"Ukraine had its orange revolution, Georgia had its tulip revolution. And now democratic India is having its white revolution. Historians will look back at 11/26, the day the Mumbai attacks started, as a turning point for the political awakening of India's growing, 200-million-strong middle class"—Prashant Agrawal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122867595766686077.html ((The Wall Street Journal--12/10/08). This article is about Indian middle class’s first-time fight against ineffectual leadership
The article that captured my imagination more was the one written by Navtaj Dhillon (Mr. Dhillon is a fellow at the Brookings Institution's Wolfensohn Center).
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122843741466881409.html (The Wall Street Journal--12/08/08). Dhillon argues how "the privileged class has had a hand in sustaining ineffectual leadership. In national and state elections, voter turnout in urban centers has been declining as middle-income voters distance themselves from the electoral process. As former Indian diplomat Pavan Varma argues in his book 'The Great Indian Middle Class,' for decades economically advanced Indians have been preoccupied with material gain. Whether it was the subversion of democracy under Indira Gandhi, or acquiescence to communal riots and corruption, the middle class is accustomed to overlooking the fault lines in Indian society."
I wrote a piece along these lines about a dozen years ago (I told you I was ahead of my timeJ:))
Here is another quote (The New York Times--12/6/08) that made me chuckle: "Two of the four main targets were luxury hotels frequented by the city’s wealthy elite: the Taj, facing the Gateway of India, and the twin Oberoi and Trident hotels, a few miles west on Nariman Point. They were the elite’s watering holes and business dinner destinations. And to lose them, said Alex Kuruvilla, who runs the Condé Nast publications in India, is like losing a limb.
"It’s like what I imagine an amputee would feel," he said. "It’s so much part of our lives."
My reaction to these sentiments uttered by this media titan was "how typical!’ The powerful who live in La La land, feel like an amputee only when their luxurious way of life is threatened and not when the man on the street has nothing on his back and nothing in his belly, and at times with a few limbs missing, too.
It’s amazing how, perhaps being the birthplace of democracy, in Greece the killing of one single 15-year-old boy by the police, has turned the country upside down, and in India, self-introspection seems to come about only when things affect one directly.
When I go to church on Sunday’s to sing in the choir I also end up listening to the sermons delivered by the pastor there. Then when I talk to my Jewish friends, they tell me how their religion advocates "repairing things when they are broken." My Hindu friends are quick to point out how the Bhagavad Gita is the "greatest book" ever written. When I ask, what exactly does the Gita tell us? With much pride in her voice, one says, "Fight for what you believe in," though her take was not delivered so succinctly.
Good advice, indeed, but the only problem is until a situation happens in our own backyard, we seem to remain silent. This, perhaps, is not an unusual human trait. To my question, "What does Hinduism teach us?" another friend, a former I.A.S. Officer, in an unguarded moment, accompanied by vigorous hand gestures, utters, "Take care of things within your four walls and throw the garbage right outside."
Much needs to be sorted out in India. Till this is done, things are not going to improve greatly for the new amputees either.
Ciao!
Ro.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Work, Money, Status, Worldy Goodies
The economic news highlighting the deafening sound of firings all over America, much dialog over the subject of work, unemployment leading to dire consequences to some major life style changes for some, etc., is going on all over, but more so in the media. This morning, a Q&A on NPR on unemployment benefits, who qualifies, etc. made me think about this topic, not that this is the first time I've thought about it.
My first exposure to working people was to members of my own family and circle of family friends. Most of them worked for the Government, led a middle class life. Their housing was taken care of by the government and so was their medical needs. Most of those who worked were men. The few women who worked were a handful of highly ambitious ones occupying high posts, others who had no choice but to work to support themselves, and yet others who were mostly doctors, and educators. As for myself, I thought that most likely I too might end up in the government, my only motivation being, wanting to amount to something in life. In other words, I didn't think I needed anything major like a job to navigate through life and if at all I worked it'd be to look good in others' eyes: that magical state of being called status. To have status, the job too must have status.
Enter the element of surprise in life, I ended up in the U.S. Not as a wife like in most cases where immigrants are concerned, but as a dependent daughter of a government official. A master’s degree led to a two-year job stint at a college. It felt good to make money, though I didn’t have much use for this money, as Dad was still providing for me. Again, the need for status motivated me to take up an opportunity that came my way to get a doctorate from a name-brand college. Boston University had a nice ring to its name.
As my journey through life continued, I moved to New York, worked in the city, and finally found a lot of use for all that money I made. Work was challenging and good, but somehow, it felt like, I was working basically because money was a good thing to have. Somehow, work did not define my self-worth, though nor my happiness. Happiness came more from being recognized for my special qualities rather than for what I had accomplished. So developing my personality became a more appealing occupation. A job didn’t necessarily provide opportunities for this. In fact, it came in the way sometime. In fact, I began to see money as a source of financial security but not necessarily a source of contentment or self-growth.
So, now in the face of massive unemployment all around, with so much talk about work everywhere, and also observing folks who in the name of work have sacrificed some of life’s higher joys, I’m beginning to ask if everybody really needs to work in the more recent sense of the concept or could some folks not really obsess over this kind of work? Could we afford to turn the clock back to a time when only those who wanted to work or had to work worked and the rest kept themselves busy doing what they enjoyed most on their own terms? To more genteel times?
Those who know better however could ask, who the hell were the ones who could afford such a genteel life style? Only the privileged. Then again, how long could the privileged stay privileged?
Uncertainty being the name of the game, I guess one should take just one day at a time, try to enjoy what every moment has to offer even while searching for meaningful work that also pays well.
Ciao!
Ro
My first exposure to working people was to members of my own family and circle of family friends. Most of them worked for the Government, led a middle class life. Their housing was taken care of by the government and so was their medical needs. Most of those who worked were men. The few women who worked were a handful of highly ambitious ones occupying high posts, others who had no choice but to work to support themselves, and yet others who were mostly doctors, and educators. As for myself, I thought that most likely I too might end up in the government, my only motivation being, wanting to amount to something in life. In other words, I didn't think I needed anything major like a job to navigate through life and if at all I worked it'd be to look good in others' eyes: that magical state of being called status. To have status, the job too must have status.
Enter the element of surprise in life, I ended up in the U.S. Not as a wife like in most cases where immigrants are concerned, but as a dependent daughter of a government official. A master’s degree led to a two-year job stint at a college. It felt good to make money, though I didn’t have much use for this money, as Dad was still providing for me. Again, the need for status motivated me to take up an opportunity that came my way to get a doctorate from a name-brand college. Boston University had a nice ring to its name.
As my journey through life continued, I moved to New York, worked in the city, and finally found a lot of use for all that money I made. Work was challenging and good, but somehow, it felt like, I was working basically because money was a good thing to have. Somehow, work did not define my self-worth, though nor my happiness. Happiness came more from being recognized for my special qualities rather than for what I had accomplished. So developing my personality became a more appealing occupation. A job didn’t necessarily provide opportunities for this. In fact, it came in the way sometime. In fact, I began to see money as a source of financial security but not necessarily a source of contentment or self-growth.
So, now in the face of massive unemployment all around, with so much talk about work everywhere, and also observing folks who in the name of work have sacrificed some of life’s higher joys, I’m beginning to ask if everybody really needs to work in the more recent sense of the concept or could some folks not really obsess over this kind of work? Could we afford to turn the clock back to a time when only those who wanted to work or had to work worked and the rest kept themselves busy doing what they enjoyed most on their own terms? To more genteel times?
Those who know better however could ask, who the hell were the ones who could afford such a genteel life style? Only the privileged. Then again, how long could the privileged stay privileged?
Uncertainty being the name of the game, I guess one should take just one day at a time, try to enjoy what every moment has to offer even while searching for meaningful work that also pays well.
Ciao!
Ro
Friday, December 5, 2008
A stitch in time . . .
I'm not really a nit picker, but I do believe in checking and re-checking. I do believe in a stitch in time saving nine. Indeed, prevention is better than cure. It's better to secure the barnyard door before the animals take off . . .. Yada, yada, yada. So when I read that "in February, police arrested an LeT terrorist organization-linked Indian named Faim Ansari after an attack on a police station and he was carrying road maps of Mumbai, highlighting several important landmarks of south Mumbai that became the target of last week's terrorist attack" I felt outraged.
Couldn't the police who arrested Ansari and put him behind bars in February found out why he was carrying those marked maps? Amazing how simple but timely questions can avoid so many later disasters. Why aren't people who are paid to ask questions and find answers don't even ask the right questions. Occasionally, when they do, it's too late.
What's so difficult about understanding that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Now the authorities admit there were security lapses. Duh!
It's true that it's not easy to protect every single individual in a wide open democracy like India, but this is no excuse to leave the people vulnerable en masse. Looks like much more damage could have occurred. It was a stroke of luck that the explosives left behind at the station did not explode. They were of course discovered only after a whole week had passed since the attack.
Someone who had experienced the 9/11 WTC decimation in 2001 as well as the Mumbai Massacre declared that the fear factor in the latter one was decidedly more nerve racking than the one, two, three, finished feeling experienced on 9/11. Again, however, one thing that does stand out in both cases is, the terrorists had outsmarted us.
Officials don't want to acknowledge that each time the terrorists succeed at what they set out to do that it's a victory for them. Again, going back to my complaint in another post about not accepting reality for what it is, if we continue hoodwink ourselves into believing all kinds of untruths, eventually, truth will catch up with us.
Master Charles Cannon, the founder of Synchronicity Foundation whose fellow spiritualist Alan Scherr, 58, and his daughter Naomi, 13, died during the attack, claims that we are not victims of the terrorists but victors. Of course, I don't understand this logic. Maybe, my brain doesn't work at that high a level!
Another religious person interviewed on TV when questioned about where God's sympathies lay in all this said that God was not with the terrorists but with those who miraculously survived. This kind of scores a few points for God though it doesn't score any points for the officials who let the people of Mumbai down. Well, these officials aren't godly enough, I guess.
I pray and hope terrorism too along with all other scourges gets eradicated soon. Let's all do our bit.
Ciao!
Ro.
Couldn't the police who arrested Ansari and put him behind bars in February found out why he was carrying those marked maps? Amazing how simple but timely questions can avoid so many later disasters. Why aren't people who are paid to ask questions and find answers don't even ask the right questions. Occasionally, when they do, it's too late.
What's so difficult about understanding that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Now the authorities admit there were security lapses. Duh!
It's true that it's not easy to protect every single individual in a wide open democracy like India, but this is no excuse to leave the people vulnerable en masse. Looks like much more damage could have occurred. It was a stroke of luck that the explosives left behind at the station did not explode. They were of course discovered only after a whole week had passed since the attack.
Someone who had experienced the 9/11 WTC decimation in 2001 as well as the Mumbai Massacre declared that the fear factor in the latter one was decidedly more nerve racking than the one, two, three, finished feeling experienced on 9/11. Again, however, one thing that does stand out in both cases is, the terrorists had outsmarted us.
Officials don't want to acknowledge that each time the terrorists succeed at what they set out to do that it's a victory for them. Again, going back to my complaint in another post about not accepting reality for what it is, if we continue hoodwink ourselves into believing all kinds of untruths, eventually, truth will catch up with us.
Master Charles Cannon, the founder of Synchronicity Foundation whose fellow spiritualist Alan Scherr, 58, and his daughter Naomi, 13, died during the attack, claims that we are not victims of the terrorists but victors. Of course, I don't understand this logic. Maybe, my brain doesn't work at that high a level!
Another religious person interviewed on TV when questioned about where God's sympathies lay in all this said that God was not with the terrorists but with those who miraculously survived. This kind of scores a few points for God though it doesn't score any points for the officials who let the people of Mumbai down. Well, these officials aren't godly enough, I guess.
I pray and hope terrorism too along with all other scourges gets eradicated soon. Let's all do our bit.
Ciao!
Ro.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Post Mortem of Mumbai Massacre
It was amazing how almost non-stop CNN covered the attacks in Mumbai. It wasn't too much of a surprise that BBC did. BBC also didn't ignore another important story unfolding in Thailand for a while now--the occupation of the airport by anti-government protesters who a few days later were joined by pro-government protesters in a sea of redcoats(pro) and black outfits (anti). On the radio front NPR did a fairly thorough job. Fox-TV did, too. Of course, the mighty ABC stuck with its scheduled special, the Obama interview with the diva Barbara Walters. My original plan was to watch this, but as a protest I didn't.
The American TV media were more focused on the American and other Western lives caught in the terrorism drama. They decidedly concluded that the terrorists exclusively targeted the Westerners. It was not very nice that they overlooked giving equal importance to the scores of Indians who had been killed. BBC gave due recognition to them. NPR interviewed the man on the street as well as celebrities like the navel-gazing, best selling author and columnist Shobha Dey.
The man on the street shared my view about the kind of biased coverage by the American TV media. He felt offended by this. Ultimately, it turned out the terrorists were not particularly looking for Westerners, most of whom actually survived and thank God for this. They were focused on high profile targets and ensuring the Western governments' and the Western media's attention by having enough Westerners in the mix, most of whom of course stay at these high-end hotels. Of the nearly 200 people killed, 19 were foreigners (six Americans and not sure how many other Westerners).
Sometimes it feels like some media outlets monger paranoia. This is even worse than peddling fear. Too focused on the ratings game, sometimes integrity gets sacrificed even if unintentionally. Their slant was ironic given the fact the attacks occurred on Indian soil and the carnage at the train station involved only Indian travelers. Foreigners after all are a rarity at train stations. I didn't monitor every single station, so I cant' really comment on the others.
All in all, it sounded like the Mumbai tragedy could have been avoided. There was enough advance warning communicated to the powers that be.
Though Pakistani government sanction might have been missing, in the past Pakistan had had no qualms about being a tacit partner in terrorist actvities against India. On TV, during an interview, President Zardari pleaded to the Indian Government not to "punish" Pakistan for the attacks. If the U.S. were in India's shoes, it would have, much as it discourages India from doing this. What comes out of the investigation and what action India takes would be interesting to watch. But the fundamentals need to be addressed. If terrorism is allowed to grow any further, untold miseries are in store for the world.
President-elect Obama seems like an awfully capable man, so one has to hope that under his leadership with cooperation from all the other players, the U.S. might would be able to eradicate terrorism once and for all. Tall order but certainly doable if the will is there.
The Pakistani High Commissioner to U.K. during an interview on November 26 claimed that the terrorists were dark-skinned so they must be south Indians and most likely Tamil Tigers. This was one of the most ludicrous claims of any kind I had heard.
This morning BBC did a full hour of post mortem analysis. P. Swami, a Security Analyst and Anand Mahindra MD, Mahindra and Mahindra made some very good points and of course P. Chidambaram is a lion and now he is the Home Minster. Hopefully, he'll do all the needful and terrorism will never take place again in India.
Ciao!
Ro.
The American TV media were more focused on the American and other Western lives caught in the terrorism drama. They decidedly concluded that the terrorists exclusively targeted the Westerners. It was not very nice that they overlooked giving equal importance to the scores of Indians who had been killed. BBC gave due recognition to them. NPR interviewed the man on the street as well as celebrities like the navel-gazing, best selling author and columnist Shobha Dey.
The man on the street shared my view about the kind of biased coverage by the American TV media. He felt offended by this. Ultimately, it turned out the terrorists were not particularly looking for Westerners, most of whom actually survived and thank God for this. They were focused on high profile targets and ensuring the Western governments' and the Western media's attention by having enough Westerners in the mix, most of whom of course stay at these high-end hotels. Of the nearly 200 people killed, 19 were foreigners (six Americans and not sure how many other Westerners).
Sometimes it feels like some media outlets monger paranoia. This is even worse than peddling fear. Too focused on the ratings game, sometimes integrity gets sacrificed even if unintentionally. Their slant was ironic given the fact the attacks occurred on Indian soil and the carnage at the train station involved only Indian travelers. Foreigners after all are a rarity at train stations. I didn't monitor every single station, so I cant' really comment on the others.
All in all, it sounded like the Mumbai tragedy could have been avoided. There was enough advance warning communicated to the powers that be.
Though Pakistani government sanction might have been missing, in the past Pakistan had had no qualms about being a tacit partner in terrorist actvities against India. On TV, during an interview, President Zardari pleaded to the Indian Government not to "punish" Pakistan for the attacks. If the U.S. were in India's shoes, it would have, much as it discourages India from doing this. What comes out of the investigation and what action India takes would be interesting to watch. But the fundamentals need to be addressed. If terrorism is allowed to grow any further, untold miseries are in store for the world.
President-elect Obama seems like an awfully capable man, so one has to hope that under his leadership with cooperation from all the other players, the U.S. might would be able to eradicate terrorism once and for all. Tall order but certainly doable if the will is there.
The Pakistani High Commissioner to U.K. during an interview on November 26 claimed that the terrorists were dark-skinned so they must be south Indians and most likely Tamil Tigers. This was one of the most ludicrous claims of any kind I had heard.
This morning BBC did a full hour of post mortem analysis. P. Swami, a Security Analyst and Anand Mahindra MD, Mahindra and Mahindra made some very good points and of course P. Chidambaram is a lion and now he is the Home Minster. Hopefully, he'll do all the needful and terrorism will never take place again in India.
Ciao!
Ro.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
The Latest in Terrorism
On the eve of Thanksgiving (TG) Day what a horror story to take to bed! Mumbai had been attacked by a pack of terrorists in nearly a dozen places. Though at the end the powers that be seem to come ahead, overall it's the terrorists who are a step or several steps ahead of the rest. Even as the latest challenge to peace loving people is being dealt with, and except for one attacker all others have been killed, there is no doubt that terrorists are planning a whole new attack some place in the world on scores more of innocent people.
The post 62-hour mayhem and carnage in India between November 26-29 investigation points the blame in different directions, but what's clear is the country's intelligence has failed. The Times of India editor Bachi Kakaria (I came to know about her through her phone interview on CNN over the Mumbai Massacre) put it so succinctly when tongue-in-cheek she said, "For a country that wants to be a knowledge power intelligence is its least valued commodity." Well, The U.S. is a knowledge power, yet it too has failed on several occasions, 9/11 being one of the more tragic.
In the case of 11/26 (I've come to dread the number 11 and in my family there are a lot of eleven's: at least three people in the family share this number somewhere in their birthday) apparently, ample warning had been issued by the terrorists about eight days earlier. The Home Minsiter Patil's or the Security Chief's resignation cannot turn the clock back to when they should have paid heed.
Why is it that officials who are paid to protect the people let us down over and over again? The terrorists know how incompetent many of them are and this is why they are succeeding over and over again with such impunity. Every time the so called leaders condemn terrorist acts, I can't but chuckle. Do they think the terrorists really give a hoot? Are their pronouncements meant to pacify the public outrage? What exactly is the intent? Community organizations also echo the same sissy pronouncements.
What's most important now is for leaders to make it their immediate goal to eradicate terrorism. This sounds unattainable, though, considering how well the "Eradicate Poverty" slogan has worked. I'm supposed to sound optimistic (you know the power of positive thinking, etc.), but somehow I don't think the really capable people are ruling the world. Maybe the really capable became terrorists!
All aspersions aside, I do feel every one of us need to do our part because in the words of the German poet, Pastor Martin Niemöller's
habe ich geschwiegen;ich war ja kein Kommunist.Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,habe ich geschwiegen;ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten,habe ich nicht protestiert;ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.Als sie mich holten,gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte.-----------------------------------------------------
Translation:
When the Nazis came for the communists,I remained silent;after all I was not a communist.When they locked up the social democrats,I remained silent;after all I was not a social democrat.When they came for the trade unionists,I did not speak out;after all I was not a trade unionist.When they came for me,there was no one left to speak out.
When they come for me there would be nobody left to speak out!
My part begins with simple acts like treating those around me with basic decency at all times. No matter how stupid, arrogant, indifferent they maybe, I must never ever lose my cool. If each one of us can consciously do this, we'd already be on the path to conquering the bigger issues. As individuals, because we have not acted above board at all times, we have not acquired the power to fight the bigger tasks like eradicating poverty, terrorism, injustice, et al. No wonder, we don't think we can do these big jobs. Even those who think they can have failed. Like many drops make an ocean, many acts of right conduct will take us all the way to our destination. Driving ten feet at a time one can reach one's end point. I can't remember which great person said this. I think it was one U.S. President.
Let's begin our share toward making this world a better place today! Onward and upward.
Ciao!
Ro.
The post 62-hour mayhem and carnage in India between November 26-29 investigation points the blame in different directions, but what's clear is the country's intelligence has failed. The Times of India editor Bachi Kakaria (I came to know about her through her phone interview on CNN over the Mumbai Massacre) put it so succinctly when tongue-in-cheek she said, "For a country that wants to be a knowledge power intelligence is its least valued commodity." Well, The U.S. is a knowledge power, yet it too has failed on several occasions, 9/11 being one of the more tragic.
In the case of 11/26 (I've come to dread the number 11 and in my family there are a lot of eleven's: at least three people in the family share this number somewhere in their birthday) apparently, ample warning had been issued by the terrorists about eight days earlier. The Home Minsiter Patil's or the Security Chief's resignation cannot turn the clock back to when they should have paid heed.
Why is it that officials who are paid to protect the people let us down over and over again? The terrorists know how incompetent many of them are and this is why they are succeeding over and over again with such impunity. Every time the so called leaders condemn terrorist acts, I can't but chuckle. Do they think the terrorists really give a hoot? Are their pronouncements meant to pacify the public outrage? What exactly is the intent? Community organizations also echo the same sissy pronouncements.
What's most important now is for leaders to make it their immediate goal to eradicate terrorism. This sounds unattainable, though, considering how well the "Eradicate Poverty" slogan has worked. I'm supposed to sound optimistic (you know the power of positive thinking, etc.), but somehow I don't think the really capable people are ruling the world. Maybe the really capable became terrorists!
All aspersions aside, I do feel every one of us need to do our part because in the words of the German poet, Pastor Martin Niemöller's
habe ich geschwiegen;ich war ja kein Kommunist.Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,habe ich geschwiegen;ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten,habe ich nicht protestiert;ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.Als sie mich holten,gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte.-----------------------------------------------------
Translation:
When the Nazis came for the communists,I remained silent;after all I was not a communist.When they locked up the social democrats,I remained silent;after all I was not a social democrat.When they came for the trade unionists,I did not speak out;after all I was not a trade unionist.When they came for me,there was no one left to speak out.
When they come for me there would be nobody left to speak out!
My part begins with simple acts like treating those around me with basic decency at all times. No matter how stupid, arrogant, indifferent they maybe, I must never ever lose my cool. If each one of us can consciously do this, we'd already be on the path to conquering the bigger issues. As individuals, because we have not acted above board at all times, we have not acquired the power to fight the bigger tasks like eradicating poverty, terrorism, injustice, et al. No wonder, we don't think we can do these big jobs. Even those who think they can have failed. Like many drops make an ocean, many acts of right conduct will take us all the way to our destination. Driving ten feet at a time one can reach one's end point. I can't remember which great person said this. I think it was one U.S. President.
Let's begin our share toward making this world a better place today! Onward and upward.
Ciao!
Ro.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
India's Leadership
My friend from US-India Friendship (http://usindiafriendship.net/ ) mass mailed me the following link http://www.indianexpress.com/news/enough-with-the-diffidence/387850/ . The e-mail also contained the following excerpts:
"Despite the chest-thumping in recent years about India emerging as a major global power, its strategic and political elites display an insecurity that defies explanation. A powerful, self-confident nation should be able to articulate a coherent vision about its priorities and national interests.
"The visible lack of self-confidence among Indian elites in their nation’s ability to leverage the international system to its advantage will only weaken India. India should assess its interests carefully and learn to stand up for them.
" India is too big, too proud and too significant a global player to worry about Obama’s phone call. Its sights should be on the real challenges to its interests and it should work towards preserving and enhancing them, without any apologies or explanations."
The context for this Op-Ed piece: Apparently the Indian government felt snubbed by the time he took to phone Mr. Manmohan Singh.
My own quickie, two cent’s worth of response to the theme of self-confidence in this piece or lack thereof was:
The Indian bureaucratic mind is well . . . too bureaucratic. Everything is suspect and unfortunately, only an open mind can soar high like an eagle. Otherwise, we'll continue to stew in our own inward looking ways and be a bunch of turkeys.
How much money India has spent on American PR firms! who seldom delivered. I don't know the exact stats. but tourist dollars going to India is very low other than what the NRI's spend.
There is also always this smug attitude: Oh, India is a great country, we are an old civilization, so there is no need for us to learn much. Only recently the West discovered that the world is round, we knew it three thousand years ago.
Smugness, false modesty and misplaced reverence among a slew of other ills are India's downfall.
Of course, there are some industrial giants and technology titans but unless at the top of the government there is more than lip service to encouraging people of all kinds of talent, we can never fully exhibit our full potential and thus never feel self-confident enough. Bravado is very different from self-confidence. Smugness leads to bravado.
Yeah, about a million people out of a billion plus are enjoying a high standard of living. This too thanks mostly to the handouts from the West. What is India's original contribution to today's world? If we cannot identify this and more importantly others cannot, how can we possibly feel self-confident?
When PM Manmohan Singh talks, do you think it's possible to stay tuned to him for more than two seconds? Why does he have such a servile appearance?
India has a long way to go. Its problems are multi-layered.
The response I got was: Have you met any of India's senior diplomats to assess their performance? About Manmohan Singh and the other things you refer to, I think you are being over-critical.
My response to this was:
I'm of the belief "all criticism is constructive." As for being over-critical, this is an area that needs honest assessment to make any progress. Indeed, it's just my opinion and I'm also of the opinion that had the powers that be been more critical, we (I'm referring to the U.S. here as I'm more plugged into the scene here) wouldn't be in the kinds of mess on various fronts that we are in.
Harsh Pant's own op-ed piece was a criticism of India being "over-critical" if you will over the delayed phone call from Obama (btw, isn't the victor first supposed to get a congratulatory call form foreign leaders?).
My association with Indian diplomats and bureaucrats began at birth. More recently, I have stayed away.
I think I'll blog on this topic.
And I did just now.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Ciao!
Ro.
"Despite the chest-thumping in recent years about India emerging as a major global power, its strategic and political elites display an insecurity that defies explanation. A powerful, self-confident nation should be able to articulate a coherent vision about its priorities and national interests.
"The visible lack of self-confidence among Indian elites in their nation’s ability to leverage the international system to its advantage will only weaken India. India should assess its interests carefully and learn to stand up for them.
" India is too big, too proud and too significant a global player to worry about Obama’s phone call. Its sights should be on the real challenges to its interests and it should work towards preserving and enhancing them, without any apologies or explanations."
The context for this Op-Ed piece: Apparently the Indian government felt snubbed by the time he took to phone Mr. Manmohan Singh.
My own quickie, two cent’s worth of response to the theme of self-confidence in this piece or lack thereof was:
The Indian bureaucratic mind is well . . . too bureaucratic. Everything is suspect and unfortunately, only an open mind can soar high like an eagle. Otherwise, we'll continue to stew in our own inward looking ways and be a bunch of turkeys.
How much money India has spent on American PR firms! who seldom delivered. I don't know the exact stats. but tourist dollars going to India is very low other than what the NRI's spend.
There is also always this smug attitude: Oh, India is a great country, we are an old civilization, so there is no need for us to learn much. Only recently the West discovered that the world is round, we knew it three thousand years ago.
Smugness, false modesty and misplaced reverence among a slew of other ills are India's downfall.
Of course, there are some industrial giants and technology titans but unless at the top of the government there is more than lip service to encouraging people of all kinds of talent, we can never fully exhibit our full potential and thus never feel self-confident enough. Bravado is very different from self-confidence. Smugness leads to bravado.
Yeah, about a million people out of a billion plus are enjoying a high standard of living. This too thanks mostly to the handouts from the West. What is India's original contribution to today's world? If we cannot identify this and more importantly others cannot, how can we possibly feel self-confident?
When PM Manmohan Singh talks, do you think it's possible to stay tuned to him for more than two seconds? Why does he have such a servile appearance?
India has a long way to go. Its problems are multi-layered.
The response I got was: Have you met any of India's senior diplomats to assess their performance? About Manmohan Singh and the other things you refer to, I think you are being over-critical.
My response to this was:
I'm of the belief "all criticism is constructive." As for being over-critical, this is an area that needs honest assessment to make any progress. Indeed, it's just my opinion and I'm also of the opinion that had the powers that be been more critical, we (I'm referring to the U.S. here as I'm more plugged into the scene here) wouldn't be in the kinds of mess on various fronts that we are in.
Harsh Pant's own op-ed piece was a criticism of India being "over-critical" if you will over the delayed phone call from Obama (btw, isn't the victor first supposed to get a congratulatory call form foreign leaders?).
My association with Indian diplomats and bureaucrats began at birth. More recently, I have stayed away.
I think I'll blog on this topic.
And I did just now.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Ciao!
Ro.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
In the face of challenges
November 25, 2008
I am going through some interesting challenges right now. But I have lived long enough to finally realize that where there is water there will be waves and where there is life there will be challenges.
Not even a leaf’s life is exempt from this. But somehow the leaf manages to stay on the branch except for when the force it has to resist overtakes it. So, in my case, too, this would be the ultimate challenge. Though I wish that I’d know in advance what my next challenge would be or when my present ones will find an answer, I’ve also come to realize that as long as I know how to manage them without breaking down I’m one step ahead of my challenges.
A psychiatrist-friend after listening to my current challenges and also having first hand direct knowledge of them writes, "I admire your strength for being able to persevere in the midst of such difficulties. Please continue to be mindful of your own sanity :-), and know that I am always here if you ever need someone to talk to."
I chuckle not because his admiration is not sincere (though in my case, being admired for helping others deal with their challenges is what I’d consider truly worth admiring) but because these words also convey pity even if only unintentionally. For whatever reason, pity to me is, well, pitiable. I don’t handle pity too well.
However, going beyond my initial reaction along these lines, I do ponder how I have stood my ground like that struggling leaf against strong winds trying to take it down. Now, if I analyze the intent of the wind’s blowing I conclude that it’s not its intention to take down the leaf but just its response to atmospheric pressures. This is how our own challenges too brew.
Returning to how I have stood my ground, I decide that for me to be strong not just for myself but also for those who depend on me for their own sanity, too, I must see myself as an instrument that must keep fit at all times. Like a musical instrument that must be kept tuned to produce pleasant notes, I need to keep myself tuned.
To accomplish this, one of the firsts in my life was to enroll in a gym and this is my fourth year (just recently I upgraded to a high-impact gym closer to home). Then look at all the things I enjoy doing and begin to fine tune each one of them and then share it with whoever else might share these interests. The synergy that forms by surrounding oneself with people with common goals, value systems and similar styles of execution is like adding one and one and getting not 2 but eleven. 1+1=11!
Finally, I also added 15 minutes of meditation (read October 27 post) to my day and this too has added to keeping myself tuned.
When we are stressed out (many of the stresses can be avoided but then again life is filled with curve balls and thus one can never predict what life has in store), it’s very easy to feel lost. Some even lose control and end up doing extremely untoward things. So, instead of waiting till stress enters our life and then try to deal with it, and often fail, the better thing to do would be to be ready to deal with it at all times.
Stay physically fit, follow your passions and throw in a little meditation. This is the recipe that has worked for me through all the recent storms in my life. Prior to discovering this recipe, the external storms produced even stronger inner storms, but now at least the inner ones are kept at bay. And, this is no small victory.
Carpe Diem!
Ro.
I am going through some interesting challenges right now. But I have lived long enough to finally realize that where there is water there will be waves and where there is life there will be challenges.
Not even a leaf’s life is exempt from this. But somehow the leaf manages to stay on the branch except for when the force it has to resist overtakes it. So, in my case, too, this would be the ultimate challenge. Though I wish that I’d know in advance what my next challenge would be or when my present ones will find an answer, I’ve also come to realize that as long as I know how to manage them without breaking down I’m one step ahead of my challenges.
A psychiatrist-friend after listening to my current challenges and also having first hand direct knowledge of them writes, "I admire your strength for being able to persevere in the midst of such difficulties. Please continue to be mindful of your own sanity :-), and know that I am always here if you ever need someone to talk to."
I chuckle not because his admiration is not sincere (though in my case, being admired for helping others deal with their challenges is what I’d consider truly worth admiring) but because these words also convey pity even if only unintentionally. For whatever reason, pity to me is, well, pitiable. I don’t handle pity too well.
However, going beyond my initial reaction along these lines, I do ponder how I have stood my ground like that struggling leaf against strong winds trying to take it down. Now, if I analyze the intent of the wind’s blowing I conclude that it’s not its intention to take down the leaf but just its response to atmospheric pressures. This is how our own challenges too brew.
Returning to how I have stood my ground, I decide that for me to be strong not just for myself but also for those who depend on me for their own sanity, too, I must see myself as an instrument that must keep fit at all times. Like a musical instrument that must be kept tuned to produce pleasant notes, I need to keep myself tuned.
To accomplish this, one of the firsts in my life was to enroll in a gym and this is my fourth year (just recently I upgraded to a high-impact gym closer to home). Then look at all the things I enjoy doing and begin to fine tune each one of them and then share it with whoever else might share these interests. The synergy that forms by surrounding oneself with people with common goals, value systems and similar styles of execution is like adding one and one and getting not 2 but eleven. 1+1=11!
Finally, I also added 15 minutes of meditation (read October 27 post) to my day and this too has added to keeping myself tuned.
When we are stressed out (many of the stresses can be avoided but then again life is filled with curve balls and thus one can never predict what life has in store), it’s very easy to feel lost. Some even lose control and end up doing extremely untoward things. So, instead of waiting till stress enters our life and then try to deal with it, and often fail, the better thing to do would be to be ready to deal with it at all times.
Stay physically fit, follow your passions and throw in a little meditation. This is the recipe that has worked for me through all the recent storms in my life. Prior to discovering this recipe, the external storms produced even stronger inner storms, but now at least the inner ones are kept at bay. And, this is no small victory.
Carpe Diem!
Ro.
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