NEO-PATRIOTISM

O brothers and sisters of my motherland

It's time to listen to our inner voice

Identify our duties and obligations

Respond to the call of the nation

O brothers and sisters of my motherland

Gone are the days of freedom struggle

When people laid down their lives

To free our mother from the shackles of the British

An objective, internalized in the hearts and minds

Of millions of Indians, drove them to extreme levels

Gone are the days of wars

When our unity and integrity was put to test

We roared like lions, put every threat to rest

Our enemies got a glimpse of our chivalry and valour

They never dared to repeat their fallacies

As their fate met with imminent failure

Now when India is a Republic for 67 years

In an era of alliance and alignment

When a war is highly unlikely

What will drive us now?

Today the society is filled with blasphemy

Corruption is rampant, disparity widens every day

The youth is disenchanted and confused;

They are victims of extremism and fundamentalism

Leaders want poverty to sustain

Or else they will lose issues to come to power

Our mother is crying

She is free but not free

She is asking us to come to her rescue

So shall we!!

It's time to rise, above all communal and religious lines

Work for the change that we want to see

Fight for the rights of people

For the upliftment of poor and downtrodden

Our blood should boil against corruption

Our valour should be displayed to help the poor

We should roar like lions on every field 

And bring laurels for the country

And that should drive us!!!!!

WHAT WE MUST READ: BOOK AS A METAPHOR

One should be very clear of what one studies and what one reads. Studying can sound like medicine while reading sounds like chocolate. I have always imagined paradise to be a library and vice versa. Coming from a family, which espoused education, I inculcated the reading habit precociously. I have always been an avid reader and my home library flaunts a diverse portfolio of books. I have read books of different genres which flagellate from fiction, non-fiction, biographies, etc. to academic books. With evolution of mind, my inclinations evolved too. The Marvel comic books were replaced by Jeffery Archer, J K Rowling, Dan Brown, etc.  Subsequently, the fictional stuff was replaced by the non-fictional ones of Ramachandra Guha, Paulo Coelho and the biographies.

Now I’ m at the cusp of embarking the corporate world. As the effervescent clichéd statement goes, there are things that you want to do and there are things that you have to do. Similarly my insatiable thirst for books has been strewn in the maze. I distinctly remember the initial phase of my MBA course. There were so many things happening around that we all got transformed into zombies. The deadlines, the assignments, the committee stuff, etc. not only kept our hands full but spit venom. It was a kind of derision to the comfortable, laid back stay at home, which precluded the MBA course. I was caught off guarded. I lost my peace of mind. I was a ‘fish out of water’ due to the paucity of ‘me’ time and my inability to manage my schedules.  I craved for emancipation (Yes, I’m using that term).

MBA requires you to do a lot of reading. Case studies, HBR articles, text books, research papers, and books of management-business continuum. I must admit that some of the cases are really intriguing while books like JACK WELSH: STRAIGHT FROM THE GUT and CONNECT THE DOTS by Rashmi Bansal have figured in my favourite list. Some of my friends enjoy reading marketing and business strategy books too. I’m not that sure whether it is their love for these books or they have ‘conditioned’ their preferences, but they don’t seem to be inconvenienced. Throughout these two years, we have been advised to read Forbes magazine, replace Times of India by Business Standard, entertainment news by business news,  Amish Tripathy by Philip Kotler, etc. As future managers, we need to be aware of ‘certain things’ which inostensibly become imperative.

The analogy that I’m trying to draw is the juxtaposition between work and play. Cricketers, musicians, etc. don’t work; they get to do what they love throughout their career and still get paid for it. Similarly reading as a tool can be used in many ways. People read vociferously about finance, marketing, strategy and become outliers in their respective professions (there are so many other factors too and reading alone doesn’t guarantee success). Or you may use it as an alibi to escape from the hustle bustle and find solace within. Believe me, good books have such mystical power of healing. So read that ‘you love to’ or that ‘you have to’; the common link being ‘read’. The more you read, the more confident you are. This New Year, prepare a list of books that you want to pursue. Challenge yourself by coming out of your comfort zone (Choose a book that confronts your taste). Read about politics, both national and international; read about the socio-economic issues that cripple our nation; read about religion; read about any regional cuisine.  “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. A man who doesn’t read lives only once.” 

PIKU: REFLECTION, INTROSPECTION AND REALIZATION

June 1 is celebrated as World Parents Day, a day dedicated to the two most important people of our lives.  Just finished reading a book on Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, where he has expressed the importance of the role played by his parents in moulding his personality.  Now I am almost done with the fictional ‘Game of Thrones’ book, which is a vicious attack to the whole concept of parent-children relationship. In the west, children once become 16, leave their parents’ house and are on their own. They have no obligations towards their parents while the parents don’t lose their sleep over their children’s education, tuition fees and job.  Now coming to the quintessential point of writing this article- I was completely assuaged and possessed by the recent movie ‘Piku’, which is an honest reflection of the prevalent societal nexus in our country.  It might pertain to villages and towns, but it has portrayed the modern urban city lifestyle. It was a pleasant, feel good movie, augmented by the angularities of the three protagonists. The movie should be watched by both the parents and their children together.

A country that is so obsessed by the so called ‘demographic dividend ’(youth centric),  Amitabh Bachchan’s portrayal of Bhaskor  Bhattacharya mirrors the elders’ deep seated fears and insecurities.  Mr. Bachchan’s superb acting, his candour depiction of the character’s preoccupation with his bowel movements is highly symbolic in nature.  Bhaskor is highly relatable to the elderly in more than one way.  Bhaskor refuses to become irrelevant and scuttled into oblivion. His recalcitrant insinuations to make himself as much impossible as possible, is a mere reflection of the various impediments faced by today’s elders.  So one must realise that the whole intractable and sclerotic behaviour, harbours from the insecurities that ‘they’ have in their minds. Age brings with it the licence or the immunity to liberate oneself from all kinds of inhibitions. ‘They’ become frank, which at times may appear unpalatable.

In our country, the elders have been subjected to the youth hegemony for quite some time now. There are umpteen number of TV channels that pivot around the youth, youth centric movies, a young Indian cricket team, ‘an aging China and a young India’, etc. which have occupied a space in our sub conscious mind.  For most of us living far away from our parents, seeing the movie, it brewed an unsettling concoction of sadness, guilt and regret. It made us introspect of what we have left behind in the pursuit of happiness. Unlike some, whose lives revolve around the imaginaries and eccentricities of their old parents, we flew the coop when ‘they’ needed us the most. For families settled in cities and metros like Delhi, Mumbai or Bangalore, they can still live with their parents. But for most of us, who are from towns or small cities, where there is dearth of career growth and opportunities, it becomes inevitable to move into the big cities.

I would like to share my own experience here. I have resided in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai, but I love Bhubaneswar a lot. As compared to these hustling- bustling metros, Bhubaneswar has a characteristic innate tranquillity. It boats an envious infrastructure- wide roads, less traffic, good educational institutes, a decent night life, etc. But once we finish our education, we are indelibly dragged into the corporate rat race. We espouse a life style that is goal oriented and career driven.   Our minds are marred by a myriad apprehensions- “ In order to climb the corporate ladder, I need to be present at the thick of the action (metros).  What if these comforts and opulence are ephemeral and that I would eventually get bored”. When your friends are all working outside, it becomes a matter of indignation staying in Bhubaneswar with your parents (albeit you stay in a bungalow and drive a big car, while ‘they’ travel in public transport and put up in a grumpy flat). But the question remains, weren’t we brought up by our parents to achieve every bit of this? We were sent to the best of schools and colleges so that we would reach a point where we are right now.  Success always comes with a price tag, and one cannot hanker for a bargain if one wants it desperately. The price is leaving behind people who once meant the world to us, and for whom our phone calls and occasional visits become the greatest pleasures.

The ‘empty nest syndrome’ which was once associated with the west, is a depressing reality in India today.  Parents have got used to it; they even bang their chests accentuating their children’s accomplishments in the corporate world. There is also the reality that parents stubbornly refuse to move in with their child in different city, in spite of knowing that living together would make life easy for all of them.

The ‘young India’ has little space for the elders. Well past their prime to contribute to the growth story, they guard the nests in the hope that someday the children would return.  There are no easy answers or quick fix solutions to this problem.  But ‘Piku’ might stir someone’s conscience; inspire a kindred soul, to come home before it’s too late.

NET NEUTRALITY: CONCERNS OF A COMMON MAN

The issue of ‘net neutrality ‘ created a lot of furore in the latest past and even our own Rahul Gandhi brought up the issue in the Parliament. The western world, the Bollywood industry joined the bandwagon to accentuate the magnitude of intricacy in the whole issue. In India, the issue got highlighted by the Flipkart-Airtel Zero deal.  But the common man needs to know what exactly it means, since he is a stake holder here. Net neutrality is akin to Land acquisition, where the big corporations, through the government, are encroaching the space of civil liberty of the common man.  It has ballooned into some kind of fight dreaded between the ordinary folks and the corporate honchos.

Net neutrality in simple terms means all websites should be equally accessible; at the same speed; and one should pay the same amount for the said data irrespective of the content. Why should we be bothered then? There are fast lanes (paid) and slow lanes (free) of internet traffic. Elucidating further, it implies that big companies such as YouTube and Skype can dig down their deep pockets and pay for higher speed internet access. Hence people would obviously prefer them over other companies. Smaller start-ups will inevitably be decimated and innovation will cease to exist. The choices before the consumers will get reduced. As proposed by the Father of Economics August Comte, the ‘invisible hand of market’ (that balances the implicit forces of market) gets amputated. This could eventually lead to Oligopoly or even Monopoly.

The second issue is that of ‘control’.  Information available at the disposal of public could be twisted, tweaked and manipulated. Suppose one is looking for the reviews of a movie that he plans to see, but finds only the positive reviews. This takes place because the producers and the distributors of the movie have paid the internet provider to block all the websites that have negative reviews of the concerned movie. Hence through this, the perception of the people can be moulded to benefit certain companies.

The third issue may be that the internet providers in the future may charge you for preferential access. It means that the heavy users of YouTube, Skype, etc. may be charged more to get access to the same data as before.

The Airtel Zero Issue

Now having seen one side of the coin (people’s perspective), it’s also important to know the other side too (companies’ perspective).  It is quintessential to admit the fact that every company enters the market to earn money. So certain companies have competitive advantage vis-a- vis  others due to their resources in terms of infrastructure and technological superiority. Now let me explain you what exactly happened. Airtel Zero is a platform for any website to join. What Bharti Airtel did was, it passed the cost of surfing from the subscriber to the website. Initially the subscriber would pay for the surfing certain websites, which now will be paid by the website itself. For Bharti Airtel, it is an accounting issue; money that used to come from the subscribers will now come from the websites. Hereby, the subscriber will get a lower bill, while the expenses incurred by the websites will be higher. But for the website, it’s not a cost, but an investment to create more traffic. It is akin the toll free number that we use to order a pizza, the cost of which is borne by the pizza company.  It’s like the discount offered by certain companies like e-commerce websites. These are normal business practices that companies use to attract more customers, and hence cannot be deemed as discriminatory or unethical. This would amount to ‘crony capitalism’ if this is used as a tool to control the market forces or if certain websites are blocked to enter the Airtel Zero platform.

People who speak about net neutrality advocate equal net access for everybody. This is a noble intention, but is plausible only in a utopian world. The net accessibility depends upon three things- the hand set, the data plan and the spectrum. To have equal net experience, all the Indians should have the same aforesaid trilogy.  But is it ever possible?

THE MALICE OF DRUNKEN DRIVING

The cynosure of the entire Salman Khan ‘hit and run’ case has been the vicissitudes of whether justice has been delivered or not. But in this sabre rattling, we have ignored the deep seated subaltern issue of ‘drunken driving’. Everybody maintains a silence on whether he or she has ever driven under the influence of alcohol. The Blood Alcohol content (BAC) legal limit in India is 0.03% alcohol in 100 ml of blood. Hence a couple of beers, a few shots of vodka or two solid pegs of whiskey and you simply cross the permissible limit. Almost everyone of us who indulges in the habit of drinking, gets behind the wheels. For guys, it’s a case of ‘chauvinism’ and chivalry, to demonstrate the control that one has over oneself in such ‘high’ circumstances. For the girls, it’s their ‘why should boys have all the fun?’ obsession. In India people drive heavy commercial vehicles after drinking copious amounts of alcohol. This is the very cause for the astonishing statistics when it comes to road accidents. 16 children die on Indian roads daily. There is one death every 4 mins. In which other country would you find alcohol outlets all along the highways? Trucks and cars are parked outside these shacks selling alcohol, without any confirmation of the legal age. In today’s scenario, it’s not the truck drivers but the middle income group as well as the upper class, who indulge in the “aaji raati re basiba”  culture. Men find it humiliating to allow their wives to drive even when they are aware that they are beyond the legal limit. Wives and partners dare not suggest that they would rather not risk their family’s lives by travelling in a car driven by a drunken driver.

An educated person realises the impairment caused to one’s senses due to drinking. The ability to make a judgement of stopping when seeing a moving object is seriously impaired after a few drinks. Reaction time, muscle co ordination decreases with every sip. Self control and reasoning ability is impaired with every peg. In India, where people don’t cross roads at zebra crossings, the repercussions of drinking and driving are far reaching. India is a young country, and specifically in a state like Odisha, people tend to become emotionally charged up at every possible opportunity. The propensity to ‘let your hair down’ by riding their bikes at a high speed and show stunts has taken a lot of young lives. Consumption of alcohol reduces inhibition and promotes aggressive behaviour. Jumping lights, making U-turns, turning right at only straight signs are some common enough violations. And these can lead to fatal eventualities if the person behind the wheel is not alert. Driving requires undivided attention; chatting, texting and alcohols are various deterrents to that. The spur of the moment or the thrill of the situation can often manoeuvre your decision making, but the implication of loss of a human life is far more seminal.

Hence it is high time that awareness programmes regarding the dangers of drunken driving are conducted in schools, colleges and even offices. Along with the parents, wives and children also have a bigger role to play in influencing the decision making process and sedating the egos of men.  Statistics show that in India, 70% of fatally injured drivers have excess alcohol in their blood. Hence ask your friend to drop you home or call a cab. Exercise any of these options, instead of driving under the influence of alcohol. Every life matters, if not to you but to a lot of others!!!

DISCREPENCIES OF SIMULTANEOUS ASSEMBLY-PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

2014 witnessed the general elections, which put the BJP at the zenith point in Indian politics. The general elections were followed by assembly elections in major states like Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, etc. Also let’s add UP and Delhi assembly elections to the bandwagon. During the general elections, the electronic, social and the print media clamoured around the halo effect of Narendra Modi. The point here is to make the voters aware of the huge difference between the nature as well as the ‘necessity’ of parliamentary elections and the assembly elections. India is a ‘union of states’ and the federal structure takes care of the centre-state relations. Now that the social media has become all pervasive in nature, and the news channels being 24*7 medium, there is this constant quest for new stuff. Elections provide ample substance to these news channels, which prey on them through exit polls, news hour debates, etc.

Whenever there is an assembly election taking place in a particular state, the various aspects and paradigms of that state, which are indigenous factors, are showcased and brought to the forefront by the media. In states such as UP and Bihar, the elections get a lot of mileage and coverage (not only due to the huge no of seats) due to the varied nature of demography. Then you have the sensitive state of Jammu and Kashmir, which elicits a conflict between nationalistic and separist sentiments. Coming to the south, you have the state of Tamil Nadu, which accentuates the indelible poignant issue of ‘hindi’ to the forefront. Maharashtra has ‘Hindutva’ issue lingering in its pipeline.

As illustrated above, the politics in every state is driven by a ‘cause’ or a political ideology of the political parties and the voting pattern is subservient to either of them. One evening, as I was sitting in my living room and watching TV, many news channels were covering even states like Himachal Pradesh elections intensively. It was an eye opener for me since many unknown aspects were being discussed which played a major role in the elections. This brings into the picture the unfathomable agenda of bifurcating the assembly elections from the parliamentary elections in Odisha. The only justifiable reason for the simultaneous elections would be that of curtailing state expenditure since elections are costly affairs.

The state of Odisha has always been seen condescendingly, as a land of destitute and poverty. The squiggles of a precocious nature, viz the super cyclone, the pertinent floods, the ‘red menace’ keep the state in the news (all for the wrong reasons). For every person who resides outside Odisha, assuaging such unscrupulous embargo is a big ordeal. How does one explain the fact that Odisha is not all about floods, tribal people and naxalites, but it’s much more than that. How does one explain the wide roads and the glittering street lamps in Bhubaneswar that can make any Mumbaikar or a Delhite envious?  How does one explain the huge pool of talented youth, who are exemplifying excellence in each and every sphere?

So how does bifurcating the elections help in subsiding these prejudices? When assembly elections  take place, it provides the quintessential fodder to the ‘watering news channels’, which in turn draws the attention of the entire nation towards the state. Many MLAs and MPs, highly educated with a real purpose to serve the society, have been working incessantly for the upliftment of the masses. All such people deserve equal recognition, as the politicians of other major states.  The election coverage by major news channel will inevitably portray the real picture at the grass root level; the issues(poverty, religion, caste) and the ideology(secularism, radicalism) on which elections are fought, thus ‘selecting the grain from the chaff’. Naveen Patnaik has the mandate of the people since the last 15 years, but his popularity has been slackened of late by the coal scam, chit fund scam, etc.  Many of his Ministers have been nabbed by the CBI sleuths. The coal scam (which came to light before the 2014 elections) obliterated the Congress party at the centre, but failed to touch Patnaik. The reason may be multifold- the plethora of welfare schemes (using the central funds), or the ‘money power’ used during the elections (the reason given by the opposition), or the lack of a credible opposition. A vibrant democracy means that the people should have ‘options’ to choose from, but here in Odisha, the opposition has been completely decimated by the shrewdness of the ruling party.( The Leader of Opposition in the house joined BJD days before the elections)

Hence the nation should get to know the real reasons behind BJD’s success in the state. The state shouldn’t get obscured by simultaneous assembly and parliamentary elections. By conducting the elections simultaneously, the ‘real Odisha’ is prohibited to come to the cynosure. People get confused and vote for the same party in both the forms, which produces far reaching implications. BJD being a non-UPA and non-NDA party, won 20 out of 21 parliamentary seats. This huge margin makes no rationale at the national level and hence peoples’ voting pattern should be based upon a clear demarcation of state and national consequences.  To have a credible opposition, BJP and Congress should start taking Odisha seriously, since a major chunk of 21 seats can make a significant difference. And from peoples ‘perspective, democracy in its pristine form may prevail.

MAKE IN INDIA VS MAKE FOR INDIA

The contribution of the primary sector towards the GDP is only 14-16%, while three-fourth of our population depends on it. Due to this reason India faces grave unemployment. Subsequently the government had to rely upon programs like MGNREGA and DBT to tackle the unemployment menace. These programs do not add any skill sets to these people. The repercussions of such policies of the government are far reaching, since it brought the national exchequers to their knees. Also it led to huge fiscal deficit. Hence to address the twin issue of growth and unemployment, India had to rely upon the manufacturing sector. The advantage India has vis-a-vis China is its demographic profile. The young population cannot be satiated by providing them employment in the primary sector. So our Prime Minister, in his pursuit to augment industrial growth in this country coined the term ‘Make in India’ on September 25 of this year. Not only this, in his foreign visits to countries likes USA and Australia, he marketed this concept, giving a positive signal to the investors to invest in India. The business sentiments had received a big jolt in the previous UPA reign, the government being rigged by a number of corruption scandals and policy paralysis.

MAKE IN INDIA

The government has the aim of making more in India. This implies improving the infrastructure and efficiency of producing in India. When you are talking of producing, it can be agricultural commodities, mining, manufacturing or services. To achieve this goal, the government needs the support of the private sector and the foreign sector in the form of FDI, to build the requisite infrastructure.

Apart from infrastructure, it basically aims at making India a manufacturing hub by eliminating the unwanted laws and regulations, eliminating red tapism, eradicating bureaucratic hindrances and making the clearance process less cumbersome, since the petty bureaucrat empowered by these regulations can become a tyrant.

The other important aspect is the time bound clearances of projects trough a single window. The basic obstacle is to get the environmental clearances, which the government has taken into consideration and plans to act swiftly in this regard. The motive of the government is to help the business and not hinder it. For that, the government plans to have a single window clearance system in place to help the businesses and make them more competitive.

The campaign also aims at providing employment and invests in human capital. This requires enhancing the quality and spread of healthcare, nutrition and sanitation. Apart from these basic needs, appropriate education, vocational training and imparting skill sets in the labour market are the various objectives of this campaign.

And last, the ‘Make in India’ campaign wants to revive the business sentiments of foreign investors and make the ease of doing business in the country more competitive.

MAKE FOR INDIA

Showing yet again his proclivity to diverge from government’s views if required, RBI governor Raghuram Rajan recently redefined the definition of ‘Make in India’ and came up with the concept of ‘Make for India’. When ‘Make in India’ is looking to attract foreign investment, Rajan has suggested budgetary incentives for household savings to ensure that the country’s investment is highly financed by the domestic savings. These so called connotations largely reflect the government policies and the stance taken by the central bank. It is a positive sign since it reflects the independent functioning of the RBI in the FinMin-RBI nexus. The RBI governor has accentuated various aspects which forms the core of ‘Make for India’ campaign.

Firstly, while ‘Make in India’ focuses on export led growth, (since the IIP has been negative, WPI has reached zero) ‘Make for India’ addresses the objectives should be achieved through domestic sources. This can be achieved through a progressive taxation policy that would encourage domestic savings. The world cannot accommodate another China at this junction. Also there is a huge difference between the emerging countries and the industrial nations. Secondly, the manufacturing sector in industrial countries is capital intensive in nature as compared to the labour intensive in India.  Thirdly, when India is going to compete with China in terms of exports, it won’t be easy since China has already got a head start and have a significant advantage over India. Fourthly, the repercussions of such export led growth are multifold- subsidizing exporters with cheap inputs, undervalued exchange rate, negotiating with environmental norms, etc.

Another discrepancy regarding ‘Make in India’ is a strategy of import substitution through tariff barriers. This would be highly detrimental since it would curb domestic competition and make our producers inefficient. ‘Make for India’ envisages creation of an environment through SEZs, industrial corridors, etc where our producers can compete with the global ones. Hence by doing this, not only do we attract FDI, we also encourage the Indian entrepreneurs.

‘Make for India’ also aims at creating a sustainable, unified market that would ultimately lead to lower transaction cost across the country. This can be achieved if the GST bill is passed in the Parliament. Not only monetary policy, sound fiscal policy is the need of the hour since domestic demand is generally over stimulated.

CONCLUSION

The whole purpose of ‘Make in India’ campaign was to send a positive signal to the world that India has come of age with the arrival of the new dynamic leader and ready to assimilate the global world. It was a novel concept to attract foreign investors especially the FDI to usher a new era of manufacturing led growth. The image of the country had taken a big toll due to the umpteen corruption scandals associated with the previous government and lack of competitiveness. Hence the Prime Minister should be given credit for his vision and proactiveness. The announcement itself has raised the market sentiments to a new level, setting new records at SENSEX.  The FDI inflow has increased and there have been continuous trade engagements with other countries.

On the other hand, the brave call by our RBI governor, indicating the nuances as well as the loopholes of ‘Make in India’, has made all of us contemplate regarding the real scenario. Now it is imperative for both the FinMin and the central bank to work in tandem, evaluate the options available, complementing each other and come up with a prudent fiscal and monetary policy, to redefine the image of new India.

Hindutva vs Secularism

In his autobiography ‘My Experiment with Truth’ Mahatma Gandhi wrote, “My devotion to Truth has drawn me into the field of politics; those who say that religion has nothing to do with politics, do not know what religion means.” It is no secret that all the secular parties project themselves to be the messiah of the Muslims, fighting for their rights and liberties. But by doing so, they take the majority for granted. This aspect of Indian society was evident in the concluded general elections. Narendra Modi in his pursuit to enhance his secular credentials, didn’t lose the connect with the core ‘hindu’ votes. He perpetually reached out to the ‘majority’ by invoking the policy of ‘justice to all and appeasement of none’. Hence for the first time, ‘secularism’ has come under intense scrutiny or in fact being challenged by the common mob.

                    In today’s world, religion is a reality as well as a necessity. Even before the current phase of globalisation, capitalist institutions like the market integrated vast areas and people in different parts of the world. There were the capitalists and the wage-earners. The wage earners were devoid of ownership of the means of production due to their poverty. After being paid a subsistence wage, these workers were alienated from the fruits of their labour due to the prevailing social relations. Hence, they grasped the conception of God and institutions of religion to compensate in imagination what they had

lost in the real world. Religion was welcomed by them into their culture in order to make the conditions of the ‘heartless world’ slightly more bearable. On the other hand, capitalists needed religion to buffet the brutal uncertainties strewn in their lives, both as individuals and firms, busy with the task of accumulating capital. The capitalists may occasionally also need religion to be used as an instrument to pacify potential rebels among wage-earners. Hence the words of Marx that ‘religion is the opium of all masses’ is rightly justified as religion comes to the rescue of these wage earners and prevents them from fighting for their rights and liberties.

             In the context of secularism, there has been a considerable debate about the suitability of the concept and practice of secularism in India. Secularism and religion are mismatched in an Indian scenario since religion is irrational and makes a guarded attack on modernity, while secularism signifies modernization. If secularism wants to remove religion from the public life and culture of India, it’s not going to happen.

HINDUTVA AND SECULARISM

Hindutva or Cultural Nationalism is BJP’s conception of nationhood. According to the judgement of Supreme Court of India, Hindutva is ‘a way of life’. It signifies a culture of tolerance and universalism. The BJP owes its origin to the non political organization such as the RSS and hence cannot relinquish the ‘Hindu tag’. This explains the reason as to why Modi refused to wear the skull cap during his ‘sadbhavana fast’ and refuses to apologise for 2002 riots. He also chose a safe, Hindu dominated constituency of Varanasi to contest his first election outside Gujarat. But what’s wrong with it? Modi proudly proclaims himself to be a Hindu nationalist and wears its ideology in his sleeves.

Hindutva can be distinguished as a faith and as an ideology. Hindutva as a faith means ‘a

way of life’, a tradition that is non-monolithic and operationally plural. Religion as ideology, on the other hand, is a sub national, national or cross-national identifier of populations contesting for or protecting non-religious, usually political or socio-economic, interests. Modernity produces religion and then generates secularism to meet its challenge.

      It is important to accentuate the ‘other side’ of secularism too; the anti-religiosity

and the hyper-substantive secularism which excludes religion from public life. It’s time to privatize religion and rationalize politics. Secularism is criticised for being invalid in circumstances where religion is of immense importance to people. Modern culture is a mixed bag and its outright rejection may not be the best way to have secularism.  On the one hand, modern culture has some frightening flaws like a drive to control; a purely instrumental and destructive stance towards nature and human life, towards poor, marginalized sections and victims of the savage side of capitalism. The onus is on us to go for ‘my way’ or the ‘high way’.

PHILLIP HUGHES AND THE GAME OF LIFE

Being a sportsperson helps you to understand and face life better. “Sometimes it all comes together; sometimes you are going to lose it all”. This encapsulates the highs and lows of a sportsperson on the field and in life. But what happened to Phil Hughes was not unfortunate, it was cruel. The twinkle in his eyes, the cheeky smile will never be replenished. He had the entire life ahead of him. He was only 25.Just as in life, there are uncertainties in sports too. Despite the dollops of joy it dishes to fans across the world, it also throws up awful episodes that cast a thick blanket of gloom.

The most important aspect regarding this incident is the remorse and the genuine grief it has created, that has transgressed all boundaries and become all pervasive in nature. In my own life, I could feel the paucity creeping within me, an inexplicable uneasiness making me restless.

  People across the globe were affected by it and offered their condolences and respect in every possible manner. They held out their bats, offered flowers, etc. And what about the young Sean Abbott, who is merely 22 and just starting his cricketing career? Will life ever be the same for him? Yes it is heartening to see all the support and counselling that he is receiving, but the nightmarish images of that dreadful incident will keep haunting him. What will be going through his head when he is at the starting point of his run up? Will he ever be able to bowl a bouncer again?

But what was the reason of such high magnitude of grief? There have been several tragedies on the sporting field, under various circumstances-some have the victims of savage competition, some have succumbed to various inherent anomalies that spurted suddenly to silence them while others have died while celebrations. Memories of three time Formula one champion Ayrton Senna’s death on a race track is still fresh in our minds. Also there have been many recent mishaps too –a Mizoram football player died while doing a somersault after scoring a goal and the Cameroon footballer Foe falling onto the ground dead, have made headlines. These incidents are equally tragic and require equal scrutinization as the Hughes’s case. (The safety aspect in sports shouldn’t be condoned) But why these incidents didn’t elicit such magnitude of grief? Is it because it didn’t take place in a country like Australia or was it because of lack of media coverage?

When we are talking about deaths on a cricket field, the first name that crosses our mind is Raman Lamba. But it didn’t get that global attention which it should have got because fielding at silly point/ short leg without protective gear can bear grave repercussions. We did mourn for him but it was ephemeral and insipid pseudo pragmatism. India’s 2011 world cup star Yuvraj Singh suffered from cancer, but the Indian cricketers (basking under the glory of world cup success) were happily giving interviews at various functions and merely expressing their concern for Yuvi. Why is such a huge difference in the sporting culture of both the nations?

Australia has a rich sporting culture. From the beginning they have learnt to play the game hard but share a drink after the game. They care for their ‘mates’ and go out of their way to help their peers. (both on and off the field. Michael Clark referred him as “the brother that he never had”) While the Australian cricketers enjoy each others’ success, in India it’s always a ‘zero sum’ game. The huge population and the craze for the sport has made us adopt Darwin’s theory of’ survival of the fittest’. The selection criteria at every level has been individual performances. It’s a huge cultural difference. In India, individualism precedes over collectivism. While Hughes’s death has made a significant impact emotionally in the lives of the Aussies, Indian sportspersons confine themselves to their own bubble. The sporting culture in India needs to change right from the nebular stage in order to achieve success, especially in team sports.

But life moves on and definitely cricket must go on. It’s one of the saddest days in cricket since the sport lost one of its most lovable members. As they say, it’s not how hard you get hit but how much you can get hit and still move forward.

Moral Policing and Custodians of Society

Recently the so called agitation staged by a group of youngsters in Kerala, ‘the kiss of love’ has caught the imagination of the youth in India.  Such acts of protests pervaded to other parts of the country too, including some in front of offices of RSS and other Hindu organizations. On the backdrop of ‘love jihad’, an amorous act that was turned and twisted to benefit some, ‘kiss of love’ has certain underlying politics too.

When we talk about moral policing, the political and religious outfits anoint themselves to be the custodians of society. Morality and normative behaviour have different connotations in different societies and its credibility to be ambivalent and ubiquitous is in nobody’s hands. The pictures of Sri Ram Sena activists bashing and vandalizing couples at parks and cafeterias on Valentines Day, or the persistent taunts poked at Sania Mirza, (on her attire)  accused of degrading the status of Muslim women, have been encrypted in our minds. There are many things that play here too.

Firstly, ‘moral policing’, inevitably relates to the issue of ‘appropriateness’ of behaviour of women. The Public Display of Affection (PDA) involves both men and women but the societal norm that the sexuality of a woman is in the hands of men demands women to be tutored. It is always the ‘girl’ who is at fault. Moral policing reflects the archaic mentality that is based on man’s traditional control over women and ‘commodifying’ them.

Secondly, it’s the ‘modernity’ issue. The propagators of a progressive society, who fathom on orthodoxy and the regressive attitude, fail to see the real picture. Yes, there are several ‘evils’ prevailing in our society, but it is our responsibility to cure it. Yes, democracy, urbanization, globalization have made women demand for equality on all fronts (deservingly), but this modernity has to be expansive and inclusive.  One should realise that the vast amount of ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ on Facebook do not translate into passionate multitudes on ground. Social networking sites are distant from the hard reality of life. If we are kissing on public today, we won’t be able to face the repercussions later. Even for a married couple, which has the sanctions of the society, is it okay to do stuff in public that is supposed to be a private affair? Our society is rapidly transforming into a progressive society, but we haven’t reached ‘there’ yet. Modernity and ‘norms’ co exist here. Such act grates on the sensibilities of our people, particularly, in the non urban areas.

Finally, it is accepted that certain political outfits carry out certain unethical actions to gain political mileage (and should be opposed), but the ‘kiss of love’ organizers’ fight against the ‘moral police’ cops, though has well meaning, has gone awry because of the wrong tactic that they have employed. One can support and stand by them if they adopt socially relevant and culturally accepted modes of agitation. Modernization is not Westernization and it is upon us to choose the right lessons and not allow the boundary between the public and private shift or become blur. Also there is a lot of difference between what people write and what people practise. Nobody likes PDA in public places!!!

WHY CASTE CONSCIOUSNESS STILL PERSISTS IN INDIAN POLITICS

“Caste is the most overwhelming factor in Indian life. Those who deny it in principle accept it in practice. Life moves within the frontiers of caste, and cultured men speak in soft tones against the system of caste, while its rejection in action doesn’t occur to them”. Socialist thinker Ram Manohar Lohia said this in 1964.The recently concluded general elections has accentuated the issues of ‘India’s rightward tilt’ and ‘end of electoral politics in India’. The myth should be empirically verified and so should be its underlying significance. There is no doubt that BJP won an overwhelming mandate from the people on the back of the charismatic leadership of Narendra Modi, but it would be inappropriate to say that ‘caste consciousness’ was entirely negated in this election. Yes the urban votes went to BJP, where caste and religion are miniscule factors in determining the voting pattern, the rural votes are still caste based. For the urban voters (including the youth and first time voters) with no first hand experience of religious and communal extremism, terms such as secularism and communalism have become obsolete and redundant. They saw in Modi a ‘pied piper’ who would take them to the path of growth and development.

     But three- fourth of India’s population reside in villages, where the ‘caste’ factor cannot be condoned during elections. What explains the persistence of caste consciousness in Indian politics? Media plays a major role in the sustenance of caste by deliberately highlighting the non issues. In various debates, the panellists are constantly asked questions regarding the caste factor (especially in UP and Bihar). Also the media has been accused of being biased by bestowing differential treatment to dalit leaders like Mayawati with respect to other political leaders. The BSP chief’s wealth and her self projection- creating parks and monuments, naming projects after her and celebrating lavish birthdays have been obsessively written about while ignoring her extraordinary political achievements. The political rallies are reported not for their content but for the traffic chaos they created.

       According to eminent sociologist Andre Beteille, ‘inter caste marriages, inter caste dining, etc. have reduced the caste inhibitions in our society to a large extent. But in politics, caste consciousness still persists.’ So what explains this phenomenon? The consciousness of caste is brought forward to the fore at the time of elections. The ‘social engineering’ done by the political leaders to woo the voters, makes the election period, the most appropriate time to play the caste card. The Constitution created ‘rights’ to eradicate caste from the heart of its citizens. But for the majority of the citizens, the habits of the heart are still the habits of a hierarchical society. Other eminent scholars have the opinion that modernity has eroded caste consciousness among us. Today we experience urbanization of society where students dine together at the canteens, dalits enter the temples unopposed, lower and upper caste people travel in the same compartment of a train. Caste may not be dying out in the next 50-100 years, but the rapid expansion of a new middle class, attendant to demographic, technological and economic changes will slowly but surely alter the operation of caste.

When we talk of caste consciousness in politics, it is prejudiced and perceived in a negative outlook, which shouldn’t be the case always. India cannot get rid of its caste identity. Modernization cannot erode the primordial hierarchical structure of our society. ‘Caste in India is class in the west’. The dalits and the shudras belonging to the lower stratum of society have bore the stigma of the caste system in India. Even today people belonging to such lower castes perform the scornful and repugnant act of manual scavenging. This apathy has given rise to caste based parties and political leaders. The social engineering is done to bring forth the issues of exploitation and discrimination. Hence there can be positive aspect to class consciousness too.

      The reason for persistence of caste in Indian politics is the tacit ‘internal code’ of caste, its positives and its culture. This ‘internal code’ makes it special; and distinguishes it from other castes. A few examples will illustrate what it means. Let us look at the caste of the richest people in India according to Forbes. Lakshmi Mittal (baniya), Mukesh Ambani (baniya), Kumarmangalam Birla (baniya), Gautam Adani (baniya), Sunil Mittal (baniya). Most of them belong to the mercantile castes. It is not easy to find many Indians of non mercantile caste who run businesses of large scale. The baniya is convinced that his ability to raise and manage capital is demonstrably superior to that of the rest. He sees that as a result of his caste culture.

Now let us look at ‘honour killing’. Murdering their daughters for honour is almost exclusively done by the peasant castes of north India, especially the Jats of Haryana and Punjab. Such heinous acts have got the legitimacy of khap panchayats there. Honour killing is successful only when his or her caste accepts that the Jat has redeemed his honour by murdering his own disobedient daughter.

Similarly people belonging to the ‘sevayat’ and the ‘daita’ community of Jagannath Puri take immense pride of their lineage. Any aberration in terms of matrimonial alliance outside their caste and community won’t be received amicably. That family is debarred from performing rituals inside the temple.

        This explains the fact that why even today people vote for their own kind. Not for the fear of pollution, but because of a positive attraction towards people with the same values, which emanate from caste. Whether or not the media emphasizes this, is irrelevant. The fact that rural India votes confessionally, for him merit comes from caste values. This condition may not be forever unaltered, but it is also evident that modernity by itself has not dented it. The average villager devotes far more time and thought on home, work and worship and less on political matters. But for him ‘this’ is where caste is embedded most powerfully. Voting pattern is thus an extension of this consciousness that has in fact not changed that much. This fact is clearly evident when BJP had to make alliance with LJP in Bihar and Modi effectively and repeatedly playing his ‘OBC’ card in UP.

STARTUPS-ORIGIN, RISE AND FUTURE

Our grandfathers were primordial, simple and satisfied. The so called specialization and division of labour was nonexistent. In our fathers’ generation, specialization was simple and the ‘seed of ambition’ was at its nascent stage. They went for ‘sarkari jobs’ viz. IAS, banks, etc. But once they entered the professional sphere, they never looked anywhere else. A job guaranteed a marriage and they were consumed in the nitty-gritty of family ties. Our elder siblings craved for money; there was a paradigm shift where success was measured in monetary terms. MBA was the ‘means’ to the ‘end’. A lot of opportunities were created with the embarking of world class B-schools. They loathed the idea of going through the gruelling process of IAS which ate away the prime period of a youth’s life. A MBA degree from a reputed B-school gave them a ticket to the seven digit salary job. Now coming to our generation, we are highly competitive, ambitious and balk to follow the conventional path. The only similar thing about our generation is that everyone wants to be different. We refuse to be one among the horde and espouse something niche. So how do we achieve that?

          Since success is a relative term, some individuals equate success with established societal norms (they go for IAS since it gives you maximum social respect and stature) while others pursue money. Here also there is a difference between money earned as an ‘employee’ and money earned as an ‘employer’. Whether it is entrepreneurship or quitting your job for IAS, both are aberrations that contravene common norms. So what do we do? The tacit belief is that if you are an employee, you are working for your organization and when you start your own business, you sweat it out for yourself. In today’s globalized world, there is a plethora of opportunities for the educated youth. Hence if the individual is not satisfied in any job, he won’t think twice before quitting. Here the concept of ‘self actualization’ comes into the picture. The current bunch is restless and perceives start ups would not only bestow money, but also lead them to self actualization.

ideas ideas and more ideas

          ‘Start ups’ in layman terms means starting your own business. It is not neologism. The ‘gujjus’ and the ‘marwaris’ have always tilted towards family business or other forms of entrepreneurship. Their superior business acumen, which is innate in them, would make them the dominant players in this trade. Today, almost 40% of MBA graduates and almost 70% of MBA graduates from elite B-schools opt for start ups. The startling increase in internet connectivity via a variety of mediums- the computer, the tablets, the smart phones, etc. coinciding with a rise of middle class that has more disposable income than ever before and the aspiration to lead a life that qualifies as a ‘lifestyle’, has translated in the burgeoning of start ups in India. When I talk of start ups, a major chunk of them fall under the ambit of e-commerce. Much of the rapid e-commerce growth is powered by greater consumer choice and consumer awareness and the improved convenience offered by online shopping. Another important aspect is the wider choice that the e-commerce vendors offer in terms of products in sync with global trends. Services such as buying grocery and vegetables are a click away. One can search for houses at a new place. Once can book appointments in top tier hospitals through a common forum. One can compare the prices, the specifications of myriad products and decide accordingly. E-retailing in India is growing well beyond categories like apparel and electronics. It is hitherto entering into domains like travelling, health, food, entertainment, housing, insurance policies, income tax returns, etc. If there is a consumer for it, there is bound to be an e-retailer proving services for it. And if there isn’t, just wait for few months. Start ups such as FLIPKART, SNAPDEAL, MYNTRA are the dominant players in the market today. Other start ups such as ASKMEBAZAAR (a digital open market), MAKEMYRETURNS (empowering the payers to pay their taxes with ease), POLICYBAZAAR (buying an insurance policy online), PUMPKART (buying water pumps online), CREDIHEALTH (providing health facilities from booking appointment to delivering medicines) are emerging at a very fast rate.

catch 22

              Modi, being an astute politician, very well understands the aspirational demographic profile and their psychosis. Hence in the recently announced budget, the government has provided a huge impetus by reserving 10,000 crores for these start ups. Earlier the investment in the form of venture capital would arrive from foreign investors. But with such a step, the government has given signal of its intentions. Hence with government backing, this is the time to go for start ups and build an ‘Israeli culture’ (where children learn innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship right from the school itself) in India.

             So what about the future of start ups in India? The first decade of the twenty first century witnessed the so called ‘IT boom’, which culminated in the bursting of bubble in 2008. (The Lehman brothers fiasco) Will start ups, especially E-commerce meet the same fate? In the E-commerce sector, there is already a lot of competition. So unless a new start up can provide something new to the consumers, and perpetually revamp itself with the changing needs, it won’t survive. Such a start up needs to benchmark itself and thus differentiate itself from the rest of the flock. On the contrary, human needs are humongously insatiable. Changing time will give rise to new wants. Hence there will always be a window of opportunity to carter the new needs. Hence what is required is that the start ups need to be on their toes to grab such opportunities. In simpler terms, consumers can have needs ranging from health, education, decoration to environment and hygiene.  So with new wants, will come new service providers. So the bubble of start ups bursting in the current scenario seems to be a distant myth. So for us, we need to play the ‘wait and watch’ game since the ultimate gainers will be the consumers themselves.

SECULARISM: A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

In his autobiography ‘My Experiment with Truth’ Mahatma Gandhi wrote, “My devotion to Truth has drawn me into the field of politics; those who say that religion has nothing to do with politics, do not know what religion means.” Recently the comments of former defence minister A.K.Antony that in order to appease the Muslims, the Congress party lost the faith of the Hindus, has sparked off a controversy. It is no secret that all the secular parties project themselves to be the messiah of the Muslims, fighting for their rights and liberties. But by doing so, they take the majority for granted. This aspect of Indian society was evident in the just concluded general elections. Narendra Modi in his pursuit to enhance his secular credentials, didn’t lose the connect with the core ‘hindu’ votes. He perpetually reached out to the ‘majority’ by invoking the policy of ‘justice to all and appeasement of none’. Hence for the first time, ‘secularism’ has come under intense scrutiny or in fact being challenged by the common mob.

 Out of the commonly accepted three definitions of secularism, one is people-centric; another is state-centric and yet another is India-specific. Firstly, the people-centric definition emphasises the idea of separating religion from politics, economy, education, social life and culture. The purpose of this separation is not to stamp religion out from life but to contain it to the private lives of individuals (as witnessed in US). A secular state is not supposed to discourage the practice of religion but neither can it base its policies

on religion. The ultimate goal is to make religion a personal affair. Most societies have followers of different faiths and this puts a great responsibility on the state to be neutral. The state-centric definition of secularism emphasises the need to keep the state neutral to all religions. Religious people would like to see the state to show equal regard to all

faiths but others may demand the same respect for atheism. The demand normally is that the state must treat all its citizens equally. This means that the state must neither favour nor discriminate against citizens on grounds of their religion. The third India-specific definition of secularism underlines the importance of the unity of all people against colonialism and communalism. A secular state and society were a part of the social vision of the Indian national movement. Hence, despite the horrendous violence in 1947 and the making of Pakistan ostensibly on religious lines, secularism remained the abiding principle and opposition to communalism was the chosen policy in Independent India.

                    In today’s world, religion is a reality as well as a necessity. Even before the current phase of globalisation, capitalist institutions like the market integrated vast areas and people in different parts of the world. There were the capitalists and the wage-earners. The wage earners were devoid of ownership of the means of production due to their poverty. After being paid a subsistence wage, these workers were alienated from the fruits of their labour due to the prevailing social relations. Hence, they grasped the conception of God and institutions of religion to compensate in imagination what they had

lost in the real world. Religion was welcomed by them into their culture in order to make the conditions of the ‘heartless world’ slightly more bearable. On the other hand, capitalists needed religion to buffet the brutal uncertainties strewn in their lives, both as individuals and firms, busy with the task of accumulating capital. The capitalists may occasionally also need religion to be used as an instrument to pacify potential rebels among wage-earners. Imagine the role of religion in the lives of the Tatas, the Birlas, and the Ambanis. Hence the words of Marx that ‘religion is the opium of all masses’ is rightly justified as religion comes to the rescue of these wage earners and prevents them from fighting for their rights and liberties.

Capitalist societies can be divided into two main categories according to the nature of Church-State relations. The first category consists of those who have a declared State religion and only the adherents of the State religion could become the head of the State, member of high state institutions and participate in the management of State affairs. In the second category, fall countries which have officially declared the separation of the State from any religion but in practice religion is present in the cultural life of the nations. Agencies of the State get involved with the religious ceremonies in the interests of public order, religious education is regulated in the interests of uniform educational standards and religious institutions are overseen in the interests of public good. The Indian case falls in this latter category where there is a formal separation but actual involvement of the State with religious affairs.

             In the context of secularism, there has been a considerable debate about the suitability of the concept and practice of secularism in India. Secularism and religion are mismatched in an Indian scenario since religion is irrational and makes a guarded attack on modernity, while secularism signifies modernization. If secularism wants to remove religion from the public life and culture of India, it’s not going to happen.

HINDUTVA AND SECULARISM

Hindutva or Cultural Nationalism is BJP’s conception of nationhood. According to the judgement of Supreme Court of India, Hindutva is ‘a way of life’. It signifies a culture of tolerance and universalism. The BJP owes its origin to the non political organization such as the RSS and hence cannot relinquish the ‘Hindu tag’. This explains the reason as to why Modi refused to wear the skull cap during his ‘sadbhavana fast’ and refuses to apologise for 2002 riots. He also chose a safe, Hindu dominated constituency of Allahabad to contest his first election outside Gujarat. But what’s wrong with it? Modi proudly proclaims himself to be a Hindu nationalist and wears its ideology in his sleeves.

Hindutva can be distinguished as a faith and as an ideology. Hindutva as a faith means ‘a

way of life’, a tradition that is non-monolithic and operationally plural. Religion as ideology, on the other hand, is a ‘subnational, national or cross-national identifier of populations contesting for or protecting non-religious, usually political or socio-economic, interests. Modernity produces religion and then generates secularism to meet its challenge.

Religion inevitably enters public life through the back door and this leads to communalization of politics. On the other hand, secularism has turned into an intolerant ideology with modernization, development, scientific growth and nation-building as its

allies or constituents. This secularism alienates believers and breeds both old and new kinds of violence. Such secularism breeds old violence in the form of backlash of marginalized believers which in turn reinvigorates bigotry and fanaticism. Secondly, this secularism generates new violence between nation-state and religious communities.

      It is important to accentuate the ‘other side’ of secularism too; the anti-religiosity

and the hyper-substantive secularism which excludes religion from public life. It’s time to privatize religion and rationalize politics. Secularism is criticized for being invalid in circumstances where religion is of immense importance to people. Modern culture is a mixed bag and its outright rejection may not be the best way to have secularism.  On the one hand, modern culture has some frightening flaws like a drive to control; a purely instrumental and destructive stance towards nature and human life, towards poor, marginalized sections and victims of the savage side of capitalism. The onus is on us to go for ‘my way’ or the ‘high way’.