WHERE THERE IS A SINGH!

SUNNY THOMAS

To prove one’s impotence, one doesn’t have to contest a Presidential election, as Purno Sangma did! But the real loser of the Presidential election is not Sangma but his sponsors, Jaya Jayalalithaa (which ironically means the victorious) and Naveen Patnaik (which, I think, means a new general). Shakespeare in his dramatic wisdom foresaw the vicarious defeat of Jaya and the humbling of the general without victory and asked, `What’s in a name?’

  

The Bengal tigress, Mamata Banerjee, tried to remote-control Delhi from Kolkata and did not quite succeed. But she is not a loser by any reckoning, and she lost nothing except her face. Politics is a long-drawn battle and she has many more battles to lose before she learns the right lessons and win. 

   

Will you be surprised if Congress does a hat-trick by winning 2014 not because of its performance but because of the total disarray of its ideological enemies, some of whom go out of their way to help the GOP? BJP is finished if they don’t project Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate. And BJP is finished if they do. Not projecting someone is even worse. BJP is in a trap of its own making, where outsiders cannot help. Just as ambition got the better of Jaya and Mamata, it has now got the better of Modi.

Strategy comes before ambition, pals; that’s the lesson of politics. Credit must be given to Dr Manmohan Singh and his mentor Sonia Gandhi for outplaying their allies and enemies. As they say with a pinch of salt, Where there is a Manmohan Singh, there is a way (take it with a pinch of salt, if you disapprove of the blue murder)!  

Whatever Pranab Dada does, the credit always goes to Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi! Mercifully, it is happening for the last time. The greatest contribution of Sonia Gandhi to Indian politics is in putting the right people in the right place. She elevated the least likely man to the Prime Minister’s Office, and in doing so she did in effect right the wrong done to the Sikh community which happened at the beginning of her husband’s tenure following her mother-in-law’s tragic assassination. And now she has elevated the right man to the right place. It must be said that her motives are far nobler than her detractors’, and now one can expect a Dr Rajendra Prasad in the Rashtrapathi Bhavan.   

   

He expressed my passions on the screen far better than I could ever imagine; he shed my tears far more dramatically than I could ever do; he flashed my smile far more romantically than I could ever do; and he broke the hearts of a million girls with my smile, and it was my smile that mesmerized them and made them swoon. The world will never know me, but they knew him as Rajesh Khanna. It was my smile, my tears and my passion, and hence my passion for him that made him a super-star, the first of its kind, you might say.    

President Obama has every right to speak, especially before the election. If he doesn’t Governor Romney will. He will turn the anger of millions of jobless Americans against Obama, and disastrous will be the consequences. To pre-empt Romney turning the American anger, Obama spoke to turn the same anger at India. `Hate India, not me’ encapsulates the spirit of Obama’s message. Intelligent Indians know that and pity the predicament of the President, who has failed to do a Franklin Roosevelt in creating jobs.

It is sad that India’s cultural heartland is degenerating into a land of goons and obscurants courtesy Akilesh Yadav. In his victory, people saw enormous potential in the youth leader. But, alas, true to his kangaroo education in the land of kangaroos, he has failed to display a national vision and character worthy of admiration – character is a rare phenomenon in politics, though. Groomed in realpolitik by his father, he would ever remain a regional satrap and a powerful chieftain, but unfit for Delhi.   

  

   

MONEY NEVER SLEEPS!

SUNNY THOMAS

I create nothing. But I own. We make rules. War, peace, famine, upheaval.  We pick that rabbit out of the hat while everybody sits out there wondering how the hell we did it. Now you are not knave enough to think that we are living in a democracy, are you buddy? It’s the free market. And you are a part of it. Stick around pal, I’ve got a lot to teach you.   

That’s Gordon Geeko, the god of the Wall Street. He may never have lived but echoes the truth of the time. Time magazine, especially! To Time, all American Presidents are achievers, whether their achievement is one of sending American troops to a foreign land in search of weapons of mass destruction and finally finding none, or pursuing a stupid economic policy that granted tax benefits to the super rich (5%) by snatching health benefits from the less privileged (70%).

German Chancellor Angela Merkel who is hated across Europe is an achiever. So are the British Premiere David Cameron and the fallen French President Nicolas Sarkozy. But Dr Manmohan Singh, who navigates the second fastest growing major economy, is an under-achiever!! Who said it? Gordon Geeko.  

To understand the enormity of Time’s misrepresentation, have a realistic look at the Indian economy. True, the growth rate in the first quarter is a mere 5.3 per cent, the slowest in nine years. The RBI has hiked the interest rates from 4.25 per cent in January 2010 to 8.5 per cent in January 2012, to check inflation. This undoubtedly led to the slowing down of the pace of investments in infrastructure and the manufacturing sector.

The worsening trade deficit because of increased consumption of oil and coal, accompanied by spiraling prices on the international market, made prudent economic management difficult. During the fiscal year ended March 2012, India did extremely well as on the export front: Shipments grew by a stellar 21 per cent to a record $322 billion. But, alas, imports, too, grew even more sharply—by 32 per cent, to $489 billion.

What irked the foreign investor is the proposal to impose a “retroactive” capital gains tax on indirect transfers of India-based assets between foreign buyers and sellers. The government’s backtracking on foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail aroused their suspicion.

India has emerged as one of the world’s biggest grain producers but because of an extremely weak supply chain infrastructure, an estimated 40 per cent of the grains rot before it reaching the consumer. An open door policy for foreign direct investment in retail would help eliminate the rot, permitting higher compensation to farmers, lower prices for consumers, and an even more robust export performance.

Major global economies are nervous on a Euro Zone implosion, while India would remain the least affected. For one, India’s exports to the Continent account for only 3 percent of the country’s GDP. In fact, it would lead to a significant moderation in oil prices, which would benefit India immensely. Even a 10 per cent drop in oil prices would reduce the import bill by an amount large enough to compensate for the likely reduction in direct or indirect exports to Europe.

Every major economy—Europe, the U.S., China, Russia, Brazil—is slowing down, while even at its current pace, India retains its ranking as one of the two fastest-growing large economies in the world. India’s fundamentals remain strong. India’s rate of savings and investment (as a proportion of GDP) remains one of the highest in the world.

Indian labour is nine years younger than China’s, pointing to a lower wage inflation. Adult literacy has risen sharply during 2000-10. With the spread of 3G connectivity and inexpensive tablet computers, India should overtake China in the next 10 years.

India’s private sector remains vibrant, innovative and competitive, judging from the number of billion-dollar acquisitions made in Europe and the U.S.

Seen from foreign investor’s perspective, three things are important. First, the government should open more industries to foreign direct investment, especially in retail and aviation. Second, the government should implement a national Goods and Services Tax (GST) to replace state-level taxes. Third, the government should eliminate the uncertainty on retroactive capital gains tax.

With a slowdown in China, and economic turmoil in Europe and the U.S., this could be a golden moment for India’s economy.

THREE MEN IN A BOAT!

SUNNY THOMAS

Arun Jaitley does not relish making mistakes, unlike some of his party colleagues. His statements seldom carry any faux pas that needs clarification upon clarification. He commands respect across the country, more respect perhaps outside the party than inside the party that has failed to make the best use of his leadership qualities. Jaitley is Vajpayee in the making, acceptable to all sections of society and ideological spectrum. 

Akhilesh Yadav’s transformation from a gangster kingpin to a mature statesman overnight deserves our attention. It speaks of his enormous latent potential, and the advantage of a good education abroad and his innate adaptability to UP politics. He, too, does not make any faux pas, nor meddle in other people’s affairs. With UP in his pocket and with the right alliance, Delhi is not out of reach for the young Yadav.         

Rahul Gandhi is strikingly different from Jaitley and Yadav in that the latter two are cautious players while the former is prone to making mistakes. Yet Rahul commands more goodwill than Jiatley and Yadav put together, though the goodwill has yet to be translated into votes. On Rahul lies the onerous responsibility of keeping the hopes of his party alive, a party that is fast disappearing from many parts of India. It will take a miracle for Congress to retain a respectable margin in the next general election – an economic miracle where prices are brought down to a comfortable level for the middle class who determines their next rulers. Nor just prices but jobs for the millions who pass out of educational institutions and teaching shops, with hopes and fears. Not just jobs but sops for the poorest of the poor living in squalor and misery, who could be cannon fodder for Maoists. If Manmohan Singh skilfully fine-tunes his economics to make it middleclass-centric, Congress can hope for a hat-trick in 2014 (however dismal the chances may look now).  

The three men have one notable distinction: they defy Didification, Ammafication and Modification – the three mine traps of Indian democracy. All the three are very young, intelligent, articulate, and have a future vision. If only these three men could meet and blueprint a common vision for India 2022, it could signal a Renaissance in Indian politics. The destiny of this nation cannot be entrusted to one political party alone, however well-intentioned it may be. Thinking the impossible and creating the impossible is what good politics is all about. And the people should be constantly on their guard so that they don’t entrust their children’s future to a pack of demagogues and power-hungry wolves!   

Leander Paes is stabbed! Imagine this headline is screeched at you by your favourite anchor of your favourite television channel. You take it with a pinch of salt. No Indian in his right sense would venture to assault a star about to participate in Olympics. Then how come we hear of betrayal and back-stabbing of Leander Paes by his fellow tennis players? All we know is that Mahesh Bhupathi and Paes have not been at peace with each other, rather they were not eve on talking terms for several years but played their match together. Their animosity is their private affair but broadcast to the nation by TRP-hunting television channels. But what’s intriguing is the lack of enthusiasm of two tennis aces – Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza, one of whom refused directly and forthrightly while the other indirectly and forthrightly expressing her wrath at the All-India Tennis Association which has not even bothered to congratulate her on her recent victory but use players as pawns of its convenience

The Tennis Association deserves congratulations for upsetting four top players at one stroke! But one is reasonably certain that the reluctance of the three players has less to do with sports and more to do with their chemistry. Tennis buffs may recall how Monica Seles, at the height of her career, was stabbed after a game but escaped death almost miraculously. Fame and fortune invites not only bouquets but also knives!    

A Presidential ordinance asking Bhupathi and Mahesh to patch for Olympics would turn sports into politics. Good luck to Peas, good luck Bhupathi, Bopanna and Mirza!

Mrs Malaprop is looking for a tutor to teach her daughter geography so that she could get good marks in Maths. While sifting the grain, she got a kidney stone which she removed herself and put it into the dustbin. Her husband saw a gynecologist for his gastric problems. Her omniscient younger daughter failed in science because her thermometer went up due to fever. Even as you are reading this column, Mrs Malaprop is taking myopia to get her vision rectified!       

A BALLOON CALLED SANGMA!

SUNNY THOMAS

On Planet Earth, Purno Sangma is unique. A creation of expediency, driven by irrelevance, floated by a pair of chief ministers of uncontrollable ambition, and bloated by his own towering ego, Sangma flies in the air like a hot-air balloon that catches instant attention in an exhibition ground. The Hindu headline ‘After the race is over, BJP backs Sangma’ does full justice to the media armoury of humour. To get prime time on TV channels, the Brave Son of India has challenged the man whose one leg is almost in the Rashtrapathi Bhavan. The subject of debate could be `The Joy of Defection’ – a subject in which no living politician can excel Sangma!   

Many Indians believe Rahul Gandhi will be Prime Minister in 2014, though none of them have any clue how. Some have more faith in astrology than in science, while others have more faith in their own faith than either science or astrology. Electoral calculus, however, points to another direction. If Congress keeps losing elections at this rate and BJP hell-bent on projecting Narendra Modi as prime ministerial candidate even at the peril of dividing the party de facto, the newsmakers of 2014 will be Nitish Kumar and Mulayam Singh.  

A chastened Congress and a weakened BJP will not be able to meet the President without the numbers to form a government. The post-2014 absurdities could even see Jaya and Naveen blackmailing BJP into supporting one of them as PM to outsmart Nitish-Mulayam game plans. Should the imponderable happen – Modi single-handedly emerging as the winner – the Indian Republic will change forever. But demographic calculus does upset Modi hopes.

  

The year 2014 could witness the emergence of a new style of leadership, which will be more accommodative, representative and sensitive to problems of the middle class. The era of political arrogance will be a thing of the past.   

Mamata’s tornado in Delhi was the replication of her seething ambition that troubles her mind. She clearly has prime ministerial ambitions and she thought her moment of truth has arrived when the electoral verdict favoured her party. The demand for a mid-term poll baked in Kolkata is calculated to elevate Mamata from Writer’s Building to 7 Race Course! Her counterparts, Jaya and Naveen, too, have prime ministerial ambitions and the ballooning of Sagma is a clumsy manoeuvre of their overweening ambition. 

 

``You can get along very well with Abhishek Sengupta as long as you don’t criticize The Statesman,’’ said a student of Times school of Journalism, pointing to the perfect Bengali gentleman. Newspapers are a habit difficult to get out of, a matter of choice without rhyme or reason, a matter of taste without a definition. A horror tabloid (tabloid not by the size of the paper but by its content), Malayala Manorama shocks its readers every morning with blown up stories of murders and mishaps! A state where drinking is sacrosanct and even women get tipsy, a shock treatment day after day does a great service to awaken them from their dipsomania! Manorama devotes a whole page for accident deaths, which makes one wonder whether there is something horribly wrong with Kerala roads or something horribly wrong with Manorama Journalism (or both). 

   

In fairness, it must be said that Manorama reporting has a way of touching your heart with their backgrounders. An accident story captures the trauma of the relatives and brings forth a mini family saga. A success story, especially of students, will have the profile of parents and teachers, men and women you like to read about. Manorama Journalism connects and that’s the secret of its phenomenal success. 

The Hindu and The Times of India are poles apart: one is the antithesis of the other. The Hindu qualifies to be a newspaper while The Times of India is anything but a newspaper, which is the secret of its success (TOI is the world’s largest circulated newspaper ahead of USA Today, whether you like it or not). The Times of India is a market-driven newspaper while The Hindu is a value-oriented newspaper. A market-driven newspaper, in the traditional sense, is not a newspaper but globalization has sparked the evolution of newspapers. Value-oriented Journalism has disappeared from the face of the earth and the last bastion of this school is the southern giant that defies evolution. 

         

Will smart phones replace newspapers, considering their amazing popularity and power of addiction? News stories written in two or three lines with jingle-bells chiming at the background, or even news stories composed as songs at the click of a mouse and the young boys and girls glued to smart phones will indeed redefine Journalism. Journalists beware!       

    

A SUITABLE BOY!

SUNNY THOMAS

You know why the British changed the capital from Calcutta to Delhi? The streets of Calcutta were full of (future) Mamata Banerjees that the far-sighted British thought it wise to shift the capital. Notwithstanding the British decision, Mamata Banerjee flew to Delhi to drop a bomb at 10 Janpath but it turned out to be a damp squib!

Compare the dignity with which Sonia Gandhi announced the name of the most Suitable Boy and the grace with which Pranab Mukherjee accepted the proposal. In politics, breed is not a disqualification but could be an asset. Cutting across party lines, Dada commands respect; respect not only of the species of politicians but all Indians across the nation. Nehru used Lal Bahadur Shastri as his emissary to resolve naughty political problems, just the way Sonia Gandhi used Pranab the Peacemaker. And finally, peacemakers always inherit the earth.  

The saddest chapter in the high drama is the dragging in of Abdul Kalam’s name. Those who did it had no regard for his reputation or human sensibilities. Like the cave man sending his stone missiles, they used Kalam in the same savagery; the only difference, they did it in the 21^st century while the caveman did it in his time, not known for civilization.    

Your decisions speak of your leadership qualities. The decision of the two chief ministers who proposed Purno Sangma’s name – the name of someone with dubious defection record – shows lack of vision and the parochial mindset in which regional satraps are trapped in.

The most eminent of India Presidents was Dr S. Radhakrishnan of Oxford fame. Incidentally, he was also the former Vice-Chancellor of Benarus Hindu University and the Ambassador of Enlightened Hinduism. The authority of Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of the Indian Republic, was unique. He was elected against Jawaharlal Nehru’s wishes because Nehru wanted C Rajagopalachari to be the first President. Congress party strongman Sardar Patel had his way and ensured Dr Rajendra Prasad’s victory.

Nehru’s eloquence was intimidating even for British Viceroys (like Linlithgow), and Rajen Babu (as the first President was endearingly called) chose to write to Nehru rather than meet him face to face, even though Nehru briefed the President every Monday morning on the state of the nation. Prasad was an ultra conservative and Nehru a liberal, and differences are bound to come up. But they debated among themselves through letters, of course, and arrived at a consensus on most of the issues. But Nehru always paid the respect that is due to the President, notwithstanding his reputation as a benevolent dictator.   

After Dr Zakir Husain, there was an erosion in the status of the President which has now come to be accepted, partly because the Presidents were handpicked. Most Presidents enjoyed the palatial mansion and the ceremonial trappings that they chose not to meddle with politics or politicians. President Pratibha Patil was at once a triumph of symbolism and hopes raised but not lived up to, while President Abdul Kalam was vision personified, who inspired and ignited young minds. But none showed greater statesmanship than Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma, the grand old Congressman raised to the Presidency.

Global credit rating agencies are like alligators in the deep, pulling down men in water to drown and feast on them. They are basically discredit agencies lying in wait to discredit global economies – true to their operational style, the Standard and Poor’s downgraded the American economy and now published a damaging report on the Indian economy. That the rich man’s toilet is more important than the poor man’s food is in essence the spirit of the economic reforms as practised by their exponents in India and their foreign patrons like S & P.  

         

   

WIN VISHY WIN 

SUNNY THOMAS

What is success?

To some, going to Tihar jail and coming out on bail to a grand reception is success. Building monuments and their own statues across the nation to the aesthetically-minded is success. To the flaming patriots, an edifice to Kargil martyrs even in the form of a housing complex is success. Sports freaks love to organize Commonwealth Games and bank-roll money to script their success. Organizing a thorough cultural cleansing and escaping the arm of the law is deemed by some as the ultimate success story.

But to Bill Gates and Viswanathan Anand , success is a matter of brains, not brawns. Any award given to Anand will be an honour for the award, rather than for the world chess champion – except the Bharat Ratna! By winning the fifth time, he has reminded the world chess buffs that the game originated in India, once known as Chaturang (Square Game), but was taken to Persia, from where the Arab traders carried it to Europe, who thought it their monopoly. Anand has now brought the glory back to where it belongs.

With his latest victory, Viswanathan Anand – acknowledged the most versatile player – joins the all-time greats like Garry Kasparov, the brilliant tactician, Bobby Fischer, the superb strategist, Jose Kapablanca, the Perfect Chess Machine, Alexander Alekhine, the thunderstorm, Anatoly Karpov, who grinds his opponent to dust on the first error, Emmanuel Lasker, the genius of endgame, Vladmir Kramnik, the Iceman, Mikhail Botvinnik, the insightful, and Mikhail Tal, the sacrificial stylist.

Meteoric has been Anand’s rise: from a National Sub-Junior Chess Champion at 14, (1983) to an International Master at the age of 15, to a National Chess Champion at 16, and World Junior Chess Champion at 18, he has travelled miles on the fast track; won  Padma Shri when he was still 18; and became  the first recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, India’s highest sporting honor, in 1991–92.

After several near misses, he won the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2000 at Tehran, and in 2007 became World Champion again in Mexico City. He repeated the performance in 2008, 2010 and 2012 to be a five-time champion.

Home proved the best school for Anand. To have a meritorious ex-General Manager, Viswanathan Iyer of Southern Railway, as his father and a Chess buff Susheela as his mother, who along with her friend Deepa Ramakrishnan groomed Anand is the best thing that has happened during his fledgling days. Perhaps, he couldn’t have asked for anything better.

From Chennai to Moscow, it is a long drive even by road; and by the professional route, it is much longer, bent and steep.

“For me, the number has been irrelevant. I simply want to enjoy playing chess…But winning in Moscow meant a lot more emotionally,’’ he said immediately after his 2012 win.

When a pugilist meets a chess grandmaster, what do they discuss? Boxing or chess? Fortunately, Russian President Vladimir Putin knew enough about chess to keep their tea session interesting.

Analyzing his performance later, the Grand Master said, “We worked very hard and developed some thoughts. I had several systems prepared with black and white. You always had to start with something new.’’

Creativity is the key to success anywhere in the world and in any field. And Anand has proved it once again!

Ralph Waldo Emerson has defined success as,

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded.

(Some say the quote is wrongly attributed to Emerson).

Gen V K Singh has decided to join Ramdev! Said the wag, he should have joined Ramdev before joining the Indian Army. What do you expect from a man who could not get his own date of birth corrected, or win back the honour from the Supreme Court, or who was seen vindictive to some of his own colleagues? Long at last, the general is in the right company.

RUPEE FALLS WHILE ANNA FIDDLES!

SUNNY THOMAS

Absolutely absurd! The fall of the rupee has nothing to do with Anna’s fasting. But as if by a conspiracy of circumstances, both happened to make news almost the same time. Team Anna’s irresistible desire to occupy PMO without an election is taking all shapes and dimensions. But the Indian Constitution has no provision for a self-appointed Gandhian to take over the reins of the country via television channels.

Can you think of someone who promised so much and delivered so little as Anna, once deemed a new avatar of Gandhi! His thunder, without wisdom and power, sounds hollow; his utterances have the ring of the Greek oracle, but without its prophetic quality. The immortal Charlie Chaplin made his audience laugh because of the incongruity of his comedy shows: the pretensions and ground reality that Anna present creates a ripple effect that could make him immortal, too!

Between market failures and government failures, you have nothing to choose from. They are the two sides of the falling rupee. Money, the missing link between macroeconomics and microeconomics, is the least understood of commodity.

The running inflation over the last one year has deprived the middle class of their purchasing power. People don’t buy when they have no money to buy, and the domestic demand falls. When no one buys automobiles, (dream) houses, refrigerators, chocolates and ice-creams, the producers whittle down their production. And inevitably, the industrial production comes down.  Precisely then, the Doctor prescribes a steep hike in petrol prices, and wonders what on earth has the market done to the economy!

When exports are shrinking, trade deficit is widening, budget deficit yawning, the rupee can only plunge. Elementary, Dr Manmohan Singh! The startling revelation by Vayalar Ravi and A K Antony that contrary to public perception, the oil companies have been making profits, not losses, should present us the larger picture. Almost everyone, from Suresh Kalmadi to Ashok Chavan to oil companies seems to be misleading poor Manmohan Singh who is obsessed with a 10% growth rate. 

On the battlefield, Napoleon felt devilishly thirsty and asked for a jug of water. As he lifted the jar, he saw a dying soldier looking longingly at the jar. Like a true leader, Napoleon commanded, ``Give him the water, his need is greater’’.    

If you say, ``The greed of the multinationals is greater than the need of the crushed middle class,’’ you got it right. Now you know why the rupee is falling!

``My greatest dream in life is to become a trade union leader and lead a strike,’’ said the 12-year-old Appu Kuttan, studying in a government school in Kochi! Teenagers living in metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore or Chennai have better career sense and aspirations because of their exposure.  

Non-Metro teenagers, especially from the neglected sector, choose the wrong role models, grow up misguided and become cannon fodder for violent ideologies that cast a spell over them. Education has imparted little enlightenment or a vision to meet the future challenges of life. Most of them pass out with no idea what to do with their lives! 

  

Why, in law-abiding Chennai, a student stabbed to death his teacher (Uma Maheswari, 39) because she reprimanded him the previous day. The catalogue of crimes in God’s own country makes a horror reading: a lady doctor (Tinku Edwin) who refused to treat a man was stabbed ten times in Thrissur; a 35-year-old woman (Smitha) returning home from work at 7 pm was dragged to a marshy place, raped and left to die in Kayamkulam; a young girl, the only bread winner of her poor family (Soumya, 24), was pushed out of the ladies’ compartment, raped and left to die in a jungle. Hiring `contract killers’ to eliminate business and political rivals is in keeping with the violent political system of Kerala. It beats even Devil’s own record when a senior Marxist party member made a public statement admitting the party’s role in plotting a series of political murders.

L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj were not seen at the BJP rally while Arvind Kejriwal was untraceable at the latter half the Jantar Mantar road show. But don’t read too much into the misses. They were just on casual leave!