SENSE AND SENSIBILITIES : WHAT IS THE CHOICE FOR MAN ?

The unspooling of these thoughts are intended not for projecting yet another dimension of the on going recession in the world economy. They are meant not for suggesting remedies to the sinking economy, either. The inspiration behind these stray thoughts lies in the reading of two novels recently by this Blogger. Though both the novels have been authored by Indian writers, their form, content, narrative style and treatment of the novel are exclusively mutual and independent. One is an epistolary novel, the narration of which has been done in the form of a letter written by its protagonist . The other one is the story of the protagonist told from the mouth of his close friend.

Despite distinctive variance in these areas, the common theme around which the fulcrum of beehive of characters move around, is one and the same – that of modern civilization whose shaky structure has been built on the foundation of the concept of materialism, thereby burying the spiritual quest as relics of the past.

Let me let the cat out of the bag to break the suspense. The first novel is “The White Tiger” authored by Aravind Adiga, an Indian writer in English. The book is his debut venture, however to be honored with the prestigious ‘Man Booker’ award for the year 2008. The other novel is “The Strange case of Billy Biswas” by Arun Joshi, a brilliant scholar of rare sensibilities and intellectual capabilities like his protagonist, Billy, in the novel. The whole novel of Joshi is like a philosophical treatise on modern civilization and man’s inability and incapacity to rise from the embers of sufferings fuelled by his total leaning towards materialistic interests, thereby burying the spiritual quest as an unwanted baggage of the past.

Since these two novels have dealt with the strengths or otherwise of the modern civilization and materialistic interests in their common theme and since the globalized economy of the present day has capital-centric boulders of foundation to hold the super structure of commodity-making machine, devoid of spiritual interests, we shall stray a little and try to understand the basic causes underlying the on going crisis in the world economy.

Economic pundits are still pulling their sleeves up. An understanding of the anatomy of the under belly of the deep economic slump, is still elusive. Bail-outs may help see through safe passage of tottering business corporations to safer shores for probable rebuilding but we have no idea who is going to bail out man from the abyss of his greed for materialistic-oriented life, devoid of happiness to his soul. The greed of man has gone to such unfathomable level that it seems to have left deep scars on the Mother Earth by his continued exploitation of the planet, without abatement. We have emission-ed and blackened the world with enough carbon to hurt our hearts, globalized poverty from scattered confines, have subjugated humanity under the weight of disposable commodities to the infinitive number.

No doubt, capital-centric economic model has come into being in the conducting of world economic affairs. With the advancement of technology, reversal to labour-centric economic concept has become the most despised idea in the sweep of globalized economy. All economic endeavors that deserved to be directed towards the achieving of maximum good to maximum number of people, seem to be failing. Human interest is considered to be ultimate goal of all human endeavors – be it innovation in economics or science or technology. But human interests themselves have been destined to recede to the level of acquiring all the garbage of gadgets being churned out by technology without leaving scope even for simple happiness, which otherwise would be possible even without such heaps of gadgets. Did not Henry Thoreau prove that he was able to experience maximum happiness by being one with Nature and his Walden Pond ?

Wealth creation objectives, steeped of materialistic interests and greed, have pushed man’s quest for spiritual wealth to the deep abyss of non-recovery. In the endless urge to make wealth and more money, man appears to be steering his endeavor wagon on the over-inflated wheels of greed to be ruptured any moment. That is why we have witnessed bursting of housing bubbles, bankruptcies of banks and falling grandeur of financial institutions.

Aravind Adiga’s protagonist Balram Halwai in his novel ‘The White Tiger’ is the embodiment of modern man. In his dictionary, the word “crime’ has a definite place but not the word “punishment”. He is conscious of his subservient position in the class strata but he does not want his crime to prick his conscience. He slits his master’s throat with a broken piece of glass from an empty but costly whisky bottle – a symbol of vagaries of the moneyed society. He grabs from his master’s car a bag full money in currencies of higher denominations and throws his master’s blood stained body in the road side bushes. He then goes to Bangalore with the stolen money to be become an entrepreneur and owner of a fleet of Qualis, transporting in them employees of call-centers working under different time zones and at odd hours at night. His bribing of police officials to hide his identity as a killer, he feels, is part of his entrepreneurial duty and he does not feel shy of his action. Though the novel tries to portray the protagonist as a product of class struggle prevailing in India, in a larger sense, he is also a victim of modern civilization which revolves around “a peg of money” (quoted from Arun Joshi’s novel, ‘The strange case of Billy Biswas’).

On the other hand, Arun Joshi’s protagonist Billy Biswas, unlike Adiga’s protagonist Balram Halwai who is a thick-skinned fellow bothering nothing other than becoming rich, is an intellectual individual. Billy is the son a Supreme Court Judge and is sent to America to pursue a course in Engineering but Billy comes out with doctorate in Anthropology. He is traumatized by the modern civilization and its all round vagaries. He comes back to India not to pursue a profession commensurate with his education qualification. His relationship with his wife is one of misunderstanding and unpalatable. Though his relationship with a Swedish psychiatrist in America is one of intellectual relationship, he is unable to cope with the surrounding situations. To him, his friend Romy, his wife and his girl friend in Bombay are all products of modern civilization. His heart and soul are running backwards to join the world of primitiveness. He runs to Mykala forests in central India to be identified one with a tribal group. His relationship with the tribal girl Bilasia is one of supreme mingling with the almighty. He finds the right place for inquiring into his soul’s purpose. Though, ultimately gets killed by the police in their attempts to capture him, he is considered as god reincarnation of the tribal group amidst whom he made a real living and understands the meaning of his life.

If Adiga’s protagonist is symbol of sensuousness, Joshi’s protagonist is an embodiment of finer sensibilities and intellectual superiority. There is an under current of the philosophy of existentialism running through the whole novel of Joshi. Ideas of Jean Paul Sartre and Albert Camus find subtle references then and there. Beyond everything, there is an under current of Indian philosophy running through the whole novel. For Joshi, the concept of ‘East is east; the west is west and never the twain shall meet’ is true and complete.

In these troubled times, will man, like Joshi’s protagonist Billy, take time to see inwards into his soul to identify what went wrong with him and the world than committing himself to become Balram Halwais of Aravind Adiga with all the attendant superficial richness and happiness?

It is now Bye from Chandru till next blogging.

WHERE DOES 'TERROR-DEBATE' TAKE US ?

Just now, when striking of terror on the fragile-looking peace of the civil society of Mumbai by the Jeans-clad, gun-totting and evil-indoctrinated gang of thugs, was said to be over, war of semantics along with proclaimed war on terror has taken centre stage in the Indian sub-continent. Intellectuals (?) to illiterates are under the spell of new found love for choicest vocabularies to some how express their views on the terror issue and patriotism in any available medium of expression.
Even before the soil in the grave yard where the slain were laid to rest dried, endless and unimaginative ideas are being spewed by anyone and every one to add to the already stinking debris of ideas, as if to show that these so called ideas are the ultimate and final voice of the people of India. War of words is being waged in every available print and visual media. In driving home their ideas, people like to take rigid and extreme postures. Though free speech is the hall mark of the concept of democracy, such freedom, one hopes, shall not go to the extent of shaking its very foundation. No doubt, civilization itself has evolved based on ideas. But constructive ideas are different from ideas of retardation. In the war of words, People tend to become intolerant to the extent of spitting vomit-springing bile on the opponents, thereby digging their own grave yard; Coffins are cut to lay bare those thoughts that have at least the semblance of ideas.

This Blogger had the occasion to browse in the last one week through certain leading blogs emanating from India. Writings emanating from intellectuals occupying the status of ‘God of Big Things’ to prattling of plagiarists seem to suck the search engine oil in steering home their views. The moment an article appears in a noted blog, comrades of commentators wield their pen scythes to tear apart the views of the writer. Comments from the level of moderation through comments of vituperation and carping to meaningless verbal diarrhoea are vomited to lay siege on the writer(s).

Intellectuals and opinion-makers seem to be more interested in recording their views in indelible ink and blow their own trumpets about their existence more than suggesting solution for the on going problems the country faces. In the process, they seem to be adding bundles of chaff as fodder to the gossip mill than to find the kernel to help heal the deep wounds of those laid their life, be it Commandos or Commissioners of Police to the commoners who were gullible to become prey in the cruel hands of terrorism.

All the sound and fury that enrage and follow ceaselessly and seamlessly, seem to be not interested in knowing the voice of the lay men of the country who form the very basis of the fabric of the country, that is India. This Blogger upon an informal chat with a number of ordinary people in the past one week, has been made to reach logical inference that they are very up set over what had happened in Mumbai. Visual-media whipped-up anger still linger in them. No doubt, visual media trigged heightened sense of patriotism in them. At the same time, with all the sundry and news volleys being injected into their heads by media, common laymen in India seem to be unaware of the basic problems haunting the country. For instance, a few questions posed on issues like Kashmir, probable reasons they think for the causes of terrorism in the country, plausible and probable solutions they think fit to be tested, Pakistan’s interest in Kashmir and such other related issues did not evoke simple answers from them. In matters of suggesting solutions for the problems besetting the country, intellectuals are none better than the illiterates. They fall on the same line.

The following questions were posed to these ordinary people:

1. Why do our brethren in Kashmir endlessly engage in fighting with India ?
2. What business Pakistan has got do with Kashmir, which is an integral part of India ?
3. Why does India have to enter into dialogue with Pakistan about a problem concerning a state (read Kashmir) of India
4. Why the laws of India generally do not apply to Kashmir, even though Kashmir is an integral part of India ?
5. Are they aware that lakhs of Hindus have been displaced from Kashmir and are living away from their places of birth and nativity ?
6. Has the accession of Kashmir to India at the advent of Independence gone in accordance with the standards of international law?
7. Despite Kashmir being an integral part of India, the reason for giving special status to it under the Indian Constitution ?
8. Do they know what exactly ‘secularism’ ?
9 . Do they know that there is no common civil code for the whole country

10. What is their opinion about according freedom struggle status by some to the fight by the Sri Lankan Tamil militants against the Sri Lankan government and not giving the same status to the militants in Kashmir ?

Other than bursting with anger over the terrorists acts, none was interested in the intricacies and plausible answer to the above questions. This is how our rulers have kept the country in ignorance, more specifically the common man. On second thought, why alone common man ? A big chunk of the population in the country has been wrapped in ignorance and is highly confused over many national issues. Either the successive rulers were inclined to keep the mass in perennial and perpetual ignorance or that the intellectuals are living in ivory towers, bothering nothing about the common man’s ignorance. Eventually, healthy discussion becomes the first casualty on national issues. Will the intellectuals come out of their cocoons and help enlighten the common man about the problems laying siege in the country, instead of taking perverse pleasures in word play and in showing off their understandably most un-understandable pseudo intellectual culture. The day is not far that the anger being displayed by the gullible mass against the politicians will also turn against the intellectuals in the country.

MUMBAI BLEEDS : AN OPEN LETTER TO UNCLE SAM

Uncle Sam dear,
When the seize of Mumbai is said to be over, the seizure of a wish for securing selective amnesia supremely reins high in us – not because our collective national conscience has lost its balance; neither our anger has caused cultural atrophy leading us to lose our senses to acquire the disease of decay of memories; nor have we become shameless creatures to keep quiet after ‘living’ those carnage and killings by those senseless animals. No. Comparing animals to these blood hounds would be highly injustice to the animal genre and the law of comparative study. Leaches, perhaps could be plausible comparison to these terror strikers; nay, even leaches would rankle us for insulting them for dirty comparison with terrorists – after all, leaches also do service to humanity in the filed of medicine for sucking bad blood from wounds of patients.

When we gather ourselves like phoenix from the ashes of the dying ambers of our brethren in Bombay (Bombay sounds well too, instead !), we are exorcised and haunted by the ‘original sin’ behind the emergence of cult of violence and atrocities against humanity, a sin, which, we as a nation state definitely did not commit. India, never in the history of its existence, aspired for the forbidden fruit of territorial expansion and imperialism. In the four thousand years of its human history, India had only bled in the hands of vultures of intruders from many parts of the world. But, a ceaseless civilization built on tolerance, kindness and the philosophy of concern for all living beings, made the spirit of India to train itself to imbibe plurality of cultures, multitudes of languages and in the rearing and retention of religions.

Just now, after making much noise, preceded by the parading of armchair terror experts, our media people are planning to get back to their studio cocoons. In between their war on terror, they repeated visuals of the other side of the post-terror ‘sanitized opulence’. Collective anger sprang high, whose splintering arsenal had the sting of leaving a permanent scar mostly on the breed called politicians and lesser wounds on bureaucrats. Terror-struck, even our attempts to drive home a point compel us draw terms like arsenal and blood. English speaking seemingly urban upper class people turned to be more in numbers in the venues in such visual media-sponsored debate as the vox populi representing the country. Anger of the people made heads rolling. High command of ruling party was compelled to draw into secret alleys of party offices to plan for axing individuals as scape-goats. “High command” are epithets antithetical to democratic ideas. One is at loss to comprehend as to how terms like “high command” crept into the vocabulary of Congress, despite the words carrying meaning of military or authoritarian authority ! Be that as it may, in the thick and spell of these horrifying acts, no introspection was immediately possible for the Indian mind to engage in inquiry into the original ‘sin’.

Three information in the Mumbai terror attack demand serious introspection. In the first place, 49 of the nearly two hundred people who lost their lives in the terror strike, are Muslims. Secondly, when the Mumbai police wanted to hand over the bodies of the nine terrorists to the Muslim clerics for burial, they refused to do receive the body on the ground that the terrorists had committed the gravest of crimes against humanity and Islam. Thirdly, in a flight 9W – 114 of Jet Airways ( between Aurangabad to Mumbai on 3oth Nov.2008, post terror attack, a passenger on board the plane asked a lady crew member of what her name was, despite her wearing her name plate on the chest. She was further asked by the passenger to tell her religion. On her having told that she is a Muslim, the passenger is said to have literally started abusing with his lung power thus: “Why, you Muslim people do all these harm to India ?” The lady, without losing balance, told the passenger that she is an Indian and that the Muslim religion has nothing to with the terrorist attacks. But the passenger is said to be bent on continuing the verbal assault and the lady was all in tears. She was whisked away by a colleague after she underwent all these trauma.

Uncle Sam, what do all these bring home to your mind. Kashmir imbroglio, Palestine-Israel conflict, Iraq Shia-Sunni scuffles and others are all local struggles confined to the respective territories. If the long arm of terror reaches nook and corner of the world, what does that mean ? America, Algiers, Afghanistan, Bangkok, Britain, Indonesia, Mumbai, Islamabad and even Singapore were battle ground for bleeding blood and the list seems to be not abating. Like capital centric global business, terrorism is also being exported. In other words, global terrorism has come into being and the latest incident in Mumbai is yet another edition. Post 9/11, they could not do anything with America, Briton, Europe and Australia and therefore they have shifted their operation to soft states reeling under their own problems.
Terrorism knows know religion; it has grown to breach national boundaries. It has two-fold ambitions. The globalized capital-centric-consuming to carbon manufacturing-human content less-industrial culture is an anathema and therefore its first target is democratic structures practicing globalization. The second is to register terror’s signature for creating a world of fundamental ideas without giving scope and space for free interplay of cultures and plurality of religions.

It all started with throwing shit on the back yard of Russia (read Afghanistan) by your country in the name of neutralizing the influence of Russia. Now the toilet is over-flowing to India. You have produced Mujahedeen and left them in lurch. Captured Russian tanks and Kalashnikovs are getting corroded. These need oiling and blood for their survival. In the name of democracy and professing to destroy WMD, you have falsely cheated the world and continue to detonate Iraq. Again, in the name of giving a check to Iran, you produced the Frankenstein in Saddam Hussain. When the job was over, you threw him into the right place - dust-bin. While on the one hand, America never failed to boast that whatever it does (in the world) it is to protect freedom and democracies. But your country’s hypocrisy finds no bounds when it is bent upon promoting dynastic rulers in the West Asia and Pol-pot like dictators world over. Seymore Hersh, the investigative journalist of New York Times marshals his findings that a West Asian dynasty backed government finances fundamentalist groups with millions of dollars as “protection money” for avoiding over throw of their government for being corrupt, alienated from the clerics and monks and for displaying lavish life-styles with petro-dollars. Your country’s strategic interests for oil have made truths myopic. What is the fate of Resolution 1373 and 1566 of the UNO which clearly ban the financing of terrorist acts by sovereign member states and consider such financing, as crime. Your country, for obvious reasons of guaranteed oil, continues to close its eyes to these crimes.

Terrorists have one agenda. They graze on intolerant societies and terrorize and kill their own brethren. Their intention is to create Islam phobia so that the world hates them. Ultimately hated communities get radicalized and they would be compelled to fall in the band-wagon of terrorists – an ideal way of clamping and expanding the philosophy of terrorism.

Uncle Sam, will you stand up and say “enough is enough" for YOUR country’s continued hypocrisy and help bring a world order from the pestering menace of terrorism.

THREE CHEERS TO MUMBAI :INDIA IS NOT FREE IN FREEDOM

I fell on the thorns of life. It is bleeding. If winter comes, can spring be far behind ? - Shelley

The trauma of undergoing the ordeal of terror and unparalelled blood shed in the hands of a bunch of terrorists in Mumbai was stated to be over in Mumbai around 8.30 Am(IST). The Indian Security forces, have completed their mission with text book precision, without lending scope for the loss of too many lives. In the process, two officers of the elitist National Security Guard commando force, fondly called Black Cats, did the supreme sacrifice of laying their life for the cause. The Indian nation as a whole salute these brave-hearts and those Police officers died doing their national duty.

No other city in the entire world than Mumbai has witnessed so much blood shed and catastrophe repeatedly and in quick succession in a span of the last one and half decades in the history of terrorist movements.

Why India, again and again, is becoming the testing ground of terrorist laboratories ? Thousands of theories and concepts from Security experts, terrorism analysts, scholars and psychologists studying the phenomenon of terrorism, have come and gone. Each had his/her own way of analysing the phenomenon. But defying all their theories and conceptualizations, the curse and bane of terrorism is becoming a walking shadow in the lives of Indians, more specifically, the Mumbai residents. The city has collectively become a neurotic patient caught in perpetual fear psychosis.

As I see, there are too many loose ends in not viewing this serious issue in its correct perspective by the successive custodians of governance in India. First of all, those in the corridors of power, have miserably failed in reaching a common and national consensus to deal with terrorism, which has become a national problem. This applies to the present and the past governments. Every time, a cop lays his hands on a person on grounds of suspicion even for the pettiest of crimes of picking-up someone's pocket, invariably one or two so called political leaders would never fail to extend his obstructive hand in the police adminsitration to doubly ensure that the suspect is let off scot free, even without a preliminary inquiry. In other words, the police administration has been made a stooge and pimp in the hands of political masters. To extend this argument to a logical end, the political masters in India have left no stone unturned to ensure that the conducting the art and science of politics is highly criminalised. It is the clear case of criminalization of politics and politicization of criminals. The police force administration in India does not have a face of its own and an independent identity. It wears the ugly masks of dirty politicians whoever is in power.

The way the whole execution, in finnesse, of neutralizing the terrorists by the Indian Security forces was done and the applaud and appreciation whole-heartedly conveyed to the soldiers by the Mumbai residents in thousands and thousands and the country, show that for the first time in the country, post-independence, political leaders have become a pack of pantaloons and jokers in the midst of displayers of impeccable leadership of the service personnel. Three days of serach and neutralizing operations literally saw no face of a politician moving around, against whom the whole nation has an enviable record of contempt for not protecting the lives of the country's citizens. In India, life of common citizens is becoming a sort of disposable commodity. It never dawned upon the powers that be that the people of a country are its assets. But the demands of the Indian politicians are different. At the dawn of freedom, when the symbolical flag of independence was hoisted on the midnight, the colonial masters were shown the door and a new bunch of interanl political suckers having made entry, started sucking into the very vital veins of the country. Barring a few exceptions, they not only leached and ate into the fabric of patriotritism and well being of the people but also plundered the nation literally for six decades. The one breed of citizens that does not command even an iota of respect in India is its politicians and none other than politicians.

And what of civil soeicty ? The so-called self-proclaimed intellectuals declaring themselves as the representatives of civil society behave in such a fashion in times of national crisis that no one is able to understand their real psychology. Whenever and wherever the long arm of the Police force reaches a person genuninely in the execution of its duty, these stray bunches of the so-called intellectuals fail to poke their nose in the name of asserting their names one with human rights. When terrorists take the saddistic pleasure of bombing to cause death, destruction, mayhem even to tender children in so many parts of the country in the last two and half decades or so, these so-called itellectuals skulked behind their impotence. The self-styled intellectual breed of the country is the hypocrisy face of the nation. They would neither allow the honest officers to execute their national duty nor or they potent enough to come forward to take the leadership. They are afflicted with the disease of engaging themselves in aphoristic and antithetical phrases and endless discourse of verbal diahorreah, whose meaning invariably is one of utter confusion and confusion confounded. Common man in India is not able to understand the language of these intellectuals. In other words, they do not touch the pulse of the country in times of crises. They are in the habit of converging in star-status hotels every time a national crisis occurs and come out with some statements in some national news papes, which invariably be boasting that they are the embodiment, soul and crusaders of human rights and thus putting spokes in every act of the officers engaging in national duty.

And what of the Indian citizen ? He is so gullible and vulnerable to the frequent and unabted terrorist acts that his rulers could be seen only in obsequies of the gullible citizen after the latter's succumbing to injuries in such terrorist acts. The ruler (read, politician) would in such occasions, would not miss one single opportunity in wagging his tongue in eloquent and hyperbolic language praising the gullible citizen. It is the big gulf in the relationship between the Ruler and the ruled that makes the Indian citizen vulnerable to all the terrorist acts in the country. The executive class thinks it is a special breed, born straight away from the heaven and is totally berefet of human touch. As a class, this constitutional governing body has carved a nice niche for itself in becoming embodiment of corruption and greediness overthe last six decades of post-independence ruling.

The leadership qualities and tolerence displayed by the Service personnel, the Police and gullible Mumbai residents in this entire episode should wake the rulers and itellectuals of the country from their deep Rip Van Winkle slumber and should prove an eye-opener that the gullible citizens would not continue to be a silent spectator any further. He will call spade a spade and will bounce back, the consequences of which would render politicians earn a name in the annals of Indian history as the despised breed of crooks, engaged in looting and plundering the country, which will no way be different from the pre-independence colonial rulers.

BIG FACTS AND LIFE'S LITTLE IRONIES......

Part of the title to this stray thoughts blog owed to Thomas Hardy, the all time famous English Novelist. Apology for stealing his title "Life's little ironies" from his book of the same name.

It's now 8.30 PM (IST). It had been the most distressing day. I was glued to the Tele Vision the whole of yesterday night and today. Professionaly trained terrorists have literally taken taken hold of Mumbai, that commercial hub of India to ransom, chaos and destruction. The images that have been captured and relayed in the news channels are ghastly. My deep condolences to the victims and the bereaved families. Indian Security forces WILL finish off these terrorist efforts. They are the brave face of India. They keep Nation First before anything else. My salutations.
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An anecdote goes like this: A ship is on the wreck. A cyclone is taking its toll. Passengers are running helter-skelter for their life. The cabin crew is doing everything to save the people on board. Crew members are searching every deck of the ship to find out if any passenger is holed up anywhere and to bring them to safety. All most all the passengers have been brought to safe area to evacuate them in life boats to the shore, except one. In the middle deck of the ship, a small boy of ten years was seen playing marble alone by himself. The cabin crew members asked : " Are you mad, playing marbles here ? The ship is on the wreck. Get out and get lost to the upper most deck. You'll be taken to a place of safety." The boy was not moved. Taken aback, one of the crew members forcibly moved the boy through the narrow steps. The boy said : "I know the ship is sinking. But my father is the captain of this ship. He will save us." What measure of hope and faith reposed by one little boy on his father and his captaincy. The point here is that our Security forces are now in the midst of their NATIONAL DUTY and THEY WILL SAVE Mumbaites and India. Hail our soliders !
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At about 7.45 PM (IST) one of the hostages who is of foreign origin and a guest to India , was shown being brought out by our Security services to safety from the Hotel where the terrorists were holed-up. On his reaching the steps of the front yard of the hotel, news reporters of a number of TV channels and News papers swamped him for some hot news about what went on inside the hotel. The foreign guest was heard telling the news men that he had been advised not to divulge any information and that he had promised to go by the advice of the security forces. On being pestered to divulge some information, he stuck to his guns. Then, a reporter of one of the leading National TV News channels, was seen telling the foreign guest thus: " You can stick to your promise...But....er..... Tell us something.... We won't tell anybody". What an antithetical statement ! What journalistc ethics !! What journalistic responsibility !!!
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The behavioural psychology of people of a nation, in times of crises, seems to be in variance with that of another country. Despite the Security forces cordoned off the whole area of Taj Hotel, Mumbai to enable them to carry out their security operations, thousands of Mumbai-living people converged near the place of operation. Of course, they were anxious about the fate of their near and dear ones. But are they not susceptible to cross-fire in the security operations ?
E.M.Forster, the famous English novelist, while drawing the behavioural aspects of the English people in his essay "Notes on the English Character" in a situation involving tense moments, quotes an anecdote:
A few French people and English people were going on a travel in a coach to a hilly side. Half way through the journey, the coach met with an accident and toppled. Many were injured. There were none to help them other than themselves. The French people, over-awed by the severity of the accident, started engaging in crying, breast-beating and became very emotional. However, the English people in the coach, though were also injured in the accident, did not show any expression of emotion and mental disturbance. They displayed cool attitude throughout and started helping the severly wounded to safer places and gave them enough courage to get over the mental pangs of the accident. On reaching back to the place of the start of their journey, the French people became calm and cool. On the other hand, the English people started showing signs of emotional break downs. This behavioural aspect of the English people, according to Forster, depicts their national character. In times of managing crises, they display cool attitude. They would ensure that their emotional imbalace in times of crises would not affect their resolve to get over the crises. When once they get over the crises, they tend to become emotional belatedly for having been weighed all along by the burden of their surpressed emotions. In other words, according to Forster, the display of practical approach in times of crisis is their national character, which got recorded in so many historic incidents of crises. Now coming back to Mumbai, my Mumbai bretheren are very resilient in such terrific situations of terror attacks. In earlier such similar terror attacks in Mumbai, they displayed such heroic behavioural pattern in perceivable manner. Even before the police force could reach a terrorist attacked spot, they could show exceptional courage to help the wounded to places of safety and hospitals and thus made the job of the security forces easy. The only imbalance in their behaviour in such situations, perhaps, is their failure to guague the seriousness of moving closer to such places where the near-threat security operations are under way. They get sensationalized in watching what is going on around as if they are watching a Mumbai masala movie, thus, leaving scope for security hazards. But their resilence to adopt to the post-terrorist attack life is exceptionally great. Hats off to my Mumbai folks.

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA..........

In 'The White Tiger', the Man Booker award winning novel of Aravind Adiga, its protogonist Balram Halwai's father prays to Lord Buddha thus : "I have been treated like a donkey. All I want is that one son of mine - at least one - should live like a man."

This piece of writing here is not intended for extolling the charms of the book or for eulogising the novel's popularity it wields among its readers. Perhaps, the novel itself, I think, has been written with a purpose. Beyond the scope of the author's literary pursuit, the clear mapping of the contemporary life in India after the advent of globolization of the economy in the book meticulously stripped naked the deep division caused in the society. Society has been seen distinctively divided between the un-opportuned majority people and the miniscule group of the so called entrepreuners, in matters of economy, education and social status. The novel strives to register that globolization and market driven economy have dredged deep division in the society, the depth of which is increasingly becoming bottomless and unfathomable.

Let us for a moment, stray away from the imaginative pursuit of Adiga in his epistolary novel and ponder over the statement of the learned Finance Minister of India, which he had made during the Economic Editors' conference at Delhi recently.

While the economic melt-down, on its spread, swallows and evoporates and sends into posterity and oblivion even the strongest and capital-centric economic structures, even in the farthest corners of the globle, the Finance Minister of India has declared that recession is no where near India. While the compulsions of the FM in rejuvenating the sagging morale of the business community and the industry leaders, is understable, does the FM's statement reflect the correct picture ?

Mr.Finance Minister, if it is not the recessional effect, what then was the recent incident concerning Jet Airways, in which young boys and girls were shown full-throatedly crying and shedding tears in the streets of Mumbai, Delhi and many metropolitan cities of the countries for having been shown the exist door of their hard-earned employment ? Was witnessing such an incident a mere illusion and mirage viewed from the myopic eyes ?

Many IT companies are in the process of silently throwing axe on their probationers. "Pink-slip" showing symbolic culture has started sending shock waves among the young engineers. Lack of clear labour laws governing IT and ITES industry in the country, has led many ITeans and Engineers to silently accept the wounds and scars of hire and fire weapon idealogy.

Sir, for a common man in the country, these economic terms like the melt-down, recession, inflation, Bullish, Bearish, etc. etc. are all bulll-shit. Price rise of commodaties is going in leaps and bounds. Price of tomato in the vegetable market tumbles like cricket ball in the hands of batsman - going from singles to fours and sixes.

Periodical bouts of statistical information on the economy by the Pay commission protected officers will not help stop the shrinking of peoples' bellies for want of food at reasonable rates. Edible oils and pulses have become rare commodities in the life of people in the country. But then, our Ruleers are honourable men. What they is correct and nothing but truth.

Mr.Finance Minister, can any one have the guts to deny that, though de-regulation of economy has opened opportunities for entrepreuners to test their abilities to explore untrodden territories and untested business ventures, market economy and deregulation have opened flood-gates for carving deep division in the society as haves and have-nots .

Banks are vying with each other with killer instincts that IT industry engineers are lured to their credit card net to make them permanent paupers for the rest of their life. Many engineers are trapped in the unreasonable conditions of EMI and interest rates. Melt-down and recession have been sending jitters of losing their jobs and consequently the burden of repaying credit-card loans has been driving many a youngester into psycopaths, leading to suicidal tendencies. Similar is the case with house-owners in America that preceded the Housing bubble.

Despite engaging the country in LPG (Liberalization, Privatization and Globolization) as early as in 1990, the Human Development Index as assessed by the UNDP on India has shown a pulverized negative indicator, even as late as in 2005. India, has been accorded 128th place among 177 countries in terms of HDI value. In terms of Life expectancy at birth, we stand at 125th palce. In adult literacy. India has attained the 'pride of place' at 114.. Gross enrollment ratio in combined primary, secondary and tertiary education is indexed at 122nd place. In per capita income, we stand at 117th palce. Then, what is the point and pleasure of self-boasting about the mightiness of the Indian economy ?

We are an honourable country with a herd of honourable self-styled leaders. Common man is also deemed an honourable man in times of elections, honourably eating and digesting all these statistical commodities as if his insatiable belly has been ducted down with saliva-secreting food.

We, the people of India having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a sovereign, socialistic, secular and democractic republic, give unto ourselves liberty, equality and justice in economic, educational social spheres . But socialism has become a despicable word in the on-slaught of market driven economy. Secularism has multi-faceted meaning depending upon the ruling and opposition political groups in the country.

Sovereign powers vest exclusively with the elected ones and never was with the people. Equality in opportunities has been bartered away long ago. The politics of caste-based reservation has created ripples of reverse discrimination, endlessly leading to spew venom and hate among caste affiliates. Talking of meritocracy would be short of engaging oneself in Kafkaesquen style of imprisonment. Social justice is justifyably confined as edicts in constitutional law books only.

The maximum the way-ward market economy has done, is the creation of a special breed of real estate terrorists, wealth-concentrating maphias and the creation of a contemporary society devoid even iota of humane element. Society has been divided on caste and communal lines and no body seems to be bothering about it.

If it is for John Osborne's protogonist to become angry, in the author's novel 'Look back in anger', for making the contemporary society, in which he was living, into a souless society at the unleashing of mechanization during the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, Aravind Adiga's protogonist, Balram Halwai, the murderer-turned-entrepreuner justifies the killing of his employer-cum-foreign returned-filthy rich son of a land lord, on the logic that killing of his master was the product of class-war fare and therefore, it was right.

Such an attitude, even though fictional, is growing up in the society in real terms and therefore it should touch our national conscience for enagaging ourselves in soul-searching exercise and compell us to take corrective action, so that the Indian economy and its society are moulded and made, bristling with human content to serve even the poorest of the poor in the society.

It's now bye from Chandru.

OBAMA : THE LESSON INDIA CAN LEARN FROM THE 'YES, WE CAN' MAN

Three cheers for Barak Obama.

Oh! America, sing hosannas in praise of rediscovering and rewriting the American dream.

When symptoms of instituional failures - more apparent and conspicuous in political, social and capitalistic structures of America - started shaking public faith, whose vibrations could be sensed world over, success at individual level like that of Obama could herald a new message that world has not really come to an end and that leadership will always emerge for carving and re-writing order in the political, social and economic spheres.

This article primarily is not meant only for showering petals of praise on Obama. When we are struting up and down that we are the salt of this earth and that India is the largest democratic country and that its democratic institutions are pillars of peoples' ruling, have we ever given thought about the quality of our democracy ? Please do not come to the judgment that such discourses are self-inflicting wounds, exposing the vagaries and short-fall of our style of running the governance of the nation. While it would be imprudent and an exercise in futility to draw a parallel between the democratic practices followed in America with that of India, we are conveniently forgetting that the reasons that we are attributing against drawing of such comparison, do not stand the scrutiny of rational tests.

As nation states, every country in the world has its own unique cultural, ethnic and linguistic landscapes and democratic and political institutions are always striving to mould themselves to suit a particular situation and grow. It is true that the legacies of democratic institutions left over by the imperialistic British empire at the advent of India's independence were to be moulded and to be involved in total metamorphosis to suit the post-independence conditons and that it requires further more time to expect a refined democracy. This argument is a convenient execuse and a labored exercise to dupe ourselves.

Have we ever cared to take time off to think for a moment why so may political parties are mushrooming day in and day out in India. Our Scientists are doing wonders in their own spehres of work and research; our entrepreneurs are conquering hitherto untreaded boundaries and businesses. Our chidren are increasingly becoming more informed and technology savvy. Then why alone political sphere is getting rotten and dumped with stinking garbage of unfaithful and culpable criminals, devoid even an iota of patriotism to the country. In the name of absolute freedom, any quack in India can grab a fabulous living level if he/she chooses the place of last refuge of scoundrels - politics.

Now draw a parallel to the Amereican democracy. Both the Democratic party and theRepublican party announce their respective nominees as candidates for the presidentail election. Even before contesting the election, these nominees first take the acceptance of the people of America. Thus, the gruelling two-years period prior to ther Nov.4, 2008 election, put the two nominees in the melting pot of assessment by the American people to know whether they can emerge succesful in the tests. The candidates are stripped to their nerves and bones to weigh their leadership qualities, personal character, moral issues and everything under the sky. Across- the- table debates, on allied issues touching upon national governance, are hall marks of the American democracy. Now focus on India. Can any one have the courage to ask political parties to take the acceptance of the people before a political nominee is given ticket to contest election. Will any political party come forward to involve its nominees in public debates as is done in America. Such a desire of the vox populi will be viewed with contempt. Candidates of all political parties in India are forced upon its electorate without any say on their part. Any one with the highest criminal record can occupy the highest offices in India. Yesterday's convicted criminals can become today's minsiters in India. And the unfortunate Indian psyche would be taught and tuned to join the herd mentality of accepting such criminals without any whimper.

Another facet of the Indian polity stands in stark contrast with that prevailing in America. Political fights in America end with the conclusion of elections. When once an election is over, all the differences and disputes prevailed prior to the election are treated only as voices of difference and not products of national discord premeating right through to develop animosity and venom among the contestents and political parties. They agree to disagree on many issues. But all these disagreements will come to an end when the elections are over. At this juncture, we would have missed an imporant point, if we forget those graceful words of John McCain, the Republican candidate after conceding defeat. What a towering personality and a great patriot !

Now, focus your beam on India. Yesterday's political foe, by the sheer chance of his contesting the election for one party, would be doomed to be stamped as a sworn and permanent enemy. No other country in the world had seen so many murders of political vendatta than that those occured in India in the last half a century. Certain political parties in India are not seeing eye to eye in the last many decades. They treat each other as rank enemy. And we call ourselves as the largest democracy.

It is not the political and constitutional institutions of governance that are weak in India. It is the corrupt and unpatriotic persons of politics who occupy the corridors of power and who vigorously strive to weaken these institutions of parlimentory democracy, do everything to weaken the Indian democracy.

Despite states in America are being federal entities with independent legal existence, each state is working hard to make America a well-knit United States and sustain that status. Take the case of India.. After sixty years of independence, the country is caught in pulls and pressures of seccessionist and fissiparous groups and parochialists. States are in arms with each other in the sharing of river waters. Walls are built on linguistic lines to pour hate. Terrorism has taken its pound of flesh. But those in the corridors of power are either trying to be soft on terrorism or they do not know how to root out secessionist and parochial tendencies against national interests. And we call our selves a large democracy.

Aside, over private conversations, this blogger is always advised by friends eloquently that exposing the vagaries of the Indian polity, borders on being unpatriotic. But with due respects to their conservative views, this blogger continues to expose such vagaries as he thinks that doing so will be a national duty and patriotic act.

Like American dream, India needs an 'Indian dream'. Former President of India, Dr.Abdul Kalam while in office and after demitting office, has been inspiring the children of India to dream for a better India and for their own better future lives. He knew well that the quagmire that the Indian polity had gone into, can not be cleaned over ninght with the same people in today's politics. He, perhaps, believes that such a course could be possible with the future generaion and therefore he struck the right chord in the children's minds. An Indian dream is in the making. Is it not time for all those with patriotic fervor to make such a dream come true ?

"I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger
American story.....and that, in no other country on earth,
is my story even possible."
- Key note speech of Barak Obama
during the seeking of his first term
for the Senate at the 2004 Democratic
convention

This blogger desires that an Indian child to repeat similar voice in the Indian context in the years to come. Jai Hind..
It's now bye from Chandru until next blogging.

MELT DOWNS, MAYHEMS AND TOMATOES

13th October 2008.

On this 13th day of October 2008, the price of tomatoes in a local market in Chennai is Rs.33 per Kg. - an all time high, both during the existence of this Blogger for five decades plus and the existence of this tomato specie in this planet.

What is the reason ? Economic Melt down mayhem ? As jucy debates deepen across the world to identify the reasons and remedies to arrest the on going economic melt down radiation, credit crunch is kicking in unabatedly in many of the citadels of capatilistic structures. Yesterday's neo-liberal market marauders have become today's mendicants. Strong-looking and himalayan sized fortresses of capital kingdoms raze to ground like pack of cards. Bursting of bubbles burdened by the weight of toxic debt traps, forced write-offs of bad debts, haunting memories of menaingless entry into untreaded areas of business (which super- dooper invented that in the unhindered and regulatorless market regime, even mortgage of houses could be converted into saleable proudcts in the show-rooms of bourses. I think ,he/she looses the Noble prize by a whisker) have shrunk these avaricious organizations into today's non-entities begging for alms.

Honey-coated allurements thrown at common man that even a pauper on the street could be made a prince of palace (which can not commonly happen in the dictatorial and hegemonized capitalistic economic landscape), if he/she signs a few housing-mortgage-repayment-sort of agreements, the recital and reading of which quite often tires the mortgagor - all these and others, spew endless and uncontrollable mass of failed capitalistic excreta. The speed with which the radiation of such failed capatilastic economic models travels,entraps in its trail, untreaded areas of human living in this economic scenario and therefore tumbling of prices of tomatoes can not be an exception. Lehman brothers, had they conducted their business keeping in fore the concept of brotherhood as their underlying business philosophy, they would not have built their empire on the soul less ground of capital terra firma, denying millions of housing customers their due happiness and they would not be requiring bail-out from all quarters.


People in the garb of governance rush in unprecedented speed in America to secure a semblence of bail-outs to such failed captalistic corporations. Is it because, corporates, by their very nature and by legal fiction, are like human beings, and have the tendency to commit crimes, either by doing things they ought not to do or by not doing things they ought to do. But the moral question here is, whose money you'are bartering away to bail out such corporations ?Federal Reserve fund of America is tax-payaers' money and no one individual's father's property. There is an opinion taking rounds in America that money bartered away for the bail-outs should have the consent of of its people, atleast by a sort of refrendum. Governments are trustees of the people and their property and therefore they can not be parties to acts bordering on crime of negligence. For paying Peter, you'are robbing Pauls.

The human tragedy behind the failure of these greedy corporations is realy unfathomable. In America, yesterday's house owners have become today's street squatters. Unable to bear the burden of house-mortgage debts, millions of house-owners are bound to abandon their houses in favor of investments bankers. Housing market has been receiving death blows in America and elsewhere.

Beyond these unfortunate human tragedies, the slide down in the economy will add to the large inventory of unsold houses, thereby depressing the prices further. Many mortgages are and will be greater than the house is worth, which , in turn, will lead more people walk away from their houses with inflated prices, producing even more fore-closures of mortgages and further price declines.

Be that as it may, are we justified in not joining the concerns and worries of our neighbour over the prices of tomatoes and commodities, that the spiral activity of the economic melt down had brought? Are there solutions within our reach to inject fresh breathe of life into our dying spirits caught in the clutches of untamed and unbridled price rise ?

In India, no amount of reducing the credit interest rates by the Central banks seem to be rendering a semblence of succor to the common citizen in his quest for two meals a day with the on going and quantum leap of prices of commodities.

One suggestion making rounds is that the world, instead of pursuing capital centric model of economy, may switch over to "green economy", as the best hope for the future. What exactly is green economy ? Of course, clean energy, of course, renewable materials, of course, clean production practices. Environmentally effective economy is one that necessarily one that delivers the highest quality of life to people, while using the lowest planatory resources.

An economic policy that facilitates people getting a lot of lifeless and souless "stuff" is not necessarily one that delivers high quality of life. Happiness research is showing that " it is not
material possession but relationships, community, meaning, a sense of purpose and use one's most valued skills that make us happy".

Good economic policies might be one that helps to strengthen our relationship with the communities, nature, friends, family, etc. Instead, current economic model works to strengthen our relationship with corporations. Everything from our food to health care comes from corporations. These bonds are lopsided and therefore we are at the mercy of changing fortunes of these corporations. What, if our food and health care came from locally, from our communities, for example. This reminds me how barter system worked so well in ancient times.

A government that did not cause us to be so particularly dependent on economic throughput, but instead helped us to forge reliable bonds, might provide more stability in the face of changing corporate fortunes.

When Mahatma Gandhi insisted on the practice of wearing locally produced and home woven khadi clothes, many an eye-brow was raised on the premises that the suggestion would not fetch practitioners in the midst of mingling of occident and oriental cultures. Such a course, according to nay sayers, would negate the natural course of the expansion of an economy built on capital centric model. But the doom-sayers proved wrong. A generation of old and young did wear khadi clothes (and wearing now too) in India and feel a sense of pride and service to the nearest community who produce such products.

When relationships are more local, that is , the farmer knows the distributor, who in turn knows the grocer, people are likely to screw each others. There will be accountability. If the distributor artificially jacks up prices, the former can go to the distributor, and discuss it.

Let us learn not to spend beyond our means. Do you really need that house now ? Do you really need that car right now, when own a bike ? Think. Think.

Green technology is giving more life with less. Drive efficiently, if you drive, walk or bike or ride otherwise. Source your food requirements from the local farmer direct.

I remember to have read what a renowned scientist of Indian origin had said: "Instead of bailing out corporations with 700 million dollars, we could be bailing out nature." What words of wisdom.

Its Bye now from Chandru.

CORRUPTION : THE BANE OF EMERGING INDIA

Recording these stray thoughts on the despised profession of corruption has the basis and inspiration from a recent news clipping in one of the local TV channels, wherein, the former President of India, Dr.Abdul Kalam (despite his demiting the office of the presidentship , he continues to be the People's President of India) was shown interacting with school children in a school function. He was shown lending a piece of advice to the children to take individual and collective vows to root out corruption totally from the country. He was a worried man that corruption is impeding the growth of the country. He wanted the children to learn to be honest in life. He is no doubt a visionary.

Dr.Kalam new well that his message would go down into minds of the students, who form a sizable chunk in the India population - one survey says that the youth group in India occupies nearly 50 percent of the Indian population. This important group, Dr.Kalam believes, will cetainly produce right leadership for making India an econmic power. Therefore, it is apt that the People's President has endevoured to reach this targetted group through his message.

While on the subject, I recall how Shiv Khera, the notable and successful Management expert recorded valuable information in his book FREEDOM IS NOT FREE about the level of corruption prevailing in India and his sincere arguments about rooting out corruption from the country. Relying on an authentic report published by the Swiss Government, Shiv Khera says that Indian money worth 2500 billion dollars have been stashed away from the country unaccounted by faceless persons of Indian origin and such money found safe deposits in the Swiss bank.

In the same vein, Shive Khera depicts another scenario to drive home his point of view. An average middle class Indian, if he/she is to secure a medical assistance in a Government hospital, for instance, has to shell out a considerable amout from his savings to grease the palms of the powers that be, even to secure a semblence of medical treatment. Is this the ethical culture and the so called shining ways of India, he asks. By greasing the palms of the greedy, are we becoming partners of crime? In other words, the author asks:"Are we victims of corruption or perpetrators of corruption ?" Shiv Khera argues that that no one wants to bribe others on his own volition. Since the system itself has placed a demand on average Indians that even their basic needs themselves would be served only by bribing the service provider and persons in the corridors of power, the person giving the bribe is definitely a victim of corruption and not perpetrator of corruption.

What is the answer to this cancerous growth of corruption in public India? On the one side, our soldier brothers are struggling all through their lives in inconvenient and inhospitable border terrains to protect the country's territories and the prestige of the country. On the other side, the country has been caught in the vicious circle of rampant corruption. What happens if our soldiers refuse to perform duty even for a few hours. We forget that THEY ARE SACRIFYING THEIR TODAY FOR OUR PROSPEROUS TOMORROW. We have forgotten to keep the nation first in our quest for material wealth.

The psychology of the urge to commit the crime of corruption is greediness and one of avariciousness. A land that boasts of following a well developed ancient civilization, which places spiritualism and 'Dharma' over materialistic interests, has been showing trends of running after material wealth and the corrupt leave no stone unturned to achieve such wealth wherever and whatever way it comes from. Centuries old nurtured values and ethics have become the first casualty in the hands of these greedy leaches, who have made corruption a way of life.

No doubt the culture of corruption is world wide phenomenon.. Had it not been the case, wealth of literature would not have been created about the issue of corruption world over. Shakespeare's phrase 'the art of glib and oiling' finds enough practice in India. In Arthur Miller's (renowned American dramatist) book 'All my sons", the protogonist piolet son of a wealthy businessman, trading in aeroplane spare parts to the American Airforce, commits suicide by crashing his plane against a mountain - not because he was unhappy about his life, but because he could not bear the fact that his father had been selling quality-less and third rate spare parts to the American Air Force which led to innumerable deaths of American soldiers and the nation's prestige.
Gatsby, the protogonist in Scot Fitzeralds novel "Great Gatsby" engages in illicit brewing of liquor to achieve not only success and to become rich, but also to relive his past and to regain his lost love towards a young women. But he suffers not only from his failed love episode but also from the committing of the crime of becoming rich through illegal means.

In the Indian scenario, Nand Kumar's case is a case in point. Warren Hastings, the then Viceroy during the British Raj, was forced to face the punishment for his alleged bribe taking activities.
That shows the level of judiciary then and its concomittant role in rendering justice. Despite the prevalence of innumerable agencies to arrest the menace of corruption in India, those engage in the art and science of corruption continue to strike gold. While every bit of crime investigation in India engages such tests like Lie Detector test, Narco analysis, etc., no one seems to be giving loud thinking for applying such tests to the breed of executives and politicians who engage in corruption.

Luckily for the country, modern Indian corporates make it a point to include the concept and practice of wealth creation through legal and ethical ways, as their corporate philosopy and goal. Infosys Technologies Limited, a reputed trans-world corporate body, engaged in providing allied IT services world over, has incorporated the concept and goal of wealth creation through legal and ethical means, as their main Corporate policy.

Incidentally, in the context, while there are a number of social orgnizations in India fighting for the cause of rooting out corruption in public life, one small organization in Vellore,a small town in Tamilnadu, India, has received the attention of this Blogger. Named "Oozhal Ozhippu Iyakkam" in Tamil language (which means, a movement for destroying corruption), this Organization does excellent service in the fight against corruption and thus does a service to the nation. The number of current members in the Organization is hardly five or six only. To become a member in the Organization, the aspiring persons should have caught hold of, at least one bribe taker and should have brought such bribe taker before the police authorities for prosecution. As things stand, no one dares coming forward to catch bribe takers red- handed and to face future consequences of threats of death to their life from the associates and hired goondas of such corrupt persons. Dr Valluvan, a qualified medical practitioner does a commendable service in the Orgnization in assocaiton with one Mr.Gandhi of the said Organization in the fight against corruption. This orgnization deserves all encouragement and support from the Governement of India.

The case of the atrocious killing of Sathyendra Dubey, an honest, intelligent Engineer in National Highways Department of India and a whistle-blower, who exposed the rampant corruption in the National Highways Department should be an eye-opener to every law abiding citizens of India.

Therefore, this Blogger makes an earnest prayer that we unitedly come forward to convert Dr.Klam's message into positive action and help make India a major economic power and a corruption free country... Jay Hind.

Too much blogging, eh............Bye until next time, from Chandru.

PLASTIC MANACE - PEOPLE'S PANACEA

In my previous blogging dicourse dt.30.9.2008 I was ruminating on the personal problems that I confronted in my readjustment in settling in Chennai from the Nilgiris. While trying to float along with the winds of change in the new set up, I am unable to cope with the sight of heaps of used polythene bags anywhere and everywhere. Having been destined to rent a house in suburbon area of Chennai on Old Mahabalipuram Road, close to Sholinganallur, I used to try occasional evening walk along the OMR road and in interier settlements. Invariably I forget that I am mortally in Chennai and am not still in the Nilgiris hills. Why such thoughts ? What business polythene bags and plastic materials have to do with drawing a comparison between Chennai and Nilgiris.

The other day, during one such walking sojourn, I could witness a stray dog, spalashed with remains of thrown-over food all over its body,was busily poking its nose in a heap of used polythene bags in a by-lane leading to a residentail area on the sidelines of Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR for brevity). The scene temporarily changed. A neatly attired youngster with his neck under strangulation from a broad a tie, approached the heap of polythene bags. He himself was carrying a big polythene bag, seemingly containing left-over food as is evident from the yellowish 'sambar' curry oozing out as he walked. On his having approached the said heap of bags, the dog which was engrossed in enjoying its supposedly last supper, seemed to have been disturbed that a human mortal was encroaching its jurisdiction, denying its rightful place for food. The next moment, everthing around was a chaotic situation. The dog gave a firm warning by incessent howling that the gentleman should better keep away from the heap and try a throw the polythene bag in his hand from a distance to the dog's convenience. The order having been executed, brought a new situation. The thrown bag even before reaching its decided destination, fell on bike-rider who happend to wheel across from a by-lane.
The net result is a 'Piccadly Circus' , as E.M Forester narrated in one of his essays, resembling a similar situation. But thank Almighty ! Forester's men did not have the courage to practice playing hand-ball with left-over food in polythene bags ! Here, this blogger is not interested in the incident, but in the lesson one has to learn.

Used polythene bags thrown all over and everywhere posses serious health problems. Universally, nations are taking appropriate measures to quell their usage, much less their publc exibitionism. It requires stern rules and public awareness for proper usage and correct disposal. Polythene bags caught in the soil have the tendency even to change the course of water table and soil structure. The biggest menace to the ecology is plastic products. This does not mean that the whole world should be fully free of plastic products. Polymer tecnology has done wonderful things for the convenience of people.

While on the subject, one epochal movement in the Nilgiris district in Tamilnadu should draw our attention. The credit for such a movement for banning the usage of polythene bags should go to Mrs.Supriya Sahu, I.A.S., the then Collector of the Nilgiris district in Tamilnadu, India. Her initiative caught the attention of the general public and the same was converted into a public a movement.
She dared to promulgate district-specific rules to arrest the usage of polythene bags. Those found throwing used polythene bags in the roads and street- corners were severly dealt with. Usage of paper bags was encouraged and rewarded. Students came forward in taking forward the movement to the public. Non-governmental organizations extended a helping hand in organizing seminars, debates on the avoidance of using polythene bags and their proper disposal. During her stint as the Collector of the Nilgiris, she could achieve a near total plastic-free environemnt in the Nilgiris district. Hats off to her !

In Chennai, till such time another Supriya Sahu comes to the fore front, let us, as socially conscious citizens, take a vow not to throw used polythene bags in roads, drainages, street corners, and places wherever public gather. Let us make it a habit that we collect our small purchses from petty shops in paper packs and paper"pottalams". Why not the students of Chennai city lead the public in forming a movement as in the Nilgiris district ? Too much didacting , eh....?

MY LOVE- HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH CHENNAI.

This Blogger is a new entrant to the long list of migrants into Chennai's explosive demographic structure. He became one such migrant not because he liked such an option but because he was forced to become one. The fast growing IT explosion in the counrty has percolated even into choice of one's type of living and the habitat one prefers to settle.

Having run two-and-half scores plus years from the day he fell from his mother's womb to this mother earth, whether such a run was ran by this blogger on his own choice or by the sheer necessity of having born into this world, he is now under compulsion to migrate to Chennai to join his bachelor son, who is an IT specialist.

One month has since elapsed that this Blogger is still trying to achieve a semblence of settling at Chennai, with all the vagaries of metropolitan existence (beware not living in the real sense) looming large all around. This Blogger, of course, is not a new comer to Chennai. Having been with a Public sector enterprise as an Executive at various levels almost for two-and -half decades at a stretch, he was a frequent visitor to Chennai on his official business. But such sojourns were replete with flying machines to Chennai for travel, near- star-level hotels to dine and office locations to conduct his official business. Occasional evenings during such sojourns went with reciprocatory exchanges of cheers among friends, while champaigne bottles popped up.

Back to the present story, settling business in Chennai for this Blogger is most unsettling. The reasons are multifarious. Having been born into a middle-class family in a rural setting in quiet Nilgiris hills, (conscience says, Nilgiris is not quiet and serene like those days. Nilgiris, more specifically its official headquarters Ooty, has become a casualty in the hands of commercial exploits and Real Estate terrorism emanating from far and wide, all over the country) and having had the ooportunity and pleasure (?) to serve a Government undertaking in Ooty itself, this Blogger was blessed to secure a 'liveable' life, backed by dust-less wind for inhaling, mother Nature painted lush-green environment in the residential area and a small tea-garden devolved upon him on the demise of his father, to nurture and secure a semblence of earning . (What an irony! death also records profit and loss account that lays bare the sadness he/she brings to his/her family as loss and the savings he/she leaves to his family, kith and kin as pfofit. Thanks to Tamil poet Kanna dasan: for him, life is business. In the business of life, birth is revune; death is expenditure.)
As I am proceeding to to tell my 'settling' business in Chennai, the bird in my inner conscience calls its ceaseless warning that it is 12 O' clock and it is time for power- cut being imposed by the Government and consequentially, I must wind-up this stray thoughts business for the time being and to resume later. Bye.

30 Sept.,2008 (2.30 P.M)
The two-hour power cut that led me to short-cuicuit recording my stray thoughts today morning did not sap my energy. Though the noon was burning under the sweltering heat, it did not bother me much. While blogging in the morning, I was morolising on birth and death and was dragging Poet Kannadasan to drive home my point of view. My middle-class attitude and my family's agrarian background did not allow me to take the untrodden path of business line; nor was I equipped with minimum financial soundness to try my destiny in business and therefore life's mundane pleasures were at the mercy of the pittance of salary that I was drawing. But the benevolent Company that I was working for, was gracious enough to sanction me a housing loan. When my colleagues were frantically craving for buying small plots of land for constructing their houses through the loan facilitiy in the Ooty town, an inner voice cautioned me that I should not opt for building a house within the city limits of Ooty. Instead, it guided me to construct a small house in a place where Mother Nature should have sprayed the tint of green more for topography and landscape where I am going to live. My first choice fell on the Ketti valley. It is one of the biggest natural valley in the world, I am told. Tennyson appears to have extolled its charm in one of his finest songs. The valley is fortified in all sides by peaks and mountains. Clouds in their passage, take time off from sending their steely wires of rain to mother earth and will rest on the bossoms of peaks and mountains in the valley. Summer will be agog with bursting of blooms everyhwere.

My garden adjecent to my little house will always be splashed with colourful flowers. Zinnias display their multi-coloured hues in bunches. Dhalias deepen the back-ground setting for the garden. Flocks in multiple hues parade like little children in school sports. Painted gorgeously with violet tint, Bhohenvillas will bloom always in the hedges of the compound of the house. Lilacs will always be bloomed in the door yard (Reminds me of Walt Witman, the poet of poets.) Alista Mary pop-up in bunches, keeping their rose and yellow splashed faces of flowers on dark green and lengthy stalks. Daisies dressed in white will always be ready for swaying drill to the commands of occaional rustle of wind. Greenish looking mountain range at the back drop will complete the pefect ambience to the whole setting. Bees from the mountain rocks will be permanent visitors to my garden. Blooms in my garden in summer seasons will be additional treat to these murmering bees. Ineberiated by extra-sucking of honey from the yellowish anthers of the blooms, they at times fail to go back to their honey-comb to serve and protect the queen bee.Honey suckles in flocks, wearing purple-blue feathery dress, will be frequent visitors to my garden for sucking nector through their lengthy beaks.

My small home library occupying the western side of my drawing room allows limitless fragrance from the master creations of writers as the flower garden that lies fruther west of the Library room. Tolstoy's timeless creations occupy considerable space in the wooden racks. Works of Dostovosky, Chekov, Maxim Garky parade alongwith Tolstoy's works. Hardy's novels, works of D.H.Lawrence, Herman Melville, Hemingway, Marquez, Henry James to name a few are adding delight to me and my small library every time I enter in. Works in the Drama genre by such authors like Arthur Miller, Tennesse Williams and others decorate my Library cuboards. Works of Faulkner, Emily Dickinson, Samuel Becket, Oscar Wilde, Amitava Ghosh, Mahakavi Bharathi, Sundara Ramaswamy, Dan Brown, Arumdathi Roy and others enlighten me whenever and wherever I am inclined to read.

But then, demands of family members are different. Their demands are more urgent and relevent than my being delighted by Hardys and Hemingways. Though earning relatively good wages by virtue of his being an IT specialist, my son requires the presence of my wife and me at Chennai to take care of him, feed him with homely food and to spend time with him while not on call from his duty. Thus, I am here in Chennai leaving behind me in the hills my Hardys and Hemingways and the delightful garden of blooms. I miss my honey suckles, murmuring bees and the late night conversation of chirping crickets. Somewhere in my deep thought, conscience told me that Chennai will be a concrete jungle devoid of green cover and therefore I must have atleast one grown-up plant in the newly rented house in Chennai. While packing some limted house hold goods in the truck, I saw to it that my "money plant" (Neither do I have money nor do I know the botanical name of the plant ) also got transported to Chennai. Though on board the truck, the plant showed signs of wilting and unhappiness, it got revived when once I poured fresh blood of water, on its being intalled in our new Chennai residence.

The first few days of my so called 'living' in Chennai were interpresed with routine and mundane job of buying of house- hold provisions, ordering treated drinking water in cans (Alas, no one in the Nilgiris seems to be selling drinking water or running an exclusive business in water selling), meeting old friends, engaging in forced sleep to avoid the trouble of burning under the sweltering heat during imminent and daily power- cuts, reading the "Hindu" in between lines, occasional blogging in my son's personal Computer

As I see, Chennai has become a burning cauldron to the level of reaching the Hadron colloider that reserch into Big Bang and Black holes. Caught in its gravitational pull are things vary and unrelishable. The City is caught in the vortex of global warming by its own making. The City seems to be not worrying about raising and sustaining green belts, unlike in places like Bangalore or Pune. As I move around, I could see imposing High way over bridges, darkening every inch of the space available. Garbage heaps, unclosed cable-laying trenches, splattered used-polythene bags, jarring and never ending music of the mosquitos, hellish vehicular traffic etc. etc. have become silent killers.

I have been craving to visit a library daily, if availble near by . I am not able to find one till date. For a person who had emigrated from a cool and clean place like Nilgiris and for person who is in the evning of his life, Chennai is definitely a chllenge to achieve a semblence of 'living'.
But this Blogger is unable to comprehend as to why no one bothers to raise green cover all over Chennai. Civic sense, it is hoped, would not have shrunk to that level of atomic proportion, to erase totally from their mind the definite need to raise tree-corridors and develop green belts. Can't those in the corridors of power do some thing about keeping the City clean, devoid of thrown-away used polythene bags and dirt heaps of garbage. Can't the enlightened citizens of Chennai extend deep thought and give re-look into the real meaning of development and do something about infusing fresh blood into making Chennai bristle with greenary, interpressed with splashes of flower gardens ? Untill my next blogging- discourse, it is 'BYE' from Chandru.