India and Pakistan have problems. Several.
Once again, they're trying to talk those problems out in the backdrop of India trying to shake off the rope of regional conflict holding it from really flying off into the progress statosphere, and Pakistan trying to recover from the monster within fed on 3 decades of zealotry and hate that now wants to swallow its own master.
Each attempt at conversation has its own hurdles. The court of public opinion is the one that really matters though.
Here's an NPR attempt to wrap people's mind around the geopolitical dimension to the India-Pak conflict in the form of an NPR program with three experts from India and Pakistan lending their perspective. The whole discussion is an hour long so listen at leisure.
For a lot of people around the world the so-called "war on terror" depends greatly on the India-Pak conflict and its possible resolution. Thats because as long as Pakistan wants to get at India (for whatever reason), they will continue to go soft on the jihaidis within their midst.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
If you're passionate about cinema...
... Then Passion For Cinema or PFC is the place for you (see new feed on right as well). I've been a regular reader at PFC. Being a follower of independent Hindi cinema for the last many years and of movies and cinema from over the world in general, I've enjoyed the insights readers of and contributors to PFC have provided. The list of contributors include famous folks like Anupam Kher, Anurag Kashyap, KK, Khalid Mohammed, and several others. This is not just your regular movie review site, it's basically a site for cinema musings about people who are - as the name suggests - passionate about cinema. And if ever you considered yourself to be so passionate about Indian cinema, this site is going to introduce you to a whole new world.
As an example of the myriad cinema related stuff, Here's a loosely translated (from Hindi) interview of Anurag Kashyap (writer-filmmaker of recent movies like Dev D and Gulaal) in which he explains some of his early days as a filmmaker and the accompanying frustrations he faced. He also discusses how his initial setbacks at trying to make movies the way he wanted to, were compounded perhaps by his naive idealism borne out of a sense of sticking to the pure form of storytelling via movies. And he also talks about his growing realization that the same idealism also opened other doors for him and has played a part in creating an aura around him.
PFC also shows how much thought processes of and within Indian cinema have evolved and continue to do so. Suffice to say that meaningful cinema is here to stay and will continue to grow.
Also:
Some changes to the site with colors and backgrounds. Still learning and playing around with CSS. I guess I'm not done yet with the fooling around (i.e. experimentation) - so there will probably be more changes.
As an example of the myriad cinema related stuff, Here's a loosely translated (from Hindi) interview of Anurag Kashyap (writer-filmmaker of recent movies like Dev D and Gulaal) in which he explains some of his early days as a filmmaker and the accompanying frustrations he faced. He also discusses how his initial setbacks at trying to make movies the way he wanted to, were compounded perhaps by his naive idealism borne out of a sense of sticking to the pure form of storytelling via movies. And he also talks about his growing realization that the same idealism also opened other doors for him and has played a part in creating an aura around him.
PFC also shows how much thought processes of and within Indian cinema have evolved and continue to do so. Suffice to say that meaningful cinema is here to stay and will continue to grow.
Also:
Some changes to the site with colors and backgrounds. Still learning and playing around with CSS. I guess I'm not done yet with the fooling around (i.e. experimentation) - so there will probably be more changes.
Monday, July 27, 2009
They're taking over!
In a world suffering from a severe recession (sounds like a movie trailer opening line that - "In a world where..." Ok. Ok. Moving on...), its probably not the thing you want to hear - that ultimately, one day, some machine is going to be doing your job. Thats because, as this this NYTimes articles says, the damn machines are going to become smarter than you. Knowing myself however, they don't have all that much of a distance to cover.
There's hardly anything new in the fear that machines will ultimately take over the world. They've taken over a lot of stuff anyways. Planes use computers to fly themselves between take offs and landings. Cars use an array of sensors managed by processors to ensure smooth running. The internet manages our money. And computers have abstracted the complexity of data communication from us to make everything appear as simple as possible. In fact, systems are increasingly designed to be as idiot-proof as possible. Which leaves us human users increasingly ignorant about how these things work in the first place. And since they're doing everything for you anyways, where's the incentive in learning what's really beneath the hood
The field of AI has dedicated considerable effort towards creating machines that behave and act autonomously like human beings supposedly do. One of the chief goals of such AI systems is successfully clearing the "Turing Test". In this test, a human judge has a conversation with another human and a computer, and the judge has to distinguish which of the two she's conversing with is the other human and which is the computer. If the judge can't tell who is which or which is what, then the computer has passed the "Turing Test".
Which brings us to this interesting video - also off the same NYTimes page - on Microsoft Research's attempt to make a more human-like expert system to guide human users who come to it in need of medical advice. In the video, we see two parents - one after another - coming up to a kiosk of some sort, with their child in tow, and talking to a computer-generated face on the computer screen about their children being sick, and we see the face then trying to help them diagnose their child's condition better and finally deliver some sort of advice.
The whole combination of expert system diagnosing capability, computer graphics, speech interface and natural language processing capabilities is mighty impressive. But, I did have one main problem with that video (and by extension the system being demonstrated). That is: at the end of the long conversation with the users - all the AI effectively does is it tells them to go see a doctor and schedules an appointment for them.
Now why would I waste my time conversing with it if that's all its going to do for me?
There's hardly anything new in the fear that machines will ultimately take over the world. They've taken over a lot of stuff anyways. Planes use computers to fly themselves between take offs and landings. Cars use an array of sensors managed by processors to ensure smooth running. The internet manages our money. And computers have abstracted the complexity of data communication from us to make everything appear as simple as possible. In fact, systems are increasingly designed to be as idiot-proof as possible. Which leaves us human users increasingly ignorant about how these things work in the first place. And since they're doing everything for you anyways, where's the incentive in learning what's really beneath the hood
The field of AI has dedicated considerable effort towards creating machines that behave and act autonomously like human beings supposedly do. One of the chief goals of such AI systems is successfully clearing the "Turing Test". In this test, a human judge has a conversation with another human and a computer, and the judge has to distinguish which of the two she's conversing with is the other human and which is the computer. If the judge can't tell who is which or which is what, then the computer has passed the "Turing Test".
Which brings us to this interesting video - also off the same NYTimes page - on Microsoft Research's attempt to make a more human-like expert system to guide human users who come to it in need of medical advice. In the video, we see two parents - one after another - coming up to a kiosk of some sort, with their child in tow, and talking to a computer-generated face on the computer screen about their children being sick, and we see the face then trying to help them diagnose their child's condition better and finally deliver some sort of advice.
The whole combination of expert system diagnosing capability, computer graphics, speech interface and natural language processing capabilities is mighty impressive. But, I did have one main problem with that video (and by extension the system being demonstrated). That is: at the end of the long conversation with the users - all the AI effectively does is it tells them to go see a doctor and schedules an appointment for them.
Now why would I waste my time conversing with it if that's all its going to do for me?
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Signs you're getting older: #117
You spend a little bit more time than you used to looking behind you - worrying about who's trying to screw you.
Call it a "Welcome to the real-world" realization or another little slip down that slide into paranoid schizophrenia. Take your pick.
Call it a "Welcome to the real-world" realization or another little slip down that slide into paranoid schizophrenia. Take your pick.
Movie Roundup - Titan A.E. and "W"
Just finished watching Titan A.E. a little while ago - or at least I caught the second half of the movie. Been almost 10 years since the movie came out and I had been meaning to see it since it had released in 2000. For those who haven't seen Titan A.E., it is a science fiction movie set in the future when humans live in space and stuff. It's also an animation/animated movie combining traditional cel animation (the type you see in movies like The Lion King and Mulan), with 3D computer graphics (the Toy Story/Pixar sort).
Well. I thought the second half was fun. Now I've got to wait till they show it again so I can watch the first half. Some of the themes were somewhat similar to Final Fantasy - The Spirits Within, a full length 3D computer graphics animated movie with photorealistic human characters (in lay man terms - movies without real actors but actors generated by computer graphics to look and act like real people). FF didn't do too well at the box-office, but it wasn't a bad movie at all.
Also, saw"W" a couple of days ago. Josh Brolin plays the most famous Dubya of recent times - George W. Bush. Oliver Stone directs the story of Dubya: how and why he is who he is, what possibly may have been his motivation to go for the presidency, and what drove him to commit his country into the Iraq mess. I was expecting a Bush flogging, but it turned out to be a lot more nuanced than how supposedly stupid the man was (Michael Moore did that anyway with Fahrenheit 911). There's nothing too new in the hypotheses of the movie: The man seem to be guided by his urge to find his true calling and for his desperate need to emerge from out of his father's (ex-president George H. W. Bush) and his brother's (Jeb Bush) shadows. And that his simplistic belief system (there are good guys and there are bad guys - and we're the good guys), coupled with the advice of highly motivated neo-con scaremongers (Saddam is making nukes and will sell them to the Islamic terrorists) and opportunists (America needs oil - the Middle East has it), made him invade Iraq despite the lone dissenting voice of Colin Powell.
But what we didn't perhaps know all too well was how it all went down between: Bush and his father, Bush and his staff (Cheney, Rummy, Condi, Colin Powell and Karl Rove), Bush and Laura, etc. And how indeed did he get his act together after spending a good portion of his early life doing "jack sh*t"? Oliver Stone tries and answers some of those questions. Not all too successfully all the time though. Some segments just seemed to run on autopilot - like re-enactments on the History channel - mannerisms, accents and make-up. But Brolin does a pretty decent job, as does the supporting cast for the most part including Richard Dreyfuss (Cheney), and Thandie Newton (Condi) among the others.
The presidency of George W. Bush will perhaps go down as an era that transformed the world in several ways - many of which we will only learn decades from now.
Well. I thought the second half was fun. Now I've got to wait till they show it again so I can watch the first half. Some of the themes were somewhat similar to Final Fantasy - The Spirits Within, a full length 3D computer graphics animated movie with photorealistic human characters (in lay man terms - movies without real actors but actors generated by computer graphics to look and act like real people). FF didn't do too well at the box-office, but it wasn't a bad movie at all.
Also, saw
But what we didn't perhaps know all too well was how it all went down between: Bush and his father, Bush and his staff (Cheney, Rummy, Condi, Colin Powell and Karl Rove), Bush and Laura, etc. And how indeed did he get his act together after spending a good portion of his early life doing "jack sh*t"? Oliver Stone tries and answers some of those questions. Not all too successfully all the time though. Some segments just seemed to run on autopilot - like re-enactments on the History channel - mannerisms, accents and make-up. But Brolin does a pretty decent job, as does the supporting cast for the most part including Richard Dreyfuss (Cheney), and Thandie Newton (Condi) among the others.
The presidency of George W. Bush will perhaps go down as an era that transformed the world in several ways - many of which we will only learn decades from now.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Warning: Your next big mistake is just around the corner
Why?
Because:
Malcolm Gladwell, the author of the "The Tipping Point", offers his insight into why people still manage to f*** up even after seemingly having everything under control - or more precisely why he thinks Bear Sterns went down in the New Yorker.
Also, on Bear Sterns, Vanity Fair has a take on how it all came crashing down for the giant. According to this piece - the main culprit ... a simple rumor.
The scary part. The rumor was false.
The result...
Because:
"As we grow older and more experienced, we overrate the accuracy of our judgments." - (Malcolm Gladwell)
Malcolm Gladwell, the author of the "The Tipping Point", offers his insight into why people still manage to f*** up even after seemingly having everything under control - or more precisely why he thinks Bear Sterns went down in the New Yorker.
Also, on Bear Sterns, Vanity Fair has a take on how it all came crashing down for the giant. According to this piece - the main culprit ... a simple rumor.
The scary part. The rumor was false.
The result...
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Race(ism) against Time
Race (and or Racism) is still in the lead by some distance, although I've been told Time is extremely patient and will probably make a move some time in the future. Who's going to win though? Has someone won already? Depends on where you want to paint the finish line. For now though, Racism is sprinting ahead.
Sanjay Suri's article titled "Brownian Notions" in Outlook India magazine, has this extended tagline
Indians - especially those living abroad in the "West" - are still grappling (knowingly or unknowingly) with the many prejudices and the many insecurities ingrained in them by virtue of a complex, several thousand year past. Combine that with the misplaced belief that a somewhat superficial "Indian-ness" is still highly superior to other cultures, has only made this internal conflict worse over time and has externally manifested in an attitude embodying disdain for everything and everyone not like "themselves".
Skin color is the most easily available "mechanism for exercising prejudice" that Indians in India or abroad overwhelmingly avail of. That we still judge people using a skin-colored lens is as illuminating as it is tragic.
Illuminating because it makes us think about where it could possibly have come from. The "North-South" divide in India is sometimes held responsible for it. The caste system is another popular culprit. But they cannot be the only reasons. Skin-color based discrimination is also quite prevalent in several countries and cultures in Africa, as well as other South Asian and South-East Asian countries. I guess we could generalize this phenomenon by saying that skin-color prejudice exists in many societies that have various shades of black and brown amongst the people.
Tragic because Indians use that skin-color(ed) lens to make various blanket judgments and generalizations (yes - I'm generalizing here as well - so sue me!) - from a person's race, country or origin, their mother-tongue, caste, perhaps religion to their mannerisms, accents, and even the kind of food they eat, etc. And for decision-support they have traditionally relied on a database of both prejudices, and stereotypes as well as the underlying insecurities behind them that have been passed down over the centuries (millenia perhaps?). Indians living abroad have only expanded that database to include people from a wider set of countries and cultures including their host countries. All this assessment is done before the person in front of us has had the opportunity to even open their mouths to say something. Perhaps culturally, it is the most natural thing to do and can be explained away with a: "So what? Everyone else does it is too. Why shouldn't we?".
Whether we may or may not admit it, the most widely held (and practiced) prejudice and insecurity among Indians is that "Fair is Fair". And, as cheesy as it sounds, that's not really all that fair. It's critical that beyond the inherent racism that is embedded in our "value system" and the debate about whether we are being discriminated on the basis of race and skin abroad, there also needs to be a debate on why we think we need to be treated fairly (pun intended) when we don't do the same ourselves - especially in our own country? I do agree that this contradiction does not in any way diminish the nature of the discrimination that we sometimes face - it is and would be criminal to actually ignore or overlook it in any country. But it is equally criminal to not use this conflict as a means to start holding ourselves to the higher standards we feel entitled to from those around us.
Sanjay Suri's article titled "Brownian Notions" in Outlook India magazine, has this extended tagline
"The prejudice NRIs exhibit is more complex than what they face ...". I can't help but agree with that - especially because its an issue I have struggled with internally for sometime. The article is a fascinating read as well.
Indians - especially those living abroad in the "West" - are still grappling (knowingly or unknowingly) with the many prejudices and the many insecurities ingrained in them by virtue of a complex, several thousand year past. Combine that with the misplaced belief that a somewhat superficial "Indian-ness" is still highly superior to other cultures, has only made this internal conflict worse over time and has externally manifested in an attitude embodying disdain for everything and everyone not like "themselves".
Skin color is the most easily available "mechanism for exercising prejudice" that Indians in India or abroad overwhelmingly avail of. That we still judge people using a skin-colored lens is as illuminating as it is tragic.
Illuminating because it makes us think about where it could possibly have come from. The "North-South" divide in India is sometimes held responsible for it. The caste system is another popular culprit. But they cannot be the only reasons. Skin-color based discrimination is also quite prevalent in several countries and cultures in Africa, as well as other South Asian and South-East Asian countries. I guess we could generalize this phenomenon by saying that skin-color prejudice exists in many societies that have various shades of black and brown amongst the people.
Tragic because Indians use that skin-color(ed) lens to make various blanket judgments and generalizations (yes - I'm generalizing here as well - so sue me!) - from a person's race, country or origin, their mother-tongue, caste, perhaps religion to their mannerisms, accents, and even the kind of food they eat, etc. And for decision-support they have traditionally relied on a database of both prejudices, and stereotypes as well as the underlying insecurities behind them that have been passed down over the centuries (millenia perhaps?). Indians living abroad have only expanded that database to include people from a wider set of countries and cultures including their host countries. All this assessment is done before the person in front of us has had the opportunity to even open their mouths to say something. Perhaps culturally, it is the most natural thing to do and can be explained away with a: "So what? Everyone else does it is too. Why shouldn't we?".
Whether we may or may not admit it, the most widely held (and practiced) prejudice and insecurity among Indians is that "Fair is Fair". And, as cheesy as it sounds, that's not really all that fair. It's critical that beyond the inherent racism that is embedded in our "value system" and the debate about whether we are being discriminated on the basis of race and skin abroad, there also needs to be a debate on why we think we need to be treated fairly (pun intended) when we don't do the same ourselves - especially in our own country? I do agree that this contradiction does not in any way diminish the nature of the discrimination that we sometimes face - it is and would be criminal to actually ignore or overlook it in any country. But it is equally criminal to not use this conflict as a means to start holding ourselves to the higher standards we feel entitled to from those around us.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Blast from the past: old DOS games anyone?
a. Revisiting the "Foundation" series by Isaac Asimov.
b. Also, playing an old DOS game that I used to enjoy back in the day. It's called "Megafortress" (circa 1991), a flight sim game. The graphics is pretty bare bones, but flying the Megafortress is not exactly a piece of cake - especially when the missions become more and more difficult.
While the game does run directly on XP - the problem seems to be that it runs a little too fast. Also, the mouse controls don't seem to get configured correctly - the click is too sensitive and becomes a pain at some point. The game also messed up my System Date setting.
After searching for solutions on how to run old DOS games on XP without problems, initially came across one suggested fix: applying/changing settings for the .exe file. ".Exe file"->RightClick->Properties->Program Tab->Advanced->Turn on Setting "Compatible Hardware Timer Emulation".
That fixed the system date problem, i.e. the Megafortress no longer messed with the System date after that. But it still didn't fix the "mouse too fast" problem. So searched a bit more for a better solution and came across a suggestion to give DosBox, an x86 emulator for Windows, a try.
Bingo. "Mouse too fast" problem solved using DosBox. Only issue now though is the small window size when running the game. They didn't have 1024X768 displays then. Changing the display settings to 640X480 could do the trick though and you could play the game Fullscreen. I just haven't given that a try yet.
Above fixes should let you play your old games on WinXP. If you still have them lying around somewhere perhaps you could give them another try.
While old DOS games could help you with your nostalgia fix, they aren't going to be a substitute for the ones that got away though. But then, let's also be realistic here. It's not like they would really want to have anything to do with you now would they?!
And no - you really don't have to finish that big bag of Lays just because you're all depressed now.
b. Also, playing an old DOS game that I used to enjoy back in the day. It's called "Megafortress" (circa 1991), a flight sim game. The graphics is pretty bare bones, but flying the Megafortress is not exactly a piece of cake - especially when the missions become more and more difficult.
While the game does run directly on XP - the problem seems to be that it runs a little too fast. Also, the mouse controls don't seem to get configured correctly - the click is too sensitive and becomes a pain at some point. The game also messed up my System Date setting.
After searching for solutions on how to run old DOS games on XP without problems, initially came across one suggested fix: applying/changing settings for the .exe file. ".Exe file"->RightClick->Properties->Program Tab->Advanced->Turn on Setting "Compatible Hardware Timer Emulation".
That fixed the system date problem, i.e. the Megafortress no longer messed with the System date after that. But it still didn't fix the "mouse too fast" problem. So searched a bit more for a better solution and came across a suggestion to give DosBox, an x86 emulator for Windows, a try.
Bingo. "Mouse too fast" problem solved using DosBox. Only issue now though is the small window size when running the game. They didn't have 1024X768 displays then. Changing the display settings to 640X480 could do the trick though and you could play the game Fullscreen. I just haven't given that a try yet.
Above fixes should let you play your old games on WinXP. If you still have them lying around somewhere perhaps you could give them another try.
While old DOS games could help you with your nostalgia fix, they aren't going to be a substitute for the ones that got away though. But then, let's also be realistic here. It's not like they would really want to have anything to do with you now would they?!
And no - you really don't have to finish that big bag of Lays just because you're all depressed now.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
"I was a fool - please take me back"
As is the case, when we all start with a ton of ideas and intentions, we almost always end up with not having done anything about most of those.
Naming my personal blog as "The Meltdown Chronicles", overlooking the inherent pretentiousness and the genuine lack of creativity in the title, was meant to provide the blog with some overarching purpose. The purpose being - some way of documenting how crazier I am going to get as the years roll on by even as MPB (Male Pattern Baldness) and CRS (Can't Remember Sh*t - Thanks Venky), among other afflictions, start working their magic on me. As with good intentions that fall by the wayside, (although "chronicling" my descent into what I will come to loosely being known as, i.e. crazy would not necessarily be termed as a "good intention" in any easily conceivable way - there in perhaps providing a decent enough glimpse of that future dementia), I fear I am not doing much justice to it.
If you thought though that the whole purpose of this confession was that I would somehow start spending more time trying to achieve that purpose... you're not in the same room as I am. Perhaps fortunate. Because while I am busy trying to become mental, I am not doing a good job recording it.
Anyways, besides the confession that I'm really bad at following up sometimes with long-term goals, or that I'm really good at making course corrections whenever convenient, whatever, I've also had this realization (yes yes... the useless epiphanies keep sparking up) that it would be easy to read all this one day (ok - it won't necessarily be easy) and discern the madness between the lines camouflaged by the increasingly extraordinarily mediocre writing.
I will try though to be a little bit more regular. It's not that I have to look around real hard for material. I've been fortunate that way - it doesn't take too much to have me go off on a long rant about something.
So please take me back (If I gave myself a rupee or a nickel for every time I said that ... I'd be richer if it were more nickels than rupees - plain old exchange rates you see).
Naming my personal blog as "The Meltdown Chronicles", overlooking the inherent pretentiousness and the genuine lack of creativity in the title, was meant to provide the blog with some overarching purpose. The purpose being - some way of documenting how crazier I am going to get as the years roll on by even as MPB (Male Pattern Baldness) and CRS (Can't Remember Sh*t - Thanks Venky), among other afflictions, start working their magic on me. As with good intentions that fall by the wayside, (although "chronicling" my descent into what I will come to loosely being known as, i.e. crazy would not necessarily be termed as a "good intention" in any easily conceivable way - there in perhaps providing a decent enough glimpse of that future dementia), I fear I am not doing much justice to it.
If you thought though that the whole purpose of this confession was that I would somehow start spending more time trying to achieve that purpose... you're not in the same room as I am. Perhaps fortunate. Because while I am busy trying to become mental, I am not doing a good job recording it.
Anyways, besides the confession that I'm really bad at following up sometimes with long-term goals, or that I'm really good at making course corrections whenever convenient, whatever, I've also had this realization (yes yes... the useless epiphanies keep sparking up) that it would be easy to read all this one day (ok - it won't necessarily be easy) and discern the madness between the lines camouflaged by the increasingly extraordinarily mediocre writing.
I will try though to be a little bit more regular. It's not that I have to look around real hard for material. I've been fortunate that way - it doesn't take too much to have me go off on a long rant about something.
So please take me back (If I gave myself a rupee or a nickel for every time I said that ... I'd be richer if it were more nickels than rupees - plain old exchange rates you see).
Monday, April 27, 2009
Last word on Fake...?
Well, according to "The Real IPL Player", apparently the power that be have unearthed our Fake IPL Player. Whatsmore according to "The Real IPL Player" he's been cut off from his source. Who was Fake IPL Player's source? Well - it was Real IPL Player of course. Duh!
But does not Real IPL's writing style seem a lot more similar to the earlier Fake IPL Player's - before the whole rumor about Fake being finally found out surfaced a few days ago?
So was Fake really a journalist getting insider info from Real, as Real claims? Is Real the authentic Fake and Fake - well - fake? Or is Fake the authentic Fake? Or are Real and Fake the same people?
I'd like to say I don't give a damn eitherways... but then it would be a little bit of a lie. But enough on Fake. Stay tuned to the news feeds for more news.
But does not Real IPL's writing style seem a lot more similar to the earlier Fake IPL Player's - before the whole rumor about Fake being finally found out surfaced a few days ago?
So was Fake really a journalist getting insider info from Real, as Real claims? Is Real the authentic Fake and Fake - well - fake? Or is Fake the authentic Fake? Or are Real and Fake the same people?
I'd like to say I don't give a damn eitherways... but then it would be a little bit of a lie. But enough on Fake. Stay tuned to the news feeds for more news.
Friday, April 24, 2009
(Was) the best thing about the IPL so far...?
No. No. I'm not about to say that the previous day's cricket games - despite them being fairly tense and nailbiting - have upstaged "Fake IPL Player".
The past tense indicates that there seems to have occurred a big new twist on the whole situation. As Prem Panicker first indicated on his twitter page, apparently the identity of the Fake IPL Player has been uncovered - referring to Gulu Ezekiel's piece in the Indian Express (go down to the "Op-ed" page and see bottom section).
Oh well. Sadly, it may seem that the whodunit part of the story is finally over. Or is it? Maybe there's still a lot more drama to come our way - now that matters seem to be coming out into the open. Or we may likely never know who was truly involved either.
Personally, it seems to me that "Fake..." become too famous (or infamous) for his own good.
The past tense indicates that there seems to have occurred a big new twist on the whole situation. As Prem Panicker first indicated on his twitter page, apparently the identity of the Fake IPL Player has been uncovered - referring to Gulu Ezekiel's piece in the Indian Express (go down to the "Op-ed" page and see bottom section).
Oh well. Sadly, it may seem that the whodunit part of the story is finally over. Or is it? Maybe there's still a lot more drama to come our way - now that matters seem to be coming out into the open. Or we may likely never know who was truly involved either.
Personally, it seems to me that "Fake..." become too famous (or infamous) for his own good.
Monday, April 20, 2009
The best thing about the IPL so far...
(IPL = Indian Premier League; an Indian city-based franchise cricket league/tournament currently in its second year being held in South Africa because of security issues in India)
Last year the IPL was a huge novelty, an unknown. It was also wildly successful. The idea of a city-based cricket league really took off in India in a big way. Twenty20 is certainly here to stay.
Disappointingly, this year the IPL tournament is being held in South Africa. The Indian government was not able to guarantee the safety of the tournament given that it coincided with the Indian general elections - a super mammoth exercise in itself that would stretch security agencies, supposedly, to the max.
The tournament began this past weekend in SA. A few games have been completed. A lot of big name players and a good amount of cricket has been seen. But the best thing that has happened so far is not the cricket, or the fanfare (or lack thereof), or the hype, or the asinine Bollywood activities surrounding the event, or even the player slappings, coach firings, and other going ons...
The best thing is the surfacing of this blog that started on the eve of the game called "Fake IPL Player". The interesting thing about this blog is not just the humor/satire, particularly involving and directed at the Kolkata Knight Riders, a team owned by Shah Rukh Khan, but the level of detail with which supposedly fake events that happened outside the cricket field are described. Despite the disclaimer that all events and people mentioned in that blog are fictitious, there is just too much information for the blog to be considered an entire fake. Which means, in the guise of a fake blog, we may have someone who has insider access to the KKR team and is giving us some sort of factual insight into all thats going on behind the scenes. And for a team thats struggling on all aspects and heading towards a huge meltdown of some sorts, it makes for very interesting reading.
Fake's posts are something to look forward to, even more than the cricket.
Last year the IPL was a huge novelty, an unknown. It was also wildly successful. The idea of a city-based cricket league really took off in India in a big way. Twenty20 is certainly here to stay.
Disappointingly, this year the IPL tournament is being held in South Africa. The Indian government was not able to guarantee the safety of the tournament given that it coincided with the Indian general elections - a super mammoth exercise in itself that would stretch security agencies, supposedly, to the max.
The tournament began this past weekend in SA. A few games have been completed. A lot of big name players and a good amount of cricket has been seen. But the best thing that has happened so far is not the cricket, or the fanfare (or lack thereof), or the hype, or the asinine Bollywood activities surrounding the event, or even the player slappings, coach firings, and other going ons...
The best thing is the surfacing of this blog that started on the eve of the game called "Fake IPL Player". The interesting thing about this blog is not just the humor/satire, particularly involving and directed at the Kolkata Knight Riders, a team owned by Shah Rukh Khan, but the level of detail with which supposedly fake events that happened outside the cricket field are described. Despite the disclaimer that all events and people mentioned in that blog are fictitious, there is just too much information for the blog to be considered an entire fake. Which means, in the guise of a fake blog, we may have someone who has insider access to the KKR team and is giving us some sort of factual insight into all thats going on behind the scenes. And for a team thats struggling on all aspects and heading towards a huge meltdown of some sorts, it makes for very interesting reading.
Fake's posts are something to look forward to, even more than the cricket.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Dodge this!
Tarun Tejpal weighs in on the symbolism of the "shoe protest" phenomenon. A recent addition to its annals is the incident in which a Sikh journalist threw a shoe at P. Chidambaram, Indian's Home Minister, to protest the central government's clean chit to two prime accused of the anti-Sikh riots/pogrom in 1984 - the prime accused are politicians and members of the same political party that the Home Minister belongs to.
Tejpal's edit also serves as a reminder that good journalism is not just proving a voice to the population but also holding a mirror to it.
Then again, how many really care for true journalism really.
Tejpal's edit also serves as a reminder that good journalism is not just proving a voice to the population but also holding a mirror to it.
Then again, how many really care for true journalism really.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Gears of a mad world
If you're like me you probably saw the promos of "Gears of War" (Epic games) back a couple of years, and thought it looked pretty cool. Also, like me, you thought that the song in the promo was pretty cool too, and a lovely touch that actually enhanced the game's appeal beyond the usual ultra-violent video game commercial.
That song was/is "Mad World" and was by Gary Jules and Michael Andrews. It was the first time I heard it. Thought I'd link to that video here as well. If you're like me, you'll like the lyrics as well.
What I didn't know then was that the song originally belongs to "Tears for Fears".
Anyways, some guy on American Idol performed "Mad World" on the show. I heard it. Thought it was largely inspired by the version heard in the "Gears of War" promo (Jules/ Andrews).
And for all the well-deserved hype "Mad World"'s getting you have "Tears for Fears" to thank.
"Gears of Wars" was/is freakin amazing as well.
That song was/is "Mad World" and was by Gary Jules and Michael Andrews. It was the first time I heard it. Thought I'd link to that video here as well. If you're like me, you'll like the lyrics as well.
What I didn't know then was that the song originally belongs to "Tears for Fears".
Anyways, some guy on American Idol performed "Mad World" on the show. I heard it. Thought it was largely inspired by the version heard in the "Gears of War" promo (Jules/ Andrews).
And for all the well-deserved hype "Mad World"'s getting you have "Tears for Fears" to thank.
"Gears of Wars" was/is freakin amazing as well.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Slate really gets me!
(Warning: This may be hazardous to bloggers).
NPD or Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
Yup. Well. That was a depressing/damning read. The title of my post should tell you how deep I am in this sh$t. Its been a few days since I read that - and I'm still trying to come to terms with it.
There now. You only live once.
NPD or Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
Yup. Well. That was a depressing/damning read. The title of my post should tell you how deep I am in this sh$t. Its been a few days since I read that - and I'm still trying to come to terms with it.
There now. You only live once.
Friday, March 20, 2009
"I Liked/Like" - P II
Kay Kay Menon
Kay Kay has been around for a while. First saw him in some gangster movie - where Kay Kay plays a police office who goes undercover and infiltrates a notorious gang, but in the course of time ends up conflicted about the situation (Chhal). That story is pretty much almost staple fare across the world for action-drama movie script purposes. So no biggie there.
But he's always been an integral part of the alternative/ multiplex Hindi movie genre. He played an impressionable Marxist in Sudhir Mishra's superlative Hazaroon Khwaishein Aisi, a business tycoon who ultimately goes up and down with the dirty game that business tycoons seem to be playing all the time in Madhur Bhandarkar's Corporate, an investigative officer trying to put together the pieces of the bomb blasts in Mumbai in March 1993 and the plot behind it in Anurag Kashyap's Black Friday, a senior manager at a Mumbai call-center not averse to cheating on his wife on the side in Life In A Metro, among other parts. Did I say he was very impressive in essaying those varied roles? Well - he was.
He's been acting in commercial potboilers off late as well. So far they've been a mixed bag. In Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar - a remake of/tribute to Mario Puzo's The Godfather (of sorts) in an Indian political setting, he played the character most similar to Fredo Corleone. He was also easily the best thing in that movie, for me at least, despite the fact that Senior and Junior Bachchan were the central characters. Can't wait to catch him in Kashyap's latest release Gulaal.
To sum it up, easily one of the best around in the acting business. Fair to say that the parallel cinema/multiplex movement would have been/be far less effective/entertaining had he not been around.
Kay Kay has been around for a while. First saw him in some gangster movie - where Kay Kay plays a police office who goes undercover and infiltrates a notorious gang, but in the course of time ends up conflicted about the situation (Chhal). That story is pretty much almost staple fare across the world for action-drama movie script purposes. So no biggie there.
But he's always been an integral part of the alternative/ multiplex Hindi movie genre. He played an impressionable Marxist in Sudhir Mishra's superlative Hazaroon Khwaishein Aisi, a business tycoon who ultimately goes up and down with the dirty game that business tycoons seem to be playing all the time in Madhur Bhandarkar's Corporate, an investigative officer trying to put together the pieces of the bomb blasts in Mumbai in March 1993 and the plot behind it in Anurag Kashyap's Black Friday, a senior manager at a Mumbai call-center not averse to cheating on his wife on the side in Life In A Metro, among other parts. Did I say he was very impressive in essaying those varied roles? Well - he was.
He's been acting in commercial potboilers off late as well. So far they've been a mixed bag. In Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar - a remake of/tribute to Mario Puzo's The Godfather (of sorts) in an Indian political setting, he played the character most similar to Fredo Corleone. He was also easily the best thing in that movie, for me at least, despite the fact that Senior and Junior Bachchan were the central characters. Can't wait to catch him in Kashyap's latest release Gulaal.
To sum it up, easily one of the best around in the acting business. Fair to say that the parallel cinema/multiplex movement would have been/be far less effective/entertaining had he not been around.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
"Bhimsen"
Bhimsen (by Prem Panicker) (Link updated.)
Prem Panicker's story series views the world of the Mahabharata through the eyes of Bhima or Bhimsen, the second of the official five Pandava brothers, also the mightiest of them all according to legend. It is in episodic form and is a work in progress/unfinished. Meaning - episodes are being written as we speak and the story updated periodically. The link above points to the entire archive including Prem's preamble and the source of his inspiration.
Those familiar with the Mahabharata will find this easier to follow perhaps. I have been following it since Prem started writing it on his relatively new website (see side link under "Reading List").
Why follow it though if you already know the story?
Ah, but, does merely knowing a sequence of events mean that you really know a story? There are as many perspectives to a story as there are readers. It's also very well written.
Update:
Prem's continuing the series and his blogging over at his new site. So follow the latest Bhimsen episodes over there.
Prem Panicker's story series views the world of the Mahabharata through the eyes of Bhima or Bhimsen, the second of the official five Pandava brothers, also the mightiest of them all according to legend. It is in episodic form and is a work in progress/unfinished. Meaning - episodes are being written as we speak and the story updated periodically. The link above points to the entire archive including Prem's preamble and the source of his inspiration.
Those familiar with the Mahabharata will find this easier to follow perhaps. I have been following it since Prem started writing it on his relatively new website (see side link under "Reading List").
Why follow it though if you already know the story?
Ah, but, does merely knowing a sequence of events mean that you really know a story? There are as many perspectives to a story as there are readers. It's also very well written.
Update:
Prem's continuing the series and his blogging over at his new site. So follow the latest Bhimsen episodes over there.
Friday, February 27, 2009
I Like/Liked.
(Note: In no particular order)
Oye Lucky Lucky Oye
Abhay Deol plays Lucky - a charming, aspirational thief who at different times nonchalantly, and/or brazenly, steals his way up the ladder of high life. His audacious exploits of daylight thievery seem to suggest to us and him that he has people figured out for the most part. Until, one day, his one weakness, that desire for some kind of recognition by society in general and high society in particular, lands him in his most sticky situation yet. Still, if this is the same Lucky you've been following through the movie, you can be sure there's nothing he doesn't back himself to not get out of.
The supporting cast is wonderful, lead by Paresh Rawal and Manu Rishi. Abhay is fast becoming the poster-boy of "multiplex", or small-budget, Hindi cinema - a movement that deserves fully to not be labelled "Bollywood". He's never going to top popularity charts like the Khans and Bachchans with their movies that either outright lift themes, situations, even whole movies from Hollywood (thereby fittingly being labeled Bollywood) or repititively, regressively and non-sensically depict a hackneyed-moralled Indian culture that perhaps only exists in their movies and in the warped minds of non-resident indians. Whatever. So What. (So ends my usual pet rant about "Bollywood" movies and actors in general - for this post only though.) Quality cinema watchers can trust movies Abhay Deol is in though.
Oye Lucky Lucky Oye is also Dibakar Banerjee's second (?) directorial venture after the fantastic Khosla ka Ghosla. Very Delhi both. Very wonderful both.
Most recently, he played the turn of the new century Devdas in Anurag Kashyap's (Black Friday) Dev D. I still haven't caught Dev D, but I plan to very soon. Something tells me, it's going to be a blast.
Mithya
Which brings us to another poster boy of "multiplex" Hindi cinema, Ranvir Shorey. Mithya is the story of a regular guy played by Shorey, who unfortunately by a quirk of fate, finds out that he's a mafia don doppelganger. Sure enough, one day, he finds himself, and not by choice, in the situation of being forced to take the don's place, unknown to most including those closest to the don - something he, in spite of looking like the don, is totally unsuited to the job. Along the way he finds true love of sorts. His life doesn't get any easier though.
Sure, we've seen similar themes in the Amitabh classic "Don", and there are shades of situations from John Woo's "Face/Off" as well, among others. But Ranvir is as earnest as independent actors can be. Neha Dhupia as the love interest is also surprisingly decent - she needs more movies like these. Mithya is reasonably well-made.
Ranvir also did a super job in Khosla ka Ghosla, and Pyar Ke Side Effects (which I finally watched recently) as well.
Vinay Pathak
The third posterboy of "multiplex" Hindi cinema. In Khosla ka Ghosla, Mithya, Manorama - Six Feet Under, the Chinatown tribute, with Abhay Deol, in Bheja Fry, and recently in Rajat Kapur's Dasvidaniya, Kapur incidentally another earnest filmmaker and actor, among others. Pathak was also in the thriller, Johnny Gaddar. He's another actor whose movie choices are pretty much spot on.
Welcome to Sajjanpur
A satirical take on life in small town India, that covers a wide gamut of socio-political issues including poverty, illiteracy, conservatism vs modernism, widow-remarriage, dirty politics, among several others.
Oye Lucky Lucky Oye
Abhay Deol plays Lucky - a charming, aspirational thief who at different times nonchalantly, and/or brazenly, steals his way up the ladder of high life. His audacious exploits of daylight thievery seem to suggest to us and him that he has people figured out for the most part. Until, one day, his one weakness, that desire for some kind of recognition by society in general and high society in particular, lands him in his most sticky situation yet. Still, if this is the same Lucky you've been following through the movie, you can be sure there's nothing he doesn't back himself to not get out of.
The supporting cast is wonderful, lead by Paresh Rawal and Manu Rishi. Abhay is fast becoming the poster-boy of "multiplex", or small-budget, Hindi cinema - a movement that deserves fully to not be labelled "Bollywood". He's never going to top popularity charts like the Khans and Bachchans with their movies that either outright lift themes, situations, even whole movies from Hollywood (thereby fittingly being labeled Bollywood) or repititively, regressively and non-sensically depict a hackneyed-moralled Indian culture that perhaps only exists in their movies and in the warped minds of non-resident indians. Whatever. So What. (So ends my usual pet rant about "Bollywood" movies and actors in general - for this post only though.) Quality cinema watchers can trust movies Abhay Deol is in though.
Oye Lucky Lucky Oye is also Dibakar Banerjee's second (?) directorial venture after the fantastic Khosla ka Ghosla. Very Delhi both. Very wonderful both.
Most recently, he played the turn of the new century Devdas in Anurag Kashyap's (Black Friday) Dev D. I still haven't caught Dev D, but I plan to very soon. Something tells me, it's going to be a blast.
Mithya
Which brings us to another poster boy of "multiplex" Hindi cinema, Ranvir Shorey. Mithya is the story of a regular guy played by Shorey, who unfortunately by a quirk of fate, finds out that he's a mafia don doppelganger. Sure enough, one day, he finds himself, and not by choice, in the situation of being forced to take the don's place, unknown to most including those closest to the don - something he, in spite of looking like the don, is totally unsuited to the job. Along the way he finds true love of sorts. His life doesn't get any easier though.
Sure, we've seen similar themes in the Amitabh classic "Don", and there are shades of situations from John Woo's "Face/Off" as well, among others. But Ranvir is as earnest as independent actors can be. Neha Dhupia as the love interest is also surprisingly decent - she needs more movies like these. Mithya is reasonably well-made.
Ranvir also did a super job in Khosla ka Ghosla, and Pyar Ke Side Effects (which I finally watched recently) as well.
Vinay Pathak
The third posterboy of "multiplex" Hindi cinema. In Khosla ka Ghosla, Mithya, Manorama - Six Feet Under, the Chinatown tribute, with Abhay Deol, in Bheja Fry, and recently in Rajat Kapur's Dasvidaniya, Kapur incidentally another earnest filmmaker and actor, among others. Pathak was also in the thriller, Johnny Gaddar. He's another actor whose movie choices are pretty much spot on.
Welcome to Sajjanpur
A satirical take on life in small town India, that covers a wide gamut of socio-political issues including poverty, illiteracy, conservatism vs modernism, widow-remarriage, dirty politics, among several others.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Down but not out
...At least not yet.
Finally decided to get my bum right knee fixed. Turned out I had a complete ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) tear. I had suspected that something was seriously wrong with it. Underwent ACL reconstruction surgery. Surgery was always going to be the last resort. Still. Wasn't left with too much of a choice.
It will be two weeks since surgery tomorrow. I am getting better. Movement is restricted. Crutches help me around for now. I'm in the process of eliminating their need one by one. I'm also undergoing physio-therapy sessions. Pain has eased up a lot. Still, I do require painkillers now and then.
Hopefully in about 6-9 months I can return to some level of atheletic activity. Something to look forward to I guess. Thats why I underwent the sort-of-ordeal in the first place.
Finally decided to get my bum right knee fixed. Turned out I had a complete ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) tear. I had suspected that something was seriously wrong with it. Underwent ACL reconstruction surgery. Surgery was always going to be the last resort. Still. Wasn't left with too much of a choice.
It will be two weeks since surgery tomorrow. I am getting better. Movement is restricted. Crutches help me around for now. I'm in the process of eliminating their need one by one. I'm also undergoing physio-therapy sessions. Pain has eased up a lot. Still, I do require painkillers now and then.
Hopefully in about 6-9 months I can return to some level of atheletic activity. Something to look forward to I guess. Thats why I underwent the sort-of-ordeal in the first place.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Case of the missing witness
On the evening of Nov 26, 2008, Anita Uddaiya of Mumbai saw terrorists land in a dingy near South Mumbai. She accosted them and was told in return to mind her own business. Minutes later, these terrorists began their attacks on Mumbai and a whole lot of mayhem followed. Anita had a good look at them before they began their rampage. She had seen them arrive by boat. She was a key witness to piecing together the story of the attacks.
A few days ago, Anita disappeared. Her daughter filed a missing persons report at the local police station. Folks were outraged at the fact that the authorities let a key witness disappear, that she was never offered protection.
Then the daughter, who had filed the missing report, called the police and said, "Never mind! She's not missing anymore." Apparently, Anita had contacted her - she had called her over the phone - and claimed that she was calling from the US of A. She claimed she had been taken over there to help the U.S. authorities in their investigations into the Mumbai attacks.
Then a couple of days later, she returned to Mumbai. But this time she claimed to all the reporters who showed up to find out about her disappearance, that she had been visiting her sister in Satara, Maharashtra instead- pooh poohing the whole notion that she had somehow been to the U.S. as had been reported/speculated.
Then, she changed her story again, and confirmed that she had indeed been to the United States to help the FBI out. The whole "visiting my sister in Satara" was a lie actually. She describes the course of events in a lot more detail in this interview.
The United States though denies any involvement in this whole affair.
Curiouser and Curiouser.
A few days ago, Anita disappeared. Her daughter filed a missing persons report at the local police station. Folks were outraged at the fact that the authorities let a key witness disappear, that she was never offered protection.
Then the daughter, who had filed the missing report, called the police and said, "Never mind! She's not missing anymore." Apparently, Anita had contacted her - she had called her over the phone - and claimed that she was calling from the US of A. She claimed she had been taken over there to help the U.S. authorities in their investigations into the Mumbai attacks.
Then a couple of days later, she returned to Mumbai. But this time she claimed to all the reporters who showed up to find out about her disappearance, that she had been visiting her sister in Satara, Maharashtra instead- pooh poohing the whole notion that she had somehow been to the U.S. as had been reported/speculated.
Then, she changed her story again, and confirmed that she had indeed been to the United States to help the FBI out. The whole "visiting my sister in Satara" was a lie actually. She describes the course of events in a lot more detail in this interview.
The United States though denies any involvement in this whole affair.
Curiouser and Curiouser.
Lasantha
Lasantha Wickrematunge, wrote this piece in the Sri Lankan news magazine The Sunday Leader shortly before he was shot dead by assailants on his way to work on January 8, 2009. He was the editor of the magazine.
I unfortunately never heard of him and the enormous risks he took while he was alive. It was only after his death that I came to know of him and his work. People, like Lasantha, devoted to their duty above all else are extremely rare. Especially when they are ordinary folks like you and me.
Investigative journalism in the sub-continent is a very dangerous profession. While Sri Lanka seems to have an abysmal record in taking care of its journalists, other countries in the region do not fare too much better. In India, what passes off for journalism in most newspapers and news channels, is just farce, focused as it is largely on celebrities and sensationalism as an end in itself. News magazines like Tehelka are some of the few remaining bastions of true reporting in India. They may not always be right, but they fight hard to expose the truth to the public, especially in those circumstances where it has been forcibly kept under wraps. They provide us with a mirror with which to look into ourselves as a society, culture, country and citizen of the world.
In several countries, including democracies, those who report against the existing powers of the day constantly live under the threat of some sort of retaliation by those powers. Most will find it impossible to continue working under those potentially life-threatening circumstances - and rightly so too. To those few who, inspite of the risks, strive to bring us the truth, and not farce - we owe a lot.
I unfortunately never heard of him and the enormous risks he took while he was alive. It was only after his death that I came to know of him and his work. People, like Lasantha, devoted to their duty above all else are extremely rare. Especially when they are ordinary folks like you and me.
Investigative journalism in the sub-continent is a very dangerous profession. While Sri Lanka seems to have an abysmal record in taking care of its journalists, other countries in the region do not fare too much better. In India, what passes off for journalism in most newspapers and news channels, is just farce, focused as it is largely on celebrities and sensationalism as an end in itself. News magazines like Tehelka are some of the few remaining bastions of true reporting in India. They may not always be right, but they fight hard to expose the truth to the public, especially in those circumstances where it has been forcibly kept under wraps. They provide us with a mirror with which to look into ourselves as a society, culture, country and citizen of the world.
In several countries, including democracies, those who report against the existing powers of the day constantly live under the threat of some sort of retaliation by those powers. Most will find it impossible to continue working under those potentially life-threatening circumstances - and rightly so too. To those few who, inspite of the risks, strive to bring us the truth, and not farce - we owe a lot.
Friday, January 09, 2009
I get knocked down...
"For sure, I am going to lose matches, but I am never going to quit." (Somdev Devvarman, 2 time NCAA mens tennis champion, after his victory over Carlos Moya in the Chennai Open 2009 round of 16.)
Monday, January 05, 2009
What after Mumbai? (Part II)
It is possible that the terrorists who staged the Mumbai attacks of November 2008 had anticipated the numerous potential consequences/fallouts of the attacks, were they to be successful. Several of those consequences may have been intended too (otherwise why carry them out - right!?). Some of the many that have been bandied about since then include: a.) destroying the so-called India-Pakistan "peace process", perhaps igniting a war between the two nuclear neighbors as well, b.) putting the brakes on India's rapid economic growth, c.) sowing even further communal disharmony within India, d.) further weakening Pakistan's democratically elected government, e.) trying out terror strategies in India to be applied elsewhere, f.) replacing Al Qaeda as the numero uno Islamic terrorist group operating in the sub-con, etc. ,
The impact however on Indian society is what we need to be most concerned about.
1. Further communal divide is probably inevitable in the short term:
India should be most concerned about the potential for further divisions being created between Muslims and non-Muslims. There is already a fair degree of polarization primarily between Hindus and Muslims. There is a general perception among non-Muslims that, Muslims, as a community have until now reacted only halfheartedly to the cause of tackling religious extremism. While the presence of any truth in that perception is highly debatable , that the perception exists and won't be going away soon is itself is a major sticking point going ahead.
The Mumbai attacks will in the short term exacerbate this communal divide. All of this can only mean further marginalization of a large percentage of Indian Muslims from the mainstream. This is bad news for a community already suffering from a fair degree of alienation within India; both of the self-imposed kind, in their reticence to adopting modernity, as well as, of the discriminatory kind practiced by their biased countrymen.
A polarized society to some extent is also ideal in the eyes of rightwing nationalists and religious extremists including and especially folks like Narendra Modi, and hardline conservative Muslim organizations, in their quest for becoming prominent national players. Rightwing Hindu nationalists, not content with pogroms such as Gujarat 2002, have also been indulging in terrorism of their own kind purportedly in response to Islamic terrorism. Some commentators have called this vigilantism but as it still involves the murder of innocents - it's just plain terrorism according to me. Investigations by the Mumbai ATS (Anti-Terrorist Squad) recently unearthed that some recently unexplained bomb blasts, most notably Malegaon, were plotted by right-wing Hindus, and the participants included, among others, ex-Indian military personnel. These were previously blamed on Muslim organizations and/or the Interservices Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's notorious intelligence agency.
It also didn't help matters much when the ATS officer (Hemant Karkare) leading this investigation was scorned by rightwing Hindu parties for pursuing Hindu extremists, leading many Muslims to suspect a conspiracy behind his subsequent tragic killing along with those of two other police officers in a shootout early during the Mumbai terrorist attacks. That such absurd conspiracies can actually gain some credibility (expressed even at a governmental level - read A. R. Antulay) is a testimony to how little trust there exists in the impartiality of law and order enforcement in India.
2. Moderate Muslims will be more vocal:
These events and possible consequences have not escaped the notice of Indian Muslims as well. They have been hitherto silent - perhaps reluctant to voice their opinions denoucing extremism of all sorts, particularly the ones linked to Islam because of the reaction of very vocal loudmouth religious Muslim conservatives. Now is the opportunity to make themselves heard more clearly, as they are They're probably getting sicker by the day because of a.) the hijacking of their religion by brainwashed, mostly uneducated crazies around the world but particularly in India, and b.) the profiling and some discriminations they face in many places by virtue of their last names (analogous to the racial profiling and discriminations African Americans sometimes face in largely Caucasian i.e. white neighborhoods, and c.). the constant need for them to make a show of their patriotism and mainstream credentials. Expect more of them to speak out. The rise of the moderates will be crucial in averting direct confrontation between communities.
3. Elites just realized that they're just like the rest of us:
It is clear that elite Mumbaiites had believed themselves to be generally much safer when compared to the rest of the city/country, being dissociated from the bomb blasts ordinary Mumbaikars and Indian citizens as a whole had been subjected to all year. They probably thought they lived in a different country altogether. The Mumbai attacks may have changed that to some degree. The same elites who have remained largely silent and detached, are now at the forefront of social activism, loudly demanding better security and governance. While this new found awareness does reek of hypocrisy of sorts, it is critical to bringing about the necessary improvements in governance. That is because this group is highly influential, being either famous or rich or both. (The celebrity obsessed 24/7 news media outliets in India clearly lap up and continuously replay anything these guys say.) This may easily be one of the more positive fallouts of the Mumbai attacks. However, it remains to be seen if their new found political activism is shortlived or not.
4. Urban India - Middle class meltdown?:
The urban middle class however will continue to do what they have been doing all this while - trying to live quiet, decent lives in spite of being surrounded by increasing despair about the inability to control anything in their lives in any substantial fashion. As if they weren't suffering enough already because of poor governance, overcrowding of their cities, dismal infrastructure and facilities, rampant corruption at all levels, communalism, near-constant fear of war, current economic depression, etc. The fear now that they aren't even safe in their own homes will just make general stress levels go through the roof. Folks will start breaking down far more often. A new generation of children will grow up having watched those 3 days of continuous TV coverage of a horrific terrorist attack on their country/city. The impact this could have on their impressionable minds is impossible to predict.
How important national security is to the general populace will be more quantifiably determined from the results of the upcoming national elections due anytime soon. So far terrorist attacks have largely affected the urban populace. It's difficult to image the rural population being too concerned with problems faced by big cities, especially when these big city residents can hardly be bothered to vote, much less spare a thought for the problems faced by the rural folks, and when rural India is faced with several problems of its own and where development has been percolating extremely slowly.
5. Possible watershed event?
Terrorist attacks in Indian cities have become common place. But as is frequently the case with humanity in general, and Indian society in particular, things have to get a whole lot worse to actually get better. The Mumbai attacks may have just made things a whole lot worse - surpassing the high tolerance, resignation and fatalism levels of Indian society. Indian society reacted this time by demanding government accountability and wholesale changes with immediate effect. They got it too. In the long term, it is highly likely that among the several hundred million deeply affected by these attacks, there will be some who will soon be in a position to effect large-scale improvements. There will also be still others who will be goaded out of their apathy and will end up participating in the political process to improve their security.
Fear can end up being a pretty good motivator after all.
But ultimately, no one really knows. We can only wait and see. And hope that after all this, things may just get better.
The impact however on Indian society is what we need to be most concerned about.
1. Further communal divide is probably inevitable in the short term:
India should be most concerned about the potential for further divisions being created between Muslims and non-Muslims. There is already a fair degree of polarization primarily between Hindus and Muslims. There is a general perception among non-Muslims that, Muslims, as a community have until now reacted only halfheartedly to the cause of tackling religious extremism. While the presence of any truth in that perception is highly debatable , that the perception exists and won't be going away soon is itself is a major sticking point going ahead.
The Mumbai attacks will in the short term exacerbate this communal divide. All of this can only mean further marginalization of a large percentage of Indian Muslims from the mainstream. This is bad news for a community already suffering from a fair degree of alienation within India; both of the self-imposed kind, in their reticence to adopting modernity, as well as, of the discriminatory kind practiced by their biased countrymen.
A polarized society to some extent is also ideal in the eyes of rightwing nationalists and religious extremists including and especially folks like Narendra Modi, and hardline conservative Muslim organizations, in their quest for becoming prominent national players. Rightwing Hindu nationalists, not content with pogroms such as Gujarat 2002, have also been indulging in terrorism of their own kind purportedly in response to Islamic terrorism. Some commentators have called this vigilantism but as it still involves the murder of innocents - it's just plain terrorism according to me. Investigations by the Mumbai ATS (Anti-Terrorist Squad) recently unearthed that some recently unexplained bomb blasts, most notably Malegaon, were plotted by right-wing Hindus, and the participants included, among others, ex-Indian military personnel. These were previously blamed on Muslim organizations and/or the Interservices Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's notorious intelligence agency.
It also didn't help matters much when the ATS officer (Hemant Karkare) leading this investigation was scorned by rightwing Hindu parties for pursuing Hindu extremists, leading many Muslims to suspect a conspiracy behind his subsequent tragic killing along with those of two other police officers in a shootout early during the Mumbai terrorist attacks. That such absurd conspiracies can actually gain some credibility (expressed even at a governmental level - read A. R. Antulay) is a testimony to how little trust there exists in the impartiality of law and order enforcement in India.
2. Moderate Muslims will be more vocal:
These events and possible consequences have not escaped the notice of Indian Muslims as well. They have been hitherto silent - perhaps reluctant to voice their opinions denoucing extremism of all sorts, particularly the ones linked to Islam because of the reaction of very vocal loudmouth religious Muslim conservatives. Now is the opportunity to make themselves heard more clearly, as they are They're probably getting sicker by the day because of a.) the hijacking of their religion by brainwashed, mostly uneducated crazies around the world but particularly in India, and b.) the profiling and some discriminations they face in many places by virtue of their last names (analogous to the racial profiling and discriminations African Americans sometimes face in largely Caucasian i.e. white neighborhoods, and c.). the constant need for them to make a show of their patriotism and mainstream credentials. Expect more of them to speak out. The rise of the moderates will be crucial in averting direct confrontation between communities.
3. Elites just realized that they're just like the rest of us:
It is clear that elite Mumbaiites had believed themselves to be generally much safer when compared to the rest of the city/country, being dissociated from the bomb blasts ordinary Mumbaikars and Indian citizens as a whole had been subjected to all year. They probably thought they lived in a different country altogether. The Mumbai attacks may have changed that to some degree. The same elites who have remained largely silent and detached, are now at the forefront of social activism, loudly demanding better security and governance. While this new found awareness does reek of hypocrisy of sorts, it is critical to bringing about the necessary improvements in governance. That is because this group is highly influential, being either famous or rich or both. (The celebrity obsessed 24/7 news media outliets in India clearly lap up and continuously replay anything these guys say.) This may easily be one of the more positive fallouts of the Mumbai attacks. However, it remains to be seen if their new found political activism is shortlived or not.
4. Urban India - Middle class meltdown?:
The urban middle class however will continue to do what they have been doing all this while - trying to live quiet, decent lives in spite of being surrounded by increasing despair about the inability to control anything in their lives in any substantial fashion. As if they weren't suffering enough already because of poor governance, overcrowding of their cities, dismal infrastructure and facilities, rampant corruption at all levels, communalism, near-constant fear of war, current economic depression, etc. The fear now that they aren't even safe in their own homes will just make general stress levels go through the roof. Folks will start breaking down far more often. A new generation of children will grow up having watched those 3 days of continuous TV coverage of a horrific terrorist attack on their country/city. The impact this could have on their impressionable minds is impossible to predict.
How important national security is to the general populace will be more quantifiably determined from the results of the upcoming national elections due anytime soon. So far terrorist attacks have largely affected the urban populace. It's difficult to image the rural population being too concerned with problems faced by big cities, especially when these big city residents can hardly be bothered to vote, much less spare a thought for the problems faced by the rural folks, and when rural India is faced with several problems of its own and where development has been percolating extremely slowly.
5. Possible watershed event?
Terrorist attacks in Indian cities have become common place. But as is frequently the case with humanity in general, and Indian society in particular, things have to get a whole lot worse to actually get better. The Mumbai attacks may have just made things a whole lot worse - surpassing the high tolerance, resignation and fatalism levels of Indian society. Indian society reacted this time by demanding government accountability and wholesale changes with immediate effect. They got it too. In the long term, it is highly likely that among the several hundred million deeply affected by these attacks, there will be some who will soon be in a position to effect large-scale improvements. There will also be still others who will be goaded out of their apathy and will end up participating in the political process to improve their security.
Fear can end up being a pretty good motivator after all.
But ultimately, no one really knows. We can only wait and see. And hope that after all this, things may just get better.
Monday, December 29, 2008
What after Mumbai? Part I
The Mumbai attacks that began on November 26th have severely dented the confidence of Indians, as a country and a society, to continually better their overall quality of life (or existence - take your pick). A huge contributing factor in creating that dent is the increasing lack of trust among Indians in their government's will and ability in somehow bringing an end to the almost monthly terror attacks. There is a perception that major cities are being targeted on some kind of a rotation-policy basis and there seems to be nothing that anyone is doing or has been able to do about it all. The government has been feeling the heat from all quarters. They are being forced to act in improving security on all aspects, from internal policing to external threat assessments, from improving intelligence to prevent attacks even before they happen, to responding efficiently if and when they do to minimize loss to life and property. For now, it seems as if they've finally taken some positive steps in that direction, albeit steps that should have been taken five years ago.
But its also not unthinkable to believe that terrorists have made plans for what happens next and are perhaps poised somewhere, waiting to spring the next wave of attacks on an increasingly fearful populace. Or at least Indians fear as much now more than ever. The fallout of this new upgraded terror level on the country as a whole, starting or culminating with the Mumbai attacks depending on the perspective, will be tremendous.
Some economy related trends seem to be emerging and some others could perhaps be speculated. (Note: This is by no means a comprehensive list - it's primarily a first pass really.)
1. Paradigm shift towards protecting assets (Rise of security industry):
For one, big corporations based in India seem to be realizing that the economic boom of sorts that has been happening in India for the past decade or so could easily be derailed by security breaches such as Mumbai-November'08 and countless other less spectacular but as much or more devastating events that took place regularly in other Indian cities. Protection of their assets including their properties, loyal customers and most importantly their image and brands will now require a new security abstraction altogether. Failure of the government to provide this security cover has forced them to seek their own cover of sorts.
Large companies like the Tata group , the Bajaj group, the Reliance groups, and the IT companies, among several dozen others, will probably push for employing their own privately armed security guards at their installations, creating private armies of sorts with substantial weaponry and powers. There is also talk of the Tata group creating its own security and intelligence agency for securing its assets - a reaction based on its disillusionment of the systemic failures and shortcomings of the governmental agences in doing so. There is also talk of conducting much more comprehensive background checks on new and old employees to avoid hiring and employing terror-minded individuals secretly wanting to cause destruction to their employers. Expect to hear more of this sort of news in the near future. Already, there is speculation that the private security industry will grow tremendously in the coming months and years (Investors take note perhaps?). All this can only mean that a fundamental shift in the erstwhile naive and complacent approach by these companies towards security awareness and assest protection is under way - leading to the growth of new industry altogether.
2. Pullouts from India:
The continued failure to protect their installations may also mean that these corporations may resort to moving outside of India if necessary and wherever possible, especially if their security needs cannot be met adequately. This is a deal that any government of India cannot and will probably not accept without a fight however. The damage to India Inc. as the business community is broadly referred to as, from the Mumbai attacks will also impact the government of the day, who will have to bear those consequences along with the responsibility of allowing such an event to take place (and perhaps of prolonging it as well). Multinational companies will also reasses their plans in India - leading to, at the very least, a freezing of growth activities in the present. If the security situation worses, expect pullouts from them as well.
3. Economic Losses as potentially huge motivators for improvements in governance:
Losses to India Inc. would also mean loss of revenue to the government and the individuals within as well, which will hurt a lot more in the long term staring with at the ballot. Not to mention the severe loss of face, both nationally and internationally, in admitting to their inability to provide security to the rich and the influential, the common person being long excluded from that protection.It is thus entirely possible that market forces such as the situation described above will force the government to act and to be more and constantly vigilant as well.
4. Overall:
But the biggest economic consequence will arise from the denting of the confidence of the ordinary citizen. People may be fearful of their security and law and order situation in general, leading to an ultra-cautious approach with regards to money. Malls, movie houses, etc. will see fewer patrons because of the fear of terrorist attacks. Public transport will be relied upon much less for the same reasons leading to big losses in revenue. Tourism will be several affected in the short term - especially foreign tourism. With states like Rajasthan, Uttaranchal, and Kerala relying in no small amounts on internation tourism, expect several folks over there to be badly impacted by the slowdown in visitors. The lack of tourists is also a symptomatic of the general lack of confidence perhaps of the international community in being present and doing business with another country. For India, this could mean a lot less investments of foreign entities in the Indian market and economy.
People will in general go out less, buy less, travel less and feel less happy. Maybe people will end up buying more stuff online instead - the web based businesses are probably well placed for this situation. But it remains to be seen if Indians feel secure doing a whole lot of shopping with credit cards online. I know they're pretty queasy about it right now. Maybe that could change however.
So bad news for the economy in general. The government will have to show the will and produce results in reducing the security and law and order fears in the immediate future for this to not have as significant an impact to economic progress as is currenty feared.
Part II will be about socio-religious (if there is such a word) consequences of the Mumbai attacks.
But its also not unthinkable to believe that terrorists have made plans for what happens next and are perhaps poised somewhere, waiting to spring the next wave of attacks on an increasingly fearful populace. Or at least Indians fear as much now more than ever. The fallout of this new upgraded terror level on the country as a whole, starting or culminating with the Mumbai attacks depending on the perspective, will be tremendous.
Some economy related trends seem to be emerging and some others could perhaps be speculated. (Note: This is by no means a comprehensive list - it's primarily a first pass really.)
1. Paradigm shift towards protecting assets (Rise of security industry):
For one, big corporations based in India seem to be realizing that the economic boom of sorts that has been happening in India for the past decade or so could easily be derailed by security breaches such as Mumbai-November'08 and countless other less spectacular but as much or more devastating events that took place regularly in other Indian cities. Protection of their assets including their properties, loyal customers and most importantly their image and brands will now require a new security abstraction altogether. Failure of the government to provide this security cover has forced them to seek their own cover of sorts.
Large companies like the Tata group , the Bajaj group, the Reliance groups, and the IT companies, among several dozen others, will probably push for employing their own privately armed security guards at their installations, creating private armies of sorts with substantial weaponry and powers. There is also talk of the Tata group creating its own security and intelligence agency for securing its assets - a reaction based on its disillusionment of the systemic failures and shortcomings of the governmental agences in doing so. There is also talk of conducting much more comprehensive background checks on new and old employees to avoid hiring and employing terror-minded individuals secretly wanting to cause destruction to their employers. Expect to hear more of this sort of news in the near future. Already, there is speculation that the private security industry will grow tremendously in the coming months and years (Investors take note perhaps?). All this can only mean that a fundamental shift in the erstwhile naive and complacent approach by these companies towards security awareness and assest protection is under way - leading to the growth of new industry altogether.
2. Pullouts from India:
The continued failure to protect their installations may also mean that these corporations may resort to moving outside of India if necessary and wherever possible, especially if their security needs cannot be met adequately. This is a deal that any government of India cannot and will probably not accept without a fight however. The damage to India Inc. as the business community is broadly referred to as, from the Mumbai attacks will also impact the government of the day, who will have to bear those consequences along with the responsibility of allowing such an event to take place (and perhaps of prolonging it as well). Multinational companies will also reasses their plans in India - leading to, at the very least, a freezing of growth activities in the present. If the security situation worses, expect pullouts from them as well.
3. Economic Losses as potentially huge motivators for improvements in governance:
Losses to India Inc. would also mean loss of revenue to the government and the individuals within as well, which will hurt a lot more in the long term staring with at the ballot. Not to mention the severe loss of face, both nationally and internationally, in admitting to their inability to provide security to the rich and the influential, the common person being long excluded from that protection.It is thus entirely possible that market forces such as the situation described above will force the government to act and to be more and constantly vigilant as well.
4. Overall:
But the biggest economic consequence will arise from the denting of the confidence of the ordinary citizen. People may be fearful of their security and law and order situation in general, leading to an ultra-cautious approach with regards to money. Malls, movie houses, etc. will see fewer patrons because of the fear of terrorist attacks. Public transport will be relied upon much less for the same reasons leading to big losses in revenue. Tourism will be several affected in the short term - especially foreign tourism. With states like Rajasthan, Uttaranchal, and Kerala relying in no small amounts on internation tourism, expect several folks over there to be badly impacted by the slowdown in visitors. The lack of tourists is also a symptomatic of the general lack of confidence perhaps of the international community in being present and doing business with another country. For India, this could mean a lot less investments of foreign entities in the Indian market and economy.
People will in general go out less, buy less, travel less and feel less happy. Maybe people will end up buying more stuff online instead - the web based businesses are probably well placed for this situation. But it remains to be seen if Indians feel secure doing a whole lot of shopping with credit cards online. I know they're pretty queasy about it right now. Maybe that could change however.
So bad news for the economy in general. The government will have to show the will and produce results in reducing the security and law and order fears in the immediate future for this to not have as significant an impact to economic progress as is currenty feared.
Part II will be about socio-religious (if there is such a word) consequences of the Mumbai attacks.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Did the Indian media give away too much info to the bad guys? NDTV (India) responds
One of the many concerns voiced by several Indians ,who watched the almost 3 day attack on Mumbai, which began on Nov. 26th, 2008, was that the "too close to the action" live coverage of Indian news channels of the entire event may have communicated important information about the anti-terrorist operations conducted by the Indian military back to the terrorists. Live coverage of army operations against terrorists holed up in the Taj and the Trident (formerly Oberoi) hotels and the Nariman House apartment building in Mumbai, could have perhaps been a factor in the terrorists being able to successfully hold out against the Indian military for so long. The fact that the terrorists had Blackberrys and satellite phones supports this theory as well.
Now one of the Indian news channels, NDTV, has responded to these concerns via their senior correspondent/reporter Barkha Dutt.
Several statements stand out from her op-ed piece. Here's one:
Nevertheless, they provided the transparency that such things lacked in previous situations. One hopes that this transparency ensures that officialdom can no longer spin excuses in such situations. These channels, while frequently not reporting with any reasonable levels of journalistic integrity, are providing a medium for the disgruntled populace to express themselves, and ask tough questions, and for millions of others to hear them and sympathize with them, and wait, along with them for a response to those questions.
Now one of the Indian news channels, NDTV, has responded to these concerns via their senior correspondent/reporter Barkha Dutt.
Several statements stand out from her op-ed piece. Here's one:
"Please do note that at all times, the media respected the security cordon- a cordon that was determined by the police and officials on site- and NOT by the media. If, as is now being suggested, the assessment is that the media was allowed too close to the operations, here is what we say: we would have been happy to stand at a distance much further away from the encounter sites, had anyone, anyone at all, asked us to move. In the 72 hours that we stood on reporting duty, not once were we asked to move further away."It's clear that there really was no coordinated strategy on how to deal with media coverage between the various security agencies involved in the anit-terrorist operations. as she outlines in her piece:
"Across the world, and as happened in the US after 9/11, there are daily, centralized briefings by officials to avoid any inadvertent confusion that media coverage may throw up. Not so in Mumbai. There was no central point of contact or information for journalists who were often left to their own devices to hunt down news that they felt had to be conveyed to their country. No do's and don'ts were provided by officials."The op-ed piece also has a whole lot of self-congratulatory language in it as well - detailing how several important folks thanked NDTV in particular for their coverage of the whole event. I noticed the same in TV spots on the various other Indian news channels as well - congratulating or self-promoting themselves in some way or the other. Some of the accompanying stunts included: encouraging people to light candles (this is actually clever: the number of candles lit across the country would convey to that particular channel the proportion of people actually watching their channel - so much better than TRP ratings. Besides, lighting of candles is becoming off late a popular response to tragic events. This first began in response to the then fast-going-nowhere investigation on who killed Jessica Lal. The movie "Rang De Basanti", an Aamir Khan starrer earlier in 2006, may have provided the inspiration in the Lal case. I saw candles being lit in a few places across Mumbai), observing a minute of silence in respect, showing 30 second, 1 min and 2 min spots of clippings of the terror attack coverage with accompanying grim music and such, and various others.
Nevertheless, they provided the transparency that such things lacked in previous situations. One hopes that this transparency ensures that officialdom can no longer spin excuses in such situations. These channels, while frequently not reporting with any reasonable levels of journalistic integrity, are providing a medium for the disgruntled populace to express themselves, and ask tough questions, and for millions of others to hear them and sympathize with them, and wait, along with them for a response to those questions.
Monday, November 03, 2008
Rajdeep on Raj
(Link to Rajdeep Sardesai's open letter to Raj Thackeray: http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/rajdeepsardesai/1/52784/an-open-letter-to-raj-thackeray.html )
Comments: I guess being an expat Mumbaikar/Mumbai-ite would allow me to talk about Mumbai. Raj Thackeray's (he originally of the Shiv Sena founded by his uncle Bal Thackeray, and now the leader of the breakaway Maharasthra Navnirman Sena) anti-North Indian campaign has ignited a lot of mindless violence, reactions (both violent and non-violent), and several debates.
What's important to know though is that the latest Raj Thackeray-initiated melee is not necessarily unique or unprecedented. It has happened in Mumbai before - being, as it is, a regular feature of the Thackeray family/Shiv Sena strategy. The idea is to get enough Maharashtrians worked up about them somehow having ceded "control" of Mumbai away to non-Maharashtrians/outsiders and then voting for the Shiv Sena to take back control on their behalf thereby banishing all that which ails the city, the state and its people (which people?). Never mind that Mumbai is neither the heart of Maharashtra nor has it become what it is today solely because of Maharashtrians. Through the last 50 years and more, the Sena and their offshoots have gone about targeting Gujaratis, south Indians, Muslims and most recently north Indians as those aforementioned outsiders.
But the human drama that continues to unfold is not just the Thackeray's being up to their usual shenanigans. There's more to it. Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN-IBN in the above linked open letter to Raj isn't really informing Raj of something he wouldn't already know. But he's probably making an effort to also educate the Indian public on the political machinations/endgames taking place behind the scenes - most beyond Raj's control.
Rajdeep's piece also just reinforced the feeling that it seems to require a Maharashtrian (or several of them) of some stature to take an anti-Raj Thackeray stance in this matter, to make an impact. Never mind that those stances are few and far between; these days its the familiar, insecure, "yes (he's wrong), but (there's some validity to his point of view)" argument (Rajdeep being one of the few exceptions) that other prominent Maharashtrians have been spouting. They're just riding both directions of traffic on the political highway.
The sad/crazy aspect to all this is that - by Raj's (and by extension the larger Thackeray family) definition, with the tacit approval of the 'yes-but' arguers, a Mumbaikar who is not a Maharashtrian by last name, but was born, and has lived in Mumbai now for several decades is an "outsider" and a new born Maharashtrian baby in a remote corner of Maharashtra is an "insider". That is so convoluted that even Raj cannot obviously believe in it.
I pity those Maharashtrians and non-Maharashtrians who actually do believe it.
Comments: I guess being an expat Mumbaikar/Mumbai-ite would allow me to talk about Mumbai. Raj Thackeray's (he originally of the Shiv Sena founded by his uncle Bal Thackeray, and now the leader of the breakaway Maharasthra Navnirman Sena) anti-North Indian campaign has ignited a lot of mindless violence, reactions (both violent and non-violent), and several debates.
What's important to know though is that the latest Raj Thackeray-initiated melee is not necessarily unique or unprecedented. It has happened in Mumbai before - being, as it is, a regular feature of the Thackeray family/Shiv Sena strategy. The idea is to get enough Maharashtrians worked up about them somehow having ceded "control" of Mumbai away to non-Maharashtrians/outsiders and then voting for the Shiv Sena to take back control on their behalf thereby banishing all that which ails the city, the state and its people (which people?). Never mind that Mumbai is neither the heart of Maharashtra nor has it become what it is today solely because of Maharashtrians. Through the last 50 years and more, the Sena and their offshoots have gone about targeting Gujaratis, south Indians, Muslims and most recently north Indians as those aforementioned outsiders.
But the human drama that continues to unfold is not just the Thackeray's being up to their usual shenanigans. There's more to it. Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN-IBN in the above linked open letter to Raj isn't really informing Raj of something he wouldn't already know. But he's probably making an effort to also educate the Indian public on the political machinations/endgames taking place behind the scenes - most beyond Raj's control.
Rajdeep's piece also just reinforced the feeling that it seems to require a Maharashtrian (or several of them) of some stature to take an anti-Raj Thackeray stance in this matter, to make an impact. Never mind that those stances are few and far between; these days its the familiar, insecure, "yes (he's wrong), but (there's some validity to his point of view)" argument (Rajdeep being one of the few exceptions) that other prominent Maharashtrians have been spouting. They're just riding both directions of traffic on the political highway.
The sad/crazy aspect to all this is that - by Raj's (and by extension the larger Thackeray family) definition, with the tacit approval of the 'yes-but' arguers, a Mumbaikar who is not a Maharashtrian by last name, but was born, and has lived in Mumbai now for several decades is an "outsider" and a new born Maharashtrian baby in a remote corner of Maharashtra is an "insider". That is so convoluted that even Raj cannot obviously believe in it.
I pity those Maharashtrians and non-Maharashtrians who actually do believe it.
Monday, October 20, 2008
$4 - Part III
... And it's now down to $3.29 or lower. Dropping real fast. Gas is cheaper because demand is down. If its cheaper, people can fill up more now. Will demand stay down? Will prices keep dropping?
More importantly though, why do I care so much anyways? That is: besides feeling threatened by the fact that my reasons for my being all-uppity at those who didn't make fuel-efficiency considerations when purchasing their personal transportation options, is under some danger?
Ok, I sort of answered that rhetorically or something. I'd say that, while the "moral" high ground is still intact (for all its usual hypocritical worth, which is basically zero - plus it pisses off other people as well), its the economic high ground that is sort of lowered at the moment, i.e. no longer can I run around saying "Hah! Hah!" to those driving gas guzzlers.
Fear not though.
Why? Is it because I expect demand to go up again and hence the prices? Is it because I believe this is only a temporary dip in consumption?
No. Because I'll find several umpteen other reasons to feel all-uppity anyway. It's in my nature. It's what I do.
More importantly though, why do I care so much anyways? That is: besides feeling threatened by the fact that my reasons for my being all-uppity at those who didn't make fuel-efficiency considerations when purchasing their personal transportation options, is under some danger?
Ok, I sort of answered that rhetorically or something. I'd say that, while the "moral" high ground is still intact (for all its usual hypocritical worth, which is basically zero - plus it pisses off other people as well), its the economic high ground that is sort of lowered at the moment, i.e. no longer can I run around saying "Hah! Hah!" to those driving gas guzzlers.
Fear not though.
Why? Is it because I expect demand to go up again and hence the prices? Is it because I believe this is only a temporary dip in consumption?
No. Because I'll find several umpteen other reasons to feel all-uppity anyway. It's in my nature. It's what I do.
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