children's day and current realities

Yesterday I helped my son to write a page on children’s day celebration. Finally he told me that there had to be closing remarks of few lines. I searched the net and found some ideas that could be used for closing but then I told him that he could close it a little differently by highlighting the fact that crores of children in our country do not get two square meals a day. In today’s context the basic necessities are just not Roti, Kapda or Makan but must include decent education and reasonable health care facilities. While on one hand we celebrate the children’s day with lot of enthusiasm on the other hand we hardly even worry about the plight of majority of children. Today there was article in the newspaper that Karnataka state cabinet had organized a cabinet meeting in North Karnataka and spent more than a crore for this event. Interestingly, more than 28 lac was spent only on decoration. How can a country like ours afford such wasteful and ridiculous extravaganza? Few days ago there was a criticism on the CEO’s pay in the private sector. The CEO in a private sector is not looting public money. They are responsible and accountable for their performance. They can’t get that salary unless they generate it. The ministers will do well to focus on the way the public money gets spent in this country. In the corporate world everyone’s including that of the CEO the compensation is based on CTC. If we calculate the same way our political leaders get much more than the CEOs in the private sectors barring a few exceptions like Ambanis. Yesterday there was another news item that mentioned about number of statues of YSR to be installed across the city. I was surprised to know that this is not just a onetime expenditure but the govt. spend Rs 30000 per year on each statue. The saga of statue expenses in UP by Mayawati of course beggars description. I am not sure if Nehru would have been very pleased with fate of children of this country or YSR would have wanted his statues to be installed irrespective of the total cost (taking a total cost of ownership perspective) involved. Somehow this reminds me of a poem we had studied in the school that describes how the statue of the Ozymandius was lying in the desert broken and defaced. Recently an advertisement is being aired on TV that 35kg of rice and wheat each is available at a very nominal price for the families that are below poverty line though it doesn’t reach the intended people. The ad exhorts the people to wake up. But what these people will do? I come from a place full of tribals who are extremely poor and illiterate. I wonder how many of them will have access to any advertising media or how many of them will even understand any recognized language like Oriya. The system has to deliver proactively what is rightfully thiers. In those days also there was a PDS and used to be known as control shop. Getting license of a control shop used to be like winning a lottery; access to easy money without effort. Everyone involved in the process is aware of the facts. While these people should be aware of the benefits they are entitled to the govt. should take proactive steps to prevent such heinous crimes against the destitute. The important thing is to establish a clear and simple grievance redressal system that is proactive and effective. Recently I had a discussion with one of my friends and he told me that biometric system though very sophisticated doesn't work well for daily laborers. So to find a solution that will work best under the prevailing circumstances is also a big challenge. What has worked in developed countries may not be useful in our villages. Jago Grahak Jago though necessary is not enough: as the grahaks in this case can hardly stand up against a powerful system. It is not easy to fight the vultures who make illegal money out of food meant for destitutes that live below the poverty line as defined in India.
All this is done with hard earned money of the tax payers who work day and night to earn a living and have to pay one third of their income as tax. How does he feel when that money is spent like this? Then our leaders instead of ensuring that allocated money is spent as planned, impose more tax, surcharge, cess etc. etc. On the other hand there is corruption that has given rise to a parallel economy and reckless expenditure. An honest man is getting hammered from all sides. As Gandhiji had rightly said there is enough for everyone’s need but there can be never be enough for even one man’s greed. We as a nation have to stop our own leaders with gargantuan egos and even bigger greed.

first step of any change is recognition of need

In an advertisement by Hero Honda the chief engineer who is young and rides a hero Honda bike inaugurates the flyover as the chief guest is late for more than an hour and there is a long queue of vehicles including an ambulance. It feels good in a country of VIPs where ordinary people live like 4th class citizens; class 1 being the top leaders, govt. officials; class 2 being the other leaders, next level govt. officials and the rich & famous, class 3 being the ones who have close contact with leaders and bureaucrats. There is also a large group that fights for day-to-day survival and doesn’t have any class at all (classless) and is completely at the mercy of other classes. The above may explain why lot of sensible guys and girls prefer to be second class citizens in a more sensible country where they can focus on their work and life without the need to satisfy the gargantuan egos of our VIPs directly or indirectly.
One wishes such a scenario where people’s life is not dependent on the whims and fancies of our VIPs would become a reality, but as of now one can see it only in an advertisement. One of today’s news items reflects the reality very well. Lot of inconvenience was caused when the Hyderabad airport was shifted to Shamshabad from Begumpet even though in the long run this shift was desirable. Work on the PV Narasimha expressway commenced in September 2006 and everyone has been waiting when this will be operational. However, though has been complete since 10 days it is yet to be operational and of all things the reason is the name of the expressway. MIM and few others will not let this be inaugurated unless the name is changed to YSR from PV Narasimha Rao. Can one imagine this kind of absurd thing happening in any democratic country?
The other day there was news about Karan Johar being forced to apologize to Raj for using Bombay instead of Mumbai in one of his films. Isn’t that ridiculous? If people like Amitabh and Karan have to apologize for no fault of theirs then one can imagine the plight of ordinary people. The Maharashtra CM suggested that Karan should have lodged a complaint. Who in his right mind will do that? Everyone knows that Raj has complete support of Congress govt. as they have their own agenda of using Raj to fight Shiv Sena in the election. In 2008 our family along with the family of my brother-in-law had gone to ooty, Coorg, Mysore etc. for around 2 weeks. On our return they found their house was broken into. The culprits were perhaps small time thieves who fortunately were not able to break into their bedroom. I wanted by them to lodge a police complaint. But the builder who is a leader advised him not to as his reputation would be hampered. My brother-in-law also spoke to one of his relatives who is a lawyer and he also advised not to lodge a complaint without having some close contacts in the upper echelons of the police department. Being a little idealistic I was disappointed as I thought such inaction would encourage these thieves. However, he was proved right in not going to the police subsequently when he lost his mobile. Just to lodge a report which was compulsory as the mobile was provided by the company he had to visit the police station 2-3 times, spend hours and of course bribe one or two guys. If a General Manager of Satyam (incident was much before Raju made his confession) is scared of going to the police and rightly so, one can imagine the plight of classless people.
Looks like, we can only take solace in advertisements and imagination. Another advertisement is by TATA tea where people are advised not pay bribe. It may hold good for cases where we want to bribe proactively to have an unfair advantage, but what about the case where you don’t have a choice. Recently my uncle had come for an angiogram and we went to the Apollo Hospital. I had got in touch with a senior officer in International Marketing through a friend of mine and while in hospital I met him and during the course of our discussion I came to know that the foreigners who come for treatment have to register themselves at the local police station. So these people often spend 2-3 days standing in long queues simply because they are completely unaware of the norms and no one will openly tell them about it. The norm is that you have to pay a few hundred to get that registration done. You have to khilao as you are at the receiving end and the guy on the other side has nothing to lose. Another point is that patients come as individuals whereas the police can act as a group and hence can easily impose their norms. The dependency and the urgency are too one sided. So the claim that officials are taking bribe because people are giving it is far from the truth. The only way such practices can be stopped is severe and timely punishment starting right at the top.
Yesterday there was one news item that India narrowly missed a second Nobel Prize. I was wondering which one was the first. Somehow, we have accepted that India can be credited with the Nobel Prize for Chemistry awarded to Venky Ramakrishnan even though his higher study, his work or even his citizenship are all outside India. We all know that if he had continued to work in India he never would have won this prize. We all know how whims and fancies of our leaders like Arjun Singh can spoil our great institutions like IIMs and IITs. His award should point out the weakness in our system because of which even if we have capable and talented people we are not able to make the desired progress in the field science, technology and fundamental research. Instead we believe that India should be credited for his achievement and continue to deceive ourselves. I believe the first step in bringing in any change is to recognize the fact something is not quite right and needs improvement. In that we need to be honest, courageous and transparent. Turning our weaknesses into strength only by pretension will not help but will only worsen the prevailing undesirable circumstances.
The other day swamy Ramdev was telling that we should stop learning English and focus on our mother tongue as our constitution recognizes 22 languages. I have great respect for baba Ramdev and his selfless work and effort to improve the health and happiness all over the world. It is also true that the British introduced English in this country for their own benefit, but we should not throw it out just because it is a foreign language. That way the British also got us the railway, post & telegraph system for their own benefit. To throw these things out will be like throwing the baby with the bath water. We have successfully thrown out the bath water but let us keep the baby for our own good. We should not harm ourselves just to get even with someone for some past wrongs. Language is a primary means to establish an independent identity of a group and to differentiate it from the others. We should adopt English precisely because we have 22 recognized languages and if we add the unrecognized ones the number will be a few hundreds. How can this country be united without a common language? Only viable option is English. At the same time our mother tongue should also get due recognition and continue to flourish. I have studied in Oriya medium till college. Subsequently I studied science and then engineering where the focus on English language is very less. In fact I remember my first day in college and the chemistry lecturer asked me the definition of an element. I knew the definition conceptually but I was not able to express myself in English as we had studied science in Oriya till then. I find the system followed in my son’s school ideal. Their first language is English, second language is either Telugu or Hindi and third language is French. In fact, we should learn one or two foreign languages besides our mother tongue and English so that we can make our presence felt in the global arena. A global language or something like esperanto is perhaps the need of the hour. Till that becomes a reality we should try to teach our children 3-4 languages. Another could be Spanish with which one can manage in all South American countries.
The point is to be realistic and focus on the future. Let us be honest with ourselves. It is important to have an open and flexible mindset which doesn’t mean that we compromise in any way on our fundamental values and culture. We need to recognize the short comings and have a definite plan to improve rather than sweeping them under the carpet and pretend that everything is hunky dory.

VIP culture in India

If corruption comes at the top in the list of impediments to the growth of India our VIP mentality comes a close second. Though we gain independence more than 60 years ago and we claim to be the largest democracy in the world our mindset is far from democratic. The case of Dr. Kalam being frisked by an airline is a case in point. Dr. Kalam himself acted in a very dignified manner and instead of learning from him our leaders are unnecessarily making a hue and cry. One hopes they will demonstrate the same enthusiasm and energy while dealing with real problems facing our country today. Why can't our leaders take a professional approach to their responsibility? They should enjoy whatever benefits they are entitled to in their respective office but outside of that they should not expect any special treatment. In today's world how we can afford not to check so many individuals in the name of VIP status. Most of our leaders including cabinet ministers have criminal records, quite a few of them have been charged with heinous crimes like rape, kidnapping and murder. They have used their passports for human trafficking in the past. How these people can be allowed to fly without checking? This mindset of trying to be above law or process should be discouraged at all levels. While the list of persons who are exempt from checking includes all by their position one notable exception is Robert Vadra. By the way who is Robert Vadra? What is the unique position he holds or what is his contribution to this country? In the past only eminent people used to be chosen for the post of the President. However, recently most of them have been political appointees. Dr. Kalam is an exception. If at all a few need to exempted that should be limited only to the current President, the Chief Justice Of India and three defence chiefs. Let us accept our position and responsibility with a professional mindset rather than a colonial mindset and focus on our work rather than seeking special status and privileges. Our leaders should follow the examples of Lalbahadur and Dr. Kalam rather than use their names to score political brownie points.

Thank God Obama is the President of the USA

Last week I was surfing the news channels for some news on Satyam when Obama’s speech was being telecast live in one of the channels and I continue to watch him. I found quite a few things very impressive about his speech.
He has clear priorities, vision and action plan.
He is fundamentally strong, has clarity of thought and he knows what he is talking about.
He is analytical and willing to tackle difficult situations rather than avoiding them or sweeping them under the carpet. He proactively responded to his critics and explained why he was doing what he was doing.
He set very realistic expectation and didn’t paint a rosy picture as most politicians tend to do. He is aware of his responsibility and obligations.
He is not constrained by his tenure and thinks long-term.
He is honest, well intentioned and has courage of conviction. He admitted that it was frustrating bailing out AIG but there was no better choice left.
His speech was in complete contrast with that of our politicians during this election time. Our politicians are engaged in mud slinging or rather it is more than mud that is getting slung.
He emphasized on the need to improve governance especially in the financial sector, improve standard of education and making it accessible to all and ensure good medical facilities for all besides renewable energy and another important issue. He said that for long-term competitiveness they needed engineers and scientists. We should learn from this direction that USA is taking rather then blindly follow the west in all these aspects. Our politicians support investment through p-notes instead of bringing in complete transparency into all financial transactions. Avoidance of tax by innovative methods should completely be stopped. Education and health have been completely commercialized. One is linked to our children and the other is to our health and people will do everything within their capability to ensure that they get the best. Because of this sentiment today there is open loot in these two sectors. In education it is not just the admission or annual fees but every possible source of income that includes books, uniform, and transport is being used to the hilt. In one very famous school students can’t bring food from home and are forced to buy it on the school premises. Even at this time of recession when many have got pink slips or a cut in their salary, most schools have increased fees according to their sweet will. There seems to be no restrictions. Parents have little choice but to pay through their nose. During our days we hardly used to buy a new book as any book once released used to be prescribed for a few years and one could manage with old books. These days one can find new versions released every year with minor change or rearrangement of chapters so that every year students have to buy a new set of books. When I joined IIM in 1992 the year the fees were increased from Rs.6000 to Rs.15000 for the first time. I had already worked for 2 years and I thought I could manage Rs.30000 in two years though it was much more than what it used to be. Again next year it was increased to Rs.27000. Thanks to some stipend for summer training, some arrear from SAIL and additional help from my elder brothers that helped me to gather this unplanned amount. In the current situation people from similar background can’t afford to go to IIM. The financial help provided by the IIMs has also increased but I don’t know if it is sufficient. Just a few decades back the only thing that mattered was one’s merit and if one had that he could aspire to study in the best institutions. Today things have changed and very soon higher education will be out of the reach of the poor. While giving an example of how one shouldn’t compromise on long-term vision and rather should forego a few luxuries if there is a need to tighten the belt Obama mentioned about education of children. That reminded me the only focus that my parents had was our education. When my father retired in 1971 pension was meager and ours was a large family. I was not old enough to start going to school. The only asset he had built was a house at Baripada, a small town in Orissa which had decent educational facilities. Because of that vision and commitment today all of us are reasonably well established. The teachers in those days used to go out of their way to encourage and help meritorious students. All of us have benefited from the fact that teachers were willing to give us tuitions for free or taking payment only when we received our scholarship. These days tuitions and coaching are also big business. Today the money I spend in one year for my daughter who has just joined LKG in a reasonably inexpensive school in Hyderabad is more than what I might have spent till I completed my engineering from REC Rourkela. When USA is worried about their education system and wants to change it drastically why do we continue to ape their model?
The current scenario in medical is extremely disturbing. In the last few decades the number of diseases and their frequency of occurrence have gone up many folds. Though we grew up in a much smaller town (the first city I visited was Ranchi after appearing in my matriculation exam) perhaps the environment and quality of life were much better. During our childhood days there were large unoccupied fields everywhere and we used to play a lot apart from other exercises like walking and cycling to school or anywhere else. These days I stay in a very low profile but spacious apartment with lot of open space compared to most flats. But even then there is not enough place for the children to play. My daughter who has just joined LKG needs to go to school at around 8 AM and shall be back around 3 PM. Isn’t it a little too much for a kid of 4 years? When we contacted the school authorities though they agreed with our view point we were told that in most cases both the parents are working they have this extended time. My son has been in the same school for the last 6 years and I know that this school is actually better than most others in terms of homework etc. However, I wonder if the need of the child shouldn’t take precedence over everything else. But barring one or two exception most schools are like that; so one doesn’t have a choice really. I am not sure if not having a TV was actually a blessing in disguise. These days the number of tests that a child appears in one class is perhaps more than that I might have taken to complete professional courses. Lack of open spaces and fresh air, pollution, and a stressful lifestyle that starts quite early have added to sickness and diseases that were unheard of. Decent medical facilities have become very expensive. One wonders if the consultant doctors in the private hospitals have their targets for room occupancy, expensive tests done and overall revenue generation. Most doctors either own or have some arrangement with test centers and medicine stores. Just in case you have a medical insurance, the doctors will ensure that they squeeze you as much as possible. The doctors seem to be greedier than the business leaders in the corporate sector. In fact, most good hospitals are actually managed by corporate groups and with complete deterioration of standard in govt run hospitals people don’t have a choice.
When US president is talking about complete revamp of their educational and medical system I think it is time we stopped and learnt from their experience as there is no point in following a path that has not led to desirable results. I hope that our leaders will take a cue from Obama and seriously look into the issues of education, health and corruption.
Obama also talked about moving towards saving and investment culture from borrow and spend culture. Unfortunately we in India are bent upon doing just the reverse with ample support from the credit cards issued by the foreign banks. Long back Yudhisthir had replied to the yakshya that the happiest person is the one who doesn’t have any debt and had saved his brothers.
Lastly one hopes that with increased focus on domestic front and a true democratic spirit that Obama has USA would stop establishing its hegemony over the whole world by hook or by crook. While having a strong democracy for their own country most of its leaders have supported oppressive autocratic govt. throughout the world. Most of the today’s terrorist organizations are actually like Frankenstein created by its explicit and tacit support. Look at how Pakistan has become a victim of its own dangerous game. The means and end can never be separated as the end is essentially a manifestation of the means that one adopts. One hopes that USA will play a more responsible role and will help the world to become a better place. Hence, a truly democratic leader like Obama is good news for all countries including India.

Nano makes us proud

Nano is a big achievement not only for Mr. Ratan Tata and the TATA group but also for India. Nano has been launched at a time such that it can change the rules of the game in the Global Automobile Industry. As an Indian I am very proud of it as despite all the developments in the last few decades there are very few occasions where we can take credit for originality. We the people of India seem to be comfortable following the developed countries. Cielo was the first foreign car to be launched in India. Later on I joined Daewoo Motors and when I visited South Korea I realized it was one of their very old models and was being phased out there. Today we have many western models but the overall business strategy of these MNCs is not very different. Despite all the hypes about Indian IT industry we are hardly doing anything that can be considered game changing. The industry is very profitable as there is no capital investment, there is tax benefit as it is export oriented and the earning is in dollars whereas most of the expenses are in INR. Over the last few decades the basic business model has not changed even though the revenue has gone up many folds. On the other hand there could be a little shift towards BPO related income. There are Indians in MNCs who have contributed immensely to this knowledge industry. But the Indian companies are comfortable with the low risk and high return model where the payback is almost immediate. Nano has forced even developed countries around the world to take notice of our engineering capability. Day before yesterday even the president of US emphasized the fact that a country needs good engineers and scientists to remain competitive in the long run.

Looking at the increased demand for fuel and its prices, stupendous rise in pollution across the globe, traffic congestion in many cities in India and abroad, Nano couldn’t have come at a better time. Of course, it always could have been launched earlier. I hope that the fuel efficiency and emission standard of this car can be further improved. At present most of us may need a bigger car for weekend travel needs but Nano can very well meet the requirement of working days. I hope that our government will work with equal commitment and enthusiasm to improve our public transport system so that most of our travel related problems will be addressed in the coming years.

News and analyst reports

In good old days we used consider news reporters as reliable source of information assuming that these guys must have done their homework before broadcasting anything to the general public. They shape public opinion or significantly influence the same. So one would expect that they would be aware of their responsibility that goes with the power they have. But unfortunately there are too many channels resulting in too much competition and as the saying goes “everything is fair in love and war” and competition in any field has become akin to war. So instead of reporting news at times they create news or at least sensationalize it without any consideration of ethics, truth and fairness.

This was very well depicted in the movie “Mumbai Meri Jaan”. This movie besides other things has brought out well this aspect of our current society. This movie reminded me of an interview by a TV reporter just after the Tsunami. This reporter was interviewing a lady on live TV who had come to Thiruventhapuram along with her husband and son. This was their first trip in the last 25 years and it was extremely unfortunate that she had lost both of them in the tsunami that took the whole nation by surprise. The reporter was asking her if she would remember this day for the rest of her life. It was so disgusting and sickening. Another incident was the bomb blast in the local trains of Mumbai. One lady who is a very senior member of a TV channel was proclaiming that this was huge and you could see from her face that she was pretty excited perhaps because they had got something to report about for next 24 hours or may be more.

Satyam episode actually opened my eyes to the possibility of unreliability and falsehood in reporting by newspapers, TV channels and analysts. I was very surprised to see The Economic Times resorting to such reporting day after day. I read in one of the blogs that Infosys has holding in this group and hence it didn’t flinch away from reporting lies and damn lies. I am not sure whether Infosys has any holding in Times group or not but possibility of some hidden agenda can’t be ruled out. Now there is an analyst who felt that there might not be any bidder for Satyam and his latest claim is that Satyam is overstaffed by more than 18000 employees. I don’t know how these figures are arrived at. Once you mention a specific number it is very tempting to assume that the concerned person must have done his analysis and to take the figure for granted.

Let us do some simple calculations and let us take Infosys which is considered to be the best in the Indian industry as the reference. Infosys declared its result yesterday and its annual revenue is USD 4.66 billion and its current manpower stands at 105000. If we discount the manipulation that was done by Raju Satyam’s revenue should have been USD 1.8 billion. After his shocking confession in January quite a few clients have cancelled their contracts and currently the revenue is USD 1.5 billion. More such cancellations are expected that may bring down the revenue to USD 1.3 billion. The current manpower at Satyam is 43500. Rest 4500 includes subsidiaries, contract and subcontracts. I hope that the number given by Infosys doesn’t include contracts and subcontracts. Taking a simple proportion the number works out to be 40550, 33800, and 29300 respectively. If we allow some margin for economy of scale that Infosys enjoys and also the fact that it has higher billing rate then number could be 35000 as things stand today or 32000 in the worst case scenario. So the excess resources using Infosys as reference is only 11000 to 12000.

However, we still need news-reporting and analyst reports, but there is a need to use our own judgment or cross check its veracity. Ignorance may not be bliss but believing in something that is not true can also be dangerous.

Varun, EC and criteria for contesting elections

The decision of the Election Commissioner advising BJP no to field Varun as a candidate is on one hand a very welcome decision, but on the other hand it is an emotional reaction rather than a professional judgment. We all agree that candidates like Varun are not good for our country but at the same time institutions like the EC or the Judiciary have to be transparent, fair and consistent. They need to avoid a few typical pitfalls like the recency effect. If Varun’s speech is unacceptable then what about the communal, partisan or incendiary speeches made by so many other leaders in the past? More importantly if persons with criminal record and who have been charged with serious crimes like murder, rape, arson, rioting can contest election then why not Varun Gandhi? In fact, winning an election is a proven path to put your past behind and move ahead. If Arun Gawli could contest and win an election, then why others be not allowed the same privilege? Arun Gawli is just one example. 30-40% of all candidates should be debarred from contesting elections on the ground of their criminal record. Unfortunately our constitution was written by eminent people who could not have imagined in their wildest dreams the current state of affairs in politics and our leaders who pretend to serve this country and its people. Going by the prevalent practices of that era they put very simple criteria to qualify as a candidate. It is high time amendment was done to reflect the needs of the changing times. Only people with clean record should be allowed to contest and hold public office. In case of controversial candidates like Sanjay Dutt, Shibu Soren and so many others, the country would do well to err on the safe side by not allowing such candidates to contest elections or hold public office. Till such time, to single out Varun is not only unfair but also a little premature.

slumdog, underbelly, awards, marketing and Gandhi

Last week I went to see slumdog millionaire along with a good friend. After so much hype on both sides it was difficult to avoid this movie. Most of the reviews rated it as four and half star out of five whereas on the other hand there was strong criticism that it had exploited the dark underbelly of India to the hilt. We thought apart from the pleasure of watching an all time great movie that has got 10 nominations for Oscar it will also provide an understanding of the ills that exist in our country. We were disappointed on both these aspects. Overall movie, story, direction and acting wise it was quite ordinary especially when compared to "A Wednesday" or "Taare Zameen Par" and many others. I also don’t understand the reactions of critics regarding the portrayal of the dark underbelly of India. On every aspect we have much better movies where a particular aspect has been depicted in detail. Life in a slum has been depicted very well in Chakra, an acknowledged master piece in Indian Cinema. Let us remember that be it slums, communal violence, prostitution, police torture, underworld, we have better movies that has dealt with an issue in more depth and the ground reality is much worse. Except perhaps the scene of the child coming out through the toilet which was at best disgusting there is no other aspect that was negative enough to justify the hue and cry. Even there, the reality is worse as just two days back I read a news report in the Hindu that a child died when he fell into an open septic tank in Hyderabad. As Mark Twain has rightly pointed out “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't”. What was surprising is not the fact that the movie was quite ordinary but the fact that none of the reviewers dared to give it a lesser rating (I am not sure if we have seen all the ratings). Is it because they are in awe of the awards that the movie has already won or is expected to win? We tend to take awards too seriously. While awards are good we should not forget that each award has been constituted by a particular group and a set of people decide whether someone wins it or not and as we have seen in the past they may have their own agenda. When the corporations from the west were looking for the huge market in India we suddenly started winning consecutive awards of Miss World and Miss Universe. That is not to say that the winners didn’t deserve it but one wonders if it was merit alone or they were at the right place at the right time. This year Padma award was given to someone under the category of culture by mistake. Even Harbhajan who was suspended by IPL and BCCI for slapping a teammate on the field was also selected for a padma award the highest honor in India. So while getting any established award is a good thing we should not forget that there could be aberrations and we should not be afraid to give our independent opinion lest we should look stupid in case it gets selected for a big award. Talking about awards let us remember that even nobel prize has received serious criticism on many occasions including the fact that Gandhi was never selected for the peace prize whereas Henry Kissinger went on to win it. That doesn’t reduce the stature of Gandhi but rather puts a question mark on the nobility of the nobel committee. I of course am not a great admirer of Gandhi as a leader though I think he was a great individual. It takes a lot of wisdom, character and conviction to stitch a pair of sandal for a jailer of the jail in which you have been incarcerated. However at the same time one can’t ignore his reaction to the defeat of Dr. Pattabhi Sitaramayya by Subhash Bose in 1939 and the fact that Nehru became the first Prime Minister of this country even though Sardar Patel was chosen by 13 of the 16 Pradesh Committees. How could a man like Gnadhi who could make the greatest sacrifice for the country failed to overcome his weakness for Nehru and put him above the interest of the nation? It has been several decades since both Gandhi and Nehru have died. Even today lot of us sincerely believe that Nehru was a great leader whereas the truth is that if we had a good leader in the formative years, India would have been a much better country now. Gandhi was the ultimate marketing guru. Propaganda Minister Joel Goebel demonstrated the potency of propaganda if done effectively. Congress party has exploited that to the hilt. Not that other parties are any better. A nation completely bruised and disillusioned under the draconian rule of Mrs. Gandhi during the emergency chose Janata Dal as its alternative and was betrayed by its shameless leaders who were more interested in the Kursi than healing the wounds of the citizens. Who siad that you can't fool all the people all the time? In fact you don't need to as long as you can fool enough to win the next election and once you win you decide what gets propagated and what gets suppressed. The marketing success of Om Shanti Om and Ghajini is nothing compared to what Gandhi was able to achieve. In any case let all wish that Slumdog Millionaire wins a few Oscars so that a few Indians will achieve the feat and we shall also not worry too much about not winning an Oscar so far. This will also provide some sort benchmark and we can continue to make movies like Taare Zameen Par that we know are btter than the benchmark. Let us also realize that the real underbelly of India lies elsewhere hidden behind our success. What is really disturbing is that we think a student scoring 95.5% is more brilliant or capable than another who has got 95% and a person with a bank balance of few millions is more worthy than another whose networth is negligible. A society where parents are driving their children crazy to score that extra 0.5%, corruption has become a way of life and you are admired as long as you are not caught is the real underbelly that needs to be dealt with. UBS was sued by US and would pay $780 million as penalty apart from disclosing the names of many secret account holders as part of an agreement to avoid prosecution. If we want to really see our underbelly then we should also put pressure on Swiss banks to release the names of leaders having secret accounts there. After all we have more money in Switzerland than any other country. Even a real investigation into Satyam saga without fear or favor can show us our real underbelly to a great extent. Incidentally Raju/Satyam has won many awards including the one for Corporate Governance. This underbelly is not only dark but also frighetening. Let us not refrain from making our independent analysis lest we should appear foolish as that is the essence of democratic spirit.

Ragging and college administration

The honorable Supreme Court has termed ragging as violation of Human Rights as it is in most cases. This should have been viewed as such long time back but then as the saying goes "better late than never". In fact, in number of cases ragging has resulted in death of young and bright students and in such cases the seniors involved should be tried for murder. Even if it is no so extreme in most cases it causes tremendous psychological damage apart from the loss of self esteem. However, the honorable court has only mentioned about a cut in the grants in cases where institutions attempt to protect the guilty. Is that enough? The head of the institution and other administrators directly responsible should face serious charges and direct punishment. In quite a few very renowned institutions some senior persons in charge abet, encourage and at times are directly involved in such heinous activities. It is just not possible to have ragging in most institutes as widespread as it is today without the tacit/active support from the administration.

When I joined REC Rourkela in 1986 the treatment meted out to the 1st year students was horrible and most of us were treated as animals or hard core criminals. There was a professor who was the master mind behind all such activities and was considered to be the right hand man of the then principal. The principal had excellent educational credentials but perhaps was low on personal value system. Unfortunately in our country we focus too much on ability to clear an exam rather than personal values. This particular professor prided himself on the fact that everyone referred to him as DADA (meaning goonda).

The nexus became very clear in one incident where this dada and the principal both had come to address the 1st year students in the hostel of the final year students. After some formal speech and pep talk both of them quietly left, leaving these deer at the mercy of the tigers and our ordeal lasted for a few hours. What happened there, was nothing compared to what was in store for us subsequently and that lasted for more than a year.

When it happened in second year we thought it was too much and started protesting. The 3rd year students with help from the final year students attacked us one night. It was so serious that many students had to be hospitalized and a few of them were in ICU for a few hours if I remember correctly. After that the college was closed sine die and reopened after a month or two. The experience was so traumatic for a few that they used to have nightmares in the hostel even after such a long time. I am sure this massive exercise could not have been carried out without dada’s support. The pressure on the administration was so much the institute had to suspend the leaders of 3rd year and final year for one year which was very mild under the circumstances. No action was taken against the persons in charge of administration including the principal. You see, this was the most reputed institution in Orissa and its prestige had to be protected at any cost. Cost of the life of a few students who are ordinary citizens is as usual a very small price. There is another college in Burla where the situation was so bad that some students joined REC even if it meant loss of one year.

The real surprise came a few years later when I met this leader of final year at the residence of my elder brother who is in the Indian Railways. This guy had joined Railways and my brother had invited him for lunch. The leader of 3rd year got into IIM. The dada went on to become the principal of one of the engineering colleges in Orissa. After all, they had demonstrated the so called leadership qualities in their ability to formulate a strategy, a plan and execute it ruthlessly. In a fiercely competitive world who has the time to find out the purpose, objective, values and methods employed? Isn’t that an indication that you can do anything and get away with it especially if you are part of "you scratch my back and I scratch yours" mutually beneficial and admiring society? I am sure the fact that these students were suspended for ragging and beating up students mercilessly was somehow managed with dada's blessing so that it didn't affect their future career. There were quite a few who didn't participate in this fanatic endeavor. There was also my good friend Ajit Panda who dared to oppose this and showed tremendous courage of conviction. He was locked up inside a room and was neutralised. Fortunately he was a very good student and had the respect of lot of people owing to which perhaps he escaped a more harsher punishment for his rebellion against his own batch. Incidentally he is also with the Indian Railways. People like him still provide hope in a country that has been plundered and ravaged for centuries more by its own citizens than outsiders.

I had an opposite experience in IIM Ahmedabad where the 2nd year students took us for a ride with open help from a few professors and it lasted only for half a day. Though at that point of time it was a little embarrasing initially, at the end it was fun and everyone enjoyed it. Even today that incident can make me laugh and that is the way it should be.

Sports and Professionalism

Sport is a great way to build character and spirit. To watch Roger and Nadal who are great rivals conduct themselves the way they did after Roger lost to Nadal in the recently concluded Australian Open was a privilege and an example. The match was great but watching these two great sportspersons who have tremendous respect for each other is equally satisfying. When we talk of sports we have to mention about cricket and we mention about cricket we have to mention about Gavaskar, Kapil and Sachin. Gavaskar played against some of the strongest teams in the world and some of the all time greats, as far as fast bowling is concerned. He was the opening batsman from India who was perhaps the weakest team as far as fast bowling was concerned. We in India were used to being treated badly and it was kind of taken for granted that we were racially inferior to the teams from developed part of the world. I really admire Gavaskar for having the courage to stand up and call a spade a spade. He not only considered himself and other Indians equal to others but also proved it with his performance. Then came Kapil Dev at a time when India was accustomed to introduce spin bowling at the earliest. The only known pace bowler perhaps was Karsan Ghavri. It was assumed that India has no other option but to completely depend on spin bowling. The credit for changing that perception not only of others but also of ourselves goes to Kapil. Managing a change of culture or mindset is never an easy exercise. To perform extremely well is one thing but to fundamentally change long held perceptions is definitely more difficult. The current Indian cricket owes a lot to Kapil for their success in fast bowling. The success in the 1983 world cup was of course the icing on the cake. Just imagine the arrogance of West Indian team at that time and it was so heartening to see Kapil and his team beat those guys in a game that they had ruled for more than a decade. That perhaps was a turning point from the perspective of possibilities and self-confidence. Then it was Sachin the epitome of sportsmanship, excellence, and character. Enough has been written about his records, but is truly amazing is his attitude and love for this game. The way he has conducted himself despite so many highs and lows including all the injuries is really a lesson not only to sportspersons but also all professionals irrespective of the fields that they might have chosen. Just look at his conduct in the ongoing one-day series in Srilanka where he has been given out by the umpires in three consecutive matches. It is another matter that India has won all the three matches. One wonders what happened to the idea of neutral umpires. Look at the psychological impact Sachin has not only on the opposition team but also their umpires. This, of course, is not the first time with Sachin nor is it going to be the last. In fact, the number of times he has been unfairly given out will be a record in itself. Lot of other aspiring cricketers will be proud to play as many test matches as the number of times Sachin has been dismissed by the umpires rather then by the bowlers. The achievements of these sportspersons against all odds without loosing focus are worth emulating irrespective of our chosen field of profession.

Is conscience dead?

Is it surprising that there is an Educomp immediately after Satyam? If these frauds can occur in such large organizations that are well known and carefully tracked by the analysts, investment community, subject to lot of disclosure norms etc then one can imagine what could be the situation in lot of other organizations in the SME segment that are family owned. As a society we have started to value success as measurable by one’s bank balance or wealth more than anything else. I remember a survey that was conducted just after the Harshad Mehta’s infamous scam and an overwhelming majority of graduates from IIM had expressed their willingness to work with Harshad Mehta. The other day when the task force of senior leaders of Satyam was announcing the resignation by its CFO a recruitment consultant asked me for his mobile number. He was in demand rather than becoming an outcast. The end justifies the means, but we forget that the end and the means are not two different things. The end evolves from the means that we adopt. If we change the means the end doesn’t remain same as was initially decided. Just look at the Frankensteins that have been created under the pretext of the end justifies the means. Who created Saddam, Taliban or Al-Qaeda or Bhindranwale, who is closer home?

We are living in an age of advertisement which is one of the gifts from the west. Look at the commercial of any product starting from toothpaste to latest laptop or mobile. Each one of them promises Nirvana while carefully hiding its shortcomings. At the individual level also it is no different. Market is the God and you have to please the God at any cost and truth has taken a back seat in the bargain. There is tremendous pressure on everyone to project an image of his/her that is in demand in the market and the focus is on managing that image rather than the self. At the organizational level there are stretched targets that look impressive and have to be achieved by hook or by crook. Media is managed so that positive news is overemphasized and any negative news gets suppressed. Media itself is part of the overall business world and very few are aware of their responsibility or adhere to it in spirit. Independent analysis and reporting are few and far between. Once you see something as numbers, in print or in video its impact is very high and its truth is assumed or taken for granted. There seems to be some truth in the criticism that technological change has both positive and negative impacts and not always in equal measure.

Today’s mantra is anything is OK as long as you are not caught or you can hide it from others or what you are doing is not illegal. One would imagine the earlier valued concept of vivek or conscience has died a silent death. There seems to be an urgent need to remind ourselves of Asha’s song in Kaajal “ Toraa Man Darpan Kahalaaye; Bhale, Bure Saare, Karamon Ko Dekhe Aaur Dikhaaye; …… Jag Se Chaahe Bhaag Le Koee, Man Se Bhaag Naa Paaye”.

Human, (slum)Dog and terrorist

There is lot of discussion on slumdog millionaire including criticism that it portrays all the bad things in India. The western world may adopt a holier than thou attitude and enjoy the dark underbelly of India. But isn’t it the reality? In fact the reality is perhaps worse than what could have been depicted in the movie. At least there is a millionaire aspect in the movie which is hard to find in the real life. Did we forget films like Chakra and Paar and many others which have won national awards and critical acclaim within India? It is possible that the western world is using this grim reality for its own agenda and its intention is questionable. But then why give others a chance to point a finger at us and then blame them for not doing the right thing or in the right way. Let us recognize that these problems exist in India and they exist in abundance. So let us address those problems in a comprehensive manner so that no one will have a chance to ridicule us rather than trying to sweep the dirt under the carpet and pretend as if everything were fine. If we need to change anything we must in our heart of hearts admit that there is a problem and then only we will be able to change it. Instead of wasting our time in questioning the intentions of outsiders let us put our house in order. Let us consider the process of psychological healing that involves facing the deep rooted suppressed emotions and looking at it from a new perspective. If someone has decided to use it or play dirty it is his problem and he has to deal with it at some point of time. As far as we are concerned let us just be thankful to them for throwing light on our dark side and making us aware of its existence so that we can deal with it sooner rather than later. Our worst critics can at times be our best friends. Let us recognize the fact that the whole can't shine when a part of it is languishing in the dark.

Talking about dogs whether from slums or elsewhere another incident comes to mind in which our Supreme Court announces that terrorists are animals. I hope the honorable court is aware that Ms. Menaka Gandhi may take strong exception to such observations as according to her the animals especially the dogs deserve better treatment than the human kind. People who have exhausted all alphabets as far as categorization of security is concerned and moved beyond Z (now it is question of how many + after Z) think that a stray dog has the fundamental right to attack a small child and kill it whereas no man has the right to take the dog outside its preferred habitat leave alone killing it. Well protected, she has no idea what it feels like to face a bunch of stray and violent dogs on a lonely road especially when you are with your kids. I wonder what people like Ms. Gandhi who chooses the dog over someone else’s kid for social brownie points will choose if the choice is between a stray dog and her own child.

Even then the animals deserve more mercy than the terrorists whose only intention is to kill as many as possible without rhyme or reason or remorse. Apart from these three there is another species that aid and abet these terrorists either directly or indirectly when they are actually obliged to serve this country and its citizens. One wonders what term will be appropriate for them who are responsible for this systemic failure making us incapable of effectively tackling this menace.

Mumbai attack and the enemy within

Lot of water has flown down the river since the Mumbai terror attack. However, it still brings to light a lot of interesting points. To start with one wonders what kind of training, motivation or inspiration are provided to these 20 something young guys so that they are so determined not only to carry out these dastardly acts and but also to lay down their lives in the process. Though completely misdirected, one can’t help appreciating the leadership of these terror outfits for their strategy and impeccable execution using inexperienced young guys who have just been trained for a few years. I am sure the corporate world would like to learn a lesson or two from these people. I doubt if our national leaders are even interested to think about it. All they understand is their balance in some Swiss bank. There was a scam even for caskets meant for the Army and that should give us an idea regarding the level to which our leaders can stoop for a few dollars more.
In stark contrast to the professional planning and execution by the terrorists who were well equiped we were amateurish taken completely by surprise despite frequent attacks in the past. How could we leave the Gateway of India completely unguarded and without surveillance? Our lack of preparedness and right ammunition was glaring in our face till at least help arrived from the capital. The extent of disaster could have been much worse but for sacrifices of brave hearts like Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar, Ashok Kamte, Sandeep Unnikrishnan. Bomb Blast in India has become a routine affair; thanks to the lackadaisical attitude of our leaders. However, the attacks in Taj and Oberoi were different from the other attacks in the sense that people who were victims of these horrible ordeals were not common people who travel by local trains, wait at the bus stop or go to Gokul chat. In fact a few parliamentarians were also victims of this attack though they survived. But our leaders are incorrigibly corrupt and nothing is going to change them. They are incapable of seeing beyond their immediate selfish gain. They lack the thinking ability to realize that when you spoil the system for your own selfish gain you may end up paying the price for it one day. Because no matter how powerful you may be you are still part of the system that you have destroyed. Corruption and nepotism have spread like cancers in our society and have made our systems hollow. No wonder these illiterate guys with a few years training can strike at us at their will.
The remarks of the CM of Kerala regarding Major Unnikrishnan show the real feelings of our leaders towards common man. It actually came from his heart. These leaders are no different than the Britishers whom they have replaced. At least the Britishers never pretended and our own leaders have plundered this country more than Mahmud of Ghazni, the Moghuls and the Britishers combined. Look at the action of another leader, the CM of Maharashtra, where it all took place. He thought this was an opportunity to further the career of his son. So like visiting his personal property he took his son and a director along with him when Mr. Ratan Tata himself who is the rightful owner of the hotel was waiting outside for a long time for the place to be handed over to him. Where are the leaders like Lakbahadur Shastri who asked his son not to accept a job offer as he thought it was an indirect bribe to him?

The silence of Raj Thakre was really deafening during those 3-4 days when people from all over the country were involved in this sordid episode either as victims or as fighters, one wonders where was Raj and his team of goondas? They could have selectively protected at least the Marathi Manush. This brings to light their true character. It is one thing to beat up, harras and threaten helpless and defenceless people who are struggling to make a living but it is quite another thing to be able to fight a real threat or almost a war waged by trained and well equiped terrorists.
I have a good friend who is an excellent IPS officer and I once asked him about his posting to the state capital and his reply was that the plum postings were reserved for those who could pay the right amount. Here in Hyderabad there was a burglary in one of my friend’s house and he didn’t even report to the police as it is well known without the right contact you will end up being harassed by the police keeping in view his experience with them when he had lost his mobile. So how can we expect the fishermen to proactively pass on any information to the police?
No one wants war; very true. No one wants to die a violent, miserable and senseless death either in a terrorist attack. The point is not whether you want a war or not; but if you are forced to choose only between war and random terrorist attack which one you will choose. We have been known to be a very soft target as a country. Are we going to do something about that image? If we can't bite let us refrain from barking also. Last week I saw "A Wednesday" on UTV. It was a good and timely movie. The common man played by Naseerrudin Shah was not keen to do what he did, but circumstances had left him with little choice. What would one do if it is a fight for survival? Unfortunately we are not living in an ideal world and it is time we learnt from our past mistakes and take some concrete actions. Moreover, may be the definition of war has changed over time. The war as is conventionally known to be fought on the borders might have undergone metamorphosis in the age of technology. Perhaps we are already in it whether we like it or not.

Last but not the least is the role of media who made it easier for the terrorists by their senseless live telecast. What happened to their own thinking which they keep on writing and discussing about others? Even if there was no law to prevent it they could have used some self regulation and self discipline. There are more important things than TRP e.g. lives of real people.

transparency and accountability

Transparency and accountability are very important in public life and persons holding any public office are obliged to adhere to both. Obama also mentioned something similar in his speech yesterday. But some of the recent news in India is quite contrary to this view point. One of them is by none other than the Chief Justice of India. He is of the opinion there is no need for judges to declare their wealth. In fact, it should just be the opposite. Judges should set an example in this regard. They are supposed to be the epitome of honesty and integrity. If they don’t come forward and lead by example then what can be expected from bureaucrats and politicians? Another is the revelation that the Rajus of Satyam fame have lot of properties and have diverted lot of money through benaami accounts. How can we have any asset in benaami account? It has to belong to some legal entity be it an individual or an organization. Apparently there is some legislation in this regard that is gathering dust somewhere. Isn’t it preposterous? Why don’t we just make it completely illegal or impossible to have anything in benaami account? I just wonder if a similar practice exists in any part of the developed, democratic world. It is time we had a unique identification number and all transactions should be linked to this number.

Not many months back there was also the issue of investment in stock market through P-notes. Even our finance minister supported this practice and it is completely legal as per SEBI. Should the government try to take the index to a certain level or lay down process and guidelines keeping fundamental principles in view and allow the index to find its own level as decided by the supply and demand? One of the fundamental principles that should never be compromised upon is transparency even if it means that investment by FIIs will reduce. In a country where there is huge black money and its citizens are vulnerable to terror attacks, it is preposterous to encourage such investments. When the stock market fell and the index started sliding our finance minister advised people to stay invested. It won’t be surprising if the government advised domestic institutional investors to support the market. Now that the market has gone down further who is going to make up for the loss?

Our passport office and RTA are also good examples of complete lack of accountability. Public institutions like these should have SLAs. That doesn’t mean that they provide a passport or a license to anyone who demands it, but there should be clearly laid down processes and system in place. This will not only help the genuine citizens but also will reduce granting passport or driving license to the non-deserving candidates. In the recent past I had applied for reissue of my son’s passport in which my name was mentioned as Tapas Panda instead of Tapas Kumar Panda which is my official name. This passport was made in Bareilly when I was in China on a project and normally we don’t use the middle name Kumar. I submitted an affidavit on stamp paper regarding this mistake. But I was asked to submit advertisements in two news papers that I had changed my name. I visited passport office to meet the PRO and explain to him that I had never changed my name. By the way all these queues at Passport Office in Hyderabad are in the basement. You can find old persons and mothers with infants standing in these queues for hours. Why can’t the ordinary citizen be treated with a little decency? After waiting in the queue for a few hours I was told that I had to take an appointment for meeting PRO which would be provided in the general enquiry counter that had much bigger queue. So next day I stood in the general line for half a day just to get an appointment with the PRO, who was not even prepared to listen and asked me to submit the copies of the advertisements. So I had no choice but to contact an agent outside the passport office for the necessary ads who charge you anywhere between 700-1000 for two ads in local papers that must have cost him Rs.100. Is there a nexus between insiders and outsiders? There are so many telephone numbers but no one answers any of these. There is also a mail id but no one replies to your mails. As ordinary citizens who have to work from day to night to earn a living you can’t do much from a practical standpoint.

To start with RTA should become RTS; authority should be replaced by service. Let us make an honest and sincere effort to come out of that British Raj mentality. The mindset should that of a service provider and not that of someone who has the power and hence can act by whims and fancies. When I was with Daewoo Motors one very senior Korean executive had expressed his opinion about Indian management style. His assessment was that the Indians in senior positions are very particular about their authority but absolutely unmindful about their obligations. According to him authority and obligations go hand in hand. When will our officers and ministers realize their obligations to this country and its citizens?

Anyone found guilty of betraying the public trust should be suitably punished and debarred from holding any public office in the future.

Hope and Change for USA and the world

As tonight I watch the swearing in ceremony of Barack Hussein Obama I remember many years ago when I was in school, having an argument with my elder brother. My brother was of the view that anything is possible and I was of the view that there are certain things which are impossible in the real world. To prove my point I gave the example of someone who is not a citizen of USA becoming its president. My brother argued that someone capable enough can gather enough support to amend the constitution and become the president and it is in realm of possibilities. If we stretch anything to its extreme then it may look absurd. But if we go by the spirit of an argument or issue, the 44th president of the USA Mr. Obama has achieved the impossible. Obama is a faithful follower of Abraham Lincoln who I think is the greatest leader in the history of the world. What makes USA such a great country is the fact that despite everything they have rallied around the fundamental concept that “All are equal, all are free and all have a right to pursue happiness”. This wonderful concept has taken precedence over everything else. A great idea can change lives as well as its quality. I really like Obama for the fact that more than anything else he stands for hope and change. He brings in that perspective and conviction. May he succeed in making this a better world!

What about an Obama for India that we desperately need. We perhaps had one in Dr. Kalam but unfortunately he was the president and in India the president has very little power. We need 274 Obamas to bring in the required change; an impossibility though I am afraid to bet my last penny on that. Who knows?

Is India a democracy?

We the people of India would like to believe that ours is the largest democracy in the world. Is India truly a democracy? I think we are a democracy only on paper but in spirit we vacillate between autocracy and oligarchy.

To start with at the highest level we don’t have a democratic mindset. Our leaders do not think independently and give their opinion on each issue. They rather follow the instruction of the party president and keep the interest of the party ahead of the nation. We can see open display of sycophancy that cuts across all areas within the country. On occupying power our leaders behave as if the state were their personal fiefdom. In the democracy you should see your position as a role within the system. Outside that role everyone is equal and has no special status. That is the spirit of democracy. Where are the leaders like Lalbahadur Shastry who was not able to pay the monthly installment for his car loan? I was quite impressed or rather delighted to read that our current PM Manmohan Singh went to the RTO to renew his driving license. Unfortunately he has been portrayed as a weak Prime Minister. I think he is one of the few leaders who have strength of character. Just look at the confidence with which people at high places (not just the politicians) do as they please including killing others. In the recent past a few cases have gone against such powerful people largely owing to the involvement of the media. However, such cases are few and far between. The general feeling is that if you have the right contacts you can do anything and get away with it.

The second level is the democratic process. A few days back I was pleasantly surprised to see Prof. Trilochan Shastry giving a speech to an august gathering in one of the channels. He was one of the most respected professors in IIM Ahmedabad and was deeply involved in the social work. He made an excellent point on the selection of party candidates for the election. Currently it is decided by the goodwill of the party bosses. He also made an interesting point that we have guidelines for all kinds of organization except a political party, but who will bell the cat? Surprisingly, when it comes to their own benefit the politicians from different parties, who always fight amongst one another, present a united front. No wonder India as a country has got maximum deposits in Swiss banks and no one is interested to know the names of the account holders though these guys are more dangerous then the terrorists. I think the current practice of ticket allocation itself gives rise to sycophancy and autocracy. In this kind of scenario personal loyalty takes precedence over capability or character. We all know that only mediocre and incompetent people will agree to be yes-men. What kind of people will fall on the feet of the party supremo in full view of public and media can only be left to the imagination.

The third level is the implementation or the experience at the ground level. Not having the right people or the process is one thing but even after you have selected from the limited options that you have the actual distribution of power can take you by surprise in the prevalent coalition politics. Jharkhand is an interesting case from that perspective where an independent candidate could dictate terms and become the Chief Minister. Look at the recent results in J&K. PDP actually managed to get more seats this time but went to the opposition. Last time with only 15-16 seats they happily ruled for around three years. In centre also RJD or DMK or even LJP have few seats but exerts considerable influence due to the typical structure of the government. In this kind of scenario honest politicians are unlikely to do well. This kind of situation provides a field day for the unscrupulous and manipulative leaders. Our leaders are expert in playing the game of one-upmanship and the easiest way to play the game is to show off who can cause how much inconvenience to the hapless public. If leader x can hold the traffic at peak hours for 10 minutes to provide him a clear road and then the others can try for 20. If x can have 10 bodyguards for less protection and more display then others can try for at least 15.
No wonder that increasingly our judiciary is getting involved in many issues that should have been resolved by the executive as part of their normal duties. But the recent news that the judges used the PF funds of junior staff to buy luxury items for themselves makes the situation really hopeless for the ordinary citizens of this country.

There is an urgent need to deal with corruption at all levels as strictly as in China where one official was awarded death sentence recently for his involvement in corruption. That may be a little too harsh but quick and exemplary punishment can only save this country from this cancer.