News Sense

Of late the erudite editors of Indian media houses have lost their intellectual sparkle. Sourcing, selection, prioritization, and publication or broadcasting of news items are now a matter of marketing gimmick rather than an editorial prerogative. Every morning when one looks at the front page of any newspaper, the obvious perception that pierces into ones mind is that today's editors are more concerned about sensational local news than a far-reaching story which has a national prevalence. And the same problem prevails with 24x7 news channels. The concept of breaking news is another design to trap gullible eyeballs. Circulation or TRP is more important than the content. In the rat race to become the numero uno in own domain is the new adrenaline rush that has afflicted the media proprietors.

Why the erstwhile editorial mettle has eventually reduced to a predominant “yes boss” culture in Indian media? Before economic liberalization, editors were more powerful than the collective political forces. In the eighties, it was a cliché that if there is someone in India who's the second most powerful person after the prime minister of India is the editor of Times of India, but that perception was strongly diluted in the nineties when the proprietor of that media house asked the then editor to bend a little, the editor vehemently started crawling. And that's certainly a turning point in the history of Indian media when proprietors encroached upon the sanctity of editorial decision making process.

The advent of a corporate culture in media became another anathema for editors. The conflict started slowly but certainly snowballing. The marketing and business honchos in media who in all probability were bedecked with an MBA degree from the premier management institutes of India or abroad started playing the role of demi-god. And it was quite rational for the proprietors of media to rely on those managers coterie because they were the brain behind multiplying revenue. Then the ethics and social responsibility of media took a back seat. And this culture proliferated across the board - if a news has no business sense, then it's certainly no news.

The business culture in media was so overwhelming that many bright editors left their old organization to start new media ventures with a promise that they will ensure an editor-driven organization, but it was all a tempest in a tea cup, short-lived, and improbable. Because the venture capitalists who invested in those media houses were thorough businessmen. For them profits were more important than a self-aggrandized editorial policy. The same editors who once thought leaving the old organization, where business guys took a prominence, and then starting their own venture being partnered with other guys who in their sense were editorially sensitive could be an innovative idea, were bugged by their own flawed logic. After all, businessmen are businessmen and profit is their primary motive. Who does care a fig for news sense?     

Age of Consent

What could be more hypocritical than denying the fact that the growing rate of adolescent sex among Indian teens over last two decades has been well documented in Indian media and other social agencies and then passing a Victorian bill to increase “age of consent” in order to create more confusion around decriminalization of sex among youngsters. The septuagenarian law makers of India are far from the social reality. If the bill on new “age of consent” passed by Union Cabinet last week is anything to be believed, then digest this: a boy of 17 having a consensual sex with her girlfriend of same age could be punished under “rape charges” of IPC because moving on the legal “age of consent” would be 18.

When most of progressive democracies across the world believe in the fact that 16 is the right age for consensual sex, the old, orthodox parliamentarians of India think completely otherwise. Where are we heading? Do our parliamentarians really understand the current social dynamics?

In a country like India, making antediluvian laws is another craze among law makers. When the rest of the world think progressively and live in the present, then why our leaders are so passionate about moving back to Victorian age? Either our leaders are too imbecilic to perceive the changing social attitudes towards sex or they are blatantly inhuman to criminalize teen sex.

With growing liberal attitudes towards sex across Western countries and to decriminalize LGBT sexual activities, the most advanced nations have revisited the statutory “age of consent” and most of them have reduced that magic age than increasing it. For example, in UK, Canada, Belgium, Holland, Norway, and some states of the USA, the age of consent is 16, and in Denmark, Greece, and Sweden, it's 15. And the most interesting fact that in Italy, the motherland of our UPA chairperson Ms Sonia Gandhi, the age of consent is 14.

What's more pathetic in Indian context that our law makers still refuse to acknowledge the glaring fact that teenagers not only explore or casually experiment, but also do really have sex and even sometimes do more than the adults do. Rather than imposing upon a moralistic or ethical view on sex and defining archaic, draconian laws, our law makers would try to read the current social reality and debug their purulent mindset before passing any law.

Regulating Media: A Bad Idea, Certainly

When the country is severely reeling under endemic corruptions and politicians have taken a ride on the sentiments of citizens of this nation, the very naive idea of pushing a private bill (by a first-timer MP Meenakshi Natarajan) to regulate media not only indicates how ignorant the MP is about the very basics of Indian Constitution that enshrines freedom of speech as fundamental rights, but also she intends to advocate a democracy to function without freedom of press. In a democratic setup, media is the only institution outside governance that acts as an independent watchdog and brings truth to the fore.

Freedom of expression is the corner stone of democratic evolution. Conventional media run by professional journalists and editors represents the pillar of free speech. Although recently few media houses have crossed their ethical limit and displayed downgraded standards in reporting biased, frivolous news pieces; nevertheless, the idea of regulating media by state agencies is altogether an untoward move.

As law makers, the legislators have the privilege to bring in any draconian law which would suit their political objective; however, in a functional democracy, the most stringent, anti-democratic law is even subject to complete abrogation when the government changes. India has already witnessed the fate of a draconian law like TADA in the last decade.

The developed democracies like US, UK, and France are the greatest upholders of the principle of freedom of speech and expression. Despite myriads of exposes against the ruling class in press, these nations have even ensured free and independent media. The law-makers of these nations are true democrats who believe in freedom of expression. A self-regulated media is undoubtedly a great partner in a long, meaningful democratic journey.

However, in India, majority of politicians are tainted, corrupt, and law-breakers, so a free press becomes a huge roadblock for their escapades. In the history of high-decibel scams in India, whether it's Bofors, 2G, or CWG, it was only media that exposed the matter in public domain first, and then the police or judiciary executed their responsibilities later.

With regulated media, the freedom of speech will be strangled and every report that will be published in media will be nothing more than a public relation exercise because of excessive state monitoring and hegemonic bureaucracy. Post enactment of law, no government would like to support an independent media, and eventually state-run media will take the lead. Are we heading to transform such a vibrant democracy into a communist country like China? Maybe, that could be the hidden agenda of many political parties. Nevertheless, India as a nation of great political diversity won't afford to take that route.

The Bofors Conundrum

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Flawed Culture, Appalling Generation

Why Indians are so brazenly proud of their viciously flawed culture and tradition that hardly accentuates the esteem of women in our society? Perhaps, this distorted social attitude in a male-dominated society has eventually trickled down to the modern adolescents, and the result is how boys and girls in the age group of 15-19 strongly feel that wife beating is justified. Thanks to the UNICEF's Global Report Card on Adolescents 2012 that reveals 57% of boys and 53% of girls in India consider physical violence against wife is legitimate.

The history of domestic violence against women dates back to the period of Ramayana and Mahabharata, and still we Indians, rather than evolving to a progressive society after many thousand years, still live in the shadow of an obnoxious precedence. When we claim that India is shinning on the economic fronts across the globe, the one pivotal point we often miss is how shinning our attitude towards women. Reports after reports get published via various social organizations and government agencies regarding the status of women in our society; however, we never mind, given a chance, to molest a woman when she is alone or helpless. The increasing crime rate against women in all parts of India, both urban and rural, is only a silent reminder of our corroded mindset.

Our judicial system that is supposed to uphold justice for all irrespective of caste, creed, gender, and social status, is embroiled by a heap of archaic laws those are hardly relevant to the current social conditions. Particularly, in case of crime against women, the legal measures are so docile that even a victim approaches the court for justice, it takes years together to land at a conclusive point. By that time either the victim changes her stand due to social conditioning or the perpetrator gets acquitted because of insufficient evidence. Either way the woman suffers the ordeal till her last breath.

So, what's essentially pertinent at this point of time is a complete overhaul of our social and legal system. A stringent legal framework backed by an expeditious execution of justice can only bring in a visible change in our society. But till then we must not slip into hibernation and forget our civil responsibilities. We must raise our voice against all sorts of crimes against women and keep this campaign going from strength to strength. Someday, I am sure, we can proudly claim women in India are adored and safeguarded.

Public Interest vs. Right to Privacy

Propriety is fast depleting from public domain. What was once considered to be the key characteristic of a public figure has now touched the nadir. Hardly one can find a person in public life who is out and out honest in every dimension of trait calibration. After all they are little mortal and human. They have all those mundane aspirations that often transgress the idealistic fabric when they come across a situation more tempting than the laurels of idealism. And how can a human being become so indifferent to inherited animal instincts that today drive mankind towards unachievable goals through sheer determination? The determination to surpass all established dogmas, doctrines, and demarcations. But along with that proliferates another human trait – hypocrisy – which emboldens human beings to do the unthinkable and still engage in self aggrandizement. Perhaps, that's the most sordid aspect of human evolution.

Well, the world is changing, so is the human perception. In the advent of ubiquitous social media and 24x7 news channels, the jury is out in the open. Any act of corruption, malpractice, wrongdoing, or even unethical private affair is not more privy to the public figure, rather it's analyzed threadbare, disseminated bit by bit, debated unabashed, deliberated to the last grain, and finally bounced back to public domain for a savory relish. For that act becomes a subject of public interest.

The recent CD controversy in which Abhishek Manu Singhvi,a senior Congress leader and a member of Rajya Shabha, is allegedly shown to be indulged in a sexual act in his chamber with a senior advocate and aspirant of a higher judicial position, the arguments supporting right to privacy fall flat on the face of a larger public interest. What's more deplorable here that Singhvi is not only a senior MP, but he is also chairman of a Parliamentary committee on law and justice, and he undoubtedly has the capacity to influence the selection process of the position for which the lady is a contender. So this sexual favor can be treated quid pro quo, given the alleged audio content in the CD proved to be authentic. In that case, the arguments supporting the privacy of a person crumble like a house of cards.

However, this alleged sexual act could have been an absolutely private affair if the lady in the CD would not have any aspiration for a hugely respectable public position, and moreover Singhvi hadn't been in an influential position in the system. Rather not being tempted into character assassination of Singhvi, the subject must be investigated in the light of public interest. Both Singhvi and lady are equally responsible for violating the due diligence selection procedure of a judge, which is largely dependent on meritocracy, intellectual calibre, and other fundamental human traits such as honesty and integrity.

The buck doesn't stop at the resignation of Singhvi from all public positions, rather the lady must also be investigated, and if proven guilty of influencing the selection process through sexual favor must be barred from holding any public position in future. Indeed, that's a matter of judicial enquiry; however, the fact remains that the people who give lecture to public on right to privacy must not tread in the public domain and complaint about their privacy being breached, rather they should shun all public positions and do whatever they want to do in their private life. That could be more sensible and safe charting. Anyway, who does care about those people who don't have any stake in public interest?  

Let The Earth Live Her Way

Let the Earth live her way

Despite all possible reasons

Good or bad

Scrutable or inscrutable

In human prescience.

For nature knows the secret

Of surpassing eons

With human furies

Come symbiotic imbalance

Hurricanes

Tornadoes

Tsunamies

Tremors

Floods

Landslides

And many alike.

Often mistakenly brushed

As nature's tyrannies

And some profusely stand

Nature's a great equalizer.

Who bereave nature?

Her stored bounties?

A query always haunts

And the Earth is clueless

Absolutely.

From stone age

To this century

All squander her legacy

Mindlessly

Mercilessly

Destroying verdant terrains

Forests far and near

Sometimes in the name of development

A lopsided development -

A false premise.

Miles of woods go missing

When a high way connects two cities

Concrete jungles pop up

With all modern amenities -

Shopping Malls

Hotels and motels

Theme parks

Parking lots

A new definition of development.

And then come surges of campaigns

Green campaigns

Sustainable development

Reduced carbon footprint

Inclusive growth,

Crusaders of nature

In all hues and shades

To protect the Mother Earth

Join the bandwagon

Quite farcical

The Earth is dying

Save her now

Let her live in pride

With her glory.

(A small tribute to my Mother Earth on this Earth Day!)     

Arrogance of Power

“Power”, in general, may be a subject of glorification for sycophants and bootlickers, but for pragmatics and intellectuals it's the worst form of despondency that reveals the deteriorated perspectives of the person who possesses it. When a person internalizes the hallucinatory effects of power, he or she loses the holistic view of the system and treads on a dangerous path and eventually gets stripped of the position. In almost all walks of life, the leaders, whether they are into politics, business, or bureaucracy, who nurture ego and shun humility often run the risk of being decimated by their followers someday.

Recently many political leaders like Mamata Banerjee who think their highhandedness is rational just that they are elected representatives of people and have the right mandate to execute any damn thing, even gag democratic rights, they are rapidly demolishing their own existence. Any leader who has an iota of knowledge about statecraft and other leadership skills won't dare to curb the fundamental rights of citizens who are the dispensers of highly accumulated power at the top. This indicates either that leader is bereft of the universal reality or crazily adumbrated by the arrogance of power. The arrest of a university professor for allegedly posting a cartoon that portrayed Mamata in poor light reflects her sheer vainglory and inability to understand humor in a democracy. Being in power doesn't necessarily afford one to become an autocrat and dismantle the subtle fabric of democratic principles.

It's not only the politicians who alone tread the path of arrogance, there are innumerable leaders in diverse fields who have displayed their vulnerability being an addict of absolute power. When someone rises up and ultimately reaches the top echelon, he or she carries along a great deal of gravity of power to naturally become angelic towards the people below the rank, but a reverse thinking process that triggers the adrenalin of arrogance dilutes the entire mix of benevolence and transforms the person into an implausible one who in all probability loses the sight of rationality. What's more portentous then that the leader regresses and becomes an object of ignominy in the eyes of people.  

Ugly Truth

How many Baby Falaks and Baby Afreens have to sacrifice their innocent lives for the sick mentality of Indian society? How many female fetuses are forced to be aborted even before they experience the first light of this planet, just for the whims and fancies of a feudal, patriarchal mindset? How many women are to be battered, brutalized, ravished, raped, and finally pushed into death for no reason, but being the easy target of boorish criminals? How long the judicial system of this country will be fettered by the archaic jurisprudence and let those bloody criminals run scotfree because of the damn loopholes in our legal system? How long the executives and legislators of this country support those criminals in perpetrating the crimes against women in broad daylight and still not get convicted? And how long the insensitive citizens of this country notice all these heinous acts like unabashed nincompoops and forget it next moment in the pretext of false resilience?

Certainly, there is no concrete answer to any of these queries because we as integral part of this rotten system are so engrossed with our own selfish agenda that we have hardly a moment to think about the larger society around us. And what we do? Twit a couple of harsh or sarcastic comments, write a bashing blog, or, in the worst case, given an opportunity, force our fiery arguments in a television debate and forget right there that the issue is so deep rooted in our collective mindset that even the severest ever tumbler can uproot a mountain, but it may be too feeble to shake the collective conscience of this nation.

In a sense, the 21^st century Indian mindset is still shackled with the rituals of Iron Age. We are the slave of a dangerous notion that men are dispenser of this evolutionary civilization. We still worship goddesses like Laxmi and Saraswati, but given a chance to exploit our free will, we instantly get infected with chronic dementia and infest upon the physical body of women like wild vultures prowling upon a corpse. Is there any resurrection for these crazy, barbaric tribe called men? And we claim civilized? Shame on these monsters who live behind the facade of hypocrisy and still project themselves as emancipator of women.

Now is the time to overhaul this status quo mentality and gear up for an altogether new civilization where there would be no discrimination against women. Let's completely forget those vilified learning that man is superior to woman in every dimension. Let's unshackle us from the spell of those false doctrines and dogmas that paint women as inferior, weaker, helpless and they need man's support to exist in this society. Let's banish all those literatures that glorify man as superior being. Let's move away from those archaic, worthless rituals and practices that in their infinitesimally small measure even differentiate man as holier than woman. Let's remember that according to the indisputable laws of nature, men and women are compliment to each other – without one the other is meaningless.

Life of A Bubble

In journalism, facts are always sacrosanct, but the facts alone never rise up to a conclusive truth, both are different. When facts come from various heterogeneous sources, the validation, analysis, and inferences drawn on them all depend upon the intellectual mettle of the editorial team of a media house. The editor is the judge who always balances between the outcome of facts and rational conclusion. In no circumstances, a precariously inferred editorial judgment can be contested with the veracity of facts because if that could have been so the media could have turned into a soap opera house where skepticism and conjecture rule the roost. Of course, some media houses do believe in this kind of tabloid journalism to increase their readership or viewership.

In the post-Independent period, if any media report has gone formidably wrong is the report "The January night Raisina Hill was spooked: Two key Army units moved towards Delhi without notifying Govt" published in the Indian Express on April 4. The report not only reflects the collective penurious judgment of the editorial team of this newspaper, but also it dangerously reveals the low institutionalized IQ that the tribe called journalists possess and often use it for creating jitters among readers. Well, this is another media gimmick to perpetuate sensational reports for acquire more eyeballs when the newspaper internalizes the fact that it's ABC rank is moving southward.

Well, let's get down to brass-tacks. There are two theories that influence the genesis of this story. First, what prompted Sekhar Gupta to put him in the shoes of a reporter and push such a stinky, unintellectual, hyperbolic story on the front page is an indication of the plummeted readership of Indian Express in all these years. Second, in the nexus between arms lobby and bureaucracy, media has turned out to become a harlot in displaying all wrong innuendos to attract customers (read readers/viewers). In a democracy, the role of media can't be enfeebled, but the growing instances of pulverizing truth and promoting sensation have put a question mark on the probity of media. Fewer facts and a blunt ego of understanding the facts from the pith of real issue, without even having deep domain competency, are a dangerous outcome of free press.

The myopic “coup” story is just the menacing tip of the iceberg called investigative journalism a specialized domain in media studies that prompts all and sundry to tread on the slippery slope of truth seeking, but that aspect of human endeavor is neither a child's play. And investigation is rational when all sides of the story have been scrutinized threadbare and the analysis is done based on considering all possible parameters that have a stake in shaping the singular, incontrovertible judgment. Mr Gupta, are you listening? Take a snap before the bubble goes burst.  

Army Coup in India? Impossible

The report "The January night Raisina Hill was spooked: Two key Army units moved towards Delhi without notifying Govt" published in the Indian Express is only an indication of extreme desperation by the editorial team to create a nation-wide sensation and increase their daily circulation. Irrespective of who's who in the editorial hierarchy of Indian Express, the report doesn't qualify to be called as a product of investigative journalism, rather it underlines the immature methodology to justify the credibility of a profession called journalism. Perhaps, the editorial team of Indian Express has gone a bit discombobulated and kinky by tagging such grave and terrible charges against Indian Army. What this so-called investigation claimed by the paper is an absolute boozed concoction and hilarious outburst of a bunch of hallucinated nuts who had ever endeavoured to tread on a slippery slope like rouge reporting. Moreover, this indicates the gross cannibalism of propriety at a time when the trust level of citizens is dangerously nosediving.

Brushing a normal army exercise as an allusion of coup not only unearths the rotten collective intellect level of editorial team of Indian Express, but also it emphasizes on the fact that how ludicrous these guys who don't have even an iota of rationality in understanding the political system of this country. India as the largest democracy of this world has proved time and again its deeper commitment towards parliamentary democracy and the political supremacy is well documented and conspicuous. Moreover, Indian Army is the most disciplined and patriotic organization of our country. What's more rational to build up is when the Intelligence Bureau is 24x7 working under the political leadership of the ruling government, how prudent is it to think of an army coup in 21^st century India? Just a series of incidents that at best can be pieced together to create a collage of fuzzy stratagem, the truth perhaps is grossly undermined. Probably, the editorial think-tank of Indian Express needs to unlearn a lot before pushing out their sensational stories (read garbage) to the citizens of this country. They have lost their credibility as journalists. I think Bollywood could be a better place for them to become sleazy script writers where they can earn even more by selling their scroungy narratives.

   

Hazards of Coalition Compulsions

Can the recent coalition politics mar the aspirations of India as an emerging superpower? If the functioning of UPA II is analyzed threadbare, only one truth surfaces up – coalition politics is all about political convenience rather than a rational political consensus in the name of parliamentary democracy where the job of the ruling party is to give in to the whims and fancies of regional allies and blindly neglect the larger national interest. And the latest sin of coalition compulsions has erupted from India's voting against Sri Lanka along with other 23 nations under a UNHRC resolution on alleged human rights violations happened during an internal war in 2009.

When all the Asian countries voted for Sri Lanka, only India became an exception by raising the human rights violation flag against its neighborhood. What's India doing then when the war crimes took place against Tamils in 2009? Were we on a hibernation mode? Or we couldn't figure out responsibility as a civilized nation? If human rights violation against Indian Tamils is the only rational ground that India stood firm, then why India internally has been supporting the similar violations in J&K, Nagaland and other North-East states for decades together? What it seems on the surface is not true. There is a severe political compulsion that has triggered this government to commit this faux pas and that too initiated by a regional ally like DMK. If the UPA II is so scared about political implications of coalition mandate, then it's better to call it a day and go for a mid-term poll rather than destroying the larger national interests.

Whatever happened has serious implications on the strategic aspirations of India in the Asian region. Undoubtedly, India has lost that space to China. Now that China has got closer to Sri Lanka, in the coming days India will certainly feel the heat in many dimensions, be it trade or strategic alliances. Understandably though India has a genuine reason to condemn Sri Lanka for human rights violation against Tamils, nevertheless the issue could have been mutually settled between two countries through dialogues or other reconciliation processes. With decades of hard efforts in bringing regional cooperation among SAR countries, India has finally reduced to a pawn in Americans' hand. And the time is not far off when the same America for its own interest would come down heavily on India for the human rights violation happening in Kashmir and NE states. Can India then get the desired support from its neighboring countries? The chances are wafer thin. Probably, India will then realize its mistake. There is something beyond politics and India as the largest democracy has failed to understand this.

The New Definition of Poor

The definition of poor in India is getting ridiculous and callous as well. If the new report on poor from Planning Commission of India is to be believed, only one thought comes to mind as how clueless and naive are the executives Yojana Bhavan who could eventually conclude that the number of poor people in India had declined by 7.3 percent between 2004 and 2009. Was it a deliberate window dressing exercise to showcase our hidden vulnerability as a transformed success story and get some pats from World Bank and IMF? Or was it a serious nexus between the top bosses of Yojana Bhavan and capitalist coterie to ignore the dark underbelly of economic condition of India? Whatever be the reason the report published by Planning Commission only reveals that how irrational are the members of Planning Commission including the big boss Montek Singh Ahluwalia who unabashedly claim that the methods used in deriving this results are sacrosanct and scientific.

Now get down to the brasstacks. The report suggests that the people who are spending Rs 22.43 in rural areas and Rs 28.65 in urban areas per day are not poor. How fraudulent and dishonest these people who define the rock bottom living standard of a human being is an outcome of minimum calorie intake per day by an adult, rather than considering multi-dimensional socio-economic parameters? What about shelter, clothing, medicines, and education? Are these poor people forced to live a life of an animal without dignity? Given a chance to these members of Planning Commission to survive on the threshold spending limit defined by them will only make them realize that academic calculation or armchair policy making is quite easier than understanding what's happening on ground zero.

Reducing the number of poor people in statistical terms is not an achievement, but a sheer reflection of collective ignorance of Planning Commission. Despite many poverty alleviation programs launched by Government of India, the real poverty is still not mitigated because all these programs were easy means to amass wealth by ministers and bureaucrats. Whatever funds got transferred to states, through various programs, it won't be too rhetoric to express as if an elephant transported was finally transformed to its tail when landed at the hand of beneficiaries. That is the ground reality of Indian poverty alleviation program. More such programs, more conduits of corruption; the poor gets poorer and the rich richer.  

Boss is always right

In politics and business, boss is always right. Contrary to this popular belief, our Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi trusted to his inner consciousness and came out with some tough measures like increasing the passenger fare across classes in the current railway budget, and the precarious outcome of this “country first, party last” adventurism has landed him in an almost job-loss situation. Irrespective of huge praises from both Prime Minister and Finance Minister on his “forward looking railway budget” Dinesh Trivedi could not able to garner a single brownie point from his boss Mamata Banerjee, instead he fell prey to her direst ire. As the rumors are doing rounds, Mamata would certainly teach him a lesson for not complying to the thumb rule of politics – boss is always right. And the writing on the wall is even more clear and concise, sooner he will quit of his own or he will be axed, given the pressure from Mamata is mounting on Prime Minister. 

When this country needs a series of pragmatic measures in every field, the political bosses think diametrically opposite and often take the populist route to woo the voters without even thinking twice what people really want from them. Maybe, Dinesh Trivedi has turned out to be a mere pawn in a larger political conspiracy or at the least a self-proclaimed messiah, the lessons here are even more rhetoric than conclusive - we are living in a relativistic world and truth is always difficult to decipher. 

Whatsoever be the outcome of this political drama, the hard facts in today's world are driven by established norms of society. No matter how smart, intelligent and learned you are, the bottom line of your success is largely scripted by your boss. When you score low in boss' calculation (read loyalty), you are out on the road. And this animal instinct of “ruling the ruled” is well deep in human blood. Mamata Banerjee is no exception. Even the corporate world, which is supposed to be guided by the ethics of “profit and loss”, is also not free from the ego tussle between an employee and the boss. We all are from the same Darwinist genetic semblance. The more we become an independent thinker, the faster our annihilation being prominent and predictable. But yes, there is also a silver lining to this dark thought, an independent thinker dies once, and the subjugated many times. What's your take?

Being Relevant

The palpable hiatus between physical and digital world is shrinking fast. The social ecosystem that was once driven purely by meeting and mating physically is now transformed into a cobweb of social dashboards where Facebook and Twitter decide whether you have achieved that social quotient or not. Every trend that's generated on Twitter has significant real-world ramifications. If you are a Bollywood celebrity and lagging in trend on Twitter then it's more like a prediction that your film isn't doing well in the box office. From individual to corporate entity, everyone is a stakeholder in the process of making social media the mother of all marketing gimmicks.

Well, the new trend in social media has left all its predecessors flabbergasted in a sense that the social analytics is a measure of effectiveness of many marketing tools whether it's a simple ad or a complex multi-level marketing strategy. The clients now want a realistic report how their investment on a specific advertisement has converted into physical sales. Decades ago when advertisers claimed an ad has generated so much buzz in the market, now it's more realistic and straight – how many products have been sold and they have a direct relation with the impact of ad. All these are possible now through advance apps that crunch huge social data (in petabytes) available over web.

What's more interesting now is that when an ad is released on social media, it carries all necessary precautions to woo the customers, drive them crazy about the product and compel them to purchase or at least order it right there. Social profiling has become more robust and predictable vis-a-vis the purchasing power of customers. For examples, the agency that releases an ad for a new model of Porche being targeted for Indian millionaires would prefer a medium that can directly channel the message to the most prospective customers group, and this is surely not possible through conventional media like print or electronic, so the most efficacious medium would be social media. Social media as a significant marketing incluencer has grown dramatically. Now the new social paradigm is being relevant is more powerful than being ubiquitous.

Sycophancy Kills

The recent debacle of the Congress party in the state elections reminds only one fact that when people get closer to reality, no amount of false promises however resounding can garner votes. Given the high decibel pre-poll campaigns executed singularly by Rahul Gandhi and sparingly by Priyanka in UP, the political sycophants in the Congress party thought the magic of dynasty can work wonder even in extreme situations, but they were absolutely wrong in internalizing this gravest blunder. The world is changing fast, so is the people perception. In democracy, decisions of the supreme head are even subject to deliberations and change. But the old-fashioned Congress party which still basks in the lost glory believes in dynastic culture which has no relevance in a democracy. What's more devastating for the party now is that some diehard sycophants still underplay the reality and misguide the party chief by convincing her that all is well in this “yes boss” culture. And to a large extent the acceptance of sycophancy in the party cadre has reduced it to ashes.

If one analyzes the political campaigns of Congress vis-a-vis its success in UP, it won't be incorrect to theorize the notion that Rahul was far from the ground realities and he was carried away by the wrong advices of senior leaders of the party. The most funny element of the campaign was projecting Sam Pitroda as the mascot for weaker sections of society to woo the voters of that community. An individual success can't be generalized in such a gross way. How many people in UP know Sam, his closeness to Rajiv Gandhi and his global achievements in the field of telecommunications? Perhaps, the top one percent of the highest echelon of society even doesn't know him, forget about the masses who are reeling under the anathema of poverty and don't yet know anything beyond the necessity of “roti, kapda aur makan”. The charm of technology only catches them who enjoy the luxury of life.

More importantly, the Congress as a national political party has been drifting away from the regional issues in last two decades when regional parties got closer to the grassroots. What's the net understanding of Congress about state issues is a filtered version of scripted story concocted by few sycophants, and this in long run has proved to be dangerous for the party. Now is the high time for Rahul Gandhi to break the shackles of sycophants and pull up his socks to establish the party structure across the states in the first place. Next he should go deeper into the complex political dynamics of the states and the centre to devise a unique winning strategy even without the help of sycophants. If he doesn't overhaul the party strategy and delegate responsibilities with clearly articulated accountability to state and central leaders of the party, the 2014 general elections will be a huge disaster for the Congress. Mr Gandhi, are you listening?  

Privatize profit, nationalize loss

What's more shocking than intriguing in the state of government intervention for proposing to consortium of banks to increase the credit limit (read bail out) for Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines is that the same government which fails to protect the national interest of many PSUs now treads dangerously on rather an unprecedented move to create a bad precedent in the history of economic liberalization of India. Is this a proactive move or a glimpse of dirty nexus between government and corporate that has produced crony capitalism in India? Why the minister of Civil Aviation including the prime minister himself are on a hot foot to show their magnanimity for a corporate entity that has shamelessly failed to understand the business of aviation and has eventually turned into a loss making venture? The irony here is that when the national carrier Air India is bleeding so badly and the same government is apparently clueless about the turnaround strategy, what's the rationality behind this bail out plan for a private company?

Perhaps, there might be some hidden agenda behind this irrational move of government, but the larger question here is what prompts the ministers to be so idiosyncratically shameless to sing the chorus of crony capitalism in a time when the corporate entities are forgetting their fundamental responsibilities of managing a business with due diligence? In a free market, the corporates have huge freedom, irrespective of challenging government policies whatsoever untoward or nonsupporting, to run a business with dexterity and reason; however, the Kingfisher Airlines has severely failed to showcase the fundamentals of operational excellence. And the sad part is that the prime minister has expressed the concerns over faulty government policies that have affected the civil aviation industry at large. So, what the technocrat prime minister was doing till now? Was he in a slumber mode? Or had he lost his wisdom to advise the corresponding departmental ministers at least once in last seven years to take a serious cognizance of the issue?

Although this is not a so called pure bail out plan for Kingfisher Airlines, even the government's unreasonable concern for a private venture is an unwelcome move. Any corporate has its own board to advise the executives to manage the organization within the PEST (political, economic, social, and technological) ecosystem, and if the board has failed to recognize the glaring issues and lost its wit to understand the bigger picture, it's better that corporate entity should die early rather screaming for public help. In either case, the story of that corporate would be a disastrous business case which no one would like to give a sneak preview, forget about mulling over.

The usual suspect

As Anna goes lock, stock, and barrel by initiating a no-voting campaign against Congress party for Hisar by-election, the inherent intentions of Team Anna become conspicuous to public. In that it unfolds their hidden political agenda, irrespective of how loudly they deny the political aspirations in the near future. Maybe, Team Anna is testing its popularity and impact at ground zero, which would certainly prop up their confidence before launching a full-steam assault against Congress in the UP state elections.

What's more interesting here that just six months before when Team Anna launched their campaign against corruption and pressurized UPA-2 to bend to their demands and participate in the drafting committee of Lokpal, very few had any idea that an apolitical hunger strike at Jantar Mantar for bringing a frivolous Jan Lokpal draft on to the table of Parliament would snowball into a political star war.

The political angle of the strike was even more imaginable during the second phase at the Ramlila ground when various political leaders from non-Congress brigade supported Anna's campaign against corruption. The high drama ended, rather stage managed, through a purely political solution, which abruptly threw impression that a projectile pushed to a course correction at the midway of trajectory. And now that the bill is at the mercy of Standing Committee which would certainly apply its collective mind to whether the pointers raised by Team Anna appeal to the representatives.

Well before the Standing Committee take any decision on the bill in the winter session of Parliament, Team Anna in advance has started deploying pressure tactics at Hisar to vote out Congress. Now the point of confrontation here is that Anna is not apolitical, rather he has proved more ways than one that he has strong political backing to launch such campaign against Congress. This partisan attitude of Team Anna could be disastrous for their long term agenda, be it political or social.

What Team Anna could have done rather approach the public at Hisar to vote out the corrupt candidate, not the Congress candidate. As a crusader of corruption, Anna has missed the fundamentals of Gandhian values at least in the event of Hisar by-elections. Whatever be the outcome of this campaign, Anna has certainly diluted his image.

Capital Seized

Within four months of a sophisticated reconnaissance of a dry run of terror attack apparently in the same place in May 25, the terrorists finally carried out the dastardly blast near the reception entry of Delhi High Court on September 7 at 10:14 AM, reminding us a fact that the sovereignty of India can be attacked by anybody from inside or outside, and our leaders will behave in the same callous way by refraining from their accountability to the citizens of the country. How many terror strikes would be enough to really move these politicians and bureaucrats to wake up from their eternal slumber? How many times our PM and HM will read out the same rehearsed speech in the aftermath of blast to fulfill their formal protocol? How many times our HM will display his false intellectual arrogance by saying that handling terrorism with iron fist is a “complex” process? How many times the innocent citizens will pay their lives for the mistakes of our leaders who in all probability forget their responsibilities once they get elected for five years? How long the bureaucracy will bully the entire nation in the name of red tape? No one has a proper answer though to these real problems.

We all are seriously infected with a prolonged pernicious disease called “status quo”. The time is not far off from today when India will fall into hands of some destructive forces and still we will love our “chalta hai” attitude as if nothing has happened and flaunt our paradoxical great Indian resilience, an obsessive compulsive disorder that we think it's our preserved human value system.

It's the high time for citizens to wake up and demand their fundamental rights of living without fear and prejudice. Until there is no public upsurge against terrorism, our leaders will behave in the same shameless manner as they are doing now because the loss innocent citizens bear can never be felt by them. Every time a terrorist attack takes place in Delhi, the politicians, bureaucrats, law and enforcement agencies spring into a blame-game mode. The news channel keep the issue live and hot for few days and then they get back to their routine. And the real sufferers, the innocent citizens, are pushed into their own fate.

We can't tolerate this anymore. The incompetent political leaders who think can rule us for ever by devising dirty plans must understand that the Frankensteins they are devising through vote bank politics will backfire them someday. We must understand the fact that any act of terror is an attack on the sovereignty of our country and any amount of tolerance to terrorism however small should not be encouraged by any political outfit. And most importantly the security of our nation should not be bugged down by our frivolous foreign policy which has no rationality when the sovereignty our nation is at stake. Beyond the ambit of reactive measures that our forces are used to, the law and enforcement departments should act autonomously to take serious preventive anti-terrorism measures. We must act tough now.

Victory of People's Power

When Anna Hazare publicly declared his fast unto death starting August 16 on his conditions of incorporating Jan Lokpal Bill prerogatives into Lokpal Bill, many cynics including the government, political class, and self-proclaimed intellectuals thought this movement will fizzle out soon in a week or so, without considering the degree of public anguish and desperation that was still abounding in the collective public memory due to constant expose of big-ticket scams in media in last couple of years. Even the think-tank in Manmohan Singh cabinet did underestimate the consequence of apprehensive arrest of Anna and put him in Tihar Jail where the most corrupt politicians were lodged in, before he started his fast at JP Park, and this faux pas of government fueled the public anger to such a critical level that whatever tactical measures government ventured to engage in, pathetically turned out to be an absolute flip-flop. And in all those 13 days of fast, Anna's message was reverberating in every city of India and beyond the border. Millions of people came out to street to show their solidarity with Anna's anti-corruption movement and those who couldn't avail themselves physically on the street fired up their messages on social media to keep the Anna trend bolstered. The largest democracy of the world was experiencing its most testing time.

All political parties were engaged in a deja vu of tug-of-war to fish in troubled water. However, the public support was restored unconditionally in Anna's courage of conviction. Perhaps, that's the potential game-changer in this anti-corruption movement which pushed this government and other political parties to rush in to an unprecedented special session in the Parliament to arrive at a reasonable resolution on three exclusive points raised by Anna. Though there might be technical loopholes in the resolution process which would prop up government's argument in the Standing Committee for playing tricks in future, but the larger fact is that however crafty the government maybe in persuading other political parties to go askance vis-a-vis Anna's measures, they can't ignore the public anger anymore.

The precedent has been set. The transition of parliamentary democracy to a participatory democracy has taken wings. There may be many obstacles the future governments would face while passing a bill that would affect the public because India is a well-diversified society and hence incorporating the views from various civil society groups could accentuate to a greater degree of confusion.

The Anna Phenomena

Some sections of society may call it “mass hysteria”, some may call it “blackmail of government” as well, but the essence of the movement against corruption led by Anna Hazare clearly lies in the fact that when the political masters of this country fail to establish themselves as the true champions of the common causes of citizens, whether it's good governance or justice for common man, then a huge vacuum is pushed into the political silos where someone like Anna tries to fill in, not because that Anna is the only messiah of desperate citizens who are fed up with issues like corruption, but because the hidden aspirations of common man somehow strike the right chord that Anna fairly understands even without having a grandstanding political acumen. And that's the USP of Anna as a champion of causes.

There is no denying the fact that Anna's movement against corruption is people's movement which should have been driven by politicians; however, after 65 years of Independence, this political class irrespective of shades has miserably failed to connect with people's expectations from them. Eventually the hiatus between people's aspirations and political commitment has gone increasing over the years and at this juncture the fault lines have even significantly become susceptible to deficit of trust between them. In effect the people of this country have found someone objective to their imagination of a hero promising a Utopian world, which might be possible in letter without spirit, but the public mood at this point of time is even more porous to capture the rhythm that Anna has composed – a corruption-free India.

Well, the transformation of Anna as the idol of youth power or the champion of anti-corruption movement is somewhat a choreographed version of electronic media that in all probability for a better TRP and in the name of breaking news have reduced to ghetto-blasters of pre-Independent era when message was more important than the messenger. And that message is Anna's passion for cleansing a system that has deliberately marred the aspirations of citizens. When the carcinogenic systemic corruption has affected every section of society, neither any government nor any political party has substantially attempted to address the real issues in a democracy, rather they have drifted away from the ownership and accountability that the citizens of this country often imagined a prerogative of those in the corridors of power.

Now that after 65 years of Independence, the people of this country are experiencing a deja vu of events that were a phenomenon of colonial era when the voices of people were suppressed by the highhandedness of British rulers. And the irony here is that being in the largest democracy of world, the fundamental rights of people are snapped when the whims and fancies of the government undermine the very essence of democracy. The rise and rise of Anna in the public imagination is a consequence of grave mistakes committed by the politicians of this country. Anna is no more just a popular mass leader of this country, he is a phenomenon derived by the collective conscience of a nation that's seriously experiencing a trust deficit in political leadership.

London Riots: Beyond the Logic of Racial Discrimination

Violence as the worst form of human attribute is the last resort of socially and economically suppressed people across the world. In the history of social evolution, whenever there has been a severe violence while protesting for civil rights, the intensity of violence only unearths the fact that how an otherwise neglected society was simmering under the exploitation of powerful and mighty for ages together and now that they have a legitimate chance to vent their anger, the situation has turned ugliest. No one questions those ruling class as why a particular section of society has been neglected for long and why their concerns have never been heard. In the most rhetoric form, it can be compared with the a high-magnitude earthquake that many would think an improptu reflex of earth structure, but the reality is that many decades of push and pull that controls the tectonic plate movements is only a reflection of extreme restraint that was building up a gigantic devastation below the surface. And the recent London riots only subscribe to this principle in socio-economic tectonic reactions which are often invisible on the surface but they are quite active underneath.

London is burning. Buildings and plazas are set ablaze; shops and stores are looted; rioters are engaged in running skirmishes with police; and the prime minister of UK, David Cameron, is on his most disturbing political phase of life. Everything is happening in sequence as it's scripted by the most creative black force of nature. The violence is spreading from city to city. London is seized. The worst fear is that whether it would jeopardize the security of Olympic Games scheduled for the next year.

Now that the riots have been transformed from a racial stand point to economic concerns, the Britons are in an absolute fix to understand the genesis – whether the riots are truly emotive explosion of a particular race against which police acted partisan or there is something deep inside the entire socio-economic structure that UK has adopted for centuries is finally hitting them back hard.

In the recent history of London, this is the most extensive, gruesome riot that has surpassed the boundary of racial logic and has expanded to other cities. As many television channels and newspapers paint this incident as the outcome of racial discrimination, the truth seems otherwise.

What's more intriguing is that rioters are not limited to a specific race or social group. While PM Cameron is squarely blaming on the parentage of rioters, he completely forgot the logic that how a neglected section of society for ages together was facing the brunt of bad governance and once given a chance the suppressed anger took an uncontrollable trajectory where the privileged section had to pay for the faux pas of political decisions.

Every society has its own narratives. Undermining their ethos and concerns is a dangerous proposition that the British government is facing today. A deprived society when exploited for years together, the consequence becomes dangerously devastating. And to suffice this argument sample this: According to one EU study, 17 per cent of Britain’s youth are classified as NEETs (Not in Employment, Education or Trainings), and there are over 600,000 people under 25 in Britain who have never had experienced a day of work. Can the other nations learn from the mistakes of Britain?

Stage Set for the D-Day

When India is experiencing inscrutable pain of endemic corruption in public life, the government's motive to reject a strong Lokpal Bill draft, as suggested by the civil society led by Anna Hazare, and hence table the sarkari version of the draft in the Parliament only vociferously corroborates to the fact that the UPA-II led government is sorely hoodwinking the public in the pretext of assuring a better anti-corruption draft, which, in actuality, is a bundle of safeguards for the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. The government's version of the draft precisely excludes PMO from the purview of Lokpal by suggesting a fundamentally flawed argument that if Lokpal indicts a PM in power, the functioning of the council of ministers under the leadership of PM could be an utter disastrous for the governance, which is arguably a deliberate attempt to protect the epicenter of corruption.

In last 64 years, we have noticed that how two prime ministers of the Congress party were being entangled into high level corruption and the citizens of India just turned mute spectators of political drama that entirely telescoped the people's mandate. There is nothing indispensable in this world. If certain political parties still assume that the governance at the Centre could take a toll post impeachment of PM, then there is certainly a vested party interest in restricting PM's inclusion in the Lokpal.

Similarly, excluding MP's activities in the Parliament from the ambit of Lokpal is a clear indication of providing immunity to the conduits of corruption in public office. It's no new phenomenon in Indian Parliament that horse trading and cash for question are a legitimate practice for many MPs. However, we still live in fool's paradise by providing immunity to MPs' actions in the Parliament.

Another point of conflict here is that when maximum corruption occurs at the lower rung bureaucracy, only including top bureaucrats, which is a 0.5% of the entire government officials, in the Lokpal is only an attempt to dilute the powers of a strong Lokpal. If we analyse the effectiveness of premier central socio-economic policies such as Jawahar Rozgar Yojana and NREGA at the state level, it would be quite oxymoron to exclude the lower bureaucracy from the purview of Lokpal.

And most ironically, government's proposal to provide legal assistance to the accused for hearing even before the official chargesheet is filed by the Lokpal is a gross contradiction of a sound anti-corruption bill. This will only create enormous problems for the whistle-blowers.

If after so much public outcry against corruption, the government still takes every measure to protect corrupt people in the system, it's better not to have a toothless Lokpal. And that certainly provides enough reason for Anna and his team to burn the Lokpal draft as a reflection of their annoyance against government's decision. The government should not read this public sentiment as a contempt of Parliament. Well, Anna's call for a country-wide protest against corruption starting from August 16 will certainly force this government to think twice before passing this bill and equally interesting is how the Opposition and other political parties are engaging themselves in the Parliament to hard bargain the points proposed by the civil society. The stage is all set for a high-decibel political drama. Let's wait and watch.

Politics of Price Rise

Constant price rise has seriously affected the common man in India. Every year people bear the brunt of a two-digit inflation and the government shamelessly claims that they have taken every measure to curb it. While the prime minister of our country is a noted economist, the failure of the government to check the inflation only reminds us that politics always overshadows the wisdom of intellectuals. It hardly matters how powerful intellectuals take over the top job, the compulsion of politics is more important than the welfare of a nation.

So if the debate on price rise in Parliament on Wednesday was unassumingly hot, there is nothing unprecedented in it. The Opposition always looks for an opportunity to stall the parliamentary procedures, and price rise is certainly the right topic to choose from hundred others. But the problem here is that not a single political party in this country has the right think-tank to understand the problems of people. Politics has always been the facade of bad governance, and especially in India, politics is even nastier than that. So blaming a single political party will not yield any result. The problem lies somewhere which people never know.

For instance, when there is a hike in oil prices, which may be a genuine requirement because of price rise in crude oil, the Opposition makes furor over the issue by mixing other stretched imaginations that food price will affect the poor since transportation cost will sharply go up. All false arguments and distortion of facts and nothing more than that. In reality, when the oil price rises just 5-10%, the food prices rises 50-100%. So where is the logic? Isn't this a pretext to betray people by spreading wrong message?

We understand that hike in oil price has impact on transportation cost, but that's not rational to claim that x% rise in oil price will trigger a 5x% rise in food prices. These are certainly emotive issues since they impact the life of poor people in this country; however, rise in food prices has many other parameters as well which are invisible to people. For example, illegal hoarding of food grains and vegetables is a matter of apathetic bureaucratic issue, but every year this happens so infallibly that the the nexus of traders and bureaucrats almost takes the entire advantage of price rise.

So the point here that the recent uproar in Parliament on price rise is absolutely a non-issue. Rather the government should dig deeper into the unholy nexus between businessmen or traders and bureaucrats so that a sure-shot solution can be availed to the people of this country. For that we certainly need a strong Lokpal Bill as an anti-corruption solution. The government must internalize the fact that so long as the steel frame of this country is not bridled into a strong checks-and-balances act, the price rise Frankenstein will engulf the entire system.

Delhi's Date with Slutwalk

If we look at the history of heinous crimes against women especially in Delhi, one slutwalk falls miserable low an agitation against the constant assaults against women over centuries. Some people argue whether a slutwalk can change the perverse mindset of men against women, but the logic remains so long as there is no movement against any social evil, society at large takes it for granted a birth right to tread the wrong side of the law, and hence to shake up the status quo a protest like this is essentially desired. Well, yesterday's slutwalk around the Jantar Mantar area of New Delhi if vociferously reflected something was nothing other than a bold attitude of participants towards those nincompoops of our society who fundamentally think violence against women is an indication of their chauvinism.

Over a period of time Delhi has been the most unsafe place for women. When a woman is born the fight for her survival begins simultaneously. Our feudalistic mindset has become another anathema for her tribulations. Whenever she establishes her legitimate presence our male chauvinistic society always takes it as an offense. As a pluralistic society we have failed to understand the fact that the growing violence against women is an obnoxious index of our alarmingly rising insensitivity. The more we tolerate the crimes against the women, the further we destroy the balance of social fabric. Is there any resurrection from this impending danger?

Of late the same society has sensed the urgency of a change in attitude towards the women folk. Perhaps, that's quite evident from the recent slutwalk in which the men also came forward to participate in the campaign. Now that's undoubtedly a plausible change in the male chauvinism that otherwise was centred around “I, me, and myself”. Every one is equal irrespective of gender. The message has certainly percolated down the society that the time has come now for a complete overhaul in our narrow mindset.

We must take cognizance of the fact that any advanced civil society doesn't carry room for any amount of social discrepancy. In the name of frivolous tradition and culture we can't sacrifice the tenets fundamental civil rights that are essential for our progress in a liberalized world. We must shun our conservative mindset to embrace the reality of 21st century. And I wish many such slutwalk campaigns would bring in a visible change in our attitude towards civil rights of women. Long live slutwalk!