The Goyal Post

Copenhagen Accord

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 04:38:54 GMT

Through out the day December 18 I obtained advance copies of Copenhagen Accord drafts. The first draft landed in my hands around 11 AM. I got a second draft with hand written notations of a head of state around 3 PM. A third draft was leaked to me at 3:50 PM. At 11:30 Pm I got another draft. This is after President Obama's press conference. An accord is still in the works and the wording can change. Here are the photos of the 11 PM accord handed to me by a Chinese journalist from 24x7News of China.

<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>There are five pictures here. Pay special attention to the Appendices.</em></span>
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<td style="background: transparent url(http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat scroll left center; height: 194px;" align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/contactajaygoyal/CopenhagenAccordDraft5?feat=embedwebsite"><img style="margin:1px 0 0 4px;" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_6C9IjC8smsg/SywHLf_H4xE/AAAAAAAAA6Y/l_bJvx5jASI/s160-c/CopenhagenAccordDraft5.jpg" alt="" width="160" height="160" /></a></td>
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<td style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px"><a style="color:#4D4D4D;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;" href="http://picasaweb.google.com/contactajaygoyal/CopenhagenAccordDraft5?feat=embedwebsite">Copenhagen Accord Draft 5</a></td>
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Copenhagen Accord

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:56:15 GMT

All through the day on December 18 I obtained several advance copies of Copenhagen Accord drafts. The first draft landed in my hands around 11 AM. I got a second draft with hand written notations of a head of state around 3 PM. A third draft was leaked to me at 3:50 PM. At 11:30 Pm I got another draft. This is after President Obama's press conference. An accord is still in the works and the wording can change. Here are the photos of the 11 PM accord handed to me by a Chinese journalist from 24x7News of China.

There are five pictures here. Pay special attention to the Appendices.

Copenhagen Accord Draft 5

The good, The Bad, The Ugly and Plain Stupid of Copenhagen

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:24:16 GMT

by Ajay Goyal in Copenhagen

Come December 18, all nations of the world may enter a binding deal in Copenhagen on climate change. That would include reducing carbon emissions by rich industrialized nations to the extent that there is less than 2/3rd chance of temperature increase on earth by 1.5 degrees Celsius in the next 100 years. Even that kind of rise in temperatures is potentially catastrophic for many poor nations so rich countries that have caused this havoc could come up with 2 percent of their GDP for funding mitigation and adaptation in Africa, Asia and low island states. India and China could join the rich developed countries in limiting their emissions and join a global monitoring standard. Rich nations could tax fossil fuel companies and other worst emitters of Green House Gases into the earths atmosphere and use the resulting money to develop a clean and low carbon economy within their own countries and worldwide. They could also agree to provide some 65 necessary technologies to the developing countries to make a clean and sustainable transition to economic growth. Part of western funding will go to a scheme called REDD that allows preservation of rain forest. Other sensible programs to maintain the ecological balance in worlds forests, agricultural lands, oceans and mountains will be adequately funded.

This would be a necessary, fair and just deal the world needs and has come to expect from Copenhagen conference. It is not going to happen.

The countries could agree to a 2 degrees rise in temperature limitation with 50/50 probability. They could give somewhere between US$ 100 billion and 200 billion a year in the short term till 2020 for mitigation and adaptation. Developing giants India and China could also agree to binding cuts on their emissions. It is not a good deal, some low lying countries will still disappear but it will be a compromise. This will be a bad deal but this too, is not happening in Copenhagen.

The rich countries are not agreeing to cut below 3 degrees rise in temperatures. India and China wont agree to emission caps. Some small money will be added to offset mechanisms that send some money to poor countries but do not really solve the problems of disaster prevention and preparation for coming onslaught of nature. Most of this money is gobbled up by India and China but the biggest chunk is taken by intervening banks and financial institutions. This would be an ugly outcome and planet earth will take this too. But even this as a binding and functional global agreement is a remote possibility.

So what might we get in Copenhagen? A political declaration that countries agree climate change is a problem. They will agree to voluntary emission cuts which they will not fulfill. Money for mitigation and adaptation will be little and tied up in complex mechanisms. No quick transition to green economy will happen and we will continue business as usual. In some years the nations will meet again and agree on some kind of a binding deal.

This or something close wrapped in semantics to look better but basically plain stupid is well within our reach in Copenhagen.

As a result of this deal/declaration hundreds of millions of people and creatures of earth will lose lives and habitat. Millions will go hungry. World will face acute shortages of basic necessities like food and water. Corporations will print green color brochures, adopt green logos for branding and emit enough carbon to sink a few hundred islands on this green marketing and branding. National governments will bail out high fossil jobs and some pioneering entrepreneurs will launch space travel for rich customers. Plans will be made to make permanent homes in space. Man will go to moon again. Budget airlines will charge customers extra dollars for sitting down on standing room only flights and for using urinals. Soon, sooner than we all expect, our remaining credit with earth of 750 billion Tons of carbon in air will run out. Game Over. See you after the next evolution after Ice Age II. Make sure to pack the cartoons on your way out from planet earth.

I recommend Ice Age III. It is really funny and will keep kids entertained till the next evolution.

Analyzing COP15 Climate Change Conference

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:21:34 GMT

The good, The Bad, The Ugly and Plain Stupid of Copenhagen

India Needs the Magic Again

Unimpressive Presence And A Baffling Silence

The Danish Game

Home Stretch for Humanity, India

Scientists Leave No Room For Doubt

Guide To COP15: Whats Going On

Why Copenhagen Conference Matters

Message at Climate Change Talks- We Are All Hindus Now

Use of Information Technology in Fighting Climate Change

Indians Have Arrived at COP15

China, Africa, Youth Everywhere, India Nowhere

An Extraordinary Time

Copenhagen and shadow of Bhopal

www.abclive.in http://abclive.in/environment/copenhagen/index.1.html

Hindi Dainik Jagran Article 1

Hindi Dainik Jagran Article II

Hindi Dainik Jagran Article III

Hindi Dianik Jagran Article IV

Hindi Dianik Jagran Article V

Hindi Dainik Jagran Article VI Hindi Dainik Jagran Article VII Hindi Dainik Jagran Article VIII

Twitter: http://twitter.com/ajyg

Indian Position in Copenhagen

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:20:37 GMT

by Ajay Goyal in Copenhagen

Indian position in Copenhagen climate conference is high on rationale and diplomatic logic. Unilateral declaration by India on carbon emission cuts takes much of the pressure off Indian government. Other questions remain: How will Indian government cut these carbon emissions, how will it be verified and will these cuts be binding? For now these issues have been pushed to the sidelines as Copenhagen conference is focusing on a political agreement rather than a legally binding agreement. This has disappointed and angered many activists but it is seen as unlikely that 192 countries could come to an agreement on legally binding cuts in carbon emissions.

Copenhagen is broadly about four issues and Indian stand on climate change has been consistent for many years on all these issues. One, all nations of the world, especially the powerful industrial countries should agree to substantial cuts in their carbon emissions. India, like China and much of Africa and Southern American nations blame United States and rich European countries for climate change. Western countries, faced with irrefutable data, admit much of the responsibility. To reach
sustainable carbon levels cut off date of 1990 levels has been proposed. India has rejected this and agreed to cut carbon emission to 2005 levels.

Indian argument that major growth in Indian industry and consumer markets started only a decade ago and should not be curtailed is seen by many with sympathy especially because western and Japanese companies are the biggest beneficiaries of this Indian growth. If India starts cutting carbon emissions dramatically not only will major Indian industrial houses face severe penalties but brunt will also be borne by the European, Korean and Japanese automakers.

While western nations would like to cap national emissions, Indian negotiators would like to use per-capita emissions as basis for negotiations and not national emissions for capping purposes. India used pretty much the same arguments in rejecting 1997 Kyoto protocol and restated it in 2002 when the 10th meeting of UNFCCC was held in New Delhi. Then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee stated Indian case in pretty much the same words Indian negotiators are using now.

Indian government issued a position paper on climate change in summer of 2008 that neatly lays out Indian arguments on eight pages.

India is rejecting the notion of a legally binding carbon emission agreement. For now, Copenhagen negotiators are focusing on a political agreement and questions of verification and legal bindings are being postponed. If India commits to any cuts, they will be legally binding in the end, and therefore the government better be prepared for it.

The other big question is about what the governments are going to do to mitigate climate change. Meaning what actions governments will take to lower current carbon emissions. For this, poor and developing countries are asking for money and technology from rich nations. Some money will be given and commitments of $10-20 billion a year are on the table. This should not be a sticking point. This is the main driver for many of the interested parties including corrupt politicians, phony environmentalists and pseudo protagonists for green policies. The modalities for technology transfer or payments for mitigation will be worked out over a period of time but a good many politicians are bureaucrats are salivating over the prospects of getting this windfall.

India does not need technology to mitigate carbon emissions it needs political will. All the technology necessary is available commercially. However a transition to low-carbon economy costs money. If India has to stop burning coal or burn lesser amounts and build 20,000 MW of solar power plants that cost three times the cost of a coal power plant, financial help is necessary. That is precisely what western monies could be used for.

The question therefore is not whether Indian stance holds water at negotiations. There is no question of twisting Indian arm for bigger concessions. The only question now is about the Indian obligations to India itself, to the health of Indian citizens, to conservation of nature in India and the larger moral obligation toward Mother Nature, irrespective of these negotiations.

Indian negotiators might return triumphant having rejected a binding deal or unyielding on concessions to global community. But what remains to be seen is whether Indian government will go above and beyond its legal obligations to mitigate climate change in India and adopt green policies for a new model of inclusive economic growth, reversing its policies of land grabs, dislocation and exploitation of the poorest for the sake of mega industrial and real estate projects.

Originally published at The Goyal Post.

Why Copenhagen Conference Matters

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:17:54 GMT

- By Ajay Goyal in Copenhagen

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="349" caption="Cop15"][/caption]

Why are more than 100 heads of states coming to Copenhagen for a United Nations conference? The 15th United Nations Conference on Climate Change signals a sense of urgency for all nations that the human society needs to take action to stop climate change through carbon emissions. The Kyoto Protocol which was signed in 1997 expires in 2012. That means that no international treaty on limiting carbon emissions will be in place as of 2012. Any major agreement on this scale needs three years to implement. Hence the sense of urgency to reach an agreement now and here in Copenhagen.

The history of climate change conferences goes back to 1992. At Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro a United Nations Framework conference on Climate Change was started. The discussions led to Kyoto Protocol in 1997 on limiting carbon emissions but the treaty's success was hampered by refusal of world's largest polluter United States of America to join. The biggest per capita polluter or carbon emitter Australia also refused to sign. India was not a signatory either. That meant that some of planet's largest and richest countries did not sign on. Since then negotiators from over 190 countries have met regularly in Marrakesh, Bali, Delhi and elsewhere.

In the mean time an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) has been gathering and processing data from around the world on science of climate change. IPCC head, Indian scientist Rajendra Pachauri set the tone just right in his opening address to Copenhagen Congress. He said "There is scope for going above what is going to be legislated"; meaning even though negotiations should lead to a legally binding accord and go through national ratifications, society must not be limited in what it can and must do to protect and preserve earth and its natural balance.

Copenhagen conference is important because the science of climate now shows that carbon emissions and levels in earth's atmosphere have reached a point where they could significantly impact temperatures. Earth's temperature has risen only 5 degrees C since the last ice age. Now the human activity and climate change threaten to increase the temperature by as much as 3 degrees before the end of this century. That will have catastrophic consequences. Even smaller increases are no less worrying. There are changes in weather patterns already because of global warming. Heavy rains, draughts, hurricanes, melting glaciers and generally abrupt weather are causing enormous pain and suffering already.

Good news is that most developed countries now recognize that they are responsible for this shift in earth's climate. Bad news is they want to do nothing much about it. Then there are the sceptics who think earth is changing naturally and that human beings can continue their destructive tendencies. But the weight of experience, intuition and hard science is against such nonsense from a small but vocal and potent group. They want there to be no agreement because any limitations on carbon emissions hurts large industries. They are lobbying hard to ensure that either no accord is reached in Copenhagen or it is not ratified in their respective countries. Fossil fuel companies and those who consume it have to completely change their business and investment patterns if the world agrees on a carbon emission limitation treaty. Their first instinct is to resist change. In the longer term there is no negative value in having an accord in Copenhagen. But the shorter term effort is just too much for the rich nations and their industrial giants to make.

Against this industrial lobby stands the world opinion, vocal and visible more than ever before in Copenhagen. Youth groups in red, blue and green costumes are beating drums and singing songs, doing acts and making speeches on the streets of Copenhagen. They come from all over the planet and they want an agreement in Copenhagen. Outside the plenary meeting rooms dozens of non-government organizations that work for humanity have set up stands. They have been given spots by the organizers right at the conference. They are diverse groups from Korea to Chile, from United States and UK to India. They represent all those who cannot afford to come to Copenhagen as also the poor, the weak, the children and the farmers. To my mind they speak for planet earth.

This is a meeting where special interest groups, corrupt politicians, cynics and lobbyists of big businesses are present in force. But earth is represented well too and the sense of urgency is clear to everyone.

Copenhagen meeting will not be the last accord earth will need, but it could well be the the first of many that we will need to protect human life.

Originally published at The Goyal Post.

An Extraordinary Time

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:16:53 GMT

Copenhagen, Sunday December 5, 2009

- by Ajay Goyal

As United Nations 15th conference on Climate Change starts in Copenhagen this Monday it is time to pause and appreciate the moment.

It is a somber and serious occasion and some very tough talking will take place at Bella Center in Copenhagen at the UN Conference on Climate Change for the next fifteen days. The arrival of thousands of activists, protestors, show-biz personalities, more than 85 heads of states and over 5,000 media persons gives the conference a festive feel. It is anything but. But just as soon as we have paused to ponder the disastrous implications and affects of climate change on poor of the world we can allow ourselves a pat on the back too and appreciate the occasion.

Before negotiators and parties get down to business and the lobbyists start arm twisting, everyone of us humans can be proud that for the first time in history, humanity has sent its representatives to make peace with earth.

Nations and leaders have gathered before to talk. Not in such numbers and under so much expectation and scrutiny but never for something quite so constructive either. Leaders usually get together to declare wars, or end them, discuss financial issues or sanctions, make or break trade blocks or simply flex muscles in front of each other. Most meetings on this scale are just about trading insults and recriminations. United Nations General Assembly and Security Council are now just the platforms for empty rhetoric or war mongering. It is the first time that all humanity is represented to act for its common home the one and only earth. The very fact this has happened is remarkable. United Nations just might redeem its tattered image by this one process alone.

We know Copenhagen summit will not give us a silver bullet to end global warming. The process will be complex and long drawn and years of work lies ahead. There will be heart break and disappointments in Copenhagen too. But it has taken years of dedication and single minded focus from some extraordinary people at United Nations as well as from many self-appointed protectors of earth to reach this far. They deserve our gratitude.

The negotiations will be attended by more than 85 heads of states. Those who are not coming probably cannot afford the expense of flights or did not get the Schengen (European Union) Visa to travel its not an easy document to obtain. Or perhaps they just dread taking a transit flight through one of Europes airports.

When water levels eventually rise because of man made global warming or without and island nations, coastal communities are eaten up by the oceans many of those not present will be the first affected. They will have nowhere to go. Europe, Canada, Australia and United States are not prepared to cut their carbon emissions but at least they are prepared with their anti-immigrations and stringent visa policies against people of developing world to make sure the suffering of Asia, Africa and Oceania remains confined there. Unimaginable suffering and tragedy awaits humanity if the temperatures continue to rise. The developed nations will be least affected except for some dreadful images on TV and a shortage of clothing made by child labour.

However, we must admit that a new spirit of humanity is visible in coming together of so many from such diverse backgrounds, occupations and interests in talking about a common challenge. Western countries have been taking these talks seriously though there is a legitimate concern that none of them is nearly prepared to do enough. Rich and poor nations have already come a long way and have committed to give and do a lot. It may not be enough but at least they are all here and talking. This alone is reason for some hope.

Institutions created by peoples of the world are for the first time working on a war-footing to make peace with nature. For millennia at end and especially since the beginning of industrial age, human actions are nothing short of a war on Mother Nature. It is time we cease fire and lower the temperatures of this war.

Notes:

Reading list
I have been giving links to some web sites for the last month at my Google Reader site. I shall not repeat what experts and activists have already covered. On this link you will find in-depth analysis, news reporting and coverage from Copenhagen from a multitude of sources.
http://www.google.com/reader/shared/ajaygoyal05

You can also share your favourite links.

Main Sites
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Copenhagen Meeting
www.cop15.dk

Originally published at The Goyal Post.

Copenhagen and shadow of Bhopal

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:08:54 GMT

Copenhagen Climate summit will start three days after India observes 25th anniversary of the poisoning of Bhopal. To all those who question the science and intuition of climate change, Bhopal should be the one word answer. When people say industrial activity does not affect the health of our planet and lives on it, all we need say is Bhopal.

Twenty five years ago, one night, 40 Tonnes of toxic gas leaked into the city of Bhopal and killed 8,000 helpless people within days. It left hundreds of thousands others damaged for life. Those who say 28,431,741,000 Tons of carbon that human activity puts into the atmosphere each year has no impact on our eco-system should go spend time in Bhopal, or Norilsk, or Magnetogorsk where people live those effects everyday. Or in hundreds of those Chinese, Russian, Indian, American and European factories that have been mindlessly throwing toxins into the air, water and soil for decades. Remind them of the greenhouse gases and other toxic substances our industrial development releases into the air everyday. Throwing data in the faces of those who question the impact of greenhouse gases and climate change is actually a pointless exercise. In Indian value system earth is referred to as mother. When mother is in danger, one does not run to a dodgy politician or a bureaucrat to ask what to do. Let the refuseniks of climate change refuse. Those who feel human beings are now waging war on their own planet should do something about it.

Bhopal reminded us how industrial accidents can turn into accidental genocide. But it also tells us that we are in denial unable and unwilling to assume responsibility for our actions that have a direct impact on our own lives. Union Carbide, the company whose plant emitted that toxic gas 25 years ago did not face even a day in a court of law. It did not even pay proper and appropriate compensation. Ten years after the accident, a shameful US$ 1,000 was thrown in the faces of those affected. The company just walked away as though nothing ever happened. It is the same numbness to peoples pain and callous attitude governments and corporations bring to Copenhagen.

There will be hard bargaining on carbon emission targets and taxes and limits. Analysts see hard negotiation tactics and rock-solid rationale in the position of many governments. I see a vendetta against Mother Earth.
We fail to recognize that all these man-made toxins have nowhere to escape. We are suffocating ourselves to death. Generations to come will live in Bhopals created everywhere on earth. We do not need doctorates and degrees to see the change in lives and livelihood in poor countries on a disastrous scale because of climate change.

We must arrive at Copenhagen with respect and appreciation for activism and concern of a handful of politicians like Al Gore, as also the scientists, environmentalists and ordinary people who have championed the cause of Earth. I am willing to accept that some of these good folks speak for Earth. Let us hear them out.

Before we get bogged down in details over who emits what and who shall cut down how much and when, perhaps each day of ten day Copenhagen climate meetings should start with observance of silence for victims of industrial pollution and accidents anywhere in the world.

Originally published at The Goyal Post.

Russian lessons for Obama

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 15:55:03 GMT

President Barack Obama is being set up for failure by his economic advisors. Measures for tackling recent economic disasters have not been applied and understood properly. The wreckage of the US and global financial system has not been cleaned, structural problems that led to its collapse not addressed and a whole new edifice is being built on this pile of broken economics.

When Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, US economists advised Russian President Boris Yeltsin in turning around a failed economy. The disaster that the US economy faces today is no different from the situation in Russia then. Some of those Bill Clinton era economic whiz kids are on Obama team now. These market reformists came up with idea of “shock therapy” and advised against all state aid, regulation or intervention and coaxed Yeltsin into a disastrous policy of crony-privatization. Within 36 months, the wealth of Russia was in the hands of two dozen people – the oligarchs – who drove the country into the ditch. Productivity slumped, joblessness reached every home, state pensions evaporated and public sector salaries went unpaid for years. All this time, the bank accounts of shady Russian politicians and oligarchs were swelling from New York to Vienna and Caymans to Fiji. US banks and auditing companies brought worst practices polished and perfected in the US to Russia. They preyed on nascent Russian capitalists and ruined their dreams before they took shape. The policy was such a disaster that according to a scientific study by Oxford university scholars, millions of Russians died in the period following these economic reforms.

Now the same economists, who were once for market-decides-all, are propagating socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor. They are handing out blank checks to billionaire executives while the middle class is withering in this economic Katrina.

1992 economic advice was the beginning of the end for Russia. Complete collapse came only six years later in August 1998 when Russia could no longer pay back its debts and declared itself bankrupt. United States is near a similar state of bankruptcy. This is when a change of the guard happened in the Kremlin albeit in ways very different from the election of Barack Obama. Vladimir Putin was everything Obama is not–a Gray cardinal, a former spy, a man uncomfortable with publicity, a dour and secretive man, yet a man of steely resolve and will. He inherited a country that was at war with the breakaway republic of Chechnya. There were massive terror strikes at the heart of Moscow. The terrorists were becoming brazen and had created an Islamist khanate within Russia. The treasury was empty and morale low. Foreign powers, including United States were rubbing their hands with glee at the collapse of Russia and its might. Not only had Russia been weakened, all of its wealth, some believe as much as half a trillion US Dollars(equivalent) in cash, had been laundered out of the country and put to work in Europe and some exotic islands around the world. Russia was on the verge of another break up. Barack Obama’s problems may be different in scale, but the United States too faces a catastrophic scenario much like the one Putin faced in 1998.

The road Putin took has received much criticism from liberal and conservative economists alike because of their inbred antipathy toward Russia. He has been accused ceaselessly of authoritarianism and worse. Yet, I believe his success since 1999 has some important lessons for Obama.

His first act was to distance Russia from the loans and advice of World Bank and IMF. The previous century had some spectacular economic and financial failures around the world, and it was rare not to find the hand of IMF behind every major disaster. Obama has hired an IMF monetary theorist as his treasury secretary. He knows didley squat about real life and real economics. Putin brought in fiscal discipline unseen in the world that earned kudos from his biggest detractors. Obama has laid out the biggest entitlement and state-spending budget in history. It will have to be paid back till second coming of Christ. Putin cut off all state funding to the private sector, and nationalized the companies where strategic interests like security or mass employment were involved. He set out to reform the legal, financial, taxation and customs framework before giving any handouts. In the end, only a handful of companies were nationalized, and the results were spectacular. Obama is indulging in nationalization without any clear control or governance over them, leaving them in the hands of very individuals who wrecked them. Putin took over Gazprom, installed his confidantes as CEO and Chairman, and within five years the company not only stopped bleeding but became one of largest corporations in the world, with its value increasing ten fold. Obama has placed no such control mechanisms on AIG or General Motors.

Putin did something spectacular. He cut the personal tax rate and ended all complexities associated with it by introducing a flat rate of 13 percent. Paying taxes was never easier or cheaper anywhere in the world. That’s right–Russia has had the most advanced and simplest personal taxation system in the western world for the last seven years. He undid the zealousness of the tax man, dissolved the “tax police” and allowed taxpayers to fight out the tax authorities in court. The resulting higher collection of taxes as people threw away all schemes to avoid paying taxes, allowed Putin to, for the first time in decades, finally start a flow of money into the treasury. Only then did he invest in education and medical care. Obama is neither simplifying nor lowering taxes. There is no incentive for individuals and businesses to be upfront about their social or fiscal responsibilities. Obama is throwing money at a failed system which can only breed bigger failure.

Then Putin took bold action. Oligarchs were slapped with billions in retro tax bills on the pain of imprisonment and exile to gulag. They coughed up the money. Corporate taxes were lowered and simplified and loopholes for the richest to avoid them plugged. Despite all the rhetoric on both sides of the aisle, the US tax system remains one of the most complex, cumbersome and counter productive.

Putin did not hesitate to nationalize and sell off companies that threatened the very viability of Russian state by undermining its sovereignty. Yukos oil company was nationalized, and its owners were convicted for tax evasion, money laundering and other high crimes. Obama has neither really taken over rogue financial corporations, like AIG, nor sent anyone to prison. There is no reason for people to have faith in his bluster. Expressions of frustration and anger at AIG executives who have already received in excess of $150 billion and spent it remain just that - expressions. It is not enough to just frown at someone who has lost $150 billion of tax payers’ money.

Putin let failing banks fail. He cleaned up the financial sector of crooks and scamsters. The banks that survived financed the greatest expansion of real estate in any country in the previous decade, with the exception of China. New housing blocks, office buildings and malls sprouted up in every city and town of Russia. Obama has nothing in his plan that gives any confidence that banks will lend again and that housing and real estate construction activity will continue. US banking system’s malice is intact and ready to strike again.

Putin’s actions led to a great turnaround in Russia’s fortunes and creation of a whole new middle class within seven years. But he did not go on a spending spree before he fixed the structural issues. Fortune favored him too. The War in Iraq and the antagonism of Bush administration toward the rest of the world helped jack up oil prices. Russia experienced an unprecedented windfall and Putin finally increased spending on social and infrastructure projects when the money started coming in. Even so, his fiscal discipline remained steady and steely.

The best elements of Putin’s policies were non-ideological. He was pragmatic, liberal, conservative and centrist all at the same time. They key was not to let spending get out of control, not to allow borrowing over the top and resolving inherent problems of the system before spending on them.

Obama is throwing a trillion dollars on a very sick and corrupt system. None of the problems that led the United States economy to this mess has been addressed. None of the culprits have been identified, no rogue has been punished, no one is in prison and people’s depleted faith in fair play has not been re-established. No rules have been amended, no procedures simplified. It is like putting beer in the IV drip when a patient is undergoing bypass surgery. The US financial system, its regulation, and governance have shown that it is a black hole. Obama should have waited a year before throwing money into this black hole. Crooks will be crooks – they will find ways to get away with their old unreformed habits. He should have rid the system of crooks.

As Obama’s journey begins, the outcome of his efforts might already be doomed because of their hasty nature and wrong priorities.

Meanwhile, Putin has succumbed to the old Russian tradition of corruption and arrogance. In bailing out the Russian tycoons in the current economic crisis, he has made some fatal errors – same that Obama is making. Right now Washington is adopting the worst ways of Russian governance and business, and that cannot do any good. Putin, too is adopting the worst ways of Washington again and that won’t do any good either.

Giving Up on Gandhi, by Buying him

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:54:53 GMT

Indian government and tycoons have paid millions for Mahatma Gandhi's personal belongings in auctions in the US ( News item 1 , News item 2 , News item 3 , News item 4 , News item 5). As India acquires physical scraps of memory of its founding father, we lose the last remnants of his legacy. The Congress party led government makes a pretense of following the vote-winning Gandhian ideals and clings to every symbol associated with Mahatma Gandhi to remain in power. Otherwise it mostly buys votes to do so. Such is the enduring affection for the Mahatma in India, even with those who have felt wronged by him, that his name and brand can win elections for the worst impostors.

There is a thriving business in Mahatma's books, letters, pictures and personal items in Europe and the United States. Irrespective of who he left his legacy to, every word written by him and nearly every valuable picture of him is now property of a western collector or businessman.

I wonder if it would be an honor to the great man's memory to spend money from the national treasury to buy his glasses and if it would be a worthwhile investment. First a disclosure. I also invest in Gandhi and his name. Each month I pay a few hundred dollars for students from around the world to take a two hour walk in London called Gandhi's London Walk. (www.gandhislondon.com) The tour guide Sue Jackson of London Walks company takes students and tourists on a journey through Gandhi's London years and talks about the great transformation and awakening of the young Mohan Das in the time that he lived in London as a student. Students return filled with inspiration and burning idealism. The change 19 year old Mohandas underwent, can inspire people even today.

I also looked at the auction and for a fleeting moment considered buying the artifacts. But then I realized the senselessness of the exercise. What is the benefit of splurging obscene amount of money on Gandhi's personal effects? Who does it inspire and what does it change? Who is educated or enriched by this expenditure? I came to the conclusion that it is the final betrayal of Gandhian ideas and principles if we do spend money on his personal items.

I am afraid we have lost Gandhi irretrievably by acquiring his personal items. When Lord Ram was sent into exile by a scheming step mother, his younger brother left Ram's sandals on the throne for fourteen years to symbolise his brother's presence while he ruled. It was sheer hypocrisy. Lord Ram was left to the mercy of the wild and evils that lurked there. He had to form an army of monkeys and forest dwellers to retrieve his wife in battle with the evil King Ravan who had abducted her. For over sixty years now Congress has demonstrated a similar naked hypocrisy in using Gandhi's memory in Indian politics.

Gandhi's Independent India is under siege and the only visible signs of his legacy are the Indian politicians dressed up in "Khadi." Khadi or hand spun white cloth was used by the Mahatama as the symbol of national pride, truth, and protection of poorest entrepreneurial unit in Indian society. Today it is a lie and no more. Con men, bandits even rapists become politicians as soon as they wear spotless white "Khadi." It is even a fashion statement. India has moved on but its poor do not have the means to even spin cloth anymore. That smallest unit of independent entrepreneurship has been decimated. They now work as landless laborers in conditions no better than those of slaves in darkest chapters of human history. Wearing Khadi in Gandhi's name is as obscene as Congress adopting the theme song of Slumdog Millionaire - a film about the abject poverty in urban India - as its election anthem.

Like many great Indian ideas that have timeless appeal to all humanity, across continents, languages and borders, perhaps it is best that Gandhian thought - and brand - is also preserved abroad untainted. In India it will continue to be mocked, molested, misused and abused for petty political gain and corrupt self interest. His name has already been stolen, now his personal belongings will be stolen a second time.

Slums, Dogs, Men and Millionaires

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 16:59:44 GMT

Slumdog Millionaire (SM,) the film I oozed about has had a mixed life in India. It is not breaking box office records, which is not surprising. It is not the film for the poor. It is about them. They do not need to see a film about themselves. That would be depressing. It is the affluent, rich and middle class Indians who should have seen the film so they could learn something about their country. They did not. They prefer to roll in their ignorance and antipathy for real India.

I found many of them angry with the film for showing the ugly underbelly of India. They prefer drop dead gorgeous Indian film stars in skimpy clothes doing vulgar dance items on Swiss pastures with snow covered Alps for backdrop, romanced by jobless heroes on steroids who leave their homes in search of a life in Mumbai and end up on a train through Europe to sing eighteen songs before they beat the mafia boss in his evil plan to destroy the world and steal their girl and finally promise their love to their best friend before dying of eighteen bullets — you get the general idea.

It is the scale of anger towards SM that has surprised me. The moderate editorial voices have been drowned out by angry outbursts. One Arindam Chaudhry uses the language of Iranian Ayatollahs and just stopped short of issuing a fatwa against Danny Boyle. His tone was vile and suggested he would if he could. I did not know educated Indians had that kind of rage because they do nothing about the state of their country or community. He ranted against imperialism, sadism, pedophilia, poverty, exploitation, capitalism, child labor and English language films in a tirade that made it all the way to Reuters blogs. Mercifully, he did not ask to behead Boyle, just to boycott his film. He teaches western strategic management to Indian kids and has no stake in the real India with slums and poor orphans that surround his plush school. Such is the invisibility of Indian slums they get noticed by management gurus only if an Englishman makes a film about them.

But Mr. Chaudhry is an irrelevant figure in India and what he says is little more than a fart in the wind. It is the reaction of Amitabh Bachchan that sealed the film’s fate on box office. Bachchan is the demi-God who the excrement covered slum boy at the start of SM runs to for an autograph. He is big. In a thousand years from now when Hindu mythology decides it is time to make next round of celestial appointments, he will be the top candidate and still acting. At 65, the man can still act out the most frivolous, ridiculous dance numbers and still impress a slumdog or two with his four decade old routine. He was also the host of ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ in India. According to his blog, he is married to a parliament member and is met by diplomats at the baggage belt in Switzerland airports when he goes to attend World Economic Forum. His bags arrive early and he has a back problem even though he does not have to pick them. Indian diplomats do it for him. He has a son who has been acting with occasional flashes of mediocrity and is known more for being his son and now for being married to the planet’s hottest babe. Amitabh Bachchan has everything going for him. That’s why it killed me he could not bring himself to praise the film for what it is.

The Hindu nationalist leader Lal Krishna Advani recently launched his web site. In his blog he expressed excitement that SM had been nominated for eight Oscars. He was happy for the film and its success and demonstrated the difference between an actor and a leader. Bachchan has been playing leader for many years. A true leader does not pretend depth or patriotism. A true patriot does not fake an image of his nation nor his pride in it. Advani is a hero, a great Indian and he can acknowledge a work of truth when he sees one. India does not need false prophets and Ayatollahs of nationalism.

At the time that SM’s popularity was snowballing, I was at the Dubai film festival. I walked into the press room where a man in a Castro cap pulled low, mega sun glasses and facial hair was giving a long answer to a question I did not hear. It was the kind of speech soccer players make after scoring a goal. They say a lot and nothing. They say it well because they have training as stars, like trained circus bears to do so but their skill is in kicking the ball. I asked a swooning Arab girl who it was. She rolled her eyes at my ignorance and told me it was Abhishek Bachchan, son of the great man himself. Listening for a few minutes I realized this was a man born into glory. He knows about press conferences. It was easy to put things in perspective later and see why he and his father could not like SM. With obvious references to them, the film has an iconoclastic effect. People would suddenly see they have been worshiping stone idols. Their Mom-Pop-Son-Babe show stands on very fragile ground without any ingenuity. And here comes a British director and his very real Indians who have gathered more accolades from critics and peers globally than the first family of Indian entertainment has in four decades and a thousand films. No wonder Bachchans feel threatened.

Back in the US Dev Patel, the lanky eighteen year old hero of SM made me even more proud to be an Indian. He appeared on the Daily Show of Jon Stewart and unleashed his raw Indian charm. Now that is a child who is a man, an actor who is human and a real talent who is a true star.

India is held back by great men who have pettiness of school yard bullies. They have overdeveloped sense of self entitlement and neither curiosity nor simplicity. But there also are the great gems of humanity and humility in India that Danny Boyle has uncovered. It is a great film and it makes India look good.

Obama Speech

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:45:39 GMT

Like millions around the world I sat glued to television to watch Obama inauguration.

The speech was a departure from his usual oratory of rising rhetoric and flourish with poetry. Obama did not repeat his campaign speeches. That would have been tiring.

Instead we saw a very determined man take reins of power in United States of America. There was courage, discipline and determination in his posture. His facial muscles were taught. He did not demonstrate an excess of joy or emotion. When the Chief Justice fumbled during the oath Obama smiled and steadied.

His speech was plain determination that United States will overcome its deficiencies and not allow the flawed few to destroy a great country.

Obama did not pander to massive numbers of black Americans on the mall. His presence itself was a powerful message. He ended the festivities of his election win and defined his challenges. He simply assured Americans that those challenges will be tackled.

He proved the pundits wrong. There was a departure from the legacy of Kennedy speech “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Obama asked people to continue to be generous, kind and good but he placed the onus for delivering a new future on the government. He stated as plainly that it is the government that has failed Americans and indeed the world. One of those failures has ben its unwillingness and inability to control the rogues in US financial system. Americans have not lost their virtues and qualities. Their leaders lost their moral bearings and government became embroiled in ideology and moral corruption. Obama took on the responsibility of fixing America and did not call for more sacrifice on people.

There was more to be lauded in the speech. His invitation to shake hands with friends and foe provided they unlock the fist and extend a hand was a major departure from years of aggressive language from Washington. His message to the world was simple - we Americans, especially I, their President – are now world citizens. His message was America will treat the world with respect and as equals. All the [extreme islamic] world now needs to do is give up on designs to hurt America to build a new era of partnership. It is time for Osama Bin laden to die or be killed. It is time for Pakistan to straighten itself. It is time for all to stop hating America and give this man a chance. Obama has asked for a chance to make peace with the world. There should be no need to burn American flags. There wont be a need to wave them either. It is time for people to sit down and talk over the differences with this President.

Through my years in college in India I used to sit for hours in narrow alleys of Kurukshetra University library and dust off the books rarely opened. Those were speeches of Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln and other great Americans.

It was expected that Obama would join that league of great men by delivering an electrifying speech today. But today Obama did not make a great speech. He made a good speech. He delivered that speech well and there was almost nothing exceptional in his oratory today. In doing that the man was saying there will be time for perfection but now is the time for action.

Slumdogs & Millionaires

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:21:20 GMT

I have watched Slumdog Millionaire, an Indian story directed by British director Danny Boyle three times now. Each time the theater was packed, and each time the film was met with a standing ovation (even at a film market where the room was packed with cynical film buyers).

For years I have nursed a resentment against Indian cinema, also known as Bollywood. Slumdog Millionaire is an English language film with more Hindi in it without sub titles than in a three hour Bollywood flick. Bollywood is a name given to rag-tag collection of song dance sequences with astonishing pelvic shoving and rotating movements by middle aged men and women. The songs are woven together without dialogue and story, by superstars who earn more than Bill Gates, into three hour obscenities.

Slumdog Millionaire is a profoundly moving experience. To Indians living outside India it is a film that brings great relief. We can now stop lying about India and its lightening progress and prosperity. The film has revealed the truth of Indian life as no other film or documentary has ever been able to do. The drama itself is fictional and at times flimsy, but the the frantic camera work set in real Mumbai slums, the direction, and the acting have an honesty about them unseen in Indian cinema or life. We no longer need to cling to a false image of India that is on a fictional ride to super-powerdom to feel proud as Indians. We no longer need to close our eyes and shut our minds to the unspeakable levels of poverty, crime and decay in our nation. It is equally a relief for those westerners who have pretended to buy the Indian yarn of great strides of progress so they do not step on the feelings of us Indians. Now that the truth is out in the open, it has set us free. We can genuinely feel good for what we are as Indians and what we have achieved as individuals and a civilization. But we must also truthfully and honestly embrace the naked reality of the deep malaise of the country and how irretrievably many millions of lives are being lost to poverty.

There is no undermining Indian achievement but the yarn has been spun too thin. India's status as an economic entity and a global power hangs by this thin yarn and every so often deep troubles are exposed by many small failures. In Slumdog, the film based on a novel by Indian civil servant Jayant Swaroop, we finally have an image of India that we can embrace and thus stop pretending about the non-existence of this real India.

There are more Indians living in slums than the entire population of Holland. Indians as a prosperous class are only to be found outside India where their abilities are not constrained. There are also more Indians on world's rich lists than any other developing country with such enormous poverty. We can now let go of all fake presentations on India's golden age and admit that much of the wealth that we see in the country has been criminally obtained. Wealth obtained legitimately is criminalised by a corrupt system of such depth and proportions that it has no parallels in human history. The real opportunity and some prosperity has been created by individuals despite the state. Just like the heroes of this film, prosperity comes at a high price to Indians. It requires more than good intention and effort, it needs compromises and pain no one should endure.

The star of the film Jamal and his brother Salim are what Indians call serial entrepreneurs. They constantly invent professions and expertise to get by. They represent a billion people of India where enterprise is the only way to survive. They are all trying to break through or die trying the ring fence of corruption restricting every aspect of economic life. Only a rare few ever break. Most urban poor are like Jamal, the Slumdog, who acquires knowledge through crumbs of overheard conversations and has one in a ten million shot at wealth.

I have no way of knowing how it will be received in India. I hope that the film will be welcomed and that it will be a cause of celebration and introspection.

That introspection will not come from Indian cinema. Most Bollywood movies now have one genre – superstars play the ordinary dude playing the superstar who gets the babe in the bikini. The Indian cinema had a claim to dreams for many decades. Now it has moved into indefensible territories of make-believe that can only rear corruption in young minds and distract people from a reality they need to fix. But Indian cinema is not the cause of India's problems. It is just one of the symptoms. The introspection provoked by this film must go beyond cinema.

The empirical and statistical arguments of India's growth that have been presented to the western world need to be set aside. The global financial system has failed and no one gives a fuck about India's growth rate generated by computer financial models. Even if they return, foreign handouts and speculative casino capital will not forge India's future. It will be made at home if Indians are liberated from the crushing poverty, corruption and crime. What India needs is a recognition of the dire condition in which the Indians now are. Urban and rural poor in hundreds of millions are living far below subsistence. And if they are above it, there is no cause for trumpeting their movement across this imaginary line of poverty, because that is hardly an existence either.

The least we can do is acknowledge this truth. With that alone starts the process of saving lives and building them. Nations are made of people not statistics. We, the privileged Indians, must look in the eyes of slumdog Indians and find ways to rekindle hope that they can have a shot at millions too without selling their soul to the devil. Go see the film and spare a tear for India.

Things You Can Do To Enjoy 2009

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:41:22 GMT

By Ajay Goyal

All omens are pointing to a depressing year ahead but we need not succumb to the dark night. We need to do something dramatic and radical to make sure 2009 is an enjoyable year. Americans have already voted in a good man as President. Now we can all do our bit to be happy even though there is grim news all around. Discount sales by department stores will not lift our spirits. We need to be proactive in finding daily joy. In no particular order, here are my suggestions:

Write a Check: If you have been wanting to give to a charity and postponing it, this is the time to give. Even if your finances are short now, you know there are people in far worse condition and critical need. When you give you get more and this is a proven fact of life. But without expectation of a return on giving, it has never been more important or a better time to give to someone. I suggest carrying a cheque in your pocket with a stamped envelop. When you come across a cause that moves you, do not make a mental note and promise to pay later. Write the check and drop it in the mail there and then.

Give some Time: I know from my little work in some charities that more than money they value time. The other day I was traveling with a young lady on a flight from Moscow to London. She told me of the work she does for a charity for battered women in Oxford. I was surprised to learn from her the scale of violence against women in a place that we usually associate with great scholarship and genius but equally shocked to know how little help is available. Women like her make a big difference to many lives, more than our money ever can. There are true heroes all around us who give time for good causes. The economic condition has placed us all in situations with plenty of spare time. The fashionable benefit dinners are out of fashion anyway. Your time will be priceless and valued for those in need of a compassionate moment.

Write a Letter: When things are rough I pause and take the time to write a letter. In the most frantic moments after 9/11 when we were putting together a daily newspaper in Moscow, I wrote a letter to my kids. I have found letter writing to be most soothing and nurturing exercise for the mind. What is more, I write the letter in long hand and that slows down the pace of heart and flow of adrenaline. You may want to send that letter as an attachment to email if snail mail is not your thing but sitting down and writing a letter is perhaps the best employment of time. I am going to write one to my kids today and I cannot tell you what a wonderful stress buster it is.

Walk a holiday: Next holiday trip you book, make it a walking tour. There are many wonderful walking holidays in Italy, France, Spain, India, England and the US. If you do not like walking, take a bike tour. It is a wonderful way of mingling with local culture, feel the warmth and energy of history and nature and re charge batteries. The more tiring the holiday, the better it is for the soul. Walking and biking are cheaper than cruises or high frill vacations. Go on a religious trail in Spain, or wine tour of Tuscany, or walk the highlands in Scotland. You might find walking tours are the best investment of your time.

Do not have a party: This you know already -- the more you party the worse you will feel. The guilt after a party -- you come back, turn on the TV and see depressing news of war, death and suffering – is getting tougher to manage. Instead of going for a party and celebrating when there is nothing to celebrate, do something quite the opposite.

Read a book, watch an old film, go for a walk. Turn down party invitations and ask the hosts to send money to your favorite charity. I can tell you from personal experience, you will feel absolutely wonderful.

Outsource personal work: I have seen a surge of people seeking freelance, work from home and temp work since the economic crisis started. You can now get much more done for much less. In fact lots of pending projects and work can now be completed for a fraction of cost. Things like scanning of old photo negatives, getting a personal web site made, managing accounts can now be done with good and cheap freelancers. People are desperate for work and earnings. Be a social entrepreneur - outsource small bits of work and tasks to those who need employment.

Learn a new skill: Whether its golf or fencing, sailing or dancing, use the free time to indulge in your favorite hobby. I have always been impressed by how many Russians take painting, dancing, fencing and acting lessons in weak economic conditions. It is a wonderful way to beat the forced downtime.

Polish your language: When was the last time you read something to improve your language. It is easy, it is cheap and it has never been more important. Improve your conversation and writing skills by picking a book from local library on language.

Read a Russian Classic: After a gap of 25 years I have started reading Mikhail Sholokhov's Quiet Flows the Don again. War and Peace will be next. Russian classics are greatest treasures of mankind. They are thick too. They sooth the soul and kill tons of time.

In a lighter vein:

Go back to Windows XP: Stop cursing your Vista based computer. Buy a DOS based PC and load your own copy of Windows XP. All the pirated software is still available for windows XP. Bill Gates has retired and does not need your money. Be subversive. Do not buy Vista and join a protest group to bring XP back.

Use Mozilla Firefox: I am shocked each day to find that some people still use Internet Explorer. Download Mozilla Firefox, do not try Chrome and just stay away from Microsoft products.

Use Sun’s Open Office: I started using Open Office instead of MS Office three years ago. There is no need to pay top dollar for MS office when Open Office and Google Docs are free and far more useful.

Stop the Subscription: Save money and cancel the subscription of business newspapers and magazines. Stop reading newspapers all together if you can. You will save many trees. They have all been wrong on everything anyway. There is no need to allow newspapers to stoke hysteria and panic when they could have forewarned and forearmed you. They did not do that. Time to cancel your newspaper subscription. If you must, read them online.

Turn off the BlackBerry: Try switching off your BlackBerry in the evening and over the weekends. It is technically feasible and if you can bring your forefinger to bring about that much pressure on the Off button, it will bring you delight and peace.

Switch off all appliances: I did not believe it when I saw it on TV but the amount of energy consumed by TV, cable box, routers, modem, phone chargers, microwave and all the other appliances when they are hibernating is
phenomenal. Turn off the switch and just disconnect them when not in use. You will save money and save the planet.

And Finally...

Get Mad: Next time your bank, cable company, electricity or water company acts difficult, get mad with them. Post your complaints on the internet sites and demand free credit. Be polite to the call center in India (its not their fault) but otherwise just go nuts at any injustice. Firmly demand better service and cheaper rates. Send written complaints if you have been wronged. Shouting on the phone just costs you money. If they do not mend, withdraw your business. Go to all your neighbors and friends and ask them to do the same. Hurt big companies and banks. It will make you feel good.

An Indian Blog: Blog 7 of Ten

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 08:50:26 GMT

Monkey menace on Delhi air waves

first published at www.exchange4media.com

By Ajay Goyal

There is monkey menace in New Delhi. The primate population and its destructive antics are out of control. Half of them ravage gardens and the other half are on the airwaves of national capital’s FM radio stations. To me chatter on Delhi’s FM radio is a serious affront. Am I the only one to believe the biggest threat to north Indian culture comes from these trained primates that have seized disk jockey spots on national capital’s FM radios?

Capital’s FM jockeys make noises and attempt speaking human but what comes out is a unique new sound based on English words and no particular language. They attempt swift and breathless outpouring of English words punctuated by local slang. There is little meaning to the purpose or sequence of words. The trick is to appear to be speaking English and not actually speak it. Moreover, English being the clerical language of the country, there isn’t meant to be any thoughtfulness, emotion or sensibility in the verbal diarrhea. The result is screeching and blabbering that is offensive to any intelligent mind and educated ear.

To be fair, the stakes are high in the FM radio business. They face cut throat competition from the news magazines and national newspapers that pour a tenth of all Roget’s thesaurus in each edition. Each major feature leads off with a valiant display of intriguing, intricate and obscure words. William Shakespeare would be flabbergasted if he read some of the news and features published in Indian news magazines. All of his inventions can be found in single editions of weekly Indian magazines. This is what happens when imitation and pretension of being fluent in English reaches such silly extremes. But unlike print journalists who have the opportunity and leisure to look up an alternative to common words at thesaurus.com (no self respecting Indian journalist will use a common word when a tongue twisting replacement is only a click away), radio jockeys can only make sounds that should otherwise be filled with words. Their shows are series of woofs, whams, jumble of words and half baked sentences summarily terminating when the 70s ballad comes on.

The situation gets worse when radio jockeys have to speak “Hindustani.” Hindustani language is a Bollywood invention that was created by accident when ten drunks sang together inebriated while pissing on north Indian tradition and culture. The words are snatched from Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, English, Marathi, Bhojpuri and delivered with a fake Haryanavi accent to the national capital region’s FM listeners. More obscene and vulgar sounding the word the greater its usefulness in this Bollywood dialect. Its only purpose is to try to appear tongue in cheek and entertaining. Much like a monkey on a leash, entertainment by any means is the goal and no antic is beneath these performers. The linguistic result cannot get any lower as far as verbal expression goes.

I am certain no such insult of a language will be tolerated in Bengal or Tamilnadu or dozens of other Indian states where people have a higher degree of self respect and regard for their language and culture. In fact this purposeful destruction of native language is unique in the whole world to north India. On a drive across Europe recently I searched for local music channels and heard radio stations in six local languages. Though they frequently played American Pop, Hip Hop and Rock I could not recognize any traces of English language in the spoken words. Many of these countries have smaller population than a mid sized Indian city. Their media is not only preserving local languages but enriching it. But freedom of speech and this powerful new medium of FM radio in north India is all about destroying the last remnants of Hindi.

In the maddening “progress” of last decade in India pursuit of knowledge has been set aside for speed of its acquisition. Literacy has been elevated to the level of education and basic education to knowledge just so more people can carry higher degrees. The knowledgeable have to dig through thesaurus to appear to be intelligent because it is words and not thought that carry weight among the elite. These presenters appear a notch above literate but way below educated. These radio jocks playing with words is like monkeys playing with loaded firearms. Every so often the results are just as dramatic and destructive. The lingual garbage and wreckage is piling sky high in Delhi.

What thousand years of foreign invasions of north India by barbaric hoards, arrival of multitude of cultures, languages and art forms has not done will be accomplished by FM radio and TV within a decade. No traces of original North Indian languages or dialects in their original form will be left alive if FM radio continues in this manner. People will lose a great tradition of conversation in native languages. Hindi speaking Indians in the north are already losing their ability to express pain and emotion in their own language. The result is that people are expressing themselves physically when words can do. We are falling back into an era that must have existed before language. Sounds, gestures, exasperated sighs went for communication before the cave man had ability to communicate. With words came great civilizations such as the one of Indus valley. In the lap of Indian sub continent great thoughts and expression developed separating primate and man. A great verbal tradition developed in these lands where a linguistic crime of historic proportions is now occurring.

Those who take such strategic decisions to lower the standards on radio have their own perverted rationale. India is after all a largely illiterate nation and no mass media business can thrive by having an elitist attitude. Education, knowledge and thinking are now privileges enjoyed by few and fewer. Most people simply have no time in their grinding lifestyles to apply their minds to anything other than fight to earn bread. These radio channels, like much of Bollywood, mellow this pain of existence and do not burden people with thought. This rationale is lowering the quality of content on north Indian cinema, TV and radio and corrupting national psyche.

But this rationale is wrong. The Indian civilization has been built on the ability of these illiterate folk to carry deep thought through ages and pass it on through verbal rendition. Great philosophy, poetry and prose were passed to successive generations verbally. Eventually Sanskrit and other scripts developed and enabled those original words of wisdom to be written and preserved for eternity. But the value of spoken word and its trusteeship among the Indian masses is the greatest achievement of our civilization. As we lose our languages, we lose a part of our civilization. FM radio stations of Delhi are carrying out this destructive task with vengeance and it must be stopped. The monkey belongs in the jungle and human in seats of wisdom. The two have grown apart for good reason. There is no need to swap job profile with the ape to let our culture fall to the primate.

Where Has All the Money Gone?

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 12:07:57 GMT

Worldwide losses on stock exchanges alone during 2008 total some $ 8-9 Trillion. Ordinary folk are asking a question - where has all the money gone? Where are our savings, pensions, retirement monies ? If we have lost, who has gained?

I have an explanation on where the lost money is. If we see the Ponzi scheme of Bernard Madoff in which he relieved investors of $50 billion and lost much we can in fact understand how $ 9 trillion can be lost and who to. Of course all of $50 billion that Maddoff took from Jewish charities, banks and high-net-worth investors have not been lost. This kind of pyramid schemes are neither new, nor too smart or uncommon. I suspect, I know, similar schemes run inside many wealth and money management houses that manage “family of hedge funds.”

In early 1990s a crude scheme named MMM lost millions of Russians all their savings. The pyramid was simple. The managers of MMM took money from say, Ivanov, and used it for slick marketing and advertising campaigns on TV and newspapers and pay for fawning articles in local papers ( in Maddox's and other hedge fund manager's case Golf club memberships, private clubs, yachts, villas, parties, charity, board memberships and donations ). Shlomo saw all the ads and heard about the money Ivanov was making and thought, wow, these guys are good "asset managers" and they have found a way to multiply money in days and weeks and gave double the money Ivanov gave to MMM. MMM returned Ivanov's money with a hefty profit and bought some more airtime and slicker ads. Ivanov not being Shlomo had a big mouth and loved to drink. He told all his drinking buddies what huge profit he had made and started spreading the word. Of course he had nowhere else to put the money and he had tasted blood so he took it all except what he spent on a crate of Vodka back to MMM. Within months Shlomos and Ivanovs of Russia were queuing outside MMM's offices in Moscow to give away their money. They started borrowing from relatives and friends, they sold their TV sets, country homes, furniture –everything -- so they could invest, earn and send their kids to schools in England and buy their dream holiday in Europe. Now here is the key to understanding where the money went: MMM did invest a small fraction of the money on some privatization schemes of Russia when assets were sold at fraction of real value which eventually could have given many thousand time returns. But people were greedy and they wanted quick profits. They would not have given money for long term and slow gain anyway. Its the quick gain and high profit that attracted them to MMM in first place. So a year into the game it turned out that the illiquid assets in which MM had invested were only about 20% of the money they had collected. Rest of the money went equally into what they had paid back some investors, what they had taken for themselves into offshore accounts and what was spent on advertisement and marketing. The scheme was simple and easy to unravel. MMM managers have spent the last decade in and out of prison and the media companies that were created from MMM's spend continue to thrive and prosper. Ivanov became an alcoholic and died in a ditch in Moscow. His kids never went to that school in England. His son died fighting a war in Chechnya and his kid girl became a prostitute. Shlomo migrated and his kids, rumor has it, joined the Israeli army where one of his sons died young. His other son is an asset manager in a top hedge fund in London and recently threw a party in his penthouse. I think one of the hookers I saw there was Ivanov's daughter. But thats' straying from the thesis.

Now let us look at the these very sophisticated, smart, highly educated, blue blooded London and New York fund managers and their schemes that have lost us $9 trillion. The schemes are indeed extremely complex and sometimes devised by Nobel laureates. Top academics, economists and mathematicians in the world are hired to design investment models, derivatives, trading mechanisms, over the counter "products", swaps and other fancy sounding tricks that relieve investors of their money. They also have to lend their names to sell them. Unlike MMM these managers do not buy advertisement time on TV. That is rude and crass. They buy classy, well written and expensive fluff pieces in journals of record. Their profiles, tastes in wines, yachts, art and women are turned into legends by the newspapers and magazines that interact with them through a billion dollar PR machine. The blue blooded families of Europe and America send the kid with no academic ability to manage the money, one with more literary and artistic bend of mind to write in a newspaper and the one with drug problems to run a PR firm. In Russia Ivanov and Shlomo were duped by TV ad campaigns, crude writings in magazines and word of mouth. In US, UK, Europe and Mid-East billionaire investors are not so stupid. They read well written vanity articles in top magazines and weekend sections of business newspapers, ask around at exclusive clubs and listen to that faint whisper to know where to invest their money. There are the differences between MMM and Madoff schemes and these are it.

Ten years ago I looked at some of this options and derivatives math. Let me explain what credentials and ability I have to analyze these investment instruments. I had seen the MMM scheme, of course. But I am smart, very smart. I have a higher than average IQ and I did take a degree in higher math and my scores in Nuclear Physics were not too bad either. I flunked most classes and exams for five years of my engineer degree so I could read off syllabus books, party, play & stage shows. I then passed 28 of my course exams in one go over three weeks after rest of the class had graduated while I was suffering a bad case of dysentery. I graduated cum-laude. What I mean to say is that I managed to figure out whole of engineering degree after skipping classes and exams for five years in three weeks flat while I was spending whole lot of time on the pot dehydrated and watching 1986 soccer world cup. Before that I took a "sabbatical" when I put on a robe and became a monk to wander the Himalayas. So I have the brains and spiritual gift to figure these things out, OK?

So, I took a look at these money making schemes in 1996-97 offered by hedge fund managers, some of whom went on to become legends ten years later during the boom years of financial industry. Though I invested in some equities and reluctantly hedged my investments I never ever bought into any of the hedge funds that ran very fancy mix of emerging markets, commodity, debt swaps, equity hedges and a daily invention of new "products" and "instruments" sold through a network of private bankers, public relations, lawyers, doctors, dentists, gynecologists, hookers and exclusive invitations and word-of-mouth whispered by some very powerful men conferring favors and seeking one.

I know many friends and acquaintances who doubled, trebled their wealth. I know people who created wealth out of thin air through these schemes. I was never tempted. I know none of them has to die in a ditch or send a kid to the army or see a kid become prostitute. Indeed most of them will never admit to their losses. Stiff upper lip and face value and all...

I believe that the US$ 550 Trillion derivatives industry which runs over the world's gross product of $55 Trillion is a sham for all except those who run it. Beyond the essential hedging of currencies and some futures contracts the whole thing is a fraud.

I clearly see where the US$ 9 Trillion have gone. They started being taken out a decade ago and have slowly been taken from the system in advance. The balance sheets have caught up just now because the stock markets and over the counter trades were kept in a frenzy by newly derived products and increased inward wealth from improved productivity, global growth, high commodity prices and arrival of Russia, China, India and east European monies into the western financial system. Those early investors who got in early, took their profits at the start of the game and were not greedy have some of this money, say one 100th of it. If we total up the wall street and hedge fund salaries, bonuses of the last decade, they are the one's who took the cash out in advance of real profits. They have nearly 50% of this 9 trillion. All they had to do was fix the balance sheets and create NAVs ( net Asset values ) through creative accounting to bluff the investors that they were making money so they could take a little in profit sharing so they could send their kids to schools. I believe that bulk of $9 trillion lost is seen in the wealth creation in financial industry. Wall Street served no purpose other than making money for itself. Its genius lies in its ability to foresee what substantial amount of money would arrive seeking investment opportunities from around the world in the next decade or two. They manipulated investment products and models in such ways that they could take very large proportions of this money out immediately on arrival as management fee and profit share. All this while they were keeping investors in delusion of profit on books. They were helped by a tightly controlled banking system where the investors had no choice but to keep pouring more of their hard earned money into the banks. After all its tougher to open a bank account for a millionaire in a Swiss bank that it is for a Swiss banker to go lose a billion dollars without questions being asked. The rest of money lost can be seen in the obscene amounts spent on public relations, media machines in London and New York and balance in luxury lifestyles paid down in advance. Its all been bought, paid for and enjoyed in advance and the last investor in is left holding the purse strings.

What is staggering about this massive global financial fraud is that it has been perpetrated on the world's most educated, smart, entrepreneurial, industrious and savvy people. They have given away a whole generation of their work's product to wall street fraudsters. They only have their greed and gullibility to blame. If only they could stay away from reading journals of record and believe in "pay per say" news and features, refuse to buy into the imagery created by glossy magazines and weekend sections of business newspapers, be cynical about the claims of genius about these money managers perpetrated through slick PR machines, refuse to be blind sighted by private aircraft and helicopter trips to exclusive golf games and expensive hookers on luxury yachts, they could have kept their money. I feel no sadness for them.

It is the global middle class and its lifetime of savings that I cry for. They do not even know what has hit them. They will not get their money back. In fact they are going to have to work more for less and ante up more in taxes to bail out the perpetrators of these crimes. I have not heard of any homes in the Hamptons or yachts in the Caribbeans being foreclosed. Have you? That stolen money is well protected against any legal challenge or attack. This Maddoff guy will be hung from his seventy five year old Viagra filled testicles but what about all the rest of them?

Look at the weekend section of your favorite newspaper a year from now. They will be back.

An Indian Blog: 6 of Ten

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 09:12:02 GMT

Hope and Faith in India

No matter how bad life gets, educated Indians never give up on hope. The middle class and elite educated Indians are the most upbeat and positive creatures in the world. They believe in India.

I exchanged notes and thoughts with a half dozen foreigners and foreign resident Indians about their perceptions of India and whether they thought the country had a future. They all pointed to heartbreaking poverty, complete absence of civic sense, disregard for life, disrespect for rules, corruption in all spheres of public life, crime and corruption levels that go way beyond any indicators or parameters on global tables, hunger and desperation that only belong to dark ages of human history, infrastructure that seems to have moved only a inch since Mohanjadero, appalling levels of pollution and environmental destruction, illiterate leadership, absence of education opportunities, caste and communal divide and more as indicators that they did not believe in India. They see these things as clear as an elephant on a single lane road being by passed by cars and motorcycles honking their horns.

But then compare these same observations with the Indians that have crossed over from that extreme and desperate life of seventy percent poor. And they see none of this. They are blind shut and deaf plugged to all of this reality in India. They won’t take any jokes about India and bear no criticism. India is moving ahead, they claim, and point to the threadbare progress of last twenty years since I left the country as an indicator. And they also point to the ancient Indian civilization that survives and thrives. Here is one example. Twenty years ago Grand Trunk Road of India built by a Pashtun emperor Sher Shah Suri in 16th century so he could take the loot from Delhi promptly back to Afghanistan began to be paved and widened into a national highway. Work began in 1987 and excitement started to build up that soon the 160 Kms journey from my home town of Kurukshetra to Delhi will be completed in less than the obligatory five hours with a greater chance of getting there alive. Head on collisions were so common I never travelled the road without seeing two or three accidents. Twenty years later this road is still a work in progress, Sections of it, my Indian friends point are as good as any highway in Europe. Other sections, they explain, are being delayed because of land acquisition issues and because India is a democracy and unlike China we cannot just shoot people and take their land (actually land grab in India is as common as rain in Monsoon.) I point to twenty years and they point to sections of over fifty kilometres that indeed have four lanes and toll roads. They point to an inch of progress when I point to a mile of missed opportunities.

In Indian thinking there is immediate and then there is eternity with nothing in between. There is profit and cash now at the expense of what might be tomorrow and for the next generation. All national aims and goals are thus compromised for immediate corrupt gain while Indians point to eternity. This Indian thinking is not about optimism or pessimism. It is not about glass half full or empty. It is about denial. It is about a glass that has some water in it that is already poisoned and it is being depleted faster than it is being refilled. But Indian mind has shut itself to the prospect of what happens to this glass that feeds the billion. The arguments presented in favour of India's lack of progress and woes listed above are simply insane. But they are presented with such fervour that it is impossible not to respect those presenting them because what do people have if no faith.

There is a new national highway - a toll road -- running some twenty kilometres north-south on an elevated section near Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. After a decade of construction chaos, some sections of road are now open. What takes place at the tolling booths is like an army at the gates of Kabul beating a hasty retreat chased by barbarian hoards. But that’s another story. There is another road that brings half of North India to the airport via a village named Mahipalpur. Three times in a week it took me over 40 minutes to crawl through two kilometres of this village while the distance of ten kilometres took anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours. In 1988 I worked for a few months near the airport so this road was on my daily commute. Number of cars and vehicles has risen a thousand times since then but the road width has actually shrunk. Large stones are left on both sides from perpetually unfinished paving contracts. I have seen pavements being built each year for the last twenty. Traffic comes not just from behind and front, or parallel on the sides but diagonally as well. Cars and carts frequently drive on the wrong side of road. Big stones and boulders impede progress and probably kill some each night. Cars, trucks, buses, bikes and ox carts are parked all along. Dust clouds make visibility nil. Trash trucks come and dump right by the road and on it. Children and dogs plumage through the piles of rubbish looking for something to consume. Other children in school uniform cross street without any regard for life always available and willing to die. All in all this village and this street is what aftermath of a blood bath after Sher Shah Suri's invasion of Delhi must have looked like. When I had too much one night of being stuck in the traffic for an hour because someone decided to park a marriage party bus smack in the middle of street and went off partying, I blew my cork in front of a friend. The friend smiled, offered me a drink to calm down and suggested I take yogic meditation to calm my nerves. In 400 years there will be solution to chaos in Mahipalpur as well, perhaps, but the Indian faith is all about not doing anything about it now because in their thinking it will change eventually, eternally. Because of this faith no drivers will get out to move a stone to the side, no shopkeeper or good Samaritan will help a child cross a street. Everyone honks, spits, shouts obscenities and sends text messages to their favourite TV station while listening to 1970s romantic ballads introduced by gibberish speaking monkeys on the capitals five new FM radio channels.

Instead of resignation, revulsion, action or disgust Indians handle their fate with faith. It is frequently joked that the fact India still functions points to the evidence that there is God. That only God can run this country. What the jokesters do not realise is that India does not function. And that should, by their own logic, point to absence of God. India has nothing by way of a functioning system, a real government, a national infrastructure, true progress, real education, opportunity and equality. What India has is Indians with faith. To me it obscures the fact that probably 700 million Indians of no education or voice have no hope and no faith in the nation and they still relate to stone idols and prophets more than national institutions. India as a nation has achieved less and its leaders delivered lesser than the milk given by a stone statue in my neighbourhood temple on land grabbed from farmers that millions come to worship each year.

Where I see a land grab, superstition and a crime, millions of Indians see faith that a marble statue that cries tears of milk will also improve their lot if they throw their hard earned money at its feet and bribe their way to be able to pray out of queue.

An Indian Blog: 5 of Ten

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:31:23 GMT

Challenges for Indian Cable News

first published at www.exchange4media.com

By Ajay Goyal

It is said that everything that could have been said about the role of cable news TV in coverage of Mumbai terrorist attacks and aftermath has been said already, just not by everyone. I do not believe the discussion has reached a dead end. The debate over the role of media needs to move to a deliberative and mature arena with a constructive aim. Mumbai attacks have exposed fatal weaknesses in our six decade old political and administrative system and hysterical desperation in our young cable news media. Neither provides much comfort, calm or confidence and both have demonstrated painful incompetence.

We understand that cable news organizations are not bound to act in national interest. Their role is to report and provoke in manner they themselves see appropriate, operate within self imposed limits and play a role they themselves define. Primary driver of their profession is business interest. However their manner of stoking passions, spreading rumor, lie and hysteria pits such channels against the viewing community and society at large thereby hurting their commercial interests. A change for better is therefore in their self interest. Process of change can only start with recognition of failures in the face of challenges.

The challenges and opportunities for TV news are unique and unprecedented. There are no parallels to Indian news market anywhere in the world. No other country can claim such numbers and variety of cable news channels in so many languages. Millionaire proprietors or owners of news channels are celebrity anchors. Unfortunately the events post Mumbai 26/11 have brought home sad realization that it is not something we can be proud of. There is a yawning talent gap between these pioneers of cable news that remain at helm as anchors and their journalists and newsreaders. It points to egomaniacal station owners that believe in their own star quality to pull viewers. There are murmurs that some keep the quality of production and news coverage cheap and low to outshine their own colleagues. It is said that loyalty and sycophancy are valued above professional qualities, costs are cut while benefits are showered on owners and their favourites in news channels. Indian cable news network competition is clash of a handful of self anointed news titans who all lost some gloss during the Mumbai crisis. If they can notice the anger and disappointment with political leadership, surely they have not failed to notice utter contempt from the public towards their cable news channels. It might be time for some to step aside if they cannot give up God complex.

There is little doubt that the cable news coverage of Mumbai attacks cannot be termed journalism. I do not believe channels deliberately tried to cause communal division, strife, mass anger or violence. That would be giving too much credit to the intelligence and ability of those who plastered themselves in front of cameras when the attacks began. Some are inviting sympathy for their troubles; others are obstinate that they performed an important duty. I do not believe there was a strategy or design to their onscreen conduct. They were emotional wrecks at best, clueless morons at worst. And that is not very different from the political class and its actions and reactions.

Hysterical screaming into camera, dragging unsuspecting bystanders by collars to give opinions, breathless repetition of unverified news is not journalism. I have doubts about the literacy levels of some news anchors and reporters who will find it hard to get jobs in call centers to inform or manage credit card crises. They were supposed to inform the whole nation of a mega disaster. They were lost for words when simple and easy narration of facts would have done nicely. When nation sought some grace and maturity, we got disgraceful insanity. Production rooms melted under pressure. There were contradictions between headers, news tickers, screen images and narration by anchors and journalists. It got worse when screens were often split in three. Each TV channel acquired split personalities and madness ensued.

Those familiar with the workings of newsrooms could see this new multibillion cable news industry melting in the heat of first crisis.

The state of cable news and political dysfunctionality are symptomatic of general chaos in our society. If politicians and news titans had demonstrated some contrition and a willingness to learn lessons, seek help and improve their conduct we could have some hope. Instead we are seeing sympathy seeking, holier than thou declarations, invocation of constitutional rights with a sly sense of satisfaction at improved viewer ship and ratings. Moreover, cable news has tasted blood. The mass agitation and public anger with shake up in the central and state governments have give the news channels a false sense of power. With general election round the corner news channels will only enhance their shrill attacks on politicians. Desperate economic times mean they have to seek advertisement monies from political parties and politically inclined business houses. Blackmail could ensue and image of all media could be tarnished.

All this means that those who have no hope in Indian politicians can have even lesser hope in the all powerful and omni live cable news.

There is another way. It might appear counter intuitive but there are examples of conscientious journalism littered all over print media and those are the lessons to learn. State owned DD news conducted itself admirably. Public participating in discussion forums on DD displayed a gravitas that cable news seems unable to find. That reservoir of dignified TV presence is just around the corner and waiting to be found. Cable news can conduct a great social and national service without sacrificing its business interests by refusing to cater to and provoke the lowest common denominator. It can also set standards in transparency, corporate governance and accountability that it demands of politicians.

There is a great yearning for leadership in all spheres of national life. Political leadership can follow if others occupying bully pulpit can set higher, greater standards first. Some news channels will inevitably take the low road. But such exceptional crises and dangers provide rare opportunities for rising high and going above and beyond. Cable news and its breadth and depth have endowed it with great power. Indian print journalism has been a great force in the formation of Indian democracy and in this challenge to the country cable news has inherited that mantle. The future of country can be defined by responsible journalism that challenges and provokes by calling on higher sense and dignified sensibilities of people.

An Indian Blog: 4th of Ten

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:31:48 GMT

In the last ten days in India and on way through Dubai I have met ten young men with whom I had some length of conversation. They are all desperate to leave India and go abroad. One has worked for a while in Kenya in sub human conditions in a steel mill. He wants to renew his contract so he can go back. If he cannot, he would risk his life like tens of thousands of Punjabi Sikh boys who run the “donkey” to migrate illegally through sea or land routes to Europe.
A Goan tax driver has worked in scorching Omani desert for six months. He will go back too. More educated boys aim for migration to Australia or Canada. Semi-educated one’s will take any chance to go to the gulf. Most of them would go anywhere.
I have not spent much time in India last two decades but I have been thinking Indians are now so optimistic about the economic future and life here that whey would want to stay at any cost. Clearly that is not the case.
Jobs are few and far between. Salaries are low. It is hard to make a living and impossible to make savings. The financial crisis will undo the gains of last decade but even the best of financial years did not even touch most Indian lives.
The quality of life has gone down in every aspect of life since I left the country. So there is Little or no equal opportunity, expensive and useless education, few jobs, fewer decent jobs and all public sector work divided on caste lines.
All the men I have spoken to, none showed any concern for the hard life, risks, security, exploitation, war and disease in Africa and gulf. It is still better there than here they said. That is pretty grim.
It is easy to see why it is so. India is a massive and ravaged failure and these young people see no hope of a better future, prosperity and happiness for themselves. Those who stay do so because of inability to migrate. Punjabi and Kerala boys are amongst the most gutsy fellows in India and the migration rates are highest among them. Those who have the most chances of making a life here are the one’s leaving.
Political and industrialist’s kids get away for expensive higher education in the US, UK and Australia. If there is money in the family a great future of success, luxury and comfort awaits them here. They can travel freely and at will. Their condition is an anomaly and they ( and I ) are as alien to India as lifestyles of wall street investment bankers to slums of Mumbai. What they get to do says nothing about India and yet they are the one’s who say everything for India. Smallest minority of Indians has polished and spun India’s image as a country rocketing into 21st century poised to leave the developed world far behind. For years those reports have given me joy and comfort and they still do. Every story of each Indian’s success brings me satisfaction. But this is a chimera. India is not poised for anything. Its young people are without hope and the only common condition in the country is tiredness and desperation. India is sustained by acceptance of fate. Those who take what they get and ask for little else are the most plentiful in India. Indian kids have to put in superhuman efforts just to make it to medical or technical schools. Fierce competition brings early failure and resignation. There are too many Indians and too little opportunity going around. Land plots have been cut and divided so many times that farmers have become landless. Urban migration peaked forty years ago and it has continued since then. There is no work in villages and no jobs in cities. There are no dreams anywhere and no opportunity to pursue anything greater than the bare least.

Yes India is full of Indians that have never had a dream of leaving their families and they see nothing wrong with the country, that are satisfied with their lot, are grateful for their life, are pleased with their chances and would be shocked if told that someone makes such a sweeping statement in their name. I am sure they all mean to stay in the land of promise that will be a super power by 2020 with a right to hoist an Indian flag on all homes without paying a bribe or breaking a law and its just that I keep bumping into all the exceptions.

Truth is India is very far from being a shining success story that will attract

An Indian Blog: 3rd of Ten

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 06:12:13 GMT

What Indians must do, what India must do

Indians are asking what we can individually do, what can our politicians do and what we as a sovereign nation can do to prevent massive and ghastly terror attacks from happening again.

In great crises great solutions must emerge through proper intellectual discourse. Crises offer opportunities to look at reality and truth and a sense of urgency that Indians have lost by delusions of grandness and Pyrrhic success.

I believe we should stop referring to our politicians and elected officials as leaders. There is no true leadership in India. Our political class is filled with power hungry and greedy individuals that are incapable of grappling with the issues and problems India needs to tackle. They are way out of their depth and most of them are so busy looting the country they have no time for governance. They have come to public life to enrich themselves and not serve us. Those who are in power or come to it through shenanigans, calculations and horse trading cannot be expected to do any good.

Indians must find within themselves and around a new set of selfless individuals that are willing to serve. Leadership is a great virtue and we have skipped a generation without them. The challenges and threats to India are real and enormous and Indians have shown themselves able to make supreme sacrifices. I feel that if we search and show will to acknowledge truth and honesty many new people will emerge that will set aside all personal interest, ego and greed and commit themselves to serving India.

Over the years Indians have sent some truly undeserving people into parliament. Soon there will be general elections. Indians will have to vote for the right people with values and principles rather than choose on party, caste, religious lines or trivial issues. For this to happen not only new activists and social workers must come into political process but also join hands and renounce the politics of greed.

India’s upper house of parliament that is the back door for unelected ruling class to take reigns is a national embarrassment. Film actors, mediocre sportsmen, industrialists,writers and career politicians have found a way to rule India by proxy through this upper chamber. They must resign and in the next general election , people should demand a change to how this upper house is elected.

Indians should also demand that all those who have been in Indian public life for more than thirty years should now renounce public office because they have all been given their chances. We have had enough of them. They have weakened and destroyed this country by their cult politics. They have failed. If they have
something to offer they should serve, make social change and mentor new leaders. They have no other usefulness and the longer they continue in public life the greater harm they cause.

India should rethink whether it should be governed by a system that gives more chances to illiterate thugs than selfless intellectuals.

Indians must take a stand against corruption. Hundreds of instances of obscene sums of money being given to politicians have been exposed. Bribe giving and taking is rampant. Indians should vow not to pay bribes anymore. We suffer enough and we can suffer more. A collective stand against bribe giving is necessary. We are robbing our nation and our children’s future if we keep getting our basic rights by paying for them.

There is more to do. Indians must go beyond the exercise of vote. India is in dire social morass. The attitude toward girl child is a national shame. Indians cannot call themselves civilized if girl foetuses are destroyed in such wanton way.

The excesses of rich in dowry giving, over the top weddings are causing resentment in India. The ill earned money is being spent in “in your face” manners and it must stop. Indians should go back to virtues of simplicity and generosity and not grandiose posturing.

The policies of Indian politics have taken a leaf from British divide and rule. The reservation system in Indian schools and jobs is not affirmative action. It is negative and destructive action that is dividing this country and causing deep hurt. India must phase out all reservations within a decade and guarantee free education to all children and young people instead. All jobs must be available without any discrimination. Indians have to take a stand on this issue and if they do not, they are calling for the nations destruction within this century.

The role of Indian bureaucracy and public sector must be lowered and then completely phased out from Indian public life and commercial spheres within decades. The corrupt and inept people that have been supposed to build our infrastructure and run it have failed. Government must be rededicated to security, infrastructure, education, environmental protection, protection of farmlands and provision of basic health care. The enormous waste of India should come to an end and people should be given a chance to manage their lives since government has so clearly failed.

As Indians, we must do more. We can clean the few square yards around us. We can stop and dead end the caste system. Here and now we must not expect the lower casts to do small jobs. If we do not like cleaning our own toilet then we should build the one that flushes and brush it twice a day with a glove on. I have been doing it for twenty years and it has not hurt or lowered me.Western leaders, stars and celebrities do it. Gandhi did it so can we. If there is no water loo then we should learn to wipe. That is how change starts. Indians should treat themselves and each other as humans and build millions of restrooms and toilets around the country so the first distinction between man and animal can be made.

We can start driving in straight lines and not honk.

We can turn down the volumes at business establishments that call themselves temples.

We can pick that trash, put it in a bag and not spit on the wall. If there is no bag, we can invest in hanging one. If the municipality will not collect it lets gather the community to do it and incinerate it.

Indians need to go back to the basics of a civic sense, community building, responsibility and decency in public conduct before we make demands for a better nation to be delivered to us.

As to terrorists and an end to terror, there is something the nation must do even if it means risking war. We can no longer sit back and watch as Pakistani agencies train and indoctrinate individuals to destroy in this manner. First, we must have a policy of deterrent internally in India. There is no place for terror in a democratic society. A family that breeds a terrorist will pay the price, terrorists should know. For generations thereafter, terrorists should know they will condemn their kin to a life of fear and poverty, prosecution and possibly persecution if they carry a terror act. That is the greatest deterrent. They can choose their virgins in heaven or leave hell for their families here on earth.Their homes where they were bred and brought up must be destroyed and assured that even the safety of a slum in Mumbai, with a tag on front “this family bred a terrorist” will be a great luxury if they kill others.

As for Pakistani agencies and the terror leaders hiding there, India needs to identify and seek out these individuals and undertake lethal action much like being taken by US security forces in Pakistan. Commando unites, local militia and hi-tech warfare need to be deployed to eliminate those who have designed and implemented Mumbai terror attacks in India. If Pakistan is willing to give the perpetrators to Indian law enforcement then India must institute special courts to prosecute those who commit acts against humanity. If they do not not then justice must be delivered sharp and swift, with precision and certainty and a promise that each time you hurt one of us, we will bring justice to your door step wrapped in 21 grams of explosive. They will be mindful to ever hug a loved one again because they will risk them and their household and community and country if they hurt India again.

An Indian Blog: Blog II India after 27/11

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 12:15:30 GMT

In between my first India blog and this second, Mumbai 26/11 happened. Hundreds of innocent and lovely people have been slaughtered by a handful of barbarians for no reason, purpose or sense.

Animals kill for a reason. I wonder what species carry such barbarity in their womb, feed and raise such that would kill so many without remorse. They are not humans and they surely aren’t animal. India is being attacked by a new monstrous species that are intent on destroying humanity.

India has been at a stand still last four days and we have all felt paralyzed and helpless.

Even though terror attacks happen almost every three months in India, this one has been particularly breathtaking and audacious. Amidst outpouring of nationalist sentiment, I am feeling sad. It has been one of the saddest times to be an Indian in my lifetime.

I, Indian, ask if I can be proud of India. I ask why we, the Indians, the original civilization, endowed since millenia with virtues of peace, generosity, kindness, courage and tolerance have lost control of our destiny to such imbeciles who run our country for us. Corrupt, incompetent, indecent, illiterate and greedy politicians make me not want to love India. Why we, the worlds’ most peace loving and non-violent people get subjected to such barbarity by a handful of cowards so often. What is the purpose of India it provides no security to Indians and cannot fight back when attacked. Why is India if it can neither defend nor feed hundreds of millions. I wonder if it is India that is flawed and failed or are we, the Indians, a flawed and failed people.

I believe we have given away all responsibility for maintaining a nation that was conceived in great virtue in the hands of thugs. We have failed as Indians in our prime duty to nurture this young nation. As individuals many of us have achieved and prospered in many ways but as a nation we have failed. It is not a time when I feel proud of myself as an Indian or as a son and citizen of India.

The embarrassments of India start at the top. The leaders of this country - elected by us - appear to have a deep revulsion for this country and disrespect for its citizens otherwise they would not show such antipathy toward India and Indians. Most Indians are just fine with that. We must take blame and all responsibility for allowing such disgraceful men and women to rule India. Our airwaves are ruled by imbeciles who talk without breath or sense, without meaning or purpose such nonsense that it is an abomination to watch Indian cable news or listen to nation’s radio. The angst and frustration of traditional mass media that expresses the indignation of a large mass of people is pointless and un-harnessed. This anger will be gone in a few days, surrendered on the altar or personal egos, small favors and petty politicking, or the next tragedy. Two pillars of Indian nation - our democratic institutions and media - are in shambles. Where Indians can, they sustain this nation with their lives even when they do not have to. Indian blood is bled too hastily and too unhesitatingly. The executive, judiciary and military are fighting to keep their head up with enormous sacrifice in the decay around and within them and the strain is showing. The decency of India has been invaded and violated by its own chosen representatives while the safety and sanctity of the country is being molested each day by a small bunch of rogues that no village would tolerate in this time and age. India tolerates these monsters knowing fully well where they breed and breathe and as an Indian that is my worst embarrassment that we cannot eliminate this threat.

What is left of India then if no security and sovereignty – millions of square miles of land with garbage littered around being poisoned every second. Cities and megalopolises running without plan left to live like rat infested holes with packs of people emerging each morning climbing over each other to make a less than basic living. Roads of a nation that are death traps as horrific as corridors of Taj and Oberoi under attack. Thousands die just as senselessly each week on Indian roads when ordinary Indians turn into maniacs on wheel. India has air that cannot be breathed and water than cannot be drunk. So which India can I embrace and be proud of.

For those who seek hope, there is plenty among Indians. For those who notice despair there is enough in India. India is a land of despair now and hope is making way for desperation. Indians do not think as a community or as a nation. We do not think of a national cause, or of tomorrow and they day after. We do not think of the decade and millennium ahead because we are all busy just surviving. We, the Indians, are fighting daily wars to earn or sustain.

We have earned very little as a nation in sixty years because we still fight each other every day to secure water, safe passage on roads, electricity, a place in the school, a basic meal twice a day, a shelter against the elements or the right to live without bribing. We have lost all these battles. India is left in the hands of dynasties that have bestowed upon themselves the right to rule, aided and abetted by rogues and imbeciles.

After Mumbai 26/11 many Indians are asking what should their government do. What should the politicians do. I ask, what should we, the Indians do. It is no longer enough to vote. It is pointless to write or speak though it is necessary that we do.

We, the Indians are calling upon many to do much. None of it will happen. I have decided not to make a wish list. I know what I will do. I will start tomorrow morning with picking a broom and cleaning a yard of main road near my house that has not been cleaned for decades. I will pick plastic bags and wrappers, bottles and garbage that I and my neighbors have been throwing for generations on that street hoping the draft of passing buses and cars will carry it away. One yard at a time, planting one sapling a time, I will start to clean India. I will feel proud of myself as an Indian and of India when we drain this swamp that is our common space, rid of the swine that has flourished in it and create a new environment where dreams can be nurtured and come true.

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 02:14:09 GMT

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:46:27 GMT

An American Blog: Election 2008, Blog XVIII

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:09:37 GMT

Why Obama Can Win and should

Obama is a political orphan. All he got was one break when in 2004 he was invited to speak at democratic national convention. For years before that he pursued politicians in Chicago to be his mentors. Many shrugged him off and many more still envy him for breaking through. Others did not understand his ambition and could not stand by a man who was not willing to be small with them. This giant among men has had a heartbreaking life. His father left him when he was a toddler only seeing him for a month when he was ten. His mother lived in Indonesia while he was brought up in a foreign country and then in Hawaii by grandparents. His grandfather died, his mother died early from cancer and his Grandmother is battling for life in the last days of campaign. He went all the way to Harvard to study law and then came back to work the streets of Chicago to help poor and destitute. His was meant to be the life of a drug dealer in America, instead he became a King.

This man must have had a vision from early on. He must have set his eyes high. How else could he have survived? How else can a man of just forty something have such preparedness in him. He has a mind, body and heart perfectly aligned for the gruel of politics. He has a family that could not be more perfect. He has the voice of Hollywood stars. His poise and dignified presence is already legendary. But there is much more to him than his persona. He has a keen thinking mind which has changed often on many issues. Only an idiot does not change his mind. He listens, learns, considers and refines his opinions. But above all, he has demonstrated he has the heart of a Lion.

Presidency of the United States is not just about executive experience. It is about leadership. And leadership is above all else, an ability to inspire. Across America millions have come to his campaign meetings and gone back inspired. He touches people as very few in our generation have. He reaches beyond traditional divisions of race, color, height, region, religion, education, generation and ideology because he has created a niche for himself in American public space. He has a stature many have aspired for and not achieved after thirty or forty years in public service. Age is his advantage. He has not had the time to make enough mistakes. And he did not wait to be old and stupid. The longest serving senator in the United States, Ted Stevens from Alaska has been convicted of corruption. They all fall eventually, don't they? What matters is what they give before they go. And Obama has given hope, belief and faith to a large cross section of Americans that were dejected and frustrated and angry and tired. From them he has built the most impressive political campaign in the history of the United States. Thousands upon thousands have been working tirelessly for his campaign for nearly twenty months without rest, without vacation and without money. It is because this political orphan has given then hope that they matter. That they can win by themselves and not be beaten by the corporate politics. The small guy now thinks he can win. This is the dark horse that many Americans have put their bets on in tomorrow's race. On him ride many hopes and dreams that have no color or divide.

Barack Obama is not my favorite politician. He just might be too much to the left for my liking. But he is not a leftist demagogue either. He does not call for class warfare like John Edwards. He does not build on hatred that rests inside each and all of us. He does not try to exploit poverty, corruption, discrimination and anger. He understands it. He understands why people are angry but he refuses to offer them a revolution. Change is all he promises. He carries with him stalwarts of American politics. Republicans and Democrats alike have endorsed him. Because they have seen their children and their constituents look up to this man and change their middle names on Facebook to Hussain.

John McCain is a man of courage who spent five years in a Vietnamese prison. He was there to bomb. Barack Obama is a man of courage who has been on the streets of America where wars have been raging for decades. The poverty of America that spilled out after Katrina in New Orleans is deep and wide spread. Barack Obama comes from streets of America where hope has long been gone and where hate spouting gun toting rappers are the only to prosper. Young and promising die early. Gangs rampage through cities. Children are left uneducated and uncared. Drugs are easier to get than detergent. America is broken. But Barack Obama did not get angry about it. He decided he was the man to change it. This determination carries with it the ego and ambition that it does but after a line of emperors with no clothes, who really cares. This man should win. Barack Obama can win tomorrow.

An American Blog:Election 2008, Blog XVII

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 16:16:40 GMT

Where have all the Issues Gone?

Watching last two weeks of Election campaign on TV it is easy to be confused. Is this election, termed most important since World War II, anything more than Joe the Plumber and his taxes? What about all of the other issues? Is US electioneering so mindless and narrow? Answer is, not at all. Taxation is the burning issue or the day but all the rest is not forgotten.

Nearing the end of their campaign, Democratic and Republican candidates are saying nothing they have not said a thousand times before. But as they hit the airwaves with their stump speeches, interviews, comic routines at Saturday Nigh Live, late ight talk shows and jokes it is easy to miss what lies beneath. By the way, there three more “other party candidates” in this election. Ralph Nader is running, again. He is the man credited with really defeating Al Gore by taking away a serious chunk of independent votes. No one cares but here are the three:

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Third_party_U.S._presidential_candidates_hold_debate

Back to issues. The two leading candidates are like a multi-layered cake. Voters have to decide which one of the cakes they fancy. For two years and more Americans have seen these cakes baked. The bottom layer biscuit is of party affiliations. Democrats and republicans differ on fundamental issues and unless candidates have seriously broken rank with party, their party affiliation is the biggest part of their political DNA.

This defines their stance on right to buy and carry guns, on progressive taxation ( rich pay more), on health care, on education, on immigration, on illegal migrants, on social security and so on and so forth.

Each candidate picks advisors as he progresses through the primaries gathering upto a thousand people who write every word of every speech and vet every statement to ensure it is candidates own true position. His views are questioned on each subject, brought under tough scrutiny by pundits and media and candidates make a layer and put it on the cake in the make.

Here is how two candidates differ on issues. It is important to note that they won't be candidates if they did not find centrist positions on the most divisive issues. So what they say they believe is a moderate sauce on what they really believe. I will try and decipher their belief systems in no particular order:

Issue	Barack Obama	John McCain
War in Iraq	End it, bring troops back	Keep it going till “victory”
War in Afghanistan	Escalate it, take it to Pakistan	Fight as long as necessary
Iran	Talk directly to Iranians, use diplomacy and sanctions, tone down threats, not allow nukes	Threaten, intimidate, bark and if necessary bomb. O not allow nukes.
Taxes	Give poor and middle class breaks, increase taxes on rich.	Lower taxes for everyone.
Business Taxes	Lower taxes on small business, tax breaks to new-energy business	Lower taxes for big corporations, hoping they will hire more people.
Education	Pump money into State schools, improve teacher pay.	Cut spending on state schools, kick out bad teachers and give vouchers to kids so they can go to schools of choice
Healthcare	Universal Healthcare	Let the weakest die.
Universe	There is God but there were dinosaurs and then men	There was, garden of eden and we always were and have been. Not really but thats what we say for the loonie vote.
Gays	They can have all the similar rights as marriage and marry too if states permit.	Hell No. Only secretly and in airport bathrooms.
Guns	Do you really need automatic rifles?	I want that Uzi for my arsenal the size of a national armory. You can have it too.
Abortion Rights	Mother gets to Choose	Abortion = Murder
Law, Supreme Court	Liberal	Conservative.
Illegal Migrants	They are here, aren't they? Give them health care, education rights. I won't say so.	Put up a fence with Mexico. No other policy.
Legal Migrants	Sure, if there are quotas left after my family gets imported from all over the world.	Ummm, only if I get to adopt them

If you take it too serious: Here are the candidates on issues, according to the New York Times.
http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/issues/climate.html