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”.