The Food Court

“Have you eaten” or “Makan Sudah” in Bahasa Melayu is often heard from friends here in Singapore exemplifies the value of eating out to socialising and community building in Singapore. The cacophony of sounds from a smattering of Hokkein at the noodle soup hawker stall to Tamil and Urdu at the Indian Halal corner dishing out colourful rojak adds to the “Makan” or eating out culture which is central to the Singaporean ethos. A nation which is passionate about its food, takes eating out seriously as its running culture thanks to splendid NParks connectors.

A few weeks back Minister Mentor Lee passed away, and an entire nation grieved in collective consciousness. On the 29th of March i wrote on my Facebook Wall to capture the sentiment of the moment:

“Watching the State Funeral Service of Mr. Lee on Channel 8 (Chinese Language Station) in my packed local food court with kopitiam Aunties and Uncles whom I have known over years is a solemn occasion. Never felt so much a part of the community before. It is an inflection point and locus of convergence for the national ethos. A misty eyed rainy afternoon indeed. Farewell Mr. Lee ‪#‎Sg‬ ‪#‎LKY‬”

and

“A full food court in standing ovation in mark a minutes silence with the National Pledge and Anthem was moving. National spirit is alive and kicking in this often chided concrete city where commerce takes precedence. Today is a different ‪#‎Singapore‬ .”

As the last line depicts, the food court plays a huge role as a common public space although intimate. This multi-racial society mingles and connects over Tiger Beer and Kopio in its food courts. In a busy city, where cooking the evening meal is an occasional chore, the Food Court plays a critical social lever in everyday lived experience.

Gluttons : Makansutra by the Bay, near the City Centre packages the food court in a very glam manner as does Kopitiam at the Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, the upper social strata version though lacks the soul of Adam Road Hawker Center and its epic Mutton Soup or the Novena Food Court, which are social institutions of note.

All sorts of characters can be observed in this common place where all festivals and mundane evenings are panned out. The senses are overvelmed with the Chicken Rice and the Steam Boats and the energetic feel of a meal time.

The Kopitiam or the Food Court is a Singaporean Institution; with the qualities of the nation. Hygienic, Cost Conscious, Systemic and Multi-Cultural.

Now, Cheers over the Malted Beverage!

Dibakar’s Byomkesh Bakshy: Connecting History and Regional Literature Seamlessly

Dibakar Banerjee with Byomkesh Bakshy has extracted the gold which lies hidden in our vernacular regional literature, and painting that specific narrative on celluloid for a South Asian and International audience will certainly make it the best phillum of 2015. My father read Feluda and Byomkesh Bakshy’s detective stories as a child in Bolpur-Shantiniketan while growing up, and these were writings which had captured the popular imagination of reading masses of Bengal. Bengali popular literature has detective stories as a legit genre, may be cultural loan from its British Colonial Masters. A rich legacy, which the Calcutta film industry has tapped at least for Feluda by Satyajit Ray and his son and now Bakshy by Delhi bread Dibakar who recognises himself more with West Delhi’s Rajender Nagar than Uttarpara in Kolkata as is evident from ‘Oye Lucky’ , a previous production of his. I was greatly moved by his film Shanghai, the first movie i watched in Mumbai after I left Singapore to move back to Mumbai in 2012, where I wrote in a changethinker.com blog post titled ” Is a DTH Box, Development” :

“The cinematic narrative of the Dibakar Banerjee film ‘Shanghai’ played out in real life. Pragati or Development seems to have been relegated to the real estate hardware component rather than human development indicators such as education, healthcare access or employment generation. Special Economic Zones are fantastic instruments to jump start economic activity in an area because of the Tax Holidays, but what about the farmers who sells out his land, has a lot of cash to deploy but does not have the knowledge to invest to properly to diversify his livelihood since he knows nothing else apart from the generational vocation of farming.”

1943 Calcutta’s Wartime Chinatown with the Narcotics Trade and the World War 2 Japanese Campaign in SE Asia connects the local to global beautifully. There is a subplot in the film that captures the naivety of the young in the years leading up to Independence by the capitalist class who were hand in glove with the imperialists, whether the British or the Japanese or even the ruling elite. Dibakar Banerjee’s film making has a socio-political angle, relevant to the times, which makes his films a joy to watch with the thinking cap on. Shanghai, realised in April 2012 had the SEZ Land Acquisition context with the Activist Bengali Liberal Arts Academic played by Prasenjit, the popular Bengali Movie Actor bumped off by the political elite for economic profits while wrapping it in a rhetoric of growth and the entire cover-up of the affair. Excellent film, not so popular as a Salman Khan film, but throughly engaging. Do get the DVD if you liked Byomkesh.

Sushant Singh Rajput as Byomkesh shines without the over acting and Swastika as the actor femme fatale Anguri Devi and Indian Idol Contestant & Dentist turned Singer-Actor Meiyang Chang as Kanai/Ching Ling have meaty performances. The ensemble cast of popular bengali actors defying the stereotype yet authentic, Chinese and Japanese Actors wielding the sword and knifes add to the artwork. The cinematography deducting the crime scene chronology is inspired by Sherlock Homes movie part one, where the deconstruction visually is borrowed from in the technical perspective. There is a scene in the film where Patna lad Sushant uses his Bihari Hindi aka Bhojpuri well, which is very genuine. The takeaway dialogue from the movie is : “The lie closest to the truth is very hard to distinguish”. A punchline indeed. Dibakar certainly knows his actors strengths well.

The stage design and the background score is its true hero capturing the nuance of the times and the energy of the film. Detective Bakshy’s Bête Noire Dr Guha is the powerful anti hero in true terms. LSD and Shanghai was just the trailer for Dibakar, with Bakshy he has an Asian Sherlock franchise on its hands. Outstanding film making, at its sincere best.

Welfare, is not a bad word?

Welfare has unfortunately turned into an undesirable word in the political discourse from Delhi to Athens. The Greek public had an emphatic no vote to the EU Deal in terms of voting in the leftist Syriza. The Maverick Academic Finance Minister of Greece later had to tone down its rhetoric of leaving the EU. But, a bold voice never the less. A fresh breath in the hackneyed discussion. There are a few factors which brought Greece to its tether such as a huge bureaucracy but the structural transformation program (read brutal cost cutting) is simply humiliating for an ancient civilization. The Goldman Sachs instruments only added insult to injury. Since Narendra Modi’s BJP Government has come to power, Welfare has taken back seat. The Work for Employment Scheme aka MNREGA has been slashed as the Food Security Bill. While, Corporate Tax Holidays has increased in the words of Development Journalist P Sainath.

Even, the proposed projected 25.5 Billion Dollar outlay (Livemint, 27th March 2015) for the Universal Healthcare Plan in India on the lines of ObamaCare has been halted in the tracks. Billions of dollars can be spent for Defense and Tax Breaks but for treating a poor man for his heart ailment in a hospital is simply not worth it as is putting food on the table of the hungry, only to be feted by awards from the Davos Elite while sipping flutes of champagne. The AAP Victory is Delhi was a vote for welfare and compassionate capitalism where the urban poor in Mahipalpur near the airport wanted to have a voice in the discourse rather the chic GK’s, ironically both in South Delhi. I have very been pro welfare in stance since a while especially on Food Security in October 2013 when I came on Al Jazeera to make a moral case for Food Security. Welfare is often the last resort of the poor and, inefficiencies and pilferage in the political economy of service delivery should not be used as an excuse to snatch away access to basic health care from the marginalized and subaltern. The Indian State is often a far away entity to the common man on the street and a void is often filled by faith based or community organizations in healthcare. There is a point to start and then iterate with the mechanics but do not deny the facilities if proper service delivery mechanisms cannot be constructed and maintained. Building systems takes time and great systems such as the NHS in the UK and Social Security in the US have taken their own time. ObamaCare or The Affordable Care Act has brought in 16 million additional people healthcare solutions. In a recent Atlantic article it has been argued that the social security cover has made America more risk taking and entrepreneurial. In this years Budget, Singapore which has been a poster-boy of free-market capitalism in Asia has nudged to the left with increased social protection platforms for its poor. The media coverage in the Singaporean press has been covering a lot of social stories including migrant worker food issues and ways to get the urban poor at better shot at social mobility. A new social contract for a left leaning Global City as a recent Strait Times Op-Ed quipped, should be real cool.

It can be said that the author has had a comfortable upbringing and what do i know about being poor. It needs empathy as the Middle Class is three skipped mortgage payments away from developing a class consciousness. Ask about being very little money in my account and without work and I do know what it feels like in that desperate situation. Corporate Tax Breaks and access to state infrastructure to develop industry and then call for government to be not in the business of business is a flawed argument. A lot of corporate profits are cross subsidized by the state ask the Gulf Owned Air Carriers. Private profits are just but feeding a poor man is a waste of money?

Welfare with proper checks and balances creates a more equitable society over the long term. Lets create more humane communities, one neighborhood at a time. A policy push sets the direction, and welfare plays a major role.

NH10 : Gurgaon as Urban Cinematic Narrative

‪Gurgaon is a classic case study in unplanned urbanization from the the shady, character laden Chakkarpur’s of the World to the global DLF Cyber City’s which inhabit a parallel universe. Take an auto out of DLF Cyber City and the realities of the crime rid city confront you in the face. Law and Order depends on your good fortune rather than the local cop. Last year, Aurangzeb was a film to watch out for dealing in the murky real estate mafia of Gurgaon, where ‘Katta’ or the country made pistol and Koffee co-exist at ease. The film starts off with a punchline line : ” Mere Baap ka Gaon, Gurgaon” or my fathers village is Gurgaon. This year, it is Anushka Sharma’s NH10 taking the cinematic discourse forward with the dualities of life in Gurgaon.

NH10‬ is a gritty film with nuanced contrasts between the medieval and the modern of my former work town the corporate DLF Cybercity, Gurgaon and its Jat hinterland with Khap Panchayats with gotra linked gruesome honor killings. Realistic lingo of a modern corporate couple is refreshing with panoramic shots of MG Road Shopping Malls with my work DLF building number 5 shown in one flickering sequence with the infamous Sahara Mall. These shots made me nostalgic. The on screen couple Meera (Anushka Sharma) and her Tamilian Husband chatting on their laptops while sitting on the same bed, is something that a Gen Y Couple can only understand. Love and attraction in the office space is discussed at ease and sex is portrayed for pleasure rather than procreation. This is where the director tries to establish the polar opposites right away, early on in the film. This a powerful contribution to the conversation on relationships in Urban India.

Raw violence has been utilized effectively as a cinematic device. The punch lines of Gurgaon being a youngster throwing tantrums and that the constitution ends at the shopping malls of Gurgaon being very symbolic of the urban mess with a rustic soul called Gurgaon wa! Certainly Anushka’s breakthrough act with a realistic ensemble cast, with a razor sharp edit, a must watch film of the year!

Move in the ‘Write way’ : reflections on writing

I have been writing since I was young, normally more mature than my age group at school. So I did not really find a platform apart from the ambitious English teacher who saw potential in me, as normally my stuff was not fit for the school magazine but for the India Today Magazine. But i still got things on to those limited school time platforms anyway such as good grades in english. I always believed in creating value apart from the school textbook and exams. Both my parents being academics, I was fortunate to have a library of my parent’s books to my disposal and lots of daily newspapers to read. I was well read as a teenager, but my limited interest in studying for grades apart from English and Social Science did not instill my parents confidence in me as grades were key to successive progressions. I did well in them and in Biology and Chemistry until Grade 12 as I am memory-based person. I remember things well, so History and Politics (somehow connected, still have not fully understood the connection) fascinated me and I was in awe of how individuals ran society. I had floated one day to my father the idea of studying History in Grade 8, and he like a concerned Indian parent shot it down. I was discouraged by other folks too when I started writing. A few people told me that writing is not my cup of tea as my writing was not up to the mark, as per the hallowed high priests of liberal arts academe. So dreams of being a Ram Guha was stopped in its tracks pretty early. I do not normally take a no for an answer, and which my detractors soon found out to their peril.

I studied Engineering for utilitarian reasons as a good Indian boy but reading my undergraduate engineering degree in Oman exposed me to fellow wannabe writers/policy wonks. So I wrote research papers on bioethics to socio-linguistics to public policy in those four to five years travelling throughout South Asia, South East Asia and the Middle East studying, working and exploring my self. The real break came in Singapore when I started writing for Green Business Times and started this platform. I got opportunities to write for other platforms and reading public policy and sociology really helped in fine-tuning my writing and thought processes. This got me on to International TV debates as an independent analyst and the gravy train started rolling.

My writing journey started pretty late in my opinion for a person who took writing seriously. I read diverse genres from Magical Realism to Fukuyama. Writers such as Pankaj Mishra and Pico Iyer are my literary man crush. I have never been to a creative writing course but reading the non-fiction master- pieces has been an education. I believe that writing is not a liberal arts majors territory only, because writers translate experiences of pain and angst in to words, and writing is a product of hard work as the Guru of Global Literature Haruki Murakami eloquently writes in his semi memoir on life, writing and running known as ;“What I Talk about When I Talk About Running” . This transformational read resonates with me as a writer. Writers according to Murakami have to work hard to churn out a narrative for the audience in mind, day in and day out. It is not purely, a function of talent alone but of diligence and discipline if one has to churn out a global writing and speaking career across decades and still your readership grows like this recent convert. One has to tailor his lifestyle according to his trade, like Murakami left running a Jazz Bar to write full time, moving across cities throughout the globe, to write, run and live. Till one does not stretch ones limits and trains in a disciplined manner in his passion or profession, a person cannot be successful in either one of them.

I rather used to be lazy to write on a regular basis, but I realized one fine day that as an Individual of limit talents, I was born to write and express my humble ideas in the public discourse on ideas. To write for me, is to exist. I am fortunate to have friends to read my work: Good, the not so Good as well. Writing is about exercising agency and writers are folks who write stories of their inability to communicate their expression of love to a woman, that too after she starts to date another guy they love in person but they would rather mold it in a fictional context in the written word and explore passions in the head rather than in the flesh.

I am currently writing a book (a multi year effort it is turning out to be as I have exacting standards sadly of myself) on the human experiences of urbanization and developing a long essay series on things and stuff in places where I live and experience in my personal capacity apart from having a fascinating day job in Policy Research. Fortunately, I do work in a place where I can write too. Passion and Professions can emerge if we wish to take the risk. Dr. Tharoor is a special kind of writer. Take a pay cut, if it comes down to that.

Keep Writing, as there is nothing more satisfying then someone relating to your story.

A Scribble in Singapore Diaries: Notes from the ‘Field’

An interesting incident made my week. Here is the anecdote:

Today afternoon, when i went to the Indian food stall at the Arts Canteen here for some veg fare (i rarely eat Indian food during the week); the Uncle across the counter, addressed me as ‘Bhaiya’ and i was rather pleasantly surprised by the Mohd. Rafi song ‘Kisne April Fool Banaya’ from the 1964 Biswajeet starrer ‘April Fool’ played on full volume. Simple moments like these make life joyous. Rafi Saab with his soulful voice even after half a century makes his presence felt from Kanpur to Kent Ridge.

“April fool banaya to unako gussa aaya
To mera kya qasoor zamaane ka qasoor
Jisne dastoor banaya”

‪#‎Singaporestories‬

Badlapur: A Movie Review

This is Sriram Raghavan’s latest movie outing with the last being the so called spy movie ‘Agent Vinod’ starring the Prince and his would be Begum, which I had watched in Singapore three plus years ago. Badlapur, named after a major railway station junction in Maharashtra is a dark murder thriller bordering on a genre begun in Bollywood with the John Abraham starred ‘Zinda’ with again a dark theme. This movie resolves around a mother-son murder revolving around a bank heist in which the characters of Vinay Thakur and Nawazuddin Siddiqui aka Laik kills in a fit of rage to save himself the tamil speaking wife and son of the character of Varun Dhawan aka Raghu, the revenge filled and driven protagonist of the film. Varun Dhawan’s character is of a budding ad man whose life gets derailed due the sad murder episode. These emotion filled scene shots are narrated matter of fact by the director and cinematographer. Varun Dhawan character gives up on the conventional justice system to nail the culprits of the murder (tapping on the justice delayed is justice denied rhetoric). Varun’s character appoints a female detective played by a seasoned TV Actress, and how she extracts the initial information trail post the incident is very well narrated in the script. Laik faces a 20 year term for his heinous crime but his partner Harman (Vinay Thakur’s character) escapes with the loot and sets up a flourishing Goan restaurant with a live band and marries a beautiful woman. Varun Dhawan’s character is revenge driven with rage as he retreats to a low key existence in Badlapur town near Nashik as a Warehouse supervisor (one of which looks very similar to the authors experience outside Nashik’s MIDC Satpur’s Industrial nerve). Laik is involved with a commercial sex worker played by Huma Quraishi who ultimately becomes a keep of a politician. Huma’s character is layered and the sexual politics with Varun, Nawaz and Huma is one of the main side plots of the film. The parole politics of the ngo sector and the cancer afflicted Laik and his mother is very interestingly shown on celluloid. Rage and the central focus of revenge via sexual violence is the underlying tone of the revenge drama. The characters of the film such as Vinay and Nawaz with Huma and Divya Dutta, the single mother prison NGO worker (and her chemistry with Varun’s character) is a standout feature. The film uses Tamil and Marathi as useful linguistic contours to paint the film in layers, although stereotypes of a Punjabi Mum versus grieving Tamil In-laws aka ‘Two States’ is perpetuated. The use of graphic violence of of gore and the sexual content make the film bold but disturbing. The violence is the soul of the film. The film’s anti-climax of an ending with Varun’s character killing off Harman and his wife in cold blood to extract revenge is appropriated by the murderous Laik is a very Japanese-Korean esque cinematic treatment. The cinematography was very East Asian inspired as the direction of the film. Pune was the canvas of the film with MG Road as the main backdrop with Marz-o-rin cafe depicted in a couple of important shots with the narrow first floor seating arrangement sipping hot coffee over a serious conversation (where the author has been to a number of times). Laik is shown as enjoying cheesy Bhojpuri cinema after being released on health grounds reeks of stereotyping as the criminal being from the hindi cowbelt. The Marathi Bhajan groups singing praise in the temple in cinematic Badlapur is tasteful. Nawaz and Huma are standout performers of the film with Varun rendering a credible act, albeit a brave one vis-a-vis his contemporaries. The background score and songs move the narrative forward and the editing is crisp. A film unsuitable for young audiences but a different film with a strong ensemble cast. A film where you would not wish to watch with your parents. Sriram Raghavan does a better job this time with his potential in this film. If one has to watch the film, it has to be for Nawaz and Huma as star performers that they are; lend substance to the soul of the film.

Article published on Huff Post India

My Article got published on Huff Post India Blog. Please do read and share.

http://www.huffingtonpost.in/manishankar-prasad/post_9005_b_6650446.html?1424068814

India-Pak sport wars: Need to get Real

As Geff Boycott once quipped during the 1999 India-Pak Test Series at the Calcutta test match ; that an India-Pak match is a parallel war theatre with the bat and the ball instead of blowing up nuke bombs (in the aftermath of 1998 Pokhran and Chughai Hills), the psyche although is very unspotsmanlike though. A mix of market liberalism and irrational nationalism makes it the most watched sport game in the history. I enjoyed my military medium pace bowling in school and college but a proxy for the LOC is unfair. Expression of nationalism on the cricket pitch is a gross failure of confidence building measures and people to people contact between our countries separated at the hip in 1947. I played cricket with my mohajir friends from Karachi in Muscat while growing up along with folks from Kerala. It is the love of the pitch that connected us in the mixed teams that we played in. Salaam’s and Hellos flowed along with more colourful lingo.

Whether we bleed blue or bleed green, there are more important things in life to pander about like poverty eradication and healthcare access in both countries than a made up media manufactured, hype driven, gladiatorial contest at Adelaide where Srinivasan and his cronies make the moolah. We are indeed in what Braudrillard called the ‘Desert of the Real’. Enjoy the game for what it is for; instead of a metaphor for war.

AAP 2.0 : Urban Activism does work

A few days back prior to the election, AAP was relegated to being an opposition player but after the electoral miracle it has captured the popular imagination of the nation. Kejriwal is the real anti thesis to Modi: Activist, Technocrat and Socialist. Both though great orators and have a down to earth connect with the masses, being original mass leaders. Modiji though with his 10 lakh rupee suit, lost his mojo. The fledgling start-up has received Series A funding from the voters to scale up and be ready for Private Equity funding in Venture Finance parlons. In short, run a total majority government for the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The anti corruption, anti VIP culture, pro poor message does indeed sell in the activism driven urban politics of the AAP. Delhi being an urban, and well educated ‘half-state’ is the microcosm of India. As the May 2014 polls for the BJP, February 2015 is a branding communications win too; this AAP victory has certainly had its messaging right. Local for local, community for community customized messaging actually very ala old Congress but very impactful, in hindsight; albeit, with too high promises and too high aspirations. A dangerous stance for governance, but an effective electoral campaign strategy nevertheless that worked. Arvind Kejriwal or AK accepted his mistake in running away from the 49 day stint, and sincerely apologized at every juncture and that connect clicked. But as the author observed during his time in Delhi during the December 2013 poll run up and the 49 day tamasha; AK was very popular with the man on the street as the core constituency was with the common man who eats ‘cholche kulche’ at the corner shop. The common man was not bothered by petty, rent seeking corruption effecting him. As AAP is an activist led entity, their eyes and ears on the ground was always present irrespective of Poll season or not. Mocked, humiliated by the Modi Brigade after the May 2014 Lok Sabha Polls, AAP went into a hibernation mode during which the Modi wave swept the nation winning state election after state election. AAP as per the corporate media was over, a one time fling. But the man on Delhi’s streets was getting impatient with a too much over confident BJP which had swept all seven parliamentary seats. BJP has always been known as the Brahmin, Baniya led Party with Punjabi support in pockets in the after partition areas. The AAP and its NGO movement progenitor India Against Corruption was a reaction against the corruption (read CWG, Coal scam) of the Congress during UPA 2. The Jan Lok Pal movement captured the moral and political imagination of the youth of Delhi. Many educated youth joined the movement as their own contribution to the country, leveraging technology of social media, and conventional communication mediums on print and radio to pass on their message to the potential voter. Catchy jingles by star music composer Vishal Dadlani mobilized the party activists to the ethos of ‘Paanch Saal Kejriwal’ or Five Years in Power for Kejriwal. This time around, the AAP’s activism was sober sans antics and the electoral management was better, Even with its depleted team with defections to the BJP (read Ilmi and Binny) they captured the right segments with a pro poor, pro minority image, leading to a transfer of votes from the Congress to AAP in addition to its own votes from December 2013. This catalyzed as landslide of 66 seats of 70. An unthinkable feat in contemporary Indian Political History for a fledgling political outfit, struggling to survive vis a vis a powerful BJP stopped its tracks. Kiran Bedi as an icon devalued her stature by accepting the BJP offer to join the party just prior to the polls. Kejriwal is a politician, Bedi is not. The veterans of the Delhi BJP did not like her and sabotaged their own campaign. In any case, the BJP has run the Municipal bodies inefficiently over the decades. Kejriwal is a street fighter with a middle class mindset and connects well with the man from the street as well as the international media in English, with Ashutosh and Prof. Yogendra Yadav; AAP has a fantastic media management team with robust research data to back up their arugments. Of course you can ‘Barely Speak’ with Arnab on the News Hour, the Fox News styled News Debate show on primetime Indian TV. Raghav and Aatishi as politicians are wonderful youth icons too. Nerdy and cool, certainly. AK and AAP defeated the supari or contract killer journalists of the corporatized media in the words of Rajdeep Sardesai (as stated in his website and also on scroll.in), himself a victim of the Big Media. The members of the AAP are normal people and that is the most powerful takeaway from the poll. Normal people can win. You don’t have to somebody’s son or daughter to win. At the inauguration ceremony today, AK was composed and collected. He is the man of the moment. His tenor was of a person in for the long haul and with sky high aspirations of the aam junta, he needs more work and less talk to start of the journey as the second term CM of the NCT of Delhi. AK chided the ‘Big Boss’ mindset paparazzi media for their 24×7 news cycle inputs and asked them to be patient for five years. AK is in here for five years for sure with the AAP. Don’t lose your activism AAP, because that is what makes you different. Ultimately Activism is about Politics.