Lets Kill The Brand

These things often start with an advertisement. Somebody in the HRD ministry had this idea of putting up an advertisement in all the newspapers calling for applications to the IIM director’s post. This is indeed in line with the tempestuous relationship that the IIMs have had with the HRD ministry of the governments of the last decade. One might want to ask, what is the big deal with a seemingly harmless advert? Traditionally, the Director’s name has been proposed by the governing council of the institutes and the approved by the HRD ministry. The approval has been a formality but it seems that things might change as the man in the charge of human resource development for the nation wants to meddle more. Bakul Dholakia (Director, IIMA) was initially combative and then allegedly struck a re-conciliatory note (With TOI group, everything has to be allegedly).

What is the big deal with autonomy? Institutes like the IITs and IIMs want greater autonomy because they want the freedom to fix salaries (get/retain the best faculty), start cross-border collaboration programs, improve infrastructure, spend on capability building initiatives etc. However, governments have wanted to increase their grip on these institutes of excellence because it makes strong political statement. I am not sure about the target segment of voters that they are trying to approach via this increasingly meddlesome approach.

So while these steps try to destroy the last vestiges of idealism and excellence in the country, I hope someone wants to build something as well. Governments should try and build alternate brands to the IITs and the IIMs. Merely creating more of such institutes might be counter-productive at best. It would be better if they inject funds for infra development and to attract better faculty at the NITs and the next line of Management institutes. While such steps make headlines, I really wonder if Arjun Singh is bothered beyond gaining some cheap publicity out of this. Would be great if his bunch of cronies apply themselves to improving the primary and the secondary education infrastructure than with such retro steps. Anyway, all this would be nothing more that noise for them so let me not waste my time either.

Lage Raho

As I type this there are at least three online petitions trying to garner, what else, support. The petitioners are pitching the case of Munna Bhai to our government. The underlying motif being that the guy who preaches Gandigiri cannot be bad. He should not be made to serve his (excessive) sentence. Have we lost it totally? I would want to think that the answer to that is NO! However I seriously doubt the sanity of the 148 and 4300 people who have signed it on gopetition.com and petitiononline respectively.

Here’s an excerpt from the petition on petitiononline.com (You will have to read the comments to believe them with some comparing Sanjay Dutt with Valmiki)

Sanjay Dutt has already suffered 14 long grueling years waiting for the verdict… He has served 18 months in jail as an under trial….He has already repented a lot more for a mistake committed in his youth… As far as I can remember we all have always been taught that the reason a person is jailed is in order to make him a better person .. a more reformed individual fit for the society… And in no way is a person jailed just to punish him…. So why jail a person who has already repented and gone through so much of anguish and pain in the last 14 years of this trial ..Why jail a person who is already reformed? Why jail a person who is in no way harmful to the society… And anyway who are we to punish some one for his mistakes … Just like Jesus Christ once said “Let He Who Is Without Sin Cast The First Stone”

I never knew that Law aims only to reform and not to punish. Whatever happened to the good old idea of setting a precedent and acting as a deterrent to any deviant behavior! Another argument put forth is that if a person has asked for forgiveness and apologized for the ‘mistake’ he should be let off. Would we be willing to do that in the case of a normal thug?

May be I should not be reacting to this. May be it is too childish… just a simple case of confusing the screen identity for all that the person stands for. May be it is just a belief that future should have a smaller weight attached to the past. But that does not mean that one can get away from his past. And that is the way things should be! It is important to set this precedent so that public personalities understand that they are not above the law. Hope that the budding Salmans, Pataudis, Nandas and others with the financial muscle would take a lesson from this and would sincerely try not to side-step the law all the time.

Jhoot Bole Kauwa Kate!

Routine.

Handphone alarm goes off at 5:15 AM – the familiar screech and the flashing message of ‘WAKE UP!’ I woke up with the desire of snuggling back into the comfort of the quilt. Desire often comes with a gnawing guilt. This time it was the commitment to Praveen that I would tag along for the Wednesday Speed training at Cubbon park. I did what felt right!

I caved.

So I shot a message that I had sprained my ankle and would not be able to join in. Thus, buying some more time for sleep (and exonerating myself from any value judgment that preveen might make). Guilt had her own way of finding her way back into my consciousness. Hence, when I woke up at 7:00 AM I was remorseful for not having run. So I rushed and put on my shoes. A healthy 6 Km run at an above average pace. Felt great! Last 600m, I sped and guess what, I sprained my ankle!

Am just hoping that I would be in shape for the weekend runs!

Are We Biased?

Three interesting ‘events’ that happened in the recent past makes me feel that the Law enforcement machinery is biased. Biased negatively towards the Muslim populace in the country (if not inclined towards the Hindu majority).

Event 1: Md. Haneef is detained under Australian terror laws and is subsequently freed after the public outcry in Australia

Event 2: Sanjay Dutt’s conviction in the Bombay Blasts case ends with a sentence of rigorous imprisonment for six years

Event 3: Sulaiman Memon is acquitted after spending 6 long years in jail as an under-trial whilst his wife is handed a life sentence

From Frontline on the Mumbai blasts case:

Zakir Hussain burst out in court that the judiciary was biased.
“If a Hindu does something, a commission is set up. But if a Muslim does something, he is hanged,” he shouted.

Outside the courtroom, family members of the convicted echoed this sentiment. “It was one-sided. What happened to the Srikrishna Commission report? Why was it not implemented? What happened to those who killed innocent Muslims during the riots?” asked an inconsolable Ismailbi, Abdul Khan’s mother

In the blasts case, 100 have been sentenced, 12 have been sentenced to death, 20 given life terms. I cannot help but wonder that if it were Salman Khan in place of Sanju baba in the ‘AK-56 possession’ case, it might have been a longer sentence. Someone would need to answer these questions that the media and a few in the society have been asking. The congress government that believes that they are the most secular of governments in recent times might want to hazard an answer to them. I think they will try and make some politically correct statements given the fact that the Loksabha elections are not too far now!

What is an act of terror? I do not know how the law defines it but I do believe that organized riots like the ones in Sikh riots (1984), Mumbai Riots (1992-93), Gujarat Riots (2003) are also acts of terror. However the Indian law enforcement machinery would not want to pass any sentence on any of these with such sense of idealism that we have seen in the Mumbai blasts case. Mind you, I am not saying that the judgments by Justice PD Kode were wrong. I hope that they are as righteous as such cases should be, especially in terms of setting the right precedent. But I cannot help but wonder what happened to the report submitted by Justice Srikrishna commission. The NDA government in power (Centre and State) did its bit to rubbish it but the present regime is not worried about it either. Was it because the ‘fish’ named were too big to be nabbed by the net of the Law?

Dr. Haneef’s episode is another case-in-point to illustrate the bias in our government machinery. It curiously refused to (re)act. I think the conclusions of team at the (Ministry of External Affairs) would have been in line with the English and the Australian government i.e. Muslim=Terrorist!! I fail to understand how MEA forgot that he is an Indian citizen as well. Was it not our responsibility to speak-up on his behalf? The lackadaisical requests that the government made (post the public outcry in Australia and their media) were lame at best. Though we did get loud once it was clear that he would be let off the hook. Our media acted in a similar fashion.

However, in Sanju Baba’s case the media (and some from political jamboree) is all over the place, shouting themselves hoarse about the ‘unfair’ nature of the sentence. We have spin doctors telling us how he has a heart of gold, how he shared a wonderful rapport with Abhishek Bacchan and Zayed khan and how he advised DJ Aqeel against the usage of dugs etc. I understand that they believe that these are reasons good enough for Mr. Dutt to be released or to be awarded a truncated sentence! These ‘supporters’ seem to believe that illegal procurement of arms from the chief conspirator and then their destruction to save oneself from the law does not warrant this kind of a sentence. Not to forget that he was named a co-conspirator in the initial phases of the case, a charge that was subsequently dropped.

Sulaiman saw his business destroyed in the 6 years he spent in Jail. His wife Rubina got a life sentence because her car was used in the bombing. Apparently there is no other evidence that she was a part of the planning or abetted the conspiracy. However, the lady behind the veil who might have not had any clue about what her Brothers-in-law were up to will spend the rest of her life behind bars.

While our law ensures that the guilty are punished, it should also appear impartial. We might find it increasingly difficult to include the Gen-next of muslims in our mainstream if they cannot trust the Government. They need to believe that the law is impartial and would punish the guilty irrespective of their religious moorings. A good starting point might be a quick closure on all riot cases that have been stowed away in cold storage. I hope it is not too much to ask for!

The World's gone Potty

Trusted sources tell me that the first few words are:

The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the narrow, moonlit lane. For a second they stood quite still, wands directed at each other’s chests; then, recognizing each other, they stowed their wands beneath their cloaks and started walking briskly in the same direction.

Apparently a few of us cannot wait anymore. So words and phrases and rumours are doing rounds. Relax, am not about to disclose anything here on the lines of 'Snape killed Dumbledore'. Betting sites are doing brisk business on 'Harry and Ginny Dying', 'Ron and Hermione dying', 'Regulus Black being R.A.B.' and, hold your breath, 'Minerva McGonagall being the humble servant of Voldemort in Hogwarts'. News anchors who have not read a single Harry Potter book are getting very excited about the entire thing. Almost everyone knows that the new book gets released tonight.

Somehow I feel nauseated with this marketing/PR operation being run by publishers and retailers. It seems like an overdose of Harry to my muggle mind. I do understand that some of the excitement is genuine and anticipated but the mass hysteria is a cleverly managed production of the marketing types. I think the entire campaign should have been a little muted and controlled in its execution. For the last 50 days, there has not been a single day when I have not encountered media coverage on something related to either the Celluloid or Cellulose format of JK Rowling's creation. Am tired and in a way relieved that this tamasha is finally coming to an end. Here's hoping that JK Rowling writes nothing of Harry's adventures anymore!

Disclosure: Have pre-ordered the book. Would like to proclaim myself a victim of the sales exercise.

Kal, Aaj aur Kal

We were at Sonakshi Sharma’s place. Her waiters conveniently ignoring us while we kept ourselves busy with some idle chatter. The conversation following the typical pattern: women, movies, sports and politics. As we chanced onto this animated discussion about agricultural expertise of Amitabh Bachan, the music system started playing ‘Main Jahan Rahoon’ from Namaste London. Just like that dog of Pavlov, we changed gears and started discussing Katrina. So who was the Katrinaisque leading lady of the 70s? Without doubt, Saira Bano! And B&W era? Sadhna? So it carried on. The discussion about finding the parallels across the years of bollywood history.

Am sure there would be many more. But no more time to kill – will stop here!

Addendem: Happy Birthday

Adding a few more numbers (in no order of preference):

1. Aaj Kal Paon Zameen par - Ghar
2. Tujhse Naaraz nahin Jindagi - Masoom
3. Yeh Mera Dil to Pagal Hai - Gardish
4. Tumhe Chorr kar Ab jeene ko - Basera
5. Tu Tu hai Wahi - Yeh Wada Raha
6. Jab Andhera Hota hai - Raja Rani
7. Jeevan ke Har mod par - Jhoota Kaheen Ka
8. Roz Roz Aakhon Tale - Jeeva
9. Rah Pe rahte Hain - Bamkeen
10. O Mere Sona Re - Teesri Manzil
11. Ek hi Khawaab - Kinara

There are many many more of them. It is impossible to capture his genius in a couple of lists!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Pancham! Thanks for all the music!

Most of the pre-90s generation has grown up with RD’s music forming the background score of our lives. Most of the time we have associated him with the wild beats and pulsating music that the songs like ‘Dum Maro Dum’, ‘Mehbooba’, ‘Poocho na yaar’, ‘Aapke Kamrein mein’ etc. While he defined music for the angst filled generation of the 70s, he was one of the most melodious music directors that have had anything to do with Indian film music.

All time Favourite Pancham Melodies:

1. Chotti Si Kahani Se – Ijjazat
2. Phir Wohi Raat hai – Ghar
3. Huzur is kadar bhi na – Masoom
4. Kaheen na Jaa – Bade Dil Wala
5. Khamosh sa Afsana – Libaas
6. Chaand Mera Dil – Hum kisi se kam nain (the wakau number)
7. Kis mod se jaatein hai – Aandhi
8. Aye Ri Pawan – Bemisaal
9. Tumne Mujhe Dekha – Teesri Manzil
10. Gum hai kissi ki Yaad Mein – Rampur Ka Lakshman
11. Tere liye Palkon ki Jhalar Bunoon – Harjayee
12. Kahana Hai aaj tumse Pheli baar – Padosan
13. Tumse Milke AISA Laga – Parinda
14. Yaadon ki Baraat – Yaadon ki Baarat (especially the antras)
15. Gulmohar gar tumhara naam hota – Devtaa
16. Aane Waala Pal – Golmaal
17. Kis liye maine pyaar kiya – The Train
18. Chingaru Koi Bhadke – Amar Prem
19. Tum Bin Jaun Kahan – Pyar ka Mausam
20. Sholay Theme – Sholay (Honorary Mention)

You might notice that all these songs were either the songs of sadness, separation or longing and even philosophical… all of them in minor chords. But absolute soul stirrers nonetheless!

Yeh thi khabarein aaj tak

Many of us would remember ‘The World This Week’ that was presented by Prannoy Roy in his signature style in the 80s. The program remained our window to the world news for long. Many of us would also remember ‘Parakh’ that was hosted by Vinod Dua in his booming voice. But as I read this article today, I realized that how much I have forgotten and how much I miss SP… SP who? Surendra Pratap Singh of the Aaj Tak days. Aaj Tak not the news channel of ‘Shweta Tiwari’s married life in tatters - breaking news’ fame but of the most charming sign-off line in the history of Indian News reporting. Remember SP’s spirited 'Yeh thi khabarein aaj tak; intezar khijeye kal tak.’

I still believe that it was one of the best news shows on Indian Television. I would tend to favour it because it was in Hindi but even if I take off the hindi bias that I have, it was a hard-hitting no-nonsense show that was exemplary in content and style. Most of our modern day journalists have styled their delivery style on SP. Over the years, the number of news channels has proliferated but sadly there are hardly any good anchors at least in Hindi. We have to make do with a watered down Dua, an over-the-top Rajat Sharma and air-between-the-ears kind of non-sensical bodies. In such times, SP you are sorely missed…

Madam President

Finally, the Congress government has been able to grab a spot for itself in history. Of course, this is under the foregone assumption that the 54% strong majority will not jump sides over a minor issue like the president’s election. What is even more astounding (and scary as well) is that we would have the same woman as the Prime Minister as well? There are absolutely no-limits to what Sonia Gandhi can achieve. I mean she has a full-time job as the Prime Minister but she wants more! So another unsuspecting (?) dummy candidate is being brought into the fray.

We are in a situation where the Prime Minister’s Offices have been brought into such disrepute that the constituents of the government have scant regard for anything to do with that office. The parallel power centre rather the power centre of this government resides in 10-11 Janpath and each member of the coalition know which side of the bread is buttered! I have admired the astuteness with which Sonia has managed her political courier. Even with her legacy, it was a tough job and she has done well for herself. Whether she has done well for India would be a discussion that would die even before developing into a full blown argument!

However, this inexplicable urge of sullying the President’s office cannot and should not be ignored. I would like to believe that being a staunch loyalist to the Gandhi family should not be the only qualification under consideration for the country’s highest office. Some might want to argue that the President is nothing but a figurehead – so it does not matter. That is the precise reason why it matters! The same figurehead is one of the brand ambassadors of my country to the rest of the world. Governor Patil might have had a clean record as a politician but I will be unable to stand her as my president because she at best would be a façade for the Italian lady who governs our country. This would be nothing more than a re-run of the Indira-Jail Singh episode. From the reports that I have been hearing & reading, irrespective of the desires of many of us, the inevitable is bound to happen…