Of Giving up

You said you were sorry

Your words as soft

As the last snow falling

On the first cherry blossoms.

-Hu Ming-Xiang

Tahrir of India

As I walk back home, I see children selling flowers, books, toys and other articles, getting wet while people relax in their chauffeur driven SUVs after a day’s work. I wonder what stops them from breaking the glass and screaming “This is not fair”. As the scent of the jasmine continues to flourish in North Africa and Middle East we deal with our own demons. For centuries the belief in karma and caste has kept the masses content blaming past deeds for their suffering. In a culture where caste determines profession Nehru-Indira-Rajiv-Sonia-Rahul is hardly surprising; “hereditary democracy” for us is merely the circle of life. In a land where the gap between the haves and the have-nots was always vast the climate is changing.

Has the time for our rose revolution come? Even though the Arab spring has not come to India, it is time. It takes a spark to light a fire; if that is true I see sparks all around. The Naxalite insurgency simmering in the country is more of a economic movement than a political/militant one as our masters have us believe. It is supported by the poor that the government has let down. Can Anna transform his movement into the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back? Even though I am unsure of how to support him because I neither agree with is demands nor his actions. What I will give him credit for is the ability to rouse the masses; unseen since the time of Gandhi. His ability to generate interest in what we had discarded as the dominion of scoundrels. This year Anna may be victorious and the rain washes away all our problems. “Every country has the government it deserves”. Maybe we have decided that we deserve something better. Or the rains may calm our mood until another winter of our discontent. Will have to wait and watch if Tihar turns into Tahrir or Tiananmen.

Midnight Post

Landlord in Kota: What is your caste?
S: We are untouchables. Should we vacate the room? (S btw is a Brahmin)
X: No it is fine. But you should know your history.
Me: We have been alive for only 15 years there is no history. In another 20 years you will hear of us.

Me: Could I get a room please?
X in Gujarat: What is your caste?
Me: Isn’t this a government property? I have no clue what my caste is.
X: Don’t you have a father, a history? I am a poor Brahmin, I know what my lineage that is what makes me what I am. No having a caste is like not having a past; a culture. Are you a bastard?
Me: Who cares who my father is? He is not my identity, what I do makes me who I am. If you are a Brahmin, why are you working here or god did not consider you fit enough to allow you to pray to him? Please fuck off.

If the literate and supposedly aware among us refuse to reform old customs and change, we have a grim future ahead. People are easily made literate but imparting education is a different ball game. Literacy can be measured education is more subtle. It manifests itself in our application of sciences (if we use innovation as a measure here, we suck) in political and social debates, it manifests in how we interact as a nation, in how we think. Literacy is no use, education is. But that is not the point of this post.

We trace most of the problems in India to lack of education and rightly so. But for education to serve its purpose, it has to invoke thought. Science for all the good it has brought us does not do anything to develop a civil and harmonious society. It will be through a proper and unbiased study of history that we can create one. How many adult Indians can place Kanishka, Harshavardhan, raja raja, Chandragupta Maurya, Chandragupta Gupta and others who have shaped out history and culture on a timeline? I recently had a chance to look at what children in Maharashtra are taught in the name of history; Shivaji shivaji and more of him…is it any wonder that MNS has no difficulty finding goons and mislead the youth?

The history of the world is the history of ideas. But, in time it becomes a history of conflict as seen by the victors. History is deliberately erased, contributions to culture forgotten and only battles celebrated. History should not be written by the men of war but by men of peace. We make our story the story of violence of conquers whereas what affects us are the contributions to science and culture. Machiavelli is derided as a jackal while Krishna is revered as god. History should be read in context and it is context which we as a nation lack. We refuse to see the background or think beyond our limited memory.

Prof Siva Kumar once said in class, if you were a babu in the government in 1950 and you looked around; you had 10 servants working on minimum wages, a sprawling bungalow, a car and other “perks” then you look at your peers in the first world countries and they cannot even imagine having help at home. What do you do? Keep the masses poor and illiterate to ensure your lifestyle lasts. When you want the people to fight for a “hindu” nation, “hindutvise” the history books. Is it any wonder that we face problems of communal violence? If people don’t realize that it was the interaction of cultures; of Indian with Aryans, with Kushans from Central Asia with Muslims from Samarkand with the Portuguese who got knowledge and British who gave us law and Bombay, enriched and made our society what it is we have failed to educate ourselves.

I should sleep...gnite.

Quote

The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who’ll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you’re sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and somthing else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that’s almost never the case.

via Chuck Close

Life and Times

Its time to move again. Its surprising how your life can be packed into a few boxes leaving no trace of your existence except a concert ticket, some papers scribbled with various stages of sanity and a lingering smell of familiarity. You tell yourself again and again “time to tread new paths…new horizons”, “new opportunity” and the like. As another phase comes to an end you believe those words to be true. But when you see the boxes, you realize that they don’t contain your life. Its more ethereal, it is you or as I am wont to say now “our-soul” (sorry atma!). Personally, I think my backpack comes pretty close.

Notes on Ayodhya

I was aghast when I heard the verdict more so that people were welcoming it. Chopra and Deepti were at the receiving end of my rant on the day. But, finally the objections to the Lucknow High Court’s verdict have started coming out. Even though it "promotes" national integration, it must be said that the verdict is the victory of political correctness over truth and fact.

Firstly, I’m pretty sure that we would have had a different verdict had the bench comprised of 2 Muslims and 1 Hindu judge. Secondly, the mosque was constructed in 1527 about 400 years before there was any notion of an Indian state. When the court came into existence the mosque had been there for centuries and therefore should remain as such.

The court is overstepping its mandate by issuing judgment on a matter of history and archeology. There is no proof that ‘Ram’ the God ever existed. It is a matter of faith and religion and should remain as such: abstract. Assigning historical significance to locations and myths by issuing a verdict does not make his existence a fact. While dividing land is preposterous.

The court has allowed an act of lawlessness and shame to benefit the party that indulged in it. Had the mosque not been demolished, would the court on being petitioned by the VHP ordered the Masjid to be brought down and the land partitioned?

The verdict of the court is certainly well intentioned and in the interest of peace in the country. But will not the Muslims feel wronged? Does the court expect them to digest the 1992 humiliation of their faith by vandals? The talk of ‘reconciliation’ emanating from Hindu quarters is a disgrace. It is like the politician-criminal claiming victory after purchasing justice. In this case, justice was held hostage by the threat of violence. Let us hope that the Supreme Court will uphold the law and justice rather than sentiments.

To all the people who claim that Hindus may have been wronged when the mosque was constructed: “Get over it! It was 500 years ago.” (And you expect Muslims to get over 18 years?)

Vampire Squid Fishing

The whole hew about Goldman Sachs and the Abacus 2007-AC1 has gone out of proportion. It seems that Goldman will get away with the charges of fraud leveled against it. But its reputation has been tarnished which is material damage.

The counter parties which SEC claims were defrauded are institutional investors whose managers are paid to make their own judgment when investing. If they made the wrong call then they should be charged, not Goldman. No one should sympathize with ACA or IKB.

Goldman was privy to non-public information due to its role as a market-maker. If it did not disclose that Paulson was shorting the housing market to its other clients; its just ethical business.

Midnight Dreams - 3

We follow the seductive siren of riches
Of larger lives, baked huts and white knights
The race is real and defeat unacceptable
Only a madman swims against the tide;
But I am one,
When the shore is barren, we strive on
To the beat of the waves crashing
And to the cacophony of life
The pied piper played and I,
Followed...

It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.

Images are Reality

Here are three reasons why comedy sitcom makers put laughs into their serials:

1. We don't get the jokes. They are there to prevent us from looking stupid in a group.
   
2. The jokes are stupid and laughter has to be induced.
   
3. Its the *beeping* old age laughter club audience they are targeting.
   

Either these or we are too lazy to laugh for ourselves and they are put in so we can relax our facial muscles???

Ode to Sarcasm

Sarcasm is a lost art these days. Especially when you consider that it is so common that it goes by unnoticed. Come to think of it, phrases like "too bad" and the so called "NOT" jokes reek of a base version of the fine art of sarcastic commentary. Sarcasm is a true art from limited only by the artist's vocabulary and imagination. Throw a couple of metaphors and it becomes literature.

When I complained to my roommates about not being able to chat-up some chick I met this week on gtalk because of a bad net connection, I was taken on a tour of how internet romance is for losers. I could not muster the will to tell them that all I was trying to do was stream some porn!

In other news, I realised why a WC is better than an Indian toilet; its really hard to sit, relax and think on an Indian shit-pot(one of the pleasures of a long weekend).

Leaders and Democracy

A piece written by a friend recently pulled me into thinking about leaders and how they shape history. Obviously, the discussion started with Hitler and ended with Gandhi. Hitler attained demi-god status in Germany combining a potent mix of socio-economic hardship and nationalistic frevor in the aftermath of the Treaty of Versailles. Gandhi, surprisingly exploited very similar conditions in India.

What is interesting to note is how similar in character the two leaders are leaving aside the anti-semitism and non-violence which seals their places in history. Both were driven by a notion of the ideal society. Both saw in themselves the savior of their nations. Both considered themselves bigger than the whole. Hitler led his country into a dictatorship, democracy in India though is not a Gandhian legacy. If Gandhi had is way, India would probably be a collection of medevial city-states living in the stone age. Democracy in India was bred and nurtured by the early leaders of Congress. If anything Gandhi was the only leader who undermined the democratic structure of the Congress. He behaved like a petulant child. If he did not have his way, he took to fasting rather than dialogue. Bose, who had the support of the majorty of Congress members, defeating Gandhi's candidate, Sitaramayya in the 1939 Congress meeting was forced to resign due to differences in opinion with Gandhi.

Democracy in India is the legacy of a much maligned idealist. Nehru did not have the ego of Gandhi. He believed in the democratic process and held elections for the presidency of the Congress regularly even though he was their undisputed leader. It was probably his influence that made Indira Gandhi end the emergency and call for elections. That is merely a hypothesis.

The question that arises is why aren't democratic institutions able to oust leaders who subvert the will of the majority? Is it an inherent flaw of human nature or of the concept?

The City of Raj

Raj Thackeray has managed to win 13 assembly seats in this month's elections. In doing so, he has proved that there still is much juice left in the "son of the soil" campaign launched by his uncle 40 years ago. In those 40 years, the influx of outsiders has continued unabated. The city which always had a marathi minority has seen a decline in their percentage. Renaming the city and all its landmarks has not changed the essence of the city. After being expelled from the Shiv Sena, the son of the soil has risen from night soil to rid the maximum city of the "bhaiyas".

Raj being a smart man will know that he can not do better than the 13 seats while he has no development policy to speak of. He can never muster a majority in Bombay where only 30% of the residents are Marathi and the hinterland where immigration is a moot issue. One hopes that if and when MNS gains power, it would have temperered its position like Bal Thackarey did in 1988; joining the hinduvta bandwagon.

Raj Thackery will know that the outsiders flourish and will continue to do so because they are willing to work harder. Calcutta being a prime example of a city where no one wants to work and no immigrants to pick up the slack. The city has gone from India's first city to one on its death-bed, plagued by an arrogance that should have long disappeared. He will also know that it is easier to talk about a Maratha homeland than to improve it. The improvement of the Marathi lot will require a change in the mindset which is easier said than done.

India prides itself in its ability to assimilate foreign people and cultures, be it the Aryans, the Kushans or the Mughals. But that seems to be a trait lost on the marathi manoos. Today, we retreat to our lives knowing that the Congress is in power, living as persecuted citizens of Bombay under the shadow of Mumbai.

MBA Essays

I have learnt that the best writing comes from the heart and on an MBA application essays you can not fake it. Or atleast I can not fake it. I wrote the essays for School A and on reviewing felt it was full of s**t. I did not believe half of it. With this realization came the next step: introspection, rethinking of goals, aspirations and why School A. I had to dig out every minor work I did which showed the qualities the school looks for. Finally, four drafts later with the deadline looming, I have the finished article without an iota of overstating the importance or inventing stuff I did not do.

On to the next deadline, "How have the changes in the global economy affected you and your plan for the future?". Miniscule bonus period! Neither have my goals changed nor my perception. I am still the insensitive staunch extreme right libertarian capitalist pig I was two years ago. Which implies I have 397 words to go and 22 days to come up with them.

Lost Soul in Bombay

This weekend, after a long time, I sat on the sidewalk at Nariman Point and stared at the sea. The view in front and the skyscrapers behind have always inspired me. It is where I found peace everyday after markets closed. It is where I have enjoyed Bombay the most.

By day, the street is choked with smoke and the footpath crumbles under the weight of a million aspirations. The sun ravages and the humidity dampens the soul. The street is littered with paper, garbage dust and the strivings of a nation. Yet, you can always find a lost soul in the middle of all the bustle, gazing into the west for inspiration, company, clarity and hope.

By the time the sun sets, beauty takes over. A gentle breeze clears the smoke and the waves calm the heat, people slow down to admire the sun as it bids farewell. The crowd sits down in silence; friends, colleagues and lovers as the day draws to a close. As darkness descends, it covers the litter. The glittering towers and neon beam across the ocean, a beacon to the world of the rising of a billion Indians.

Though a lot may be said of the appaling conditions of the city. For the millions that call it home, it remains amchi mumbai.

Stuff in my Head

• I thought only morons and power hungry people vote for MNS. I was wrong, even educated and otherwise nice people vote for them. I guess a muslim will think the same about me and my support for Modi. The forum was not right to quiz the said person on her choice. Some other time in private I guess.
• Added to the to-do list, "live in the Balkans for a year".
• In the memory of the past:

Once upon a time a girl with moonlight in her eyes

Put her hand in mine and said she loved me so

But that was once upon a time very long ago

How the breeze ruffled through her hair

How we always laughed as though tomorrow wasn't there

We were young and didn't have a care

Where did it go?

Once upon a time the world was sweeter than we knew

Everything was ours, how happy we were then

But somehow once upon a time never comes again

Update: Lyrics by Frank Sinatra. People listen to the oldies.

A Tale of One Nation

Yesterday, during a meeting, the song “saare jahan se accha” came up. Since Iqbal, the poet had migrated to Pakistan during the partition, Mr. X saw it fit to change the lyrics of the song to “prano se priya yeh bhu hai”. Lyrics can be changed, but does it diminish the composition? If Iqbal's migration is so hateful an act, shouldn’t the song be banished from our consciousness never to be sung in India? With the wounds of Taj still sore in our memories, Indo-Pakistan relations are in the doldrums. Terrorism fueled by religious fundamentalism and with its base in the extremist factions of Pakistan has afflicted us for long. Even through all this the governments on both sides must remember that we are still one people who share a story stretching more than five millennia.

If fundamentalism in Pakistan is to blame for terrorism, we also have our own brand of Hindu extremists. While India is potrayed as a meddling bully in Pakistan, Indian media does no better in the prejudice with which Pakistan is potrayed. Sixty two years ago we parted ways. We have been at loggerheads ever since. People on both sides witnessed the carnage that followed the birth of the two nations, one born out of religion and baptised in the blood of those who migrated to fill it, the other with secularism as its ideal and divided as the people that call it home.

Though Islamic in character, Jinnah viewed Pakistan as a state where all citizens were equal. No contradiction was admitted in the political apparatus of a democratic state. However, under General Zia, the state’s ideology was subverted and Pakistan acquired the ideology of a theocratic state. After nearly half a century of independence, Pakistan does not have the appearance of a country that was envisaged by the nation's creators. Religion has come to be accepted as the ideology of today's Pakistan. India was founded on more secular grounds with freedom and equality promised to all. Democracy here has somehow managed to survive inspite of various insidious elements, the events of 1975-77, the only blip.

India has to deal with terrorists in the North-East and the “Pakistan backed” ones operating all over the country. While Pakistan also has to contend with taliban backed mujahedin who view Paksitani suppport of the US war on terror as blasphemy. The two neighbours have to forget their differences and stand on some common ground if they are to grow. The constant military confrontation does not do anyone good and results in a drain of funds which can find better utility in both countries. History sometimes happens in ways that is not willed by its main participants. Over 60 years, 3 wars and nuclear wepons later, India and Pakistan have not become the friends Jinnah and Gandhi hoped. But when the dust settles, that day surely, will come.

Call of a Nation

Election season will be upon us soon as we will once again be called upon to fulfill our duties as citizens by choosing those who will lead us for the next 5 years. India has achieved so much in the 62 years since we took control of our own destiny and so much still remains to be done. The under-current in all our triumphs and failures is one of silent optimisim. As Sashi Tharoor sums up:

“Indians are filled with the sence of the possible. There is a tremendous degreee of optimism about the future, which is all the more intresting coming from a people who in so many other ways are anchored in the past.”

For India, the tale of the last 60 years is above all the triumph of democracy. We have been able to build democratic and stable political institutions over six decades while democracies around us have faltered. There has been a transformation of national level politics where we have gone from a dominant one party government to coalation governments. We have been able to grow at an incredible rate considering the obstacles that confront such a diverse country. India is set to become the largest population in the world and it is predicted that India’s GDP will overtake that of the United States in the 2050s, when India will resume its rightful place in the world, one it has occupied through most of history.

It has not always been smooth sailing, we have faced many challenges which have tested us to the hilt and we have faltered on occations. The NE states have still not been integrated into the mainstream, riots still flare up in the name of religion, education of the masses remains elusive and infrastrucure is patchy at best. These are all issues which will have to be handeled by the coming governments and their capability and dedication will decide the path we take in the coming decades.

It is time we take our destiny by the scruff. Development, both economic and social, education and equality for all must be our new quests. We must also strive to improve relations with our neighbours. At the dawn of our history, Nehru said, “India started on her unending quest and trackless centuries are filled with her strivings and the grandeur of her success and her failures. Through good and ill fortune alike, she has not lost track of that quest or forgotten the ideals that gave her her strenght.” Today is the time when India discovers herself again. “India; the ancient, the eternal and the ever-new.”

Do Svidania

I shall die a happy man if I am able to finish the list below:

1. Climb the Everest or atleast till the Base Camp
2. Visit every continent including Antarctica
3. See the Galapagos Islands
4. Scuba in the Great Barrier Reef
5. Sail down the Amazon River
6. Go wild at La Tomatina
7. Gaze at Angkor Vat
8. Visit the Glacer National Park
9. Go to the World Cup!!!
10. Pay homage at the San Siro
11. Derby della Madonnina
12. See Machu Picchu
13. See the Petra
14. Backpack across the Eastern Block
15. See the Northern Lights
16. Vegas!
17. Rock in Rio
18. Travel the Greek Islands
19. Cycle through Tuscany
20. Drink at Oktoberfest!
21. Trek to Mt. Kailash
22. Mardi Gras!
23. Spend a night in the Ice Hotel
24. Follow Guevara through South America
25. Finish a marathon

Human Rights Down the Crapper

When I last checked, we were a humane bunch of people here in India then along comes the proposed "National Investigation Agency". At first glance it seemed to be an attempt to have something like the FBI in India, till I got to the last line:

Court shall presume, unelss contrary is shown, that accused has committed offence.

I had to re-read the line three times just to realise that they were trying to violate the f***ing Universal Declaration of Human Rights, contained within the International Bill of Human Rights. Were these not the first resolutions passed by the United Nations? The 10th of December market the 60th anniversary of the Declaration and what a perfect time for us to start violating them.
What the statment implies is that if the government accuses a person of committing of a crime, the onus is on him to prove his innocense. Basically it gives the government power to go to every outspoken muslim, accuse him of terrorism and not have to present a scintilla of evidence to prove it. I thought the BJP/NDA went overboard with their POTA, but the present government in its knee jerk reaction to the 11/26 attacks is disregarding the highest morals that we as a people should stand for.

Never Forget

Terrorism has breached our defences again. Not through the mountains up north nor through the porous Bangladesh border, but through sea into a city whose waters are statedly closely guarded a city which prides itself on resilience which with time transforms to apathy. The question that needs to be asked are not the usual who and why, as Indians we know the answer to those, being parroted for numerous years. We should ask "Where do we go from here?".Will this time be different? Will we see the Indian version of the Patriot Act?

Previous instances of terrorism were usually bombings in trains and on streets. This time was different. The audacious storming of the hotels and streets by well trained men shows that the face of terror has changed. It targets the country's symbols and effects a direct toll on confidence in the country's institutions. It seeks to diminish international confidence in the country which has lasting consequences on the economy of a country like India.

If Pakistan's involvement is proved beyond any doubt, does it justify India going to war? Or should we concentrate on improving our security mechanisms so that such acts do not happen again? Nothing should ever justify going to war. As for security, only god knows how many times have we mourned the apparent apathy of our politicos, hoping that they spend as much time on security as they do on closing down dance bars. How far do we curb the freedoms that we enjoy in our country in the name of national security? Should we invade our citizen's privacy like in the US or should we remain the moderate nation we claim to be? The government stance after all this is over will show the world and the public of India how we see ourselves, a strong nation or one plagued with indecisive political leadership. Let us pray that the only outcome is not the BJP coming to power in the next election but some concrete steps, a foghorn into the mist signalling that we shall not take this lying down, that "we shall go on to the end...until, in god's good time" we have extricated this scourge from the face of the earth.

Mallu, we shall never forget.