I turned 25 last week, and i suddenly feel that i have performed a chronological quantum leap. Till a few days back, i was a care-free 24 year old graduate student working on his second masters and making a career transition from engineering to the social sciences. This means that i making a paradigm shift (a very Sociology of Scientific Knowledge term coined by Thomas Kuhn) from numericals, simulations and modeling to theories, meta-theories and the sheer emphasis on reasoning and ideas. Its un-nerving at times to sheer intellectual thrill. Suddenly a feel like a pseudo armchair thinker of sorts.  It is also frightening that sociology majors have very limited career options, well I consider myself an engineer first and a sociologist in training. I have always wished to bridge the wide cognitive gulf between the hard engineering sciences and the softer social sciences . The systemic approach to knowledge production needs both. These are organs of the same universal body of knowledge. Solutioneering is a 360 degree effort. Systemic issues such as mega trends of migration, financial crisis, globalization or climate change needs systemic, holistic solutions. I am just a spec of cosmic dust, trying to make a milli-micro dent at the world. Well, its an effort, dont know whether it will yeild an ROI or not. For the sake of love of labor, that is the pure pursuit of knowledge. Happiness has a premium as well such as insurance.

I do not know whether this nerdy initiative of mine to pursue doctoral research in the future in Sociology/STS/Public Policy, will yield me a future of financial comfort- a house, a car , retirement savings. Most academics are struggling to find jobs in the developed world, pursuing contract based post-doctoral opportunities for years after their PhD.This means no relationships, unhappy parents and a loser perception in societal circles. Well, being a nerd means being unpopular because we choose our own trajectory and not follow the herd. By this time, my friends back at my undergrad days have reached early middle managerial roles and some have got settled as well, and I sit down at my uni canteen drinking 50 cent teh-o at 4pm and reflecting on a course reading.

Academia is simply not sexy enough, women like financial safety! The chase is after Consultants, Bankers, Managers and everyone who has a life, not some over qualified but under employed academic or professional researcher. A life of a grad school researcher is tough, penny pinching at every point, a good drink at a pub over a weekend can mean two months of groceries!

I do not know where life is leading me, i can only say that it has been an exciting journey with more downs than ups. Life is indeed a spectacular teacher and a bad master. I count my blessings every single moment and thank GOD for his mercy AMEN. I am looking forward to to the next bend down the road and a blind spot seems ahead of me!

We have all been witness and an audience to the political theater on our screens, every single day since August the 16th.  Its been more thrilling than a Bollywood potboiler or a prime-time TV soap. Anna Hazare, a man of enormous integrity is still on a fast and frenetic back channel negotiations are going on, for a middle ground on the Ombudsman legislation. It has galvanized the nation into a national consciousness only seen during the Kargil conflict in 1999. There are very few issues that bind Indians together apart from Cricket, Bollywood, Faith and territorial conflicts, not necessarily in that order. There have been impassioned protests on the ground through out the nation,  and online movements on Facebook and Twitter, drumming up sentiments of curing the cancer of corruption once in for all. In my opinion, this has been India’s first post liberalization revolution.  The fuel is provided by the media and intelligentsia and the oxygen is the sheer sense of frustration on the part of the middle class in this war against graft. The cascade of corruption scandals has germinated a sentiment for change when they see multi billion dollar scams such as 2G and CWG.

An Ombudsman bill is a good beginning, this agitation is hopefully the beginning for a more aware electorate, which will do an entire generation of voters a whole lot of good, even if it is a minuscule minority of educated youth. Make no mistake, this movement is a middle class initiative. It is the middle class who cannot avoid corruption, for simple bureaucratic chores like getting a document or pension through a government office. The poor cannot pay, and stay the way they are, the rich treat corruption as an opportunity to hasten up their priorities.  This Jan Lok Pal legislation will be a source for fear factor in the minds of government workers, sword dangling above their heads. But it is the middle class too, who pay donation to get their children a seat in professional colleges and to settle a case with law enforcement, when ever they are deep trouble.

Corruption is cultural in India. Corruption is the modern day version of the ‘bakshish’ system. A culture of sycophancy and patronage taken be institutionalized and scientified.  Its a systematic malaise which has to be solved slowly from the roots via incentives and checks  & balances via policy innovations. The Public Distribution System  for food grains is a prime example. Remove the bottle neck as afar as where people can buy the grains from instead of a fixed shop and the motivation of the dealer undercutting the consumer will be done with. The Subsidy should be provided at the point of purchase.  Installing better systems to measure malpractices via fraud analytics is one approach. Nandan Nilekani, the Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India and Co-Founder of Infosys, pointed these aspects in his interviews to media outlets a few days back.  Laws in the books look pretty, but have to be implemented to make the system better. Corruption is behavioral in character; its up to people whether to pay a bribe or to go through the long cumbersome process. The Power is in our hands as the animation series – Captain Planet said.

Let us think beyond legislation, think strategically, think systemic. A law is good but this sentiment is gradually turning towards  anti governmentalism and regime change. Well, that’s another issue which will be decided at the ballot box in 2014 or earlier.  Lets change ourselves by not trying to pay or receiving the ‘box of sweets’ on a Deepawali or Dussehra first. My best wishes and prayers are with the brave people behind the Jan Lok Pal movement, it is a start, a start for reform-needed by a generation who need it the most.

People do blogging for meeting various personal and professional ends. Some do for sharing their perspectives on various issues, some as an online real time dairy on their lives and a growing number to do as an online portfolio for their talents.  Writing a amateur blog, is not Shakespearean  in art form. I write because I feel strongly about issues, and convey my emotions on a particular facet of my interest be it in governance or social matters close to my heart. As every aspiring writer and regular blogger knows, while having a day job (i am a grad researcher), blogging for us takes a minimal quantum of time of our days schedule, we do it, because we love to do so and share our perspectives and in the process create a community of like minded faithful online. Its passionate, spontaneous and real…

We live in the era of the pro-sumer- we not only consume online intellectual content, but we add to the dialogue of ideas regarding the issues we read. WE react instantaneously to policy changes in our vicinity and raise our voices in response to the injustice that we perceive as educated lot, than the ‘silent; majority who live reactionary existences by commenting in their living rooms.   Its inconsequential in the larger scheme of things. Bloggers appreciate feedback; whether bouquets or brickbats. Ofcourse, the greatest gift u can give a writer is criticism!

Not everyone is Jeff Archer, we can be Chetan Bhagat or Shobhaa De, Indian English has a particular style and audience. We all cater to our specific niche. Three Cheers to the blogging community.

This year has been very eventful, the raging Arab Spring which brought secular Arab youth down to Tahrir Square and brought down Tunisians and Egyptian regimes. Bahrain is teetering under protests and Syria & Libya are reeling under civil wars triggered by mass scale participatory protests, which have graduated in to full scale civil conflicts. The Arab youth had legitimate reasons of political non participation under single party and monarchic rule, which brought them (the common strata) nothing but economic deprivation while the resource rentier elite, is siphoning off millions to offshore tax havens and enjoying decadent lifestyles.  The bottom line is regarding poverty and access to opportunities of livelihood not the color of ethnicity and religion.

One week ago, British youth in London was shot dead by police which triggered off protests which spiraled off into rioting  and has lead to a 100 million pound damage in arson and looting. There is an opportunistic element to the rioting- looters packing off 57 inch LCD TV’s and upscale marts being looted. Ofcourse the Afro-Caribbean community are sharing the blame for the carnage, but i understand the UK underclass has struck back against the empire, where cutback in midst of a recession where bankers earn million pound bonuses and the commoner gets laid off. Graduate unemployment is as its worst in many years.  The jury is out- Bread and Butter issues have to be addressed otherwise, a french revolution is indeed on the cards. The french have been on the streets, the Norway massacre was in part a action against the government for its pro immigrant policies, the white under educated masses are joining right wing movements, making the specter of Right Wing Extremism, a real possibility after what happened in Oslo.

The Integration experiment has failed. Today three British Nationals were mowed down by a car in Birmingham, where they where guarding their mosques. The Black Community, often disenfranchised have hit back via petty crimes against the Asian communities which are far more successful. The Riots are directed against businesses; symbols of capitalistic success.  In an era, where being cool means having the latest I Phone and latest car to show off, the celebrity myth has taken its toll with youngsters living under a pile of debt they know will take ages to clear off at its best. Now, the iota of college debt determines the degree of affluence, a person will live in their lifetimes. Now a days, PhD’s are working as Janitors. Over-educated and Under-employed is the paradigm for the new generation except for a few industries.  The riots were coordinated via Blackberry Messengers which cannot be hacked by security forces. Riot planning has gone hi-tech and socially networked.

The times are very uncertain and vulnerable, jobs are few and far in between in this age of higher degree inflation. Marriages breaking down, social cohesion is being threatened by migration and globalization. Sociology should indeed be taken very seriously by policymakers from now on…

Yesterday we heard the news that Madam Sonia Gandhiji, is in the United States for a medical surgery. We wish the great Indian leader, a speedy and a safe recovery. The bigger story is the appointment of Rahul Gandhiji to a four member panel to oversee party affairs in the absence of the Congress. This is very much anticipated as Rahulji has been the ‘Crown Prince’ since a while, while the present Prime Minister Dr. Singh is preparing the ground for him.  Indian Politics is completely monarchic in character. It is all the relations of politicians who contest elections right from the Zilla Panchayat to Sansad Bhawan.  Murli Deora exited the cabinet, and his son entered the council of ministers. Pranab Da’s son entered the regional legislature, Chidambaram’s son is already a politico. ‘Son Stroke’ is an affliction even in the opposition benches; Jaswant Singh’s son to Mulayam Singh’s ward are all in the fray. Its all a Family affair- resembling the film ‘Hum Sath Saath Hain’. It is indeed a total Barjatya production.

Rahulji is being making quite a splash in the media with his taking on the Mayawati regime in Lucknow, he is trying to revive the congress in many parts of the country.  He has failed miserably in Bihar and Tamil Nadu. He is no match via a vis a Narendra Modi or a Yashwant Sinha or a Jaswant Singh. He is a tolerable orator, I guess he is a better organizational man than a mass leader. Priyanka Gandhi is much better. I would pitch for him as he is certainly a better bet than a third front loser from the regional satraps.

There are many potential ‘market entry barriers’ for the educated common folks to join politics, until that time- Rahulji is certainly a good bet.

First it was Saddam Hussein Al Tikriti who stood up to the US and its allies and was sent to the gallows. Of course he had made the fatal error to enter Kuwait, which he erroneously had considered the 19th province of Iraq. The badly judged invasion in 1990, caused an Arab powerhouse to falter and come under UN Sanctions which killed thousands in the dearth of healthcare and food supplies.  He was couped up in a hole when the US forces captured him and sent him to a trail whose decision was a foregone conclusion. In the aftermath of the revolutionary Arab Spring, strongman Hosni Mubarak and his sons plus cronies are facing trail whose sentence has already been printed, the trail is for media consumption.  Both have many parallel’s- military background, secular credentials and were buffers against the rise of a Shia Iran. Rumsfeld was a good friend of the Bathist regiime in the 1980’s during the conflict with its neighbor.  The gravest error which Saddam made was to attack an Oil rich southern cousins, and the Al Sabah’s are long time US Allies since the 1950’s.

Ideological Bathist cousins in the Alawite administration of Bashar Al Assad is reeling under a revolt which it is crushing violently as demonstated in the Hama Ramadan eve massacre. Syria is a difficult cuppa to handle because of its close relations with Iran and hence the Hezbollah and Hamas. It is a powerkeg on the boil, waiting to explode. A Burmese Junta indeed in the making. The same goes for Mr. Gaddafi and his clan. Gaddafi’s are fighting to the end, and I do not think they will be even provided a dignified exit in a International Criminal Court Trial as Mr. Milosovic of Serbia. The Bahrain Government is recruiting Baluchi fighters from Pakistan to quell the Shia rebellion and Saudi Police are always there to help. It will well on its way to being a satellite state of Saudi Arabia, the King Fahad Causeway will only be a technical demarcation now.

The Old Guard of the Cold War era have almost receded in to the shadows of history. It is time that Bahrain and Syrian regimes alter trajectory to save face.   Syria and Bahrain are known to progressive, secular arab regimes, now it has the danger to be the newest Hamas’es of the explosive region. Bahrain’s envoy to DC is a Jew!

History is indeed a great teacher, only if its students are ready to take a leaf out of it.

Some news items are simply not titillating enough like the page 3 thrash that the Times of India and other psuedo tabloids serve us each day, in the 24×7 media beast which is fed by all sorts of manufactured content. Now a days legislative agenda is dictated by media news rooms, and indirectly by the corporate sector who hire pr firms and lobbyists like Nira Radia to expedite ‘matters’.  The News of the World fracas, that brought down The powerful Murdoch’s from the heights of their power exposed the dirty under belly of the politico-media nexus. The consumer feeds on racy stories and sensational content rather than reflective Op-Ed columns, that really matter. The basic Roti, Kapda, Makan or the basic livelihood issues are simply not sexy, to sell. Let’s acknowledge that Kat sells and not Kanoon (Legislative concerns).

The ability to keep focus and to deliver bread and butter issues a midst the media hype, differentiates a quality leadership than from an one that concentrates on electoral cycles. The Media making and breaking a regime is good at times as a movement sometimes needs media backing to transmit its core message  across for change as Barack Obama in 2008 and Mamata Didi’s historic win in May.  The concept of paid stories, dilutes the credibility of the messenger.  The Government’s agenda seems to be shaped according to the media spin doctors and the so called pundits who dictate the public discourse. During the boom times in the early 2000’s, when the business media were worshiping the  beauty of free market fundamentalism when the American consumers were fooled in to buying into and feeding the sub prime bubble.

The rhetoric of the 2003 Iraq War and the Af-Pak war theater was over bearing by the media to create a lock in when there were no WMD’s in Iraq. Well, he was a dictator like many around, so does that give us the license to kill?

The take away from the story is that we should all be aware of the black swan event in our blind spot. It can ruin us. Leaders need to be cognizant of the uncool and have the preparedness for the unknown. Its an age of vulnerability that we live in and the Norway tragedy illustrates the importance of not losing sight on the so called unglamorous fringe issues.

There are some observations and insights about the reality of political thinking and the accompanied governance discourse; their strengths, weaknesses and gaps in perception and terra firma which impacts us in our day to day existence, that i would like to share. It is observed that right wing administrations are good for business and hence create jobs. They insist on limited government and lower taxes aka The Tea Party and in general the GOP in the United States. Sarkozy with his UMP regime, insists on labor reforms and the role of the private sector. In India, the Bharatiya Janata Party is the populist  mainstream face of the right wing fringe  which brought about the most fundamental economic reforms such as disinvestment of public sector enterprises during its tenure from 1998 to 2004.  Italian Administration lead by Sire Silvio, is a fine example of right wing economics at its best of the worst.

Right wing administrations generate jobs, build temporary prosperity as economic cycles of recession and boom times are organic in nature.  But there is a rider associated with right wing politics. Nationalism and bigotry also rears its ugly head during right wing regimes. Republican administrations have manufactured un-real wars to feed its oil industry interests (Bush 41st and 43rd in particular) which has costed a trillion over the past decade, bringing the United States to almost a debt default. Nationalism is often associated with religion with a political tinge. Social Conservative agenda helped re-elect Bush 43rd to his second term in office. Religious conservatism with economic freedom, is the USP on which the right wing brand sells. The BJP government in Gujarat implicitly supported a genocide in 2002 of Muslims, yet has the best growth driven government in India. Narendra Modi, is the toast of Indian Industry, with many projecting him as a potential Prime Ministerial candidate in 2014.

It is almost certain that minority persecution will occur once a right wing oriented administration takes office. Sarkozy banned the Hijab and the Turban in state funded schools. The right wing in the United States and Europe breeds on the substrate of Islamophobia.  In fact, when the economy is not doing well, engineering a riot or a perceived ‘terror threat’ can boost its electoral chances at the ballot box.  The Left is equally responsible for parochial politicking, with creating fiscally  irresponsible  social security nets and the communalization of vote banks. The belief in big government and protracted bureaucratic mechanisms can ward off investors and the lack of respect for religious values does not help either.

I have always wondered why cannot we have  more right wing secular parties like Christian Democrats of Germany or the Lib Dems in the UK. They would make democracies get a tremendous buy-in from the electorate. The BJP would make a for indeed a ‘party with a difference’ and not a party with differences, when it gives up its right wing minority bashing. Politics needs to be about consensus and growth and positive upmanship and not about roits and economic rampages.

Any bright ideas folks?

There has been a huge iota of buzz concerning the ‘greening’ of the corporate sector over the last couple of years. Sustainability Reporting has been made mandatory in a lot of countries including India. Its the era of the comprehensive Triple Bottom Line Reporting, which includes healthcare and human rights indicators, and parameters for reporting vary from industry segment to industry segment.  A massive degree of public consciousness has risen over Environmental matters since there is a critical mass forming in all tiers of society that environmental commons are linked to social equity with the Greenpeace’s of the world making a difference. Media plays an enormous part in bringing Environment to the first page.  Now a days each corporate has a Corporate Social Responsibility division which looks after the Sustainability affairs, which is eventually linked to Corporate Communications. Climate Change of course is a master variable of a game changer. Every single facet on this planet will be impacted; food, water and energy, influence massive human migration and civil conflict. These are essentially State topics and the headache of sovereign nations.   Its  a Global enterprise; Kyoto, Copenhagen, Cancun and the theater of environmental politicking in its full glory.

As Carbon Dioxide and other Greenhouse Gases are stock pollutants with CO2 having a half life of a hundred years, all the accumulation of these stock pollutants since the 1750’s (industrial revolution) were the sins of the industrialized world which countries like Maldives, Tuvalu and Bangladesh are suffering the retributions of it. But we have one planet to live in, and Climate Change is happening under our feet even if we do not notice it. Large Multinational Conglomerates pay lip service to Climate Change issues by employing consultants to measure enterprise wide CO2 releases and neutralize it by buying carbon credits and making it seem on paper that they are carbon neutral. It is buying atonement for sins committed. The truth is that very few corporate executives take the environment seriously.

The Electricity which power corporations comes through the water-electricity nexus, and water cycles are impacted by climate change. Weather patterns change, cause more vector borne diseases and thus makes for more employees to take sick leave, this makes for loss of productivity. Entire communities are lost in flash flooding and typoons. Industries lose capital assets in a flood or a hurricane.  Insurance companies now offer financial instruments vis-a-vis climate change insurance to companies. Globally distributed supply chains get impacted by climatic variations, food supply chains are the most drastically hit.

It is time that Climate Change is taken slightly more seriously in the boardroom