INDIANS HIT THE ROAD AMID ELEPHANTS?

Here's the venerable The New York Times proclaiming loudly 'Indians Hit the Road Amid Elephants'. Elephants prowling on Delhi roads? I have seen my fair share of cows, but elephants? Looks like an enthusiastic desk hand let his imagination run riot.

As you read the piece there's more. At least this morning there was no elephant chewing bamboo in the fast lane, as there sometimes is. I've been in Delhi for eleven years, and I have still not been privileged enough to bump into an elephant on the roads.

The article has raised some relevant points, but falls into the trap of stemming from a pre-determined conclusion, giving full scope for sprinkling it with the masala of cliches.

Elephantine traffic jams though are very much part of the plot in Delhi. But it is unfair to lay the blame only at the door of poor infrastructure. Narrow roads are part and parcel of most Indian cities, but that is one charge which cannot be levelled against most of Delhi. The capital city has the widest roads in the country, has the maximum number of flyovers. On the other hand, the reality is that the number of vehicles are simply too large.

Along with the sheer number, drivers and pedestrians alike have scant regard for traffic rules. Half the accidents could be avoided if they can resist the temptation to be there first as well as fast. More of discipline and less of jugaad would help matters considerably.

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NANOMANIA

FRIENDLIER BUSES IN THE CAPITAL

NANOMANIA

From Nagpur to New York, the Nano has been making waves across the world. Undoubtedly a one-lakh car is a fantastic achievement and media hype is in overdrive mode.

It is a different matter though, when you are at the receiving end of Nanomania. I cursed my stupidity on Friday evening for travelling via Pragati Maidan en route to Connaught Place. While the media and the visitors to the Auto Expo in Pragati Maidan raved about the Nano (including the visiting Greek Prime Minister), there were thousands stuck in the crossfire, with cars waiting from Pragati Maidan to Connaught Place.

Add to this cacophony, a few thousand nanos replacing the horde of scooters and bikes, with the size of the roads remaining constant.

Autorickshaws too may go the Nano way. After all, a new autorickshaw costs around 1.2 lakh rupees. In terms of fuel efficiency, Nano gives around 20 km per litre. Not suprisingly, autorickshaw owners in Mumbai are seeking permits allowing the use of the Nano for public transport. A more comfortable ride is in store, only that you might have to spend longer time on the road.

The roads may get choked with Nanos, but we have no business pointing fingers at the Tata Group. The Nano is undoubtedly the stuff of dreams, appealing not just to the middle-class metro Indian but also catering to the aspirations of the small town Indian. With better infrastructure, Rata Tata's small car could well reach out to rural areas too.

Dr R K Pachauri of Nobel Peace Prize fame has suggested that the Tatas should better concentrate on investing in public transport.

Quoting Ratan Tata, “I agree that India lacks public transport but you are at the wrong press conference. We are not responsible for public transport.” He's right - that's the government's domain. The cities are crying out for better public transport, be it metro or buses. The metro has covered considerable ground in Delhi, and by 2010 most of Delhi (not to forget Noida and Gurgaon) will be accessible through the metro. One hopes that buses will also keep pace, with the rickety and menacing bluelines given a well-deserved burial.

Incidentally, the new sleek low-floor buses plying on Delhi roads are made by Tata. Buses which could well be the harbingers of comfortable travel.

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FRIENDLIER BUSES IN THE CAPITAL

MODI ALL THE WAY

Narendra Modi is firmly back in the saddle for another five years. An expected verdict, though the scale of it exceeded the forecasts of most election pundits. After the triumph, Modi did not forget old wounds. So no one-on-one interviews with any news channel which aired the Tehelka sting. The winner takes it all, they say.

Here's a man who virtually singlehandedly propelled the BJP to power in Gujarat yet again. Narendra Modi weathered RSS and VHP displeasure as well as the wrath of the numerous party rebels. The likes of Keshubhai Patel and Suresh Mehta (both former BJP Chief Ministers) have been exposed as political has-beens.

Modi mastered the art of rhetoric - be it soundbytes or provocative speeches. But would his formula of asmita (pride) and development have worked to this extent if the Congress had not played into his hands?

Sonia Gandhi did exactly that, by calling Modi as a 'maut ka saudagar'(merchant of death). Right on cue, Modi, who was talking of 'development' till then, was suddenly harping on terrorism and Sohrabuddin Sheikh. The Congress would have been better served, had they been able to project at least one local leader. The TV screen only showed the imports from Delhi - Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The party had nobody to project at the local level, trying to counter Modi's claims of development. The Arjun Modhvadias and Bharatsinh Solankis remained anonymities while former BJP man Shankersingh Vaghela's influence was limited.

It is now forgotten that Modi got a shocker three years ago in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. Defying predictions, the Congress had inched close to BJP with 12 seats and a 45.1 per cent vote share, while BJP had 14 seats and 47.4 per cent share. The Congress had enough and more time to corner Modi, only to surrender to rhetoric instead of getting their organisation right. A Congress leader said on TV that election verdicts are becoming 'geographically separated'. Against a well-entrenched local leader waiting for a pretext to polarise sentiments in his favour, grandiose accusations after flying down from Delhi simply did not work.

Modi the winner may have taken it all, but for the BJP the victory is a mixed blessing. The pundits on TV were interpreting BJP President Rajnath Singh's body language after the victory as 'glum' and 'graceless' in acknowledging Narendra Modi's overwhelming role. The party has the challenge of reconciling Modi's image with a moderate face they would like to convey to allies in future NDA coalitions. It was significant that the BJP chose to anoint L K Advani as their Prime Ministerial candidate, just when Modi was at his rhetorical zenith during the Gujarat campaign. Modi may have been able to hold on to his regional turf, despite enemies all around; but the national platform may be a different ball game.

Come Prime Time on Gujarat result day, Narendra Modi did have one competitor for screen space. And Rakhi Sawant's cries of 'dhokha' at losing out in the Nach Baliye final did turn the spotlight away from Modi on some news channels. A mixture of righteous indignation and copious tears, Rakhi was as dramatic as ever. Her latest publicity splash came as some relief to all those tired of the Moditva phenomenon.

DANCING TO THE WRONG LINES

Walk in to office eyeing a peaceful night shift, what do you get? A few Dalit organisations have figured out that Madhuri Dixit was dancing to the wrong tune or rather wrong lines in the title song of Aaja Nachle.

On release day they suddenly seem to have realised that the line 'Mochi chala banne sonar" (cobbler tries to turn goldsmith) is offensive and derogatory. Udit Raj and his Indian Justice Party says the filmmakers are trying to say that a cobbler is the lowest in the society. He may have a point, though the lyricist as well as the Censor Board missed the potential for 'social implications.'

But where was Udit Raj and his group all these months? The song's been playing repeatedly for quite some time. But then when it comes to protests, timing is everything. Without a cinema hall screening the film, where's the space to protest?

In no time, Mayawati's stepped into the act and banned the film in UP. And wants a ban all over the country.

As for makers Yash Raj, they are quick to switch to damage-control mode by snipping off the offensive part. And life goes on.....the Indian Justice Party's got its protest visuals screened across the country and more attention and curiosity surrounds Aaja Nachle.

But lyrics, dialogues and film titles do have the potential to offend, especially in communities sharply divided on caste lines. Read Dalit outfit Puthiya Thamizhagam leader Dr S Krishnaswamy's reasons for opposing the Kamal Haasan film titled Sandiyar (Rowdy). The film was ultimately released as Virumandi.

NATAKA UNLIMITED

It's been just one week. CM Yeddyurappa has already become past tense.

With a restive Deve Gowda around, the 'Karnataka politics' headline was expected to change in no time, but don't the people of the state deserve a break from this non-stop drama? Even we news channel foot soldiers deserve a break from Gowda's machinations.

A BJP in a desperate hurry for the symbolic value of a Chief Minister down south. But even if you are itching to bat (after bowling and fielding for a while, as Yashwant Sinha said), it's a better idea to ensure an even-paced wicket to bat on rather than an underprepared minefield. Especially if Deve Gowda is turning the ball square with his wrong 'uns. It's impossible to tackle a former Prime Minister (we are talking of India, not Karnataka) whose motto is 'either my son or I am a secular humble farmer.' The party's been forced to realise that a hurried 'Twenty20' approach could also mean 'do and die'.

As for Yeddyurappa, the man in a hurry to be CM, it's difficult to feel any sympathy, though he's been betrayed by the JD(S) or rather the Gowda parivar. He could take some scholarly advice from Atal Bihari Vajpayee, whose first government (1996) lasted just 13 days. And it wouldn't be bad idea to get back to his astrologer's drawing board, and chart out a new spelling.

Yeddyurappa (formerly Yediyurappa) may just ride on sympathy. And the Congress would do well to fight an election without help from the humble farmer and son.

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BJP's POWERFUL DEEPAVALI

GOWDA BENDS, BJP RISES

BJP's POWERFUL DEEPAVALI

No more President's Rule and Yeddyurappa (formerly Yediyurappa) is within touching distance of being Karnataka Chief Minister. The BJP can now strut around chanting Karnataka to all questions about them being a North India/Hindi heartland party. It also helps that the BJP has a Chief Minister in a southern state, soon after its war of words over the Ram Sethu with the self-appointed champion of Dravidian ideology, Tamil Nadu CM Karunanidhi.

But does the party really understand the South? In the 2004 elections they didn't do their homework well except in Karnataka, ensuring an unexpected defeat at the Centre. And now, this laboured limp to power in the only southern state where they got a foothold three years back, could well chip away at that foothold (for the next state election at least). Poor Yeddyurappa ended up expressing happiness in faraway Delhi in his faltering Hindi, a language he is far from comfortable with.

And BJP President Rajnath Singh had the gall to thank the people of 'South India' for giving them the opportunity. Firstly, Mr Singh, the people of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh had nothing to do with this deepavali 'gift'. And secondly and more importantly, the people had no choice over this alliance, imposed on them by a majority of legislators.

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HINDI TAMIL BHAI BHAI

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LEFT AND THE PRACTICE OF RHETORIC

It's been a while since the CPM and the rest of the Left parties began their 'we'll pull the plug on the UPA government if they go ahead with the nuclear deal' talk. And with the UPA agreeing to put on hold the operationalisation of the deal, the Left is now on their high horse.

There are whispers of new alliances, with the CPM making overtures to old pals Mulayam Singh Yadav and Chandrababu Naidu. The term 'third front' is again being polished and brought back from the graveyard.

We are seeing a UPA government in paralysis, a Congress pushed to the wall, unsure whether to rally behind the Prime Minister. And Manmohan Singh continues to reflect the perils of being a politician by accident.

Nuclear deal or not, life will go on. Isn't it high time the Congress either unequivocally stood by the deal or jettisoned it to keep the government alive? As for the Left, they seem all the more keen to increase the decibel levels of their bark.

But what about the bite? The Congress may have blinked this time but is the Left ready for the prospect of polls? Electoral arithmetic clearly advises that biting would have uprooted a few teeth for the Left.

Starting with Kerala, the LDF government has been on an alienating spree. Any election would mean a rout, with the opposition Congress gleefully gaining.

In West Bengal, the Left Front will hold fort, but faces erosion in their mass base. The scars of Nandigram are still fresh and the recent ration riots are also an ominous signal.

Any election and the Left faces the prospect of being a less influential pressure group. The best option - cosy up to Mulayam and Naidu and drop hints of a third front.

As for the nuclear deal, there was a lot of hollering but was there ever a debate? Did we hear much more than neo-colonialist and imperialist US and George W Bush? All the statements sounded more like election speeches at Delhi's leftist bastion Jawaharlal Nehru University. The anti-US tirade resembled the enthusiasm with which the JNU Students Union removed a Nestle outlet inside the campus a few years back (being a multinational conspiracy invading JNU)

Not surprising, since Comrades Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury are both former JNUSU Presidents, and that's probably the last time they ever faced an election. It's shocking that theoreticians who have never faced an election in their life (I mean panchayat, state assembly, Lok Sabha etc) are deciding whether an elected government should survive. It also takes theoreticians to talk endlessly over an issue which does not affect a vast majority of the Indian people.

Other than Prakash Karat, who has never even been a Rajya Sabha MP, there is only one prominent politician who's always shunned elections, preferring to lead by remote control. None other than Shiv Sena's Bal Thackeray.

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HOT CHICKS

INDIA AND RACISM

Following the 'racist' gestures aimed at Andrew Symonds in the Mumbai onedayer, a natural reaction is, "These Aussies are so racist. It's high time we give them a taste of their own medicine."

Yes, Australian cricketers have been guilty of overt racism, be it Dean Jones referring to bearded South African Hashim Amla as 'looking like a terrorist' on air, or Darren Lehmann hollering black c***, aimed at the Sri Lankans. And then there's covert racism, where Indian and Sri Lankan players are also no angels. Racist abuse has become part and parcel of sledging, regrettable as it may sound.

But the 'monkey gestures' of the Indian fans at the Wankhede Stadium reinforce the very premise of racism - target only those who can be painted as inferior and primitive. So Andrew Symonds with Aborigine roots is the butt of ridicule. A mirror to a society with deep-rooted caste and religious prejudices.

Indians across the world would be happy to be associated with whites, but when it comes to blacks it's suspicion and disdain. Ranging from South Africa to Uganda, Black Africans have been wary of Indian-origin people, who from the colonial days considered themselves higher in the social scale. Some day I would like to see a film on an African-American in love with an Indian and how the parents react. The one such film I had seen, Mira Nair's Mississippi Masala had given the 'Indians driven out of Idi Amin's Uganda' context to explain the dislike.

The Australian media may have overreacted with ridiculous statements like 'Mumbai fans have a reputation for racist abuse towards visiting players' but the incident and the selective targeting of Symonds can't be washed away. Poking fun is one thing (extending even to calling Inzamam aloo) but creating notions of superiority and inferiority is something else.

SEEING RED OVER WHEAT

CNN-IBN's special report on substandard wheat being imported from Australia has come as a shocker. Going by this, an Indian peasant is fit to eat what is edible for an animal in Australia.

Australia happily exports animal feed for human consumption, that too a country which 'protects' its people with very strict laws on food and imports. A country where a greeting card with a leaf extract from India did not reach the recipient precisely because the leaf originated in foreign shores. Imagine that in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, equestrian events were held in distant Stockholm in Sweden, because foreign horses were not compatible with the country's strict quarantine laws.

This Australian hypocrisy fits in with the French attempt to dismantle the ship Clemenceau, riddled with toxic waste, at Alang in Gujarat. But then a developed country giver needs an underdeveloped/developing country taker too. It's worse that the Indian government is content equating the poor with cattle.

FROM ROSES TO RAGE

Gandhi Jayanti 2007 has been worlds removed from Gandhi Jayanti 2006. Last year the media discourse centred around Lage Raho Munnabhai, and how the film desmystified Gandhi for the masses and the youth. Gandhigiri was the buzzword and there was story after story about peaceful protests with flowers. For that matter, any kind of peaceful protest was likened or twisted to a show of 'Gandhigiri.' To be precise, what 'Chak De' is now, Gandhigiri was then.

A year later, forget Gandhi and what he stood for, the 'instant noodles' Gandhian message of Lage Raho Munnabhai has been relegated to history. If Munnabhai was a redemption song for Sanjay Dutt, the actor was behind bars for a while this year after being sentenced in the Bombay Blasts case, and awaits an uncertain future. The last few months have seen a spate of incidents of mob fury, ranging from Bhagalpur to Siliguri. And news channels and newspapers are agog with road rage deaths.

Gandhi would have been shocked by Muthuvel Karunanidhi's vituperative outbursts against Ram, as the DMK supremo anointed himself as the Head Priest of atheism. The soundbyte-happy Ram Sethu debate has been all about disrespect and intolerance. And even more shockingly on Gandhi Jayanti eve, when the DMK's hunger strike call turned into a virtual bandh in Tamil Nadu, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi had the gall to say that by going on hunger strike, Karunanidhi was only respecting the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi and non-violence. Karunanidhi would have emerged with more dignity and no Supreme Court censure if he had restrained his followers from extending the definition of a hunger strike.

This is also the year of an introspective film 'Gandhi My Father' depicting the difficult relationship between Gandhi and his eldest son Harilal and how the Father of the Nation failed to understand his son. Depicting Gandhi the fallible human being seems painfully appropriate in a year which reminds me of the Julius Caesar line, "O judgment, thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason." A year when a news channel airs a week-long series called 'Murdering the Mahatma.'

Also the year when the Government of India is a mute spectator, while non-violent protests by Buddhist monks are ruthlessly crushed by the ruling military junta in neighbouring Myanmar.

HINDI TAMIL BHAI BHAI

Jab Hindustan hai desh hamara
Hindu Muslim Sikh Isai
Aapas main hai bhai bhai

A paean to secularism recited in Hindi at a joint meeting of the ruling alliance in Tamil Nadu on Sunday evening. And who trots out these lines flawlessly in a thick Tamil accent, without consulting a piece of paper. None other than Muthuvel Karunanidhi, the head of the DMK, whose party came to power for the first time way back in 1967 on an anti-Hindi platform.

Listening to the Kalaignar's ode to secularism in the very language he has openly despised, presented mixed emotions - of mirth as well as admiration. The man has tirelessly stuck to 'Tamizh Tai' as his medium of expression, and has rarely spoken in English in public, forget Hindi. (The only time I've heard a near-English soundbyte of his was when he read out some report on the Cauvery issue in English)

Karunanidhi is in no mood to give way on the Sethusamudram project, a long-cherished dream of Dravidian ideology. And at the same time wants to show off that he's part of a secular India and not just a regional politician. A shrewd publicity gimmick stimulating his cadres and creating a talking point for the Tamil public. And an indication to the BJP that two can play the game of whipping up sentiments.

The perfect launch pad for the hunger strike DMK leaders plan on Monday, after the Supreme Court's special sitting on a Sunday restrained them from organising a bandh. No bandh, no food - that's the motto.

The AIADMK may have prevented a bandh by going to the Supreme Court, but Karunanidhi's Plan B was undoubtedly poetry in motion. And Amma has to tread carefully, with the seasoned veteran already invoking Tamil pride.

At 84, the veteran scriptwriter continues to surprise us with new layers in the plot of power. Ever the artist, the Kalaignar.

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TALKING HEADS AND RAM SETHU

TALKING HEADS & RAM SETHU

One of the most nightmarish things to deal with in a newsroom is a Karunanidhi soundbyte. Expatriate Tamilians shudder when asked to translate the Kalaignar's words into English. The man's subtle utterings have layers of meaning, rhetorical flourishes and some poetic licence too.

Thanks to Sethusamudram and Ram, the Kalaignar's been a recurring nightmare for the newsroom over the past two weeks. And the man has brazenly stood his ground, precisely because his state is hardly bothered about Ram.

The VHP started off the fireworks with a nationwide chakka jam, which created traffic snarls in faraway Delhi, while Tamil Nadu (where the Ramar Sethu is) casually shrugged it off. But the BJP and the VHP got the opportunity they craved for, with the Archaeological Survey of India affidavit denying the existence of Ram. The saffron outfits went on the offensive, leaving a shame-faced Congress groping for answers.

For the BJP, the Ram controversy came at the right time, as Gujarat heads for elections. And a marginalised VHP had something to talk about, more than a decade after the Babri Masjid demolition.

But this time round, the saffron parties were pitted against somebody who could match them threat for threat and shrillness for shrillness. And it was a win-win situation for both the BJP and Karunanidhi. For the BJP a chance to whip up some fervour in the Hindi belt and for Karunanidhi the perfect opportunity to wax eloquent on Dravidian pride and the 'Brahminical and Aryan' God Ram. The Kalaignar's first chance to harp on Dravidian identity after the heady days of the anti-Hindi riots and DMK's entry into power.

Here's a state where the arrest of the Kanchi Sankaracharya creates hardly a murmur (except for the 2-3% Brahmin population). The BJP and the VHP had made a hue and cry about the arrest of a seer who was involved in the Ayodhya movement, but that didn't deter then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. And in the 2006 Assembly Polls, Sankaracharya's fate did not figure anywhere in the polls, not even in his headquarters, Kancheepuram.

As for Ram, he is regarded a Brahminical, Aryan God, revered by the 3% Brahmin population, which had during the British colonial regime reigned supreme in the caste hierarchy, and a stranglehold over government jobs. The intermediate castes were all classified as sudras, leading to Periyar's Self-Respect Movement and later the DMK. Local gods are now worshipped with renewed fervour by various 'intermediate' castes and anti-Brahminism has spawned a massive 69% reservation. Also this is the only state in India where kids are happily named Ravanan. So where is the space for Ram?

Things came to a head literally, with VHP leader Vedanti's call for a reward for taking off Karunanidhi's head. The undaunted patriarch responded with his customary flourish, whipping up enough emotions to charge up DMK workers to an orgy of eulogy, in a state notorious for personality cults.

Even the BJP realised the war of words had gone too far, and made conciliatory statements about being opposed to the present alignment, and not the Sethusamudram Project per se. After all, the project was initiated when the BJP-led NDA was in power at the Centre (DMK was a coalition partner). DMK's current Shipping Minister T R Baalu claims that 'no less than six BJP ministers were involved in the final selection of the present route.'

The VHP can still be strident, but the BJP knows the golden rule of politics. Foe today friend tomorrow. And Karunanidhi may again make peace someday with the 'Brahminical' BJP, if pet peeve (in fact his only peeve) Jayalalithaa makes peace with the Congress.

As for Amma, she was sent packing to her Kodanadu estate in Nilgiri district, facing threats of demolition of 'illegal' construction. Amma is now directing protests from Ooty, rooting for Ram only because Karunanidhi is against Ram.

While the verbal duel rages, will anybody spare a thought for the two human beings who were charred beyond recognition by the burning of a Tamil Nadu bus near Bangalore? But then in Tamil Nadu politics, where self-immolation is a virtue, the leaders may be touched by this. But horrified.......never.

HOT CHICKS

"It has been approved here (in Washington, DC) by the President, and there (in New Delhi) it's been approved by the Indian cabinet. So why do you have all this running around like headless chicken, looking for a comment here or comment there, and these little storms in a tea-cup?"

Indian Ambassador to the US Ronen Sen on rediff.com

Distorting a story is an art we have perfected, we are adept at editing soundbytes to suit our headline and we know how to blow up Shilpa Shetty into Big Brother champ. Being journalists and spin doctors, we can recognise a barb at us when we see one. It's as clear as daylight that Ronen Sen's `headless chicken' quip was directed at our byte-hungry tribe. Who else could be "looking for a comment here or comment there?"

But then our venerable MPs (opposition BJP as well as ruling opposition Left) had predetermined that they should count their chickens before they hatched. Probably some journalists had presented them with a selective version of the quote.

Presented a convenient tool to create a furore over the nuclear deal, they promptly lost their head and created a ruckus in Parliament. In their tit-for-tat world, if they were headless, the aggrieved MPs wanted Ronen Sen's head. Unprecedented, MPs taking up cudgels on behalf of journalists, albeit unwittingly.

While MPs ranted about recalling the hapless Ambassador, there were people putting things in perspective on air. Who else but we headless chickens, the object of Ronen Sen's ire.

Comrade Prakash Karat thundered, "Our ambassador in Washington is working not for us but the US." Comrade, you may oppose the deal but stop this intolerant approach. It's unfair casting such aspersions on somebody who played a key role in complex negotiations, which resulted in India getting a respectable deal. Criticise the deal, but it does not become you to stoop to the level of George W Bush by speaking in ' either you are with us or against us' terms.

The Left has all along given the impression the deal is bad because of their blind anti-American stance. Can we get a well-reasoned critique from them? Wonder how they would have reacted if it was a deal with China. After all who said not too long ago, 'China's Chairman is Our Chairman.'

As far as the BJP goes, the same party would have bent over backwards to accomodate the nuclear deal if they were in power. But then they have to live up to their name of the principal opposition party.

The one parallel I can think of is from my hometown Thiruvananthapuram, where you can see a few pillars in Bakery Junction, meant to support an incomplete flyover. The LDF government simply had to halt the project, as it was initiated by the previous regime of the Congress-led UDF. Net result, the flyover remains a headless chicken.

A PIECE OF CAKE

Rising India, Emerging India or India Shining. Spin it whichever way, there's money to flaunt and splash, as a burgeoning middle-class lets itself loose.

In an EMI-driven era, getting a housing loan, car loan or a personal loan has become a piece of cake. But what took the cake for me today was an Indian Express story which said banks have started giving loans to doting parents for kids' birthday bashes. Marriages, it's easy to relate to, but bank loans and EMIs for birthdays!

Parents are free to indulge their kids, using their resources. But bank loans for birthdays? Seems more like the outcome of peer pressure for both parents and kids. And a means to network for both parents and guests.

Here's more courtesy Washington Post

Being in India, one is used to the dichotomy of grinding poverty and staggering affluence. But in this India of opportunities for the middle class, the gap between the kid blowing up three lakhs on a birthday and the kid doing cartwheels and twisting her body while begging near Connaught Place is clearly widening. Emerging India is indeed appealing and scary at the same time.

Hamid Ansari vs Najma Heptullah vs Rasheed Masood. For the first time in Independent India all the political groupings have come up with candidates from the same community for a President/Vice-President poll. Works as a CBM (Confidence Building Measure) in the light of Indian citizens coming into the terror focus for the first time.

At the same time, it's sad that all the choices offered are from merely one community. If the idea was to reiterate faith in the Muslim community and dismiss the terror attacks as the act of a misguided few, all parties should have got together and formed a consensus.

The fact that only one community can contest a Vice-President poll is a dangerous trend. The President election this time, despite all the controversy, was not so `exclusive', where one had to belong to a community. But next time, the Vice-President poll trend may well replicate itself in the Presidential polls. Dalit candidate vs Dalit candidate, Muslim candidate vs Muslim candidate, OBC candidate vs OBC candidate.

As far as stature goes, former diplomat Hamid Ansari seems the best bet. And he is not a career politician, in the Kalam mould. But then by the Left's wierd criteria of `political' President and`non-political' Vice-President, he has no business being in the picture when the next Presidential election comes up five years down the line.

Najma Heptullah has enough reasons to kick herself. If she had not hitched herself to the India Shining bandwagon and joined the BJP close to the 2004 elections, she might have ended up in Raisina Hill now and not Pratibha Patil. Now Maulana Azad's grand-niece is destined to contest and lose.

FIRST CITIZEN

What a letdown! Anointing a colourless lightweight as President. My first reaction after Pratibha Patil's nomination for the Presidential poll. A consensus candidate conjured up from desperation, only because the Left did not have the occasion or need to cross swords with her in the past. Being in the political wilderness for long helped, as she had no opportunity to rub anybody in the UPA the wrong way.

But then Patil was the first woman in India to come into the presidential picture (Captain Lakshmi may have contested against Kalam, but hers was a lost cause at the outset). Positive tidbits about Patil appeared all over the media.

She must have some calibre in her if she became an MLA at the young age of 27 in 1962 when she was not even married (She got married three years later). A single woman at a young age becoming a legislator from interior Maharashtra more than 40 years ago is undoubtedly commendable. And educational institutions galore established over the years. Malayala Manorama's wonderful headline 'Pradhamam Ee Pratibha' ( first, this talent) said it all.

But the cookie crumbled with breathtaking speed and the slide was initiated by her. A public speech and what does she come with - a silly line about the Mughal invasion having led to the purdah system to protect women from the invaders. Muslim groups and historians cried foul.
Wonder what her campaign(image) managers were doing?

The media and the BJP smelt blood, and what does Pratibha do? Plays into their hands with her revelations about talking to spirits. It was only a matter of focussing on Maharashtra's sugar belt, her home turf. And skeletons started tumbling out with alarming regularity.

Maybe she is not directly involved in any of the scams. But what does it show? A weak-kneed person turning a blind eye while her relatives make merry. Coming back to the `lightweight' point, has she done anything of note as a politician in her over 40 years of public life? India is stuck with a yes-woman (unless the NDA comes to power at the Centre).

That said, the BJP must take the blame for initiating a sustained dirty tricks campaign against Patil, making it sound like a college election full of tabloid masala about rival candidates. The Congress too did not cover itself with glory, with its attacks on Shekhawat.

A news channel had the SMS question, "Has the public lost faith in the Presidency?". Here is an election where the public does not get to vote and what do those they elect present them with? A no-holds-barred slanging match.

The perfect breeding ground for cynicism.