Righteousness by Right

This is also a tale from my service days. In my flying squadron crew room, we were taking a break between two flying missions. We had just dropped the milk packets around forward posts in Arunachal, and were preparing to undertake a ration dropping mission in another area.

An argument developed between two of my colleagues, one an experienced pilot with a few thousand hours under his belt, and another a bright young pilot, lesser in terms of flying hours, but solid in terms of qualification (master green rating in flying skills).

The matter started innocuously enough. It was about what kind of decision to take if a cloud is blocking the valley in which an aircraft is passing for a mission further up the valley. There are umpteen consideration like weather prognosis, the hill range height, load in the aircraft, …and so on.

Soon the argument turned towards egocentric brawl of who is right. The conversation (…err would rather qualify as a shouting match) went like this,

Senior Pilot : I have taught many like you how to fly.

Junior Pilot : Sir, I don’t think any of your pupils has gone as far as green rating.

Senior Pilot : I have ten years experience flying each corner of Assam area.

Junior Pilot : Sir, I have done more missions in this area  in the last one year than you

                       have done in two.

Senior Pilot : I have learnt more nuances of flying from many able instructors than you.

Junior Pilot : Sir, in the last skill test, they gave me ‘Master Green’ rating, and gave you

                       ‘Green’ only

Senior Pilot : You are being impertinent. I am your senior.

Junior Pilot :  Hmmm……(Face expressions and unsaid thoughts not described)

I, the wise man, could not help interjecting. I addressed the senior pilot “ Sir, but that is not the issue. We were talking about the flying tactics, when there is a cloud……”

Senior Pilot : When two seniors are talking, who the hell are you to talk about issues.

…..Phew. I immediately shut my mouth so hard that my lips vanished into a thin line with the proverbial zero width.

I have learnt my lesson. But who has the gumption to tell History from repeating itself.

This once it is a nice person called Anna. The grandfatherly persona means well to all, but is specially seized with making India a great country.  Like the Squadron interaction mentioned above, it started with an innocuous thing called corruption. Now corruption is a thing that all empowered people in India practice and all the rest have learnt to suffer in silence.

I believe conversation (…err I don’t know what to call the kind of interaction that took place. In case of our crew room, there were no water cannons, police, Baba in funny clothing or any spokesmen involved)  went on like this (dramatized version, does not bear any resemblance to anyone living or dead.)

Anna : You must do something about corruption. You owe it to people.

GoI    : Who the hell are you?

Anna : I am the civil society. Peoples’ voice.

GoI    :  What ?  I am the elected representative.

Anna :  But the issue is ……..

GoI    :. Don’t talk about issues. Issues are not more important than

              the Democratic principle that says that issues should be

               tackled by elected representatives, manifested by the houses

               of the parliament as enshrined by the provisos of the constitution

                of India, that has come about after innumerable sacrifices by our

                forefathers, one of whom was………….

I have no idea how the conversation ended or whether it is still ongoing.

But the nagging doubt remains.

Is being Senior (or elected) some kind of metamorphosis of a human being into a superior being with the capability of being exclusively right and righteous?

Who is Anna? Please help me understand

We live in the Information age. So goes the belief. That means that we can seek any information from the net, from teachers, friends on telephone, TV and even (God forbid, you ever have the need or inspiration) call centers.

I am not too sure. Because I am totally confused about Anna Hazare after hearing many on TV, in newspapers and on the internet.

And that scares the hell out of me. Am I ‘Home Alone’ in the misinformation age, where everyone lives blissfully in ‘The Information Age’?

I, with folded hands, request you to listen to me and help me understand the burning question “who is Anna’.

To begin, let me tell you how I got confused with various views and counter views.

First Opinion:  I searched the net for an opinion from Tushar Gandhi, Mahatma’s great grandson. I had great hopes of a grand thought from this accomplished descendent of the greatest soul that walked this earth in recent times. He said “Anna struggle not Gandhian”. He added “a Gandhian movement gives means more importance than its ends, but today, the ends have become more important. To find a proper solution, both the parties have to be on the same ground. The other party should succumb to your determination and not to your obstinacy.”   (Source Times of India: Hyderabad; 11 Sep 2011)

Phew…..    Now even my history is getting mixed up. Were the English rulers and Indian subjects on the same ground?  Can one person’s determination be another man’s obstinacy? If Mahatma was with us today (How I wish), would his means (Dandi Yatra, fasts, non co-operation) even scratch the smug indifference of many who occupy the high posts in his name?

Second Opinion: Congress spokesman, no he has already apologized. Does that mean that the insinuation against Anna that he is corrupt was right or wrong?

Third:  A Chief Minister of a North Indian State: “Anna Hazare is anti-Dalit, because SC/ST and backward classes are not represented in the drafting panel.”
(Source : Zee News : First Published: Saturday, August 27, 2011, 00:35)

Now this is even more confusing. The drafting panel consisted of eminent jurists and constitutional experts. I don’t think castes or religions were a factor. If I want a heart surgery, do I look for a surgeon with the same caste?  I go the person who has the best skills to save my soul. However maybe I don’t know enough.

Fourth:  a Different NGO, We agree with ……..   But we disagree with the method, issues and procedures. Do you agree with the Government” No. Do you have a bill draft? No we have suggestions. Is Anna right about the issue? Yes, but we will need more discussion. ………

            Now this is getting as straight as a Jalebi. Why are they having doubts only after Anna raised the issue?  If Anna with his qualified team is looking down the wrong end of the barrel of Governments gun, why are these NGOs receiving hugs? How is it that Government calls Anna Bill as issues and their suggestions as Bill?

Oh God, bring me to the information age, please.

Fifth:  Government of India: We are against corruption. We have always been against corruption. But we don’t agree with Anna because, he is against the corrupt.

We have to draw a line somewhere.

Firstly let us get a clear picture.

1. Corruption is everywhere. You cannot blame us for all of it.
2. It takes time. The bill was introduced forty years back; we will try to expedite it. Be reasonable, give us another forty years?
3. Anna is a RSS agent.
4. Anna is corrupt from head to toe, and also in between.
5. Anna’s team is corrupt. Last year they bought three shirts between four of them.
6. Parliament is supreme.
7. Parliament members are supreme.
8. Procedures are supreme.
9. When will you understand man? Let the things be what they are and let us build our resources for the next elections [Deleted from the official records. Retained for the purpose of understanding only]

But one fact remains. Anna is a trouble maker. Or maybe Anna is a nice man, but his advisors are trouble creators. Or maybe Anna and team are nice people; it is the public that is creating trouble. God No, public is nice, they voted for us. ….Hmmm   what the hell is going on man? Who do we hang for this? Delhi Police, where is that constable?

Sixth:  Prime Minister:      Hmmmm….

                                           Hmmmmm…

                                            Sir,     please say something.

                                             OK,    When is madam coming?

Seventh:  Indians (Living in Indian cities, towns, villages, other parts of the globe)

The  Slogan:

          Inqilab Ki Aandhi hai

          Yeh doosara Gandhi hai

(This is revolution. And Anna is the second Gandhi)

The Events:

• Candle marches, fasts, Millions rally to the call against corruption.
• Media and internet all full of support to Anna.
• Mothers with infants bringing them to Anna fast for showing them history in the making.
• The youth, middle class and the lay public looking at Anna as a saviour.

===============================================

Now that has me thoroughly confused,

Please Sir/Madam, can you please help me understand ,    

• Is Anna our second Gandhi?
• Is Anna a selfless saint or steeped in corruption?
• Is Anna a mischief maker?
• Is Anna a whiff of fresh air, thinking of our country and countrymen when the leaders have got into the ‘loot and scoot’ game?
• Will Anna be our savior?

It is not Cricket

Before I am misunderstood, let me clearly state that I have no intent of preaching about ‘fair play’ or ‘sportsmanship’ that was earlier attached to men wearing white flannels.  Nor I am talking about the oft repeated moan that one political party takes shelter under, after they have been outclassed in a battle of wits in the parliament.

I am talking about the new definition of the game of cricket. Even in that context, I am not talking about the variants, Six/five/one day or 20/20, 10/10 etc. I am talking about everything else that has become raison d’etre of being a cricketer.

In the context, let me mention that the recent fiasco on the English tour has caused anguish to Indian cricket fans. But I would entreat those fans to understand the ‘Game’ of cricket and underlying issue; and stop blaming players for not being able to field, bowl or bat. Everything else they did admirably. And that ‘everything else’ is a bigger part of cricket today.

For the uninitiated, let me explain.

To begin, let us rewind and get back to our lives ( if you are a couch potato like me, let us be in front of TV enjoying the commercials from minute number 15 to 19, and 23 to 25, and 28-29 for each of the half an hour episodes of any serial, ….oops, …talk about standardization)

In a days hard work (seeing 2 movies and four serials), you are likely to see cricketers slogging out for your benefit, e.g.

1. The first cricketer tells you which tyre to use in your car. I have been changing tyres for the last thirty years, but now I know better. Because this feller, rather than practicing cricket, has been burning the rubber from Mumbai to Goa. That too after drinking milk with a supplement that gives your tyres an extra zip.
2. Another cricketer tells you to take a capsule off some shiny bottle if you want to live your life to your heart’s content. Somehow I am hesitant to believe this one. If I can do half the partying and experimenting with fluids that he is known to be doing, my life would be much more than just contentment. On the down side I might develop a little paunch and may have problem in seeing even a football on the cricket ground.
3. A couple of them are promoting Sodas, tantamount to advertisement of alcohols by proxy. This once I will accept their guidance. After all, they have garnered more experience on these products in three years than I did in thirty. The only thing that I did not understand was why he was saying ‘Make it large’. Maybe he was talking about the size of cricket ball, because they are not able to see it after the ingestion of soda and the normal add-ons the previous evening.
4. There are many others telling you what education you should give your kids or which bank you should go to. What holds me back from taking their advice is their less than admirable records in schools (and colleges, if they ever went that far). And if I have ‘easy pick’ millions to be stowed in banks, I am sure I will get the service that I can rave about on TV, on glossy pages of magazines or bill boards.

There are many things that stand in the way of our cricketers staying on the crease.

You should understand their constraint.

1. You can not stay whole day long in sun and still advertise for the fairness cream.
2. If a catch comes your way before 1200 hrs, the last night’s party makes the ball wobble in the air.
3. Australian and English bowlers bowl too fast at Indians. Even Pakistani and West     Indians have started following their footsteps. I believe they don’t like our advertisements.
4. Duckworth Lewis is an unfortunate system. Most of the Indian players are trying to ensure that their makeup does not spoil in rain than count ‘overs’ left in case of a rain shortened game.
5.  You can bat only till you don’t sweat. Otherwise logos on the shirt will be spoilt and the sponsor won’t pay you.

On top of all these constraints, now there is another big problem. There is someone proposing additional checks on cricketers. He is some relation to an old cricketer called Hazare, He wants,

1. The cricketers should lead a life of dedication, without greed and grease.
2. If they lose matches (especially like brown wash in England), their assets (including the girl friends), should be confiscated.
3. The players and others should be recalled from the field/offices if they don’t perform.

There is a huge hue and cry from the Cricket board and players on this. They say,

1. Para 1 will disqualify the whole cricket team (and also IPL, Ranji, Dilip  and other trophy appointments). How can someone question the Supremacy of the cricket board, selectors, senior players, recent superstars and new upstarts, in that order.
2. All players and other cricket officials have been (s)elected on the basis of zonal quotas, relation to higher authorities, capability to handle financials etc. It is wrong to say that they are not capable.
3. Who is this feller telling us to perform? He is only related to a cricketer. Most of us are not related to cricketers. In fact most of us are not related to even cricket game.

I guess this brilliant analysis will cool your temper (like a soft drink that a cricketer tells you to drink). And don’t worry about their losing all matches miserably in England, as our cricketer (in yet another Ad) says “ Haar Ke aage Jeet Hai”

Marketing : My first lesson

The biggest challenge in any industry is to determine ‘what the customers want’. Many spend their lives fashioning the market models that can give us a clue.

However, I got my first important lesson on the topic in my own home. 

My son, a toddler, saw a red car model in a shop window one day. He wanted THAT car. I had a good look. It was a crude tin stuff. The paint was specky and you could make out that it was a ‘left over’ materials stuff.

Not for my child this low level stuff. I went to some more shops and bought him a ‘safe’ toy car, made of food grade plastics, no sharp edges and ‘Leo” brand, who design all their toys in the most ergonomic ways for the pleasure of the children. And it was a beautiful, cool, nice yellow color.

Reaching home, the fellow looked at the car as if it was about to bite him, let off a sob that came right from the depth of stomach like ‘Baba Ramdev’s’ ‘Pranasana’ , and simply said “ I want that ‘led’ (red) car”.

All my advice, cajoling, threatening that chit of a boy was a waste. Finally, I thought ‘What the hell, if the child is happy with that crude stuff, so be it’. So I took another trip to the market for getting THAT LED car.

Lesson learnt.

The newly gained knowledge will come in handy on many occasions during the growing up of son (and more importantly, the synchronous growing up of us two, the proud parents)

It just dawned on me. Is this not what marketing Gurus have been saying all along?

It is not about what you think the customers should have. It is all about what they think they want and they need.

Maybe it is an oversimplification. But this is the thread I am going to weave my marketing strategy on.

India Shining : Are we or Are we Not

It is impossible not to see the irony.

In an election some seven years back, there was an electoral upset.

All that the ruling party said was “India is shining”

Is there anything wrong in feeling good about our country making rapid strides in economy and political arena?

Or should one be more appreciated for saying “India is hazy” or anything like that.

So what happened?

To be fair to competitors, they may have a point or two.

One could say that China has done better. Or Mumbai is yet not like Shanghai or London. We have missed opportunities, squandered resources, sustained many white elephants, but have still made appreciable progress.   

So what did the new government offer in return to that reasonably good performance by the previous government?

Did they say they will do better than the incumbents?  No.

Did they say they will bring in new policies and practices?  No.

Did they say they will get rid of white elephants or other political peccadilloes?  No.

Did they swear off their earlier mistakes?  No.

Did they specify their targets?  No.

So what did they say?

They said that it is wrong to say “India Shining”

It is wrong to say “We have done well”

They said there is something wrong that incumbents are hiding.

And we believed.

Looking backwards, was not India shining?

Are we not better off today because of the start the incumbents gave India ten years back.

May be.  May be not.

We have no way of finding out. We have no system to measure or calibrate performance. It is a matter of who carries the rhetoric on a particular day.

As far as I am concerned, the two governments are more or less alike, plus or minus some nuances. One party gets carried away by loyalty to culture and the other by loyalty to a dynasty. One party has a special feeling for traders and the other to sugar lobby. One party tries to cultivate one religion, the other cultivates another. Both are lukewarm to real administrative reforms or reducing unnecessary government spending. Both have entrenched politicians who have a lot of stake in status quo. All are risk averse and would always put parochial interests before the national imperatives.

So not much of a choice we made. And we have no clue on what basis we made that choice.

Will we graduate to a stage when we can really elect/appoint our leaders on the basis of measured capability?  Are we, the majority of Indian public, capable of developing the collective wisdom that is the cornerstone of democracy?

The test that we have graduated to that level is will be,

1. When real issues get discussed rather than divisive issues
2. Our leaders talk more of future than of past.
3. Our leaders are ready to say sorry for wrongs of the past
4. Our leaders are less obese and the populace less emaciated.
5. Our leaders learn to appreciate and criticize constructively rather than running each other down.
6. WE CAN DISCERN THESE LEADERS FROM THE ROWDY CROWD AND ELECT THEM.

Hota Hai : The current Bend of Indian Thought

There are some who question whatever happens around them. They are called the cynics.

There are some who are busy most time. But will sometimes raise hell, when something happens or does not happen according to their most cherished beliefs. They fancy themselves as intelligentsia.

The rest are reconciled to the way the world is. Acceptance of fate is their dictum, letting others tell them what they should do or determining what should be done to them; is their way of life.  These persons are collectively called majority.

Now that in a ‘vibrant’ democracy, that India is (sarcasm intended), majority elects the government, it follows that the government thinking is likely to be attuned to that of its benefactor, the silent majority.

That brings us to the strategic concept of “HOTA HAI”, the much distilled and honed form of the “passive acceptance” philosophy practiced by the acquiescent majority. The polity uses this concept to justify their omissions and commissions and anoint themselves as the true representative of the apathetic populace.

The strategy runs like this,

1. Use a “Totem Pole”, a Symbolic pedestal for the “majority” to look up to, effective on a long term basis.
2. Make sure that you build a “firewall” around this symbol, so that the others cannot use this.  Effective symbols are dynastic superiority, Race, religion, comparative superiority, Comparative inferiority or any innovative motif that lends itself to your exclusive usage.
3. Paint everyone else black. Build a TINA, There Is No Alternative logic.
4. Having secured the whole playfield for yourself, go ahead and perpetuate your control of power and enrich yourself.
5. WHATEVER WRONG YOU DO AND IS OBJECTED TO, USE THE UNIVERSALLY APPLICABLE RESPONSE,

HOTA HAI.