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.

Christianity: Indian?

In the show "Goodness Gracious Me", this British Indian immigrant guy is basically convinced that everything around the world is Indian. Well, Isn't it?

All Action

This is a photograph from today's Times of India (courtesy AFP, it says) and must be the most frequently used image of the incident that newspapers around the world went with. It depicts a Pakistani commando carrying away an injured victim of yesterday's Lahore mosque attack.

A uniformed man running with a gun in one hand and a whole person under the other while in the midst of a hostile situation - action movie posters need to catch up.


http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/05/29/massacre-as-70-die-and-2-000-held-hostage-in-pakistan-mosques-115875-22294051/

Horizontal, Vertical and Diagonal

Here is a Schematic Map of the Indian Railway Network. Keeping with the purpose of schematics, the scale, the locations and the boundaries on the map have been altered to present the railway's point of view of India. Having seen the actual railway maps of India over the years, this depiction makes sense like none before.

The format was first made famous by the iconic Tube Map of London Underground designed by Harry Beck in the 1930s. To understand something complex for oneself is a skill. But to come up with a scheme to unclutter a mess not just in one's own mind but in the minds of the untrained needs a high degree of clairvoyance. The Tube Map's simplicity and utility is so great that it is considered a piece of design art.

Unlike in electronic circuit design, the use of schematics in rail and road lines result in a warping of the geographical reality experienced by the commuters. On these maps the only locations that matter are the destinations. All the places between these destinations are shown as having no significance and are either stretched out or fused together in the aid of a better understanding of the mesh.

Extending this design typology to the Indian socio-political context can help understand the paradox of growth alongside inequity that results in the existence of pockets of prosperity surrounded by oceans of misery. These pockets mingle among themselves exclusively, creating a network of exclusion. To explain this structure, a different schematic representation of India is needed, a political and economic schematic map which omits or skips-over the downtrodden and the less fortunate.

To an extent this neglect can also be seen in the railway network map - the sparsest presence of railway activity on the map (East Central Railways) corresponds to the poverty-stricken Chhattisgarh state which has seen the greatest amount of naxal violence. So when the naxalites blow up a bus on the road lines as they did yesterday, they also attack the schematic vision of India.

Links:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/310/IN_CRAIL0310.pdf
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/standard-tube-map.pdf
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/article432488.ece

Thank You for Calling Cherlapally

On May 11th, Radiant Info Systems announced that prisoners from the central jail at Cherlapally, Hyderabad were to be trained to handle BPO operations. The jail authorities finally had some positive news to share.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-to-get-first-BPO-behind-bars/articleshow/5919218.cms

What is probably either a CSR initiative or a cost-cutting move for the BPO company is seen by the British media as confirming something more sinister that they have kept alluding to from time to time. The British tabloids have reported for years that their citizens' information is not safe in the hands of Indian BPO workers and this adds to that narrative.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7124634.ece
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/7715365/Call-centre-firm-to-employ-Indian-prisoners.html

In the quest for the least operating costs, the condemned possess a USP that can only be topped by slavery.

Doggone

Times of India, Page 12 (Hyderabad Edition), May 11th 2010:

Puppy's (alias Canny) "family" has placed this message in the Business section of Times of India today. So as not to mislead the readers, the family has been kind enough to mention Puppy's lineage/breed (Dachshund) and the precise date of birth.

Next they also inform the general public of some other items missing from their home since Canny's demise last year - they have apparently lost one light fixture from the house, someone has turned mute in the family and they have given up on finding good domestic help.

Petty All Around

How do you pat yourself for a job you didn't do? That's how:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/237413

If ever there was an urgent need for spin, this was it. After missing their beat, the US security authorities quickly got Newsweek's Christopher Dickey to reassure their public that what they infact successfully did is "psych out" the terrorists thus neutralizing the threat beforehand. Once psyched, any terrorist-at-large is of no further harm and can be trusted to plant bombs that can only fizzle. The suspect, Faisal Shahzad's Times Square car-bombing attempt must then be a demonstration of the mind-control powers the US agencies posses over such hapless terrorist wannabes.


Meanwhile the Indian media's own juvenile India vs. Pakistan one-up-man-ship innuendo contest has spilled into this case too. The US Federal Attorney prosecuting the case against Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistan-born US citizen will be the Indian-born US citizen Preet Bharara. Will it be Gadar all over again?

http://www.hindustantimes.com/americas/Indian-American-Bharara-to-lead-prosecution-of-Faisal-Shahzad/539647/H1-Article1-539715.aspx



Update, 6th May 3:30 PM:
Continuing in the spirit of taking credit for events that are out of our control: A few hours after I put up the original post I see that Newsweek Magazine has been put out for sale by Washington Post Co. - its owner for the past 39 years. US agencies aren't the only ones with powers!
http://www.newsweek.com/id/237401

Anti-Constitutional Technologies

This evening in the Rajya Sabha, the Leader of the Opposition Mr. Arun Jaitley started a short duration discussion on the politically motivated telephone tapping scandal and the 2G spectrum auction related telephone tapping by the IT department. Other than cornering the government for big-brothering the system, Mr. Jaitley, an eminent lawyer also brought the usual civil liberties angle to the debate. But deviating from the expected 'sanctity of personal privacy' rhetoric, he hinted at an idea that certain technologies could make the constitutional protections irrelevant:

"... And you are now going in for a technology which has a complete mismatch to this entire constitutional scheme and guarantee. And the mismatch is, well I have got a technology which does not respect India's Constitution, which defies the entire constitutional protection that I have, and that technology, when it drives around the country is in a position to bug everybody else's telephone."
- Mr. Arun Jaitley, MP Rajya Sabha

I am sure the lawmakers can legislate on almost any subject, so if a technology gets out of hand they will find a way to limit and prohibit its usage, just as they do with Nuclear Energy. But what if a new technology comes along that can really make it a nightmare for anyone to regulate its usage - a suicide bomber scenario in technology regulation. At that point, the futility of the laws will be clear for all to see.


Now I don't know if Mr. Jaitley has seen The Dark Knight but the "too much power for anyone to have" premise that he alluded to is also seen in that film's climax. The movie version is a fictional cellphone sonar technology that can basically locate anyone in Gotham city. Batman's ally Lucius Fox raises similar apprehensions as Mr. Jaitley does, although for more philosophical and less political reasons. But in the movie as long as the good guy uses it, its all cool. So the question is if we see the Government of India as the good guy.

Links:
Rajya Sabha Proceedings, 29th April 2010 (Read from Pg 12 onwards): http://164.100.47.5/newdebate/219/29042010/16.00pmTo17.00pm.pdf
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article417847.ece?homepage=true
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Lobbyists-phone-tap-revives-2G-scam-row/articleshow/5870446.cms
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/news/2008/07/bat_gadgets

Government's Algebra: A Symbol for the Number

The Nandan Nilekani chaired Unique Identification Authority of India (UIAI) on realizing that its name was not very uniquely identifiable had to go in for a makeover. They found a new name "Aadhaar" (meaning either Foundation or Support) and had a competition for a new logo last month - an adult version of the summer painting competition.

Of all the entries, they found a winning design by one Mr. Atul S Pant of Pune and gave him an amount of Rs. 1,00,000 - a fraction of what a professional design firm would charge. Then came the task of explaining their new logo. And here we go:


“It represents a new dawn of equal opportunity for each individual, a dawn which emerges from the unique identity the number guarantees for each individual. The sun symbolizes a promise that shines on all residents equally — the number would enable access to services and resources for everyone, including people who have long been disadvantaged, such as marginal groups, migrants and women and children. The fingerprint within the sun indicated that the promise of AADHAAR stems from its uniqueness.”

Unlike the cattle, they try to convince us to get ourselves branded and numbered.

Update: 29th April 2010, The Mint's take- Left vs Right of UIAI Politics:
http://www.livemint.com/2010/04/29201314/Against-insecurity.html

Links:
http://uidai.gov.in/documents/uid_logo.pdf
http://www.livemint.com/2010/04/27213047/Getting-India-to-sign-up-for-A.html?h=B
http://advice.cio.com/v_k_singh/10186/aadhar_project_of_india_is_unconstitutional

Assured Replies

For those who missed it in The Hindu this morning, the Hyderabad Traffic Authorities are seeking suggestions:

"... the city traffic police are eliciting suggestions of citizens to improve the traffic situation in the capital that has about 20.49 lakh vehicles. Citizens can either call: 90102 03626 or send emails to website: www.htp.gov.in and trafficpolicehyderabad@yahoo.co.in. And the assurance is replies will be given to all queries."

So if you want to go down the activist road then stop grumbling and call them. Honestly though, I think this suggestion business was always there, its just that they publicize it from time to time. Each time they conduct one of these citizen participation drives in reality all they undertake is yet another Public Relations exercise. I suspect that these authorities in reality suppose that the public's suggestions lack feasibility and are mostly either rants or whines but by and large simple minded and naive. But they still have to keep us engaged!


Follow-up: 27th April 2010

"Dial a Cop" - In the gossip columns of the Times of India:
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIH/2010/04/27&PageLabel=2&EntityId=Ar00201&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

Links:
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/26/stories/2010042657990100.htm
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Shop-owners-to-be-booked-for-parking-rule-violation-/articleshow/5857535.cms

The Eyes Have It

Today the only remaining form of visual art that is truly accessible to the general public is the movie poster. They are everywhere, in the cities they occupy all vertical surfaces within eyeshot, in the more rural areas they are seen up on those kaccha walls. Within the limits of a few square feet of space the poster has to convey an idea to the viewer that should tickle him into spending time and money on the movie - the job of designing these posters is as much a challenge as making the actual movies.

A recent poster that caught my eye was of Mahesh Manjerekar's City of Gold. The intended emotion of dispossessed anger that the filmmaker wants to convey comes through clearly in the posters.


The subject matter of the film is about the shutting down of the textile mills of Bombay in the 80s to make way for real estate developers to erect structures that form the current skyline of the city thus resulting in the destitution of mill workers. Incidentally the producers of the movie, DAR Motion Pictures are themselves into real estate development.

Links:
http://www.marchingants.net/home.htm
http://www.impawards.com/designers/marching_ants.html

The 3-Way Shake

One thing that no leader can do without in forging an alliance is the actual physical handshake. But hands are normally shook a pair at a time and that can be a problem in situations where there are multiple parties involved. To combat the challenge of maintaining parity in the special case of a three way alliance, especially in international relations where appearance is everything, leaders have successful come up with the 3-way shake.

Getting it done:

- The 3 leaders start by forming a rough triangle while making sure that none of their backs are turned to the cameras. Note: Cameramen must necessarily be arranged as a single short line and not be allowed to encircle the leaders.

- Now all 3 leader grabs each other's hands while maintaining a lefthand to lefthand & righthand to righthand pairing between them. At this point its a good idea to check for any loose hands. Observing schoolgirls play their games will help here.

- After all the 6 hands form 3 neat pairs of simultaneously shaking hand, the leaders have to again adjust themselves to face the cameras while not seeming ungainly.

- An important last check at this point is conducted by making sure that each leader has both his hands crossed across his torso to perform the 3-way shake. This eliminates the possibility to shaking one's own hand.

How it isn't done:

In this picture from 2007, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India, Former South African President Thabo Mbeki and the Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attempt a 3-way shake with disastrous results. Although the South African and Brazilian Presidents perform their part of the maneuver commendably, the Indian Prime Minister clearly breaks the 4th rule and the 2nd rule of the 3-way shake and is seen here possibly trying to shake his own hand. Bravely though the three leaders try to hush up the glaring faux pas which had thankfully gone unnoticed until now.

True Worth

The grotesqueness of an eyeball fueled money hunt that is IPL is too much for some to handle. As Gordon Gekko said "Greed.. is Good". But it shouldn't show.

http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/455783.html

In an unassuming manner, Mr. Ashok Malik here brings out some of the factors at play when a player really starts to appraise his skills for every conceivable Rupee that can be squeezed.

Nodding Along

About a year ago I read a tiny book called 'A Very Short Introduction: Machiavelli' by Quentin Skinner. The subject of the book is famous for his unique take on politics and statecraft. Even if they didn't read Machiavelli, every politician does what he wrote about. The section of the book that interested me was the opening section that covered the reasons which led to Machiavelli writing his most famous work - 'The Prince'.

It revealed that while writing this definitive textbook on the cut-throat world of state intrigue and power-grabbing, Machiavelli was simply trying to prove his credentials. Thus for such a monumental work, all that motivated Machiavelli was the idea of impressing one of his readers - the ruler of Florence, to such an extent so as to secure employment for himself. Did he really then believe in all he wrote? Who's to say.

This is the way most creative projects function, without a patron there are no artists, musician or writers. And a patron could be any person who supports or appreciates the endeavor. So most times the works that are regarded as masterpieces are considered so because the viewer (or consumer) perceive them to be great, this view may not necessarily be shared by the creator of the piece.

Since the tastes of the viewer and the creator may differ, today the prior endorsement of the consumers is procured in all the big ticket creative fields. Movies are screened to a test audience before release and books are professionally vetted by the publishers to ensure that the patrons like the 'product'. So creative pieces should not be uncomfortable in being classified as products, because that's what they are - they are in fact the only products that human beings can claim complete ownership of. Therefore if the product needs to be okayed by the consumer, then it is the job of the artist to make sure they get that approval. Otherwise we all would be artists of note.

Take a look at this Bruno interview where he satirically tears apart a fashion designer's work and presents a sorry image of what can be dressed up to be creativity. Sadly though this is the case with most people making a living on being creative, they are just out there to please.



Links:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071018/REVIEWS/710180306
http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/453685.html

Fear and Loathing in Hyderabad

My day yesterday was spent racing through some of the newly expanded riot-hit areas of Hyderabad. All very exhilarating but also extremely annoying at the same time. Communal rioting has returned as the current flavor of the city and all the regionalists of yore seem to have missed the latest bus of political hooliganism. Politics just as fashion, is fickle.

The social engineering required to generate and sustain mobs is an art that cannot be taught. In these scenarios the street coordinators and leaders show great creativity, adaptability and fortitude. But for such mob-making, a cause is necessary. In India there exists a sometime latent, sometime blatant communal antipathy where the biggest reason for the existence of peace is not common understanding but pathetically, plain survival. In such a context, the instigators are squarely labeled as the villains of the piece every time there is a break down in this delicate peace.

Here I propose an alternative. I say that the villains of the story are in fact each and every person who holds dear thoughts that allow that person to be instigated. Therefore if you hold views that are derisive, condescending, hateful/fearful, discriminatory or bigotry then you are part of the problem. This holds even in the case of such privately held opinions - despite the fact that you may be a fair individual, yet you set yourself up to be a candidate with that 'potential'.

The conspiracy regarding who benefited and who instigated are matters that pale in comparison to the kind of long-term antipathy that these incidents create. People's experiences shape their outlook. So when someone goes through a full blown riot, a glimpse of the barbaric and animal nature of man is observed. This generally brings about a de-evolution of behavior on part of the victim too, who waits then for his turn to play his hand. Thus the language of violence is what perpetuates the relation.

In all this, being secular is no help either - candle light vigils cannot extinguish hatred. Instead, providing for a designated field of battle might actually get better results than wishing the issue away from the confines of a sterilized quarantine that is secularism. The cold nature of secularism, where the religious identity held by the people is brushed under the carpet, is in fact a major cause for conflict. The Indian version of secularism is on the one hand embarrassed by its religious subjects but is proud of the diversity of this embarrassment.

Links:
http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/31/stories/2010033161350100.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_%282004_film%29
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/us/25mobs.html?scp=1&sq=flash%20mob&st=cse

Essential Delusions

Imagining forward and projecting into the future is a difficult thing to do. Only the very brave or the very reckless venture to spell out what is not yet there. Having a vision therefore is a motivational strategy to coax others into acting, sometimes even against their better judgment or will. Selling these delusional visions hence becomes very important. There are various methods of selling these delusions, indeed there are many different delusions to be sold:

The Personal Variety:
A more confident, rich, popular or better looking future-you. This is the generic illusion through which the individual should end up buying the products and services advertised. Thus a brighter future for you is what the manufacturers predict (only if their production-line goods are bought). Hence even the most disturbing insurance products try to tempt you into cheerfully betting on your untimely death in order to experience a windfall gain - here your future is great even without your presence in it!

The People Variety:
The populace is made to believe that they will collectively be transported to the "promised land". This is the domain of the government, politicians and leaders. In this future everything surrounding the individual is better. There will be freedom from want and there will be nothing to fear. The developments of science & technology are shown as signs of things to come. We are left to extrapolate the progress graph of civilization to see what the future holds. Glories of the past are reaffirmed and emulation is seen as possible.

The Other Worldly Variety:
The future here is seen from some transcendent place. This is the bastion of non-rationality. The concern for the future is replaced by a concern for something beyond (or beneath) normal explanations. The delusion sold here is that the destination to be arrived at in the future is already known. The organized religions are the main peddlers of this fantasy and their tools vary from inspiration to fear mongering.

A combination of these and other delusions are the essential fuels to the keep the engine of human endeavor running. Ultimately though it has to be recognized that the buyers and the sellers in these transactions are inevitably the same.

Mythical Precedence

Today the Supreme Court of India has cited the mythical Krishna-Radha non-conjugal live-in arrangement as a precedent in cases of such understanding between consenting adults. Thereby a more liberal definition of what constitutes a household is now upon us in India. But it is of peculiar interest to note the use of mythology in this case as a tool of understanding a moral dilemma.

On the other extreme, this also reminds us of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's statement from 2007 on the Ram Setu issue where he brazenly noted the absurdity in the use of mythological elements in making a point. But in today's pronouncement it is understandable that the Chief Justice would use myths to counter moral muddles - they do speak in the same language and tone.

A judge's life must be interesting - to sit in judgment on matters that may constantly questions his character, beliefs and convictions. Such a line of work must allow for little or no self-doubt. I am not sure therefore if any judge would concede that a particular judgment is beyond his moral capabilities.

But in life some questions are simply beyond answering. To sustain themselves in their profession, this fact has to be denied or suppressed by the adjudicating authority. As an aid in such cover-ups is where folklore and anecdotes find their place in judgments. By citing such precedents one can deflect to the past (both mythical and factual) answers sought for the present.


Links:
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_no-offence-in-pre-marital-sex-live-in-relationship-says-supreme-court_1362499
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/where-is-proof-ram-built-bridge-asks-karuna/217566/

Neither and Both

From Mr. Pratap Bhanu Mehta, President of the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi - here is a view on how developments such as the recent Women's Reservation Bill in the Parliament of India are taking the nation in a new and uncharted direction:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/our-wonderful-quotocracy/590788/0

He may or may not be off-target on his 'quotocracy' thesis but the trend is here with us and needs to be understood. As he points out, the question is one of identity but not as one sees oneself, instead how others (read - governments) identify citizens.

We could adopt a hardcore view of individual equality under all circumstances and blindfold ourselves to the disparities. Or we could open our eyes only to see through the tinted glasses of discrimination and subliminality. Either positions are heavily fortified and come with irrefutable arguments. In attempting to solve such a Dharmasankat (moral quandary): India has chosen neither and both.

No Favor

The state of Assam in India is about to assign healthcare as a basic right for its residents. The matter is not voted on yet but the papers seem to hint that this bill will soon be law. This is a first for India and it will open the floodgates which will force the rest of the states to follow suit. The skepticism regarding feasibility and the more sinister search for the benefactors kept aside, this is a brave piece of legislation which will lead to some good.

The government in the state in pursuit of whatever political mileage points has taken up the burden of affording its citizens access to some form of public healthcare. Mind you, they are doing no one any favors. Under Article 47 of the Constitution of India's Directive Principles of State Policy the state is required to do exactly this:

Article 47:
"The State shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties... "

There are other such Directive Principles in that document which are equally revealing about the state's responsibilities, a pity that none of them are binding on the state. No court can force them to do the right thing, for that they have to grow a conscience and by 'they' I also mean we.

All the legislators everywhere are really our mouthpieces, its called upward delegation in a democracy. They play a game where they try to guess what would please us and go about doing it - like a child would in trying to impress a parent. When the game gets too hard and it becomes difficult to ascertain public taste or mood some get distracted and go and do what politicians are cursed for doing.

But once in a while they get their act together and either by accident or plan actually do their job of lawmaking diligently. And when they do, it is important to note that these lawmakers are only an instrument of enforcing public will, nothing more. So acknowledge their contributions but there is no need to feel grateful.


Link:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/In-a-first-Assam-to-guarantee-right-to-health/articleshow/5673849.cms

Someone Has To Do It

Yesterday we had a get together on account of a friend's belated birthday party - had lunch, saw a movie and drove around. One of the guys was here from Bangalore for the weekend so we drove to the Kachiguda Station to put him on the train. As we made our way onto the platform, at the station's entrance there was a police jeep with a pale skinned labrador panting away in the back with two safari-suit clad policemen sitting in the front. These men were scoping out the place and probably waiting on orders. We didn't make much of the scene.

While the guys waited for the train, I had to take a leak and made my way to the nearest lavatory. On rejoining the platform's bustle I noticed that one section of the crowd just past the lavatory were moved away and formed a rough semi-circle opposite the wall with a 20 foot radius. The three characters from the jeep were in the middle, all staring at an old blue suitcase placed on a window ledge. Everyone around who understood the scenario was getting into a pre-panic mode - trying not to act stupid by smiling or laughing while quickly calculating the odds but also in order to satiate their curiosity weren't moving away either.

By the time I got there and realized the parameters of the situation, the dog had already done its sniffing around and its handler had moved it and himself back by 6 feet from the window. All the while the other man remained right next to the window with an airport security-type frisking device that he hovered over the suitcase for a couple of times. Then he took a step forward, put his hand on the suitcase's latch and in one move yanked the lid up. Like always, it was empty.

The situation quickly defused and the crowd dispersed, only now allowing themselves a smile. I started walking back towards the coffee shop where my friends were waiting, thinking I had a story to tell. But I stopped after a while and looked back to see what they did with the suitcase, it remained where it was found and the safari-suit squad was moving towards me. I waited for a while and when the man who opened the suitcase was nearing, I held out my hand. In bemusement he shook my hand and I told him the first thing that came to my mind:

"Itlanti pani cheyali ante chala dhayryam kavali sir!"
("To do this sort of work, a lot of courage must be necessary sir!")

He smiled and went on his way.


Also Interesting:
Review: "The Hurt Locker"

And the Blue Signifies..

The Central Vigilance Commission of India (CVC) which is the apex body for the prevention of corruption in India some years ago in 2003 suddenly felt the urge to up its branding. Unlike the US government, the Government of India doesn't assign any seals to its agencies, so the CVC went out and hired a graphic design consultant and bought themselves a logo like any respectable department should do.

Thus far the CVC was within its rights to want a symbolic representation of their righteous crusade against corruption. But then they just couldn't help themselves. In an apparent effort to set an impossibly high benchmark in transparency on trivial issues that most agencies would avoid emulating out of sheer embarrassment, the CVC never the less went ahead and elaborated at length the true meaning of their beloved logo on their website:

" The Central Vigilance Commission has adopted a logo. The logo consists of a graphic representation of an eye encased within the letter “C”. The eye represented in a pleasing blue colour is symbolic of the collective determination of the community to be vigilant against any erosion of rights through illegal and improper actions of public servants. Encased within the letter “C” the eye represents the Commission overseeing the vigilance administration in all public organisations and helping in arriving at quick and logical decisions in all vigilance cases. The logo has grouped positive and negative elements within it and the deliberate choice of the blue colour signifies an active, ever vigilant but positive and friendly Central Vigilance Commission. "


http://www.cvc.nic.in/cvc_logo.htm

Role Reversal

Here is a quotation on courage I came across today:

Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
-William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act II, sc. ii

Okay, an instance after you read this quote and agree with it, the reasoning turns on its head. You realize that the 'cowards' are now the real 'valiant' ones since they endure 'deaths' many times.

Catch: This somersault only possible if these cowards know that they are seen as cowards.

An Iconic Amount

Rs. l crore for information leading to the capture of the perpetrators of the German Bakery Blast incident in Pune this week is what the government is considering. This public expression of the financial measure of the government's resolve has been reported by every paper this morning. In the same papers there is a half page advert taken out by the Home Department pleading with citizens to " be our eyes and ears". For the same end different means are sought here - only sensible considering the gravity of the situation.

We would like to think that internal security is the burden of the police with every responsible citizen aiding them. But in reality the yoke is also balanced on a network of individuals of ambiguous morality - the informants. For them to perform their "duty" they need monetary reminders. Hence the Superintendent of Police of every district in India has access to a large fund that goes towards paying for intelligence - a fund subject to no audit. This mechanism has always been in place and is vital to the maintenance of law and order, even in the most peaceful of nations. It is a nod to the idea that the state is an imposed structure precariously perched on top of a social milieu which the state doesn't quite understand.

Now for an incident like the one in Pune which captures headlines everywhere, cracking the case assumes greater significance. Therefore the gathering of intelligence becomes that much more critical, hence instead of seeking information from the established informant networks alone , the authorities need new sources. The reward for such information has to correspond to the risks involved. The home ministry surely must have its logic in arriving at a figure in a manner which is routine yet awkward. After considering the urgency, cost-benefit and demand-supply the figure arrived at is Rs. 1,00,00,000 - an iconic amount.

Perhaps it is insensitive to talk of this tiny detail in view of the bigger picture but I believe that people already have entrenched opinions on the incident and the trend and therefore my voice may well already be represented in this regard by some section.

http://www.mid-day.com/news/2010/feb/280210-kingpin-khabri-mumbai-underworld-gossip.htm

Veena Rhapsody

These guys are just having fun with it!



Musicians wear the most bizarre expressions on their faces when they are in their element.

If interested in the original version, found out that it is a cover of "Raghuvamsa Sudha" - a famous Carnatik song.

Boneheaded

While feeding the dog this month, I noticed that some of the pellets of the "Pedigree's Adult Dog Food" were crafted in the shape of bones. On first sight all seems very logical - dogs are known to love their bones hence shaping food in that shape should increase its appeal to the dogs. Except that the pellets are tiny (less than an inch in length) and my dog doesn't seem to appreciate the aesthetics of its meal - it just gobbles.



Realization dawns that the shape of the pellet is designed to appeal to the human customer and not necessarily to the canine consumer. The dogfood people do their jobs: massage our egos to get to our wallets. And I have come to appreciate the crucial role product design plays in the the overall marketing strategy.

Update: 1st Feb - Article on Steve Job and Apple's approach to Product Design:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/weekinreview/31lohr.html

Barber Shop

Went in for a haircut in the morning at the usual place. People present: me in the understudy barber's chair, the understudy barber, the head barber, a patron waiting for his turn and a patron getting a shave. The following takes place:

Scene:

Guy walks in, grabs a paper sitting down on the bench and talks to whoever is listening.

Guy [Enthusiastically]: Ivala bandh anta.. university lo Telangana kosam kalchukunaru
(Today, a strike is called..someone self-imolated in the univeristy for the cause of Telangana)

Patron getting a shave [Curious]: Abayaa Amaayaa?
(Boy or Girl?)

Guy: Abay kalchukuni chachadu
(Boy died of his burns)

Patron getting a shave [Frustrated]: Chavalsinnolu chavaru!
(Those who are supposed to die, don't die!)

After a beat

Head Barber [Dispassionate]: Edhi aythe enti..holiday ayindhi.. girak aythadhi
(Whatever it may be..today is now a holiday..there will be business)

Media Induced Morbidity Syndrome: They named it!

Mr. Anant Maringanti's brave attempt at understanding the absurdity of the mutant Telugu Language Media's macabre instincts for propagating mass hysteria (from Business Week):

http://kafila.org/2009/12/18/media-induced-morbidity-syndrome-anant-maringanti/

Scheduled to Stay

In light of the political developments in the state of Andhra Pradesh, a central question has been that of identity. There have been domiciliary claims based on dialect, culture, lineage, property, migration and so on.

But if the question of "Sons of the Soil" is explored to its logical conclusion, then the first inheritors of that title should be the ancient tribes of the region who date back their origins to time immemorial in the hills and forests of the realm.

Here is a fascinating anthropological documentary with footage from around 70 years ago on the tribes of this territory. While we inhabit and claim for ourselves various provinces today just as so many unsuccessfully did before us, as always by not playing our games, these tribes quietly focus on outlasting all other claimants.

Mobs of Mysore

This morning's 'The Hindu' newspaper has a story on a hit and run incident that took place in Mysore yesterday. But what is of greater interest to the paper is the context within which the incident took place. The context being that the accident took place on a contentious stretch of road lined by 200 trees on either side which has been the subject of repeated petitions on the issue of felling of those trees for road widening. Therefore the article concentrated on the happenings after the accident - a flash mob gathered and cut down 25 of those trees.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/10/stories/2010011050020100.htm

On further googling I understand that this is a story with a history. There are a number of players involved - The city corporation & other officials, environmental activist groups, forest department, the courts and finally irate pedestrians. There are accusations and counter accusations, a mix of ideology, pragmatism and activism. Now it seems there is frustration and antagonism. The newspapers too have taken a keen interest in the developments over the past year or so.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/save-mysore-trees

Civic issues are a microcosm of political activity in the country. When things go out of hand with vested interests, disinformation and vigilante justice prevailing at this basic level of government, it doesn't augur well for governance at every higher tier.

Use of the Rule

"If the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?" - Anton Chigurh from the film 'No Country for Old Men'

The above mentioned line is delivered by a philosophical, albeit psychopathic hitman before killing someone in the movie. Violence is a draw at the movies, people are always curious. Everything that has anything to do with conflict, be it mental or physical, arouses our interest. Scripts are written on the three act formula. Exposition, Confrontation and Resolution. The stress is inevitably on the confrontation.

While we all try to avoid conflict in our lives, all the while we are aware that smooth sailing is a relative concept - there will come a time to face up to circumstances where one might come up short. This abrasive nature of existence is not lost on our subconscious. Our search in stories of conflicts is a search for a prism through which to look for clues as to how to deal with such dire situations. In the heat of the moment, we hope that our learnings will help us find a way out.

What happens on reflex is common to all creatures, the responses that set us apart are the ones that are voluntary. Hence the stories that are retained and repeated by society are the ones which at their core are instruction manuals for behavior when faced with crisis. Ancient mythological epic adventures of every culture form a part of these tried and tested guidelines. A case in point - Bhagavad Gita.

The realization of the fact that inaction cannot be a valid response when faced with those crunch moments is the start point for the development of a crisis encountering mechanism by an individual. With a gameplan now in place to face any eventuality, one can go about life without hesitations and second thoughts as long as one keeps to the rules drawn up for survival.

But eventually the walls crumble and you sail towards your terminal confrontation knowing that the endgame is imminent. At that point of final settlement one last contention remains: "If the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?"