January 2010

There were 13 posts published in January 2010 (this is page 3 of 3).

Is it ok to be “Like That Only”?

We have the most affluent / rich people of the world living here in Mumbai which also has the largest slum in Dharavi. We have people as educated as Manmohan Singh, Amartya Sen, and yet half our population is illiterate. We have people who are using the latest technology in every aspect of life, yet there are villages where there is no electricity yet. We have become the healthcare destination of the world, yet 1000 people die daily of diarrhea, TB, and many other diseases. We have rivers like Ganga, Yamuna… yet we have floods and droughts, every year in different parts of the country. Our child malnutrition rate is pathetic, and even basic amenities are eluded from many Indians.

Somebody has rightly remarked that India lives in many generations. People have become used to live and co-exist with each other. We dont feel strange when a beggar comes asking on a traffic signal while we are sitting in our air-conditioned car. We dont feel bad when we spend thousands of rupees drinking at a bar when that money could sponsor the education of many children for a year. A traffic cop once stopped me when I jumped a red light in a hurry, I took out a Rs 50 note, and he said “Mininum 100”. I said “wow, minimum amount as a bribe”. If you discuss these issues with people, many will reply “We are like that only”. OK. Agreed. We are like that only. But is it OK to be like that only. It is certainly not right to be like that only. Where the inequalities between the rich and poor is increasing day by day.

Why we dont think / act about the issues facing the neglected segment of our population? Being privileged with education, jobs and a good lifestyle, we should be the people who should make efforts for the unprivileged. But no, we are happy to go clubbing after a day’s work and see the plight of the poor being exploited by some news channel on TV. We will blame the politicians, crib about it with friends, but one thing we will not do is ACT. And to justify it, pat comes the reply “We are like that only”

This is an issue which all of us must have felt deep regret for sometime in our lives. While going ahead with the world, why are we leaving our unprivileged brothers behind? When will this change? I am going to leave this issue open for discussion. You are free to comment on why our attitude has become so “sick”. How long can we continue to be “like that only“?

Accountability

India is a huge nation. And it has a lot of problems. Problems that make the perfect water cooler discussion topics in every part of the country. Everybody has solutions to every problem of India, but yet the problems remain. We have come to accept that “We are like that only” when we come face to face with various problems which the country faces. Some say the large population is the problem, some say poverty, some think lack of education and literacy is the problem, and our politicians and babus are more like road-blocks than smooth flyovers.

So, the question is, how do you manage a country with a diversity as large as India’s. As a democratic country, the pillars of a successful India are its legislative, judiciary and executive. I would like to add “media” as the fourth pillar of any vibrant political system. All these systems exist in India, but are not working as they should be. Or in other words, they are not “Accountable“. Anybody in a powerful position has a lot of responsibility. In our system, those in power are not accountable to anybody if they do not perform their duty as expected from them. It has become too easy to escape a punishment after doing something wrong. It could be as small as jumping a red light and bribing the traffic policeman to escape a challan to a minister framing policies for corporates in return for financing for his party activities. Why? Because the traffic policeman has no fear of accepting bribe. Even if caught, he will not be given any strict punishment. Even IAS officers cought taking bribe are suspended with 70% pay while an enquiry / case is going on. Which can take ages to complete? and so on and so on…

Everything sitting in a position of power in this country can escape easily if he does not do what is expected to do? Because he is not “accountable” to the people of the country. If he does not perform, he should be punished / penalized so hard that others think twice before committing the same mistake. People say that people in government jobs , employees dont work while private employees work as expected. The only difference is in accountability. The same people will work when they move from public sector to private sector, but not in the government. And the same people, be it politicians, bureaucrats, babus, police, or a peon, will start working as expected if they were made accountable and every irregularity be harshly dealt with.

But where will this “Accountability” come from? Who will make the rules? Who will implement them? And the answer is a Leader. India today needs a leader who is strong, tough and can implement and stand on what he/she says. A leader that can inspire from the words he speak, and from his/her actions. We have a few examples here and there, and the departments under such tough leaders have always performed better than the average what is expected of any government task.

Unless such a leader comes, who thinks beyond himself, his party, his state, his religion and thinks for this country as a whole and who has the courage to take tough decisions and stand by them, the problems will remain. But India has the power to become the most developed state in the world if led properly and accountably. In a democracy, we cannot make such a leader, we only have to wait for him/her to come!! And that is the irony of being a democracy.

Cricket and Me

At the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

At the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

I went to see a Champions League T20 Match between Delhi and Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore in 2009. What I saw there was a confirmation of what I have always heard – “India is a Cricket Mad Nation and Cricket is a Religion“. But the extent of it even surprised me. It was like seeing a pothole in the middle of Indian roads, you always knew it was there, but were still shaken by it!

Cricket!! This word means a lot (I mean “really LOT”) to cricket crazy Indians. In fact, how cricket unites India is amazing. And to me too. My earliest memory of cricket is watching Kapil Dev playing on my black and white TV set with my father sometimes. It was before Sachin Tendulkar came onto the scene in 1989, but I dont remember the exact year. My first properly followed cricket tournament was the 1992 world cup in Australia. Those were the days when pitches still used to be green, bowlers still used to get batsmen out by bowling amazing deliveries and a test matches series consisted of 5 matches. In other words, there used to be contest between bat and ball. Today, batsmen and bowlers are like USA and Iraq, with Iraq only allowed one bomb per day (aka one bouncer per over), and they will be attacked from air where they cant do anything (Powerplays).

Like many other Indians, I too dreamed to be a cricketer once (though I was never a good player). I used to play in school, near my home, even attended cricket coaching for sometime, but then the school books crushed my cricketing dreams. But watching and following cricket continued as ever. I have even watched a Test Match on television with missing a single ball. Yes, craziness can get to this level sometimes. But you can’t blame me if you get to see Kumble taking all 10 wickets in an innings, or India winning after a follow on, or Sachin gatecrashing Australia’s party at Sharjah.

My most amazing cricket memories are 1996 world cup and Sachin Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid making their debut in 1996 in England, Sachin and Ganguly opening on ODIs, Kumble taking all 10 in an innings at Kotla, Test Victory over Australia after following on, Sachin’s back to back centuries in Sharjah and his duet with Shane Warne, Sehwag hitting his triple hundreds in amazing style and many more memories of Lara, Warne, Steve Waugh, Wasim Akram and other greats.

Looking back at the last 2 decades, cricket is still played with bat and ball, but a lot have changed. Test Matches are less, there are no practice matches on tour, ODIs and T20 rule the roost these days. Players are refusing board contracts and preferring to play as freelancers, making more money by playing in cash rich T20 tourneys.. Many have retired from Test Cricket to focus on T20s and ODIs… Money has come into cricket, and we (read BCCI) have started it. Lalit Modi has changed the game with his innovations. Players rely more on power than technique now….

I don’t know what the future has in store, but I hope that cricket still gives chance for bowlers like Warne, Kumble, Akram, McGrath to flourish and bowling remain an important part of cricket and not overshadowed by batsmen. I will continue to follow cricket, but the pleasure of watching a Rahul Dravid cover drive or a Sachin Tendulkar straight drive is much more than watching Sehwag or Dhoni or Symonds in bang-bang mode.