the record.)

And before I forget. Manmohan Singh was honest - they never tire of telling us. Tell me, which honest guy allows the loot under his very nose? In his office? Being arm twisted to change policies to enable money to be siphoned off?

With the Agusta and the National Herala scam, it is fairly proven that corruption is endemic to Congress. Even the famously silent Signora Sonia has come out facing a mike for the first time in many years. TV channels are reporting on the corruption and asking questions of Signora for the first time ever. There are still a few that distract and divert, but leave them - because the Agusta story has a second chapter - that of money paid to journalists to help in 'positive' coverage. And one of Indias greatest journalists has come out defending it (ahem).

So, why are these worthies not highlighting the effort of the government to keep top down corruption at zero and ensure that it stays that way. Agreed the former is more of a function of ethics at the top - but the latter - to create processes in a place that was always (to use the words of the columnists) corrupt is really something.

Now, why aren't these same worthies writing about Narendra Modis honesty? Or of this governments resolve to eliminate corruption - both at source and also go after past cases without interference? And this is just at the center.

New Start ups in Bangalore

2016-04-30T15:32:00.000+05:30

Given all the civic issues in Bangalore, here are a few start up suggestions:

Horse taxis: These are the only things that can negotiate the current traffic in Bangalore. And environment friendly. They can also jump cross barriers.

Human Relay Race couriers: To deliver, even bikes get stuck. Human relay racers on the other hand can deliver stuff faster.

Advanced drone delivery: To begin with they can start for goods. Later on, this can diversified into delivering people into offices. Charging the drone may be a problem given the electricity, but at any rate, the person will fall on a vehicle stuck on a traffic jam.

Sleeper buses: Sleeper buses help people get a good nights sleep on the way back to home from office. Besides, the moment they reach home, they have to start the next days journey. And in the day journey the bus doubles up as work cabins with wifi. Book your space in it using an app.

Food delivery at traffic jams: You order in one signal and using GPS, the food delivery catches up with you as you are stuck and delivers at the traffic jam. This is also extended to restaurant booking apps. You book a seat based on where you are stuck and the restaurant books your place. Then once confirmed, you also give you order - and by the time you reach the restaurant, the food is on the table!

Traffic Valets: Special drivers who will drive you though the traffic and return the vehicle to you once the traffic is cleared.

Micro drones with a live update of road traffic: Drones continuously feed you images of the route to your home/office so you can decide if you can go or work or do something else.

Traffic auto pilots: These are not self drive cars, but just small self drive applications on cars which will move your car only in centimeters per second and only in a straight line (and at times in zig zag motion to confuse other drivers).

Private pot hole fillers: Using an app, private agencies fill up potholes and the bill is submitted to BBMP - who do not have time to do anything anyway.

Bangalore and Taxes...

2016-04-30T13:52:00.001+05:30

Bangalore, much touted as Indias silicon valley, is perhaps the worst metro to live in these days.
Property taxes were hiked in Bangalore a few months ago. The hike almost doubled the amount property owners pay in Bangalore and as per zones. (The hike has since been rolled back - partially.)
The zones have been classified in BBMPs infinite wisdom along these lines:

The city is classified into six tax zones -- A to F, with A the high tax bracket, and reducing to F, the lowest bracket. As a result of the reorganization, some areas have been moved from the lower E and F zones to D, C, B or A zones, where the tax is heavy. "Owners of properties which have moved to higher tax zones have to cough up more tax. The recent property tax hike has come as an additional burden to them. In some cases, where properties have jumped multiple zones, the tax may go up 100% per cent or more.

The logic used seems to be the hike in property rates - mind you, not the civic amenities provided. So, if you walked into any of these 'posh' localities and expected to see a beautiful modern city, you would be wrong. What you would see are dilapidated roads, bad sewage, no water supply and erratic electricity. Traffic conditions are abysmal. Pollution is high. There is tons of dust floating everywhere Yes, you will also see big cars, huge apartment buildings.

Now let us see how this money is getting used. No, I am not in a mood at this point to dive into data and give you sources, but anecdotal evidence is sufficient.

Let us look at basic stuff you need in a city. The first is water. The water situation in Bangalore as per this article is so bad that the city will have to be evacuated by 2023. BBMP (or BWSSB) does not supply water to the entire city. It supplies it partly to the part of the city. From the link above, see this:

Most residential properties then rely on water supplied through tankers, that have emerged as one of the most powerful lobbies in Bangalore. It is such a booming business, that there have been instances of the water tanker mafia using force to prevent residential societies from digging borewells to reduce their expenditure on water supplied by them.

While the last sentence may be a bit of an exaggeration - the point is that each of those so called high end zones where property prices have 'jumped' are on the outskirts of the erstwhile city and have no amenities whatsoever provided by the BBMP/BWSSB. The water supply is by water tankers - most apartments have no Kaveri connection.

(Now, don't get me wrong - I don't mean that we need to get precious Kaveri water from pristine parts of rural Karnataka so that Bangaloreans can flush it down their drains - but where is the plan for the city my dear government when you area collecting so many crores?)

So, water is in bad state.

What about sewage? Again from the earlier link:

"The 850 km of storm water drains meant to carry surplus water from higher elevation lakes to lower levels in a cascading system of natural rainwater harvesting, now instead carry the city's sewage into these existing so-called lakes," said Balasubramanian.

"Only 30 per cent of the sewage is treated by the sewage treatment plants and the rest flows into the existing lakes," he said.

If this is not enough - given any few days there will be a sewage pipe leak in some part of these 'posh' localities. And it takes ages to clear those.

Every single IT complex or kindergarten has its own generator in these posh areas. No, apartment buildings in Singapore or Mumbai do not have those. Because the state (or electricity company) supplies electricity. But no, not KSEB.

Despite the country generating more electricity in the last two years, Karnataka is not interested in supplying it to its denizens. This article is from September, but I can assure you it is not radically different now.

That leave us with traffic, roads and suchlike. Most main roads in Bangalore are paved, but that about it. I have seen service roads laid in way that it forms asphalt waves, craters. I have seen roads cave in first and then vehicles cave into that. There are many other dust paths that also qualify as roads.

What about traffic? Most of Bangalore gets up each day and simply stands in queue in a traffic jam. Here is one story about Whitefield (one those posh localities - hey, it even has a posh name), but no there is no white not field - there is just one massive traffic jam.

What are the plans? Nobody knows. What is the mitigation to this situation? Nobody knows. The government is hardly interested except in collecting high property taxes. Lakes are dying. There is no water. There is barely any electricity. Untreated sewage goes into lakes on a good day - on a bad day it just accumulates on roads. The road themselves are another story.

So, why are we paying such high taxes Mr. Chief Minister?

(Some stupid formatting issue - can't figure out what is the issue here)

The matrix of secularism

2015-12-29T21:03:00.001+05:30

You are born secular*#@. (Read definition below first to understand what is secular, so that you are not confused with real secularism.)

Most likely, your parents were born secular too. In the unlikely event your parents are not born secular, you are most likely considered uncool by your society around you.

Your school was secular. They taught you a sanitised form of history. Your subjects were secular. In your school in all likelihood, they did not teach you Indian epics - Ramayana and Mahabharata. Neither do you learn much about Chanakya or Sushrusha. You learnt precious little about Hindu culture. You had zero exposure to the vedas if at all. You learnt in English. If at all, you may have ended up taking Sanskrit as a second or third language at best. Your mother tongue if you are lucky might have been another language that you took - but thanks to Central and other boards, this is on the way out. If you can read books in any language other than English, consider yourselves lucky. You learnt very little about the Indian freedom struggle - other than Gandhi and Nehru. You learnt even little about the Maratha empire, except in cursory terms. As regards the history of the South of India - don't even ask - it is not even part of the syllabus. You learnt about the greatness of the Mughal empire while their atrocities were sanitized. Jaziya? That was just a tax. The English? Again, you learnt that they oppressed, but very little of their actual crimes against the country. The Portuguese? No - not a word about inquisition.

As for your children going to school today - they are learning an even more sanitized version of the same.

Your relatives are secular. They are modern. They don't follow much of your archaic customs. If you follow too much of your customs - you are way uncool. Go to temples? Pah, thats for oldies. Satsang? Bhajans? No way. Rock concerts - oh yes. Bolly pop - yay indeed. Western classical - ah, now you are talking.

If you celebrate Karwa Chauth - that is patriarchal. Ganesh Chaturthi is noisy. Diwali is polluting. Holi wastes water. Jallikattu is bad for animals. Navratri is bad because it causes abortions (somehow). Everything else is regressive.

If you are lucky, you may have learnt classical music and dance - atleast in the South of India that is prevalent. Though for some reason, piano classes and western classical is preferred as cultural education these days. Like German and French are cooler subjects to take in school.

Your media and news are secular, brought up as they are in leftist beliefs. So, you learn that your festivals are to be celebrated silently, preferably in your closets. They tell you that discriminatory laws depending on which false gods you worship are the norm in all countries. They tell you that despite nearly half a century of encouraging religious terrorism, Pakistan is a secular state. They still tell you that we need peace with a country like Pakistan. Why secularism is linked with Pakistan, is a mystery I haven't figured myself - except for the fact that ISI is a good paymaster.

The media divas and journo tycoons find nothing wrong in anything that Congress does or ever ask Soniaji to give an interview or write an oped asking for her statesmanship. Again, don't ask me how is this connected to secularism. They almost whitewashed all of Congress corruption by painting all Indians as endemically corrupt.

Your media is driven by leftists who will never tell you the truth - about Rahul Gandhi for instance. Or Kamlesh Tiwari. Or Rafique Taliparamba. Or Sanal Edamaruku. Or Saif Ali Khans and Sharmila Tagores secularism for that matter. Because it is uncool to talk about the Christian and Islamist aggression in India. They will never tell you about them. If you talk conversion - you are immediately branded RSS (and somehow RSS is a bad word - despite its service to the nation from time immemorial). And somehow talking about Christian interference in politics from Kerala to Mizoram is bad. Or about calling Islamists out - that is also bad for some reason.

Even the Gita and Vande Mataram are deemed unsecular. Yoga is getting there. Ayurveda - well, they have told you that is mostly made of toxic metals that are bad for you. Hindu pilgrimages are bad - for the environment (Amarnath), patriarchal (Sabarimala), corrupt temples(Tirupati) or unhygienic (Kumbh Mela). Besides donating to temples is bad - they want you to donate to Christist NGOs.

And after all this, you rebel in your teenage years - against any imposition of Hindu culture on you - little realizing that you are playing into the very hands of what Macaulay wanted you to be. Read this Minute - point 7 onwards and you will know what I mean. Point 16 stands out:

Another instance may be said to be still before our eyes. Within the last hundred and twenty years, a nation which had previously been in a state as barbarous as that in which our ancestors were before the Crusades has gradually emerged from the ignorance in which it was sunk, and has taken its place among civilized communities. I speak of Russia. There is now in that country a large educated class abounding with persons fit to serve the State in the highest functions, and in nowise inferior to the most accomplished men who adorn the best circles of Paris and London. There is reason to hope that this vast empire which, in the time of our grandfathers, was probably behind the Punjab, may in the time of our grandchildren, be pressing close on France and Britain in the career of improvement. And how was this change effected? Not by flattering national prejudices; not by feeding the mind of the young Muscovite with the old women's stories which his rude fathers had believed; not by filling his head with lying legends about St. Nicholas; not by encouraging him to study the great question, whether the world was or not created on the 13th of September; not by calling him "a learned native" when he had mastered all these points of knowledge; but by teaching him those foreign languages in which the greatest mass of information had been laid up, and thus putting all that information within his reach. The languages of western Europe civilised Russia. I cannot doubt that they will do for the Hindoo what they have done for the Tartar. [Macaulay Minute]

Now, Imagine this matrix. You are born secular. You are taught secular. You are fed secular. You red secular books in general. How can you read anything indic? The great authors were all Westerners after all. How will grow up to be anything but secular in this matrix?

Except that there is the internet. And you can choose to take the red pill - rather the saffron pill of real secularism. If you don't, you are a product of the matrix of secularism. Congrats.

*Secular: This means that you are modern. You hate most Hindu traditions - but on the other hand, you are ambivalent towards most Abrahamic traditions. You hate many Hindu practices - like putting a bindi on your daughters forehead, or tying a thread around the wrist or worshipping at temples. You hate yourself for being a Hindu. You believe in soft Hinduism - that should not raise its voice about anything, but others are entitled to burning down things at the slightest non- provocation. You believe in limited freedom of speech - especially if some people get offended, then that freedom of speech is not good. You are perfectly ok with Hindus discarding their practices and religions, and equally at home when the other religions go down the opposite side. It is perfectly ok for someone to insult Hindu deities, but it is not ok for someone to do the same for other religions. It is ok for someone to question Hindu traditions, but not ok for someone to do the same for other religions. It is ok for books written that denigrate Hindu practices, but not ok for books that do the same to other religions. MF Hussain paintings are good, Hebdo cartoons were of course, provocative. Hindu fasting on Ekadashi are bad, but Ramzan fasting is good. A sufi, qawalli night is cool - but a bhajan, satsang is uncool. Hindus abstaining from alcohol is bad, but Lent is good. Beef bans are bad, pork bans are good. Halal meat is great - you don't know that Jhatka exists. Most likely, you rebel against Hindu practices at home - after all they are old, meaningless and patriarchal. You believe Congress is secular, BJP is communal. You think celebrating a cracklerless Diwali, waterless Holi, noiseless Ganesha is a great idea, but not so for minority festivals - after all, you believe that minorities in this country are under threat. You do not support any Hindu superstitions like fasting on eclipses - but other superstitions are fine. Indeed, you believe that there are no religions which have any superstition including Santa Claus. You believe in feminism - but only for Hindus. You don't believe in bull- fights which are, of course, cruel to bulls - but chicken lollipop and beef burgers are cool. Uniform civil codes are a bad idea - after all minorities need to protect their own culture, however regressive. Urdu shayaris are good, so are Urdu medium schools, but thank god they don't impose Sanskrit in schools - that would make your French so bad. I suppose you get the drift here.

#Disclaimer: You may not be entirely an extremist in the above continuum, but you may believe the above in varying degrees.

@Not to be confused with real secularism for any rhyme or reason. Real secularism is where "God is one, but their routes are different". Where one has to give up old practices - and take to newer ones - without bringing in religion. Things like equality to women, financial assistance to all regardless of religion, scholarships to all regardless of religion, equal footing to schools run by any religious denomination - these are for everybody. Real secularism is all about live and let live and about keeping religion out of politics and governance. Real secularism is about respecting the culture of the country that you grew up in - and that means everything. It is also about reading History and Culture with an apolitical lens and that means swallowing some harsh truths. Again, you get the drift.

Yes, this blog is unsecular too. If you are reading this blog, congrats, chances are that you may start thinking about finding your way out of the matrix.

Meanwhile on intolerance

2015-12-29T08:01:00.001+05:30

One media diva is rounding up filmstars - possibly the most privileged ones in our society and telling the minions why boycotting movies is intolerance. This, after, a bad movie by a victimized superstar - who later claimed that his victimhood was misconstrued - flopped. What is next? Compulsory watching movies of victimized superstars? In response to this, the diva has put her mike to a privileged star who is now ranting intolerance. Somehow, that never got eyeballs - though she is still trying.

While that is happening - a certain person by the name of Kamlesh Tiwari is being hounded (he is actually in jail). A certain section of peaceful people want him to be beheaded - because he insulted someone (ya, ya, hints are enough). However, when a certain MF Hussain insulted some Hindu gods and goddesses - these liberals went all out to support him. Somehow, they are all missing for Kamlesh Tiwari. (Never heard about him? Google him.) Meanwhile protests have happened from Uttarakhand to Karnataka. Very peacefully. All they want is is head. Literally.

And in Kerala - that well educated state. A mans studio was burnt down by peaceful Islamists after he opposed a very progressive practice on a whatsapp group. No, no, this chap is not RSS. Here is a link.

Meanwhile all those who ranted on intolerance have stayed silent on this one. No Aamir Khan, No Shah Rukh Khan has spoken. Why is that? Your guess is as good as mine.

And oh, by the way, the lovely great students studying in the JNU - atleast a section of them do not want Baba Ramdev to give a speech in their university. The university stands by its invitation - but well, such great display of tolerance by students is heartening. Again, no media debates, no FoE under threat - nothing.

And btw, a Congress newspaper fired their editor for writing a few truths.

A few days ago, a Chief Minister who is ostensibly fighting corruption on the eve of a CBI raid on his officer accused of corruption used words like psycopath (sic) and coward for the Prime Minister. But no, he is not a troll - the so called 'internet Hindus' are trolls.

A Congress member from Assam insulted Smriti Irani - the HRD minister with words that are sexist at best and crass and vulgar at worst. Again no intolerance.

If you have been following this manufactured news closely, there is a pattern. That pattern is that FoE is one sided in India. When it comes to the Islamists side - whether it is a fatwa on Rehman or a Rafique Taliparambas studio being burnt down or Kamlesh Tiwaris head being sought for a comment or Baba Ramdev not being allowed to give a speech - these things are met with silence. And this is a short list.

The 'False'man Show

2015-11-29T15:40:00.003+05:30

The Truman Show has been a recurring theme here, and here. The movie is a well known one - with the whole story revolving around one man whose life is made up in order to create a TV show.

From the wiki entry,

To prevent Truman from discovering his false reality, Christof has invented means of dissuading his sense of exploration, the most drastic of which was "killing" his father in a storm while on a fishing trip to instill in him a fear of the water. Christof also floods the channels with news reports and commercials about the dangers of traveling, and television shows about how good it is to stay at home. The actor that played Truman's deceased father sneaks back onto the set as a homeless man, but is whisked away as soon as Truman notices him. Despite Christof's control, Truman has managed to behave in unexpected ways, in particular by falling in love with an extra, Sylvia, known to Truman as Lauren, instead of Meryl, the character intended to be his wife. Though Sylvia is quickly removed from the set and Truman marries Meryl, he continues to secretly pine for 'Lauren'. Sylvia becomes part of a "Free Truman" campaign that fights to free him from the show and to reveal his identity.

This is how media controls our life.

Or controlled it - until the internet and social media. They showed us the 'right' kind of news, kept us away from the news that may hurt their narrative, created a set of intellectuals we would admire, demonised another set of intellectuals who were challenging the system. There is a larger story there, by virtue of our education have been colonized, history sanitized and perhaps even the actual story of the freedom struggle narrowed down to one set of people with the other set being reduced to side characters.

So, in their narrative, the majority Hindu religion of the country is a bad religion - that often puts its minorities into trouble. Any news that adds up to this is trumpeted and any news that does not (and these days most of the news does not) is suppressed. So, Hindu godmen are bad. Christian and Muslim fathers and imams are perfect. Hindu festivals have campaigns against them - either they are patriarchal (Karva Chauth) or polluting (Diwali, Holi, Ganesha) or both. Some of the customs are sought to be ridiculed - actually most are. There is never a word on any religions festivals in a bad light.

All riots are caused by Hindu majority - and even when there is evidence to the contrary, this is not brought out. Recently, in the last few years, there have been so many communal incidents of the 'secular' kind and our media has kindly kept them away from us. In Kashmir - which honestly, is the only incident in the country where the majority (guess who) has ensured that the minority has been terrorized into leaving their homes - is never highlighted to push their narrative forward.

They created a set of intellectuals who we were supposed to admire - while the others like Subramaniam Swamy, Gurumurthy, Bhyrappa were supposed to communal. Why, many of our reporters, writers, Bollywood actors (only those who sell the snake oil of communal Hindus) are supposed to be intellectuals.

The common factor was that all these subscribe to leftist belief systems - among other things. Even our history has been slanted to further this narrative.

I can go on and on.

Except that social media has been successful in breaking the monopoly of this narrative.

The current intolerance debate - a manufactured one at that - which everyone in the room is able to see - mainly thanks to social media is one such example.

Every video that the media puts out (selectively edited) has been countered by an unedited clip which shows how the media lies. Every tweet that the media puts out - is countered by a response by the same media when the tables are turned (for example, when they threaten to sue bloggers that is freedom of speech, but when someone counters them they are trolls or bullies). And so on.

So, well, media, the days of your 'False'man show have ended. Social media will challenge you at every step. Get used to it...

Oh intolerance...

2015-11-29T12:45:00.000+05:30

The tolerant folks of the country, are telling us that we are intolerant. To prove their tolerance, they have been using, hold your breath, not tolerance, but intolerance.

Vikram Sampath - who was organizing the Bangalore Literature Fest - who held views that were not acceptable to the tolerant had to step down to prove his intolerance and their tolerance - whereas in reality it should have been vice versa.

A TV anchor who shouts much about tolerance asked a renowned and reputed historian to take back a word that he had learnt through his scholarship and he refused. Now if the anchor was tolerant, would she have done that? Who is tolerant and who is intolerant?

People returned their awards protesting against intolerance. A larger section has not returned. Is it a question of numbers - this intolerance?

Or it it based on what superstars who make billions feel? Or what?

These are just a couple of examples on how this manufactured dissent has snowballed into a faux agitation...

And the intolerant who are claiming intolerance want our country to be a place...

Where the mind fears them and wants some heads to be bowed low,

where knowledge is owned and distributed by them,

where the world has been broken up into fragments defined by them

where they build those narrow walls

where words come out from the depths of falsehood,

where tireless publicity results in stretching its arms towards donations,

where the only stream of reason should be their murky stream

into the dreary desert sand of dead habit,

where the mind is led forward by only those who are certified

into ever narrowing thought and action,

in that heaven of despondency, they want our country to awake...

(apologies to Rabindranath Tagore)

A note to Namo Supporters

2015-11-26T20:37:00.000+05:30

Its all over social media these days. The very same set of people who assiduously supported Narendra Modi in his nothing less than historic 2014 victory are now tut-tutting his chances for 2019.

Yes, it has been a turbulent 18 odd months for this government. For the most part, it is due to no fault of theirs. They have done the right things - tightened up processes, left less scope for discretion, opened up industries, worked on development (electricity, cities, transport), ramped our foreign policy engagement, kept Pakistan on a tight leash, engaged with the neighbours, worked on improving internal security.

But the media has been shouting with its own agenda. There are no guesses as to whose agenda is the media playing. The media is playing to the person who owns their precious ecosystem. The ecosystem which gave them sources - sometimes resources. Which allowed them to lobby for positions, spin - why some journalists are 'dealers' or 'wheeler dealers'. They own companies which get lucrative contracts. Some are family members of the ecosystem party. They used to get free foreign trips both from the government and sometimes from an 'ISI marked Fai'. All in all, life was good.

Now, Modi has broken this ecosystem. Broken, but not completely. Because the same channels which throw muck on the government is rewarded with government ads, interviews from top ministers. Modi himself has been praising them, attending their functions.

So, there is good reason that they are shouting. They shout that Modi is not doing enough. He is not talking enough. That the communication strategy of the government is all wrong (and maybe there is some work required there).

But to take all this noise and feel despondent as a supporter on SM is a little too much.

Think about it.

Most of the agenda driving has been aimed at Modi (and Amit Shah). As a social media supporter, what you see and experience is a fraction of fraction of wrath that Modi has been at the receiving end of the ecosystem. Of course, this is nothing new to Modi - who has been at the receiving end of this ecosystem - from fake cases to bought witnesses to slander to insinuations to abuses from eminent people who once ruled the country to security threats.

And yet, he did not give in then and he has not given in now. Giving in, would mean capitulation - which is what the ecosystem wants. The way that Vajpayee was brought down from the inside - is not possible since there are very few moles. So, interesting old but new, improved strategies are being used to distract him from jailing the crooks, going after the corrupt among other things.

If Modi can stand this for over 12 years, why cant we stand by him for 5 years?

Sure, he can do more and he will. Right now, no one, not even his worst enemies can argue that he is not doing the right things. There are many more things that he wants to push - but Parliament (led by stateswoman of the ecosystem is not cooperating). Even here he could have taken the easy route of 'deals' or 'CBI inquiries' but he has not. He is trying it the hard way of winning elections, getting the numbers and moving the needle...

So, we need to stand by him...because nobody else has and nobody else will...

Is Technology making us dumber?

2015-11-26T18:32:00.000+05:30

The latest question being asked in intellectual circles is this. They don't mean, technology like washing machines and baking ovens - though it could get there as well. They mean technology like whatsapp and Facebook and all that.

Did TV make us dumber? You bet. The 80s were the idiot box generation. Hours lost because people sat in front of boxes that emitted electrons and newspersons that spouted nonsense. This, apart from tele serials and the like.

Did newspapers make us dumber? Yes, the leftist liberal claptrap that has been drilled into our heads is primarily because of the news we were fed when we grew up.

Yet, one can argue that both TV and newspapers also made us smarter. Because, for one, it made us aware. And two, there were good articles and programs that did make sense.

Ditto for books - much before TV - there were books. One can safely argue that not all the books printed are worth reading (and I don't mean textbooks).

But books did make us smarter? Without doubt. And there are books which continue to make people dumb - and those books are not even banned.

Truth be told, this has nothing to with technology and making people dumb. Hitherto, people sat in front of idiot boxes, watched programs, believed most of it, talked to their neighbors, shared it in post morning walk conversations or spoke about it over lunch tables in offices...

Today with whatsapp and Facebook, they post it on the internet (yes, the internet is making us dumb) or on whatsapp groups (which are really extended conversations with family, friends, random people etc).

Trouble with posting this on the internet is that the sanctity of narratives are being questioned. Earlier, in those good old days we believed anything that was printed. Not any longer. We also believed anything they said on TV. Not any longer. Why? Because for every article they write, there are countless rebuttals. For every clipped video that they air - there are citizen sourced videos that people put up - so that people can see the truth for themselves.

Today when a superstar claims intolerance, people express themselves (earlier also they did - but in closed circles). Today they express their feelings on the internet. That, by the way, is social media. Get used to it. They also, see what the superstar said last year and what he is saying now - and they ask him - rightfully - hey what changed. They also see soldiers dying on the front for our security and liberals outraging about ink attacks - and they question it - rightly so. They see news anchors (journo tycoons) take positions - that contradict their own tweets from a few months ago. They see media building up fear mongering - and question it. They also see media holding up Rahul Gandhi as an icon of intelligence and they question it.

This is what bothers our intellectuals.

Earlier, they spoke and we believed them. Often, because they spoke, we were ashamed of what we thought. They set the narrative and we believed them. Today, social media questions that and these faux intellectuals are upset.

Instead of saying "Is technology making intellectuals upset" it is now framed as "Is technology making us dumber".

Fire burns - can also be used for cooking. Internet has junk - but you can also learn from it. TV is useless on all counts. Newspapers carry enough junk that I don't want my kids to see - and a few good articles. One can argue that any technology is dangerous and making us dumber.

No it is not. Depends on how you use it.

Deja vu for NDA

2015-11-10T13:16:00.000+05:30

To the NDA under Modi government,

The Lutyens liberals will not let you rule peacefully like they never allowed Vajpayee. Just before Delhi there were some loud noises around Church attacks. Just before Bihar, there was loud noise, not about church attacks - but about a lynching that happened - not in Bihar, but in UP. And its Chief Minister got a free pass and you got blamed.

There is a pattern here as we saw during Vajpayees tenure. First distract you and your government with all sort of things like the above. And more important, repeat this so that the people get distracted. And the swing voters will not swing. And while they press for you and your government to respond to this nonsense, the opposition continues its way ahead in canvassing for the elections. This is classic distraction strategy.

What happened in Bihar - is basically an extension of what happened in Delhi and what will happen in UP for 2017. Note - trial balloons have been floated for their favorite Chief Minister already.

First the so called opposition will unite. Then they will distract the swing voters and create a loud noise demanding that the Prime Minister do this and do that and so on. And this was just the beginning, there may many other events that may get orchestrated.

Note: Even as I speak, the veterans have already been roped with an eye on Punjab.

So,what can be done?

1. Take off that Statesmanitis garb of yours. And gloves. And kick some political ass. Announce fast track corruption courts. Get the corrupt into jails. That will ensure visibility of the government. Open other pending cases - there are tons of them inside. Let loose classified files - like the Henderson report. (Remember Congress never suffers from an attack of statesmanitis. Vajpayee succumbed to statesmanitis. You needn't - you have staved off the vultures during the Gujarat tenure.)
2. Have strong leaders in every state - Raman Singh, Shivraj Patil and Raje are not enough. Fadnavis was a good discovery. But Bihar had no credible name. Ensure that there is a name for UP/Punjab now and get them working on the ground now.
3. In your ministry, get rid of underperformers.
4. There are some interesting cases under your radar - including some media houses that seem to love you so much. Also some politicians have left a neat paper trail for your ministries to follow. Fast track every single one of them.
5. Throw out each of your spokespersons and their TV channel visits. Restrict them to a press conference each day. Disregard random people who put the wrong part of their anatomy in front of TV mikes while wearing a BJP badge.
6. And yes, work on getting as much work done as you can with the Lok Sabha majority. As for Rajya Sabha, point #1 will take care of the crooks.

Remember this is just the beginning. Pakistan is yet to deliver a gift to you - like they did for Mr. Vajpayee. Kargil, Kandahar were just Pakistan gifts for the NDA1. They will likely send you another one. And then we all know, how the media will react if something happens along those lines - see this link from 2008 by the venerable Kanchan Gupta. They may not do it - only because you are not pussy footed - and may elicit a stronger than expected response - but the recent episodes should gladden them. They have forced you to make many a statement - and that may embolden Pakistan to try a trick or two.

Pump and Dump - Congress ecosystem explained

2015-11-06T20:39:00.000+05:30

There is something known as a 'Pump and Dump' strategy in the stock market. To outsiders like you and me, it is not visible. And it takes a fair bit of investigation to figure this out. But put simply, it works like this:

(from the wiki entry):

that involves artificially inflating the price of an owned stock through false and misleading positive statements, in order to sell the cheaply purchased stock at a higher price. Once the operators of the scheme "dump" sell their overvalued shares, the price falls and investors lose their money.

This is how it happens in reality. Buy a stock at a low price. Talk up a stock using some information and spin, get a bunch of people to talk about it, buy the stock, create small movements - and keep repeating this cycle till everybody believes in it and then as it attracts more people, the original investors (who bought it at a low price) sell their stock and make money.

Now, cut to the Congress ecosystem. The ecosystem works exactly like this. Sounds a bit like the 'Emperors new clothes' or 'herd mentality'. The spinmeisters will spin the story of the greatness of someone. They will put that into your head through school curriculum, news reports, TV, books, articles, awards - you name it. Until, like the emperors new clothes you (and the population at large) believe it. Because we believed in what we read in newspapers and heard on radio and TV (until recently that is) - and they told us stories that madam wanted us to hear.

How it works: First one person in the ecosystem will go ga-ga over Ms. X. Ms. X will almost always toe the party line for anything. Or Ms. X will be related to someone who directly helped Congress or indirectly helped Congress. Or both.

Sooner or later X is praised by Y. Y writes a foreword for a book written by X. Z takes an interview on TV. P writes about it. Q nominates X as the chief of some organization. And then X, Y, Z, P, Q repay this favor to each other and to the madam at the top. Multiply this over a 100 or a 1000 across generations and see what you get.

Many of the idiots who you used to admire are all part of this industry.

Take anybody in that ecosystem and you will find that this works. A Congress Padma awardee for example, would have by and large served Congress interests - see so called journo-tycoons awarded. A writer would have among other things - written something like Indira Charisma (I kid you not). A sportsperson (there are exceptions here mercifully) - may be used by Congress to campaign.

Things were not always this bad. But especially in the last 10 odd years of UPA, everything has been politicized.

And Rahul Gandhi and Sonia epitomise this. Lets see.

Sonia does not give a single interview - not a single interview given in 10 years. Nobody questions Sonias education (but they all question Rabri Devis education) or her knowledge or her leadership skills. The media has created an aura of mystery around someone who is barely seen making any sense beyond prepared speeches.

Cut to Rahul. Rahul gives 1 interview and flubs it so badly that people reproduce it with comedy tracks. He has been spotted reading from chits. He has been spotted given incoherent answers - the kind of answers my third standard teacher would have laughed at me for poor comprehension - even to kids - let alone competent adults. He has not been spotted saying anything meaningful beyond a sentence or two. He has been spotted copying out notes into a visitor books. And our popular press - which is a rabid part of the ecosystem - has always sung the Congress scheme of things every time Rahul launches yet another photo opportunity as part of building up his image. (This Humpty Dumpty won't stick.). We have known that people have walked out of his rally before he even begins to talk - we are never shown the reality of the 'crowds' - thin at best that dot his rallies.

Thankfully, Social Media exists to poke holes in the air balloon of the ecosystem. because the ecosystem will never ever point out the emperors new clothes - except that the social media doesn't waste time. Rahul Gandhi jokes dot whatsapp. His memes take over twitter (in a comedian sort of way). His speeches and some extremely warped dialogues (Escape velocity, Power is poison, I spoke to my mother) are subjects of satire and sarcasm. Even his interview was wildly dissed on social media, but our great press - well, what they called it you go and read.The moment he gives a prepared speech - they actually tweet similar things. The moment he goes off on yet another of his tangents - they actually croon, oh, Rahul and the revival of Congress.

Oh wait, thats the pump. Whats the dump? And then when things go against the Congress ecosystem, as it often does - these pumped up intellectuals (most of them) rise up in defence of the Congress. They shill for them. Under-report scams they commit. Put innocuous questions when it comes to Congress crimes (Where is the fraud?). And smoothly, ever so smoothly deflect Congress politician criticism to either all politicians (People blame politicians) or blame it all back on you and me (National shame). If a Congress minister or MLA commits a crime, the party name is cleanly whitewashed...

And like in these days - these idiot intellectuals for hire are pretending that it is an emergency. Except that it is not - and the only emergency that happened was under their glorious leader.

Thats pump and dump for you!

A perfect echo chamber, until Social media created a sound of its own...where you the dump is quickly flushed down the drain.

Peddling victimhood

2015-11-04T07:48:00.002+05:30

Recently, unless you have your head in the sand in a desert, India media has been fighting a battle. A fake battle. A battle where it has created its own straw man and is now spending time demolishing this straw man. The straw man argument is that India is intlolerant. And to aid this, some useful idiots have gone up on TV (or newspapers) and claimed victimhood.

The list is long and I have a few examples here.

A famous film actor - hailed as the finest - winner of national awards - claims that he is a victim.

Another famous film personality - known for some bad acting - but winner of several awards, owning a huge piece of real estate in a very expensive part of the country claims he is a victim.

An ex police commissoner - who is respected for bringing down many a gangster and terror network - and decorated with awards - claims victimhood by writing articles in newspapers.

Another film personality, who has converted from her erstwhile religion and now gives sermons to others on tolerance (despite following a non-secular approach at home) - has come out stating how much intolerance is there in this country.

(There is a bit of a deja vu here. Many years ago, a famous cricketer - who was a fine wristy player, came under betting allegation - played the victimhood card and now runs for elections as a pastime.)

All of the above are limousine liberals - these people are idolized by the general public for the talents and their contribution to India. If there was victimhood, they would not be able to succeed - they would have been driven out of their homes, they would have had to hide - but hey, these are well to do folks who have made it big in Indian society on their own steam - like anybody else.

So, well, here is how India treats these victims. It elevates them. Awards them. People idolize them. Pay to watch their shows using their hard earned money. It gives them a level playing field. Gives some of them national awards. And at the end, instead of being grateful to the country and the audience or working on real issues, what do they do? They peddle victimhood.

But here is the thing, dear victimhood peddlers. There are victims like you and there are real victims.

By elevating your faux concern to the level of the real victims you do a grave injustice to the real victims of India. There are real victims - of corruption, of caste, of religion, of gender, of political high handedness, or bias.

By equating (or attempting to equate) the fact that your food served in a five star restaurant had less salt to the hunger of the man of the street who had no food, you are committing a grave injustice to the real victims and making a mockery of their tragedy.

And oh, by the way, there is another film personality who is taking these idiots on - whose family was driven out of his home as part of a religious movement - and who has made it big in the industry and who has not yet claimed victimhood. That person is Anupam Kher.

Well, thank you Anupam Kher for calling out the idiots out on this one...

Media and the human mind

2015-11-04T07:35:00.001+05:30

Many years ago, there was just television channel in India. So, everybody watched the same things. On Sunday evening, there was a special Hindi movie that would be screened. Most of India (atleast the part that understood Hindi) would watch it.

So, the next day when we went to school, the topic of discussion was always the previous evening movie or program. If you missed that news, you were left out.

Times have changed. There are numerous channels. There are channels for sports - if you want to avoid news. There are news channels, if you want to avoid music. There are channels in your own language. Simply speaking, media no longer controlled your mind.

However, if you watched the news channels - by and large - they all say the same thing - atleast the English media channels do. The newspapers also by and large all report the same news in the same way. So, while we have a number of media channels - they all say roughly the same thing.

Almost all of our news channels (the English ones) have a very strong left liberal bias. As do our newspapers. So if you grew up reading a newspaper - it is very likely that you subscribe to the view - without even you knowing it.

Which is probably why a lot of us start off with a leftist viewpoint of life - until at some later point you question a few aspects behind it. That is tough - because the matrix all around will paint you as stupid, uncool or dumb if you try to get out of it. This is why I believe that leftism is a lazy belief system. (More on this again - later).

So, if you noticed, ever since May 2014, the media has been after the NDA government.

They have used a set of words to create a subliminal messaging in your head that the government is promoting intolerance - that there is an atmosphere of hate - and have consistently carried articles and interviews to 'confirm' their viewpoint. This is so perfectly orchestrated that one would think that there is just one media channel in India.

Except that there is social media - which brings the alternate viewpoint. And like in NDA 2004, media has singing its favorite songs - that this government is bad. Except that unlike then, social media is calling out the nautanki of the people who are at it. These are the same guys who were well fed by the Congress ecosystem - who have taken many a favor from the Congress and are connected to its ante-chambers. These are the same people who get awards from the ecosystem. And everybody knows them. Thankfully, by this time, media has damaged its credibility - most people don't believe media any more.

But the moment you see something on media - question it. Once you question it, scratch the surface, you will get better answers...

Patterns repeat in life - Manmohan Singh

2015-09-26T19:08:00.000+05:30

Did Dr. Manmohan Singh preside over the momentous reforms of 1991 in India or not. This is a question of eternal debate in certain circles. The debate rages because they do not want to give credit to someone who they don't like (PV Narasimha Rao).

After Chandra Shekhar had already resigned, MMS asked him to sign in back-date his appointment as UGC boss! http://t.co/z3dfKap3t5
— हम भारत के लोग (@India_Policy) September 26, 2015

But let us look at the evidence. This article written by none other than Yashwant Sinha provides a few clues.

There is absolutely no question that MMS is personally honest in pecuniary matters. I have plenty of anecdotes on this and so do all those who have interacted with him. But have you heard of House No. 3989, Nandan Nagar, Ward No. 51, Sarumataria? You probably haven't. This is in Dispur and MMS is ostensibly a tenant there.

That's because he is a Rajya Sabha MP from Assam. As I said, honesty is a relative term and I know of people who would baulk at this deception.

There is an anecdote in Yashwant Sinha's book about how MMS had brought alone a file to Chandra Shekhar, who was then the PM, but had already resigned. The file concerned MMS' appointment as UGC boss.

As Chandra Shekhar had already resigned as PM, he pointed out that he couldn't morally sign the file. MMS retorted that he had backdated the file. Since this anecdote has gone uncontested, it is presumably true.

Therefore, if non-pecuniary transactions are involved, I have never been convinced MMS places a premium on "honesty". It is for an individual to decide whether he feels comfortable looking at himself in the mirror. [From the piece]

This article is a few years old. From then on, there have been more evidence. Here is ex Coal secretary and the ex Telecom secretary.

Here is the coal secretary link, where the article says.

In his arguments, Gupta claimed he had "no dominion" over the natural resource and Singh, who was also holding the portfolio of Coal Ministry at that time, had given final approval for allocation of coal block.

And here is the ex Telecom secretary stating his point...

In a separate chapter, Baijal refers to the alleged warning from Singh: "They (CBI) had warned me in each case (cases related to 2G scam and disinvestments) that I would be harmed if I didn't cooperate. Incidentally, this was exactly what the eminent economist Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) had told me would happen if I did not cooperate in their scheme of things in the 2G case.

There are a few more things (which despite crazy googling, I could not find), but the point is that patterns repeat.

For someone who has never done something 'different' throughout life and always followed orders (his 10 years as PM was all about taking orders from his boss the great Sonia Gandhi) and almost reversed every reform that is credited to him. It is highly unlikely that in 1991, he did something by himself, unless he was ordered to do so.

And as Yashwant Sinha himself points in his article,

First, MMS wasn't PV Narasimha Rao's original choice as FM. IG Patel was, though that is neither here nor there. Second, the credit for those reforms should largely go to Rao, though the Congress conveniently chose to ignore this later. Indeed, MMS also distanced himself from Rao, though that too is perhaps neither here nor there, except that it reveals some of MMS' personal attributes. The point is, any FM in 1991 would have had to introduce those reforms. The agenda was known. The blueprint was known.

It is highly unlikely in life that one breaks out of such set patterns just once and then returns to somnolence. A person who is a fighter is a fighter at every level. And a person who is an order taker is an order taker at every level. You make them shift roles and they will get out of it very quickly. It is true for every single one of us. If you make one go against my values, I will raise my voice or quit. Yes, I may swallow an insult or two or live a bit out of my skin, but ultimately it is just not possible.

And what of the curious case of the dog that did not bark? The answer, therefore is only one. What is the repeating pattern? The evidence is above.

A Fatwa on AR Rehman

2015-09-19T12:40:00.001+05:30

And see how a liberal - Ms. Shabana Azmi reacts:

Majidi & AR cannot make a movie that is inflammatory and would hurt sentiments of the Muslim community @AzmiShabana http://t.co/nlvm6cdqwS
— Rahul Kanwal (@rahulkanwal) September 17, 2015

In the video linked above, Ms. Shabana Azmi, a self styled liberal - certified and approved by all the other liberals argues (hold your breath), not for the right of Mr. Majidi to make an offensive movie, but she actually says that Mr. Majidi and Mr. AR Rehman in her considered opinion cannot make a movie that offends the sentiments of a said religion. The said religion is her own and is also shared by the other two - Mr. Majidi and Mr. Rehman. And then she goes into explaining what a fatwa is.

The same Shabana Azmi (and her worse half) often go into conniptions defending Freedom of Expression when it comes to offending Hinduism. Like, in making movies that offend Hinduism. Or making a painting that offends Hindus. Not that Hindus care much about it in general, but the silence on such hypocrisy is deafening...

So now what happened? The moment it is about 'her religion' (notice, I do not name it), the boot is on the other foot. It is all about equivocation, tying herself in knots. And here, a fellow tweeter calls this hypocrisy out.

Earlier:Purpose of art is to provoke. Now:Majidi&Rahman cannot make a movie that will hurt Muslim sentiments #Evolved pic.twitter.com/oZqL1WbTKY
— Revolutionary Monk (@RevolutionMonk) September 18, 2015

She is not alone. The other self styled activist actor who makes tear jerking TV serials on supposedly social causes has remained silent. Her better half has remained silent. And the other few big actors who come from a similar community have also remained silent. There are no protest marches in support of AR Rehman or Majidi. Or a #IstandwithARR or something like that.

And they, have, coincidentally, never, ever, spoken in favor of a certain Taslima Nasreen.

Oh, even our famous journo-tycoons have remained silent...

What gives? What is happening here? Care to see beyond the hypocrisy?

Still wonder why...

This is because our so called FoE by liberals says, "Don't offend the violent, but by all means, offend the meek".

Why the hairstylist of the liberals himself says so and gets skewered by the champion of free speech, the late Mr. Hitchens. "Freedom of speech has consequences to the speaker - as he says in this video about 7.30 onwards

and rightfully gets slapped by Hitchens...

"Fire" says Hitchens and then wonderfully demolishes Mr. Stylist. "If your feelings are hurt, how is it acceptable to burn down a newspaper office..."

Update: Mr. Better Half has written a piece on the fatwa, but in his usual style when it comes to 'certain things' - obfuscates, equivocates, insinuations, uses a bunch of logical fallacies, writes about himself and finally blames Hinduism for everything or thereabouts.

PC, Vasan and then some

2015-09-19T12:29:00.001+05:30

A few days ago, this article appeared in The New Indian Express - as opposed to the old Indian Express.

This report is titled, P Chidambaram, Vasan Eye care and Rs. 223 crore black money. And the title is as straightforward as it gets.

There is really very little point quoting any other bit from the report - it is worth a read in all its glory.

And the author is none other than S Gurumurthy who has sniffed out many a fraud in the past.

It ends with this:

This shows PC’s clout in the finance ministry now headed by Arun Jaitley. It is not just in the Vasan case. In the NDTV tax fraud case, in which too PC is involved, the CBDT is supporting the tax-fraudster by attempting to match-fix the case of `900 cr tax evasion in collusion with NDTV. Is Finance Minister Arun Jaitley aware? Is he listening?

And if you noticed, this report has not been the subject of raging debates on televsion and twitter trends. Why so? Not worthy enough? Or well, some holy cows cannot be touched...

Gurumurthy has taken it further with a follow up article questioning Vasans one page denial.

Lets green our temples

2015-09-19T12:23:00.002+05:30

A temple is a great place to build environmental consciousness. As I read through composting machines - I learnt something that composts kitchen and natural waste using electricity (and that too not too much of it).

Since temples generate quite a bit of organic waste – like leaves, flowers on a day to day basis, using a temple to start a composting revolution may be a great idea. Like a zero waste temple. Or an ‘eco conscious’ temple. Or a temple that creates compost - blessed by your favorite god - how cool is that?

Or powered by solar instead of the grid.

Developing thought...

Coffee anybody?

2015-09-19T12:21:00.003+05:30

A few days ago, I saw a hot start up make a delivery. Well, they were delivering coffee – in a flask. In a locality that is surrounded by atleast 3 coffee serving places plus darshinis plus hotels - do you really need a bike delivering coffee made in some central locality and then burning as much petrol as the coffee to deliver it in a flask to an office which surely has vending machines inside? Yes, you may be super particular about your coffee – so am I - I am so particular that I make it myself using a coffee filter the traditional way. But, delivering coffee on a bike? Thoda jyaada nahi hai boss?

Or we do really need a an app for someone to collect our dirty clothes take it to a central locality wash it and get it back on a bike? Wait, an aggregator can do that job (huh?). Or perhaps, just perhaps – I can do it on my evening walk. I am too busy, but the neighbourhood guy does home collection and delivery.

I am waiting for a milk delivery app. Or a garbage collection app. Or how about this – a start up that delivers newspapers. Or stitches clothes with the neighbourhood tailor?

Well, coffee delivery guys – you are in a bubble – just waiting to be pricked. Atleast in my definition you are not solving a problem, nor creating a wow factor (like some food startups are doing), not are you eliminating a middleman or creating a service (like food aggregators), not offering something that needs a speedier service.

I am all for start ups, even food delivery start ups – even if they are mushrooming faster than mushrooms. I am all for entrepreneurship and ideas. But there are bubbles – and they burst. Soon.

I need a good filter kappi, now...

Divide and aspire to rule...

2015-09-17T10:16:00.003+05:30

It is not that we are united as a nation. Let us be honest. We are divided quite badly. As someone said, the only thing that united us was cricket and perhaps war. Perhaps it is true of all nations, perhaps it is not.

But the least politicians can do is make unity the norm than the other way round. As it is, we are divided. By language, by eating habits, by states, by urban and rural divides, by religion, by caste, by sub caste, by sects...by millions of things.

The Mandal commission made it worse by dividing everything along caste. And from then on it has been one big race to declare oneself to be a minority of some sort. Either a schedule caste or a scheduled tribe or an OBC or DT or NT or something. This is not to say that affirmative action is needed - but whatever affirmative action has to be taken has to be agnostic of the god you worship (or not, in case you are atheist). But there are people who are denied opportunities because they are of a different caste - not because they are any less deserving.

In this divided pot is the BJP - which has kind of formed a 'Mahadalit' kind of formation - at one level by uniting the different castes (which they usually vote as well) by getting a pan-India 'agreement' on development. And this focus on development means that the old caste combinations are neither valid nor working as Mayawati and other caste based parties saw in the 2014 elections.

Again, this is to say that this will not make a comeback. There is a great chance it will. And this is the hope that those opposing the BJP have.

They want to break this 'mega coalition' into something they are familiar with. Which is why as soon the government took over, there was fake outrage over some global religions - which have all been proved wrong.

Then there was a huge brouhaha on Right wing hotheads (some obscure people in whose face mikes were thrust). Similar fatwas by secular groups have been neatly ignored.

Then there is recent outrage on meat ban (which in reality is a shutdown of slaughterhouses for the most part) and something that has been happening for decades.

There is a perpetual hurry to blame Hindus for everything that is wrong with the country.

There was a great attempt to paint Yakub Memon as the victim of a giant Hindu conspiracy.

And of course, the encouragement a certain Hardik Patel gets in the media is worth watching.

So what is going on?

The only antidote to creating unity is divisiveness. Like it says in the ancient story where humans were building a tower to reach heaven and god suddenly made them talk in different languages and since they did not understand each other from that point on, the tower collapsed.

In modern times, fear mongering is one of the ways to do it. And in that sense the media - the extended arms of the Congress has started spreading fear. By creating fear in the minds of the Marathis against the Gujaratis. By creating fear of the Patels in the others (and vice versa). By giving reservations to Jats (as opposed to Gujjars). By dangling reservations to Lingayats in Karnataka...

This is their idea of India. A perpetually fractious country tearing each other apart. And in this divided comes the Congress and their ilk wanting to milk this divisiveness by promising a piece of the pie here and a piece of the pie there and keeping them at each others throats.

The BJP needs to know this. That their message of pan Indian unity will be torn apart by the Congress and its useful idiots. The media amplifies this message. A Hardik Patel who is asking for a ridiculous reservation for a well to do community is a 'quota warrior'. A Shiv Sena which is amplifying the Marathi-Gujarati divide is suddenly 'liberal' for opposing a meat ban which has been in place for decades now. A judicial process over 20+ years (no less) that deemed Yakub Memon guilty is used to arouse suspicion among the people - resulting in a wave of sympathy for a terrorist. Stones thrown at a church by drunkards is amplified enough to result in a once respected senile man writing columns about Christian persecution. A man like Aurangzeb who did to India what ISIS does today - is suddenly finding himself loved by all liberals. The reason - a road named after him was renamed. Yes for sure, there are Hitler roads and Hitler nagars in Israel. We of course name cities and institutions after tyrants who ordered inquisitions, destroyed temples and imposed jaziya on Hindus.

All this will happen till 2019. The BJP needs to fine tune its messaging. Only fine tuning that will not help. It has to go big on many communal laws (like RTE). It has to get these fear mongers to pay for their crimes (and many of them have enough crimes in their backyards). It has to choke their funding (and many of these are suspicious - a first step has been taken with the crackdown on the FCRA).

This is the new divide and aspire to rule. This is the Idea of India - a perpetually squabbling dividing populace that don't care about governance, but will live on doles while at top level there is massive corruption that keeps their own sycophants happy.