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.
******
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 !
******
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 !!!
******
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.