Srinu's Musings

Responding to national disasters: The Japanese show the way

2011-03-21T02:05:00.001+05:30

Source: Daily Mail, UK

Contrasting the responses to the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan and its response with what we see in the aftermath of a disaster in India, the Business Standard writes:

"No journalist or opposition politician was seeking personal glory in a national tragedy. No one standing in front of a mike saying, “the nation wants to know”, no one accusing another, no one turning human tragedy into a business model. Rather, what was on display was the quiet efficiency with which a government, a people, and a nation were dealing with the situation at hand."

Civility & disaster management are quaint topics rarely considered worthy of attention in our public discourse. But as the Japanese have shown, in adversity, they come to define a nation’s resilience or the lack of it.

Read the Business Standard opinion piece dated 20.03.2011 here. Nicholas.D. Kristof has more on the topic in the NYT Op-ed here

Brain gain & educational reforms in India

2010-04-04T15:43:00.002+05:30

The Indian prime minister recently expressed his desire to see the return of Indians who have gone to the US for higher education and have now settled abroad. He expressed the hope that this highly qualified manpower would return to help the transformation in India.

I recently came across online videos of talks that Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the Deputy Chairman of the planning commission and Kapil Sibal, the Human Resources Development Minister gave at the Massachusetts Institute of technology, USA on related issues.

Montek Singh explains quite persuasively to the foreign audience, the broad range of policies put in place by the Indian government to promote growth and development. Kapil Sibal tries to make a strong case for American universities to set up campuses in India.

The reasons why the outcomes of such policies are likely to fail are evident during the question-and-answer sessions after these talks.

One Indian woman MBA student at MIT wanted to know from the Deputy Chairman of planning commission about the intern opportunities open to people like her if she returns to India and possibly be involved with the Government in some way.

On the opportunities open to people who want to contribute to policy making in India Montek Singh Ahluwalia observed (see 1:18:23 in the online video)

“People who want to join the Government do one of these two things. They either join the Government directly. The Government is a very mechanical recruiter; therefore it is not very easy to find the right spot and right place. However there are increasingly a number of good research institutions which are there, and which the Government uses quite extensively. So if you are interested in becoming a Policy wonk, you can join one of these places. But the real problem is that neither the Government sector nor these Research Institutions pay enough salaries for such people compared to the Private Sector in India. So what you could do is, join Private Sector, make enough money and pounce into Government when such an opportunity comes up”

Regarding internships he further explained that

“If a student interned at Morgan Stanley or someplace, there they watch you closely and will absorb you subsequently if they like you. But in India, the recruitment system is supposed to be rigid and transparent etc. But otherwise, the internship does not give you any advantage.”

In the second talk, Kapil Sibal makes a strong pitch for a partnership with MIT and other Ivy League Universities to be part of the 400 billion investment opportunity in the education sector.

One Indian student raised the issue of discrimination on the basis of disabilities in the Indian education system which should trouble our collective consciousness (see this at 46:39 in the online video).

The student, Srikant, a native of Hyderabad is denied an opportunity to appear for exams for BITS, Pilani and the IITs due to blindness. The Government of AP helpfully advised him to pursue arts courses at intermediate level instead of sciences. He eventually went on to become the first ever undergraduate blind student at MIT. If that is not an inspiring example of pursuit of excellence, I don’t know what is. He earnestly asks Kapil Sibal for a G.O to allow people with disabilities to pursue science making the plea that “opportunities should be democratic”.

While there is much to commend in the speeches of both the speakers, overall the Q & A sessions reveal to the audience the systemic obstacles in actualizing this idea of brain gain.

Also it turns out the reforms in the higher education sector are founded on wrong assumptions and need correction... (Read about it here, 1,2 and 3)

Reclaiming human diginity from urban sprawls

2008-06-08T22:22:00.003+05:30

Any resident of New Delhi for the past few years, is also a mute spectator to its changing urban land scape. The most noticable change is the number of fly-overs that have come up in these years. Such changes are often uncritically hailed in the media as symbols of progress. However, such infrastructure is often planned without little consideration for the pedestrians. When the Daula Kuan fly over was inaugurated, initially, there was no facility for pedestrians to move across these roads. This need for keeping the common man as central to development is highlighted in this interview of Enrique Penalosa, the Mayor of Bogota, who begins by saying..

"In developing-world cities, the majority of people don’t have cars, so I
will say, when you construct a good sidewalk, you are constructing
democracy. A sidewalk is a symbol of equality."

Good food for thought!!

Cricket: On the Monkey Controversy

2008-02-06T00:19:00.001+05:30

Thought the last word on the Harbhajan Singh-Andrew Symonds Controversy has been said after Mukul Kesavan's take on the issue. To my surprise, another Sardar who is a former Super Cop, now known more for his affiliation with Hockey than Cricket, also has an intersting take on the judgement pronounced by John Hanssen

"On first sight, this appears fair to all. But on closer inspection, the
judgement is deeply flawed. What appears to have been missed out by all is the
complete unfairness of the proceedings towards at least one injured party: The
monkey."

Read it here

Telugu on the Internet

2008-02-03T23:15:00.002+05:30

A small group of motivated Telugus have begun to create Telugu online content on the Wikipedia. My heartfelt Congratulations for all those who took up such a venture!!

PS: Today's Eenadu has a nice article on this and on those who blog in Telugu.

Water: Movie Review, and the politics!

2007-03-11T00:19:00.001+05:30

About the film..

Water is a beautifully shot film which holds a mirror to the Hindu Society whose laws and customs condemned women to a closeted and colorless life. It traces the life of an eight year old girl, Chuyia (Sarala) in India of 1938, who after she becomes a child widow, is abandoned by her parents in a widow Ashram. In the Ashram she is taken under the wings of Shakuntala (Seema Biswas) who acts as a check against the excesses of the domineering House Mother.

The film revolves around the life of its oppressed inmates who are bound together by misfortune. Chuyia also befriends Kalyani (Lisa ray), another child widow whose astonishing beauty now turns out to be her curse in youth. Forced into prostitution to support the Ashram, Kalyani finds love in a young law student Narayan (John Abraham) driven by Gandhian idealism and willing to offer her a second chance in life. The story of the lovers predictably ends in a tragedy. Gandhi and the social change that he symbolizes remains a recurring theme for the characters in the film. The story ends fittingly with a defining moment where, Shakuntala hands over Chuyia to Narayan traveling with the rest of Gandhi’s followers in a train carrying Gandhi himself.

Water manages to showcase the fury of women against the unjust patriarchal tradition with beautiful performance by Seema Biswas and the child actress Sarala. Lisa Ray fills the screen with her ethereal beauty even while playing a demure widow and performs adequately in the role of a dignified woman wronged by fate. John Abraham plays his role with conviction. The background music by Mychael Danna and songs by A.R.Rehman lift the movie to a higher level. In all, this a good film recommended for those who like meaningful films.

and its Oscar nomination glory!...

Western media has dwelt at length about how the film was not allowed to be made in India. For the film maker eager to sell her film to a foreign audience, stories of such opposition and of mentor George Lucas ensuring the Film’s completion, helped to add to the film’s appeal. Any westerner, who watches this powerful film, after reading in the deservedly positive movie reviews about how the film was banned in India, may understandably leap to a conclusion that India is governed by Manu’s laws.

In reality, most of the so called vocal opposition was by right wing parties and activists who inhabit the societal fringe. The ranting Cameraman conveniently skips the pertinent question raised by the RSS head about why Deepa Mehta picks up only those issues with potential for sensationalizing the ills of Indian Society. Deepa Mehta displays no eagerness to look at the evolution of India and understand issues from a perspective. Rather she comes across as someone who hand picks (and in this case lifts!) stories that cater to the sensibilities of her target audience in US and Canada. This, along with the Canadian Director’s Punjabi roots, offer clues as to why her next film is on the Komagata Maru incident. Unfortunately, she is not the first or will even be the last to earn her reputation by packaging the pathos in India. This makes her, despite her directorial skill, prone to be criticized as a “creative hit (wo) man” eager to reinforce the western stereotypes about India.

It also explains why other issue based films like Provoked, Bandit Queen and Fire (which coincidentally condemn patriarchal traditions or India, depending on your perspective) achieve greater visibility there than the well meaning efforts from mainstream Indian cinema like Rang De Basanti or Lage Raho Munna Bhai. After watching this film I am convinced its Oscar nomination tells more about what the Americans like to watch than about great cinema.

Dowry and the Indian Society

2007-03-04T00:30:00.001+05:30

The Census 2001 statistics reveal that there are 35 million fewer females than males. Female feticide is particularly rampant in rich states like Haryana and Punjab. The recent Economist blog sums up the attitudes of those indulging in female feticide in the words of a good doctor as follows

"Of my 10 first cousins in Punjab, no one has had a daughter in 10 years," he says. "You hope someone else would be stupid enough to produce a girl but not you."

What drives people to kill the female fetus? One of the respondents to that article offers an economic analysis

“The problem is quite simple - children are an investment. You put some money into raising them and when they grow up you get some return out of them, whether this be financial or in terms of caring for you in your old age. As described above, when you raise boys, they bring you dowry when they get married and also stay at home to take care of you in your old age. When you raise girls, you have to pay for their dowry and since they go off to live with their husbands when married, they are not able to take care of you either. As it currently stands, boys offer a positive rate of return but girls offer a negative rate of return. Not surprisingly, investors (parents) are dumping all their assets of the latter and piling into the former.”

Another reason is that it is the son who performs the last rites in the Hindu ritual system. However, this “dumping of liabillities” logic is leading to a future that Manish Jha’s film “Mathrubhoomi — A Nation without Women” portends. The other question raised by that article is

“Given the growing scarcity of women, how can the parents of boys continue to demand such high fees (dowry)?”

Dowry is not unique to India. One of the famous instances of dowry was when King Charles the first of England was given the fishing villages of Bombay as part of the dowry by the Portuguese, a case of marriage as a union of nobility and colonial dominance.

One of the reasons dowry persists despite several legislations is because, the ability to marry the daughter to a superior male from the same jati or caste, is a matter of social prestige for the bride’s father. If the intention to gain a higher social image through marriage motivates the bride’s family, for the groom’s family, dowry denotes the value of social prestige and honor they wield in their community. This resulted in a vicious cycle, where most Indian males adhere to dowry practices even if they don’t admit publicly. Even in cases where dowry is not demanded, it is because there are greater economic and personal benefits than dowry to be had from girl’s parents (say “an influential father in law”) than because it is a social evil.

A change will only happen ,after the sacred status of marriage gets diminished, and modernity, education and new economic realities push people to look for spouses outside their castes, resulting in marriage becoming more of a social contract based on compatibility of individuals, rather than the economic contract it is now.

Ghost Rider:Movie Review

2007-02-24T22:43:00.001+05:30

(Pic: NYT Movies)

This one is a strong contender for this year's Razzle awards. The story of a motorist with a burning skull for a head, eliminating demons by using iron chain as a lasso, is a complete non-starter. But this film achieves a higher purpose, of making the audiences empathize with the plight of the hero with the flaming head, by packing stupid dialogues, dumb stunts, most lousy special effects, undecipherable plot and a terrible climax in two long hours. Fittingly, the film reaches an end, with the Ghost rider killing the Villain by looking deep into his eyes and a short while later, delivering the clear threat of a sequel. If you are a bike lover, like the friend who came with me to PVR Priya in Delhi, appreciate the Harley Davidson on display outside, and skip the film.

Between Federer and the French Open Crown

2007-02-15T21:31:00.001+05:30

When he won Australian Open so authoritatively, the pundits were convinced that Federer will get his grand slam should he win French Open this year. But is the Swiss player really unstoppable? I prefer to think not! Generations of Spanish players have successfully denied players like Sampras and Courier, their chance at the Grand slam. Federer himself was thwarted twice by the young and muscular Rafael Nadal at the Roland Garros. So I think this year will be no different.

Here are some reasons

Rafael Nadal
The last 8 of 9 French open winners were players who did not win any other grand slam. Federer is more vulnerable here than at any other Grand slam.
Every year the clay court season produces new players, who bump off the big names; for many of them knocking off Federer will be their ticket to fame. He will be sort of a "trophy" to win in every tournament he enters.
Some formidable opponents like Baghdatis, Ivan Ljubičić and Safin, on their good days can stop the Federer Juggernaut; they will have their best chance here.

All said and done, the way Federer rolls over the opposition, as he did with Roddick and Gonzalez recently, bestowed him a certain aura among his contemporaries. Whenever someone becomes so dominant in any sport, there are complaints that he is killing interest in the game. This may be true, but if Federer somehow wins this one, I don't see anyone stopping him from emulating Rod Laver. Personally, I am sick of him already, so I wish that does not happen.

Black Friday: Movie Review

2007-02-10T01:37:00.002+05:30

Be warned, Black Friday is not your regular Friday bollywood release with all those mandatory stars and song sequences. It is a gripping account of a city and its people wreaking havoc on themselves in the name of religion.

The 1993 Bombay blasts brought terrorism into Indian lives much before the western countries had to face this problem after 9/11 and the London blasts. Black Friday relased after 2 years of “postponement” by the Government, brings alive the conspiracy and events, of that story. The film, based on Journalist S.Hussain Zaidi’s book by the same name, brings alive a Bombay, where a Maruthi 1000 cc was the major symbol of affluence. Despite the long delay, the technical values are quite good. The band “Indian Ocean” which scored the music for their first full length feature film does a wonderful job with the background guitar music. The background song “Bharam Bhaap Ke” which depicts the plight of a fleeing Badshah Khan stays in the mind, long after the film.

Director Anurag Kashyap exhibits a wonderful command over the cinematic medium and fine balance in treating such a sensitive issue. The story unfolds in a series of chapters, in which the Director weaves a tapestry by skillfully integrating all the plot threads. Though most of the actors turn out good performances, Kay Kay Memon and Pavan Malhotra stand out in their roles as the cop Rakesh Maria and Tiger Memon. Made in a documentary format, this film never goes overboard with violence or rheotoric, but successfully depicts human fallibilities in its many dimesions

The film begins with a police interrogation, where Gul Mohammed tries in vain, to inform the police about the impending tragedy. The first half of the film focuses on the blasts and the systematic police investigation which unravels the conspiracy and the people involved. The lengthy chase sequence where one of the suspects, keeps trying to escape getting caught, is both realistic and funny. In the pre-interval scene, the cop Rakesh Maria’s dialogues bring out the helplessness of a police force, trying to enforce the rule of law in an imperfect democracy. The post-interval portion focuses on the motives and events that culminated in the tragedy and places the issue within the larger context of cross border terrorism, hindu bigotry and muslim alienation.

By striking at the heart of India’s financial capital, Tiger Memon tell his co-conspirators, he will evoke fear and respect for Indian muslims in hindu minds. Since then, Gujarat riots, the 2^nd Bombay blasts and so on, only reinforce the film’s central message that wanton killing of innocent civilians will evoke nothing but revulsion and hatred, and result in a vicious cycle of violence. This is a must watch for all those who like good cinema.