The Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society

If you think carefully, Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society is aptly named. It is really a ‘model’ society and a perfect example of how politicians, bureaucrats and even army generals have ‘cooperated’ to find a nice sea facing home for themselves in Colaba in Mumbai. This is a dream alliance between these worthies, brazenly grabbing public property and constructing a 100 ft, 30 story building, which somehow no one noticed, while under construction. The builders managed to get all permissions from the authorities including the coastal zone authorities, naval authorities, local Mumbai municipal authorities and the state government, without anyone even raising their eyebrows. The building merrily came up, while one assumes assorted army generals, naval admirals, state government ministers and civil servants eagerly waited to move into their new apartments. Anyone who has ever tried to build a small extension to his legitimate home in Delhi or Mumbai, would be able to fully understand the magnitude of the task so deftly accomplished by the members of the Adarsh Housing Society.

Why should we be ashamed and perhaps alarmed at this blatant attempt at grabbing prime property in Mumbai. After all, we recently had the spectacle of Suresh Kalmadi and his gang along with the Delhi government authorities siphoning off billions, while organising the Common Wealth Games in Delhi, everyone knows that the real estate sector in India is perhaps the most corrupt and various bahubalis regularly grab land and buildings all over UP and Bihar, almost on a daily basis.

Well here are my reasons.

Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society involves politicians of all hues. Thus there are Shiv Sainiks, who were apparently in power in Mumbai, when the ball started rolling and then there are the Congressmen, the present chief minister of Maharashtra, Ashok Chavan, who as revenue minister in the previous government, got the project cleared from the then chief minister, Vilas Rao Deshmukh (now a Union Cabinet Minister to boot). Thus this loot cuts across party lines and hence even the opposition isn’t baying for the chief minister’s blood. Thus this is a unique collaboration between politicians, army-men and civil servants who have all joined hands to make a mockery of our trust.

Most alarming is the involvement of army generals, two of them are former Chiefs of Army and one an Admiral of the Indian Navy. So far most people believed that the Indian army as an institution is largely incorruptible and that honour amongst army-men runs high. Apparently, this is a myth. Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society was meant to offer subsidised housing to the families of the martyrs and the brave soldiers of the Kargil war. None of the intended beneficiaries even knew of these apartments, while the army brass managed to lay their hands on them without much trouble. Sadly, these are the men, who till not so long ago led more than a million men in uniform, commanded vast national resources and were responsible for the security of our great nation. They presumably bought armaments worth billions from vendors across the globe. If they could be swayed so easily, lured by an apartment in Mumbai, imagine what else might be underway in the shadowy corridors of the ministry of defense. Imagine how deep (or should I say high) the rot runs in the hallowed institutions of the Indian Army and Navy. While, one has come to expect the worst from our politicians (whether, Ashok Chavan, Suresh Prabhu, Vilas Rao Deshmukh, Suresh Kalmadi or A Raja), to expect the same from the Generals of the armed forces is truly shocking.

To make matters worse, life goes on as usual for everyone in Mumbai. The Congress Party is hard pressed to find a replacement for the tainted chief minister, the opposition parties are quiescent, the generals are retired and at home, the bureaucrats continue to serve their political masters, the CBI has commenced its never-ending investigations and ordinary people like you and me go about our lives without much thought to the cancer of corruption, which keeps growing everyday.

In the late 1980′s Rajeev Gandhi lost power, when his name cropped up as a possible beneficiary of a pay-off from Bofors, the Swedish arms manufacturer. The deal was all of Rs. 62 Cr. Today hardly any eyebrows are raised, even when a few thousand crores of public money is swindled by venal politicians (and now by army generals as well), whom we religiously elect every 5 years.

This is how far we have come down this slippery road.

Sikkim-The Hidden Jewel in the Mountains-I

Sikkim is perhaps India’s best kept secret. It is a tiny state quietly nestled into the Himalayas and is arguably the most verdant with the widest diversity of flora and fauna in such a small landlocked area. We traveled to Sikkim earlier this month. Sikkim has no airports nor is it connected by a the railways. We flew to Bagdogra, which is the nearest airport to Gangtok, the capital of the state and then drove from there to Gangtok.

The drive to Gangtok is along the Teesta, a tributary of the mighty Brahmputra. As we wound our way to Gangtok, hugging the hillside on serpentine roads, Teesta flowed in the beautiful valleys below us. Teesta ia a large river, flows swiftly down from the Cholamo Lake (over 17000 ft in the Himalayas), is joined by numerous rivulets and the Rangeet on the Sikkim – West Bengal border to eventually reach the W. Bengal plains at Sevoke near Siliguri. We entered Sikkim at Rangpo, the south Sikkim town adjoining West Bengal and carried on for another 40 kms to reach Gangtok by the early evening.

Gangtok I must confess is unlike any other hill town that I have seen. Unlike the bustling hill cities of North India (Shimla, Nainital, Mussorie even Manali), Gangtok is infinitely more orderly. At close to 5000 ft, in the Eastern Shivaliks, Gangtok is spread over several hills. A nice sidewalk with a railing snakes across the city for pedestrians to use, the traffic is orderly and we never encountered a traffic jam during our stay. The taxi from Bagdogra deposited us at a taxi stand meant for tourists coming from outside Gangtok, we transferred there to a local taxi, which took us to our hotel. There were no taxi drivers chasing us for a fare, there were no touts usually hired by local hotels shoving and jostling and falling over themselves to escort us to a hotel. If you have been to any of the North Indian hill stations, you would understand what I mean.

Gangtok is well-known for its Buddhist Monasteries. The Enchay Monastery, which was set up in 1840 established Gangtok as a prominent Buddhist place of pilgrimage. In 1894, the local ruler under the British moved the capital from Tumlong to Gangtok. After India’s independence Sikkim became an Indian protectorate . In 1975, following a popular uprising and a request from the Sikkimese Prime Minister, Sikkim became a state of the Indian Union with Gangtok as its capital.

In Gangtok we visited the famous Duddul Chhoedten Stupa, built by Trulshig Rinpoche, a holy lama who came visiting from Tibet. It is said that this place was earlier haunted by cruel spirits, who regularly assaulted people visiting the site. Lama Trulshig Rinpoche subdued the wandering spirits and built this Stupa and a hermitage. Today the stupa is a bustling centre of Tibetology, with hundreds of resident monks and colourful Tibetan prayer flags fluttering in the wind and people from all over India and indeed the world visiting to pay their respects.

Adjacent to the Stupa is the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, which houses rare artifacts, manuscripts, paintings from the 17th – 19th century. It is the leading research institute in Tibetology and promotes scholarly research in the history, religion, art and culture of Tibet. We visited the museum and were awestruck by its exhibits and wondered at the labour of love that this institute really is.

On our way back we went on a rope-way ride, which connects the Gangtok market place with the secretariat. It afforded great views of the city as it quietly made its way to the state secretariat and returned after a brief stoppage.

On an overcast day with the clouds floating all around us we visited the Rumtek Monastery, located at 1500 mts and about 24 kms from Gangtok. As we reached Rumtek after a pleasant drive through the forested hills, the skies opened up. We took shelter at the chai shop near the taxi stand, rented umbrellas from the shop owner and walked up to the monastery. Rumtek is the largest monastery in Sikkim and was built-in the 16th century by the 9th Karmapa Wangchuk Dorji. It is the seat of the Karma Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism and was rebuilt by the 16th Karmapa, when he escaped from Tibet and took refuge at the ruined monastery in 1956. Rumtek Monastery is a quiet place, nestled amongst verdant mountains, distant snow peaks and flowing streams around it.The Dharma Chakra Centre and the Karma Shri Nalanda Institute at the monastery is a centre of learning with many resident monks studying Tibetan Buddhism. Inside the monastery is a Golden Stupa, which houses the holy remains of the 16th Karmapa HH Rangjung Rigpe Dorje. While, we stood in the huge courtyard of the monastery, we could hear the rhythmic chants of the monks, and the blowing of the musical instruments, and the beating of the gongs inside the main hall of the monastery. By the time we decided to return, the rains had stopped, the clouds had cleared up and across the valley we could see the city of Gangtok spread out on the opposite hill.

Ranka Monastery is a relatively new monastery but in grandeur it surpasses all the monasteries I have seen so far. The monastery is on a spur facing the Gangtok hills and rises magnificently. Murals with Buddhist themes are painted on the walls and in the courtyard stands a wishing column with a small ledge near its top. It is said that if one was to throw a coin and asks for a wish, it gets fulfilled if the coin remains on the ledge. The day we visited the monastery, we saw prayers underway with rows of monks sitting together, chanting the sacred Buddhist texts. The atmosphere at the monastery with clouds hanging low and flitting across the courtyard, the monks and the chants all making this an ethereal experience.

The Ban Jhakri falls on the outskirts of Gangtok are magnificent waterfalls, which the government has converted into an Energy Park.

The park is well laid out with pedestrian foot bridges, ‘çhatris’ and dragons. Jhakris in tribal lore are Shamans, with magical powers. Ban Jhakri is a pagan shaman, who kidnaps children believed to be pure of heart and initiates them in the Tamang rituals. The story of Banjhakri is told through sculpture and figurines laid out in the park. A splash pool for children at the park is adorned by a dragon.

Gangtok is also known for its magnificent views of the Kanchanjunga, the third highest mountain peak in the world and the highest in India. Mr. Lama at the hotel, while escorting us to our rooms, had pointed in the direction of the peak and had said that one of these days we will see the mighty mountain right from our window in the hotel room. Alas, all during our stay in early June we could not see the Kanchanjunga because of the monsoon clouds hovering over the mountains. We went to various Kanchanjunga view points to catch a glimpse of the mountain but our luck did not turn.

Giving up on Kanchanjunga and hoping to catch it at Pelling, we left Gangtok, happy and delighted to have enjoyed our stay in the town. We met Jeewan Alam, who quickly loaded our gear on the roof of his trusted Tata Sumo and off we went on another adventure.

My ICICI Lombard Story

Well last week I discovered that if your car happens to have 4 dents, ICICI Lombard, the largest private insurance company in the country refuses to insure it. Here is the story.

I happen to own an 8 years old Maruti Wagon R car, which needed to be insured. For the past many years the car has been insured with ICICI Lombard. Usually I buy the insurance online, one can pay through a card and print the cover note instantaneously. The system works well and I have never had any problem. The car is presently being used by my parents who live in Lucknow and the mileage even after 8 years of use is just about 60000 kms. The car is in good condition, has never met with any serious accident and I have never had any occasion to claim insurance in these many years that I have owned the car.

I knew that the car insurance needs to be renewed sometime in May. However, this time I forgot the exact date and when I checked on May 23rd I discovered that the insurance had expired on May 20th. As always I logged on to ICICI Lombard’s website and renewed the insurance cover. I printed the cover note and this time I was informed that the insurance company would like to inspect the vehicle as well.

On May 25th I was in Mumbai when I received a call from Mr. Mohd. Israel, who claimed he was calling from ICICL Lombard and wished to inspect my car. I gave him my parent’s address, and the contact number asking him to fix a mutually agreeable time for an inspection. The next day, while I was busy in a meeting I again received a call, this time from someone else again claiming to be calling from ICICI Lombard and asking the same details that I had given to Mr. Israel the day before. Apparently, Mr. Israel had passed on my ‘lead’ to this gentleman but had not given him the contact details. Busy as I was, I told the caller to get details from Mr. Israel and not bother me.

My father called up later in the day and told me that someone from the insurance company had come to inspect the car had taken a few snaps and completed the formalities. I was thus reassured that all was well.

Imagine my shock the next day when I received a sms from ICICI Lombard informing that my insurance cover has been cancelled as my car was in a ‘unsatisfactory condition’. I was completely taken aback as the car to the best of my knowledge is in good condition, and as I said before has never been in any accident and we have never ever put in an insurance claim. It is a regular car, which has been in use for 8 years and surely carries the usual dents and scratches that any car in India, which has been in use for so many years does.

I set about getting more details and if possible rectify the problem.

I called up the customer care number on the ICICI website and spoke with one of their executives. While I explained to him the problem and requested information on why my insurance cover has been cancelled, he pleaded helplessness and directed me to one Ms. Preeti Pujari in their Mumbai office. I spoke with Ms. Pujari, who explained to me that as per the surveyor’s report my car had 4 dents and hence ICICI Lombard would not be able to insure it. I explained to her that I had exchanged heated words over the phone when the surveyor had called me and I suspected he was getting even with me. When I requested that she give me the contact number of someone in customer care, she rudely told me that she was from the ‘survey’ department and it was not her job to give me any numbers.

Undeterred I went back to ICICI Lombard website and found out that they list 3 customer care officers ( in some hierarchy) one could get in touch with if one had a problem. This includes the national head of operations Mr. Eswaranatarajan. All it seems one needed to do was click on a button and write a mail. I tried this option but alas, I landed on a webpage, which had a form, which needed to be filled and the very first field (a mandatory field) was a number that one was required to key in. Now I hunted the website to find this number but couldn’t. There were of course, no phone numbers there and thus it was not possible to speak with any of these officers.

Aghast I narrated my travails with ICICI Lombard to a colleague at work. He apparently happened to know someone in the ICICI Lombard brand team, whom he got in touch with and I narrated my tale of woes to him. This gentleman asked me to write to him narrating the entire story. He promised to pass it on someone in ICICI Lombard’s customer care team.In the meanwhile I called up my father and asked him to buy the insurance from one of our public sector general insurance companies.

I sent out an email to this colleague’s friend with in an hour of our telephonic discussion, two days back. I am yet to hear from anyone in ICICI Lombard. Nor have I heard anything about the refund of my money, which they charged on my card.

And guess what, the much maligned PSU insurer (National Insurance) sent someone over for inspecting the car within a couple of hours of my father putting in a request, this gentleman checked the car, took some snaps, found it perfectly alright and issued a policy immediately.

I was left wondering that don’t we quite often treat our PSU’s a tad unfairly. They may not be as tech savvy and glamorous with fancy offices and slick MBA types on their staff, but they do deliver.

As far as ICICI Lombard is concerned I am still waiting to hear from them.

Mahindra and Domino’s

The Mahindra Experience

The day before yesterday I had a meeting in Gurgaon. The meeting went well and as we were returning my driver Babloo suggested that we stop to fill up. The service centre that he was about to turn into had a large queue of vehicles. I too glanced at the fuel gauge, realized that there was sufficient fuel for us to carry on, instructed Babloo to drive on. We were heading towards the Gurgaon toll plaza and I was telling my colleague Yasmeen about my plans to drive down to the Sangla Valley for a vacation next month. ‘So God forbid if the car stalls in the country side, how difficult do you reckon would be to get help’ asked Yasmeen. ‘Well you see, I do not expect problems as this is a Mahindra Scorpio, and they have a nation wide service network, thanks to their strong presence in rural and semi rural India. With their tractors, Bolero and the Marshal, they are very strong in those markets’ I replied.

As we were having this conversation Babloo reported that the car had stalled. Yasmeen and I looked at each other. Mercifully we were not in rural India, but this did appear uncanny. We were now stranded on the main highway, near the toll plaza bang opposite the Ambience Mall.

I called the Mahindra service and was immediately connected to an operator. There was no long IVR, which usually is the case with banks and telecom operators and is so frustrating. The guy on the other end appeared to be well-trained, he took our coordinates, understood the problem and promised to call back in 10 mins. With-in the next 10 minutes I received a call from the local Mahindra service centre, who again ascertained my whereabouts and promised to reach with in 45 minutes.

We walked across to the Ambience Mall for lunch. On our way I again received a call from Mahindra confirming whether I had been contacted by the service vehicle. While, we enjoyed a nice lunch at the Potpourri, the car was fixed. Strangely it had run out of gas. (The fuel gauge was off, I got it fixed today)

Subsequently Babloo went in a three-wheeler and got us fuel and we were on our way.

Later in the day, I again received a call from Mahindra inquiring if all was well and if I was satisfied with their service. I was hugely impressed with the Mahindra service.

The Domino’s Experience

The other day we decided to order food from the nearby Domino’s . As I called to place an order, the operator at the other end started taking my order in English. As he struggled with the language, I tried to engage him in Hindi. So now in deference to his training he continued in English, while I responded in Hindi hoping that he will get the cue and switch to Hindi. This way too we didn’t make much progress and I had to request him to speak in Hindi, which both of us spoke and understood perfectly.

Once we were done, the operator told me that he was delighted that someone was willing to have a conversation with him in his mother tongue and as a gesture of goodwill he is sending me a ‘choco lava cake’ with his compliments.

I just do not understand why companies like Domino’s, who will happily go for a localised menu, refuse to train their service operators to talk in Hindi, particularly in a city like Delhi, where pretty much everyone speaks in the language. I fully understand the importance of English, however when the customer chooses to speak in Hindi, why would a phone operator, who struggles with English, would still want to take orders in English? Beats me.

The Sania, Shoaib and Aisha Affair

Two young people are in love and are planning to get married and the Indian media is all agog with the strangest of possibilities. Sania Mirza the Indian ace tennis player is all set to tie the knot with Shoaib Malik, the Pakistani cricketer. Nothing wrong in that, except that the media is making a big thing out of this Indo-Pak alliance. Sania Mirza broke off her engagement with her childhood sweetheart a few months ago, while Shoaib Malik is in a tangle with another Hyderabad girl Ayesha Siddiqui, who claims that she is married to Shoaib. I suppose this is enough and more masala for the India media to sensationalise the entire thing. Ayesha and her family has moved court and are busy running around TV studios, seeking justice for their daughter, while Sania and her family claim that they are fully aware of Shoaib’s past antecedents and believe in his innocence.

As if all this was not enough, the loonies in the rabid Shiv Sena have declared that because of this alliance, Sania has now become ineligible to represent India. They believe that by marrying a Pakistani, she has been disloyal to her country and is no more deserving of the honour of representing India. The subtext of this is also to cast aspersions on Indian Muslims at large by innuendo. What is being hinted is that the loyalties and the heart of Indian Muslims lies with Pakistan. This is exactly the kind of salacious communal propoganda on which the Sena thrives. Some self-styled spokesperson of the Sena has taken it upon himself to ensure that Sania no longer plays for India.

In Hyderabad, a defiant Shoaib Malik is tying him self in knots in explaining his past. He would like us to believe that though the signatures on his earlier ‘nikahnama’ (marriage deed) are his, he did not know whom he was marrying! Thus, he claims he was duped into marrying the wrong girl, who posed as some ‘Maha Apa’ (elder sister) and tricked him into marrying her.

The Hyderabad Police too has got into the act and have confiscated his passport and booked a case against him on Ayesha Siddiqui’s complaint. Now Ms. Siddiqui has also revealed that she terminated a pregnancy, thanks to Shoiab’s dumping her. One wonders why Ms. Siddiqui has come up with all this now after so many years of separation from Shoaib. All this is being made into a real big issue and the media is having a field day.

Now in-spite of Shoaib’s colourful past and his hard to believe protestations of gullibility and innocence in the whole affair, the fact remains that this should largely be a private affair. While, one understands that Sania and Shoaib are public figurs, their private lives should be their own business. If Shoaib has violated any laws, I am sure the law enforcement authorities will take care of it. Why is it that the media needs to carry a 24 hour tamasha on this sordid affair? Aren’t they going overboard with all this? Wouldn’t it be better if the media highlighted the nefarious designs of the Shiv Sena and its ilk, who are trying to spread hatred using this episode?

Let Sania, Shoaib and Aisha sort out their personal issues quietly and let us move on to something more significant.

Weekend Musings-The Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games in Delhi

Suresh Kalmadi, the Chairman of the organising committee of the 2010 Commonwealth Games believes that the games will leave Delhi far better off than now. Under the guise of the games Delhi is being rebuilt as a modern metropolis. Thanks to the games it will have a state of the art airport, the fourth largest in the world with a capacity of handling more than 37 mn passengers annually, more than 39 new 4 and 5 star hotels, numerous new flyovers and an extended metro service straddling the NCR. With each flat in the Commonwealth Games village priced at around Rs. 3 Cr.( coming up right in the bed of the Yamuna) will provide residences to the cities super rich. With the Delhi government busy giving the city’s roundabouts and parks a facelift, the city will look new and different. To provide for the higher energy needs the Delhi government is upgrading its power generation capacity from the present 4500 MW to 7000 MW. The new stadia being built across the city will ensure a sporting culture in the city and will go a long way in producing champions, who will bring great honour to the city and the country in future international sporting events. Mr. Kalmadi earnestly feels that the successful organisation of the Commonwealth Games will open the doors for the city hosting the Olympics one day.

All this sounds wonderful only if you overlook the huge costs involved in the games. The budget for the games is USD 1.6 bn (Approx Rs. 6500 Cr) This excludes the money to be spent in infrastructure projects that the Delhi government is incurring. The central government is largely funding the games through grants and loans. The Games Organising Committee has taken a loan of Rs. 1650 Cr., from the Central government, which it hopes to back from the revenues it will generate from the games. The infrastructure upgrade is also being funded by the Delhi government from its resources as well as budgetary support from the coffers of the Central government. The government of Delhi has been constrained to raise taxes to fund these massive projects.

At the end of the day, it is you and me who are paying the price for this monumental show. Is spending this kind of money on a sports extravaganza , when millions of our countrymen suffer from chronic hunger and unending poverty, worth it? And why do we need a Commonwealth Games to build Delhi’s infrastructure? A new airport, more power, good roads and efficient public transport need not be beholden to a sports event. Shouldn’t a responsible city government invest in the city infrastructure irrespective of the games hoopla?

Through the games are we trying to send a message to the world about our rising power, prestige and prosperity? Are we telling the world that India is no more the poor nation they thought it was? By equating a gleaming New Delhi with the toiling India, aren’t we fooling ourselves?

Weekend Musings-Ms Malawati and Other Stories

Ms. Malawati

The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Ms. Mayawati is in news for donning a huge garland made of currency notes (I understand of Rs. 1000 denomination) at a recent rally in Lucknow. The money running into crores of rupees is clearly unaccounted for. Ms Mayawati is today considered to be one of the richest politicians in the country with unimaginable and largely ill-gotten wealth filling her coffers to the brim. It seems that having money isn’t enough, she must now flaunt it brazenly.

This appalling and vulgar display of wealth by the chief minister of a state, which is a basket case as far as development goes, is shocking. Mayawati wants to make a political statement. In a state where money is often equated with power, such unabashed display of wealth establishes Mayawati, the impoverished daughter of a ‘dalit’ as the most powerful leader of the hindi belt. Since, Mayawati is showcasing her enormous wealth to her captive constituency of the Dalits, I guess even such a perverted and vulgar show is par for the course.

To make matters worse Mayawati’s followers have now announced that henceforth, wherever Mayawati goes, she will be welcomed with a garland made of currency notes. While Mayawati panders to her chosen audience, shouldn’t the Income Tax department at least look into the matter and initiate an investigation. This is perhaps the least the civil society can do to uphold the law of the land.

The IPL at a pub in Mumbai

I was in Mumbai this entire week. With the annual sales pressures mounting in the present last month of the financial year, colleagues at work decided to take it easy one evening and we all landed at a pub after a hard day’s work. With the IPL matches on, it was the Delhi team taking on the Mumbai Indians. The pub had set up a large screen and the match was being beamed live.

The atmosphere in the pub was electric. With Sachin Tendulkar in full flow, the aches and pains of the day seemed to melt away. To realise the full impact of Sachin Tendulkar, one has to watch him bat in Mumbai. Every shot is vociferously applauded, every hit to the fence lustily cheered and his dismissal treated with a silence, which is only broken by a standing ovation as he walks back to the dug-out. I wouldn’t be wrong to say that Sachin is, by a huge distance, Mumbai’s favourite son.

As the match progressed the liquor flowed freely, the snacks disappeared fast and the pub manager confessed to me that they are just not geared to handle so many guests. IPL III has once again captured the minds and hearts of the viewers in no small measure. To round off a perfect evening, Mumbai Indians beat Delhi Daredevils and all seemed to be well with the world.

EIGHT CLUES TO HAPPINESS – By- KHUSHWANT SINGH

A colleague sent me these pearls of wisdom, attributed to Khushwant Singh, one of India’s most loved and respected columnist and author.

Having lived a reasonably contented life, I was musing over what a person should strive for to achieve happiness. I drew up a list of a few essentials which I put forward for the readers’ appraisal.

1. First and foremost is GOOD HEALTH. If you do not enjoy good health you can never be happy. Any ailment, however trivial, will deduct from your happiness.
2. Second, a HEALTHY BANK BALANCE. It need not run into crores but should be enough to provide for creature comforts and something to spare for recreation, like eating out, going to the pictures, travelling or going on holidays on the hills or by the sea. Shortage of money can be only demoralizing. Living on credit or borrowing is demeaning and lowers one in one’s own eyes.
3. Third, a HOME OF YOUR OWN. Rented premises can never give you the snug feeling of a nest which is yours for keeps that a home provides: if it has a garden space, all the better. Plant your own trees. And flowers, see them grow and blossom, cultivate a sense of kinship with them.
4. Fourth, an UNDERSTANDING COMPANION, be it your spouse or a friend. If there are too many misunderstandings, they will rob you of your peace of mind. It is better to be divorced than to bicker all the time.
5. Fifth, LACK OF ENVY towards those who have done better than you in life; risen higher, made more money, or earned more fame. Envy can be very corroding; avoid comparing yourself with others.
6. Sixth, DO NOT ALLOW OTHER PEOPLE to descend on you for gup-shup. By the time you get rid of them, you will feel exhausted and poisoned by their gossip-mongering.
7. Seventh, CULTIVATE SOME HOBBIES which can bring you a sense of fulfillment, such as gardening, reading, writing, painting, playing or listening to music. Going to clubs or parties to get free drinks or to meet celebrities is a criminal waste of time.
8. Eighth, every morning and evening, devote 15 minutes to INTROSPECTION. In the morning, 10 minutes should be spent on stilling the mind and then five in listing things you have to do that day. In the evening, five minutes to still the mind again, and ten to go over what you had undertaken to do.

Weekend Musings-Reservations for Women in Parliament

The Indian political firmament has been ablaze since the government decided to introduce a bill in the upper house of India’s parliament (Rajya Sabha), allowing a 33% reservations of seats for women in both the houses of the parliament as well as all the state legislatures. The introduction of the bill on the International Women’s Day last week saw a ruckus that would make a fish market proud. The members disrupted the house proceedings and had to be marshaled out for the bill to be voted on and passed.

While all this drama unfolded in the parliament the nation debated the merits of the bill and the risk the government is taking in pushing it through. My own thoughts on reservations for women in parliamentary bodies are ambivalent. Let me explain.

I am fortunate to hail from a family, where my grand mother (who recently passed away aged 105) received education in the 1920’s at the prestigious IT college in Lucknow, participated in the freedom struggle and after independence won assembly elections for the UP legislative assembly in the 1950’s. My mother taught at a University, my sister went to the medical school and my wife who coincidentally attended the same college as my grandmother, works in a play school in Delhi. At my current work place we have more women than men and in the hospitals I worked in earlier, we had women in stellar roles, as doctors, surgeons and nurses. Thus my views on women empowerment have been shaped by these women in my life.

I have always believed that any country that hopes to be counted amongst the leading nations of the world must empower its women to participate in all manner of decision-making. They should have equal opportunities in all walks of life and should compete with men on equal footing. In a progressive, enlightened society that we hope to create being a woman must never seem like a burden.

The real question thus is how do we empower women to build a just and a fair society and are gender based parliamentary reservations the right steps?

Unfortunately in the past gender based political empowerment has rarely led to significant change in the lot of women in our country. Is there any evidence that in states such as UP, which is ruled by Ms. Mayawati, life has improved for women? If one was to compare the rule of Ms. Rabri Devi in Bihar and that of the present chief minister, who happens to be a male, it becomes evident that Nitish Kumar has far better championed the cause of development and growth than his predecessor. The same could be said for Jaylalitha’s rule in Tamilnadu.

In a sense the 1993 legislation reserving seats for women in the local bodies and panchayats was a far more progressive step as it significantly empowered women at the grass-roots level and allowed them to usher in change in their lives as well as those who lived in the villages. The ability of a ’sarpanch’ in a village to fight the entrenched male dominated system and impact lives is far more than that of a woman legislator sitting in parliament. Yet, the change has been painstakingly slow and in large parts of the country hardly visible.

The real empowerment of women in any society is a function of their education. We need many more better educated, confident women to drive the change we as a nation are seeking. The government must consider reserving seats for women in centres of higher education, take punitive measures against parents who force their daughters out of schools and colleges, reserve jobs in government bodies and PSU’s and allow women financial freedom as well as the freedom of unfettered choices in the matter of living their lives as they please.

Now, if the argument is that, since men dominated legislatures have failed to deliver in the last many years and we need women law makers to do all this than by all means let us reserve seats for women in our legislatures.

Weekend Musings

Dil Do Hockey Ko

The Hockey World Cup, being currently played in New Delhi generated a fair bit of excitement, at least amongst folks I know. The boss managed to line up some VIP tickets and invited me to watch the matches. A cousin too managed to lay his hands on the tickets and went along to cheer the Indian hockey team. A colleague at work too admitted to being in the stands supporting India.

Much of this support has been drummed up by a very effective TV campaign run by the title sponsors Hero Honda. They had their brand ambassadors Virender Sahwag, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Priyanka Chopra endorsing hockey and urging all Indians to once again fall in love with our national sport. India’s first outing with arch rivals Pakistan had everyone in a patriotic frenzy. That India gave a Pakistan a drubbing raised hopes of a stellar display in the tournament. The new Spanish coach appeared to be going over the moon, some corporate houses announced awards to players and it seemed that Indian hockey was all set reclaim its lost glory.

Alas! this turned out to be short-lived. The Indian team disappointed by losing to Australia, Spain and England and will now once again compete for the lower positions in the championship. That Pakistan is faring just as poorly is hardly any comfort. Needless to add a lot more is required to resurrect the magic of hockey. The World Cup was a great opportunity. Sadly, we have squandered it.

From a Clear Blue Sky

I had never heard of Timothy Knatchbull till I picked up his memoir ‘From a Clear Blue Sky’ from Crosswords Mumbai earlier this week. Since than I have been completely engrossed in his story. From his maternal side, Timothy Knatchbull is the grandson of Lord Mountbatten, the last viceroy of India. On his paternal side, his grandfather was Lord Brabourne (Michael Knatchbull), who served in Mumbai (remember the Brabourne Stadium) and in Kolkata as the provincial governor.

Timothy Knatchbull was on the yacht Shadow V the day the provisional IRA bombed it . Lord Mountbatten, the dowager Lady Brabourne, Tim’s twin Nick and a local lad Paul Maxwell died in the bombing. Timothy and his parents were seriously injured but survived. This book is a wonderful account of Timothy’s journey as he revisits the tragedy. It is a poignantly written account personal account of coming to grips with a terrible loss, gradually reconstructing a life torn asunder and then carefully putting it all back together.

Knatchbull writes with a great deal of compassion and candour. His narrative is gripping, at times sad but without any self-pity. This is a ‘exceptionally moving’ account of overcoming a huge tragedy and moving on.

The Shame at IPL auctions

The Pakistanis are upset with us and I can’t blame them either. This entire episode involving the (non) auction of 11 Pakistani players, many from the last year’s world cup winning team has left a bitter taste in everyone’s mouth. That none of the teams bid for a single Pakistani player is ridiculous and the reasons appear to be all non cricketing.

Cricket is a religion in our part of the world and apart from our shared language and culture is the most potent unifying force in the subcontinent. Indian Premier League, which is now in its third year is an eagerly awaited extravaganza involving franchised city based teams with fancy names competing for the trophy. Each team has local players as well as foreign ones and it is through open auctions that the teams vie to buy the players they fancy. Thus for players especially the emerging ones, it is a big ticket opportunity to display their talents on a global stage and make pots of money.

In all this commercial hoopla one expects IPL organisers to play by the rules. By keeping the Pakistani players out of the IPL and in the manner this has been done reflects very poorly of the IPL as well as Indian cricketing establishment. As an Indian my head hangs in shame at the machinations of the IPL czar Lalit Modi. Apparently what happened is simple enough. There were 11 Pakistani players participating in player auctions and none of the teams bid for anyone of them. It seems that Mr. Modi leaned on the team owners and all of them deliberately boycotted Pakistani players. This after these 11 players had been cleared by both the Pakistani and the Indian government to play in India.

The Pakistanis believe this is deliberate humiliation not only of their players but also of their entire cricketing establishment. I would tend to agree. If the Pakistani players were not welcome to play in India (for whatever reason), it would have been perfectly alright to inform their board accordingly and not have these players available for the auctions. This may have caused a furore, however the IPL/BCCI would well have been in their rights not to invite Pakistani players to participate in the IPL. Having invited these players for the auctions and than not bidding for them on dubious grounds is shameful sleight of hand and must be condemned in the harshest of terms.

To make matters worse IPL and some of the franchise owners have trotted out lame excuses for their conduct. Lalit Modi wants all of us to believe that he and his colleagues in the BCCI did not push the franchise owners in keeping away from the Pakistani players. He would also like us to believe that all the competing teams on their own decided that having Pakistani players in their ranks makes no sense and each of them individually steered clear of these palyers!And surely butter won’t melt in Mr. Modi’s mouth.

I believe that by excluding Pakistani players IPL teams have made a mistake. And the manner this has been done is downright disgraceful.

It is time we got rid of him as the IPL chief. That is perhaps the least we can do to make amends.

Tiger Tiger Burning Bright…

Tiger Woods is truly lost in the woods.

The Hindustan Times this morning put the count of his mistresses at 10. Tomorrow some more may emerge from the woodwork (well ,the pun is intended).These include waitresses, night club hostesses and even porn stars. Tiger Woods, one of the world’s most loved sports person and certainly the wealthiest has literally been caught with his pants down. And in todays connected world he has no place to hide. The internet is full of Tiger Jokes and television ads featuring him are disappearing.

Tiger Woods is no longer ‘the world’s ultimate symbol of high performance’ (or maybe he is in a very different sense!!!) as Accenture would like us to believe.

Why on earth somebody like Tiger Woods risk so much for so little. Is it a kind of mad streak that runs through some extraordinarily successful people (can’t help but remember Bill Clinton), who just can’t help but blow it (well can’t help the pun again!).

Here is my little theory for whatever it might be worth.

Most people like Tiger Woods who are enormously successful and enjoy public adulation in the extreme tend to start believing in their iconic imagery. They start looking upon themselves as infallible, capable of doing no wrong. In their own eyes, they become larger than life. Because of this inherent belief in their own goodness and God like presence, the ability to distinguish between right and wrong and good and evil is seriously diminished. In their exalted state, their moral compass fails to register anything and thus they do what they like.

More importantly they start taking fame and success for granted, not realizing how ephemeral these are. Tiger Woods probably believed that he is super smart that no one catch him philandering and that he can easily get away with it all. I am not sure if Tiger Woods even understood what he was gambling with. For him perhaps success and ‘high performance delivered’ is a daily routine, pretty much like going to work every morning for you and me.

Or maybe Tiger loved the animal thrill of it all. Leading a double life can be highly exciting for some folks and the higher the stakes, the greater the thrill. So for Tiger, the chase, the hunt all carefully hidden behind the cultivated image of a family man was maybe the ultimate game. The trophies in this game can not be displayed in his cupboard, but they are there to be had. And Tiger being the ultimate predator would go for them with a vengeance.

Well whatever be the real reasons for Tiger’s dalliances, the fact remains that in all this messy business he has lost many of his stripes. Will he ever be able to regain them, only time will tell.

Pic courtesy www.accenture.com