THE ETERNAL REBEL

TELL ME A MYTH

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:25:00 +0000

If you don't know the trees you may be lost in the forest , but if you don't know the stories you may be lost in life..........

HALF A TRUTH

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:02:00 +0000

People try different things to beat occasion’s blues. I did it by counting my savings. It worked until family expenses mounted and the hideous piece of plastic called credit card entered my life. Now, the state of my finances has me perennially in the pits. So, my girl friend keeps on supplying me with fresh ideas to earn more. Only sometimes she takes it too far. That day when she saw me flipping through a recently released autobiography she was at it again. “Isn’t it time you also wrote your memoirs?” she asked matter-of-factly as if I were Brad Pitt and writing memoirs a child’s play. Preposterous as the proposition was, I tried to counter it with reason. It works sometimes. Even with her. “What’s there in my life to write about?” I said. “It’s not what you write about yourself but the spicy things that you write about others that sells it. All you need is some imagination to make two and two 22”. “But you know how modest my writing skills are?”, I said. Unfazed, she rubbed it in, “Can’t you hire a ghost-writer?” “Oh, they all have become pricey, writing for the celebrities. But suppose I find one, I still can’t see why anyone would read an unknown person’s autobiography”, I said.

“We are not going to ask people to read it”, she said. Puzzled, I asked, “What do you mean?” “I mean people need not read it. If they just buy it, our purpose would be served. Anyway in this country those who pay for books rarely read them. Why, you buy so many. Do you read all? In fact, I am thinking of selling them to the raddiwala”, she said. Feeling threatened, I fell in line. “Please don’t. I’ll do what you say. But don’t blame me if people sue me for writing all sorts of things”, I warned her hoping that at least this would work. “Stop worrying about that. They won’t be able to prove a thing. You know I have even thought of an appropriate title. It’ll take care of everything”, she said exuding supreme confidence. What ace does she have up her sleeve? I thought and asked, “What title do you have in mind?” “ My Experiments with Half-truths”, she said.

SHOCK THERAPY

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 06:04:00 +0000

On August 9,1965 Malaysia’s parliament expelled Singapore from its federation. Does this expulsion by a republic, of a state that once belonged to it, hold any lessons for us? India too is a federal republic, and crucial areas of governance – such as law and order, agriculture, trade and commerce, transport and communications, public health-fall within the state list. The Center could well devise ambitious plans for economic progress, but they will fall through if states don’t implement them. Let’s take two examples-UP and Bihar. Politically they are blessed states, close to the epicenter of power. They do not lack in arable land or water resources (except, perhaps, some parts of southern UP that are dry). Bihar is also rich in mineral resources. Despite being so well endowed the two states score low on economic growth and human development, and are slipping further behind. During 1992-98, when economic reforms unleashed high growth across India, Bihar’s economy actually contracted at an average annual rate of 0.2 percent. UP accounts for a staggering 26 percent of infant deaths in the country.

There’s only one explanation for their being in a tailspin despite favorable conditions: Utterly criminalized political and executive classes have let them down. It’s futile threatening to cut off central funds to states that under-perform- that means very little to a state government that chronically mis-utilises them. One needs to hold out a more drastic threat- to cut them off from the republic. Lalu Prasad is reported to have advised Biharis to migrate to other states, after having helped create the conditions that make them migrate. This is too easy an escape hatch. There is no reason for the rest of India to subsidize this mode of functioning by throwing him a lifeline. Cut off that lifeline and the rulers of UP and Bihar would soon be facing rebellion from their subjects, as Nepal’s monarch did. What if India commits the same error as Malaysia, and UP and Bihar became new Singapores after expulsion? At least India would have succeeded in rousing UP and Bihar by administering shock therapy, and having a couple of economic powerhouses in its midst isn’t too bad.

आज का विचार

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 12:19:00 +0000

हम क्या थे, क्या हैं और क्या होंगे अभी? आओ मिलके सोचें ये योज़नाएं सभी....................

LUCKY SPERM CLUB

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 11:43:00 +0000

With his election as BJP’s Lok Sabha MP, T.P.S. Rawat has become the latest entrant to what Warren Buffet calls the ‘Lucky Sperm Club’. Although the American billionaire used the term to describe children who inherit great fortunes, it can be applied equally to heirs of famous names in two distinct fields that sometimes overlap – films and politics. Both spheres require no qualifying test and many of the recipients of this biological largesse are lucky to be there because they do not have the brains or the ability to make the grade on a level playing field. Like India, America too has its political bigwigs. Most of them are offspring of senators, governors or even presidents. It helps financially and psychologically to have a familiar brand name. It gives its bearer a head start, but it also helps to cover up some of his, or her, weakness.

The most famous recipients of the lucky sperm today are, of course, the Bushes, with one being the president and other a governor. But the drawbacks of the system, too, have made obvious by the current flag-bearer of this name whose advanced state of befuddlement will, no doubt, be a setback for the dynastic cause. As in India the inheritance of political legacy in America is not confined to the offspring of bigwigs. The lucky list includes four siblings, four widows, and several wives, including one Sen Hillary Rodham Clinton who may one day be making a pitch for the top job. Their number was barely 24 in 1986, but sisters and daughters (and widows and wives) are now pushing their way into an area that was earlier marked only for brothers and sons among relatives. So the number is going up and up. The world’s oldest and the largest democracies have at least one thing in common.

CUT THE FLAB

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:33:00 +0000

Food and fertilizer subsidies are sacred among the pro-poor brigade. Take these away, one is told, and mass starvation will break out. Food subsidies help by putting food in the mouth of the poor, while fertilizer subsidies help indirectly by reducing the cost of inputs for producing food. Sure, and pigs can fly. The reality is that, if not mass starvation, large-scale malnutrition has already broken out. Amartya Sen assures us mass starvation cannot happen in a democracy. But his studies also show that in terms of endemic hunger, India does much worse than sub-Saharan Africa. This is despite food and fertilizer subsidies ballooning over the past decades. Fertilizer subsidies rose from Rs 5 billion in 1980-81 to Rs 163 billion now. Food subsidy has gone from Rs 25 billion in 1990-91 to Rs 266 billion currently. Sub-Saharan Africa doesn’t have this much money to throw at the problem, yet does better than us. What gives?

Obviously, the money isn’t reaching intended beneficiaries. There’s a much better way – directly distribute it among those it is meant for. According to the Social Development Report recently released by the Council for Social Development, 260 million Indians live below the poverty line of whom 193 million are in rural India. Back-of-the-envelope calculations show that if we abolish food and fertilizer subsidies, and distribute the Rs 430 billion that becomes available directly to the rural poor, the government could pay Rs 2,227 to each beneficiary, or Rs 6 per day for every single man, woman and child. This could be in the form of food stamps, so that it’s spent only on food and nothing else. The market would then work to make food available to the poorest consumer. If each individual gets to spend Rs 6 on food, chronic malnutrition is history. The only ones to get cut out will be FCI babus, foodgrain smugglers, fatcats owning fertilizer factories, and rich farmers who benefit from high minimum support prices. But they have other means of fending for themselves. There’s an additional advantage in targeting this subsidy exclusively to the rural poor. It will reverse some of the incentives to migrate to cities, and thus ease the pressure on urban India.

BIG BITE

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:49:00 +0000

Bangalore was the symbol of India’s infotech (IT) prowess. In the early 1990s,we didn’t know exactly what it was that the IT companies did, but we knew the world wanted it. The boom spawned “letterhead” companies, which registered their offices in Bangalore only to be able to acquire credibility by putting the city’s name on their stationery.

Today, Bangalore has little credibility left. It seems it cannot cope-neither with the good times that led to an influx of software professionals, nor the bad, when the pressure of thousands of its new citizens began to tell on civic infrastructure. The IT industry may have been given preferential treatment by the Government, but it cannot be faulted. It has delivered on its promises: it created jobs, earned foreign exchange and set global standards. It is those who govern Bangalore who have not delivered. Blaming the IT industry for the lack of adequate roads or electricity, for its growing congestion and pollution is a red herring.

While power brokers have been making their calculations, Bangalore has been left out of every growing industry’s future plans.
Once again, the arithmetic of politics has overtaken the geometrics of economic growth.

Uncle, why is Dumbledore gay?

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 13:23:00 +0000

The Dictionary defines ‘gay’ as an adjective denoting cheerful, lively, carefree disposition. Another given meaning is homosexual, lesbian, queer. When we were teenagers, the only meaning for gay was cheerfulness and fun. Being gay was considered good and never frowned upon. This was when we were growing up on stories by Ruskin Bond and Premchand. And none of these writers ever held audiences enlightening with us on the sexual preferences of their characters.

Today, teenagers have J.K.Rowling and her millions of young readers the world over ravishing every new Harry Potter book with alacrity and gusto. The devotion and loyalty young minds have for Harry Potter is unique, more so because the world. Having such a mega readership may have compelled Rowling to divulge not the plot for her next story but a secret that has set the young minds wondering. She declared before a large gathering that Dumbledore, the wise and lovable patriarch of Hogwarts, is gay. “I do not find it unusual for a kind, intelligent, gentle old man to be gay,” she said, reacting to the debate that has since generated

What she forgot to remember was that her books cut across cultural and language divides. A Chinese or an Indian parent is an equal contributor to Rowling’s burgeoning wealth as the English or American parent. The same Indian parent may find it rather unusual for her child to read about kind, gentle gay men running a hostel full of young and impressionable minds. And this isn’t about me being for or against homosexuality.

Talking to children about homosexuality may not be such a taboo in the US or Australia, but how many Indians are comfortable with discussing such issues with their young seven-year-olds? Call it old-fashioned, but the fact is even liberal parents here would not be sure that they want their kids to read books where homosexuality is a declared attribute of a major character.

My seven-year-old niece is into Harry Potter and also reads the newspaper. She wanted to know what ‘gay’ means and why Dumbledore is gay. I tried hard, but there was no way I could explain ‘gay’ to a seven-year-old without getting into complicated discussions about adults and sex. My 14-year-old nephew was rather blasé about it – and smirked during our talk.

So what did his friends think of Rowling’s declaration? “They read it on the Net and we all had a laugh. They thought it was silly of Rowling to say it and they wanted to know why there was a need for her to declare this information, as it does not affect the storyline. Or does it, Uncle?” I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the need for Rowling to reveal her character’s sexual preference was driven by commerce.

SULTANS OF STEEL

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Mon, 12 May 2008 17:37:00 +0000

Mittal's causal demeanour belies the size of his ambition and his business acumen, qualities his French business adversaries must now be only too familiar with. I have also noticed with some amusement that ever since his success, India seems to have co-opted Mittal as one of its own. We have conveniently forgotten that his success has nothing to do with India. If anything, it is a comment on Indian conditions. Had he remained here, it would have restricted his ambitions and Mittal would have stayed an anonymous member of a large business family.

Today he heads a steel business whose total capacity is three times that of its nearest rivals and three times India's total steel consumption and Arcelor Mittal now controls 10 percent of global steel production. It is a position Mittal has acquired at the end of two decades of work.

INDIAN FASHION INDUSTRY

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:12:00 +0000

Today, India is in vogue again as a result of the work of many talented people in the fashion industry.

Unlike before, the Indian motif is one of luxury and confidence. Designers in the West are using it to make a statement- whether it is Cavalli who put Goddesses on bikinis or Prada whose latest collection uses the peacock feather. The transformation that has already taken place in other sectors like business and economy is now finding expression in fashion in a significant way. It is a reflection of India’s larger engagement with the world. Behind the arc lights of the recent India Fashion Week, real business was being conducted. Buyers from major western retail chains came looking for genuine local talent. Be it Selfridges, Harrods or Browns, mainstream stores in the West now retail the collections of some of our best designers. More than a generic Indian “look”, the label of the Indian designer is also being sought after.

EXPORTING TERROR

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 18:22:00 +0000

Relations between India and Pakistan have a tendency to move on twin tracks. One is fuelled by Islamabad’s Kashmir obsession and its commitment to cross-border terrorism. The other involves periodic peace offers by Pakistan to ease international pressure on itself. It’s a double game that has been played with some success in the past but Islamabad bow finds itself hoist with its own petard.

That is why the question of whether the ceasefire along the Line of Control is an attempt to appease the global gallery or a genuine desire for peace remains an open one.

SECRET DESIRES

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:04:00 +0000

In a survey on young men between the ages of 16 and 25 across 11 cities shows that they are less confident and more confused about sex, surprising in today’s social and economic environment. A majority still want the woman they marry to be a virgin and 54 percent are not allowed to bring their female friends home.

Fantasy is clearly a preferable option with 62 percent saying they watch pornography with male friends.

The survey suggests a wide difference from the media image of free mingling of sexes. The single young man seems muddled. He is still trying to break free of the shackles of the family, and the restrictions of being brought up in still largely segregated environments. For these boys, other boys are still their best buddies, and 37 percent have even had one or more homosexual experiences. For young Indian men, appearance is everything- 58 percent say grooming is important and although only 19 percent have credit cards, 44 percent go to the gym on a regular basis and 35 percent eat out once or more than once a week. They are, however, careful when it comes to sex: 53 percent say condoms are a must use, which means there is rising awareness about safe sex.
As happens often in India, what appears on the surface is not the truth. However sexily the young may dress and however greater the interaction with each other, deep down when it comes to something as fundamental as sex, they are downright conservative. Or as the French are fond of saying: plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose –the more things change, the more they stay the same.

MAD ABOUT MALLS

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 14:55:00 +0000

My experience of shopping malls in India happened purely by chance after I shifted my place of residence to the outskirts of my city. I found that the distance to the nearest mall had shrunk and it became convenient to unwind after work by catching the occasional movie at the immediately struck me was how well maintained and clean these malls were, specially the public conveniences. No paan stains, no spitting, no dust, litter or foul odour- the curse of any public space in urban India. By itself, that is remarkable, but these shopping malls are also symbolic of another significant landmark. They are the prime drivers of an organized retail revolution in the country. At the rate new ones are coming up, it’s virtually a mall a minute. According to a recent KSA Technopak study of the Indian retail industry, there were just three shopping malls (of at least one lakh sq ft retail space) operating in India in 2000. By 2008 that figure is expected to reach 343. By 2008 almost 18 million sq ft of mall space will be developed across 12 cities in India, with 54 new malls coming up in Delhi alone. Significantly, a number of new and proposed malls are located in small towns. For India’s middle classes, riding the current economic upturn and a jump in disposable incomes, they represent the new temples of retail worship.

WRONG 'UNS

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 15:45:00 +0000

One day on the morning India plays cricket you will switch on the TV and a scroll will flash:"Breaking News: Sachin flouts rules, has aloo parathas for breakfast. Trainer furious,players envious!"

News about cricket on TV is no longer about runs and wickets. It is about packaging gone potty. About international captains dressed up in medieval armour for the most tasteless advertisements in the history of advertisements,about Sidhuisms, about nailing the "guilty" at the end of play, analysis programmes called "Silly Point", and anchors cutting live to reporters with brain-bogglers-"XYZ has just got a century. Hame bataaiye, what are his thoughts at this moment?" ("F***in'hell, just saved my a**.")

Then there is the meaningless micro-live coverage: the BCCI's working committee meetings, its team selections and now the movement of the cricketers before a big game. Well-coiffed men and women report live from outside hotels breathlessly announcing that the team bus is about to leave for the stadium. No one has yet hired a helicopter to track them to the ground but you never know. As things stand, the breakfast buffet is the next frontier. "What's it going to be for Bhajji today-skimmed milk or full cream? SMS us your answers, win a life-time supply of Amul Taaza tetrapacks.

Live cricket today is seven hours of action, in extreme close-up, direct to your living room. All other punditry on the idiot box is superfluous unless there is a spin on it. Today there is more spin, less cricket. The idea of a day's play throwing up a "mujrim" is toathesome because we live in a country where real mujrims sit in government. Get a grip, everybody.

All is, of course, rationalised by the tyranny of the TRP, the need to grab eyeballs. So players of varying capabilities, agendas and IQS, cast as impartial gurus, prattle on for hours.No wonder the entire circus goes ballistic, looking for "mujrims" when India loses. No victories, no feel-good, no feel good, no ratings, no ratings,no ads,no ads, no moolah. And you thought facing the new ball against Australia was tough. Try turning sport into showbiz and we'll see how those Aussies do.

In keeping with flavour of the sleazon, the day a spycam is planted on the team bus or in the dressing room doesn't look too far away. Tip for Team India: mind your language, guys, and work on those abs.

GENERATION ME

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 18:52:00 +0000

There are 250 million young people in India between the age of 18 and 35. Never before has India been a country of so many choices. Whether it is vocation or education, leisure or lifestyle, today's young Indians can go anywhere and become anything.

This growing and very visible demographic profile also contributes to the buoyancy of the economy and the general sense of feel-good we find around us. But India is not a homogenous whole and a decade ago, there were many Indians to contend with- urban,rural, small town, big city, metropolis and boondocks. But thanks to the expansion of mass media, those differences have got blurred. Not in real terms like opportunities or infrastructure but certainly in ideas and aspirations. Every young Indian, whether in Jamshedpur or Jammu, with access to TV and the Internet, believes he or she is an equal stakeholder in the prosperity that the country seems to promise today. when they travel to big cities to fulfill their dreams, they travel with more confidence and less trepidation.

NET DEFICITS

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:11:00 +0000

The Internet no doubt challenges ignorance, but it is also a purvey0r of false information. It is decentralised and anarchic, since nobody controls or owns it. To borrow a phrase from al Biruni, it is a mixture of pearls, pebbles and dung. Yet, many people utterly believe what is posted on the Net. Newspapers tap the Net for background information. Hence, noted astronomer-mathematician Brahmagupta is placed in 628 BCE instead of CE 628. The Jantar Mantar observatory is said to have been employed for predicting eclipses. Not true. Predictions require mathematics not instruments. A newspaper described Aryabhata as "a scholar at the Nalanda university" and credited him with authoring the so-called "heliocentric theory of gravitation". We know very little about ancient astronomers, our only source being stray comments in tersely worded scientific shlokas by them or in those of their commentators. Some speculate that Aryabhata was head of Nalanda university. Even if this were true, it does not necessarily mean that he was a student there. A website even displays a picture of Aryabhata standing in front of his university! As for the heliocentric theory, this is illiteracy of the highest order. A mathematical theory is constructed so that it can have wide application. It can't be centred on the sun or anything else. The Internet has 11,800 entries on Aryabhata. How does one decide which ones to reject? The Net also throws up problems of rigour. M.K. Gandhi is widely quoted as saying the earth has enough for everyone's need but not greed. Many versions of this statement are doing the rounds. Which are correct? Some Hindus in North America were the first Indians to use the Net. They have constructed an Indian past that would help them cope with their real or imagined problems in an alien setting. With dependence on the Net as a primary source of information growing, it is necessary to create an authentic web resource from an Indian perspective. Indian newspapers should form a consortium to set up an online Indipaedia or encyclopaedia Inica. A committed band of editors and contributors should prepare entries. This might seem like an ambitious and lone-drawn affair but may be worth the effort.

PRESENT EVERYWHERE

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 14:18:00 +0000

In the first original Star Wars film, princess Leia famously appealed for help to Obiwan Kenobi by appearing in front of the Jedi Knight as a small, see-through projected form of her physical self. Meanwhile, elsewhere, R2D2 and Chewbacca were shown playing chess with artificially imaged pieces floating in front of them. In the last Episode III movie too, absent members take part in meetings by having their facsimiles broadcast directly among the real people in attendance, much like an enhanced version of present-day videoconferencing. Even though it's tacitly assumed all these are three-dimensional holographic representations of reality, such stuff is still way in the future- in a galaxy far, far away-because right now all we have is a method of producing a partial 3D image of an object which, in any case, needs a solid backing medium to be expressed on such as paper, plastic or metal. Producing lifelike holograms which could be free floated into mid-air to form a hovering image visible from all sides remains for the time being at least in the realm of science fiction. But perhaps not for long.

A technique for projecting holographic images to make both still and moving three-dimensional displays is currently undergoing development in the United States at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This technique, unlike older ones based on stereoscopy, would not involve the use of polarising goggles, specialised eyewear or other visual aids. Also, unlike in holographic displays as practised until now, visibility of the image would not be restricted to a narrow range of directions;instead, it would be observable from any side. In other words, the display could be viewed as though it were an ordinary three-dimensional object. The technique has obvious potential value for the entertainment industry as in video games and home theatre, and for military uses like displaying battlefield scenes overlaid on terrain maps. It could also be used as store displays, for exhibiting rare museum artefacts and in operating theatres where a patient's vital signs could hover above the chest during open heart surgery. As for princess Leia, she could be projected straight to our living rooms in future.

HOT JOBS

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:59:00 +0000

I am not an economist. But I don't have to be one to know to be one to know that there is something horribly skewed with the Indian economy. About 60 percent of the country's labour force works in agriculture to produce just 21 percent of national income- GDP. Conversely, survives sector that generates over 50 per cent of the GDP employs only 27 percent of working Indians. The missing link that I am hinting at is the industry. Unlike the services sector, industry can create jobs of the kind that can absorb unemployed and underemployed from agriculture. Industry today has only 17 percent of the labour force on its rolls.

India is either rewriting the laws of economic growth - that say an economy transits from an agricultural one to being industrial before becoming services-driven-or it is doing something fundamentally wrong. In China, 70 per cent of the workforce is employed in agriculture and only 30 per cent is with industry and services.

That's tragic because it's India, and not china, which claims to be an emerging knowledge superpower. In a knowledge economy, it's the people and the people's skills, what experts call employability, that determine success. For companies in such an economy, their talent pool becomes the most valuable asset, more valuable than capital, land or machines. We all knew India has the world's largest pool of 'skilled' manpower.Ironically we were wrong. It took two years of sustained job growth to blow this myth. India's workforce is large but not skilled. In a McKinsey surveys, 81 per cent of the executives polled said the biggest challenge to growth was not infrastructure or poor governance but scarcity of talent. That's a dubious distinction for the world's second most populous and the youngest country. Obviously, we desperately need to fix our education system.

That's bad news for companies and the country. But for today's job seekers it's the most heartening news. Today companies using innovative ways to overcome the shortage of skills and going beyond the metros to hunt for talent. I always felt much of India's economic progress has been despite the government. It seems much of employment growth will also take place without any significant help from the government.

SEVENTH TRUTH

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 14:57:00 +0000

I was in college when I heard Aziza Mustafa Zadeh's album Seventh Truth. An introspective track, which swings between being fiercely emotional, joyful and sad, it touched me immensely.

There was the charming Ay dilber, the subdued I am sad, Wild Beauty, etc. But the song that affected me the most was Fly with me. This beautiful singer from Azerbaijan(once part of the USSR) sang the English and Azeri lyrics about the adventure to free one's spirits, to the sound of the western classical piano, supported by percussion and the sound of drums. All incorporated to the strains of traditional Arabic melody! There was no boundary to her style, but a beautiful fusion of diverse lyrics, vocals and instruments. It was the most melodious attempt at bridging the gap between world music. I went into raptures every time I heard it.

Not only was the song pleasing to the ears, it made me open-minded about various forms of music. It also taught me not to be limited by favourites and to keep an open mind and listen.

SEX CRIMES

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 11:42:00 +0000

The World Health Organisation says that a woman is raped in India every 54 minutes. It is a horrifying and depressing statistic because it tells an uncomfortable truth: that no matter how we measure progress, India remains medieval in the way it treats its women.In villages, the threat of rape is a constant; the act is used to settle scores in caste and power tussles. Women have, therefore, generally felt safer in the anonymity of our towns and cities.

This seems to be changing. Around Holy festival, three rape cases were reported-two in the capital and other in Mumbai. If this could happen in the most cosmopolitan and westernised of Indian cities, the feudal north or the conservative south could hardly be any safer for women.

They aren't. Women are increasingly vulnerable in our cities. They are being picked off the street and raped inside moving cars, assaults are more common inside campuses, date rape is on the increase and merely travelling alone leaves a woman open to risk.

In the last decade, the growing number of women in the workforce has given them greater economic and personal freedom. With it has come greater vulnerability and greater risk. While women have adjusted to the demands of working in male spaces, the reverse adjustment has not been as smooth. Women may have changed the way they see themselves but men, it is clear, have not.

Today the battle being fought is against the male psyche which seeks to exercise control over women through abuse.

LAWLESS INDIANS

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 12:43:00 +0000

Let's face it we are an undisciplined nation and this is manifest in all walks of life, on our roads, in public buildings, in parks, everywhere. Go anywhere in the world, to the smallest country in the Far East, they may be poor, underdeveloped but they are spotlessly clean. You don't have to be a high-tech wizard to realise that litter has no place on roads, that ancient monuments, which we are so lucky to have are to be cherished and preserved.

A foreigner is a guest, and in true Indian tradition a guest is the equivalent of God: Atithi Devo Bhavah goes the adage. But how do we treat our guests? From the moment they land to the bedlam that we call airports, with endless queues at customs and emigration, to the pushing and shoving that is needed to obtain a trolley, the very first experience in our country is a big turn-off. Then there is the dishonest cabbie who takes his guest all over town, on a tampered meter. When halting at traffic lights, they are harangued by beggars, maimed and disfigured, little infants, bare-bodied mewling in an emaciated woman's arms. Is this the Amazing India that our tourism industry tom-toms about? Where is the glorious civilisation, dating back to Harappa and Mohenjodaro, the visitors had come to experience? Is this the capital of an India, emerging from the shackles of imperialism, riding on the brave back of the IT, ITES industry, all ready to take its place as a colossus of the emerging decade? Of course, the glistening glass facade buildings, housing the new knowledge industry, swanky malls, world-class hotels, are also a side of our Janus-headed city. But till the mismatch between the two faces remains as stark, the sobriquet of a world-class city will remain a chimera.

UNLIKELY BEGGAR

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:51:00 +0000

He looked like a beggar. When he stretched out his hand to me, the melancholic look he gave me melted my heart. I fished in my pocket and came up with a five-rupee coin which I promptly handed over. Happy that I had done my good deed for the day, I went to the bus stop to wait for the bus that would take me home. Suddenly, a sleek limousine drew up and came to a halt near the guy who had just been the recipient of my munificence. A driver leapt out of the vehicle and saluted the beggar who, looking around surreptitiously to see whether anyone was watching him, rushed into the vehicle. I stood flummoxed wondering whether the per capita income of beggars in the country had risen so sharply that they could afford chauffeur-driven cars.

I had caught sight of the chauffeur before the car sped off and he turned out to be an old buddy of mine. It was he who let the cat out of the bag. "That was indeed my boss you saw the other day in the guise of a beggar", he began. "My boss is a millionaire but his father had lived and died a beggar. The boss had longed to give a better deal to his father but the old bloke died before our man could make his money. So, as a mark of respect to his father and his profession, our friend goes out begging every second Wednesday. Usually he manages to escape detection. But I would like to sound a warning to you. If you value your well being just keep this to yourself and if at all you see him again and it is most likely that you will, drop a coin on his plate and be done with it. My boss is like Mogambo in real life." A shiver ran down my spine. These days when I spot a beggar and that too a beggar who can be a chooser like the one above, I take to my heels without a second thought.

ABOLISH AGE

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:25:00 +0000

The story of an 88 year-old Indian fathering twins is revealing. As is a 67-year-old Romanian who became the oldest mother when she gave birth to a girl. Then there is Madona who at 48 is dancing and singing live with the energy levels of a 20-year-old. And she doesn't look a day over 25. The point is that there isn't any place for obsessively keeping tab on chronological age.Old paradigm and landmarks no longer hold. For instance, 40 is no longer middle age. Notice a 40-year-old Janet Jackson who matter-of-factly poses nude on the cover of a magazine. And her body looks no different in terms of fitness and youthfulness than Britney Spears who is about half of Jackson's age and who also recently posed nude for a magazine cover. French president Chirac's possible successor Segolene Royal was snapped by a photographer in a bikini while on holiday at a sea resort. And Royal, though 53-year-old, could give Hollywood stars a run for their money as far as having a trim and cellulite-free body is concerned. People are dressing, feeling and doing things that have no correlation to their stated age. That's why an 88-year-old can dream of having more children without taking a hard look at his so-called advancing years.

Those on the cusp of retirement feel that they have the ability to work for at least another 10 to 15 years without a problem. Those having children in their 30s and 40s think nothing of it. Keeping a rigid timetable of age may have served a purpose in a different era. Now the word young can be used as easily for a 20-year-old as for a 40-year-old. Marketers have cottoned on to this change and talk about targeting those with youthful spirit rather than those who strictly fall within the golden demographic of 18 to 34. People's age now should be judged by how young they look and feel and their achievements. Madona would be hard-pressed to fit into a bunch of 48-year-olds as she has nothing in common with them. And neither does the 67-year-old new mother who probably has more in common with other new parents rather than with geriatrics. Age then should finally be no bar to the way we live, work and play.

REALITY CHECK TIME

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 13:11:00 +0000

Last month was truly a cracker season for the economy. Almost everyone who had something to sell had boom stories to tell. Two-wheeler makers, for instance, sold over eight lakh motorbikes with market leader Hero Honda accounting for more than half of it. Companies are reporting healthy profits for the fifth consecutive year. Exports are growing at over 20 per cent this year. The RBI expects that GDP growth would be between 7 and 7.5 per cent. What's more, the Singh parivar at the core of the country's economic management-Manmohan Singh, Montek Singh Ahluwalia and P. Chidambaram-believes that the good crop is yet to deliver dividends.

Such is the force of good news that you could understandably be blown off your rational two feet and wonder if the Government matters. After all, this 20-party coalition has made more news for the wrong reasons than right ones. It is, however, critical to remember that the momentum for progress is coming from exogenous drivers like global growth and the impact of endogenous factors, including tax reforms and a huge liquidity overhang that makes borrowing affordable. Very simply, people are taking loans and buying homes, using credit to furnish their homes and borrowing money to buy cars and mobikes to get to work and back.

Any student of physics would tell you that momentum is mass into velocity and unless there is a next wave of reforms, the economy could well be stalled at the next traffic light-rather the next red light as they say in Delhi. Also, given the buoyant picture, this coalition's non-contractual beneficiary-the left brigade-could come up with yet another populist freebie to spend hard-earned monies on. So it is essential for those popping the bubbly lo pause before they say cheers. The pro-reforms brigade needs to seize the moment and force the issue on reforms-from opening up retail and unlocking the potential of agriculture to reforming the sinking public sector, pushing investment in infrastructure and fixing the tax-GDP ratio. Boom time optics might suggest that the Government doesn't matter but the reality is that it can definitely mar the next Holi. Unless it is forced to act on reforms. Now.

BRAND BADSHAH

noreply@blogger.com (THE ETERNAL REBEL) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 12:06:00 +0000

First it was Chote Miyan Govinda who drew our attention to it, now it's Bade Miyan Amitabh Bachchan's turn to extol the soothing effects of Navratna hair oil. In the ad, the superstar is shown in various situations of stress from his famous films all of which we are told can be banished by the wonder oil. This is but one of the megastar's endorsements. Amitabh's track record gives an altogether new meaning to multitasking. Witness the ease with which he sells a plethora of brands and convincingly at that. If electronics is your passion, buy BPL,says Amitabh, and never be caught in anything less than Reid &Taylor suits. The famous Amitabh autograph is always signed using Parker pens, he moves around in a Maruti Versa derives his boundless energy from Dabur Chyavanprash, would live in a Sahara city home if he didn't have to be located in the heart of Mumbai to fulfill his shooting and endorsement commitments. Among them are Emami Boroplus, Hajomla digestives, Nerolac paint and Tide detergent.

To be fair to him, Amitabh does his share for the greater public good, pitching in for Pulse Polio, Unicef and people for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Is the Badshah of Brands stretching himself too thin? Sure, Amitabh can still draw them in. But, today he is in danger of diluting his brand equity. Amitabh has always been known for being credible and infinitely charming. Do we really want to see him prancing about peddling an unknown oil brand or do a cover-up job for chocolates which came under a cloud for possible contamination? Or a detergent a la Surf's famous Lalitaji? No, Amitabh is all about exclusivity, class and comportment. That is what he was best known for and admired all these years. Unlike other kiss-and-tell stars, he stayed away from media speculation. Whenever he did speak to the media, he rarely gave anything away. This is precisely what kept the public fascinated by his persona. He is the biggest brand Bollywood has ever produced. Don't lend it indiscriminately to the highest bidder. The Shahenshah can't behave like any old Amar, Akbar or Anthony.