Considering that the UPA government just managed to pull-off a vote of confidence, it is relevant to read this brilliant article by Jonathan Power in Prospect Magazine on the governing structure of India. Jonathan managed to meet Manmohan Singh and the insights of his conversation with Mr. Singh makes for some great reading:

What is the most important single issue, I asked. “Mass poverty,” he replied instantly. “Seventy per cent of our population live in the rural areas and we have to give them good water, primary healthcare, elementary education and good roads.” “What about land reform?” I said, knowing that this was the sacred cow of the communists. “We can’t have it. It would cause a revolution. Anyway, we are not like the Latin American countries. We don’t have the scope for it here. What is important is for sharecroppers to get rights established so they can invest in their land with security. We need to be like the communist government in West Bengal. But we must have fast industrialisation too so that we can draw people off the land.”

If Indian politics is an interesting subject to you, do read the entire article here.

No, not that back. I have been down with a back problem and life seems to only now returning back to normal. A muscle spasm had knocked me off for a while, although it didn’t prevent me from propping myself up on a chair and strolling into the roads of the internet.

A lot of things have been keeping me busy, work being one of them. I have also revamped The Better India a bit, before I decide to go for a self-hosting option on that. We are planning to host some interviews and feature some organizations there pretty soon – so watch out for that space.

In the meanwhile, do check out The Dark Knight and Kung Fu Panda if they are running at some movie hall in your city. Well worth your time.

Will be back shortly. With an improved back.

My tryst with Dr. Seuss happened when I performed for The Script’s production – The Lorax.

Lorax is an interesting poem written by Dr. Seuss, who predominantly wrote for children. However, all his works had more than a clear relevance to adults as well. Lorax was a poem which depicted man’s devastating impact on the environment and urged people to develop a sense of responsibility towards mother nature.

In the poem, the character Lorax is the representative of all things green. And when Once-ler, owing to his ever increasing greed, starts chopping off truffula trees and depriving the Brown Bar-ba-loots their habitat, the Lorax appears in front of the Once-ler and appraises him of the disaster that he is causing by doing all this.

As is evident, Dr. Seuss was famous for coining terms and words that had no meaning but brought out the underlying concept beautifully. You can read The Lorax here. It is a beautiful poem and I thoroughly enjoyed performing this work on stage.

The Lorax, was one of Dr. Seuss’ most controversial works and many claimed that it was unfair to the logging industry.

Recently, I saw a movie adaption of Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! This is a story about an elephant (Horton) who, by accident, gets in possession of a speck. The speck rests on a clover which the elephant carries around with him as an ornament. One fine day, he begins to hear voices coming from the speck. It is then revealed to us, the viewers, that the speck is a world in itself, with people there living ordinary lives very similar to ours. What happens next and how the elephant manages to save this speck from all external influences is a part of the story.

What I found more relevant is the metaphorical usage of the speck. As we all know by now, our planet too is a speck in the cosmic dimensions and although we might be fretting a lot about our daily lives, it could be that everything is based on chance and depends on an elephant living in another world who is carrying this speck around. It brings in some perspective of our place in this universe. Simplistic in its story line, Horton hears a Who! is a great movie with a universal appeal, if I may use that word.

You can read more about Dr. Seuss’ life in this Wikipedia article.

Bangalore rocked by a series of bomb blasts a while ago. Reuters states that 7 blasts have occurred while ibnlive states 5 blasts. According to some sources, three people have died with several injured.

Some of the other news reports:
Associated Press
Times of India
BBC

Some sources say that the bombs were buried under ground. Disgusting.
A woman died while she was waiting at a bus stand. A woman. Waiting. Dead.

I just hope, fervently hope, that the culprits are caught. But will that be justice enough? No. When will the country ever become insulated against all these man-made calamities?

In this previous post of mine, I had spoken about the discrimination that people from other religions and castes continue to face in our society. In this context, it was very heartening to hear Omar Abdullah’s speech during the UPA’s confidence motion debate.

His speech began with the following words:

“I am a Muslim and I am an Indian,” he began. “And I see no distinction between the two. I don’t know why should I fear the nuclear deal. It is a deal between two countries which, I hope, will become two equals in the future,” said Abdullah. “The enemies of Indian Muslims are not America or deals like these. The enemies are the same as the enemies of all those who are poor — poverty, hunger, lack of development and the absence of a voice.”

While the BJP, the Left and other parties in that huddle continued to say that the nuclear deal was anti-Muslim, here was an opposition leader trying to bring some unity back in the thoughts of people. It is clear that politicians play the divide and rule game very often and this is becoming more and more disgusting as time progresses. I am glad that we have younger and more thoughtful leaders like Omar Abdullah in the Parliament, a place which currently houses at least 50 criminals.

Excerpts from his interview with The Indian Express:

“There has been a concerted effort to create this perception that first the Muslims are against the nuclear deal with America and also that the nuclear deal with America is anti-Muslim. This is all rubbish and this perception is being created by those political parties who always want to brand Muslims to be against the interests of the country,” he said. “That’s why I did emphasise that I am a Muslim and I am an Indian and that the two are not mutually exclusive”.

Read the interview and excerpts of his speech here.

It is an evening of cool winter breeze flowing through the small gaps amidst the blocks of stone and pillars that define an ancient architecture. A small leaf trying to grow out of a crumbling rock on the side walls of a building is shivering and going green. The building overlooks a courtyard, which has a chiseled fountain right in the middle and the grass on the ground is as close to a carpet as can be created by a hand made lawn mover used by strong labourers.

From the other end of the lawn, our carriers of knowledge and truth appear to walk towards the fountain. The white and brown robes flutter in the breeze, under the furtive eyes of the shaky green leaf. The brown robe speaks first, while looking at the mountains in the distant.

“So we are back here eh?”, Plato in the brown robe says.

“Looks like. Or should I use the modern day phrase Appears so?“, the white robe replies solemnly.

“Quite some time has passed since we last figured here. What do you think might have changed?”

“A lot. And the same time, nothing at all”, Socrates speaks in a fluent diction without any hesitation whatsoever.

Alright, time to ask the question, thinks Plato.
“And what does that mean?”

“Time is a concept of the mind, of the universe, of the atom. It stands still when you do nothing, it moves when you try to measure it.”

“Didn’t know it was all that simple. Anyway, so we are back here and free to do what we want, once again.”

“Freedom is nothing. And freedom is everything”, said the white one has he moved towards one of the open corridors on his right. There, hanging from the top of the flat roof, was a cage with a bright green talking parrot. Plato never quite understood what the talking parrot spoke. Probably because it always spoke Greek.

Plato, trying to one-up his master, “Isn’t freedom a great thing to have?”

“Depends”, answered Socrates who was instantly unhappy with himself for using that word which was made popular by new age MBA graduates.

“Freedom is a perception, like the rest of the world”, Socrates added to cover up for his earlier answer.

“Of course not. I mean, look at this parrot. Wouldn’t it be happy to be let free? Wouldn’t it love to have the freedom to fly above the mountains and eat fresh green yucky things crawling on those lovely trees out there?”

“What if the parrot is in love with the cage?”, Socrates asked.

A momentary pause sets in and tries to restrain time from flowing. Plato experiences that sublime enlightenment moment which he has by now got used to.

What if the parrot is in love with the cage, Plato thinks to himself.
“Ah, I get it master. If the parrot is in love with the cage, then he being free out there in the mountains eating those fresh green yucky things crawling on those lovely trees wouldn’t make him happy would it? Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Freedom is a perception. Brilliant.”

“You used the word happy in what you just said. Now happiness is a different story, for some other day.”

“Yeah. So, we are in love with this place and that is our freedom”, says Plato.

“Yeah”, says Socrates and walks off into the corridors which have had the privilege to serve this profound master of knowledge for so many years.

“Yeah. We love this place. We are free”, Plato murmured to himself as though familiarizing something to remember for long.

They both walk off into the depths of the corridor to discuss happiness, which, of course will be a different story here.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the return.

Previous Socrates and Plato posts:1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ,13 , 14

The popular dubbing right now, I am told by a close friend, goes as ‘Singh is King’. The UPA government managed to scrape through and is now in power without the nudging Left.

I watched bits of the debate and it was appalling to see the stature of politicians who have the nation’s blood supply in their hands. Although Manmohan Singh did not get a chance to speak, he submitted his speech to the Speaker, and which is now made available for the public.

Read the entire speech here (I highly recommend you do so).

The conclusion of the speech stands out brilliantly:

The Management and governance of the world’s largest, most diverse and most vibrant democracy is the greatest challenge any person can be entrusted with, in this world. It has been my good fortune that I was entrusted with this challenge over four years ago. I thank with all sincerity the Chairperson of the UPA, the leaders of the Constituent Parties of the UPA and every member of my Party for the faith and trust they reposed in me. I once again recall with gratitude the guidance and support I have received from Shri Jyoti Basu and Sardar Harkishen Singh Surjeet.

I have often said that I am a politician by accident. I have held many diverse responsibilities. I have been a teacher, I have been an official of the Government of India, I have been a member of this greatest of Parliaments, but I have never forgotten my life as a young boy in a distant village.

Every day that I have been Prime Minister of India I have tried to remember that the first ten years of my life were spent in a village with no drinking water supply, no electricity, no hospital, no roads and nothing that we today associate with modern living. I had to walk miles to school, I had to study in the dim light of a kerosene oil lamp. This nation gave me the opportunity to ensure that such would not be the life of our children in the foreseeable future.

Sir, my conscience is clear that on every day that I have occupied this high office, I have tried to fulfill the dream of that young boy from that distant village.

The greatness of democracy is that we are all birds of passage! We are here today, gone tomorrow! But in the brief time that the people of India entrust us with this responsibility, it is our duty to be honest and sincere in the discharge of these responsibilities. As it is said in our sacred texts, we are responsible for our actions and we must act without coveting the rewards of such action. Whatever I have done in this high office I have done so with a clear conscience and the best interests of my country and our people at heart. I have no other claims to make.

To give a personal opinion, I stand for the nuclear deal. Hence, I am glad that the UPA got the go ahead to pursue the deal.

Since the past few days, I have been working on a personal project of mine and that sort of explains the lack of frequent posting here. I am happy to say that it is now available for a quick peek: The Better India (http://www.thebetterindia.com)

I am re-producing the write-up I have written on The Better India, explaining its existence:

On a day to day basis we have been reading the Indian newspapers and magazines. Almost all of them devote their prime space to negative stories. Stories of murder, arson, scandals and gossip. However, we found that hidden inside, in the deep annals of these publications are the happier stories. Stories, to use a cliched phrase, that kindle your heart and tell you that all is not lost.

The Better India is an attempt to bring out those happy stories, those unsung heroes and heroines, those small good deeds, and showcase them to the world. Over here, you will be able to read about the incremental progress being done by the industrious people of this country, the developments happening on the social and economic front. We hope that by showcasing these here, we might be able to inspire at least one amongst you, the readers, to do something that leaves an impact. Small or big. But, an impact.

Some of the features on The Better India include a way to submit articles related to the theme that you, dear reader, might come across and want to see featured on The Better India. Feel free to explore the content there and I would request you to provide your feedback by leaving your comments here on this blog. (I haven’t yet enabled commenting on The Better India, since it is under development).

Ladies and gentlemen, The Better India
And yes, feedback solicited. Please.

A few months ago, I had written about a radio program aired on AIR (All India Radio), titled “Manthan”.

Another program that the Mrs. and I try to catch if we are driving back during that time is Hawa Mahal, which is also aired on AIR (102.9 FM) at 8 pm every week day.

Hawa Mahal showcases 15 minutes radio plays written by various play writers. These are usually repeats of what has been broadcasted over the past many years, some of them dating back 20 – 25 years ago.

Most of these plays try to address social mindsets which prevailed at that time. Widow re-marriage, scarcity of jobs and other such issues which the middle class faced in the late 70s and early 80s of India. The best thing about the plays is they way they are rendered. A lot of attention is given to minute of details. The rattling of tea cups when a prospective bride serves tea to the visiting boy, the sounds of busy markets in the backgrounds when a babu goes shopping for his wife – all these make for a great session of play listening. It takes you back to an era away from the modern day India where the joys of living were simple and desires of men and women were easily met within the constraints of an evolving and struggling society.

The next time you are stuck in traffic and want an escape route to go back to an era that you only faintly remember through memories of brilliant serials like Nukkad and Buniyaad, go ahead and switch to All India Radio at 8 pm. Those 15 minutes will be well worth your time.

This was something expected with the rapid rate of construction and infrastructure development taking place in the country.
Eric Bellman and Jackie Richie write in this article of The Mint about how the lack of safety standards is affecting the construction industry.

When Subhash Rathod piled his pregnant wife, some blankets, vegetables and a stove into a small truck for the 15-hour drive from their village to Mumbai, the couple joined a wave of rural workers on the front lines of India’s building boom.

A labour contractor had persuaded Rathod and about 50 others from the village of Gandhari to make better money—about Rs170 a day—building a warehouse.

A couple of months later, one of the towering warehouse walls collapsed, killing 14 villagers and injuring more than 50 others. Rathod’s wife, brother, sister and sister-in-law all died in the accident.

It is saddening to note that most construction workers are illiterate and hence are unaware of the safety standards that they are entitled to.

Read the article here.