9 years on, everybody's a victim!

Rewind to Feb 27, 2002, when the news had just started to filter in about 2 compartments of the Sabarmati express (ironically still the lone wolf amongst the east-north trains to chug along as poorly as possible) catching fire, with passengers trapped inside. In a few hours, tempers flared when the media hinted at a conspiracy behind the attacks, and it came to a boil when the preliminary verdict was out- Somebody had set 2 train compartments, carrying kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya, on fire, dousing it with kerosene and letting children and women among others burn to a painful and slow death.

This blot on our history and its aftermath is what has come to be known as 'Godhra riots'. Recall that this was pretty much an isolated incident which came out of the blue. The last major riots happened 9 years pre-Godhra, when an insidious crowd gathered at Ayodhya had brought the Babri Masjid crashing to the ground. Godhra was adorned with one travesty after the other and one human right violation decked upon another. Hindus and Muslims went berserk, with rape, arson and murders leaving hundreds dead and a state scarred forever.

While the then PM, Atal Behari Vajpayee, acknowledged the malfunctioning of the state machinery during the incident and the opposition cried hoarse at the alleged support to communal violence, the government did what it does best, set up an inquiry commission. So while the Nanavati commission set up by the Gujarat government concluded that the fire that started it all was a result of a pre-planned conspiracy by anti-social elements, the Banerjee committee which completed its inquiry in the UPA-I period claimed the fire to be accidental.

Cut to 2011, and the trial court in Sabarmati jail has acknowledged that it was indeed a pre-planned conspiracy with the malicious intent of flaring up communal violence, and indicted 31 to be accomplice in the abhorrent acts. The big question remains: Who has been vindicated by this entire episode? The common man in Gujarat, who while enjoying the spoils of rapid economic growth still harbors the memories of what transpired 9 years ago? The families of the victims, both Hindus and Muslims, who will remain in misery no matter what judgement is pronounced? The country as a whole, which has a terrible record of communal violence and religious intolerance in 64 years post-independence?

This question is not about the political parties or commissions, nor is it about the quantum of sentence the judiciary would deem suitable for these inhuman acts. It is about the nature of our country as a whole, which needs to become stronger than ever under the fabric of social and religious harmony. We already have enough troubles at our hands, in the form of treacherous neighbors and foreign and in-bred terrorism. Religion is practised best in peace, not in violence. The respect towards each other's religion is what brought the Indian freedom movement to fruition 64 years ago. The best we, the future of India, can do is to trust each other's instincts and practice tolerance. The youth is already moving forward in that direction, and it can be hoped that the change would be irreversible. At the same time, the polity needs to stop planting seeds of identity politics in our masses. Controversial statements and one-sided development schemes do not benefit anybody in the long term. Parties can lose elections based on religious politics, as evidenced by NDA's shocking loss in 2004, as well as supersede the past as evidenced in both Gujarat and Bihar state assembly polls.

To quote Tagore, bigotry tries to keep truth safe in its hand with a grip that kills it.

Watchmen!

There are a number of issues on boil right now, which are simply too large in magnitude to ignore or dismiss. While India is suffering from rampant corruption and lack of governance, the world is reeling under economic turmoil and IIT Bombay seems to have a case of 'morality' at its hands. One common link to our society and civilization at large is the presence of a guardian, a watchman (not being sexist at all!), who can assimilate the events as they happen and offer the middle path later on. Why the middle path, because radicalism, either positive or negative, is almost always incendiary.

It can be said that Chanakya was the right watchman to Chandragupt, for he helped him consolidate an empire too unimaginable to exist. Antony was there just at the right time to help Octavius in his pursuit, and Al-zajeera was more than an efficient media body when it helped in channeling the rage of the people of the middle east, craving for a beacon of hope when all they had seen was a prolonged spell of darkness. These are just a few basic examples; I invite you to enlighten me on more such incidents. The essence remains: Every system needs an observer.

Now, it can be said that if the media does its job efficiently, it can be the most desirable watchdog ever. This is where I have a problem: The media is human by nature, and by that very simple fact, there are sure to be situations where one side or the other is aggrieved through its observations. It is a huge responsibility if you consider the sheer weight of expectations of the masses. The Indian media can be commended for their persistent dedication in uncovering more and more of irregularities in the country. They can also be faulted for being sensational in times like the Godhra riots and 26/11, when the situation demanded sensitive and balanced response. Leave that, if India were to some how perform badly in one of the upcoming matches, all praise for Dhoni's team would be replaced by widespread contempt. At the micro level (i.e. IITB), the media bodies have and will remain an important cog in the wheel. You might go out and negate their influence, or their reach, but the sheer amount of polarisation brought out by an error on their part shows that people do care. And therefore, it is also our duty to not hurt the morale of such organisations, and be alert citizens when it comes to IIT or the nation, or the world.

As Mr. Manhattan's dilemma towards the end of Watchmen illustrated, the role of a guardian is not the easiest in the world. It is far from it, and is rightfully a bed of thorns.

On a more positive note, this song is just so addictive!

Offer them pens, if not blood!

The preface to this proposed protest is pretty simple: Our batch of the Integrated program, which literally leaves even the institute administration dumbfounded at the rules applicable to us, was deemed lucky enough sometime last year to be included in the Institute teaching assistant program. While it has been our batch's collective view that we form the missing populace of the campus, who are conveniently forgotten in media briefings and campus rules, none of us had expected that the ordeal would turn out to be a disaster with every passing month.

So, with nobody clear on how we were to be allotted courses and more importantly, how would we be remunerated, the sum of Rs. 6000 pm turned into a prized fortune because of the effort involved in its dispatch. After red tape snailed the entire process and turned the department secretary into a sarkari chaprasi, running after people every day during the first week of the month, we though that the authorities would learn from the blunders of the last sem and make the process more linear this time around. The present situation: it is almost the end of Feb and no sign of the stipend for JAN!

"The paper was lost between the two departments"..."Today is blah blah jayanti, come tomorrow"..."The dean is in his office but hasn't signed the paper yet"...The department needs to carefully deliberate over your performance"....These are some of the excuses put forward. Since the most basic excuse has been that the paper hasn't been signed yet, I propose that the students of our batch gift a pen each to the Dean's office and the departmental office, and sheets of paper to the acad section to make up for missing paperwork. Moreover, let's all do it together, in a peaceful and organised manner.

I have heard numerous horror stories of how painful it is to get work done in this institute, be it the estate office or some other menial department. At least we can hope that the authorities would take notice, if not get things done in a more linear manner. Otherwise, some of us would be expecting the 6k even after we enter our respective workplaces! I will probably keep it as a trophy, just to remember what a gala time I had in the campus.

Time to make it count

And so it begins! World Cup 2011, the 10th edition of one-day cricket's showpiece event is underway. More importantly, we are the hosts this time, after a gap of 15 years. Yet somehow, the buzz is still not deafening. The lunch conversations still haunt around GBM tamashas and the new Akshay Kumar movie, not to forget how the semester is screwing us and PAF. Sachin's form and fitness is yet to give us sleepless nights!

This world cup is special in more than one way. Indian team, going from strength to strength in the last 6 years, stands a realistic chance of bringing the actual world cup (it was the Prudential cup last time around) home. The friendly home conditions cannot be anymore assuring for Dhoni and his lads. In order to sound cautious, I would say India stand a good chance of winning this World Cup and give the great one the ultimate send-off that he deserves. Yet, with the PR machinery and media in overdrive, the feeling is quite that of 'another ODI tournament'. Agreed, we have seen an awful lot of cricket in the last year, but the way India's tour of SA turned out, it can be asserted that the World Cup will indeed be celebrated as the grandest carnival of the year. The tickets for all of India's matches have already been sold out, and perhaps the 19th of February will jettison the public euphoria. I cannot but remember the final of 2003, when we were anxiously watching Zaheer and Srinath get pounded by Punter and co., despite having final exams the very next day. The sadness was visible on everybody's face after we were done. No more plans of setting off crackers in school!

We will rise to the occasion, and we will support our team and our valiant cricketers. India needs a huge dose of optimism right now, with the social sphere smeared in corruption and talks of disenchantment with India's success story. What we need are new heroes, world-beaters who will capture the public imagination. What we need is a repeat of 1983, when Sandhu's treacherous in-swinger set the whole nation in a trance of faith, as we watched the underdogs upset the Calypso. Time to hear the Bhangra again, this time Sachin ishtyle!

The greatest catch ever..

Admirable citizens of India

Shahid Usman Balwa, Madhu Koda, A. Raja, Behen Mayawati- What do these names have in common? These are the real heroes/heroines of India. These are the country(wo)men we should be proud of, who we should admire. But beware, not everybody can emulate them, much less tread on their footsteps. For that takes extraordinary political and business acumen, and the ability to portray yourself as a victim.

On the victim part, I would like to add that this is perhaps the most tricking job in the world. You need to be just the right measure of victimized, not too much, not too little. What helps matters is if the victimization is borne out of society's inhumanity or the bias of our law. So while Mayawati and Koda have the downtrodden dalit card up their sleeve, Raja and Balwa blame the law for playing truant. No wonder, these innocent citizens have been victimized by the media and society combined. Even Lalit Modi gave it a shot, albeit unsuccessfully. Ever wondered how so many dacoit-turned politicians win elections? Because they know how to play the 'victim' card effectively. And apparently, in India, the 'victim' card is even sufficient to take you to the highest pedestal of power, the NAC chair.

It would be very helpful if someday, these eminent luminaries of India decide to write an autobiography, so that millions of equally victimized people can find their footing and indulge in mass debauchery of the nation. Plunder only grows with persistence, even Mahmud of Ghajni had to try hard for a life of excesses!

Vacancy: Leaders with intellect

What is the worse you can do if you go on stage for a speech? Choke up; stammer; at the most, faint! How about reading somebody else's speech? Seems unlikely, yet this is precisely what occurred at the Security council meeting underway at the UN. The unlikely suspect- India's cabinet minister for external affairs, Mr. S.M. Krishna.

Thankfully, Krishna had a real-life Krishna at his disposal, the Indian envoy to the UN, who quickly corrected him and saved the country the collective embarrassment of being postured as a weak European country. Think about it. India, considered the 2nd largest exporter of students in the world and long casted as a country of intellect, was almost subbed for Portugal in an international security meeting. While no significant harm was done, and the MEA has issued a substantial clarification on what went wrong and how the minister erroneously read out the introduction, which is common for every participating country. Accordingly, his speech was 'well received', for its portrayal of India's rise as a global superpower in the 21st century. Yeah right! No noob is going to come up and tell him what a fool he made of himself. Isn't that what diplomacy is based on?

Two puzzling points which come out from this piece of information: Does the UN have nothing better to do than to hear the same lines over and over again? How about discussing the uprising in the Middle East and how the UN can play a role in it, or how it can tackle the problem of rising European debt and foster closer ties within the unruly Asian sub-continent. No wonder most discard the UN today as a prestigious body of lazy diplomats. Secondly, don't ministers at least bother to go over what they are going to speak in the public. It is shameful enough that our ex-minister for Railways wants to eradicate the advance of English in his native state if voted to power, but the MEA committing a gaffe which gets noticed throughout the world instantly? Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, whose birthday we celebrate as Teacher's day, was known for a honorable tendency. He never read out prepared speeches, rather chose to speak out spontaneously on occasions of national importance.

It is insulting to read that our policy-makers are so averse to common sense that they make the Shiv Sena appear more circumspect at times. Dr. Singh, kindly conduct a coaching session for Rahul baba right away, lest he flares up more public emotion with controversial remarks on the Babri Masjid and continues to do so once he eventually becomes the PM of India as is the prayer of secularists!

To offer some hope, a beautiful composition from Aamir

The judicial renaissance

Remember a time when our country was ranked amongst the worst in terms of the time taken in the completion of a trial. Well, the figures still remain unshaken. However, the proactive stance of our judiciary in the recent decade has instilled a new hope in the common citizen of our country. While the media is inundated with reports of our esteemed courts rapping the legislative and the executive, what is more poignant is that the courts are increasingly moving into a domain of what can be termed as activism.

While the common perception of the lower courts being mere instruments in the hands of the incumbent has not been altered, owing to the reports of dubious judgments coming in all the time, the corrective measures of the apex court has lent a more reinvigorating voice to the responsible citizens of our country. The suo moto cognizance of the important matters like the 2G scam and the brazen disapproval of government's lethargy in brining back the black money stashed abroad has to be appreciated. Empowerment of our society needs a protector at all times, since the government can always move in to stifle the public appraisal of unfavorable situations arising these days. The decision to transfer matters of national interest to special benches and the willingness to conduct day-to-day trials of sensitive cases shows an alertness on behalf of our courts, which we should be thankful of. One can only imagine the progress of our country if the investigative agencies too pulled up their socks and not drag cases like the Godhra riots and 2G scam to eternity. Catching the culprit is important, but more important is to bring them to justice in a speedy manner. Accountability is a powerful weapon, it is also a right of every citizen of this country. Let's hope the activism grows!

V for Vote, V for Valentine

The Archies/Hallmark/CCD sponsored annual fiesta of Valentine's day is once again upon us. Whereas Mumbai might not be the best place to roam about in an act of public defiance on Valentine's day (your friendly neighborhood hero, the Shiv sainik, might be roaming nearby), our campus offers a safe haven to all victims of cupid. Or so it did sometime back! Anyways, when McD can benefit from this global phenomena, why not our smart and savvy candidates for the upcoming institute elections!

• GSAA: Can promise a more comfortable environment for the couples who adorn the library tables and study room, only to be constantly disturbed and distracted by singles all around them. Hey, we are just trying to study :-|
• GSCA: Have a grand celebration throughout the week, replete with coupons of cineplexes and CCD. For the more conservative ones, screenings of old classics in our LT. Of wait, it is already happening!
• GSHA: No bar on guest entry in hostels and no restriction on holding hands at late unearthly hours. Enough said!
• GSSA: Not much can be done for this post in my opinion. There is already an excess of testosterone in our institute. How about inter-gender competitions? Oops, already a failed experiment!

Humor aside, let's all have a good week in spite of/despite of being single/committed!

In the spirit of St. Valentine, I present to you, Cheap trick...

I just want the money, honey!

PART 1

I finally got an opportunity to catch up on 'Inside Job' today. Directed by Charles Ferguson, the mind behind the awesome 'No end in sight', and dealing with the intricacies of the global financial crisis, the film tries to present the well-known (I hope you have been following up on the Sensex for the last 2 years) happenings of the fateful 2008 sub-prime crisis. While the crisis itself has been a subject of numerous documentaries and books in the short span of 2 years, one thing which stands out as far as Inside job is concerned, is the fact that the origins and the after-effects are presented in a lucid, simple manner. Moreover, a rarely seen side of academia has been thoroughly probed-Greed.

While hedonism is indeed a much-debated topic, I believe that the idea behind it is pretty simple. You just don't give a damn about anybody else. So while the bankers and legislators were colluding among themselves to make the most of their share of the pie, we were enjoying the apparent boons of soaring share prices and investments. So, everybody sort of missed the big picture, and it took a very subtle evil to shake this mirage-greed. As a Chinese economist puts it in the movie:

"Real engineers make bridges; financial engineers make dreams. And when these dreams turn into nightmares, the whole world suffers."

Should we not be thinking in the long term, because every problem of ours is explained to us as being caused by a lack of oversight, or simply short term gains.

PART 2

The best one-liner I've heard in a long time:

"If IIT were a human, what it eats today, it shits an year later!"

As it turns out, moving papers to and fro from one department to the other in our institute is such a huge ordeal, that NREGS can easily be implemented here to feed a few hapless souls. Red-tapism can easily be countered by, yes, digitizing all procedural framework. Heck, I think this might turn out to be a useful project for some of the final year students, who often crib about the lack of utility of their 'year long effort'.

Life is ultimately about karma, believe it or not!