Is The Idea Of Having Intelligent Rulers An Anachronism in Indian Democracy?

A friend of mine narrated a recent experience of his on a private long distance transport bus-he had booked a ticket to travel from Chennai to Tiruchi overnight; when he went and occupied his allotted seat he was informed by the conductor his ticket had been changed to a later time, as a well heeled party had booked up half the seats .All single passengers had been changed to a later time: without informing anybody at all. My friend protested to no avail, as the management was not inclined to offend the well-connected party. Sadder but wiser from the experience; my friend travels in government buses only nowadays. The conductor who gets a fixed salary does not care who gets what seat as long as he is not disturbed – a perfect example of the unexpected efficiency of a govt. department. Which goes to show that many private firms in India far from being efficient and responsive to customers are actually only interested in making exorbitant profits even to such an extent that they are willing to risk alienating the majority of customers for pampering a preferred few. So much for the efficiency of free-market reforms in India.

The reason for this post is the number of editorials and opinion pieces on newspapers and television lambasting the recent influx of middle class and educated persons into politics professing to serve the nation. They would rather perpetuate the myth that someone who worked as a manual laborer with no education would make a better leader- the salt of the earth- then anyone who drifted into school to learn the basics of R & R. I agree that electing leaders who have come up the hard way is the right way to follow. But is it wrong to expect a minimal level of intelligence (note: I am not equating education with intelligence after watching the performance of economists in power) in someone who aspires to lead a nation of billions? That why I feel that the experiment of the newly elected delhi government is going to mark a very big change – we are going to see first hand whether we can cajole people along (as a mob) on governance or we only follow orders given from the very top. 

Historically we Indians have not been known to do things of their own initiative but always respect and follow a firm guiding hand. And a democratically elected govt. dependant on votes is in the least capable position to enforce the required discipline strictly. To do so otherwise requires tact which unfortunately is a vice very few Indians profess to practice. So in this, as in most things we get by with neither offending anyone nor getting anything done- in other words status quo. What we require is guidance and not too gently either. We Indians love to be bossed around, to be put in our place, to be shown our limits and the punishment for transgressing them. There is something in our psyche, which makes the majority of us the best followers, and the worst leaders in the world. Gandhi had just to pick up a stick and walk and all India followed him regardless of the punishment to do so. But it required a Gandhi to take the first step and such men are not always available to us. Instead we elevate straw men up to positions of power and outrage endlessly when they are blown away like the chaff they are.

The only practical defense our leaders offer on their behalf is the “I am not responsible it’s the system” excuse. And we always, always find and blame a scapegoat- especially someone who risks making the first move. We always wait for that someone to be shoved in front of us so as to escape the consequences of our action on the principle that he who stands in front is the first to be beheaded. This makes for an interesting scene - everybody jostles the others to come up in front of the rat race but once there they instead of enjoying the fruits of their success are suddenly filled with an acute sense of dread and insecurity which makes them behave in ways they would normally never do. An apt illustration of the phrase “success gone to the head” only here that very success makes them fear for their head. And to retain their success they trample underfoot everyone they used to climb up there. That’s the reality of our waited-for leadership whom everyone believes will make a great change to our polity.

There is another election coming up soon- an election which will decide the fate of the nation- or so they say every five years but I still have to find that it makes any real change to our everyday struggles in life. Every year without fail they show in the papers one pathetic photo of democracy- a centurion on a bed being carried by exuberantly drunken youths to the polling booth. Pause for a minute and think: is it humanely possible for such old fossils to comprehend the basis on which that election was being fought, disspationately analyse the candidates and then make an informed decision? So who ends up voting on their behalf? And they celebrate this as a success for democracy. Ill-informed voters are the bane of a nation. The only solution to this problem is suspension of universal voting rights. And confine voting to the educated and the intelligent. Atleast until the rest catch up.

A nation's strength is reflected in her choice of leaders. Universal suffrage trips us up badly in this regard. A roster of our national leaders the past fifty years ought to convince anybody of this. A single-term Abdul Kalam showed us what a refreshing change it is when an educated man is appointed to the post of the President of the nation and not merely timeservers and political advisers rewarded the post of President, as had been the unwritten norm of our democratic dispensation. There is a palpable sense of relief when the leader of the nation does not trip over his own two feet every time he gets up or sleeps (snores) during public meetings. And we don’t have to cringe collectively every time a foreign leader meets our leaders for a courtesy call, or worry about India’s prestige abroad. So why not go the whole hog and elect a collective of educated elders? Toss in a few names you know and respect and a few I know and respect and together we ought to have a collegium of intellectuals fit enough to rule over us. And forget this nightmare of a system called democracy, which has made election of the most despicable a daily occurrence. Surely we can’t get anything worse than the current lot sitting lording over us in Parliament can we? 

As for fears of oligarchy the greatest civilizations like the Greeks and the Romans and in India, the Chola’s were primarily oligarchic and they advanced both democracy and civilization far more than we ever hope to do. Collective rule by enlightened elders is what we face daily at home; if it works there why not nationally? The prime opposition to this idea will arise from our Dynastic families as the threatened loss of their off-springs collective inheritance will make them fight like nesting mothers for ‘status quo’ for where else will their patently useless offspring get a living if not under the spreading banner of dynastic succession in the pleasant grove of Indian democracy.

And finally for those media persons who have taken on the mantle of our nations conscience keepers – a viler breed you would not find anywhere else.  They and the shady capitalists who own these media conglomerates require a well directed kick up their backsides to keep moving in the right direction or they would parcel up and sell the country in a blink to retire in Switzerland. A council of elders elected by the educated and intelligent is the one of the most interesting solutions to India’s ills in my view – something which might fail but won’t leave us worse off than we already are as a nation. Or of course we can always have martial law.

               

          

India Is Free- Are Indians?

India Is Free- Are Indians?

There have been  a few intriguing developments recently which were not much debated in the mass media which true to its name prefers to focus on  events of mass interest like Shahrukh khan hugging Salman khan. The first news of interest to us ordinary citizens was the courts striking down a provision of the representation of people's act - the election law of India- which allowed any politician convicted of any offense to continue in power till all his appeals are exhausted and final judgment comes in - which given the deplorable staffing and amount of workload of our judiciary means just one thing- indefinitely.

This new judgment turns the tables and puts the responsibility on the politician himself- till he is proved innocent he cannot continue in office. So the politicians will no longer be able to dodge the case and would in fact be forced to try and get it finished as fast as possible. All things being equal this is quite an achievement for Indian democracy given that our politicians no longer respect the international convention of taking moral responsibility and resigning office. When they prefer to brave all insults and damaging revelations just to stick on like limpets to power it takes a law like this to dislodge them and show them their limits.

The second recent development neglected by the mass media is the decision of allowing all political parties accounts to be scrutinized under the Right to Information Act. This has sent shivers down the spines of our brave politicians and they are busy trying to frame a new law which gives them and only them- exemption from the RTI act.

If the accounts of all the political parties were available in public, every individual can see for themselves how little the legitimate party funds are and how much the parties spend on elections and calculate the difference amount which is obtained by extorting and doing favors to corporates and criminals. The veil would be torn permanently from the coffers of the political parties and they would be exposed with their hands full of loot. Hence the urgent need to remove this ruling and cover themselves up. Let’s expect soon a midnight ordinance to outlaw the RTI commission's brave act.

The final news which has caught the attention of the nation is the suspension of the Uttar Pradesh IAS officer Durga for taking on the land mafia boldly. This fast developing issue has been politicized with politicians of all parties and vested interests jumping into the fray to act as pseudo-guardians of propriety. Last heard of, this has even been turned into a states vs central issue of autonomy in a bid to defend the indefensible. And a blogger who commented on this issue was even arrested by the state government for criticizing their action (read here) - which is what i am doing too

I agree that the center should not interfere too much in state bureaucratic decisions but when the state government is blatantly in the wrong it is the duty of the center to help out the wronged officer. But as always in India, there are multiple angles to any issue and the fact that the center was ready to rush in to help in this particular case smacks of  some sort of inner war between two political parties ruling the state and center and not a transparent attempt to protect an honest bureaucrat from unfair suspension.

               

As yet again another independence day nears, if we take a critical look at the state of the nation we find that of the three pillars of the Constitution left to us by the founding fathers, the one in the most robust health still is the Judiciary. This I would attribute primarily to the safeguards built into the constitution to protect it from legislative control, guaranteeing its independent status. Unfortunately our Constitution drafting committee neglected to similarly protect the independent nature of the Executive branch- subordinating it to the legislators, an illiberal, illiterate, gang of self-servers, who believe in the divinity of a majority.

Our founding fathers are not really to blame for this apathetic situation and they can only be guilty of not anticipating the direction our politics would evolve. For consider this when the constitution was drafted, the first parliament and politics in general was mostly dominated by educated persons - scholars, lawyers, teachers and engineers. Dr.Ambedkar wouldn’t have dreamt in his worst nightmare that a parliament would be elected comprised of the current lot of politicians.

Besides the Indian Civil Service then was staffed with upright honest officers who held a diverse nation together for the first time in its history as one whole. Credit must definitely be given to the British for this, for though conquerors from Asoka to Aurangzeb had tried to unite India before; it was only the British Bureaucratic system, the impartial Indian Imperial Service that welded the country together. But they were hit hard by Independent India, forced to serve rulers who had not the faintest grasp of issues and what’s more didn’t care as long as they and their partisan supporters were on the gravy train.

Picture this – a chief secretary of maybe 58 years, with a 30 years long experience of serving the people, knowing the ins and outs of running an efficient administration being humiliated and forced to obey every rag tag local politician who has won by the support of lumpen elements of his locality and is made a cabinet minister because of coalition compulsions. Consider the insult to the intelligence of this fine breed of officers who are reduced to merely typing out the arbitrary (and often illegal) orders of politicians and implementing them in their own names at the risk of refusing and being transferred suddenly (overnight) to the ends of the country- to please every neophyte leader, a scion of some dynasty or other.

And why wouldn’t the country go to dogs if we de-motivate the entire administrative apparatus? They are the ones in fact who serve as a bridge between the public and government. As such it becomes vitally necessary to isolate the executive from the whims and fancies of the goondas who are our ruling class. The solution lies in Administrative Independence of the Executive.

If the legislators are supposedly elected by the will of the people- warts and all, let them sit in Parliament and legislate. Let nobody interfere in the day-to-day administrations and we’ll see a definite change for the better in how the nation is governed. If each branch of the government sticks to its own duty- parliament to make laws, executive to implement laws and judiciary- to interpret laws then the nation as a whole would run smoothly. If parliament alone has the power to terrorize the other branches of government with transfers and punishment - then we would only have dictatorship of politicians- an oligarchy in fact.

But all this is of academic interest only- we know by now that politicians will never give up an inch of their power voluntarily as evidenced by the numerous judgments ruling for autonomy of the CBI which have been routinely disregarded by governments in charge which prefer to use the police for their personal vendettas rather than as a crime fighting organization.

As they say- the more things change the more they remain the same. India can grow older and older as a free country for India has got freedom but not Indians. Ask any Indian on the street if he is completely free and you will hear the truth.  I am tempted to echo the Tamil poet Bharathiar's song here - a lament which goes like - Endru thaniyum engal sudandira dhagam or  when will our thirst for freedom be quenched?  Will it ever be?                                                                                                                                   

The Italian Marines And India’s Laughing Stock.

The Italian Marines And India’s Laughing Stock.

 

There is a popular saying in international law which goes like “International law is the vanishing point of jurisprudence”. To those of us who are not familiar with such legalese it translates into normal English as international law is where the law actually disappears. A law gets its power, its majesty from sanction or the power to enforce it. Do anything lese majesty, insult the law and you are apt to get a boot on your neck in the middle of the night and get hauled off on your ass to be locked-up. But in international law countries routinely cock-a-snook at the given law and get away with it. There is no fear of the law because there is no certainty of punishment. Any country can and does anything and there is nothing no one can do about it. Case in point- the Italian marines who merrily skipped bail and have made our entire India a laughing stock internationally. By now the whole world is laughing at us and people are watching what we will do, what India can actually do as a nation instead of just listening to the mumbled threats of our in-effectual prime minster. This is a make or break point for India’s prestige internationally.

For those who haven’t been following the news, the facts are these. At the height of the piracy scare, a couple of years ago, when the Italian ship Enrico Lexie was off the Indian coast and in Indian waters [inside India’s territorial waters – any act done is considered as done on Indian soil- that is INDIAN SEA IS INDIAN LAND as per Geneva Convention Of The Sea] the sailors on board the Italian ship shot and killed two Indian fishermen claiming they were pirates. The Italian sailors were arrested and tried by the Kerala court, but on pressure from the Italian government to the Indian government the cases were transferred to the Supreme Court of India where the cases are still going on. And then by the power of the Italian governments lobbying the Italian sailors who were in Tihar jail were allowed to go back to Italy to vote for their election, on a bail of a few weeks. Now the latest news is the Italians have jumped bail and the Italian government has refused to send them back to India.

This is shocking to say the least, this absolute perfidy, this volte-face by Italy which had previously swore good conduct for its sailors, standing guarantee to send them back to India at the end of their bail period. Now Italy, the country has broken its word. What a shame. This shame of the Italians in breaking their words is compounded by their complaining that they had asked for arbitration but India had refused saying the matter was in the courts (sub judice) and let’s wait for the court to pronounce judgment on the sailors in due process of law and then we will decide whether we need to compromise or not. But by this very act of running away instead of staying for the trial the Italians have confirmed that they are guilty. And by supporting their action the Italian government has absolutely disgraced itself. For now on if someone breaks their word after promising something then we can say that they have done an Italy. The new phrase for an Oath-breaker will be an Italian.

So what can India do now? India can complain to the United Nations Organization. There are a lot of people who say that the UNO is toothless because it has failed to prevent American wars of adventurism. For those UN- bashers let me ask one thing. Has there been a third world war? And did I somehow miss it? Hasn’t happened, right? The last world war was almost a century ago, before the UNO was formed. After we got the UNO it has somehow blundered its way into doing its primary job- preventing another all-out world war which alone makes the UNO a success in my view. For the rest it cannot be held responsible for the acts of the superpowers when it has no army of its own to back up its diplomacy.

India on the other hand is a nation which has an army, a powerful army, navy and air force to back up its diplomacy. But what use is the army when there is a totally inept government and an apathetic people. In any other country, imagine America , if such a grave insult happened to their country they would be stoning Italian restaurants and renaming pasta as parotta (remember how the French fries were renamed as freedom fries in America when there was a public spat between the USA and France?). Here we don’t care, we don’t care about our country and we don’t care about its prestige. Our patriotism is very narrow. It extends only to our cast, our religion, our country as a whole and not to the nation. That is why Maldives can tear up contracts by Indian companies, why Sri Lanka can do genocide on our borders, why the Chi-coms of China continue to execute hapless Tibetan monks daily and Bangladesh supports insurgents against India even after getting Indian aid. Not to mention the Pakistanis who behead Indians at every opportunity they get. 

And the reason for this is in my opinion the lack of legitimacy of the present ruling dispensation where governance has been outsourced to a clique and the party merely presides. Before you accuse me of not being patriotic at this critical juncture let me clarify that my allegiance is to the Nation, the country of India as a true Indian and not to the government which survives by vote-cobbling in parliament. The state lives on forever, governments come and go. When we say we are true Indians, it means we support the nation not the Congress party or the Bharatiya Janata party or any other political party. The nation has to count for something if we are not to hang our heads in shame. Our nation has to stand up for itself despite inept governments and prove itself internationally to prevent becoming the joke of the world. Its time India grew some teeth to support its tongue. It’s time we showed the Italians and the world that India is a country not to be trifled with. But will we? I desperately hope so.

P.S. I must confess that I am not an expert on international law, but have picked up a few odds and ends from the dinner table conversation, sitting with a bunch of lawyers at home. My knowledge of law may be borrowed but the sentiments expressed above are my own.

The Next Superpower: The Dragon or the Elephant.....

Disclaimer: I am not a closet-communist nor a am I Chinese admirer- just to make things clear before hyper-jingoistic media and assorted intelligence agencies who might pick up an interest in me. One piece of advice-don’t waste your time.

The reason I am writing this post is because of the frequent laudatory headlines in the super-power obsessed media which state emphatically from all possible forums that India is a emerging super-power and just one step away from achieving it and China has a real competitor to it...

We have just had another series of Bomb blasts all over Mumbai and frankly i dont remember the last time I read in a newspaper or on the net or heard on the TV- that there was any kind of terror attacks in china- with the state - owned media, it might be true that the Chicoms might have micro-managed stuff, editing out unsavoury details, but i would find it incredibly surprising if they can cover up any terror attacks that easily in this connected world.

Unlike India - where we have started to accept as de-rigeur that our lives are never safe and if we step out of our homes, there is a very real possibility that we might not return.

Ok, Leave aside security. Lets talk about the Economy, stupid...(borrowing from the more famous Clinton.) There's a lot of stuff floating around the 'net about how China's growth is all a bubble about to burst any day. But frankly, they have survived the Global financial meltdown far better than critics give them credit for and they have built impressive infrastructure all over the country to show for it. The dragon woke up a long time ago and has been running ever since.

On the other hand, Indian economists have been boasting about having 8-percent growth over the last few years...up from the slow and steady Hindu rate of growth of 4%- we maintained over the past several decades. But stop and ask the man on the street and i am sure that he will say that comparitively he is worse off than before- ever since the robber-baron era began (in the late 90's) under the cover of liberalization of the economy. This is not true laissez-faire capitalism...this is CRONY Capitalism- like any that followed in any Banana Republic of central America.

The entire Indian growth story is based on either outsourcing contracts or shady financial transactions (for re-routing black money)- there is no credible manufacturing story here- to sustain the economy in the face of sudden capital flight.....Tirupur which used to be the tailoring capital of the world is now a ghost-town. If there comes a time, when the global financial markets demand : Show me the Money- I believe we would just show them a empty wallet. And the property market is so overheated all over India- its just a matter of time before a meltdown occurs.

And what about all those grandiose scientific successes we keep hearing about? The Chi-coms have just run a bullet rain at 300kmph speed. In India there's not a week which goes by without a train accident happening . And a minister who sulks at being appointed to the Railway (a minor) portfolio and refuses to visit accident sites? and we are planning to land a man on the moon? Dont make me laugh...let us first guarantee that every rail passenger survives his journey.

Finally Governance.....We boast about our much vaunted democracy and rule of the people- and daily we see how democracy fails us, due to men of straw occupying all the higher posts. we have a Prime Minister who is so desperate to survive in power - he sanctioned wholesale looting by his ministers. We have a heir-apparent Princeling who gads about the country speaking how much he hates nepotism and dynastism and not-at-all tongue-in-cheek..the poor sod actually believes he got where he is by merit?

and the less said about the principal opposition party the better. There is an incumbent PM-in-Waiting- who has been waiting so long to get it- that even if Yama were to appear before him- he would refuse to go without having sat on that chair at least for one day. And there entire policy is a mix of medieval obscurantism and mindless hatred of others- a sure recipe for disaster in this modern world.

I am not saying that China does not have corruption...but dont they publicly hang the corrupt over there? And when will we start doing it? that ought to put a little dent in the wholesale looting of the country

Finally, i would just like to add that even Pakistan, a nation that is 1/10th the size of India holds us in contempt and does pretty much what it pleases - while we go about the globe trying to drum up support for a seat on the Security council. Can any country try it with China? They do deserve that seat there, while India, until it puts its own house in order, does not.

And the biggest joke is we have named China as enemy-no.1...pleaase...they would beat us with their hands tied back...forget their superior conventional forces, all those upgraded military bases in Tibet and the long range missiles they have pointed at us...Can the Indian Prime Minster ever order a nuclear strike against a Chinese city (even as a counter strike- to follow up on a Chinese first strike?) I am sure that the Chinese would strike with impunity, given Indias' stupid no-first-use-policy (the weak posturing of a frightened kid) and then wait for the world, the US and Japan to tie up India's hands with diplomatic overture's. And we can be sure that our PM would demonstrate India's moral superiority by forgoing the nuclear option- even if millions of Indians die in a nuclear holocaust.

Should'nt there be a rule that every PM-in waiting be asked before swearing-in if he is comfortable with ordering a nuclear strike in the event of all-out -war?

These are just a sample of issues which go through my mind when I read stuff comparing about how the Elephant is catching up with the Dragon....Hell, you got a a long way to go you lumbering mammal......

My Weight Loss Secret- Revealed at last

Many people have over the past 3 years repeatedly questioned me about my amazing transformation from fat to fit- losing over 33 Kilos in a little over a year. And acieving enough cardio-vascular fitness that I'm now a regular at long distance sports meets and marathons....

Now, For the first time ever, (on National Television) I am going to Share the secret of my weight loss....So hold on - here it comes.....Its called, Ladies and Gentlemen....WILLPOWER...

Yes, you heard it right.. I lost all that weight with my mind...Of course, dieting helped and so did exercise- but first and foremost you really have to make up your own mind- accept that you are fat (when you look in the mirror) and avoid trying to find excuses - saying fat people do lead happy lives...take it from me, they dont.

I've been through it all - Binge-eating, serial dieting, blaming others...everything - before I found the courage to accept that it was I who was responsible and I Have to change..

Late at night, when everyone's asleep and you cant go to sleep with hunger pangs - because you are on a calorie-restriction diet...thats when your mind and will-power really need to be strong.

You give in to temptation and something tastes so good that you help yourself liberally to it and feel sick about it later - know you have gained back a few kilos that you reduced just last week....thats when you have to be strong, refuse to give into depression and go back to a starvation-diet till you get back to where you dropped off the wagon...Willpower helps.

So - the secret to weight loss is a strong mind and living like a monk avoiding all temptations as acts off the devil.....I've been on the fast-track path to sainthood for the past three years....

And of course, starvation helps. F**K those doctors/nutritionists and all those diet-advocates...just drink water and restrict yourself to just one meal a day..see how fast you slim down- and you wont die that easy - you are a product of 5 million years of evolution - your body was made to starve....and you'll lose weight even when you sleep.

So, drink water, plenty of water whenever you feel hungry...And be strong...

Good luck, with your weight loss.....