Who do we belong to?

Who does the nation belong to and what is the role of the government. This is a question that has had me oscillating forever. When I was a student and full of hot blood, it was best used a socialist. The upliftment of the downtrodden and the poor was a priority. As I grew older and I wanted money to fuel my dreams and my passions, I was clear – survival of the fittest and capitalism is the best answer to the question of poverty. I think over the years capitalism has been largely successful in taking masses of people out of poverty, hunger and sickness. The free hand has been reasonably efficient in doing so at a large scale. Hence what is the role of the government? The Sarkar?

I find this question very difficult to answer in an unbiased fashion and way. What can I say that is not influenced by my money, success and life stage? Let’s look at a simple example – all of us rich folks hate the Ganapti celebration and the toll it takes on the traffic while we are going home. This dancing on the streets while taking the idol for immersion creates bottle necks and we rich people in cars ask – what on earth is going on? Shouldn’t all these be banned in a big commercial metropolis like Mumbai.

When I was growing up, dandiyas were like a big thing. All the gujju neighborhoods would organize massive dandiya festivals on the streets and they would dance till the wee hours of the morning. It became so big a fad that every neighborhood would organize this function right inside their colony, on whichever ground they could erect a basic pandal. It was the done thing. With the noise levels rising and the dance continuing till late, it was a matter of time that some people took objection to all the noise and started protesting. The gujjus fought back. It was their 9 nights of revelry.

This was the only time that women and men could dance together in pre liberalized India. There were no outlets for any of the young kids to go out and just hang out, let alone dance. Dance is an interesting thing. I think it is some kind of evolutionary thing where you allow your body to sway with abandon and it then takes over your mind. It allows you to flirt and exchange glances. It allows you to connect with someone matching step to step. Dandiya is the best form of this. The whole group agrees on the steps and then you match with each other – the timing being critical so that you hit the dandiyas at the same time. The whole group goes into a coordinated frenzy. The best part of this – then you twirl and move to the next dancer… multitudes of people dance with each other. Each one trying to coordinate with the other. It’s a perfect flirting sequence. No wonder it was so popular with the young kids who otherwise would shun anything so traditional. They invested their own moves, their own music and even called it a name – Disco Dandiya.

As the complaints grew, authorities took note and time limits were set. I remember at first they were often flouted butt soon enough the authorities were forced to act and the dancing would come to a close by 10 pm. That was the first body blow. The second and fatal body blow was simple – more options for the young kids. Enough discos and enough places with music where young kids could go and dance and inter mingle. Enough coffee shops and enough malls. You don’t need to dance in a community with elders watching when you simply can pub it (and get drunk as well).

This to my mind killed dandiyas completely and the gujjus simply moved on. Even in marriage ceremonies, they were taken off and replaced with dance parties with DJs, lights and daaru. But this craze didn’t die… it simply moved to the poorer sections of the society. Now dandiyas are often organized by poor ghettos and slums. They dance away with gay abandon in much the same way the gujjus of old used to. The pubs are out of reach for the poor and this is their outlet.

Ganapati celebrations are also similar. They get to get together and play music, dance away, hold compeitions and have langars. They all contribute  and often get political support and hold massive celebrations. At this stage when I see them dance and take to the roads for the processions, I am forced to be in a little bit of a dilemma. Who am I to pass judgment? Who am I to ask them to get out of the way?

As always the answer is somewhere in the middle. The poor need an outlet to enjoy and gather peacefully as a community. If we as rich asses think clearly, this is something we must promote. What’s a few days of inconvenience for fostering a community. Communities if handled well, tend to lower the crime rate and create an ecosystem that is self-dependent and economically prosperous. Studies have shown that great community living ensures a better health quotient than anything else. People take care of each other and people who retire live longer and continue to manage and grow the community. Often it’s seen that self-run communities like gymkhanas or housing societies rely on older people to run and manage them as they are ones with time. Today I was listening to a podcast that spoke about how spies are constantly worried about LOPs. LOPS? Little old people. These are people who have nothing to do but stand outside the balcony and watch other people and see patterns. They are ones that figure that things are wrong. They sit up at odd hours at night and keep a watch out. They are far more useful than what the society can imagine. In most movies and crime fiction as well as actual crime stories – it’s always the LOP that testifies. In fact once an Israeli spy ring was busted in Switzerland as they were reported behaving suspiciously around a house at 2 am by an old lady. Hah.

Jasmine is a secularist and is very annoyed that 500 rupees is added to our society maintenance charges towards society celebrations – that include Ganapati and holi and independence days etc. I agree it’s annoying and it should be voluntary. But on the other hand, this money ensures that we have society functions and that we know and recognize others in the society and socialize. We meet over such events especially for the free food on offer. Thanks to this a community develops and thanks to this people feel connected and thanks to this we work towards common goals and public goods like – cleanliness, upkeep, security etc. This increases the overall value of the property. The benefits far outweigh the costs, however communal or forced down upon.

This is the nature of human behavior. The downsides to this community is also when the society closes doors to outside ideas and talents. Societies in Mumbai, especially the older established societies with few tenants start making extra judicial laws like not allowing rental for singles or live in or work to refuse sale to people outside communities. I have argued before and studies show that a balance of renters and owners are required to bring about change. Too many renters and no one really cares about long term upkeep and too many owners and the society becomes rigid. This works as I have noticed for buildings as well as cities as a whole.

I think that religious festivities or any festivities must be encouraged but with rules that ensure that things don’t go out of hand. Fixed times and space allotted for the festivities with minimal impact outside of those directly involved may be created. Of course its gets crazy when one talks about some festivities becoming so large like the lalbaugh ka raja ganpati celebrations. The whole road outside needs to be blocked out. But on the flip side many of these generate donations that can be put to good use and least of all give employment opportunities to so many people. I like this as an income redistribution mechanism. As often seen, politicians get it right before most other professions.

Till then, I am going to be stuck in traffic, irritated and bored, spewing toxic emissions for future generations. Curse those bloody processions, I want to go home, while the meek inherit the earth.

Oh Kashmir

Today morning I sat on the dining table for my breakfast and Jispa was reading the newspaper. One the page was this brilliant and lovely photograph which won the MCC Wisden photo of the year award. This was shot in the beautiful fall of Kashmir, and it captures the moment and its environment so beautifully.

This is the magic of Kashmir, I told Jispa. Then I explained the plight of the Kashmiri Pandit to her. Kashmiri is a place like no other. It is extremely beautiful and magical. The valley has snow and autumn fall. The weather in summer is lovely and the trees and lake all add to the magic that is like something never seen before. It is no wonder that Pakistan and India fight to retain this lovely piece of land. My personal suspicion when I have met people from Kashmir, both Hindu and Muslim is that they always considered themselves to be Kashmiri first and then accustomed to reality or religion as a state identity moved to be an Indian or a Pakistani. I think our geography and history strongly affects our culture and our sense of identity. Kashmir with its unique geography and its isolation form the rest of the country before modern rail and roadways meant that they tended to be different from the rest of the country with its own uniquely different identity. They managed to carve out a sub culture for themselves. The case in point being the Kashmiri Pandit. You can recognize them anywhere thanks to their typical facial features and the of course the Kashmiri nose. They were learned and educated. They prized education and were keen to inculcate this in their young ones as well. They were in seats of power in the Hindu Dogra kingdom that ruled Kashmir. They were amongst the few Saraswat Brahmins to freely eat non-vegetarian food, as they ingrained themselves with the local cuisine and culture. They are known to be foodies and connoisseurs of non-vegetarian cuisine. Then the insurgency took ground in Kashmir and terrorism and violence became an integral part of the Kashmiri life. Then on one ill-fated day – 19^th January 1990 when insurgency was at its peak, the Kashmiri Pandits were asked to leave Kashmir immediately.  They left in large droves leaving their houses and their lives behind. I have spoken to so many of my Kashmiri friends who where kids as they left. They speak about their wooden houses, two floors high with wooden cabinets and beautiful rugs. They speak about the beautiful chinar trees and the apple tree that they had in their plot of land on which they lived. They speak about letting them all go as they left the valley to other parts of India. Some of them left the houses on a ‘as is where is’ and the others left it to their Muslim neighbors and friends. Some of hem were burnt, the others forcibly occupied. These Pandits then ran away and many took refuge in Jammu in camps where they were given bivouacs, where they thought it would be temporarily before they could get back home. There was also a sudden mass clandestine exodus under the watch of the controversial Governor Jagmohan. After this exodus, no Pandit ever returned back to his home. The violence increased and ebbed, but now the Pandits set up their home across the country and rebuilt their lives. You have colonies in large cities like Delhi and Mumbai where you will pockets of Kashmiris as they settled down.

Once you spend ten years or more outside rebuilding your life, how can you go back? The government tried various incentives to get them back and supposedly only one has returned. With it an important part of history and culture was lost to Kashmir forever.

Now a new kind of violence in increasing in the valley. As the youth get educated, they need jobs and income. There is none being created. In Kashmir the land is fertile and plentiful. No one will die of hunger but people will die of subjugation, propaganda and unfulfilled ambition. When I went there the last time, around 12 years ago, the tourism industry had just started and the people were recovering from the terrors aftermath. I realized it then, that the people will now need industry and commerce to grow and live peaceful lives. They need to be more connected to the rest and not so insulated. Right now, the youth has picked up the ultimate weapon in its fight against the government. Not the gun or the knife – but the humble stone. A gun can be fought with a bullet and the person can be killed in response, brutally. But when the protestor is an unarmed youth with nothing but a stone, then any act of retaliation by the forces will be seen as excessive. The democratic foundation and moral high ground of the country rests on its ability to treat its populace with care and collective concern. Stone pelting is something that started the revolution in Egypt and the Arab Spring. Here it is creating a problem unknown to the forces who have historically dealt with the gun. With excessive media outreach, cell phone camera and instant news, can a democratically elected government be seen shooting at youth armed with a stone.

A new chapter is being written yesterday as I saw an image that completely caught me. An image of young school girls throwing stones at the armed forces.

Oh, my god. If young men pelting stones was bad enough, this is the ultimate sign of revolt. You can still fight through and lathi charge a gang with stones but can any government do anything with a bunch of school girls throwing stones at the security forces. What moral right will the government have in this case. What is its standing? This defiance cannot be quelled by might but only by discussion, dialogue and what I really believe – economics. Religion, freedom, beliefs, rebellion come from idle minds and poor pockets. As long as ambition is given freedom, these can be managed within structures without rise to violence. Trading nations don’t fight wars. Commerce abhors a war. This the same reason why in spite of the vice seen on every street corner in Bangkok, you will still find it relatively safe as a tourist. I walked around the streets at night and I saw illicit bars and rampant prostitution, I was solicited by every taxi guy but still I felt safe. It’s also one of the reasons that people suggest when you talk about the low crime rate in Tokyo. There is a debate – whether its effective street level policing or its the crime lords who ensure petty crime is at bay and the citizens feel safe while they extract money from the business. But if commerce is good to quell crime then it’s also equally awesome for quelling insurgence. If the adage that no war can be won on an empty stomach is true then the corollary is that no insurgence can be sustained in the land of plenty.

The politics of insurgence is wonderfully understood by those fueling it in Kashmir. They successfully got the youth involved in pelting stones and now this. Now we wait for the Indian government to revert. The army in the middle did something weird. They were in a situation where they had to go in and get their people who were stuck in a mob that was pelting stones. They did something quite innovative. They got one of the pelters and tied him to the front of the jeep as a human shield. 

Yes. The tactic seemed to have worked. You got out of the situation without firing a single shot, no one was harmed and the day was saved. But this is not war, this is a fight over ideologue over your own people. Can you do that with your own populace? Can the government so brazenly kidnap its own citizen and use him as a shield. That too a person picked up from the street without a trial. It’s not about what’s right or wrong at the time. It’s about how these instances can be used to fuel further hatred and the feeling of them versus us. In the battle of ideologue, PR is extremely important. You may have quelled the situation but you gave rise to a few more revolutionaries, a few more girls who were emboldened to throw stones.  What are the long term implications of your actions?

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In the backdrop of this, look at the lovely picture of a the youth of Kashmir playing cricket, again. It suddenly has so much more meaning.

kya relevance hai!

Today on a happy day, my phone was getting a reboot and I switched on the radio. I have a love hate relationship with the radio. The dumb RJs with dumb programming and irritating advertising that doesn’t connect with anything. Luckily for the new retro channels which play some good (my age) music and thanks to the lack of advertising, have some interesting programming. They are getting some good guys to come in and chat with on the radio channels who are talking about the music they created or the movies they were in with some real life insights and anecdotes. This makes the programming so rich. Like today some lady (I did not catch the name) was talking about RD Burman (always) and Asha Bhosle (again almost always) and the song Jaan – e – jaaa… oh meri jaane jaaa…. Nisha aaa aaa aa

It was a song that I was listened to as a kid. It was a fun song in which I think as kids we used to cream aloud and dance. It was released in 1982 – when I was about 7, which is an impressionable age. It was an awesome song then and is an awesome sing now, but what a singer who has worked with the music director RD Burman said, made me hear the song in a new light. She said that RD tried to get Asha to sing like a musical instrument in the song. She was talking of some musical instrument (she was also not sure) in which there is pedal or something and the noise oscillates in waves. I did not understand what she said till she sang the song on radio. I came to office and I played it and now that I understand it a little better, I have come to appreciate it a lot more. In the song Asha sings – Jaan e jaaaaaaaaaaaa, oh meri jaan e jaaaaaaaaa. As kids we would scream out this aaaaaaaaaaa in a single tone. Its only today I understood that this aaaaaaaaaa sounds awesome because it is here that RD made Asha sing the aaaaaaaaaa part in a wave like oscillation. That is the genius of this song which is so easy to miss the nuance while so easy to love the whole. Which is so impossible to bring out for an untrained singer. At least while I was singing to myself, I could clearly hear myself make a complete hash out of it.

Here listen to the song and pay attention. Of course, forgive the poor Kamal Hasan dancing like a twerp in the song and the stupid bike entry, largely forgiven purely by Reena Roy’s awesome smile and oh so lovely long hair with the stylish fringe. It’s like a complete reconciliation of the traditional beauty and a touch of modernity. And of course do not miss the scene in which she dreams about kissing him all over with him being left with lipstick marks all over his face, but no marks on the oh so sensitive lips! The confusion of 1982 India is to be seen to be believed in this movie song.

Over a period of time I have learnt to respect the Bollywood film industry as the best marketing brains in the country. It is not possible to deliver a hit without really identifying with the core audience and having a pulse on their attitudes and dreams and desires. Movies that become hits are the ones that connect with the audience, without which the audience is very clear – he is not going to part with his money and time.

In fact, while I teach marketing, my favorite lecture is in which I explain how movies and heroes have gotten their marketing right to become super stars. They connect with the screen personas with carefully nurtured off screen personas. This is the example I use to explain how super stars like brands have to mean one and only one thing to the people and the closer they are to one thing the closer they are to real meaning.

Another song that played on the radio was from Arjun. A movie released in 1985. This was when I was ten years old and I remember that era of India when there was NO hope. None what so ever. You could only get rich if you were corrupt or tyrannical or a goon or all of the above. You could get educated but there was nowhere to go once you got educated. There weren’t enough jobs and whatever jobs were there were gone to people with some influence or some friend to recommend them. It was a complete wasted generation in many ways. This movie reflected the anger of the youth. These young guys were obviously educated and were looking for jobs. The main hero leads a gang of young men, all in formal dressing, as they are all looking for jobs and want to be employed. What I remember of the movie is that they don’t get any employment and are just hanging around the neighborhood. It captures multiple emotions. The movie touches a raw nerve – that your youth is good and powerful. They study and they are unemployed because of society and not because they want to remain so. They have an energy that must be harnessed. The youth in the movie at first are seen as a nuisance as they roam around unemployed and then as the villains strike, the same youth use the only the only thing that god has given them (their youth) and fight back. Now the transformation from young, lost and unemployed to young, hailed and purposeful is complete.

At the end even the father comes and tells his child that he was right. It sent a signal to the young and unemployed that they were not wasted but were a being wasted thanks to the system. The feeling was universal and as I saw up on Wikipedia the movie was then translated into multiple languages showing how the issues were widespread across India.

Here is the song – mamaiyo kero kero kero mama

Mamaiya Kero Kero Kero Mama - Arjun (1985... by TalishaHatcher

The entire song is set in  public spaces with the gang bordering on lawlessness and at the end you also see the hero riding a Pitch roller which is being pulled by his team, in the middle of the Mumbai roads – How’s that for complete cock a  snook at the system.

Its funny why this clip is on daily motion and not on youtube. Must be some royalty quirk. A movie like this, no matter how well made would just have no relevance today. Kids find their love soon enough and get drafted into the system that is giving them some jobs, mobile phones and T shirts to order and wear. They don’t need to use violence to save the society. They probably just need a cell phone camera, or a tweet then and then some social shares.

Check this