Tagged: india

Looking glass


The India Today [[http://www.indiatoday.com/itoday/20051226/|30th Anniversary]] edition is a true collector’s edition. Its as good an account of contemporary Indian history as any. Besides, Rs. 20 for 384 pages of good reading material is a good deal any day!

I really enjoyed reading this issue for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I don’t follow Indian politics very actively and I’ve never really had a good grasp of how the Indian political scenario evolved in the post-independence era. This issue had a three year concise summary for each year — the highs, the lows, the oomphs, the oops — covering everything from sports to politics. So after this whirlwhind tour of the last 30 years, I atleast had some vaguely consistent picture of what has been going on in the country. For one thing, it made me feel much less guilty for not having a strong opinion (in favor) of any of the politic parties in India.

The second reason why this issue struck a chord with me was that it was a glimpse into the past. A sort of looking glass. So much has happened that we soon forget. And while its not good to live in the past, its not good to forget it altogether either. Reading the issue brought back floods of memories of things I had heard but not understood, seen but not felt. And though none of these events personally affected me, I still somehow felt connected — be it the bhopal gas tragedy, or the Godhra massacre, or the tsunami or the earthquake(s), the demolition of the Babri masjid, the emergency and so on. I just felt that I understood a little more, absorbed a little more of India.

Of course then there was the ego boosting factor: its always good to look at your achievements over 30 years if you pile them up all together. I was inspired by what India had achieved in cinema, in economic terms, in sports, in fashion, in literature etc. The issue had sections on “Living Legends” and “Turning 30″ (some newsmakes who were born in 1975) which made for a very good read — and there were plenty of names in there that I had never even heard before.

Last, but the funniest, was this sarcastic “Whammy Awards” section done by Dilib Bobb that was just hilarious. Here’s a teaser: Manmohan Singh won the “Best Supporting Actor” award, Lalu won the “Milk the Cow” award and Jaya Lalitha won the “Amma Dekh” award. A must read.

Udai


Recently I’ve been involved with a campus organization called [[http://udai.org|Udai]] — we are just a group of students trying to help out India in small little ways. You can find more about us on the web site. While I do want to get involved in more substantial ways, currently my only contribution is maintaining and hosting Udai’s website.

Saurabh recently visited Jagruthi, a small NGO in Bangalore, for whom we recently did a fund raiser back in San Diego. He has written a small article on his experience, which can be [[http://floatingsun.net/udai/node/30|found here]].

The website is still under contstruction and will probably always remain so :-) But so long as it serves the purpose and can attract some more people interested in this kind of work, I’m ok with it.

The new vanguards of Indian democracy


My India trip was a little more than 3 weeks, yet in such a short span, I witnessed the new-found power of the Indian media in almost as many sting operations.

First, there was [[http://aajtak.com|Aaj Tak]] with [[http://www.cobrapost.com/documents/one.htm|Operation Duryodhan]] in collaboration with Cobrapost, which showed 11 MPs taking money for **doing their job** (raising questions in the parliament). Then, there was [[http://starnews.indya.com|Star News]] with [[http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=60199|Operation Chakravyuh]], capturing 6 MPs taking bribes in the MPLADs scheme on camera. Apart from these two, there are several other small operations and event coverages which are not as high profile, yet still significant (the MCD debacle in Delhi, the Operation Majnu by Meerut Police etc)

While these exposes ruffled the political parties in the short term, in the long term probably a majority of these corrupt MPs will get away. However, such operations have several stronger, positive long term impacts. Firstly, they explicize what is common knowledge. By putting the picture in front of everyone to see, they give the common man more power, more confidence to stand up to corruption. Secondly, they sow the seeds of fear in corrupt ministers. Next time I run into a public servant taking money to do his job, I’m doing to have some fun with him by announcing that I’m recording everything on my cell phone and transmitting it live to the news channels.

It gives me a good feeling so see the Indian news channels pursuing news so aggressively. Perhaps eventually the news channels themselves will bend over under political pressure (as has been so often seen in the United States), but atleast right now, it seems that news channels are having the crooks run for their money. No matter how small the matter is, in the remotest corner of the country, someone is covering it. And once the ball gets rolling, everyone jumps on board with lightning speed. Be it the shocking rape case on the Pushpak express, or the firings in IISc, the news channels were on top of the news within a matter of minutes.

Such sting operations are not new. Perhaps the first really popular one in recent times was the [[http://www.rediff.com/news/defscan.htm|Great Indian Defense Scandal]] exposed by Tehelka. There might have been others earlier, I’m not sure. However, such covert operations are becoming easier and more popular today because of the reach of the Indian media, the large number of young, energetic reporters willing to take such risks, the shrinking size of hidden cameras and the public interest in such issues.

So next time you find yourself giving a bribe, stop for a moment and think if you can avoid it. Put up a fight, make a scene, give a call to Star News or Aaj Tak, and carry your camera cell phone with you!

Independence Day


Long live India. Vande Matram. Jai Hind.

* [[http://us.rediff.com/news/2005/aug/15speech.htm|Transcript of Prime Minister's address]]
* [[http://us.rediff.com/news/2005/aug/14prez.htm|Transcript of President's address]]

Independence Day


4th of July is coming up. What does Independence Day translate to a typical American citizen?

I haven’t been here for so long, but here’s what my perception is based upon my short stay here so far. For most Americans, its like a long weekend when you sit back and relax. Fathers take their sons out for camping. There are nice parades in towns, small and big and all the people come out and spend their afternoons in the city square. You see a lot of people wearing the US flag on their shirt/blouse labels. In general, it gives out a nice feel, and even though everyone doesn’t say out loud explicitly that they are celebrating their Independence, I do get the general feel that people are aware that it IS their independence that they are celebrating and not just another long weekend.

I’ve been lucky enough to stay in Indonesia long enough to get some idea of their idea of Independence Day celebrations. Infact, I’ve seen what Independence Day means to people living in the country side, suburbs, villages and such; which I feel is the true reflection of the reality — at times cities are like mirrors of the outside world (the US for example) and don’t really tell you the truth. So coming back to Indonesia, I was really impressed by their celebrations. They treat Independence Day the same way most North Indians treat Diwali. There is exuberance in the air, everyone starts getting worked up a month in advance. People clean their houses, they clean their streets; and believe it or not, they even clean their drains themselves if need be. Every house, every street is lined up with their flag. I don’t know how much of this is due to Indonesia’s communist history, but whatever the reason, it really warmed up my heart to see their attitude towards is. In the evening, there is some cultural programme with fire crackers etc. I mean its really really nice.

And how about us? What does Independence day mean for the Indians? For that matter, what does our National Anthem mean to us? does it mean anything at all? People’s definition of what “adequate” respect to the flag, to the country, to the anthem etc may differ, but I for one think that we’re lagging far far behind in that national spirit. Since we were little kids, our parents had always encouraged me and my sister to stand up whenver the National Anthem was playing on TV or some place else. As a result, the idea that someone would *not* stand up for the National Anthem itself was absolutely unthinkable to me.

Until I joined a hostel (in 10th grade) — it was a summer afternoon and everyone was watching a cricket match on the mess TV. As is usual, this ad with the National Anthem came up in one of the breaks, and out of pure instinct I immediately stood up. After a few seconds of utter quiet, I realized that everyone in the room was sitting down and just laughing their hearts out at me. I was embarassed, I felt ashamed, I felt like a “ganwar”… it was as if I didn’t know the rules of civilized society, and I had committed some crime.

Since then, I’ve always been confused. Sometimes to be a part of the crowd, I deliberate ignore and supress my “nationalist” feelings if one could say so. This attitude was even more prominent among the students at IIT. On each Republic day and Independence Day, we used to have a flag hoisting ceremony in each of the hostels and also in the main stadium. My first I spent sleeping off and got up at my usual time as if it was just another day.

But I kept feeling bad about it all through the year and the thought came coming back to me that could I not get up early just a few days in the year to be part of the flag hoisting atleast? I finally managed to pull myself into the flag hoisting (though I went without a bath all times) from my 3rd year onwards, and I was absolutely shocked at the sight. There were all these little school kids (which reminds me a lot of my early school days), there were a whole bunch of the faculty. Of the 5000 student population of IIT Kanpur, however, there were a meagre 50 or so who turned up. I was really appalled, and though I didn’t actively do anything about it (having been guilty of the same crime myself many times earlier) I did drag Nakul and some other friends the next year around. Somehow it felt nice after seeing the flag hoisting. What does India mean to us? I wonder.