Month: April 2013

Lets Get Real Guys : Hypocrisy about morals

We all know (especially who live in India) that this country is best described as organized chaos. Rahul Gandhi ji during his recent dialogue with Industry leaders at a FICCI summit compared India to a beehive, an apt analogy I must admit. India is not functioning at its periphery but resilient at its core. We know how to survive. We make sure that our houses are clean but we dump garbage outside our windows.  We commit sins in our personal spaces but act holy on the outside.  We watch Munni and Sheila on TV but we expect to marry a virgin. It is a sign of a deeply hypocritical polity.

As a nation India, is a civilizational state like China; very old but politically very new. Our cultural ethos and institutions are resilient and almost immune to political changes.  Politically we believe in shouting in response to Arnab on News Hour in the comfort of our air conditioned drawing rooms but do not go out to vote.  We feel good by signing an online petition at Change.Org rather than participating in an actual protest.  Most guys who drink in India have not informed their families that they do (my parents are cool) and feel uneasy to introduce their girlfriends to family. We believe in purity as a cultural virtue (remember Sita’s Agnipariksha?) but do all sins of the flesh (ask Nityanand ji :P). Incest in common, rapes is commonplace. These acts are dastardly and condemnatory. These guys deserve the harshest punishment in the shortest time.  Yet on the other Live-in relationships and single night stands are considered immoral. We are slowly turning into a nation of perverts. I am ashamed to be an Indian Man now days.

 The Indian Male has to learn to accept that woman can earn more than him, be smarter than him and can call the shots. She has a choice.  A severe attitudinal paradigm shift is needed. No amount of legislations can stop sexual crimes if the Indian ‘MCP’ does not change. If a girl rejects you, do not take the cowardly path; prove to her that you are worth her time.

Moral Duality, Sexual Perversion along with the inability to accept the weaknesses disintegrating our social fabric in the face of globalization is impairing our ability to deal with serious deep issues at a social as well as on a personal level.   The only way to start is by beginning to accept the flaws. There is a tendency to overhype sex as a sacred sacrament too. This attitude is the root of all evil.

Lets change ourselves as a polity, one household at a time. And Sex Education does not work as my 9th grade Science Teacher skipped the section in the anatomy class about the reproductive organs.

Is the Secularism Question, really secular?

In India the reality is that the discourse on secularism boils down to trivial politics. As per the 42nd amendment (in 1976) to the constitution the politically contentious term ‘secular’ was added to the preamble. So it seems that Secularism is a relatively recent addition to our dictionary of political discourse.  A ton of writings has already been authored by intellectuals and scholars from the social sciences, so I would not mind adding my two cents to the burgeoning literature volumes with this post. This question about secularism is overbearing the entire national conversation in the run-up to the next national polls, hence it is vital that secularism as a notion is de-constructed to release its essence, to make meaning out of the term.

Secularism essentially calls for the separation of the Mandir and the Mantri-land, but India has been a state where religion has been a personal affair but at the level of the state, faith is not a guiding force as in the case of Islamic Theocracies in the Mashreq.  Secularism as a term is mis-construed as minority appeasement as it is equated with reservations and soft approach towards terrorism (which is highly debatable as left wing extremism has been in India since the late 1960’s and Mahatma Gandhi was killed by a right wing hindu fanatic). It has been intensely politicized to the extent that ‘Sickularism’ is a term imposed by the Indian Right on their left wing ideological cousins.  The Indian Right treats the Hindu community as a monolith, but as a 79% block it has many sub-divisions such as backward and schedule castes who do not align themselves very comfortably with the ideology of Upper Caste Dominated Right.  There are also states in India where Christians (North East), Sikhs (Punjab) and Muslims (Hyderabad City, J&K) are in the majority along with major minority populations in large states. In short, the whole secularism debate is a complex one. Minorities too have to shed the victim mentality mindset to be a part of the national conversation on growth. It is a two way traffic always. Give and Take; business and trade-off are the most important tool in ensuring secularism.

Power Politics is played out in the name of secularism.   We have the 2nd largest Muslim Population in the World and the right has no option but to accept it. The Left has to make peace with the fact that India has been culturally as a Civilization: ‘Hindu’. The Congress also has to offer India development along with minority protection which in 1984 it miserably failed in Delhi. The BJP has to make overtures to moderate Muslims to be the part of its growth story plan, which in Gujarat it has conveniently excluded.  Every major political party is guilty of a political sin in a mission to garner votes. And I have not started to even comment on linguistic politics in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu where Hindu from Samastipur is politically pitted against Hindu from Konkan.

The conversation on secularism has to be elevated on a practical platform. How do we embed secular ethos in policy design and planning?

The questions should address broader notions of secularism such as ecological and social justice, equity and economic efficiency in access to welfare rendered by the state. Petty Power Politics in the name of Faith and Identity is easy but regressive; can win one election but there are larger, critical matters at stake in governance.We need to raise above trivial definition based contests on secularism to one, on inclusive growth coupled with equity.

 

 

One Year@Maximum City, Maximum Experiences

Pretty much one year back, I dropped out of my second grad program in Sociology at NTU to rejoin the real world. I was not enjoying the program and knew intrinsically in my third semester in the last leg of my doctoral coursework that a course correction was needed. I love Singapore and everything about it and would like to move back if GOD presents me an opportunity. I took the leap of faith, and all thanks to the present organization I work for I moved back to the organized chaos of the city of my birth, janmabhoomi was to transform into my karmabhoomi. I have had a love-hate relationship with the city, never really felt comfortable here but knew that the city has had a valuable part to play in my manufactured psyche. The thing I appreciate about the place is the ‘Dhando-Wado’ spirit, a ‘can-do’ business type attitude, which makes this heart-less city function.

This city has made a man out of a boy. I have also had the opportunity to travel to some incredible places from Alwar to Anantapur thanks to work engagements.  These have been opportunities to re-explore India, meet some incredible people, make friends and mentors and this experience has enriched me totally.  But, somehow I feel, the time to explore is dwindling by the day and time to make a call for the long term has arrived.  

To be really honest, I never had the faith that I will survive the rough and tumble of Mumbai after a decade overseas of learning and growing up.  I landed up into an empty apartment, with a very global mindset and also took time to bear the emotional distance of being away from friends who are as close as family to me.  This time here has made me realize how much of a ‘Singaporean’ I am ; inspite of not even having a PR.  Education in a particular ethos and culture certainly leaves it signature imprint on ones values.  I long to go back all the time, and I visit the place as often as I can lah. I miss my Kopio at the Food Court at Sunset Way, Clementi.

Time has just flown by, for good or for bad, made me mature for tackling the difficulties of life.  I thank all my friends and mentors for guiding me through this journey so far.

I have cultivated an acquired taste for cutting chai now days, call it Singaporean Pragmatism at work.

 

 

 

Development not Digital Democracy!

Public engagement on social media came of age with the 2008 US presidential polls with the Obama Campaign leveraging the various social media technologies when it was an upcoming medium to connect with the youth. By the time, the re-election bid in 2012 came up; Obama had a crack technology team using Social Media to engage the crowd, for fund raiser and use the power of data analytics to tailor the electoral strategy. In democracies, perception management is the name of the game. Politicians had it relatively easier in the Cable TV era, Web 2.0 time is a 24×7 beast where impression micro-management is a total strain. Every little action performed by a leader is dissected by millions of pairs of eyes. The term ‘Public-Figure’ has indeed taken on a new life. With Modi Bhai and his 3D act in December 2012 polls demonstrating how technology will be critical in transforming politics.

Technology changes every two decades and so does the manner political communication is delivered to the masses. As ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ as was proved in the latter half of the 20th century, with the first presidential poll debate in 1960, brought about a sea change in how political leaders are held accountable.  Churchill would have never won a TV debate, because the fact is that he was not visually appealing enough;  Sarah Palin was a local beauty queen and Ronald Reagan, a former Hollywood actor and looking good is important for politicians now a days. Maharashtra Politician Raj Thackeray is known to use a vanity van before addressing major rallies. I have to add, he does have movie star looks as well.

Southern India has a track record of movie celebrities, making it big in politics. The era for show business entering politics is passé as politics is itself show business as the desi maxim ‘joh dikhta hain who bikhta hain’ or lossely translated from Hindi as whatever is seen, sells. The lines are blurred for good. Politicians in Urban India hire PR agencies to manage their social media outreach and over all image communication. Modi bhai is a leader in this domain, he hired APCO Worldwide to manage his Government’s lobbying efforts. PR man Dilip Cherian works with political parties, as does Congress leaning activist Sanjay Jha. Mr. Jha’s counter hash tag coinage of #Feku to blunt #CIIPappu ihas turned Twitter into a political battleground of trolls and visceral attacks. Social Media helped catalyze revolutions in the Arab World as well as mobilize the Shahbhag Phenomena, but it is in danger of getting hijacked from an honest platform for free conversation to one driven by manufactured consent.  

We do not caste our vote online yet and internet penetration is still fairly poor in India too. Technology especially Web 2.0 tools are awesome in terms of community engagement. Democracy is still fought in the heat and dust of Bundelkhand and not by the denizens of SoBo on their Galaxy Tabs. Communication is cool, but deliverable Development is the crux of hard democracy.

Tweets are not Counted as votes yet, Right?

Singapura: Field Notes from a personal journey ‘home’

Last week, I had travelled back on a break to the city, which really gave me an identity, a voice and played an in valuable part in shaping me through my two master degree programs. The place is Singapore and this city’s role in my consciousness was further intensified during my recent short break.

Ever since landing up in Singapore’s Changi Airport Terminal 2 I was warmly received by two old friends from my AIESEC Days in Grad School at NUS. We had a short chat over Peranakan Teh Tarik and Kueh at the Airport and then I made my way to my home for the next three days in Singapore. I was fortunate to have visited the Town Area of Raffles Place that afternoon for a meeting then headed to Arab Street for Iced Apple Tea Turkish Style and Beer later on at Blue Jazz Cafe.  Did I mention that I had the opportunity to partake in  authentic vegetarian Bengali fare for lunch too: P

Singapore for me is not about the place, but about the people. My trip was made special by my Singapore Family, two friends who are truly my family there lah. None of the places that i have been this time in Singapore, would be without the blessings of the Singapore Family.  I felt at home in Singapore right from the moment I landed to the moment I had to leave.  From the Idly and Masala Chai at Tekka Centre, Little India MRT Exit C to the Hummus at Arab Street all felt home.

Singapore is the microcosm of Globalization, where can meet a Bangladeshi and a Global German speaking  Chinese Singaporean at Little India for makan on a Saturday evening over a Russo-Uzbek meal and then walk down to a North Indian Restaurant for Indian tea post dinner for an extended conversation.  A lot of my friends in Singapore complain about the place being boring and about the country undergoing a churning regarding identity. Well, my answer to them as a person who wishes to make Singapore home again, is that safety and discipline can make a place seem uninteresting but there is no counter price to good governance and law and order. And regarding identity, every young immigrant nation takes time to find it’s ‘ethos’ and its ‘core’.

Singaporeans are a resilient people and have well-wishers like me all over the globe. And I will be back for my dumpling noodle soup at a food court nearby very soon.