Cryptic Runes: Sons of the Soil

Dr. Venkataraman Ramakrishnan - he is the toast of the Indian media at the moment. Let us take a look at some of his christenings in the media. “Sikaram thota Chidambara Tamizhar” (Tamizhan from Chidambaram who scaled the peak) claims a Tamil magazine. Educated at Baroda is the claim of proud Gujarat media. “He is also Bangalore’s own” claims the Times of India, the reason being that he spent an amount of time at the IISc.

And here are the facts – he was born in Chidambaram, the family moved to Baroda when he was three where his parents worked at the MS University. He was educated in the same University. After graduation, he moved to the US and completed his doctorate in Physics and later studied Biology in the Ohio Univ and Univ of California respectively.

Of the earlier claims, probably Baroda has the most sensible one. After all, he schooled there and completed his graduation there as well. But then, why did a brilliant student with obvious liking for research leave the University and the country is what we have to look at. The usual answers – sub-standard higher education, lack of opportunities for research, lack of monetary benefits, dearth of research facilities, etc. Yes, the problems are commonplace, but that doesn’t make them any less significant.

But the crux of this column is not to rant about the appalling nature of our scientific and research establishments and universities, it is the hypocrisy of claiming as our own someone who apparently is not.

I don’t blame Dr. Ramakrishnan, it is unfair to expect him to give up opportunities to work on cutting edge research in some of the top-class institutions on the basis of a crude notion of patriotism, forget the money. We will have to accept the fact that brilliant as he is, he might not have scaled these heights had he pottered around the highly bureaucratic institutions in India.

Not only is he no longer our citizen, we played little role in his scientific endeavours. Why then puff our chests in pride that an Indian is the recipient of the Nobel? The claim goes to the institutions he is affiliated with, the organizations that sponsored his work and the nation that nurtured these establishments.

Given all these, I feel thoroughly ashamed to read the pious “son of the soil” reports by the media. It sounds absolutely pathetic. I cringe when I imagine what the American citizenship authorities or whatever they are called must think when they read such articles. They must probably be laughing their heads off. The US citizens will probably be reading them with a sceptic and knowing smile.

And this is just one instance. There are numerous other examples. Here are a couple of them I can pick off the top of my head – reports of the Indian-Americans(not even Indian by birth) in Obama’s administration, Bobby Jindal – the Governor of Louisiana.

We can indeed congratulate them and wish them well with dignity. Shashi Tharoor sounded the right tune when he tweeted “Congrats to Dr. Ramakrishnan. Wish he still held an Indian passport though”.

We have a lot to be proud of as a nation – our Space programme is no mean achievement nor is the fact that we remain a united nation under a democratic rule more than half a century after independence given the fact we were(and still are to some extent) a largely illiterate nation. I can mention many more achievements. And individuals we can be proud of too – Indians, in the sense that their travails and success stories were enacted here in our motherland. Also, we need not seek endorsement of the reputed Indian intellect, it is well-known.

I do not fault the NRIs or NRI-turned-US-citizens for leaving the nation. I do not complain of betrayal or something equally crude and rude. I just wish we were sensible enough not to sound so pathetic and thick-headed so as to lay claims on something not ours. And I am not speaking of a mere technicality such as not holding an Indian Passport. We have remained an upright nation during our 62 years of independence and a proud race throughout history. Let us not start sounding humbug now.

P. S: Yest was a national holiday, you know J. Ok, I did get the column written, I swear. I was just too sleepy to look up some facts and revalidate before posting. Blame my mother’s delicious cooking and my over-energetic pets.

Starting a column

Why and How. That is what I am going to write about in this column of mine today along with a self-styled definition of my column. The Why translates to why a column? Cos people don’t listen to me and I desperately need a way to jabber? Cos I am plain bored? Cos I have so much stuff in my head and I need a way offload it or record it? Well, maybe… But the truth is, I have been trying to write for sometime now and needless to say I have not had much success. Or rather I have been too sporadic to say I actually write. So I decided I will do a column. Now you are probably thinking Ok, I get the picture – it is a fancy name for her ramblings cos she doesn’t really have anything solid to write about. No, you are wrong. I do have lot to write about. Honestly. Or atleast I have a lot of ideas or topics to write about. So that brings back the question Why. The answer is, this is going to be a regular column, meaning I have to write regularly. Great idea, huh? So you are now asking how did I get such a brilliant(??) idea. That is the How. I was thinking of a way to make myself write as I glanced through the papers this morning. I looked at Paul Krugman’s column and Bingo! - got my answer.

So now having gotten the Why and How out of the way, I am pondering on other questions – is a column supposed to be about something - atleast some wide area? And there is supposed to be a word limit right? Or a range atleast? I know the newspaper columns do have them, but you do have these online publications these days… :D Alright, I am going to answer these questions myself and that way set some ground rules for this self–published column. This column is going to be generic. And the word limit ____. I will fill in the blank when I am done with this first column.

There is yet another question I cannot wiggle my way out of, the definition of my column will be incomplete without that – frequency. How frequent is this column going to be? Twice a week – Tuesday and Saturday. Biting off more than I can chew? Maybe, but then anything to make me write.

If you are wondering whether I am dreaming to make it big as a columnist and starting off on you unsuspecting readers here as a sounding board of sorts. You are a little off the mark. I am perfectly honest when I say I am just trying to write. Right now I prefer fiction and serious essays to free-flowing columns. But since I am yet to get my inspiration for a great character or plotline and not finding time to research in depth for any of my essay topics(I do have a list of them), I have settled for a column.

If you contend that a series of articles uploaded on a blog cannot be deemed a Column, call it what you will. I am going to call it a Column.

So we have a deal, a regular column -Tuesdays and Saturdays, on anything I ponder about. If you insist on a title, it is going to be Cryptic Runes, same as my blog. Oh, and the word limit will be 500 –750 words. (In case you are wondering, this one is 590 words long).

P. S: Look for Cryptic Runes in the title and “Column” and “Cryptic Runes” in the tags.

Any pilots out there?

One cannot miss all the talk about the modernization of Indian Defence forces, especially the Air Force – which has been going on for quite sometime I might add. With the aircrafts in commission with the forces running out of their lifetime and our indigenous aircraft manufacturers struggling to produce even basic airborne machines, various foreign players have been vying for lucrative contracts (forget the fact that the deals already signed are getting perennially delayed and facing numerous other integration issues).

Ok, forget modernization, are we equipped with even the basic tools? A couple of days back I was seriously surprised to read about the grounding of the Basic Jet Trainer fleet from HAL. It is common knowledge that we are on the look out for, or rather have been for quite sometime, on the lookout for Intermediate Jet Trainers. And I don't even want to know what the scenario is with the Advanced Jet trainers.

I should probably add a mention here about these trainer aircraft. The training of pilots for fighter aircraft is a complex job. The pilots are trained in successively more complex aircrafts – Basic, Intermediate, Advanced and then the actual fighters. This progressively fastens their reflexes and makes them capable of flying the high-end machines. So bottomline - the Trainer aircraft are indispensable for the training of Air Force pilots.

So now that we know the fundas of Jet trainers, the picture emerges – we don’t have the aircraft to train our pilots. So how are our pilots getting trained? Good question, maybe we should ask, are they getting trained at all? And my friend who is my source of info on all matters defence-oriented, says we have been operating at a deficiency of pilots for atleast a couple of years now. No wonder.

Note: I am not faulting the actual grounding of the fleet. I don’t like to have our defence personnel on unreliable machines either. One life lost is one too many.

Priorities

On watching the astounding series “Planet Earth” from the BBC stables, it struck me that in the enthralling variety that is nature, there is one theme that is recurrent. From the Hump-backed whale to the brittle starfish, there are four priorities for every living being – self-defense, food, courting, parenting. One may argue that the third and fourth are part of a single priority – an urge for propagation of one’s species. But I prefer to keep the classification this way.

The mechanisms of the living being, its features, its way of life and choice of habitat are all dictated by these four factors. So much so that these are the defining factors of a living being. Study of any organism will be comprehensive once these four are covered.

Pondering on these lines, it seems it is us humans who have complicated our priorities way too much. Probably because these four priorities do not pose as big a challenge to us as they do to our fellow creatures.

Relief!

The run-up to the Lok Sabha polls saw the political aspirations of parties large and small balloon into monstrous proportions. Everyone, Congress included, was keen to keep all options open. Possibly the only clear no-no was a Congress-BJP tie-up, all other alliances, pre-poll and post-poll, however ridiculous were a possibility. The consensus of expectations, exit polls and back of the envelope calculations all pointed to one thing, Indian National Congress emerging as the single largest party and the UPA ahead of the NDA but way too short of the magic number. The regional party bigwigs rubbed their hands in gleeful anticipation and prepared to bargain hard with the Congress leadership. The results were stunning to say the least. The Congress rejoiced crossing 200, UPA allies probably thanked the stars for the good sense that prevailed on them to stick with the Congress.

The Left was trounced properly with its traditional strongholds snubbing them pointedly. Tamil Nadu probably was the only reasonably decent showing for them and they have only the tie-up with the AIADMK to thank for that. It almost looked like it was an angry answer from the people to Karat’s arrogance. The so-called Fronts were silenced in a clear verdict.

The BJP was plainly bewildered at its dismal showing even in the Hindi belt – its traditional stronghold. It did not do as expected even in Vibrant Gujarat, which was claimed to be the flag bearer of BJP’s development agenda. Modi Magic failed utterly and possibly scared away a good share of voters. BJP hardly managed to maintain their seat share in these places. BJP in retrospection are probably regretting dragging Manmohan Singh’s perceived “weakness” up. His quiet composure prevailed and Advani lost valuable ground instead. Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh fared no better. But BJP deserves praise for its graceful acceptance of defeat.

Congress swept away all the smaller states and with YSR delivering in Andhra, Mamta in WB(partly thanks to Left’s own follies), long-term ally DMK doing a decent showing, the numbers were impressive. The biggest upset probably was in UP. Congress’s gamble to go for it alone in the UP payed off big dividends as they nimbly sidestepped the Elephant and outsmarted the OBC-votebank politics of SP notching up an admirable 20 seats.

The overtures to Nitish Kumar were rendered unnecessary and Bihar’s tiny share of Congress MPs mercifully did not matter.

At the end of the day, Congress was sitting pretty with the UPA tally at 262. It was all set to call the shots. The regional heavyweights hoping to play kingmaker went scrambling to offer themselves up to go the last mile to 272. Amar Singh decided to play the we-helped-you-in-hour-of-need card. Congress is left debating whether to show their gratitude or stick to the minority vote-bank’s faith in UP that gave it a historic revival there. Lalu also doesn’t seem to be very welcome.

The numbers are admirable and Congress saw a renaissance in UP as well as held its ground in AP inspite of PRP and the other regional bigwigs. The result does indeed give the Congress a decisive victory, but it is essential to introspect as well.
There is no one single reason for the clear mandate in the Lok Sabha polls. Even Congress would agree on that point. Numerous factors across the length and breadth of the nation played a role. Regional issues were as important as the credentials of the man/woman projected as the PM candidate. Sonia’s dignified leadership, Manmohan’s sqeaky clean, scholarly image and Rahul’s charm that gave fresh hope to the cadres all worked together to a certain extent in gaining the national majority. But there is work to do if Congress wants to build upon this. Rahul is talking about striking the root of it all when he takes about democratizing the party, enthusing the youth, etc. In-fighting and factionalism rampant in the Congress at the state levels has mellowed down under a firm leadership at the centre but elimination is still a long way off. Congress has to thank its lucky stars for a good showing in some places. It was dissent against the rest of the pack rather than an endorsement of its candidates or governance that sent quite a few of its MPs to the Lok Sabha. Irrational aspirations of many a leader of the now non-existent PM Bazaar again gave an edge to the Congress. Congress will do well to thank Lady Luck for a few dollops of cream and work on strengthening itself up from the grassroots.

As for us citizens, (I refrained from aam aadmi to avoid misinterpretation) we can heave a sigh of relief. Mercifully, we have been spared of antics of cranky politicians and at the very least, a huge drain on the public exchequer before the 5-year term is up. One hopes good sense and good governance will prevail.

Kudos to the Indian Armed Forces!

I haven't been able to work out why the Google ads space at the top of my Gmail mailbox page flashed that particular “Sponsored Link”. And I have absolutely no idea why I glanced at it at that particular moment when it flashed the link. I am used to it flashing absolutely irrelevant ads and I hardly even notice that space. But having seen it, I couldn't help but click on it. Ok before you get impatient with me, the link was “LK Advani's Official Blog -blog.lkadvani.in”. Well, I am not an Advani fan, but given all the attention devoted to “internet campaigning” this time around, I was curious to take a look. I should acknowledge I did find a few merits in it. One particular article on the Navin Chawla-CEC issue had a quote from the late Ms Benazir Bhutto. In answer to a query from the Mr Advani on why India's democracy was a success and Pakistan's had proved to be failure, Ms Bhutto is quoted as having answered,

“I attribute your country’s success to two factors: firstly, your Army is apolitical; and secondly, your Election Commission is constitutionally independent of the Executive.”

While Mr Advani, obviously focussed his article on the second factor Ms Bhutto outlined, mine is about the first.

The complaint that we do not give enough credit to our armed forces who secure our borders, coast and air is oftened voiced. True enough, but it doesn't start to scrap the tip of the iceberg. We owe gratitude to the armed forces and their leadership not just for their dedicated service in safeguarding us and our national interests, but also, in no less measure, to the dignity with which they conduct themselves and the respect they hold for the democracy of the nation and our constitution.

The armed forces remain isolated from the mainstream public for the most part. But they hold dear the fact that they are part of the Indian brotherhood and that they are part of a democracy. This value imbibed in their mindset is crucial. The stellar leadership of the armed forces deserve no less appreciation. Given the rigid command structure and highly disciplined nature of the Defense forces, the High Command exercises extensive and comprehensive control over huge numbers of battle-ready men and women. Maturity and values of the Defense leadership is not a factor to be discounted.

We have heard numerous laments on the pathetic nature of our Legislature and Executive. But we should definitely be thankful for the fact that we have a functioning Legislature and Executive at both the state and national level, however pathetic it might be. Ms Bhutto got it perfectly on target. We need only to take a look at our neighbours to see what damage an armed force with no respect for democracy can inflict on the nation. Kudos to the Indian armed forces for their dignified conduct!!

PS : Let us our bit by atleast voting. On our Election Commission, coming soon! :)

Red Alert!

With the election fanfare hogging the headlines and the political leadership intent on forging deals.. ahem.. alliances, significant developments in the neighbourhood seem to have escaped much notice. Pakistan has long been embroiled in controversies. With democracy serving only short stints in governing the country, it has been military control that has been the dominant power for quite sometime now. Dealing with escalating tensions with a neighbour ruled by the armed forces is one thing, but it is altogether another matter to deal with a historically hostile neighbour in the hands of militant groups.

The US invasion of Afghanistan was expected to have significant repercussions in Pakistan from Day One. While there were Taliban sympathizers and neutralists, support for the operation was nil. The Durand Line has always been a bone of contention between Pakistan and Afghanistan given the close association between the Pashtun tribes on both sides of the line. The retreating Taliban found refuge in the mountains of Pakistan. With a resurgent Taliban fighting a guerilla war with the Western forces in Afghanistan, the significant numbers in Pakistan have sought to expand their influence in the NWFP emboldened by their successes in Afghanistan. The campaign to enforce Shariah law in the Swat valley has been a terrifying one to watch even from afar. The Government had buckled in and inked a peace deal with the Taliban. That alone shows the influence and power of the Taliban in Pakistan.

The Provincial Government seems to be ready to comply with all the demands of the Taliban. Whereas the Pakistan Government under international pressure and fearing for the integrity of the nation, is reluctant to finalize the agreement. The fragile peace deal is in danger of disintegrating. The Taliban has started extending its tentacles beyond the Swat and have reached villages 100 km from Islamabad.

The equations in Pakistan are extremely difficult to understand and analyse. The ideologies are many and the players numerous. The situation cannot be predicted, it is anyone’s guess how events may unfold. The possibilities of infiltration and attack on Indian soil should they reach the borders with India is high, not to mention the trouble thay can cause operating out of PoK. While there is hope of international pressure and coercion containing a recognized government in Islamabad, the situation with a militant group gaining control over Islamabad or even significant territory is entirely different.

It is crucial for the Indian armed forces to be alert and ready to go at a moment’s notice. Actual confrontation appears a distant possibility, nevertheless one we should be prepared for. And the role of the intelligence agencies is manifold in this scenario. The threat of heightened infiltration and terrorist activities are very real. The Government of India should be ready to deal with any contingencies in near future. With all the attention focused on the elections, it is indeed a cause for concern as to how closely we are monitoring the fast evolving situation in out neighbouring nation and our level of preparedness in case of threat to our nation.

As I wrote this today morning, there was hardly any coverage in the electronic media on this. The news channels were screaming election-centric bickering. As the evening progressed, with situation turning tense in Pakistan due to yet another attack on the Lahore police academy, the media started taking notice. I do hope our security agencies and the government in general are watching the situation as well.

Drama in the Hills

News often has a quality of drama about it these days. I am talking about news here not news stories. Is there a difference? I think so. News is the happenings whereas news stories are often the tale spun out of it and conclusions drawn by “revered” journalists and so-called “experts”.

A piece I read today is definitely stuff for movies. You could shoot a blockbuster out of it. The news item titled “Militants answer distress call” in The Hindu had me thinking of something on the lines of Robin Hood. As I read it I was amazed, simply amazed, for want of a better word.

The story goes thus. Militants kidnapped a group of engineers working with a private concern at gunpoint in the North-East and held them for ransom, in the jungles nonetheless. Mr. Ashok Saikia, Senior Vice-President of the company, approached a rival militant faction with promises to facilitate negotiations with the government if they helped rescue the abductees. After a gun battle between the two groups the kidnapped people were rescued with no injuries. Can you see Aamir or SRK playing the leader of the rival faction rescuing the victims? Or better still does it remind you of Don, the good SRK attempting to help the police? That fits, doesn’t it?

Well, amazing as this story is, it is disturbing. I really do appreciate Mr. Saikia for thinking out of the box and his ingenious idea of getting help from the militants themselves. The son of two-time Chief-Minister probably knew there was no use approaching the police or paramilitary which has a large presence in the region. I also respect his concern for the victims and sincere efforts to get them back. And kudos to him for openly acknowledging striking such a deal and promising to keep his end of the bargain.

But look at the irony of the situation, a SOS directed towards militants and to their credit, they raise to the occasion. For one, it shows the ineffectiveness of the machinery entrusted to enforce law and order. And it reiterates the fact that not all militants are cold-blooded killers. They have, atleast many of them do, genuine grievances that should be addressed by the government. Many outfits are eager to talk to the government, get out of the jungles and lead a real life. If they are willing to trust a private company that has no obligations to facilitate negotiations, I imagine they are probably tired of warfare and desperate to wave a white flag. The government would do well to take the cue and act promptly to bring peace to the region.

Sincere efforts and a sensitive approach to alleviating the grievances of the people is the key to achieving enduring peace in the North-east.

Vindicated!

To start off this blog on a rather quirky note, I sometimes have this annoying habit of not keeping at anything for any extended period of time. By extended period of time, I mean a few hours. Any task I take up, any studying I do, I can rarely pursue for more than half an hour at a stretch. I yearn for breaks and take them as well. I have often been disturbed by this inability of mine to concentrate on something for an even an hour at a stretch. On the other hand, give me any novel and I can plunge into the pages and not resurface for hours. It sometimes led me to wonder if I am a lazy git when it comes to work, or serious learning. After a few attempts at slogging for a reasonable amount of time (read an hour) with no commendable output, I firmly decided I would rather complete work in pieces rather than wear myself out with longer and less productive time frames. I also reasoned out that my mind needs refreshment and hence the breaks were justified. I just made a note that take care that these breaks don’t become a ritual.

All said and done, I have always been bit envious of people who can work for longer periods of time and sometimes wondered if my inability to concentrate for a longer time was due to my lack of interest in the object of attention. But then, I tend to take breaks even in writing which I relish doing. Sometimes these siestas come out of a minor sense of accomplishment or rather pure joy in something I had just done.

Even though I had flung these nagging thoughts on concentration issues out of my mind, they did come back to haunt me once in a while. So when I read, or rather heard, this quote by Alfred Marshall on his working habits, I was absolutely elated.

"I resolved never to use my mind when it was not fresh and regard the interval between successive strains as sacred to my repose. . . . I resolved never to read a mathematical book for more than a quarter of an hour at a time without a break. I always had a work of light literature at my side. . . . Of course I often got excited by my mathematics and read for half an hour or so without stopping but that meant my mind was intense and no harm was done”

Ok, I am not Alfred Marshall and Marshall himself was a quirky individual and all that. But then who cares :)

So you are wondering why this makes me happy then? Great minds think alike? Ok, just kidding ;). Happy to be a weirdo? Hmm, sounds cool but not on target. Well, I guess it is just that it gives me a sense of reassurance that this is a proven method ( Marshall counts for more than one person. ;) ). And most importantly, sets my mind to rest on the doubt that I do not evince much interest in the task at hand. After all, Marshall was nothing if not obsessive about his mathematics.