Imbecilic Nitwits Design Idiotic Acronym

The Public Interest Bulletin by the "1%" At Mehfil Restaurant in Raidurgam, Hyderabad

Deny To Affirm

A recent re-watch of the 2006 movie “Stranger Than Fiction” was, well – a strange experience. The movie is self-referential and high on literary criticism - yet very engaging. The premise of the story is that Harold, a taxman suddenly starts to hear a voice-over reciting his life. And as it turns out, the narrator is a fiction author with writer’s block who nonetheless is famous for killing the main character in her books. Harold figures it all out along the way and meets the author in order to stop his “imminent death”. By the third act of the movie the author has finally devised a method of knocking off Harold – albeit with a “poetic” & “meaningful” death. After reading the draft - where Harold runs in front of a bus to save a young boy - Harold reconciles with his own death and accepts what is coming.

As I saw the movie, the constant thought I had in my mind was that this was a familiar tale - a man communicating with an omnipotent voice that finally convinced him to willingly accepting his own death for the “greater good”. In fact it is the most widely told tale in human history – the story of last days of Jesus. The part that conforms to this movie is of course that of Jesus’s dialogue with God, specifically - The Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. The theology of the conversation is the content of all Good Friday sermons. But at its crux is the acceptance by Jesus that his death was necessary for a higher purpose.

A graceful last act is not always afforded to people. Imagine other living things at the end of their lives and how they die. D H Lawrence in his poem “Self-Pity” once wrote –

I never saw a wild thing
sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
without ever having felt sorry for itself.

An alternate form of life (a more natural form of life perhaps!) is proposed here – not only unfettered by the wallow of self-pity, but also unbound by the sentimentality in getting to the very end of life. A lack of awareness of one’s mortality, as is the case for non-humans, may help here. People on the other hand are hyper-aware of their mortality. A large number of life choices are made with that knowledge. People do altruistic acts to make the pain of leaving the stage more bearable, maybe in the belief that they can rest in the knowledge that they played their “part”. Public service and any other forms of “helping out” maybe means of finding closure and meaning. In a sense people may not mind abiding by the maxim - “What would Jesus do?” when it comes to dying. Since what the Bible says Jesus did at the end is – accept the hand dealt and died in the service of mankind.

Another famous incident on the topic of altruistic suicide is that of British Captain Lawrence Oates during an unsuccessful expedition to the South Pole in 1912. Story goes that a gravely sick Captain Oates willfully walked out of the tent into a blizzard and to certain death in order for his team to have a better chance of survival – given their dwindling rations and them having to care for him. His understated famous last words were – “I am going out and may be some time”. To qualify it as simply courageous – seems to be doing a disservice to the act. The difference between the choice that Harold or Jesus faced and that Captain Oates made is that in the case of the Captain we do not have a record of the inner reasoning that went into such a momentous decision. 

 In December 2014, news carried the story of a Chinese woman Qiu Yuanyuan - who died by opting out of chemotherapy for treating her cancer in order to give her unborn child a chance to survive. Admittedly there is an element of vicarious living here for the cynical minded. But it is also true that this form of altruistic suicide is the most commonplace and relatable of all the other instances cited above. The notion of “greater good” that is normally seen as a valid justification is modified here into the hopes and possibilities that a child brings. Therefore in this act of denial of life, there is also affirmation of life.

Tributes to Qiu Yuanyuan

Links:
"Pregnant Chinese woman with cancer dies after refusing chemo to save son" - The Hindustan Times
"Antarctic mission: Who was Captain Lawrence Oates?" - BBC News 

Breaking the Fourth Wall

As I was going through Lakdi-ka-pul in Hyderabad recently, I noticed something amiss. This particular stretch of road had been lodged in my memory because of a photograph I had taken two years ago (below). It held a curious Gandhian irony of a liquor outlet surrounded by khadi shops - Gandhi's vice & virtue in juxtaposition.

The one other place where these these two entities come into such close proximity is the fourth section of the Indian constitution's containing the 'Directive Principles of State Policy'. Article 43 of this section states that - "..the State shall endeavour to promote cottage industries..." which is closely followed by Article 47 which states that - "the State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition... of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health...".

Both these articles were included as Gandhian directives of instructions to the state. But while both are non-justiciable, it is apparent from popular fashion and excise revenue collections as to which entity is getting "prohibited" and which "promoted". The paradox comes a full circle when one realizes that the state assembly - an institution that is filled by patrons of both these establishments, is a stone's throw away.

My recent visit to the place though led to some mixed feelings. The facade of the building that housed the liquor and khadi shops had been demolished in a road widening exercise. What remained was the sliced-open carcass of the building. The floor above the shops used to be occupied by a shady hotel whose bathrooms where now open to public viewing from the street - they now quite literally were 'public toilets'. And one of the shops that sold the high-minded khadi cloth - the symbolic vestige of freedom movement, now had a hawker peddling the humble handkerchief. While the liquor shop itself was now an empty shell. The noble and the despicable had in the end met a similar fate - nostalgia and pleasure it seems are no match for the juggernaut of progress. On this road at least, morality gave way to the pragmatic.

Eternal Rest in Hyderabad

Place of Birth and especially the Place of Death are often neglected areas of macabre research. On the subject, the Philadelphia-born comedian W.C.Fields' cheeky yet candid suggestion for his own tombstone epitaph reads: 

"Here lies W. C. Fields. I would rather be living in Philadelphia." 

 

The decade old Microsoft X-Box 'Life is Short, Play More' advertisement (above) captures the trite 'Life is a Journey' expression literally. The emphasis is inadvertently not on on the actual elaborate scalar distance covered but the vector-geometric concept of displacement - the effective spatial journey covered in life to 'eternal rest'.

On page 8 of today's Time of India (Hyderabad version), an obituary message declared yet another beloved dog's passing away a year ago. The owners/family came out with not just the Date of Birth and Death of Death but also quite uniquely - the places of these events. Unlike the more popular human destination of Heaven and the significantly less trendy Hell, dogs apparently prefer a different place of 'Eternal Rest' - Hyderabad!

But it is only Rs.100!

Selling insurance is a strange proposition. In a month, I have sold around 600 accident insurance policies. I have a standard pitch that rolls out like a tape. And then there is a more persuasive/ aggressive pitch. If the prospective customer is still not convinced, then I usually say something like "...if Rs.100 is too high for annual accident insurance cover for you, then put your faith in God!"

 Like everyday, I had yet another customer walk-in asking about the 'four lakh insurance'. Once the customer is willing, its a short routine for me. I make a mental calculation of their age, since the policy only applies to people between the ages of 18 and 65 years. Then I am required to ask the line of work the client is engaged in, since police and armed forces are excluded.

So once again I do my usual assessing and ask this particular forty-something thin bearded individual the same "what do you do?" question.

He replies "I am a pastor."

I start to smirk and asked where his church was. He answered.

In about five minutes he was insured against accidental death, permanent total disablement and permanent partial disablement and temporary total disablement. I handed his policy to him.

Before he got up to leave, I couldn't help myself so I told him that I sometimes promote this insurance policy by comparing it favorably against faith in God and that in his case I couldn't do that.

In an unflustered manner, he said "But it is only Rs.100!"

I quickly added "..and it has been extremely popular with the customers..."

Link:
http://www.sbigeneral.in

The Purpose Of The Others

A few weeks ago during the ongoing US Presidential election campaign, President Barack Obama made a speech where he controversially used the words "You didn't build that" in reference to how individual wealth creation is dependent on social institutions and structures. The soundbites of the speech were relayed on the news networks and on the internet (below):

The immediate para of the "You didn't build that" part of the speech was:

"If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.  There was a great teacher somewhere in your life.  Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive.  Somebody invested in roads and bridges.  If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that.  Somebody else made that happen.  The Internet didn’t get invented on its own.  Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet."

-US President Barack Obama

Something about this speech felt familiar. Deja vu perhaps? Then the speech faded from memory.

 During this morning's journey to work, I heard words that brought this speech back to mind. I was listening to one of my brother's music CDs when an old telugu song came on. This song too talks of the futility of self-absorption and calls for the realization of the organic nature of human existence within the social framework. The song was from the telugu movie "Rudraveena" called "Chuttu Pakkala Choodara Chinnavada" ("Look Around Little One") written by Sirivennela Sitaramasastri. 

The last stanza of the song roughly translates to:

Every grain you eat, was produced by this community

The life in which you take pride, was shaped by this society

When the time comes to repay your debt, are you fleeing?

Will you burn the boat, after you've crossed the stream? 

 

 Both the song and the speech have a socialist tone. In the song this message is contrasted against a mystical and spiritual understanding of human existence. While the same message is used by Obama to counter an existential interpretation of free-market individualism. Put together, these interpretation have sought to project socialism as a beacon to refute both the atheistic & worldly as well as the religious & other-worldly interpretations of human existence.

 But in this effort to glorify socialism in poetry and prose, one aspect that remains unanswered is the extent to which collectivism is an end as opposed to it merely being the means. This element of vanity within socialism was captured by the comedian John Foster Hall in his often quoted pithy one-liner:

"We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for, I don’t know"

- John Foster Hall

Links:

1. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/07/13/remarks-president-campaign-event-roanoke-virginia

2. http://www.lyricsintelugu.com/2010/07/rudraveena-lyrics-chuttu-pakkala.html

3. http://audensociety.org/vivianfoster.html

Trust, But Verify

Business transactions take place because the parties involved agree to act in good faith. This is an essential requirement for trade just as it is for most other human interactions. Placing faith in another is an endeavour that is fraught with perils. But that is the price of trust.

To emphasis India's approach policy toward Pakistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh often repeats former US President Ronald Reagan's Soviet-directed phrase - "Trust, but verify" . The phrase actually brings out the inherent vulnerability in the whole exercise of engaging 'the other'. The insurance industry actually factors this feeling of 'being taken for a ride' in calculating the Moral Hazard in a transaction.

This jeweller's ad on the back of a bus picks up on this notion of trust. It reads -
                   
                                 "Our Gold is as Pure as your Trust".

Thus placing the onus of the quality of their product on the customer's belief. The statement works just as well when the word 'Gold' is replaced by 'God'. All the religions willfully put their followers in that position of having to conduct their own self-appraisals in order to enjoy the benefits of their faith. Here, suspension of disbelief has to always occur first at the individual level.

The larger irony in the advertisement's message though is that while the benchmarking of gold itself as a metal of value to humans is an exercise in trust, still within that taken-for-granted trust - doubt persists on the details. And hence the phrase "Trust, but verify".

Return of the Doggone

Third year in a row, the spirit of Puppy (alias Canny) refuses to die on the pages of The Times of India.

Page 10 of the Hyderabad edition of The Times of India 

A familiar snout and poem.

2010: http://dinesh-aditya.blogspot.in/2010/05/doggone.html

2011: http://dinesh-aditya.blogspot.in/2011/05/doggone-strikes-back.html

The Chenchu Country

Nalamalla Hills are home to the Chenchu tribe. They have been its guardians since time immemorial and it has sustained them to this day. But the romanticism associated with the notion of a simple life sits in stark contrast to the harsh realities of grinding poverty and destitution that form the daily experience of the Chenchus. Today the Chenchus are a shadow of their former selves.

During the last week of November our team of wildlife photographers, outdoor enthusiasts along with a small documentary crew ventured on a journey into the northern tracts of the Nalamalla forests past Mannanur in Mahbubnagar district (140 kms from Hyderabad). In our quest to reach a Chenchu settlement, we ended up hiking deep inside the Farahabad Tiger Reserve - home to panthers, monkeys, bears and of course tigers.

After a 12 km jeep ride inside the reserve, we were informed of a settlement that can only be reached by foot. The hilly path leading to the settlement was littered by pug marks and droppings of carnivores and pits dug by sloth bears - the group decided then and there to stick together. The end of the 6 km march through the deciduous jungle was marked by the menacing howls of the semi-wild dogs that signals the proximity of a Chenchu village. We had reached Bhiarapur Penta.

Bhiarapur Penta is situated next to an ancient temple on the banks of a small man-made lake. Katraju, the Chenchu ‘pedda manishi’ or headman of the village tells us that their village lies on the old forest pilgrim path to Srisailam used before the time of roads. This also signifies constant contact with the wider society explaining the prevalence of Shaivism in the area.



The village itself was spread over a wide area with the huts spaced out - apparently to avoid brawling after drinking. On visiting individual huts, we inevitably find someone ill. Fevers are a running theme here and the frail bodies of the Chenchus do not offer much resistance. Slowly the hardships of the Chenchus unravel before our eyes - they do not practice agriculture and are not allowed to hunt, their kids have to walk for miles through the forest to get to and from school, they depend on the government for food-grain and pulses. The threat of being relocated from their home plays on their mind and they do not believe they can survive outside their forests.

We left Bhairapur Penta after a day spent among the Chenchus - all the while reminded of contrasts and commonalities that we held with them. On the jeep ride out of the reserve, we met a Chenchu man employed by the forest department as a wildlife spotter. After the spotter had shown us his skills with his bow and arrows, one of our group members struck a conversation with the spotter, cheekily asking the him if it would be alright if one of us were to marry a Chenchu girl. The spotter instantly got annoyed and retorted “evari kulam lo valu undali” (“a person should stay within his community”) before curtly parting with us. We had finally met the Chenchu.


(Written for University Monthly - Osmania Courier and therefore the content & tone)

Not Willing

This photograph of is from a Pune-Hyderabad flight from yesterday. Generally airlines won't ask passengers to open doors, but when they do (especially emergency doors) - it may not be the best time to express reservations.


(Closer Look)

Still, the third category of ineligibles for filling a particular seat next to the exit is baffling -

"Persons who are not willing to open the Exit"

Some common problems with such instructions:

• How does one identify such an individual, does the cabin-crew ask?

• Is previous experience in such door-opening activities necessary?

• Does such a passenger get compensation/air-miles for his emergency-doorman duties?

• What if the plane is full and no one is willing?

• What if the only "willing" passenger wants an isle seat?

• What happens if the passenger changes his mind after initially consenting?

• What if the passenger is "willing" but not able to figure it out?

• On what cue does the passenger open the exit? For eg: When he hears a Doorbell perhaps?

• What if the exit is opened but there is no emergency? Does the passenger retain his seat?

• What if the passenger is overly enthusiastic about opening the exit - is that a cause for concern?

and so on.

(Photography: Dr. Vijay)

Energetic Panel

This morning moving solely on an impulse for Ghee Idlis served at Purna Tiffins in Krishna Nagar, we started from my place at 10 and made our way through Film Nagar. There we were hit in the face by a colossal hoarding placed strategically on the foot-overbridge opposite the Film Nagar Cultural Centre/Club (FNCC). It was a campaign billboard for the upcoming elections to the FNCC. If ever there was a way to make sure your constituents memorized your face (and the faces of everyone of your proposed "energetic panel" in the order of their importance/portrait size), this was it.



After getting our quota of idlis, we headed back to base. But the traffic began to clog at Jubilee Hills Checkpost and sure enough it was because of the most common cause of traffic jams in Hyderabad - one Mr. Harish Rao. The protesters were fired up and we were filled up - no contest. So we took detour after detour and in due time got back.

I guess the common thread between the two experiences was politics. The Film Nagar Society membership costs upwards of Rs. 25 Lakh and has a waiting period of over 10 years and therefore their members-only annual elections are literally and allegorically "above the road" on which common people commute. The street protests by the Telangana activists on the other hand was very much "on the road".

Though the real common thread of it all is my undying affection for good food. Again, both literally and allegorically.

Duplicate Police

In Secunderabad today on the tiny traffic island between MG Road and RP Road, I came across a hoarding that stood out. There were around 50 faces neatly packed into tiny cells each looking stoically into the camera. The title at the top read -

WANTED
NAKILI / DUPLICATE POLICE

Looking at all those men holding black slates with illegible chalk marks, it could only mean that they were either failed Zilla Parishad school students or hardened criminals. And the message was from the police. So putting two and two together, we can deduce that the Secunderabad Police is looking to hire school dropouts into their "Nakili/Duplicate Police" force. Or their desperation to recruit has reached a stage where they are compelled to reach out to ordinary commuters stuck in the middle of traffic clogs to fill these vacancies.

On the other hand, it may simply be the case that the police can't handle the competition from petty criminals. Meanwhile the "real" police (traffic) continued to "serve" the citizens down the road by making the load in the commuters' pockets a little lighter.

Lighting Up The Lives

Hyderabad based Thrive Energy Technologies sells and distributes this LED portable home light, which has been one of the more visible LED lighting products around. To complete the brand building exercise they gave their product a fancy sounding name - "Accendo". And finally the great minds at Thrive came up with this disturbingly arsonist tagline -

LIGHTING UP THE LIVES
in Villages, Forests & Towns"

I own one of their lights (in photo), luckily though I escaped their pyromaniacal designs by simply living in a city.

Link:
http://www.thrive.in/led_lighting/led_home_lighting.htm

Xtra

ESPN is showing reruns of the American National Spelling Bee contest where kids have to spell some really tough words to win. This year for the nth time for whatever reason, it's yet another Indian-origin girl who won.

How is spelling a sport? What sort of a kid craves to participate in such a contest? Why does the judge ring a bell for each wrong spelling, instead of, say, whistle? - I do not know. But I do remember seeing a promo for an Indian version a few months ago on a sports channel. I guess the idea is that with such great spelling ability, these kids are set for big things in life. Not so, not in India.

India is really the only country in the world where people actually make good money for spelling/not spelling words (excluding Quentin Tarantino for 'Inglourious Basterds'). And they call themselves 'numerologists' here. These select individuals ply their trade by spelling simple words wrong. Initially it was limited to the vernacular language words written in Roman script, but now our specialists have gone international, by acquiring (read shedding) enough skills to go after English.

Our guys are the Picassos and MF Hussains of spelling, because if all you do is spell things correct then you are just not doing justice to your creative talent. Those spelling kids though still do have one advantage - they know the correct spellings and consequently are an authority on all the wrong ways to spell. This crucial knowledge could be their meal ticket.

Therefore here we have yet another exhibit of absolute genius from 'Eat Hyderabadi' in Himayatnagar. Notice how they carefully chose the letter X for repetition to give the customer that reassuring feeling of being really, really alone while performing "tiffin self-service".

Disclosure: Spell Check Used

Arbitrary Powers

Today there were two interesting bits of news that were reported from Kolkata and London which focused on negligence in the health and social services and corrective executive action. The first article was about a visit by the new Chief Minister of West Bengal, Ms. Mamata Banerjee to a hospital as an inspection tour and her confrontation with the hospital director who did not take kindly to the unannounced visit. Then the second article was about Ed Balls (the then Health Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in the UK) sacking the local head of Child Services publicly in 2008 over the death of a 17 month old boy. Subsequently, the court has agreed that the action was unlawful.

Although the Bengal story may not have ended, it seems to be on the same path as the British incident. The two stories converge in the fact that the top political executives view the bureaucrats as guilty parties straight away and by exorcising these personnel from the system, they hope to make things right. And in a naive sense, they do establish their authority and potency but fail to really create a tangible difference. In the British case, there is talk of suing for damages which will act as a deterrent to the government. But in Bengal, on the back of a game changing election, there is little to check the actions of the executive.

After the Left government was defeated in West Bengal, Ms. Banerjee has taken over the reigns and is learning the ropes of direct power. And she started out by doing what Mr. Chandrababu in Andhra Pradesh and Ms. Jayalalitha in Tamil Nadu did when they were previously Chief Ministers. She is hitting on the obvious targets first by launching an inquisition against the people manning the system. That move, although popular, may not be the best advised route since both Babu and Jayalalitha lost in the subsequent elections from a government employee-led backlash. But more than just the political fallout of finding fault with the system, the chief executives have to realize the value in being correct in what they do, both popularly and legally or risk the non-cooperation of their subordinates who will throw the book at new initiatives.

Links:
1. http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/3/20110527201105270336326472fc7cba1/Didi%E2%80%99s-hospital-visit-sparks-%E2%80%98sick%E2%80%99-wordy-duel-with-boss.html
2. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/may/27/sharon-shoesmith-court-win-baby-p

Threat Perception

Today, on the roads I came across this evangelist's vehicle with a "for any prayer request" call sticker on its rear window. It also featured the following eerie verse from the bible (in upper case,bold and underlined in red!) :

"PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD"

With this disconcerting message stickered on the burly vehicle, it sort of felt like a direct threat to the safety and well being of fellow motorists and pedestrians who were to get in its way. And in the context, the prayer call request made more sense as one final opportunity to beg for mercy!

Thankfully I kept my distance and we parted ways without incident. Praise the Lord.

"Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. "
-Amos 4:12, Bible

Road Movie Links:
Duel: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duel_%281971_film%29
Death Proof: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Proof
Joy Ride: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_Ride_%282001_film%29

Doggone Strikes Back

Puppy (aka Canny) is back, at least in spirit. It has been a year since the last obituary and like clockwork the insert on page 10 of the Times of India (Hyderabad Edition) today again has the same eulogy, photo, contact details, breed, DoB and ofcourse the same DoD.

Not Wealth Or Power

In his speech today, announcing the death of Osama Bin Laden, US President Barack Obama said something that was cut from most of the news broadcasts. It came right at the fag end of the 9 minute speech and as such has little significance in relation to the gravity of situation. Taken by itself, it may seem like just another platitude. But these messages within messages are put out there for a purpose, they serve to reaffirm the tenets of a nation (highlighted in red below). They are meant to convey, in this case, a sense of consistency and justice and thus their righteousness.

Excerpt:

"The cause of securing our country is not complete. But tonight, we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to. That is the story of our history, whether it's the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens; our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place.

Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Link:
Text of the Speech: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/8487354/Osama-bin-Laden-killed-Barack-Obamas-speech-in-full.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_character_studies

A Fire Today...

Rajahmundry airport observed fire service week this past week. The passengers were informed the same through this note. But the note itself seemed more directed toward the staff and their concern of holding down a job after a fire accident. Mundane side-stories such as typing errors, safety or survival were avoided in this crisp circular as it dealt directly with the heart of the matter - no one can work in a blazing inferno.

They don't like me happy

I was one of the guys out and about on the midnight of April 2nd, hugging strangers, shouting ridiculous slogans, clapping, punching the air and scaring dogs. India had won the world cup, and my buddies and me were determined to join the street party. It was more about not missing a significant expression public joy than being huge cricket fans. So we drove all around the city to witness the hooligan shenanigans in full show. There were bike and car stunts for us to see, the police were happy but weary. It was an experience which was scary but exciting.

But what actually took place at the world cup, what it means for 70 million viewers to watch a single event on TV in India and what the events means in the long run are three very different things. First, what happened was the Indian cricket team winning an event it was tipped to win. Second, it was the biggest viewership by far for any event or show in the history of Indian television, this therefore will be the touchstone in the future whenever the Indian viewers' attention is needed. Third, the longer term meanings though are hard to get now. Sports events have a euphoric galvanizing effect on the supporters or at least 70 million of them in this case, but how does that effect the larger population of 1210 million Indians remains a question.

In all this there have been voices of dissent. The opposition steadily comes from sources that see the event as a drain on the collective attention of the public. This attention, they say, would otherwise focus on issues that are more relevant to their own lives. During the coverage of the world cup, the media pushed a number of pressing issues to the fringes. There was a certain sense of abandonment of daily responsibility of their reporting duty. And the public did need constant reminders to not indulge themselves too much in the building those floating castles.

This being the case, there has to be a sense of proportion even in those high moral ground arguments. A case in point: The Hindu today carried an Open Page section by Narendra Shekhawat which linked the farmer suicides and the world cup coverage. This is a case of confusing the the profound with the ephemeral. If an argument can be made that the world cup has hijacked other news, then by the same logic it can be argued that these conscience-keepers are piggybacking on the excessive coverage to sell something unrelated. If there is a middle class guilt complex, it has to be channeled better. Rubbing guilt onto people for simply being happy seems cruel.

Links:
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/article1761700.ece
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/article1597522.ece

Consolation Capital

A couple of days ago at RTC X roads, I saw this vehicle with cutouts draping its exterior campaigning for Hyderabad to be made the "2nd capital", what that means is beyond me. Apparently this "movement to make Hyderabad the second capital of India" has been around for a while. I vaguely recounts someone saying Ambedkar supported it.

Will they then have the losers' parliament here? Think the logic here was straight forward: since Hyderabad's Charminar (Char =4, as we well know) has 3 more minars than Delhi's Qutub minar (Singular used here to signify the solitary minar) therefore it follows that...

J for Learner

Driving through Filmnagar this evening, found this brand new Tata Nano (dyslexic owner perhaps?) parked on the curb.

Now I know why they call it a Driving 'School'.

Mirage of Destiny

If something was thought to be destined, it is only because we don’t really look at all the possibilities. As these possibilities start taking shape, they alter the mirage of destiny. It is truly sad when one’s idea of destiny is shattered, it is a source of fear that in reality anything can happen with or without notice. It is tough to see that one is in fact blind and all the plans one makes are directed towards events that are wished. The manner in which we deal with change therefore defines us, it is the realization of the absence of destiny that shapes one’s character.

- 14/01/09, 9:38 PM

This Too Shall Pass

Stock photo agencies such as Getty Images supply advertisers with the images they need to get their message across. A few advertisers don't bother with either buying stock photographs or sending out their own photographers to do the job and use pictures off the internet which may well be unlicensed. All this is fine as long as the piece of communication does its job. Sometimes though, while the message may be clear enough, the images used can hijack the whole communication's intent.

This was the case last January when India's Ministry of Women and Child Development published an ad on the occasion of 'National Girl Child Day' . It carried a Pakistani Air Force Chief's image as purportedly being a 'son of an Indian mother'. This led to hue and cry in the media which left the government embarrassed not because it had used an image without proper permissions but because it didn't check if that particular image can damage and undermine the objective of the communication exercise. The damage was done because that one image went completely against the grain of the message - projecting images of successful Indian male icons and their obvious debt to their mothers.

The latest Frontline magazine's back cover (above) carried an advertisement for the magazine 'Competition Success Review' and informs of some attractive subscription offers. Right at the bottom they have this image of a well groomed man giving the reader a thumbs-up and a raised eye brow - an anthropomorphic representation of 'success' I presume. The communication does work at the basic level, except the man's face seemed familiar. His name is Stephen Colbert - an American satirist who does a killer impression of the over-confident, self-indulgent, conceited right-wing politician on Comedy Central's show 'The Colbert Report' - a character that is enormously funny but not one to emulate. In the Indian marketplace though, where he is a non-entity - this advert will pass under the radar as have many others before it.



Links:
http://www.colbertnation.com/home
http://www.exchange4media.com/e4m/news/fullstory.asp?news_id=39575&section_id=1&tag=6400

A to B

October 12th saw the "Meter Jam II" campaign in Mumbai - a boycott of auto-rickshaws and taxis as a protest against the service delivery methods. This campaign by and large has the interests of the harassed middle-class at heart. The auto and taxi drivers, themselves middle-class aspirants though would not miss the hypocrisy in the campaign: passengers paint themselves as customers with rights while overlooking the more basic right to a decent living of the poorer driver. The campaign, being organized by advertising professionals rather than civic activists is an indication of the principles at work in this protest.

"...You can never formulate a protest only in terms of interests. You can never say I am being oppressed; you have to say oppression is wrong. That’s the only way you can formulate a protest. The moment you do that, the principle becomes universal. Not universal in the sense of 100% universal, but it finds for itself a class which goes beyond you. Then what happens is that, you will have to speak for many more people, which again has its own further consequences. So a perpetual expansion of the principled concerns is unavoidable in the very fact that a protest has to be expressed in terms of universal values."

Hyderabad based late civil-rights activist K Balagopal in an interview

In a campaign like "Meter Jam", this aspect of expansion of a cause and understanding the consequences is missing. The only "class" commuters are willing to be clubbed along is with other passengers, while unwilling to view themselves as stakeholders in the larger civic transport system and so on. To these activists, the problem is simply one of supply chain inefficiency that needs censuring and not a symptom of social inequity or the breakdown of the rule of law.

The rent-seeking ways of the drivers speaks of lax regulations and patronization of their unions by the civic government together lead to extortionist practices. Till a mechanism is worked out where the government does its duty of regulation with tact and imagination while remaining unbiased, any number of protests by the commuters and the transport unions will result in little except advancing the careers of the campaigners.

Links:
http://www.meterjam.com/
http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/meter-jam-in-mumbai-commuters-boycott-taxis-autos-43861
http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/meter-jam-ii-mumbaikars-say-no-to-autos-taxis-59126
http://www.dnaindia.com/speakup/interview_we-won-t-organise-meter-jam-3-but-will-help-people-seek-results_1451760
http://balagopal.org/

Having Your Say

Today's papers are abuzz with news of yesterday's papers. In some centers (not Hyderabad though) The Hindu and The Times of India let advertisers have a go at communicating not just with words but also through voice. Volkswagen bankrolled the campaign for its new launch - Vento. And going by the response, the newspaper-embedded Chinese-made photo-responsive audio chip is da bomb!

"While the innovation startled most readers, many found it interesting and arresting. But it had some unintended consequences as well. At many places, calls were made to the police with people suspecting the device was a bomb. Mahim in Mumbai witnessed a scare after a pedestrian heard a ''beeping sound'' coming from a garbage bin and alerted the police. A bomb squad reached the spot, near S L Raheja Hospital, and found that it was the audio-ad..."
-Times of India

Link:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/09/volkswagen-plants-audio-ad-in-print-newspaper/
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/09/22/stories/2010092252880500.htm
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Volks-populi-Audio-ad-in-TOI-creates-a-buzz-literally/articleshow/6604113.cms
http://www.moneylife.in/article/78/9296.html

Appropriation

Clint Eastwood's 2006 World War II movie "Flags of Our Fathers" is about the significance of the raising of the first and second foreign flags on Japanese soil in a thousand years and how history gets recorded and relayed to suit the narrative. The movie revolves around Joe Rosenthal's iconic photograph (below) of the raising of the second American flag atop Mount Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima, Japan and its use as a propaganda tool to raise money for the war efforts. It also shows the moral conflict that the soldiers in the photograph face when they realize that they are assigned the role of national heroes for the simple task of raising a flag while the erectors of the first flag went unrecognized because there were no inspirational photographs to go along with that event.

In this context, the artwork on the walls of the Khairatabad flyover in Hyderabad stands out. These are works commissioned by the municipal corporation which include a series of hand-painted murals meant to kindle a certain patriotic fervor among the commuters while stuck in traffic. One of these murals, named "Great History" is suspiciously similar to the Iwo Jima picture except for one major difference - the flag is here is an Indian one. The artist either does not have an issue with being unoriginal or is a master of irony.

Links:
Review: Flags of Our Fathers - http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071129/REVIEWS/71129001/1023
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_the_Flag_on_Iwo_Jima

Nature of the Emergency

The word 'encounter' in the context of security forces bumping into suspects has become a euphemism for the act of cold blooded spot-executions in India. These 'encounters' are an indictment for the ineptness of the Indian judicial system, thus causing the state to create extra-legal death squads to maintain some semblance of law and order.

The rule of law does not allow for the confluence of the roles of law enforcement, judiciary and executioner but we are witness to this mix in every stage-managed 'encounter' killing. The law enforcement authorities' reaction to an incident of acid attack on college girls in 2008 resulting in the Warangal police concluding the case through the encounter route is a perfect example of how the society provokes, condones and colludes in the state's blood lust. The galleries applauded and there were queues to congratulate the police officials. Jurisprudence was trumped by jingoism.

Recently though the reaction to the killing of a top rung Maoist leader Azad in Andhra Pradesh and the investigation into the Sohrabuddin Sheik encounter case ordered by the Supreme Court have turned the tide and led to greater scrutiny of the methods used by the police forces. Some would claim the brutal nature of these acts is at the root of the concept of state and its coercive source of power, even in a democracy. These incidents stick out as the spots missed while painting a picture of a 'government for the people', thus revealing the true nature of the state.

All this while, the victims/suspects remain in the firing line as the philosophical discussions continue in televisions studios, newspaper columns, legislatures and courts. Since creating public opinion takes time, for immediate survival the hunted need to think fast and use any and all resources at their disposal. In this regard, the story of Sarvan Kumar in the news today catches the eye.

Sarvan Kumar, a wanted man reportedly got cornered by the security forces in Delhi yesterday and the stage was set for a classic 'encounter', except Sarvan had one last trick up his sleeve. Sarvan simply dialed 100 - the emergency services number and told them the nature of his emergency thus saving his own skin. Just as the state adapts to deal with the law-breakers' ways, the law breakers adapt to the state by studying and circumvent its methods and systems.

Links:
http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/stories/20100827271702100.htm
http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/gangster-dialed-100-to-escape-encounter-44923?pfrom=Cities
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sohrabuddin_Sheikh_fake_encounter

Persian Version of Sexism

The Hindu's editorial section today deals with the issue of Capital Punishment, especially the extreme version followed in the Persian Gulf. Although the writer is clearly of the abolitionist persuasion, a secondary contention raised in the piece has to do with the lack of equal opportunities among the sexes at the most critical juncture in a convict's life.

The heady mix of dogma, intolerance, parochialism and random silliness can lead to the law in places such as Iran allowing the following:


"..male victims of stoning are buried only up to the waist and if they can pull themselves clear are allowed to go free; women are buried up to the neck lest their breasts be exposed, and almost certainly cannot escape"


Link:
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/article568673.ece
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/wear/hi/people_and_places/religion_and_ethics/newsid_8911000/8911844.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/14/iran-must-stop-executing-people

Could It Be Murder?

Yesterday was a slow day at the office in the telugu language news media. And so it was that word of a heinous incident had come to their attention. A dead girl was found stuffed inside a suitcase placed in a busy area of the city.

I got a call in the evening urging me follow the electronic media's coverage of the incident. Apparently the stellar journalistic instincts of the TV9 news channel reporters had again kicked into high gear. They had finally found a story where they could fully flash their investigative brilliance.

Reporter starts her inquiry with the most probing of questions (the sensational coverage as narrated to me over the phone):


Reporter [already smug]: "Sir, do you think this is a case of murder?"

Cop [equal to the task]: "We cannot answer that question at this point. We have to conduct a complete investigation to know the full details of the incident"


Their next step might be to flash a 'lost & found' for the suitcase owner on the perpetual scroll, their motto after all reads - "for a better society". Keep watching meanwhile.

Link:
http://expressbuzz.com/cities/hyderabad/woman%E2%80%99s-dead-body-found-in-a-suitcase/195213.html
http://hindu.com/2010/08/04/stories/2010080461000500.htm

Never Before

Shopping season has descended on Hyderabad. In the ensuing hoopla there are some offers that you cannot refuse and others that you cannot understand. Here is a nominee for the second category.



Wonder how they manage to sell their stocks of decoupled footwear in the off-season without this offer. Mix & match perhaps?

Licker Is Not Allowed

On a trip out of town, we came across a restaurant's menu card which apparently excluded the most bizarre segment of the eating population - "lickers". On reading the restriction out aloud, I realized that this was not infact an Article 15 violation.

Article 15(2) of the Constitution of India:

"..No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment.."

Do You Trust?

The garment industry has to meet the customers' quality expectations and the expectations aren't always sky high in India if the price is right. That being the case, when it comes to underwear, the concept of seconds can still be dicey. None the less this peddler found brisk business on the footpath opposite the state secretariat in Hyderabad today.

In The Papers Today

True, a little late for covering the riveting Brazil-Netherlands quarterfinal decider. But this came out today in Deccan Chronicle's Hyderabad edition.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/tabloids/dutch-too-strong-samba-boys-543

Credit to Prudhvi for prodding me along and then forwarding it to the paper.

The Buck Stops Elsewhere

Right around the world, bureaucracy is encountered on a daily basis. As an interface between the people & the power, the desk is an icon of disinterest. Here is a collection of Jan Banning's photographs that go into his book - "Bureaucratics" featuring pencil-pushers of varied nationalities, backgrounds and responsibilities all officiating away. He also gives a brief description of the people manning the desks including details of their titles, duties and pay. The photographs contrast the inevitability and permanency of the bureaucratic machine with the insignificant and transitory nature of the position holder's grip over it.

Links:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/photobooth/2010/06/bureaucratics.html
http://www.soros.org/initiatives/photography/movingwalls/17
http://www.janbanning.nl/

For Domestic Consumption

In the aftermath of the Greek debt crisis, there is a hunt on to find the next country that lives beyond its means. The business news media tries to connect the dots and extrapolate from the existing. The sovereign debt crisis story needs its sequels and there must also be some nondescript lessons learnt. After all, a pattern cannot be tagged to be so without repetition. So it is that Hungary has emerged as a suitor. But strangely enough the unwanted attention on its economy is of its own doing to a great extent.

Hungary has gone the way so many countries have gone before it by mixing economics with politics. A new government in place with new promises of tax cuts to keep has met its old enemy - reality. In such cases the only logical way out is to blame the outgoing government and make it known widely that the economy inherited is the weak link. But when this message gets too loud, then there is a danger of people outside the target audience listening in. And that according to Goldman Sachs is the reason for the mini run-on-the-economy that was triggered by the Hungarian government officials comparing themselves to the Greeks.

These messages of subtlety which are supposed to mean different things to different people are hard to pull off. It is especially difficult when the same message has to convey diametrically opposite views. So a comparison with Greece was supposed to alert and lower domestic expectations in Hungary but all it did was heighten international suspicions. The first lesson the Hungarian government might have learnt here is in the use of the double entendre. But the more important lesson has to do with scaring citizens into opting for policies that weren't in the campaign manifesto and how it all can backfire.

"For domestic consumption only" is tricky to achieve when the commodity is communication. In India this was a target of the austerity drive after the 2009 general elections and it involved a train journey for the Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, no less! The message of tightening the belt was sent out through the exercise but the significance of it was lost on the outsider - mission accomplished. It is another matter that the grinding reality of poverty in India made these austerity measures a source of great amusement for the man with no belt or pants.

More Links:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b6d5ad48-726b-11df-9f82-00144feabdc0.html
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/world-news/will-aim-to-meet-deficit-goal-hungary-_462372.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/10254462.stm
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5il4ORqz4woTzfBKJ4ziqsFyPr2wA
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Rahul-Gandhi-joins-austerity-drive-travels-by-Shatabdi-Express/articleshow/5012898.cms

Passive Resisters

As the football World Cup kicks off in South Africa, here is an article from The Mint which reveals the footballing history of the Indian migrants in South Africa and Gandhi's use of the sport in that country to promote his ideas on resistance and protest.

http://www.livemint.com/2010/06/11204317/When-Bapu-kicked-the-ball.html?h=A3


More Links:
http://gandhiphilately.blogspot.com/2010/03/chile-1974-gandhi-ffc.html
http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_fifa-world-cup-2010-kicking-out-apartheid_1392420-all

Going to the Toilet

Elizabeth Gilbert in this TED talk tries to separate the individual from his creative process. It is one of the ways of reconciling the individual's unexplainable freakish talent in a certain area with the remainder of his personality which may well be unremarkable.

During this year's IPL, in order for his team to not be overwhelmed by a certain opposition player's abilities, a coach stated a practical means of separation of the man from his talent:

"Sachin Tendulkar is a great cricketer but he walks and goes to the toilet like all of us"
- Royal Challengers Bangalore coach, Ray Jennings, says his team will attack the Mumbai Indians captain (April 17th 2010, Cricinfo.com)

Playing The Part

Art Deco in Hyderabad

In Barkatpura, located next to the Employee's Provident Fund Office is an old well-maintained art deco building. The property is currently occupied so a closer look was not possible, but I managed to get this photograph of a mural on the exterior wall of the building on my cellphone. The year on it reads 1933 and appropriate for those times it depicts a Hindenburg-style airship, a giant ocean liner, an eiffel tower like structure and a skyscraper among other smaller industrial design elements.