All That Matters: India

Showing posts with label India. Show all posts

It was a historic day for India today. The entire nation saw hope in Narendra Modi and bestowed an enormous responsibility onto him. After 30 yrs, a single political party got voted into majority to govern the world’s largest democracy. The News Channels and political analysts were busy discussing what his priorities should be - development, corruption free governance, infrastructure, stability and so on….. a small incidence that happened with me this morning, however, is a testimony to what I believe is the biggest challenge our nation faces today……

That of a Dual Personality…….

It was the morning of today, 16^th May 2014. The results of the elections had started pouring in. It was already clear that the NDA would surely form the next Government with Narendra Modi being a Prime Minister. After watching the election analysis for several hours since early morning, I finally started for office. I was in the euphoria of the results when this happened with me.

It was 10:30 AM. I was standing at the busy Saki Naka junction. It appeared less crowded than usual. The signal had turned red. While I was waiting for the signal to turn green, I saw these two ladies sweeping the road. They were possibly from the BMC. Both in their very late 50s. Amidst scorching heat, the two ladies were doing a decent job. One would sweep the road with a broom; the other would collect the garbage into a bin. I was only watching their well coordinated effort when a driver of a Cab distracted me. He was around 50 feet away. The guy had the audacity to spit a big stream of “Paan” on a road that the two ladies cleaned 30 seconds earlier.

Seeing this, I just lost it. I steered my way to him, got off my vehicle and got him out as well. I shouted like hell on him, on the road, amidst a packed traffic. I don’t even remember what all I would have said to him in “pure” Hindi. I couldn’t just take it. I felt so badly for the two wonderful ladies, slogging their sweat out on one of the most polluted junctions in Mumbai. The cab driver possibly realized his mistake and started apologizing. “Saahab. Galti ho gayee. Phirse nahi hoga”. I asked him to come out and apologise to the two ladies. Which, he did. He apologized with folded hands to both the ladies.

I am not sure what the two ladies thought of this though. Their reaction was bit strange. In fact, there was no reaction. This puzzled me. While I was thinking about it, I realized the signal had long turned Green and this episode had created a traffic jam. Surprisingly, the people around had understood the gravity of the situation and did not resort to their right to honk.

I realized I had it enough and turned towards my vehicle. That’s when the elder of the two ladies put a gentle hand on my back and said “Beta, janedo. Poori zindagi rasta saaf karne mein chali gayee. Ye log nahi sudharenge”. (Leave it. Entire life went sweeping roads. These people won’t change). Let me tell you. I can’t forget that touch on my back…. And to my soul. Those few words almost summarized the old lady’s plight. Her frustration. Her life. That also explained the reaction (or the lack of it) the ladies had to this incidence.

It remained with me throughout the day as BJP emerged even more victorious. Amidst BJP leaders claiming “Victory of Democracy”, it left me thinking, is this a real victory of democracy? Is anything going to change for the old lady with the new government? Will she get the right to very bare minimum respect in the society? Will the attitude and social sense of people in general improve?

Should we blame the Cab driver? Yes. But for all you know, he would spit in front of his own house. Because he possibly would stay in a 10x10 shanty over a reclaimed gutter. Spitting on road doesn’t mean anything to him.

The real issue is much bigger. It’s the dual personality of our nation. On one hand we have a “Shining India”. Big malls. International brands. Sky Scrapers. Booming economy. IT super power. Flourishing jobs. Stock Market on fire. Billionaire club. Management Graduates. Corporate Culture….uffffff…… and we also have a “Shanty India” that develops (??) inside the shanties of Kurla. An India that struggles to make the ends meet. One that is poor. Who sleeps on streets. Under the flyovers. Where education is a distant dream. An India, that is still under the clutches of age-old believes – of casts, religion, gender and job. India, where a cabbie drives for 14 hrs a day to just make the ends meet and feels worried how he would feed his family because of reduced business on an election day. Civic sense becomes his last priority. I am not justifying what he did this morning. But there is a perspective here that we need to understand.

Unless we bridge this gap between the two personalities of this nation, we are bound to witness issues like these in our society. Crime, thefts, alcohol, drugs, domestic violence and many more to a large extend find their roots in this social/economic diversity.

I hope the Modi government realizes that they have the mandate from both of these persona to reduce the gap between the two as much as possible. That will happen through inclusive growth, equal opportunities, job creation and economic & industrial development. However, apart from the government, it is our responsibility for being blessed to be part of “Shining India” to help our counterparts from the other half to come out and join our party.

I have been a big fan of Flipkart, the leader in the budding online retail stores in India. I have been even bigger fan of its Digital Music Store - called Flyte. Sadly, I got an email from Flipkart that they are shutting down Flyte in June 2013. A beautiful attempt to fight Music piracy in India bites dust.

Flyte was amazing. It allowed you to buy Music from its rich collection of Music Library and download the same on your computers/laptops/phones at a very low price- typically 1/5th of the physical Audio CD of the same album. You could even buy individual tracks typically at Rs. 5 to 15. You couldn't get a more economical option to buy "Genuine" Music. But who wants to buy Genuine Music here, where there are tons of options available for free Pirated Music?

Flipkart hasn't said anything about the reasons behind this decision of pulling off the plug just within a year after its launch. My guess is that even after making Music dirt cheap and affordable, it could not change the very culture within Music listeners in India which is against buying genuine Music by paying even a small money. The volumes generated on the store may not have been sufficient for a viable business.

It is such an irony I feel. On one hand, there is certain class of the society that has seen huge prosperity within last one decade. This class has enough money to buy expensive cars, international holidays, branded watches, designer clothing, parties and dinners at exotic places and so on. But they can't spend few bucks on buying genuine tracks of the very Music they love. Is Rs 35 too much a money for an album of R. D. Burman? Does the Legend not deserve a price which is even lesser than a plate of Dosa for his genius?

When will our society understand that piracy is akin to shop lifting? When will our authorities wake up and take some serious actions against rampant piracy done in bright day light, on the streets- often next to police stations? When will the so called Music lovers in this country realize that piracy is an insult to the Musician whose album they just downloaded from Torrent?

I hope we get answers to these painful questions some day.

International Woman's Day. Its everywhere. Its all over on Twitter, Facebook walls, News Papers, TV Channels, WhatsApp, the good old SMSs, emails and so on. Recognizing outstanding achievements of extraordinary women is in the air. I wonder why we need a special day to do this. However amidst this trending topic of the day, I have been thinking about two ladies, who I feel deserve a mention. Both of them represent real heroes and a true spirit of what a woman stands for in our society.

These two women are the domestic help that we have in our home. Nanda - a maid who does daily chores of cleaning, washing, dusting etc. And Kalpana- who cooks food for us. They deserve a mention not only because - they are excellent in their work, they are committed, trust worthy, take care of our kids like their own and have become part of our families since last 6 yrs - but because of their concealed mission. A mission to make their children educated, even though they themselves are hardly.

Both of them have seen extreme situations in life. Stayed in environments that we have only imagined and seen in Slum Dog Millionaires of the world. Have worked an average of 15 hrs a day, 7 days a week, from the age of 14 and still continue to do so after 3 or 4 decades. Their stories give goose bump to me even now. In such extreme situations, more often than not, it is so easy to take a short cut; get children earn some quick money by making them work. There are enough local shops, garages, restaurants, etc. ready to employ child labor in a city like Mumbai. Still, these two ladies, determined to educate their next generation, continued going through the grind that the life had put them though and came out with flying colors.

Children of both of these terrific women have either completed their graduation or are in the process of doing so. The life time efforts of these ladies have started to pay off. The graduate children have got decently paying permanent jobs in reputed companies. More importantly, the ladies did not differentiate between their sons and daughters and educated their daughters as well, passing on the mantle to them.

I can see tremendous sense of achievement each time they share the exam results of their children. Many times, they don’t even recollect and pronounce correctly the subjects their kid just cleared. But the sense of satisfaction abounds their faces. My guess is that the reason for their satisfaction is not only that their children achieved something they couldn't in life, or that their lifetime effort has paid off, but simply the fact that their next gen will not go through the same drudgery they had to go through in their life.

It is so true. Nanda and Kalpana are the examples of how a woman can make a difference to her family, if she is determined. The tremendous zeal within a woman can make her achieve impossible missions in spite of all the odds.

These two women are real heroes in their own life. I hope our society has many more Kalpanas and Nandas like these. My salute to these wonderful women.

The Maharashtra State Board declared the results of the HSC (12th Standard) exams yesterday. Today's Newspapers are full of stories of those topped the exams, passed in flying colors in spite of several challenges like dissabilities, living conditions, health issues, financial conditions etc. Many of those are tall examples of what one could achieve in spite of extreme challenges in life. I vitnessed one such example this morning - when our "Bai" (maid ) walked in with a little smile on her face. Her daughter passed the HSC exam.

She is our maid who comes everyday - all days a week - works for around 2 hrs every day in our house. Does similar work for many more homes. Stays in a 1 room house given to her family by Slum Rehabilitation Authority. She possibly works for more than 12 hrs a day cleaning other's houses, washing utensils, dusting thier expensive furnitures, sweeping floors all along the day.
She speaks very little. I realized today that behind her quite dedication and extreme hard work, is a much larger goal - to educate her three children so that they don't have to undergo the same ordeal which she did through out her life. Her youngest daughter passed HSC exam yesterday. The elder is in the final year of graduation and the eldest son is already employeed.

The lady who could not even pronunce names of the subjects her kid just passed with decent marks, had a sense of achievement for her daughter. I think more than her daughter, it is her own achievement. She never went to school herself, but has learnt the importance of education through hard lessons of life.

I asked her, "so what next?". She replied without any doubt, "Pudhcha Shikshan" (Further studies) and moved into the kitchen to complete her work.

My salute to the spirit of the this woman. The respect for her in my mind has just gone up.

30th Sept 2010 was one of the most anxious days in the recent past. The much awaited verdict on the disputed land at Ayodhya was supposed to be delivered at 3:30 PM. The sheer anxiety around the potential communal conflicts and riots resulting as a result of the verdict saw most of the cities closed, schools given off, offices closing early, streets almost empty and citizens camping in their safe homes before 3:30 PM. Thankfully, all this proved to be unnecessary. Not only the verdict received peaceful reactions from all corners of the society, the verdict itself paved the way for much cordial and amicable solution to the issue - a birth of a new Dawn at Ayodhya.

The Anxiety

The issue that started as a local conflict of ownership of the land between Hindus and Muslims more than 150 yrs finally turned into a national issue in early 90's when BJP's made it a political manifesto to win over the Hindu hearts and come back to power at Delhi after decades of dominance by the Congress. While the historical Rath Yatra by Advani was a major booster for his career, helped BJP come back as a National Party to recon with, it also manifested into falling of the Babri Masjid in Dec 1992, followed by one of the worst communal riots in the country killing close to 2000 lives. The 1993 Mumbai serial blasts were supposed to be a revenge of the same.

With this background the Allahabad High Court was to deliver the historical verdict on whom the disputed land belonged to apart from answering a few related questions like whether the place under dispute was really the birth place of Ram, did a temple exist earlier, was the Babri masjid constructed after demolishing the erstwhile temple, etc. While the Ayodhya is no longer a lucrative political manifesto for BJP since it has lived its life as a political issue in the minds of people, the aftermath of it - the massive communal riots - are not forgotten. No wonder this was the most anxiously awaited verdict, not from the perspective of what the verdict would be, but more for the possible communal conflict it could potentially create.

The Verdict

Here is the summary of the verdict.

For me, following points are important.

The disputed Land equally divided into the three parts - one each for Muslims, Hindus and Nirmohi Akhara.

Established that the central dome was really the place of birth for Ram

That a Ram temple existed before Babri Masjid was constructed

Paves the was for construction of Ram Mandir

The merit of the verdict lies in the way it balances both sides. While it paves the way for the Ram temple, reaffirms it to be the birth place of Ram at the same time gives equal ownership of the disputed place to Muslims. The very respectful and dignified response from people all the country from all religions is a testimony to this fact. There are extremists from both sides that may not be completely happy with it, but that's OK. These are the people who have made their careers and living out of this issue. It will be in their interest not to let this die out.

The Dawn

The calm and matured reaction given by one and all is an indication of the fact that India has moved on. The first thought in the minds of a common Indian (Hindu or Muslim) was that of a sense of relief rather than the verdict itself. Given that the verdict has something for everyone is a bonus. We all have moved on. We love religions. We respect and worship our Gods. But we no more want it at the cost of our own lives. The dreaded memories of 92 riots haunt us even today. We do not want a repeat of the same at any cost. This division of land has offered to unit us, keeping all the memories of 92 behind. It has paved the way for Ram Temple and offered equal share of the land to Muslims. Can we join hands to build a temple of Ram Lalla as well as a Masjid side by side? Can we turn around the place that currently reminds one of the worst hindu-muslim conflicts in the history into a monument of secular peace and harmony for centuries to come? Time has come to tell the world that India has really moved on. That the youth of this new India does not carry the legacy of 1947, 1971, 1992 and even 2002. That no political party can use our religious sentiments to their benefits. All that is behind us. What we want is the birth of a new Dawn.

With no untoward incident being reported from any part of the country even a day after the verdict, I am sure the Ram Lalla himself will be much more satisfied to see the new found calm, maturity and resilience in his own erstwhile Kar-sevaks.

Jai Shree Ram

Recently my kids were reading a chapter in their Std IV English text book - "My First Encounter with Swadeshi" by Indira Gandhi. I remembered this lesson from childhood as well, where Indira Gandhi, then a kid, gave away her favorite imported doll under the influence of Swadeshi movement. The recent developments in the US made me to think that the Swadeshi movement has come a full circle, after more than 100 yrs.

Obama's love for Outsourcing
President Obama's always had the "anti-outsourcing" agenda high on his election manifesto. No wonder the US Govt is taking steps to curb outsourcing to Indian companies, to the extend possible. Recent few developments in particular are indicative of the overall mood against outsourcing to Indian companies.

Firstly, US hiked Work Permit (H1-B) Visa fees from $320 to $2,320 - a huge 625% increase. Although the stated reason was to fund the millions of dollars required to beef up the security at Mexico border, the real reason was to discourage US companies from getting knowledge workers from India. $3000 is quite a significant amount and is likely to hit the profitability of an "on site" resource from Infosys, TCS and Wipros of the world.

Second - more severe - was that the Ohio state disallowed any government IT and back office projects to be outsourced outside to countries like India. The country which is still in the process of recovering from one of the biggest economic downturns of the recent past, is struggling with issues like unemployment. This is an effort to to address unemployment issues. Many see the upcoming elections as a major motivating factor.
Whatever the reasons be, such protectionist steps are counter-productive to the very economic recovery process of the US and against the spirit of open global trade. The only option for the US govt to address unemployment is to create new employment opportunities by letting the US companies (and Govt) be more competitive. More than 50% of the Fortune 500 (read top 500) companies in the US outsource their IT projects and back office to India. Steps like these will only make them lesser competitive. The ban has been widely criticised and seen as very narrow & short-term focused.

Life coming Full Cirlce
Relating it back to the "My first encounter with Swadeshi", I feel this is life coming full circle. Swadeshi movement was started in 1905 by Gandhiji. It was an economic strategy to improve economic conditions in India through self-sufficiency by boycotting foreign products and the revival of domestic-made products and production techniques. The second wave of Swadeshi was driven by the "Sangh Parivaar", 50 yrs after Independence when the Indian economy opened up and allowed foreign companies to setup their shops here. The second one was to protect the local businesses from the biggies from US. Almost 15 yrs down the line, India has moved on. The economy has seen steady growth. We have survived the largest global downturn of 2008-2009 and have emerged stronger. India also established itself as the global leader of IT and back office outsourcing. Giants like TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Bharti, Tatas, Reliance, Essar, etc have gone global, acquiring large enterprises of the west and established themselves as globally competitive organizations. The term "Indian MNCs" became popular. Gone are the days when the desi companies ran under the threat to go out of business because of MNCs from US comping to India. The things have actually turned upside down. The biggest Capitalist economy on the planet is today forced to take steps to save its companies from the threat from the East. Its Swadeshi coming full circle.

Can he ?
All said and done, outsourcing is a reality and an inevitable need of the US companies in order to remain competitive in an economy increasingly dominated from East (read China, India). Obama administration can not stop outsourcing by private companies. Incidentally I am writing this at a time when my own company is in the process of moving some jobs to Hyderabad.
What is the next thing to come full circle. Is it Indian Rupee against US Dollar? Will that happen?

No. I am not referring to Steven Spielberg's Hollywood blockbuster. I am referring to a public infrastructure piece of work in India.

Today, Delhi's International Airport opened its brand new terminal - "T3". The first AI plane landed from New York, although full operations will start by end of the month. This is a giant leap forward for the Aviation Industry in India. Apart from Delhikars and international travellers, we all have something there to be happy about.

About T3 First

Many will be surprised (at least I was) to know that this is the 6th largest Terminal in the world. It has a capacity to handle around 35 million passengers annually. Compare this with 23 million capacity of the entire Mumbai airport, the busiest in the country, until a day go. Together with T1 and T2 terminals, this will take the Delhi airport capacity to 50+ million annually. The state-of-the-art terminal is contemporary in its design, has all the amenities and facilities of a modern day airport including ample parking, passenger recreation, shopping, children play areas, food courts, Internet kiosks and so on. It has been built through the joint venture between GMR Group, Airports Authority of India and some foreign partnership from Malaysia with an investment of 3 Billion USD.

Significance for us

One would argue that how many Indians would even see this new swanky piece of infrastructure with their own eyes and hence why should they care? Well, there are enough reasons to care about.

Being the 6th largest terminal in world, it certainly puts Indian aviation on the global aviation map.
It is likely to attract many more international careers to India and setup their hubs in Delhi, resulting into further investment and employment opportunities.
It is a giant leap for the Indian Aviation industry. After Hyderabad and Bangalore airports, India walks further on upgrading its aviation infrastructure which desperately needs an overhaul.
Last but not the least. This giant piece of art was completed in record time of 3 yrs. Cutting through the usual red tapes and govt machinery, a public infrastructure project of this size has been executed bang on time and almost within projected budget. This defies all the popular (?) believes that Infra projects, especially those under the Govt fold, take ages to see the light of the day. Delhi once again (after Delhi Metro) has demonstrated excellence. Kudos. This should add to our confidence in our public servants to deliver on their duties. Although, this might be the result of GMR's involvement, it does not make it a lesser exception in the infra projects in India.

I hope Mumbai learns some lessons from this and finally gets through the Govt red tape that is sitting on approving the International Airport at Panvel.

I am happy, proud and hopeful.

The Nation-wide "Bandh" called by the opposition, primarily lead by the BJP, in protest to the recent fuel price hike brought the entire nation to almost a grinding halt. BJP has already declared this Bandh as a huge success. Is it really?

The Intent

The Bandh was called in protest to the recent fuel prices declared by the Govt across the board. With inflation at around 13.9%, the fuel price hike is expected to push it northwards, thereby burning the common man even further. The objective of the band was to protest against the fuel price hike in particular, and the uncontrolled "Mahengai" in general, which the Govt has consistently failed to tame down. Clearly, the stated intent of the Band was very noble.

The Response

The bandh got consistent response from almost all parts of the country. All major cities were shut down. All schools remained closed. No shops opened their shutters (except Pharmacy). Most of the private companies declared off (including mine). With no autos, taxis and private vehicles on the move, the streets of Mumbai were almost empty.

It appears that the Bandh got an overwhelming response. But whether all of these above who theoretically contributed to it, willingly did so or not is a question. BJP and friends (and foes) might claim victory at the end of today, however if one has to judge the success of the bandh based on whether it met its original intent, it doesn't seem to. The fuel prices stay where they were.

The Bandh Effect

All taxis, autos, shops, construction work, small time taprees, et al, remained closed for most of the day. Apart from inconvenience to citizens, not sure if it had any indirect fatal effect under emergency situations.
Several buses, trains, public properties were burnt/damaged. In Pune alone, more than 25 buses were damaged. Who's paying for this?
Sporadic instances of violence happened across the country. There was lathi charge at many places at all major cities.
Huge police force was deployed across the board. Any guess how much did it cost to the nation?
Cumulative loss is estimated to be Rs. 13,000 crores.
BJP (NDA at large), re-established itself as a powerful opposition, a force still to reckon with. It made its national presence felt and demonstrated its abilities to move its alliances as well as rivals like Left towards a common goal, against UPA. Congress has a lessor or two from this bandh. It better not take it for granted.
Working class took a day off, possibly watched a movie at home along with family and in-between watching the spicy stories on AajTak.
The Bandh had no effect on the Finance Minister's math. Pranab Da declared categorically that the prices will not be rolled back.
Last but not the least, the daily wages worker, who earns his daily meal the same day, had to miss his day's produce. The very poor for whom this bandh was intended for, ironically remained the only one who had nothing to gain, but to lose his/her meal.

In conclusion, the intent of the Bandh was noble. However, the question remains whether a nation level bandh of this scale is the right solution to protest? We lost some part of the GDP - resulting into a step back from the ambitious double digit GDP growth rate. We had our public property damaged, many suffered on account of the violence. The BJP had its presence felt. However, the poor had yet another poorer day, while the fuel prices remained as it were 24 hrs back.

Watched Prakash Jha's much awaited "Rajneeti" on the day of its release. With so much hype around it, and acclaim of Jha's earlier ventures - Gangajal and Apaharna, the expectations were very high. Here is my own opinion about the film.

Bottomline An excellent movie, worth every penny, elaborate plot, powerful performances, grand cinematography and a gripping story telling under Jha's superior direction.

What Works:

Elaborate Plot: One of the few movies in the recent past (after Kaminay, I guess), that has a strong plot. You really need to watch the movie carefully to get it completely. Its today's incarnation of Mahabharat. You can easily place all the major characters of Mahabharat. Duryodhan, Arjun, Krishna, Kunti, Karna and so on. Still, Jha has been immensely successful in making it look absolutely contemporary. The earlier attempt by Suraj Badjatya to modernize Ramayan (HSSH) was a disaster. This one is the opposite.

Powerful Performances by a Powerful Cast: The second most famous Bhajpai on the planet delivers his second performance of lifetime - after Satya. Watch out for his expressions when his rival brother tells him that he is quitting politics for ever. He deserves a standing ovation. Arjun Rampal is further on his journey towards a matured actor after OSO, Rock On. Nana and Ajay both are very impressive, as usual in a very intense role. It is Randhir Kapoor who walks away with your attention. Simply superb. His transition from a foreign university student to a hard core politician is amazing. Katrina is suited to the roll, but cant make an impact amidst such a star cast

Superior Direction: Kudos to Prakash Jha for pulling off such a huge star cast, a complex storyline and a potentially sensitive topic with such an ease. The movie hardly drags anytime. He makes perfect justice to all characters... almost

Grand Cinematography: Some of the scenes of Political rallies and gatherings are so huge and real that I wonder if Jha used any special effects. Simply awesome.

What Doesn't Work:

The film becomes little non-realistic towards end. I mean, Politicians might kill each other... but not themselves. That was Mahabharat... this is Indian Politics
There is one loop hole in the plot. Which political party will get the rival party's leader killed just before the elections? Its anybody's guess that the rival will get the sympathy vote.
Some performances are weak... Ranbir's mother, especially.
If you miss first 5 mins, you will never see Nasir. Such a fine actor, only as a cameo?? It might be purely my love for Nasiruddin that I felt he was wasted :-(

Finally

Rajneeti works for its story, performances and direction. Worth every penny.
Going by the media, it seems there has been enough Rajneeti behind Rajneeti. Well, some hands-on experience might have helped Mr. Jha.
Last but not the least.... The story of Mahabharat written by Vyaas thousands of years ago is still very much valid. I wonder should we still call it a Mythology?

All That Matters

Mandate to Modi Govt from the two Personalities

Another Victim of Piracy - Flipkart's Digital Music Store Shutting Down

Woman's Day Special - Salute to the real heroes

HSC Results for a Maid

Is that a New Dawn at Ayodhya?

Swadeshi Coming Full Circle

The Terminal

Bharat Bandh Brings India to a halt

Rajneeti - Mahabharat Revisited

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