A time to kill, spill and make merry!

They say it's all in the timing. For without it, Antony's speech wouldn't have packed a punch, the LHC would have turned into a monumental disaster, and Charlie Sheen would not be winning. Of course, the choice is yours as always, whether you like to make hay or to go absolutely berserk. It is therefore appropriate to examine the nuances of some of the exceptionally-timed incidents in the recent week.

Before I begin, India played an absolute roller-coaster of a match against Australia. Of course, we managed to make it tempestuous and alerting. At one point, my heart plunged with grief, feeling for the agony of the GOD of cricket, who for all good reasons might have played his last world cup match that Thursday. Now he has 2 more! Also on the World cup, the English finally decided that enough is enough and decided to execute a tame return to the pond. It is understandable that the mental fatigue arising out of a prolonged overseas tour, which encompassed a triumphant Ashes campaign and an unexpected 6-1 drubbing in the ODIs, can be too much to overcome for even the toughest of athletes. Kudos to the English team, and we are grateful for the memories.

Moving on, if there is something the Congress cannot control, yet, it is the media and its freedom to publish and dig up graves at the wrong time. Still reeling under the incessant attack on its governance and executive integrity, the publication in The Hindu of a Wikileaks cable describing the bargain deal on offer to the opposition MPs, all but confirmed the dark face of politics an average Indian reminisces in his heart. What ensued were full-frontal attacks on MMS by the opposition (the united BJP-Left attack was a joy to watch) and calls for his resignation. Of course, it might be hard to believe that confidential information passed between the emissaries of a foreign government can be held accountable under the law, it none the less gave an opportunity to Dr. Singh to press his authority over the affairs of his government. In what was perhaps the best we have seen from him in the parliament, Dr. Singh delivered a timely and well-nuanced rebuttal to opposition demands, silencing the opposition benches. He, however, crossed the line somewhere along the ride, when he denounced Advani and his pining for the PM's post as an expectation from a birthright. Oh my! Talk about hypocrisy. Talk of birthright and easy access to the top of India's governing ladder, when the scion of the ruling political dynasty is lurking in the background.

I don't know about you, but I find it extremely insulting and derogating that the post of the prime minister of India has come to be decided by blood lines rather than by intelligent democracy. What Dr. Singh enjoys is seen as largesse on the behest of Mrs. Gandhi, who harped the note of sacrifice to take the less-visible, behind-the-scenes, remote control of India's policy in her hands. Well, maybe not as veiled, since she chairs the National advisory council of India, a council which for reasons not understood, acts as a 'bridge' between the government and public aspiration! Again, why do we put in so much time and energy to elect our local representatives? We must be incompetent as hell, if it requires a council to promulgate the public's wishes and demands. The eventuality of Rahul Gandhi cashing upon his ticket to the PM chair makes me squirm, because the post of India's PM should mean much more. It should mean that we elect wisely and be governed by reason. That India's oldest political party should look inwards and see where it is pushing the country to, and how far. Servile party workers rob the common man of his hope, because all they do is dance to the tune their masters orchestrate. Therefore, nobody from a democratically-elected party setup complained or raised a voice when their party's government was embroiled in a quagmire. And it also means that the opposition needs to practice what it preaches, and abolish dynastic politics within its setup as well.

Ill-timed or not, the V.K. Shunglu committee report on the Commonwealth games mess, which definitely confirmed the skepticism in the minds of the western media, that in India, the wedding procession is as important as the groom, has raised strong objections to the manner in which the games were organised. Also on display are 1001 ways in which you can launder public money. Quite a tempting offer! However, positive as we always try to be, this report will be erased from the public memory because it chanced to be tabled in the midst of the euphoric cricket festival. A corner of an eye to these happenings should serve us well. For now, all eyes at the mother of all matches, India vs Pakistan at Mohali.

Till then, keep thinking!

Roaring like a goat

In the myopia of current scandals rocking our parliament, some of us, rather, most of us, have deviated from a very important question, which might come back to haunt us. To be honest, even I had given very little thought to it until I came across an editorial recently, which talked about the legacy of our Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh. After reading it, the only thought that stuck was, gosh, he is 78 and in his last term. Forget the nature of his legacy, do we even have somebody to build upon the foundation of his government?

Of course, most of you would feel- What kind of a ridiculous question is this? Or, Duh, Rahul Gandhi! More on Mr. Gandhi a bit later, but which other name springs to your mind? Let me state this and prevent you from haranguing me. No, neither Pranab Mukherjee nor S.M. Krishna are potential candidates. For them, that ship has already sailed. Mukherjee is in the swan song of his illustrated career, while Krishna was brought back from political exile when he was reinstated as a cabinet minister post a gubernatorial term. Moreover, I hope the AICC would save India the blushes by not nominating Krishna to the elite post. What if he reads out Pakistan's speech at the next UN assembly session!

Coming to the honorable members of the opposition (again, I am going with a best case scenario favoring the 'Hindu' BJP), the options narrow down to...? Narendra Modi, for all his good work as the Gujarat CM, is a political red-flag for even the most ardent of NDA partners. Well, yeah, Sushma Swaraj is a good administrator, and yes, Rajnath Singh has a mass-appeal in the Hindi belt (which, by the way, did not prevent a rout of the BJP in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections). Who else? Yashwant Sinha-Too leanred, Jaswant Singh- Too opiniated, Arun Jaitley- Not a member of the Lok Sabha. None of them have any significant mass appeal, like Atal Behari Vajpayee had.

If you consider for a second that the leader can be somebody outside of the BJP microcosm, the only other candidate whose name springs up is Nitish Kumar. To me, personally, Nitish would make a good PM. He has shown his savvy in the recent state elections, and moreover, he has the precarious balance of caste and agenda well ensconced. The only problem is, if you go by his term in the NDA cabinet, Kumar was unable to turn around the fortunes of the Indian railways (no mean feat to achieve by the way, but not untenable either). He would come to office with humongous expectations and a history of turnarounds, and the chances are high that he could face what President Obama is facing in the states- dwindling mass support amidst a collusion of diversionary policies. So he might very well choose to lead Bihar into the next phase of its heartwarming renaissance.

Therefore, all we end up with are limited options, the most prominent one being Rahul Gandhi. If you rate him on the 3 criterion I (and even my friend's grandfather) consider important for the post of a PM : Mass appeal, Vision, and Resilience, he does well on two but fails miserably on the third one. His vision, if it can be called a vision at all, is that the young must rise and take control of the burgeoning economic riches. Elementary my dear! Of course the young will rise, even if you don't ask them to. Going by the demographics of our population, it is inevitable. How about the less generic things: The direction of the next five-year plans, plans on job creation, revival of agriculture, education, the list keeps going on and on. He is resilient, no doubt. His decision to enter the muddy arena his father fell victim to was brave and commendable. Here, we have a huge dilemma at our hands. If he keeps on doing what he is doing right now, going around the countryside and gaining recognition among the electorate, he is losing valuable time to study and formulate his policies. A very staid example to give here would be that of the parliamentary elections in Britain or the US, where potential candidates spell out their stand on matters less frivolous (Karunanidhi, after promising free color television in the last Tamilnadu state elections, is promising free mixer-grinders this time!) and more towards the long-term future of the country. The youth would appreciate that more.

Therefore, all our major political parties are indulged in a jungle of politics right now, which amusingly, has all the leaders roaring like a goat.

That's all folks!

The back foot gamble

It always fascinated me how easy it was to save your wicket while playing cricket with a tennis ball (a tennis ball T20 would rock). All you had to do was to remain on the back foot, and thump loose deliveries to the square region. That is, of course, only a temporary recluse from the inevitable. Along came one fine yorker and you were bowled. But the back foot defense prolonged the eventual likeliness of having to warm the bench. Apart from the cricketing arena, one glance at the domestic and worldwide affairs would suffice to to confirm what Sehwag swears by- Attack is the best defense! The back foot gamble fails more than you would imagine.

Julian Assange has gained a lifetime of notoriety artists like Kanye crave for. First the Wikileaks and then the ongoing trial against him on the charges of sexual misconduct. While India has fared poorly on the Wikileaks-scale so far, a fine discovery by 'The Hindu' yesterday brought the repercussions of a breach in confidentiality to the global forefront. Apparently, during the contentious and politically volatile trust vote in the parliament over the Indo-US civil nuclear deal in 2008, the Congress party, while is slowly turning into the disgrace party after been embroiled in one scam after the other, had a war-chest of cash ready to buy out the opposition MPs. A good clue to future entrepreneurs, if bribery in the legislature does come out in the open, you might want to set up futures markets in this cash-rich sector. How has the government responded? In characteristic and firm style of yore, by going on the back foot and coming up with technical reasons, the likes of which only Pranab Mukherjee can conjure from his vast legislative experience. I mean, isn't he correct?After all, if a scam happened at all, it did during the 14th Lok Sabha term, and like all good fairy tales, that book is closed now for a new beginning in the life of Indian democracy. Similar acts of defense were witnessed during the government's stoic opposition to the popular demand for ouster of former telecom minister A. Raja, who might very well be conferred the title of a raja for amassing all the wealth he is alleged to have. In the end, the Supreme court stepped in and Raja was ousted. More shame for the government followed in the form of the Thomas affair, when the SC deemed his appointment to the post of CVC illegal. The UPA had gone to the extent of saying that Thomas' integrity is beyond doubt since he was empaneled as a cabinet secretary. Just like when Sibal stated in true Harvard educated lawyer-style that the media was fooling the country and no loss to the exchequer was accrued. They defended hard, but the evidence of misdemeanors found a gaping hole in their defense.

If these failed defensive exploits were not telling enough, the world leaders were on the backfoot for a while on the contentious issue of implementing a no-fly zone over Libya and saving the lives of thousands who dared to challenge status quo and fight for the vision of democracy. In fact, even the current endorsement by the UNSC of a potent resolution might be too late for the rebellion to stay afloat, with Gaddafi's army breathing down its neck. The US was wary of stepping in, and it cannot be blamed for doing that. After all, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have left its economy in shambles, and both countries are still struggling to find their feet after the military efforts there have been downgraded significantly. But the vision of world leaders paying lip service to the collective uprisings in the Middle east has left quite some people anxious at what the future could hold. If countries like the US and India, which hold individual freedom and democracy in the highest honor, do not protect the rights of humans sharing similar aspirations elsewhere, things might get pretty easy for the more brash countries (India, incidentally, abstained from voting on the UNSC proposal to sanction military action over Libya). The back-foot guys, the back-foot!

It would be interesting to see how things shape up in India in the coming months when the election season gets in its full stride. How many back foot defenses would the Congress be rewarded for? I hope it doesn't end up for them like it did for the West Indian cricket team against England, when one innocuous back foot prod from Sarwan stuttered their chase and kept the maverick English team's hopes alive.

This video has apparently become the talk of the town since it hit the web (courtesy NYT)

Thank god for students at the IITB library being more tolerant!

Collapsoid

In a week of turmoil and uproar, well, too much of it by any sane barometer, a lot of big news filtered in, creating both shock and dismay at the way things seem to be going for the mortals from Earth. The theme is, yes, collapses too hard to dismiss. Not just those from the pedigree of Indian middle order, or those concerning the new Sidhu on the block, Kamran Akmal. It seems even the space is in a mood to gyrate, taking along with it the circadian rhythm of our planet.

The biggest event of the week turned out to be a disastrous earthquake which hit Japan hard, and the tsunami which emanated from the after shock, leading to the entire Northeast area of Japan and several islands (names of which will figure prominently in GK books this year) witness high waves and floating settlements, creating panic and leading to a loss of life and resources, not least compounded by the news of a radiation leak from a nuclear power plant in Japan. While the world is rooting for Japan, which has proved its mettle in overcoming the most difficult odds time and again, to rebuild the country like only they can, one cannot help but notice the frequent disruptions in cosmic energy we have been facing in the last decade or so. While I am no supporter of the purported 2012 myth, it does lead to bigger questions on whether these are all interrelated? I am sure Roland Emmerich has another magnum opus in mind based on 2 tsunamis in a year alone.

In other collapses of notice, the gossip on how much money Hasan Ali Khan has illegally garnered over the years became stronger, in the midst of a public chiding of the Enforcement directorate by the honorable sessions court. Turns out, ED officials thought they could use some sorcery and show that the $700,000 they have traced as being moved from one account of Khan into another is just a piece of the pie as large as $8 billion! Gosh, isn't that stud farm owner rich. What does he breed, mammoths? In all seriousness, I am sure our enthu council junta would be more than willing to help ED in its groundwork over the case!

Who is the most talked about guy in India at the moment? The simpleton known as Piyush Chawla. While Chawla is still struggling to get rid of the baby fat which makes him look younger by a couple of years, he has gained an unfortunate reputation of being the Man Friday to Dhoni's Crusoe. Dhoni might as well find himself stranded alone if Chawla plays another game and India goes on to lose. While we are on the topic of the World Cup, it amazes me how one country has taken charge of the responsibility to make the dreary schedule look exciting. I mean, who would have thought of watching England vs Bangladesh, if it were not for the white swann to whine and cry in front of furious Bangladeshi supporters.

If you or your distant cousin are a medical aspirant, some much awaited relief comes to you from the MCI, which has decided to hold a single eligibility-cum-entrance test for all medical colleges in India 2012 onwards. As somebody who has seen the ridiculousness of preparing for 10 examinations, compounded by the fact that the reservation quota all but kills the chances of a general or creamy layer category male aspirant, this should clear the mess of medical education in India and pave way for better and younger doctors. Another archaic practice collapses!

Last but not the least, the DMK's strong opposition to the Congress' demand for '3 extra seats from a total of 243!' collapsed in the wake of a sharp maneuvering by the Congress chieftains. Really people, 3 seats? You surely can't be serious that the Indian public would buy this lame argument, considering the sharp coincidence of an ex-DMK cabinet minister honoring the prison in the wake of an investigation into a major scam by a central investigation agency, whose track record has been anything but excellent.

With so many collapses around, a final word of information. March 19 would be the day you can witness what has been termed as an 'Extreme supermoon.' The metal-inspired nomenclature aside, expect Fox news and India TV to play up the euphoria surrounding the epic, once in a lifetime event!

REM to the rescue-

Matters of life...and death!

Whose life is it? More importantly, who decides when it should end? If the beginning sounds a bit gloomy, bear with me, for I will try to debate an important judgement, a landmark one, passed by our honorable Supreme court today on the sensitive and polarizing issue of Euthanasia.

While pronouncing its verdict on a mercy killing petition filed 'on behalf' of the nurse Aruna Shanbaug, who has been in a vegetative state for 37 years now in a hospital in Mumbai, the SC both answered and created questions over the ownership of life, and the right to die. Aruna, who was brutally assaulted and sodomized while she was leaving her shift as a nurse, at the very hospital she is now a permanent resident of, by a ward boy and left in a comatose state, is clearly in no position to spell out her decision. Therefore, a zealous writer, who took up her case and filed a petition on the ground that her life has turned into an everlasting struggle between forced intervention and death, probably understood and expressed the empathy that all of us would feel were we to know a person like Aruna. Imagine, being confined in a world of emptiness and solitude day after day! Yet, as the SC read out and with what I personally agree, the staff of KEM hospital, who have embellished the sacrosanct status of the medical profession by nursing Aruna tirelessly for 37 years, has clearly inherited her life. In other words, the very fact that they have shown care and compassion for her with no expectations of a reward of any kind, a difficult feat in itself in our ever so materialistic world, leaves them in competence to decide if Aruna needs to be put to an eternal sleep. And they have chose to save her life, to let her live.

One can only imagine the perseverance required for this kind of servitude. What if 5 years down the line, when the new faces in this hospital, one of the few crumbling pieces of medical infrastructure in our country, decide it is too much of an effort? While it sounds pessimistic, nothing is beyond the realm of possibility in this world. What if Aruna, who lives in a shell beneath her external appearance, is suffering inside, crying out for an end to the pain she continues to endure. What is the rightful answer to this debate? While Aruna is unable to express her pain, there are also petitions of active euthanasia in our courts, where a person knowingly wants to put an end to his everyday struggle with a gasp for air. With the court ruling out active euthanasia of any kind, the decision has been made for this mortal being. If a person has the ownership to his life, he must be able to surrender it as well. Too strong? Too twisted? This debate has no easy answer.

Only Johnny Cash can be so powerful

A tarnished legacy

RIP Arjun Singh!

With that out of the way, the demise of the once all-powerful politician of the Indian heartland raises a number of questions about the legacy our politicians leave behind. Surely, anybody who assumes a high office in any form of government would appreciate some words of kindness about his competence, or eulogies praising his achievements. Without sounding disrespectful, unfortunately, a lot of our current politicians are more worried about milking the cash-cow called legislature rather than the long-term effects of such decisions which give a short shrift to the nation itself.

For all that matters, Arjun Singh held a number of high offices in the country, in a career spanning more than 40 years none-the-less. He falls in the category of what is known as 'career politicians', people who rise from the local level to the national pedestal, and who are slowly left staring at obscurity in the current environment of nepotism (Singh's children themselves have had a fruitful political career). But I really doubt if 10 years down the line, people would remember him as a CM of a politically important and gigantic state or as the Minister of HRD who indirectly directs the fate of millions of our children. Arjun Sigh would, in all likelihood and unless the Gandhi family directs a complete revision of modern Indian history, would be remembered for his alleged complicity in the Bhopal gas leak, or the 93rd amendment to the Indian constitution, ushering us into a socially fractured era of 49.5% reservation in all-government sponsored higher education. Nothing like the walk of fame, eh!

So the question then becomes, are our politicians unaware of the long-term consequences of their decisions, or they simply do not care enough and rely heavily on the short-term memory of their voters. I believe any politician is smart enough because manipulating the aspirations of a billion people is no mean feat. Therefore, the only reason I can think of is the second (do care to comment if your view differs). Therefore, Dr. Manmohan Singh perhaps doesn't need to worry about his disastrous UPA-II tenure anymore. Or the likes of Ashok Chavan and Vilasrao Deshmukh can take a sigh of relief because even though they were a part of the Maharashtra CM's roulette, nobody would remember their (mis)deeds to affect their political career. They will keep getting elected, if not in the immediate election then the next one. This has not been an everlasting trend though. There are examples where one mistake in office has maligned the reputation of the politician to an irreversible decline (Kalyan Singh for one). Therefore, one could also say that the electoral college has changed sufficiently into a group of people focusing on their mundane issues rather than the collective future.

Is this a good or a bad thing? I'll leave that up to you to decide.

(B)oscars

"The aim of these awards is to recognise the excellent work been done by our fraternity in the past year." A simple enough motto which the Academy tries to follow year-after-year, as the eagerly awaited Oscars send expectations soaring and the theatrical business to a thumping rise. While Hollywood has always been known to set a benchmark for the business side of cinema, the remarkable persuasion with which it has kept a tradition going for 83 years is highly admirable. Yes, it has been 83 years since the first academy awards were doled out, and they still remain as hihgly anticipated as ever! So much so, that the academy awards are THE awards in the US, not the Golden Globes, not any of the numerous film society awards. This is called consolidating a business idea linked to the appreciation of art and milking it to the desired extent.

Not be left behind, of course, India has its own tradition, one which raises a few chuckles each year as a plethora of 'awards' are handed out from exotic foreign locales, mostly to just counter the viewership of the rival channel. While the Filmfare awards are considered to be the equivalent of the Oscars, a glance at the past winners would surely dishearten the advocates of cinematic excellence in India. But I am not going to talk about the disasterous choices made by the Filmfare awards committee (Dabangg is apparently the best Bollywood could come up with in 2010, when there have been 50-odd Dabangg's made in a year alone during the 70s). India deserves to be appluaded for a peculiar trait of its, the noble desire of setting up a tradition to be followed. Be it the Green revolution, the promulgation of the nuclear programme or the invention of free and fair elections, we do our best at setting up a tradition. A similar tradition was set up in the mid-20th century to recognise excellence in motion arts in India, the National film awards.

Logic would suggest that the awards given out under the umbrella of the I&B ministry would be of paramount importance in our country, because they would perhaps remain neutral and not pander to the numerous camps and stars of our notorious film industry. Sadly, they are not! Not only is a large proportion of our population unaware of the existence of such awards (I would treat anybody who could name the movie for which Mithunda won his best actor award), the awards themselves have lost their essence while distinguishing between 'critics' and 'popular' choice awards. Please pause for a moment to reflect on this idea: A single committee of dubious members, who are in the good books of our ruling class, and entrusted with the responsibility of deciding the cinematic merits as well as the popular choice. Wow, seems like they could use a medal or two for their valor and big-heartedness. As a result, the awards carry no value for most outside the paradigm of the Art cinema, which in itself is a fading star with the advent of multiplex-audience.

Will an Indian producer ever dare to market a movie as-'Nominated for 3 national awards', or 'Winner of the National award for best supporting actress'.?Definitely not. Do you see similar tags with a number of foreign films released in India? Yes, you do. The idea behind both is not very different, the execution is another beast altogether. Can we not linearize the National awards, make them more appealing as well as highly coveted amongst our film fraternity (by coveted, I mean the real desire, not a PR stunt which our filmstars are prone to)? Can we move above the bush league for once? Can we stop making a big deal about no Indian movie fit enough to win an Oscar? Yes we can, if we can clean up our National awards.