I was home for a vacation for almost two months,and hence had the luxury to watch television at free will.I should say it was a luxury because in my hostel in JNU,we just have one television set ! And if you have one tv in a girl's hostel, i think i dont need to elaborate much ! Cant become a part of the deadly battle that goes on to grab the remote and tune into those saas-bahu sagas which my hostel mates enjoy so much.So at home i was happy to see tv whenever and whatever i wanted.But i was deeply dissappointed when i got the pulse of what was actually being aired on tv these days.When we grew up ( i am sure most of you will agree with me)satellite television just started its course.But even then the leading family entertainment channels aired atleast one quiz programme.Be it 'The Bournvita Quiz contest',or 'Kab,kyun,kahan' or 'Get set Go',we were atleast abreast of the latest general knowledge.Even till recently we had KBC to give us some feed of general awareness.Siddharth Basu was in our times a household name (for me he was a genius ).I grew up watching Crossfire,Parliamentary Quiz,BBC Mastermind.It was chiefly because of him that i developed my interest in current affairs and general knowledge since childhood.But now i wonder and regret what today's generation is growing up upon ? They are so unlucky in this respect ! What do they get to see on tv these days ? - Kyun ki...,Balika Vadhu etc..(i dont remember any other soap operah's name !) and the countless Reality Shows which are by no stretch of imagination real ! Some of you might argue that if you want a taste of current affairs then u have the option to watch the innumerable news channels.But then which news channel today airs a quiz prog ? Surprisingly none ! (Correct me if i am wrong)They are all busy getting sound bites to increase their TRPs and solve Murder Mysteries ! Sad irony ! I think today's generation doesnot even know who is Siddharth Basu,but they know who is 'Tulsi'!
Television is such an important medium for creating awareness but i am saddened to see its deplorable slide into sub standard progs which donot have any functional value.I think its imperative that the Information and Broadcasting Ministry formulate a minimum guideline for the types of informative prog that a tv channel should air.Atleast one Quiz show should be made mandatory.
For those of you who read my last blogpost ( The Indian Political League) and made observations about my political affiliations, well then this is for them. I am not apolitical, and for those aware of my political orientations, I am critical for everything that I feel is not right, no matter whosoever has done that wrong.
I was deeply disappointed with the Cabinet that was sworn in last week. I understand that distributing portfolios is always a difficult task, where the size of one’s pie depends upon one’s proximity to 10 Janpath. Thats understandable, for the Congress party has been known for its sycophant leaders. But sometimes good political wisdom should prevail, as the people gave the Congress the thumping mandate this time, in order to deliver upon the promises it made. Squandering that mandate can be costly for the Congress in the long run.
I have always felt that foreign policy in India has never really enjoyed the kind of attention and importance it deserves. Elections have never really been contested on issues of foreign policy (for me India-US nuclear deal was not the only issue that Indian Foreign Policy should be singularly concerned about). India’s image in the comity of nations has changed beyond proportion. But I am appalled at seeing the inherent apathy in our political establishment to have a media suavy, articulate and learned man having a strong foundation in International Affairs, occupy the post of the Minister of External Affairs. And we lost a chance this time again to rope in the best man available for this job- Dr.Shashi Tharoor. Glance through his biodata and see why I am puttng forth my case. We cannot contemplate of becoming a ‘power to reckon with’ in contemporary parlance, if we donot have the right men at the right places. Gratifying the old horses within the Congress party for their lifelong service (or should I call it sycophancy) doesnot mean that an important portfolio like the MEA should be compromised with. I am sorry, but for any young Indian who wants to see India shine through out the world Mr. S.M.Krishna is a hopeless selection ( I am not apologetic for using this term and for the lack of an even crude word I restricted myself to this term ). He might be a Harvard graduate,so what ? For his maiden speech to the media, Mr.Krishna had to take the help of piece of paper to read out his speech of acceptance as the MEA ! How long will we be cowed down to those conventional notions of age and experience? If Barrack Obama can be the president of a country like US at an age of 47, why do we need a Foreign Minister of 72 years?? If this election was said to be Congress’ agenda for inducting fresh and young blood into politics, then where did that pious agenda vanish after elections ? So should we infer that ‘young blood’ means the induction of the kids of the Congress leaders or for that matter sons and daughters of the leaders of Congress’ allies into the Council of Ministers’ list ? Is it about a Rahul Gandhi (although he declined a Cabinet berth), a Jyotiraditya Scindhia, a Sachin Pilot, a Milind Deora, a Jitin Prasada,? All sons of the Congress leaders?? Or should I rather say Youth Brigade means the sons and daughters of political leaders irrespective of the political spectrum ! Go through the list of the young MPs and find out for yourself that majority of them are either the son or the daughter of a political heavyweight. Of the 79 Ministers who were sworn in this time, 12 were the scions of a political family ! That is disappointing for any young Indian like me.I think this phenomenon was aptly summed up by Rajdeep Sardesai as ‘SON STROKE’ ! That is why we have a M.K.Azaghiri (S/O Karunanidhi) become a Cabinet Minister inspite of being a first timer in the Lok Sabha, while a man of immense calibre like Jairam Ramesh get a MoS berth !
Dr.Tharoor is 53 (young by atleast the standard of the average age that most Cabinet Ministers in India are). Now how about this for his career graph – In 2007 Shashi Tharoor concluded a nearly 29 year career with the UN, including working with the Singapore Office of the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) at the peak of the ‘boat people crisis’, handling peace-keeping operations in the former Yugoslavia and culminating as the Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information. In 2006,he was India’s candidate to succeed Kofi Annan as UN Secretary-General and emerged a strong second out of 7 contenders. Dr.Tharoor earned his PhD at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at the age of 22! He was named by the world Economic Forum in Davos in 1998 as a ‘Global Leader of Tomorrow.’ But that Leader of tomorrow was lost to the politics of rewarding loyalty. We need a presentable face that would be India’s face in shaping the contours of world politics ( for those of you interested in seeing the grit, wit and intellectual eloquence of Tharoor, check out his video on my Orkut profile or visit http://www.shashitharoor.com).
Since Nehru, if we haven’t had a strong and well charted out foreign policy, then its because we haven’t had a strong and articulate Foreign Minister well versed in International Studies. Nehru was a visionary who had a great understanding of world history and International Affairs. Since then we have failed in our foreign policy decision-making because of the poor selection of candidates manning that post of the Foreign Minister.
Some of my friends who know me closely and are aware of my preferences would be of the opinion that this article was but natural of me, because of my ‘obsession with the Tharoors and Swarups’. To them I would react by saying that foreign policy making requires an understanding of the history of International Politics. And Dr.Tharoor fits into that post hands down. I for one would not buy the argument that he is a political novice. To substantiate my point of view I have already presented his statistics. 29 years of service at the UN is more than enough of an experience to qualify him for the post of a Foreign Minister. Currently there are two MoS for External Affairs. There were reports that during the previous UPA govt’s regime the MoS did not even have their own offices. How much autonomy then, they would be exercising in policy-making would be anyboby’s guess!
Mr.Prime Minister, you raised a hope of a new India, in the minds of young people like me, Riding on those ‘waves of hope’, we expected you to break the traditions in giving the men of honor and intellect and young leaders a place in your new team - leaders who will shape the trajectory that India would be following in the next few years and emerge as a ‘potential super power’. But we are disappointed. At the same time we know that your hands are tied.
One of my friends on Orkut during this Lok Sabha elections once scrapped me, asking as to why I didn’t write anything about the Election Predictions on my blog. I joked with him saying that if I start dabbling on election predictions, what would Prof.Yogendra Yadav (for the uninitiated, he is today, the country’s leading psephologist. He along with Prof.Rajiv Karandikar was associated with CNN-IBN’s poll projections. Currently he is a Professor at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies {CSDS} in New Delhi) do? I didn’t want to give him a run for his money (an example you might think of my bad sense of humor!), because I grew up watching him and Dr.Prannoy Roy bring Indian elections to our drawing rooms!
Indian elections have always attracted a huge audience and with the entry of the satellite television and now the internet, together with the mushrooming growth of the private news channels, its viewership has but increased. That I think is but natural. Afterall, India is the largest democracy in the world. India incidentally, also has the largest number of political parties fighting elections. Consider for example, the sheer excitement we witnessed among the Indians, when the oldest democracy was about to elect its Chief Executive. Back home when India votes to elect its own leader, the excitement has to be even more spectacular. Our Indian Political League (IPL) has the ability to give a strong competition to the other IPL (Indian Premier League) in terms of the viewership , the drama and the climaxes and the anti-climaxes! I know the likes of Sachin, Ganguly, Sehwag and Yuvraj are icons in India, but the likes of Mayawati, Lalu Prasad, Karunanidhi or for that matter Amar Singh, have a better ability than these cricketers to deliver a bouncer every now and then!!
So what were the political highpoints of this election? I know I would be opening a pandorra’s box in starting this debate, but I think a healthy, constructive and an open debate is the hallmark of a mature democracy. If this election was about the ‘Youth wave’, then I think it is for the youth like us to voice our opinion and engage in a healthy debate. According to senior journalists like Dilip Padgaonkar (former Editor of the ToI), this election marks the beginning of ‘post-Mandal politics’ in India. He gives the example from states like Bihar, where Nitish Kumar’s JD (U) could sweep the elections riding on the agenda of development and not on the issues of caste or community. Bihar has always been known for playing the ‘identity politics’ card to success in every election, and parties like the RJD and LJP have exploited the cast equation to its notorious best. So what explains their fall from glory? Take the example of Uttar Pradesh, another state where identity politics influenced election results. The ruling BSP of Mayawati (said to be the spokesperson of the Dalit voice in India) surprisingly, emerged as the third largest party in the state in the Lok Sabha election.
The drubbing that the BJP got in this election shows that both the urban and the rural voters have not responded favorably to the rudderless ship called the NDA. Thanks to the vitriolic hate campaign preached by Varun Gandhi and Narendra Modi, and incidences in Kandhamal in Orissa, the Indian voters could sense the communal tenor in their political agenda. How could a ‘decisive leader’ who dreamt of giving a ‘determined govt’ make such a grave blunder in missing the pulse of the Indian voter??? Blogging like Obama or advertising using the internet can never make you a PM Mr.Advani. Indian voters are more matured than the US voters. We need concrete issues to judge the merit of a party and a leader. Attacking Dr. Manmohan Singh, on being a weak PM, did not strike a chord with the voters. There were other issues which the BJP failed to project as issues of national importance-that of national security, layoffs et al. In states like Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, where the BJP did not play its communal card and harped upon the issues of development ,it fared better. The strange paradox is that Narendra Modi in Gujarat talks about development to ride home to victory, but outside Gujarat its something else.
The routing of the Left parties show that the Left leaders in India need to revise their old lessons of the ‘Das Kapital’ and the ‘Communist Manifesto’ all afresh. Communism in India has lost touch with its target constituency-the dispossessed and the downtrodden. Championing the rights of the poor should not be a rhetoric only,but should be followed in letter and spirit. A loss in its traditional bastion in states like Kerala and Bengal calls for greater introspection for the left. You cannot talk of Communism ,sitting in an air conditioned room in Delhi and turn a blind eye when Singur and Nandigram was burning.
For me the highpoint of this election was that, it marked a sharp break from the post-1989 election phase in India, in that this election was no longer about Mandir or Mandal, but it was about brand Manmohan. The Congress managed an overall tally of 205 seats alone, which is unprecedented, given the fragmented nature of the election verdict in the recent past.For me it was a vote for stability,a positve vote for the schemes that the previous UPA govt launched (NREGA, JNNURM, RTI, Tribal Rights Act, Domestic Violence Act, National Rural Health Mission, Loan waiver for the farmers etc).It was a vote for the clean image of our PM who was above divisive politics and stood for inclusive growth and an agenda of reforms with a human face. If Atal Bihari Vajpayee made the BJP acceptable to even the non-BJP supporters, Dr.Singh has made the Congress acceptable to the non-Congress brigade. I once had a very interesting discussion with a friend of mine about Plato and his concept of the ‘Philosopher-Kings’. For those who are not aware of this concept, let me be brief in puttng it to you, Plato said that those with virtue and knowledge should only be allowed to rule, because they then would be above politics and would rule the state well in the interest of all. So now I think, we have finally found our Philosopher King…
I am amazed and deeply disappointed at the recent upsurge in the incidences of throwing shoes in India as a mark of protest. It appears that we have forgotten that everything that happens elsewhere in the world cannot and should not be copied. I mean there is something called individuality and originality also.In all this hussle and bustle i think we have decided that anything and everything goes for publicity.
India has been the pioneer in engineering the most famous form of protest- that of Satyagraha and civil disobedience. Those ideas over the years have served as the beacon of light for liberation struggles all over the world and made all those people famous ,whosoever has treaded on that path.But now, we have become rag-pickers from other's baskets it seems.Those dumb headed ill-mannered individuals in India,who in the last few days have taken to this new form of protest that has made its debut, (thanks to the journalist in Iraq who threw his shoe at Mr.Bush Jr.) are objects of disgust for me(others may disagree and have every right to). We boast about our great culture and values whenever we get a chance to,how did these people forget that then ? And all those who followed this form of protest did not belong to the so-called 'young, hot blooded hip-hop generation Y ' clan ( becuase its this group who always share the blame of mutilating our civilizational values).These were people who were made to grow up on the strong roots of Indian culture.So where did thier cultural virtues disappear now ? One may argue that 'frustration' made them do it.But i for one wont buy that argument.Because if we remember our history correctly,then nothing was more frustrating than to allow your motherland to be ruled by the aliens for 200 years.But flip through the pages of history, not a single episode (baring the Surat Session of the INC in 1907) was marked by such cheap forms of protest.I think its time we make use our minds and not get swayed by the idea of getting frontpage coverage in newspapers and become a hero ! All sensible and like-minded individuals must join to condemn such incidences.After al India still has some individualty and a special niche in the comity of nations.
I have been struggling for the past few weeks to write,but I was fumbling for words and there was a paralysis of ideas in my brain.Hours together,i would be sitting with a blank page.Kept on thinking why is it that sometimes in life we come across a phase when we keep on pondering about something and that thought process appears never ending.It is as if u are walking through a tunnel and you donot know if at all an exit exists ! Recently,i read a book called The Empire of Knowledge by Vinay Lal.There I came across a line that made me understand why is it that we never understand why we behave the way we do sometimes,and in retrospection we find it totally illogical and naive.It was a line by Benjamin Walter,which read, "...we, the thoughtful atleast are in a perpetual state of crisis." I lay blank after reading it.Kept on reading it and then re-read it.
Life is full of contradictions,that was something i grew up learning.But i could never fathom out its underlying essence until now.What is it that we want ? Does it actually matter what we want ? Can confusions end ? Why are we always enslaved by circumstances ? If man is so powerful,why cant he break free from this labyrinth ? Confusions are like evergreen forests ! No matter which season it is they are omnipresent.Nw,i sound like i m really confused! The more we try hard to understand a thing, another front opens up, adding more to the confusion and then the battle becomes more intense.Because fighting on several fronts isnt easy.Atleast i am not so adept on that count. I know what am writing is not making any sense,considering the fact that this blog has been about making posts on realistic issues.But perhaps,what is more realistic is the necessity to address confusions.Atleast,that is what one of my very good friends say. And for the past few days thats what i have been engaging myself into.Yet...i am struggling.I would like to hear from you,one who reads this post, why is it that when you find life is within your grasp,it simply slips ??? Confusions exist,or we create them or make them appear like the statue of THE CHRIST -THE REDEEMER ??? Try and look at that statue, i m sure no one can resist its mysticism !!! And in life confusions are also like that ! It has a magnetic charm,so difficult to unshackle.May be I am lost today...But i am searching for some answers...
Valentine's Day is approaching and the Hindutva Brigade is out of its slumber. Nice name they have given to their campaign this time- MORAL POLICING ! Its always nice to be self-appointed custodians of the civilisational heritage,or should I say its a superb cloak to camouflage their hypocritical non-sense ! Its ridiculous to see that this time their target is the state known to be the 'Mecca of the Software Revolution'.Its outrageous,as a responsible citizen and a thinking individual to digest their preposterous rhetoric.I mean is there a dearth of substantive issues in this country to fight for ? I am sure,our country has attained that level of enlightenment,atleast now, in not showing any sympathy to such publicity stunt-men and showing them their real place - an ASYLUM,may be ! If they really want to protect our civilisational values,then they should go and teach those youth a lesson who disrespect women on the road,or those who ill-treat their parents,rather than kidnapping and maiming a Hindu girl for talking to a Muslim boy.Our rich civilisational values never taught us such lessons. Where are we heading ? I know India is a democracy,so everyone legally enjoys a right to speech,but that doesnot give a license to paranoid individuals to get a frontpage picture or to appear or re-appear for a prime time news story ! We call India to be mature democracy,but i think the people should also show some amount of maturity in dismissing such signposts of stupidity.
I found a very interesting comment about my article on 'Slumdog Millionaire- A Big Q and no A',which says about the strategy of marketing the poverty in India and selling it to the west.In reaction to that naive viewpoint,the only thought that emanated from my mind is the way negative view points are given preference,when we attempt an analysis.I mean why cant we simply look at the positive side of it ? Why cant we look at the movie as India's answer to the rest of the world, that after years of subjugation by the colonial masters from the west,India has written her own story from ashes to glory ! She has been labelled as an 'Emerging Super Power'. Thats like being a true millionaire from slums ! Being critical about anything and everything is enriching,but the reality in the midst of it shouldnot be glossed over.