Politician Development Programs

We have exclusive executive development programs on offer, at all IIMs and other ivy-league schools. But I have never come across any academic program for the politician. The beleaguered Speaker, Somnath Chaterjee’s series of speeches was a genuine attempt at enlightening our MPs.

However, that is not enough. The real need for education lies lower down the political ladder, at the level of panchayats and muncipal councils. What academic and political education have these panchayat board presidents and councillors have, that will help them deliver in their roles? We dont blink before blaming politicians for all the ills that have befallen the country. Not for a moment do we consider that they have volunteered to do something that most educated Indians shirk away from. Yes, there is corruption. But, no man intends to be purely corrupt. Surely, every politician must have some longing, in a corner of his heart, to do good to people, apart from filling his own coffers. The trouble is, he seldom knows how to do good, even if he wants to. He doesnt have the education and experience to help him in that task.

This is a where a well-structured ‘Politician Development Program’ can make a difference. Sow the seeds of possibilities in the minds of our panchayat and muncipality members, show them the way, equip them with ideas and processes, showcase the great deeds of their peers; I think this will do wonders to the grass-root politics in the country.

Abhinav Bindra : A Hero is born

A GOLD at Olympics, for India? In 2008? Am I really hearing the national anthem at Beijing? Is India currently at (joint) 10th position on the medal’s table, ahead of Russia, France and Germany ? We are living a dream. ‘Who is Abhinav Bindra?’ is the question on a billion lips now.

For a country starved of sporting success on the Olympic arena outside the hockey field, Abhinav Bindra has provided the brightest moment. This could well be the truly historic turning point for Indian sports. More than all Hockey Golds that came long back; more than the bronze that Paes won and the silver that Rathore won; more than the World cup wins in 1983 and the T20 win in 2007; more than even Anand’s World cup wins or the odd badminton victories or the frequent billiards wins. This is, without doubt, the biggest achievement for an Indian sports person.

To know that these are still early days at Beijing, is amazing. A person like Leander, doesnt need any better steroid than this - it will definitely motivate him, infinitely, to surmount his own physical limitations, age, and rivalry with his partner. Saina, in particular, and Sridhar are within striking distance in Badminton. Rathore is yet to start his quest; Anjali has not yet ended hers. Have we ever felt such a wave of optimism in any sporting event before; on any world stage?

Abhinav has really hit the bull’s eye with his nerve-racking last shot. After that no thumping of hands, no chest-bumping, no waving of flag or shirt, no shout of relief; just a reluctant smile - as if, to mark the end of a regular day at office! But a regular day, it definitely was not. If this victory cannot galvanise the country to create a winning sports culture, nothing else could. By now, looking at cricket, we know that sports can be a religion in this country, if only we create enough gods. We need a plan; a strategy. Not a fifty year plan that will help us rival China in great giant leap in future. But a phased plan that will start yielding a stream of successes with immediate effect. China has set the precedent already, of converting the occasional splashes into consistent successes. All we need to do is emulate them. Easy pickings can be identified - shooting, weightlifting (without doping), archery (come on, where are our Arjunas and Ekalavyas?), fencing, diving, equestrian (we have so many racing events and not a single representative in equestrian?), rowing (where are all our Kerala catamaran rowers?). Can’t our numerous yogis create a school for gymnastics? (China has sprung out of nowhere to dominate this sport). If we start even now, put our mind, money and effort, more medals can be won in the next Olympics in any of these events.

Sports is not just a past-time. It is a vehicle to announce to the world, of our arrival.  Again, China, has shown to us what a strong message they can send to the world that they have arrived, not just in sports but in all spheres. We have, ourselves seen it, albeit in a limited manner, with the conduct of IPL. Sports can increase self-belief. Sporting victories can spur us to growth in all sectors.

Let us celebrate our new-born hero! And, let us ape him, clone him, follow him, emulate him, do whatever it takes to create more such heroes!

அபிநவ் பிந்த்ரா - ஒரு நாயகன் உருவாகிறான்

Fascism and terrorism

This is perhaps not a politically-correct time to voice an outright insensitive opinion. But I feel, I have to.

Sadly, Diwali has arrived early in India - with the solitary difference being that Naragasuras are doing the bursting of heavy-duty, high-impact crackers this time and Krishnas are looking about haplessly, trying to understand what has hit them.

Numbers never tell the true tale. 50 people are dead in the bomb blasts - that is nothing compared to the 2002 carnage in Gujarat. In fact, Blueline buses kill more people every year in Delhi and more people die of cracker-shop accidents on the Diwali eve. So, why all this fuss, in a country that is so accustomed to death?

Every celebrity, worth his/her salt, says police intelligence needs to be improved. Terrorists have to be found and punished. Strong punishment will be the only deterrent. Security needs to be tightened. Technology has to be embraced. Well, well, well. Deep within, each of these celebrities knows, none of these matter; none of these will save them from the unknown, unseen terrorist.

This is the time for introspection and not the time for investigation and interrogation. At best, we will catch hold of the terrorists who planted the bombs; so, what? Will it make life safer for us? Will improving police intelligence, stop the emergence of newer terrorists? Will frisking the common man at the hospitals and malls, ever help avert a single blast. The terrorist does not have a target. Rigid measures can help save a target that is known, like a Prime Minister or a President? But, how would you deal with an enemy for whom, any one of the billion people can be the target; who doesn’t differentiate much between the Parliament and a hospital?  He is not after the impossible; he is happy to kill anybody who can be killed as long as the collective psyche of the common man is shattered. Sometimes, unlike most orthodox fundamentalists, he is not even bothered about whether his voice is heard; he doesnt seek to justify his motives to others; he cannot be lured by money or limelight. How can punishment become a deterrent to a person who is willing to die, to be able to kill.

Why does someone or so many, so badly want to destroy us? A good free democracy is inherently vulnerable to terrorist attacks. But the vulnerability is hardly exposed or exploited, if the democracy has a conscience. What we need to strengthen, is not the police intelligence but our collective conscience. It is no coincidence that terrorism has been getting more intense with the rise of the fascist right over the last 20 years. It is no mere coincidence, that the worst was reserved for Ahmedabad, the fortress of the worst- ever-fascist to have come to power in India. It is no coincidence that the feeling that arose foremost on hearing the news of blasts in Ahmedabad was fear for those who are alive, ahead of sympathy for those who were grotesquely torn apart - will we stand mute witnesses to one more carnage? (gasp of relief! no reports of violence yet - is it because, the power in Centre has shifted and Modi does not have the license to incite anymore, or the fascist-ultimate has reformed?).

It is absolutely no coincidence that the global terrorism has been strengthened because of a fascist controlling the world’s only superpower. History also teaches the same - the imperialist Churchill, the nuclear-terrorist Truman and the tyrannic Stalin all rose to prominence, fuelled by the fear for the fascist Hitler.

Fascism breeds terrorism and unfortunately, feeds on terrorism. But fascism can never stamp out terrorism. Only the end of fascism can make terrorism irrelevant and thereby end it. It is time we discard the Modis and re-discover Gandhi in Gujarat and the rest of India.

The hidden price of power cuts - government subsidy for Corporates?

Two news articles in recent days triggered off this chain of thoughts. One on the proposal to increase power-cuts and the other on the increased off-take of diesel.

While State Governments are debating whether they should resort to 4-hour power cuts or 7-hour power cuts, nobody seems to notice the real hidden costs of the power cuts for the governments. No, I am not talking about tax-revenue losses due to productivity losses. It is a lot more direct and at-your-face-but-still-unnoticed…the inadvertent subsidy that the government ends up providing for Corporates, through diesel.

Regular electricity to corporates is not subsidised. Only farmers get electricity at subsidised prices or for free - it is a different question to be answered, if the farmers get power at all, whether it is free or paid! But corporates pay fairly reasonable prices for power.

But what happens during power-cuts? The poor farmer, small businesses and the housewifes are the only ones who are affected. All large corporates run diesel-powered generators. Diesel is heavily subsidised by the government. Yes, the corporates will have to spend more on diesel-power-generation. But the bigger loser is the government! Instead of providing power at a profit, it is selling diesel at a heavy loss.

Meanwhile, the Left, which is the prime mover behind subsidised diesel, is going all-out to stall the nuclear deal, through which India has, atleast, a theoretical possibility of obtaining sustainable self-sufficiency in power generation. Does the Left realise that, through their own mis-deeds, they are allowing the subsidies, intended for the masses, to be diverted to the very-corporates, which they, supposedly, hate?

Need I say more? We look at scarcity of power, in isolation, and react to it by resorting to power-cuts as if that will resolve the whole issue. When will we learn to analyse the whole sequence of events before embarking on any activity?

Wanted - a new -ism

Capitalism rules. Socialism and communism are subdued but will probably resurface soon in another avatar. But I am increasingly beginning to believe that we have still not hit upon the right -ism in social economics, like we have done in politics. There is no doubting that Democracy, for all its flaws, is the near-perfect end-state possible in political modeling. But capitalism (which is often talked about in the same breath as democracy)? Far from it.

In theory, capitalism seems perfect. For that matter, in theory, communism also seems perfect! So does, benevelont despotism. The trouble starts when the troubles start, in practice.

What is Equality? Is it equal distribution of wealth or equal availability of opportunities?

Communism is about the former, which is why it failed. Capitalism should be about the later - but it only, partially is. Equal distribution of wealth is an idealistic idea which will never materialize. For that, first, you need a selfless central autocratic committee to do the distribution and that is impossible over a period of time. Secondly and more importantly, considering everything else to be equal, men are still not born equal. Men are born with varied talents and intelligence, develop varied levels of competences, interests and leadership qualities. So, in an inherently unequal society, sustained equality of wealth will be impossible to achieve and in many ways, unfair.

Capitalism, on paper, provides equal opportunuties to people. In practice, it is more complex. It works, quite well, in sunrise sectors, like the internet. It rarely does, in established areas, like automobile or oil industries. The inherent inequalities are blown beyond proportions by capitalism over a period of time. My Dad and Dhirubhai Ambani had equal opportunities. Dhirubhai made the better use of it. I dont grudge his achievements. But Mukesh Ambani and I are not on equal footing. Bill Gates started from scratch to build Microsoft, in a sunrise industry.  Well done, Bill. But the gates and windows of that industry are locked so tightly now, that it is almost impregnable, till it becomes irrelevant…even the collective might of, potentially, the best available talent in the world (through Open Source Linux) has not not been able to make the slightest dent on Windows. The irrelevance of the model will still happen in future and oust Microsoft, but that requires a paradigm shift, which doesn’t speak well of equal opportunities in the capitalist society.

This, then, is the trouble with Capitalism. There is no level playing field for equally endowed minnows and giants. A parallel for current capitalism is the earlier Chess World Championship. One needs to be immensely talented to become the Champion, which is fair. But, once a Champion, then it becomes immensely difficult to dislodge the champion from the pedestal because the dice is loaded heavily against the challengers. A Karpov or Kasparov could spend the entire year preparing for the championship match, while the challengers slug it out among themselves for the right to challenge. If Karpov and Kasparov were to have gone through the grind every year like others, could they have had such long reigns? It is unlikely. Contrast that with a Wimbledon, where a Federer, even if he is a five-time champion, still has to start from Round 1. Neither is he denied, in a communist way, the opportunity to claim his sixth crown, nor is he, in a capitalistic manner, loaded with a biased opportunity to win.

The chess board in the capitalistic world also needs to be levelled. The new -ism, still pregnant in my mind, and in many others’ minds too, will need to address this. In a globalised, free, flat world, how would we, or rather the system, ensure equal opportunisties to all; a level playing ground for my children, Mukesh Ambani’s children and a kid in the dry farm lands of Zimbabwe; and  a chance for the most talented amongst these kids to win, without drubbing the others.

Dasavatharam - Only Kamal…

Because of all the hype surrounding the movie, because of the sheer impossibility of having to do the balancing act with 10 characters, because of the presence of an outright-commercial director and an unbelievably ridiculous choice of music director for a movie of this scale, I went into the movie expecting it to be nothing more than 3 hours of incoherent histrionics exhibition from a master.

But the movie was stunning. I realized, it was not just 3 hours of only Kamal but only Kamal could have made this. In place of an expected-mind-numbing masala mix was a mind-blowing screenplay.

There are enough faults in the movie, if one cares to look for them. But who cares? When a master-piece unfolds before you, you just sit back and watch; enjoy; be enthralled. Leave the fault-finding to the professional critics, who need to make a living out of it.

Somewhere, after the introductory scenes, I stopped looking at Fletcher as being another role played by Kamal. For the unsuspecting outsider, he could have easily passed off as a top-drawer Hollywood villain. Same with the short old-lady and the tall Muslim - they could be anybody.

There were very knowledgeable digs about Bush, and God. Is Q, the Bofors Q? Not many would have even noticed.

Bush saying “If it is too complex, don’t explain”, is cruel humour subtly masked.

Is Govind Ramasamy Naicker, a parallel to Rama, as most commentators are mentioning, or a tribute to E.V.R.Ramasamy Naicker (Periyar)? Kamal must be smiling unknown to the masses, at the joke that he has played on them, having gone completely unnoticed.

Govind’s “I am not saying there is no God; I only wish God were there”, rivals Voltaire (If there were no God, it would have been necessary to create one)  for its incisive precision on this subject.

The momentary wavering look in Nambi’seyes, when his son cries out to him to concede to the King’s wish, was understated brilliance. Avatar Singh’s willingness to give up his singing career to prolong his life with his wife, was a study in contrast to Nambi’s uncompromising attitude.

And, why did God save the man who probably failed a typical test of God by his willingness to compromise, while He deserted the man who was willing to die for his God?

If God is needed, because, otherwise, as Dostoevsky says, everything is permitted, then what explains atheistic Govind’s single minded devotion to being good, just for the sake of goodness and his love for mankind? Is he more like Camus’ Stranger? Is his life more meaningful than the martyr Nambi’s?

These are hidden questions that even the director, K.S.Ravikumar, being a believer and a superstitious man, may not have comprehended, and therefore let them be.

The great part of the movie, inspite of the complex layers of philosophy, religion, atheism, science, the technical wizadry (or at times, lack of it) and the sheer audacity to attempt something like this, lies in its simplicity; the ability to tell a taut story, with an universal appeal, in an entertaining manner.

Targets kill innovation

Is it a great vision for a company to state that they want to grow their revenues 4 times in the next 3 years? Does the vision get any better when the company wants to be a great innovator, churning out patented products to ‘achieve that target’?  Perfect. Looks to be straight out of management text books and practices. It sounds great when it comes from an efficient CEO.

I have a fundamental disconnect with this approach. One cannot bind innovation to targets. Innovation happens when the spirit is free. Targets are fetters around the spirit. You can tie a rope around you, and in due course, climb the Himalayas. But to reach the moon you need to dream of flight, freely, with no fetters shackling the imagination.

A company cannot choose the path of innovation to grow their revenues. Innovation is not a result. Nor a means to the end. Innovation is a process and much more than a process. To come out with a disruptive innovation, one cannot think of costs and revenues. The cost cannot be estimated. The profits cannot be known - how do you estimate the size of a market that doesnt exist. There were people who thought that the market for computers was 5. Travel to moon doesnt come cheap. The benefits might flow in centuries later.

True innovation happens in the minds. Not in large laboratories. Innovation stems from passion, creativity and dreams. Money cannot buy it. If it can, Microsoft would have been the hot bed of innovation.

Most innovations emerge from start-ups who start off with a passion to execute an idea than to make money. Most large companies fail to innovate. Even ‘innovative’ large companies are only great imitators, very good at latching on to an innovative idea early enough, improvising it,creating and exploding the market.  An Apple or Google are very good at this. A Google in 1998-2000 was a truer innovator than it is today, inspite of having a supposedly conducive culture for innovation. Still it is as successful as it is, because it is way ahead of other large corporates in ‘innovation’,  in not putting a price on ‘innovation’.

The moment, one targets to generate a few billion dollars of revenues through ‘innovative’ products or to have x number of patents in an year, innovation is killed before it germinates. If you try to fix a boundary and duration for dreams, you might end up being an insomniac.

The best way for a large company to continue to foster innovation and still conduct the normal business of making profits, will be to have targets and do forecasting only for the existing line of products or services and exclude revenues from innovation in the forecasts. Innovation is a different animal, which is fed without expecting specific returns. The returns will usually be more than what the strategists could have estimated.

Ethics of a sting operation

Sting operations have become the favoured tool of journalists in India, thanks to the rapid rise to fame of Tehelka through a string of sting operations. Sting operations raise a serious moral question. What is right and what is wrong? What do we expect from people in positions of influence - do they have to infallible?

Take the recent case of Jothikumaran of Indian Hockey Federation. Money is offered deliberately to this person and the reporters, the audience along with them, are expecting him to refuse it. This stretches the thread of morality to the extreme. I am not trying to pass judgement on whether Jothikumaran has committed such commissions in the past or not. But in this specific case, not many people in his position would have come out clean, when someone insists on them taking a bribe for committing a ‘not-so-harmful’ crime.

The purpose of investigative journalism should be to investigate and expose ‘crimes’ that have ‘occured’ or are in the process of ‘occuring’. It is not to tease and induce a person to commit an error and then trash him for that.

Before commissioning a sting operation, the editor has to ask himself a few questions:

1. Does the reporter have any personal vendetta or other external motivation for doing this operation (the Delhi school teacher case)?
2. Is this operation going to expose a crime that has already happened (like the Gujarat pogrom) or is it going to induce a crime and then expose it (like the IHF case)?
3. Is it merely going to test the moral fabric of a person? How many normal honest people will be able to resist the temptation of risk-free money thrown at them or a good-looking girl knocking at their doors voluntarily?

I dont think it is the duty of media or anybody to test how a person will react to a situation, by creating a situation. We have every right to demand the highest order of integrity from everybody, when a real ’situation’ arises. But that does not give us the right to infringe on the lifes of unsuspecting ‘victims’ and make them ’guilty’.

Every person has his or her fallibilities. By trying to exploit these fallibilities, let not the journalists take the lazy route to reform the society. Trying to expose people in the process of committing real crimes is a tough task. But that is what we expect from our journalists.

The Hindi factor

There used to be a perception in the eighties and early nineties as to how the anti-Hindi movement in Tamilnadu had spoiled the prospective growth of young Tamils. This was largely based on the assumption that ‘growth’ meant getting a government job; success meant becoming an IAS officer, all of which demanded knowledge of Hindi. Those were the monopoly days of Akashavani and Doordarshan, when even decent entertainment(if you could call it so) was denied if you don’t know Hindi. Little did we realise then that Hindi will lose its relevance so abruptly and so completely.

Today, the much maligned and ridiculed Madarasis (South Indians in general and Tamils in particular) have made real significant progress in many fields with Software industry leading the way. Though parts of North India, have kept pace, South has largely steamed ahead. The reasons are clear:

1. We did not waste time learning one more language (Hindi). Instead we could focus on Maths and Science.
2. We became fairly proficient in English, which has helped us in our global aspirations and business dealings. What if we could not sell our Tiruppur made hosieries in North India; we could sell them overseas. Our IT programers could speak and code in English.
3. Because of lack of opportunities in India, many Tamils migrated abroad and some indirect benefits have been ploughed back to India
4. A strong network of colleges cropped up to cater to a large population who did not want to move to other parts of India; this has helped build a strong pipeline of engineers and other graduates, feeding the IT and BPO industries now.
5. Strong entertainment, media and literature came up in Tamil, to counter the dependence on the dominant Hindi counterparts. We learnt to make movies with superior technology; music blending the international and local flavours; writers like Sujatha wrote in popular media about computers, much before any other region in India even heard about those. Scientists like Abdul Kalam were revered. A generation grew up knowing possibilites of science, computers, graphics, satellites et al.

Thanks to all of these and more, Hindi has quietly slipped out of the collective conscience and memory of Tamils. Sun network has wiped off Doordarshan and AIR, and Hindi along with it. Now Tamils learn Hindi, purely on a need-basis, whenever required, like any other language, and not out of compulsion.

Anti-Hindi movement, which was termed as anti-India at that time, has on the contrary, in spite of its political exploitation, helped preserve the Indian identity, by ensuring that the Tamil identity is not challenged. Being a Tamil or Kannadiga or Maratha is the core identity; being an Indian is a derived identity. As long as the core identity is retained, the derived identity is safe. While, a Bangalore and Mumbai call for expulsion of Tamils or Biharis from their soil, Chennai is now not confronted with regional hatred unless seriously provoked. Bangalore has failed to preserve its Kannada identity and therefore feels threatened. Mumbai has lost its Maratha identity and therefore feels threatened. Chennai has a thriving Tamil identity and therefore its Indianness remains intact.

Sehwag - Stuff dreams are made of

It would be the dream of every boy who has played cricket with a tennis ball, to reach a century with a six or at least a four. Ask Sachin Tendulkar’s son.

Sehwag almost did that thrice in a day. Boundaries and sixers flowed from his bat in his 90s, 190s and 290s. He has got out in Australia trying to hit a six in his 190s. But nothing deters him. This guy knows how to dream and moreover is capable of living out his dreams.

The only paradox about Sehwag is that he is a test specialist who has a 20-20 strike rate but cannot perform in the shorter version. Probably because, you need time to dream and plan.