OZYMANDIAS - Percy B Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away

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The Need for Farce

I've been wondering on the need for overwhelming pounding of media over trivial issues...

I have just seen a documentary on genetically modified foods & read Next (by late Michael Crichton) again. Both talk about the inherent problem underlying patenting of living organisms or their genes / parts. 

Now, we generally see our parliamentarians arguing about trivial issues & the media showing similar stupid issues all day interspersed with ads by large corporations. I used to wonder why somebody doesn't tell both these guys to go find something more sensible to do. Then again, after going through the above two items, it has dawned on me that maybe that is what the hidden agenda is: to keep the public at large running around their life & be bombarded by senseless issues rest of the time, so that the real & important issues are hidden behind the screens. 

If one were to just read through the list of acts passed in the parliament without so much as an hour's discussion, one would understand. Increasingly, countries are passing laws that profits larger corporations. What is the largest source of money controlled by the least concerned people? It is inevitably the public funds. Any subsidy, grant, loan is provided from the public corpus and accountability is minimum - not just in India - but worldwide. 

So what do large corporations do? They dont market products like consumer goods- they market items for public body consumption - health, arms, agriculture, public services, etc. What do the largest corporations sell us? They sell us fighter jets without accountability, vaccines & emergency medicine procured by the government without adequate tests or assurance, genetically modified food sold through government gene banks, public services like consultancy, water supply & waste management, electricity, etc that no person is able to question directly. It is simply the money that is taken from the public in form of taxes, and not given accountability of. The public is not in direct control of this money, and the people entrusted with this money can be easily bribed or provided stake in the corporations in order to gain access to the money.

If we see around, there are a million examples - Dabhol Power Project, Bhopal gas tragedy, Submarine scam, Bofors scam, etc etc...We are being systematically robbed (yes, that is the correct word) of our earnings, and the corporations are getting more powerful using the same money, and eventually even control what rules apply to them. Its a vicious circle that will end in the slavery of a general person to larger corporations - the future kings / dictators of the world.

This is where all the farce comes in - caste politics (a la Mayawati), regional politics (a la Thackereys), saas bahu serials, pointless arguments on news channels (both funded by ads of larger corporations, and hence dictating what should be shown), reality shows, and in extreme cases even acts of terrorism - in short anything that distracts or disrupts the normal persons life enough to take his or her attention away from what is happening to public funds, public rights and opinion on things that are actually affecting the world at large...

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Glory to the inglorious!

every once in a while, one sees a work of art being portrayed on the cinema screen - and it is so intense, that one does not realize how much time has passed absorbing it... This is exactly what happened to the 4 of us who went to see the Inglorious basterds tonight. It was a 10pm show & we realized it was 1pm after we came out!!

The Inglorious Basterds is not a typical Quentin movie..in fact its a Bollywood style movie that beats Bollywood movies black & blue by simply concentrating on one simple thing: attention to detail ....

Its a simple screenplay that Quentin would have ripped from any Bollywood movie - action, love, war, thrill & loads of comedy - all of that combined! But the mastery of the director lies in ignoring the story completely!! Yes, truly that is what happens - I did not care whether the story would go one way or the other! What I craved for with each longing moment was the dialogues & depth of scenes... The complete narration is held together by 7-10 scenes, but each of this scene is brilliantly composed - each speck of dust & each monosyllable, each movement by the actor / actress contributes to the moment in the scene... If you miss the smallest of gestures, you are bound to be left confused.

Now, I've heard somewhere that it took Quentin 12 years to write the complete screenplay. I can only imagine how he must have perfected each of these scenes by playing them over again & again in his mind - polishing each moment - each nanosecond of the movie. I was left not only breathless with wonder, but also hoping that the movie would never end- even after 3 hours of playing time!

Coming to the director's attention to detail - each word spoken by the actor is made to work hard along with physical movements, music & photography in order to contribute fully to the meaning. The language provides a loud charactersketch for each actor, while long climaxes (some even 2 mins long) are held together by expert movements, ever so subtle to catch the corner of one's eye, but not appear in the conscious view of the scene. All of this - together - makes the movie an unforgettable experience.

Look out for Col. Hans Landa (played by Christopher Waltz) - the scripting of the character & his potrayal by Waltz are a true work of art!

And yes, we laughed, we shuddered, we waited for the climaxes, we cheered the action - in short we did it all!!!

Final word, go see it for yourself - though some of you would dismiss it as stupid... & yes - BEWARE - there isn't any story!!

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Diwali Greetings!

Greetings for a joyous Diwali &
Happy New Year with a plenty of Peace and Prosperity.

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A noble piece prize

Obama wins the Nobel Prize! Thats one of the most shocking news i have ever heard to date.. My belief in the nobels is completely shattered! I agree that Mr. Obama is much better than Mr. Bush. But no president of the US of A can be given a nobel peace prize! For the head of a country that lives off by waging wars, the nobel peace committee has either gone bonkers or is trying to wag tails to the most powerful office on earth. I am still not able to make any sense of it as i still read the news, but one thing is certain: the nobel peace prize can NEVER be given to an office that is directing wars in 2 countries (Iraq & Afghanistan) and threatening 3 others in full world view (Libya, Iran & North Korea). The very act of waging a war should be the sole reason to deny the peace prize - & the nobel committee- by giving it to the person currently holding that office, is degrading its own integrity....

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A few words about the performance reality shows

Mufaazaa is disgusted with the level of Indian reality / performance shows... I am appalled by the concept of a performance / reality show where one is judged by the laypersons. Its exactly the democratic ideal, where the consumer feels the power to keep or remove somebody. It is a sorry sense of power over somebody that one relishes in exercising due to lack of any control over one's own pathetic life, held together by a self-inflicted combination of social duties & career demands. 

To make my point louder, I haven't come across a single reality / performance show that has third-party checks / audit for the amount of sms - votes that come in from public.. Get a grip guys!!! They can as well manipulate anything, based on what is convenient and more glamorous / TRP catching to show...However, it doesn't disturb me, since it solves the general purpose mentioned above - hypothetic power to the powerless.

A more disturbing fact is that the participants actually believe in these shows - parents groom & force their children to participate. We are trashing the sacrosanct relation of guru-shishya and deciding our skillset based on laypersons' perception. Now, the word of our teachers doesn't suffice, we need to prove ourselves by monkeying around on the stage!!! Please remind me how many of these people last in the public accredited careers for more than a couple of years?

There was something like Sa Re Ga Ma, where industry stalwarts would come to judge people. That was good for exposure & talent search. Today, there are too many shows & hence, unrestricted opportunities to participate in any one of these drills and see oneself on TV. While the judges vary from good to absolutely pathetic, they hardly have any power over the outcome. The public vote is given an equal rating over the word of an expert. I'm not saying that the expert cannot be wrong, but the probability of an expert going wrong over a layperson going wrong is much much lower. & public opinion is always clearly expressed in the way the person is able to deliver in later life as a professional, buy listening / seeing him or her...

Why do we need public endorsement for what we do? Are we really an insecure generation? Do we not believe in ourselves enough to just go ahead & do what we think right, instead of getting public opinion beforehand?? That, I think, is the crucial difference between the achievers & the followers....

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are we for real?

i was just discussing with my friends...

my parents have a few photographs, but are able to relive the exact moment in each one of them..

i have thousands, but dont remember most of the moments..

my parents go on trips once a year or less, but can remember all their days on the outing..

i go out every weekend, but am unable to register any of it..

my parents used to see movies once a month in their youth, & the memories lasted a lifetime.

i see one every other day, but fail to get entertained by any one..

this seems to be the case with an entire generation - the one living in excess: excess of money, food, entertainment, time, & what not... there is no real struggle, no need to conserve anything: time, energy, money, environment... we are just big time spenders.

the worst part is that all this excess fails to make us happy, & maybe one great proverb says it all: KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID!

I am not sure of this lifestyle anymore - the more i have, the more i crave for. Its an unending abyss of demand & supply, one into which the entire world seems to be spiralling. Happiness is a commodity beyond the means of an entire generation for the first time. We seem to be trading it in futures, and the future is always tomorrow! never today, never now.

I remember a poem from my childhood, where i thanked God for the food, my parents, my friends, my life.. Today, i dont believe in God, i take food for granted, my parents as a given, my friends as ever-changing travellers in a journey, and my life - i don't even know the meaning of my life... am i here to accomplish something? anything? does my life mean anything? 

everything interests me as does everything bore me.. its a self-defeating aim to want something, to get it and to want something else after that... its a self-contradictory happiness to reach somewhere and then to want to be somewhere else...

To my reader, don't dismiss me as a sadistic / depressed guy. I feel perfectly happy on most days of my life, but i don't remember it! What use is a happiness that i cannot recollect, cannot relish, cannot preserve in my memories.. a dialogue in Ghajini says: SHORT TERM MEMORY LOSS! Is that what we are suffering from? memory loss- short & long term both? or is it just a dissatisfied & spoilt lot of kids turned into adults but havent realized that yet?

Is maturity at stake or has the its definition changed? Is satisfaction unattainable or are we unable to feel satisfied? is the pace of life too fast & blinding or are we insecure in our own world? are we all accomplished beings or  is success just a beta phase?

In many ways, Dev-D is an apt portrayal of a generation at a loss of understanding itself, forget understanding the world around them...

maybe im an old-timer to say that our ancestors had enough time & peace of mind to understand not just themselves, but their surroundings & the necessity of convserving them. We are just a bunch of brats bent upon destroying everything that comes to our notice..

let me say no more, R.I.P.

www.patilsandip.co.nr
www.sandylief.blogspot.com

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against order / consistency / equity / globalization...

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative" - Oscar Wilde reads a friend's fb status... & ive been thinking of the same. I'm reading the Organic Farming Reader - a collection of articles on organic farming. It leads me to a conclusion that I have repeated arrived on previous readings & thinking : globalization is stupidity! I am not against the availability of all things everywhere on earth, the whole point of localization is not closing oneself, but to have something unique - something that suits the local environment, culture, climate, etc etc etc...

Talking about farming, experiments & hereditary knowledge proves that each region has a unique environment (composed of climate, soil, geology, ....) and hence needs a native plant variety to survive. Bring in plants from elsewhere & either they die or kill... The authors say we have gone down from about 10,000 varieties of wheat in India to just a few hundred in less than a century! Each of these varieties have come down through generations and are suited to their specific local environment. Each variety gives not just optimal harvest & protection against local pests, but also proves more digestion friendly & nutritive for the local environment!!

Now combine this train of thought with Robert Pirsig's Zen & the Art of Motorcycle maintenance: we are talking about quality of a material that is marketable only in a certain region. The quality is dynamic for the same material based on geographical location!! & this is just agriculture! Why are we buying polyester clothing in India, which is not at all friendly in the hot & humid weather, or using agricultural methods more suited to temperate soils, where organic matter is in mineral form, whereas it is stored in plant life in the tropic & the soil is mineral poor.. 

Why do we take shelter in aping western systems when our own are as efficient? Why should an imported item be more valuable than local one of the same quality? Is it just globalization or our mentality? 

& finally, freedom is not in globalization, stupid! Thats just a marketing strategy!!! LOCAL IS THE NEW GLOBAL!! albeit a few years hence, & that i can predict with confidence!

ps: im trying to shorten my posts after an avalanche of complaints against my ramblings!

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Perfection: a few musings

I'm reading Lila by Robert Pirsig (of Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance). I haven't yet fathomed the ideas on quality presented in the book, but the concept of dynamic & static got me thinking. At this stage, Im not sure whether Im talking of quality or perfection. But for my & your sake, lets consider the concept of perfection, where we strive to achieve the best possible in any given task / field/ etc.

The biggest defeating hindrance is the very idea of achieving perfection. Since the world around us is a dynamic entity, we cannot aim to achieve a static state. Hence, perfection should be a dynamic state. In other words, one should live perfectly in all walks of life / tasks / fields, etc. One should literally breathe perfection! That is the only way to achieve it...

Lets take a simple example. I bit my tongue the other day, and was badly in pain for 2 days. But after that the pain subsided. However, there was a nagging feeling sometimes, and I decided to go to the doctor. He told me that the wound had worsened, as I had not taken any medication. When I told him the reason for not coming - the pain receding, he told me that the body adapts to anything. If one part pains repeatedly, the nerve will send the same signals faithfully, but the brain will learn to suppress them from the conscious mind. Hence, one feels the nagging only when idle. 

In the same manner, the world & we are continuously adapting to the ongoing events, leading to change in situation at any given moment of time. Hence, the definition of perfection is also changing with every moment. The change could be either in the course or higher or lower levels of achievement. But of all things: it can never be static!

So, when we decide to be perfect, we are actually assigning ourselves to a lifelong task. For this very reason if we try to extract happiness from one act, we lose it over some time as the world has changed and the situation has changed. Our past achievement does not hold any value in the new order of things!

So, if the reason for perfection is to be happy: our rishi-munis were right in professing detachment, the only way to stay away from the dynamics of the world, and set one's own order of things. If the reason is achievement, you are doomed to a life of struggle!!! Its not so bad! Some people enjoy struggle!!!!

Whenever I finish a post to my satisfaction, Muffazza's words come ringing at the back of my head: what is the essence of this post? Is there a conclusion?

So my two cents worth: perfection is about trying the best of one's ability at every step of life, either that or nothing!

I'm sure Jun's gonna butcher this one!!!!!!

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Mom's poem: निरंकुश माणूस (The Unbridled man )

Presenting my mother's poems, starting with this one (about the modern amoral & ever-dissatisfied man). the poem is given above & the line wise translation given below it. My mom is a published poet (in some local marathi magazines during the late 70s & early 80s). This is her latest poem. However, I'm trying to locate her older works & put them online some time. I should acknowledge that this is my first exposure to marathi literature, & I'm enjoying it thoroughly!

निरंकुश माणूस भौतिक सुखाच्या ह्या गराड्यात

हरवलय माणसाच माणूसपण

धरुनिया सुखाची अतृप्त लालसा

बांधलय वेठीला स्वतःच स्वपण

असू जरी आम्ही हक्कासाठी अधाशी

नसे मात्र सोयरसुतकही कर्तव्याशी

दडपली सारी आधुनिकतेच्या आवरणात

आपल्याच चारित्र्याची सखोल संस्कृती

वरकरणी जरी दाखवत असू पुरोगामी

दिसुन येई नेहमीच प्रसंगी अधोगती

कशास जगलो, का जगलो कोणी बरे सांगावे

उठता बसता मात्र दोष नशिबाला द्यावे

तुडविली सारी बंधने आज माणसाने

म्हणून का फिरविली पाठ निसर्गाने?

Translation

NB: I would like to say that any weakness in language while translation is mine, the poem reads well - those of who can read marathi fluently will agree with me..

निरंकुश माणूस The Unbridled man

भौतिक सुखाच्या ह्या गराड्यात

In this great heap of worldly joys, हरवलय माणसाच माणूसपण

man's humanity is lost धरुनिया सुखाची अतृप्त लालसा

having the ever unquenched greed of these joys बांधलय वेठीला स्वतःच स्वपण

one has even bet one's self-esteem असू जरी आम्ही हक्कासाठी अधाशी

if we are greedy for our rights नसे मात्र सोयरसुतकही कर्तव्याशी

but there is no consciousness of one's duties दडपली सारी आधुनिकतेच्या आवरणात

in name of modernity we have bundled away आपल्याच चारित्र्याची सखोल संस्कृती

the entire culture of our morality वरकरणी जरी दाखवत असू पुरोगामी

even if we display our sophistication outwardly दिसुन येई नेहमीच प्रसंगी अधोगती

when the occassion comes, seen is one's regress कशास जगलो, का जगलो कोणी बरे सांगावे

for what did we live, why did we live, who will tell us उठता बसता मात्र दोष नशिबाला द्यावे

time and again (literal: sitting & standing) cursing (putting responsibility on) one's fate तुडविली सारी बंधने आज माणसाने

broken all ties today has man म्हणून का फिरविली पाठ निसर्गाने?

is that why nature has turned its back on us?

Email: patilsandipr+sandylief@gmail.com
Blog: www.sandylief.blogspot.com
Blog2: www.sanventure.blogspot.com
web: www.patilsandip.co.nr

Song on trying hard...

This was written a few days ago while listening to country music- im not sure as yet whether i want to call it complete:

idle we rust -
fiddle we must:

edison the great -
exhibited this trait:
a million failures-
lit his success!
cross your comforts-
to achieve new landmarks

einstein says:
One who has never made a mistake-

has not tried any new ways...

hard work
smart stuff,
not just the muscle
its also the mind..
as both are brought together -
a new strength we find..

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मेरे साँसों की आवाज़..

तुझ संग  बिताये पल जैसे एक ख्वाब -

तुझ से थी रौशनी -

और तुझ से ही ज़िन्दगी हसीन.

तेरी मीठी आवाज़ से होता सवेरा -

ढलती तेरी आँखों में शाम.

तेरे जाने से जो

हुआ ज़िन्दगी में अँधेरा,

सोचता हूँ

कब आएगा अब सवेरा.

तुझ सी ना कोई कभी 

न थी, न होगी मेरे लिए.

इस कलम से जलाता हूँ 

अपनी गुजरी ज़िन्दगी के दिए 

खो गया हूँ जालिम दुनिया के सागर में

न कोई कश्ती 

और न कोई किनारा 

ढूँढ रहा मैं 

कोई सहारा.

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Radicalism...

I've been reading Al Qaeda by some Mr Burke & simultaneously witnessing two events:

- Racism against Indians in Australia

- radicalism in India, (almost) single party government elected in India & the internal strife in one of the largest Hindutva parties...

Al Qaeda is a blandly written book, but an interesting (though I dont know how true) resource on terrorism & radicalism in Middle East & Pakistan. The author puts Pakistan in the centre of the entire terrorist movement, something I have never come across before. The birth of terrorism arising from the discontent of local peoples with the rulers who are willingly or unwillingly allowing western countries to control their resources & eventually lives is documented well in the book. The entire burden of the rise of terrorism is attributed to the cold war between USSR & USA in Afghanistan, subsequently spreading to other nations due to western corporate interests in Middle Eastern oil & business opportunities. The author appeals that local people have been uprooted from their traditional lifestyles & regions due to western intervention and that is the root of terrorism. The people have lost the only ideology they lead their lives with & do not connect to the western society, hence, they try to forge a pseudo-society based on the ideals that they should have followed - be it religious, social, geographical or cultural. When Westerners look at these definitions, they brand them as pagan, derogatory and even blasphemous. The entire problem lies in the increasing interaction between people of different cultures.

I tried to apply this perspective to the Indian scenario, and unsurprisingly, it works well.  The urban youth is born in a Western style society and does not relate to the traditional idioms. On the other hand those living in non-westernized parts of the country are being forced to live in increasingly western / foreign societies as people migrate from rural to urban & native to westernized areas, torn from the culture that they have always known & seeing it disappear. The word western here is used in the social context (& has no geographical attribute). When these two different kinds of people are put in the same place, there ought be a friction. Those who fear the foreign cultures then try to create a pseudo-ideology that they want to cling to, in absence of their original one. When they find they cannot live on that ideology in isolation, they try to force it on others,and thus result attacks on discos, morally correct dress codes, etc. Truth be told, its just a wrong-headed attempt to assimilate oneself in a modern Indian urban society. 

Apply this example to modern day Australia and one can see the frustration of the local unemployed youth at the Indian students who (usually from higher middle class families) flaunt latest gadgets while working at lesser pays. The Indian lifestyle is distinctly different, and somehow the students manage to save for things they aspire, by saving on daily rations (thats what i know, & i may be wrong). Whatever the reason, local youth increasingly feel they are unemployed and pushed lower in the class order due to such foreigners. Thus they try to rebel, bully, etc etc. The Indian students have some kind of an association, is there one for locals???? There is no representation, and that i believe is the underlying flaw, denying any chance of a civilized dialogue.

So how does one assimilate people from two or more drastically different cultures? Its a very tough question, but one of prime importance. I think the first step is to avoid alienization of any culture. People rise voilently when threatened, and that must be avoided at all costs. It is important to note that different people feel threatened in different ways, and that needs to be studied well by anthropologists / sociologists / psychiatrists. 

The second point is to have complete representation of all kinds of people. Unless that is achieved, one cannot hope for a dialogue, as the Australian example might show. 

If the people feel they are being represented / heard, the tendency to resort to violence is reduced. One can easily see the opposite in terrorist activities where people feel their leaders are not representing them, and hence attack them & their collaborators. 

Again, this is just one angle of the story. Ofcourse terrorism has arisen due to various other political & social factors. But the very idea of instigation lies at the root of every revolt. In a democracy like India, it is necessary (& quite easy) to provide a platform for equality. I can only imagine if the radicals who push north Indians out of Mumbai, attack discos in Mangalore are asked to help in law-making for application of their views, they will have to face a much larger issue of actually listening to the other side - something they evade during violent interactions. 

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Midway review - Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine

As I delve deeper into Klein's rantings about the Chicago school agenda on how the capitalist systems undermines democracy by  concentrating power into the hands of the rich, which impoverishing rest of the citizens, I was suddenly struck by a revelation that Klein is constantly avoiding. By giving examples of Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Poland, South Africa and China Klein repeatedly concludes that the Chicago schoool capitalist system supports autocracy and oligarchy.She asserts that Friedman propagates the use of shock therapy for complete & swift application of the free-market theory in any given system, which in turn leads to large scale privatization of industries / basic infrastructure and concentrates power in the hands of the rich few, while also inreasing their monetary power.

Luckily, at the same time I'm also reading Narayana Murthy's Better India, better world - a capitalist's perspective of India's change from a socialist to a capitalist (controlled) market. He too, supports the principle of free-market theory, but strongly supports the importance of philantrophy at the same time.

After comparing both approaches / descriptions, I realized that it is a particular thought of capitalism (namely, the Chicago school) that Klein is so stubbornly opposing. She goes on to say that the Chicago school thought has penetrated IMF, World Bank, etc and hence is being implemented the world over. It becomes clear that she is confusing the political agenda with the economic one. While both go hand in hand,the idea that an economic agenda can destroy democracy cannot be concluded. In each case, the leaders have willingly chosen to go with the free-market theory because it empowers & enriches them at the cost of other citizens. This is a glaring example of a high-level corruption and not that of free-market theory. Klein fails to conclude that the Chicago school theory encourages corruption instead of providing actual free-market movement. 

The idea of free-markets is democratization of the economy - providing power to the people to conduct business, choose products & services in a competitive market, and encourage a global competition instead of restricting the market to local products. In each of Klein's examples, the market has promoted foreign investors at the cost of local ones, leading to large scale unemployment and capital & resource flight from the host country to the investors. Many countries, especially India & (to an extent) China have provided examples of a balanced outlook. While foreign investors are free to invest (in certain sectors), they are not free to take the profits to their own country. The profits must be re-invested in the host country, or there should be a technology transfer. Technology transfer is the more lucrative & important aspect of inviting foreigners. Most or all of the countries taken by Klein for the study are third world nations lacking technologies to use their resources or increase quality of living. 

It is only logical to invitie global leaders (corporations) to invest in their country & provide technology transfer that will allow the host country to introduce its own services. If a free-market economy is not established, the end result will be like India's telephone system before 1991, so distraught with stone-age technology & lack of management understanding that it was impossible to think of more advanced servies like internet. However, as the foreign investment was opened up, India is now a thriving telecom market with the cheapest service offerings (compared to anywhere in the world), and the rates keep falling every year. Also, all companies find it lucrative to introduce the latest technologies  as there is a large consumer base ready to use those. They are currently held back only due to a lacksidal government attitude. The more important fact is the telecom revolution has empowered all individuals from all walks of life without discrimination - anybody from a vegetable vendor or taxi driver to a professional can buy a cell phone service complete with internet, fax, etc to start working & connecting -thus increasing his or her business prospects exponentially. I see this at work daily as my father works from the ease of our home, compared to 3-4 years earlier when he had to run about the whole day connecting with various people. I also see it in my own office where emails are the fastest way to send & receive drawings, get opinion from experts and send changes to the site, without moving from my seat!

I do believe Klein's hypothesis that the Chicago school interpretation of free-market economics has led to large-scale corruption. But to draw an analogy that the free-market theory itself is at fault is not an acceptable conclusion. conclusion. While i have not yet read the entire book and hope that the conclusion doesn't go the way most of the book is, I think the book could really be a misplaced attack on a theory instead of its proponent. Moreover, if the book intends to attack a proponent, it does not deserve critical acclaim, since it is the theory that matters not a single school of thought. Klein would have done better to show the positive side of the free-market theory that Chicago school approach lacks. All said & done,Kleins's book is an important eye-opener in the recent global events and the resultant depression that we are facing. I have been lucky to be provided with such thought provoking reads by Mufaaaza in the line of Chomsky, Economic Hitman & Klein. 

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Bureaucracy - the unaccountable public service?

In the last post I was arguing the existence of public accountability in government services. However, there is one large hindrance to the same- bureaucracy. It is a parallel system (gifted by the ingenious Brits) of government, that provided the elites with a just escape from accountability while staying in the system. The elites proved that while democracy is a good way of empowering voters, they also chided the inability of elected representatives to handle specific tasks / concepts / policies. Thus they promoted the rise of the experts, who were capable of "aiding" the elected representatives in governing the nation by providing expert advise, micro-managing daily affairs & policies, etc. These experts or bureaucrats were selected by a so called competitive exam system, but had no accountability whatsoever to the voters. While the elected representatives came & went, the bureaucrats became the true bearers of power influencing the policies (depending on their interpersonal skills).

The government /voters did try to create a barrier by providing compulsory transfers every few years, change of posts, etc etc. However, the voters failed to realize that it was a larger nexus - while the bureaucrats had different individual views, their common minimum policy was to maintain power within the bureaucracy & ensure increasing profits for their kind. They did not shirk from providing carrots to the politicians by giving them a taste of wealth that could be acquired from the public position of power. While the politicians were re-elected or thrown out based on their performance, the bureaucrats who were elites formerly, were able to forward their agenda without much deterrence from the public. They are, today, the true elites & power-bearers, deciding the fate of everyone from the rich to the poor, while enriching themselves limitlessly....

One has to only imagine a public system in their absenoe, or one where the bureaucrats are also elected / directly accountable to understand that the fear of being removed from their position completely can be the only deterrent to their power & money games. Accountability is a great threat to the responsible, but the public has been denied the right to use it on the largest control group - the bureaucrats... Time we changed this?

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Bureaucrat- capitalist nexus

A day after the election results, I was sitting with my dad & watching the events unfold on the TV when he remarked: " Why do we need two set of people to do the same thing?" I asked him what he meant & he replied:"Well, there is this national highway development program for example. There is one set of govt employees / bureaucrats who sit in NHAI & similar & decide which roads to develop & so on. Then they dole out these lucrative earning opportunities to (so to say) the lowest bidders (namely the contractors). The contractors then construct these roads. Earlier, in the 60s & 70s, the govt used to build the roads by directly employing labour, thus guaranteeing proper wages to the lowest workers while ensuring quality. Then, as corruption increased, the babus formed a nexus with the material suppliers & supplied sub-standard materials to the roads. As a result the roads were no longer reliable. The govt suddenly decided that it was incapable of building roads & should divest itself of this responsibility. Thus were the road contractors born. Earlier, they provided quality as they had a name to keep & the roads were fine again. But the babus formed another nexus with the contractors & again the quality suffered. Now, we are in the third phase where the government passes on the build-operate-transfer/own rights to contractors & they are free to do what they like. Initially, this worked too, as the contractors owned the roads & collected toll. So they maintained the stretches well. Again, the babus have formed a nexus, and the roads (even expressways) are back to the poor lamentable conditions. The rot has set in, and there is no further hope unless we remove the roots of the rot first!"

I took the opportunity to compare this to Klein's description of events in South American countries during the 1970s. A small problem was magnified hugely by private capital hungry for resources & sources of exponential earning to show that the then current system didn't work. They kept proposing free market policies privatizing all forms of services, and earning enormous profits from the same, while the general condition continued to deteriorate.

In the same manner, as just one example of such a policy, private capital in our country has kept insisting the govt is unable to develop & maintain quality roads by itself, freeing the entire operation from the government step-by-step, ultimately owning the roads, bullying people to pay toll even as the quality of roads deteriorates to earlier (or worse) levels. Put this example to comparison in other policies like power, air transport, water works, urban infrastructure, etc etc & you get the point. The whole aim of the exercise is to keep fooling the public into believing that the govt is incapable of doing things itself & private capital / corporations are the only answer to quality development. As each small step fails, another more radical alternative is presented as a hope. If this continues, we will effectively privatize all our essential services to no end, & lose whatever control we have over our basic rights as citizens.

While I am not a supporter of leftist / socialist policies i do not believe that democracy entails complete corporatocracy. Certain basic services / rights have to be ensured by the government & the best (though less efficient) way of doing it is for the government to control the production & distribution of these services. Private capital is not answerable to the public & in effect creates oligarchy, since essential services are not liable to competition. While grossly inefficient, the government machinery is atleast answerable to the voters & thus (marginally) in their control. 

This raises an important question regarding bureaucracy, which i shall discuss in the next post.

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Corporatocracy v/s democracy

I have been reading Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine. She talks about corporatocracy a la Milton Friedman & its impact on the world. The American policies that have allowed free reign of private capital around the world have led to the collapse & deterioration of many countries around the world. I have been exposed to the idea with Chomsky's writings, although he never used the term or explained the concept in the book I read. However, subsequent reads of Klein & Confessions of an economic hitman brought home the idea that private capital is dangerously bent on gaining profits from the crisis in other nations. In a worse turnaround, private capital creates crises to be able to generate new profits. 

Its a very interesting case for India too, while Klein's book does not mention India except a short sentence on Tsunami. Since the last 5 years we have turned socialists again, introducing public funded policies that seek to resdistribute taxes earned by the govt to the poor through farm loan waivers, NREGA and the likes. However saintly it may look, the government is still guilty of misguiding the general public: the largest amount of tax comes fromt the middle classes & not the exceptionally rich. While they pay a good amount of personal tax, most of their wealth lies in corporations which are cross-subsidized by the government through various tax-waivers, import-export subsidies, SEZ system (the largest tax break system in our country to date), etc. If one is to even calculate off-hand, it is easy to notice that the amount of revenue the government loses (& in effect subsidizes) from corporations is many times more than what it doles out towards pro-poor policies. 

So, is this just a way of covering up the corporatist agenda? The earlier government (NDA) wasn't even covering up - they were blatantly doling out subsidies to the rich while ignoring the poor. However, whether the former or latter, the middle class takes the burden of financing most of this powerplay. In the end, its about our money as taxpayers, that the government conviniently pushes across various spectrums, leaving us high & dry.

This is just the first in a series of posts, where i wish to explore the concepts of corporatocracy, democracy & the status of our country within the same.

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Movie: Letters from Iwo Jima

It was my first night at the movie club that Anuj hosts, and we were to see the screening of "Letters from Iwo Jima" - a movie about the American- Japanese battle for a small island in the Pacific during the second world war. The movie, produced in 2006 (along with its sequel The Flags of our Fathers) by Clint Eastwood won many awards. Here is my review of the same:

I believe that Letters from Iwo Jima is not a war movie. It is a dual charactersketch of two personalities - a general who has lived in the US before the war, & a baker dragged into the war due to conscription. The director has taken a conscious decision to not show the actual battle along with tactics. Instead, he concentrates on the mindset of the Japanese soldiers, their life and the state in which they struggle to protect the island. It also provides one important insight into the imperial Japanese society, pushing its subjects into desperate situations beyond its own control. The social fabric which hails patriotism above all else overlooks the discomfort and breaking morale of the commoners. That, I believe is the most important lesson of the movie. The letters that the baker hides at the end of the battle talk about a general's thoughts of US to his children, the baker's continued longing for his wife in the backdrop of an impending suicidal battle. Important dialogues show how the Japanese army discounts American technological prowess & ends up losing its infantry to arrogance, ignorance and misguided sense of patriotism. The very idea of committing harakiri instead of retreating to one's base & providing much needed manpower seems untactful - a strong statement about a medieval army facing a modern battle. 

The alchemy in my life...

When i was a kid, i thought i was a dreamer.... so, i used to imagine a hundred million things & draw some of them.... then i came to rigid formal teaching & discovered im good at math & science. So, i took up math & science... when i faced the boards i found hundreds better than me.. then i thought atleast i drew better, and had some sense of imagination... so i joined architecture... there i found hundreds better at sketching & imagination... i found i have a better appreciation for planning, so i took up a job in planning... i found many better than me... i realized i appreciated environment & nature much more... so i took up landscape... & there i found nature lovers more fanatical than me, environmentalists more obsessed than me... so im back here, wondering what is it i am good at...

Now, i think im a better dreamer than anything else... conjuring up the future (imagined) before my eyes... well, i will find another hundreds better at that too....

but the truth is, there are hundreds better than me at any one given thing...its the combination of some math, some science, some imagination, some bit of drawing, some bit of environmental attitude that makes me - ME

am i upto my own expectations? do i value myself? do i believe in myself? well, the answer can only come when i go back to the roots... the alchemist found the treasure back where he started... & i must go back to my dreaming... combined with my experiences in math, science, imagination, architecture et al, ... maybe ill realize what niche i have...where i excel... and what i can contribute to the world....

happy journey to myself!!!!

oh ps: i absolutely adore to travel.. there may be others better,but i havent yet found anyone as hell-bent on exploring even when not having slept in last 24 hours (apropos my trip to mt abu...)

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Er.. that marriage thing....

I've seen people choosing their own partner & living with them their whole life & I've seen others choosing their own & having flings the next year onwards..

I've seen people getting into arranged marriages & living happily ever after, & I've seen too many not feeling alive ever after....

As you can understand, I'm quite undecided on which bench I should sit.. but there is one positive thing about arranged marriages that I may have discovered. & it reflects not just the marriage & social customs, but also the general state of mind of individuals in the society. The first group wants freedom & chooses their own, the second gives that to their families to choose. Now the arranged marriage system is a good web of checks & balances, not withstanding the fact that I have seen it fail more times, but then success stories are too common & hence are never mouthed.. every successful arranged marriage is yet another good marriage, but a disastrous one is an agenda for the freedom of choice group.

Anyways, the discussion being about checks & balances - the family keeps the web tightly knit, with frequent gatherings & festivals allowing the couple to feel needed everywhere & keep close to each other in the first year. Then onwards, each family takes care of the newlyweds, with economic & social extensions of their own family, thus tightening the web. In the end, we have about 3 loosely nuclear families moving together. If any one of the newlyweds wavers, the bonds around are a moral deterrent, as well as physical when needed.

Now, I have always kept wondering why is this needed? Which brings us to the state of mind question. While most of us want freedom of choice, is every individual in the society qualified enough to make his or her decisions? I do believe in freedom for every individual as the cornerstone for liberty, but most examples in society are that of irresponsible use of the freedom... How do we bring about a balance. I would like to believe that such informal checks & balances systems are helpful. The state can only make blanket laws for everyone, since we have not been able to achieve a personalized democracy - different for every individual according to need. Blanket laws are necessary for some but oppressive for most, or helpful to most but deterring for some. There is no single right way in a country of a billion plus people. Hence, it is necessary to understand the concept of formal v/s informal, legal v/s social laws / customs. Somewhere, this leads me (for now, & to be honest - quite grudgingly) to believe that our system of personal laws (separate for each community - rephrased culture) is better than having a single national law. It may unite us, but narrow our freedoms & tear apart our social fabric.

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