Mr. Alvares and the Art of Crookedness

Excuses galore on the Gadgil implementation.



“The Madhav Gadgil Committee report was not final. It has only suggestions, which could be implemented with the consent of the grama sabhas. In that case, it’s totally democratic. The grama sabhas have the absolute power to decide on the recommendation. While the Kasturirangan report does not give scope for suggestions. It recommends immediate notification,” Mr. Alvares, the editor of ‘Other India Press’, an alternative publication, said. "

This argument that Gram Sabhas are going to decide on the development is utterly bogus, for multiple reasons.

1) Infrastructural development projects are never under the purview of one Gramsabha. One Gramsabha cannot say that they don't want a railway line, while the other one can say that they want it. A broader policy and decision making is required for any large projects.

2) Projects that are allowed within one Gramsabha may negatively impact other Gramsabhas, so, the decision making on such projects will end up being taken by a different authority.

It is not that they do not know any of this. They just want to implement their ideological agenda without actually being prepared to take the blame. Otherwise, what excuse can they give for submitting such a report when Mr.Gadgil himself admitted recently that he hadn't visited districts like Idukki and Wayanad during the report preparation? If you can't visit Idukki or Wayanad on a report on Western Ghats, where would you visit?

Again, if Gadgil report was only SUGGESTIONS, why was everybody so eager to IMPLEMENT it? In a democracy, nobody implements suggestions. Only Decisions are implemented. The truth of the matter is that the environmentalist just want to push through their agenda, by hook or by crook, without a care in the world about the plight of other people affected by their suggestions.

The Seven & The Modern

I happened to read an article about the medieval concepts of Virtues, which led to remembering a movie "The Seven" which was crafted on the concept of Seven Sins. Also, quite accidentally, read another article around the progression of human nature as exemplified by the innovation around technology. It was an interesting to attempt to put these three pieces together.

The Modern man has indeed progressed a lot. Often, we are excited by how smart our next generation is. Even their toys are our wonders. The medieval man look more like an evolved ape in terms of technology when compared to the modern. The question was - can the Modern sustain this progress? If yes, what could drive it? The answer suggested was Technology. By continuous technological invention, we can sustain this progress. Moving from lesser efficient technology to more efficient technology, we can always meet the pressures that a progressing civilization demand, so the only thing that is absolutely required is the search for efficiency and innovation.

Woman, Mother, Wife and Sister

 A colleague of mine, Mr.U, said so in social media:

"It is women themselves who act to perpetuate the patriarchal values, by conforming to them, internalizing and passing on to the next generation. This is true at least with the women whom I saw around me (in the urban middle class professional space). I was and am deeply saddened by the apathy of the woman folk around me, who are well away from the Khap Panchayat like enironment and technically enjoy financial freedom. These women should first identify themselves as full individuals (not as some half of a male), then identify themselves as woman and place it before their identities of wife, GF, aspiring GF, sister, mother (all of which is essentially tied to that of a man's) and offer solidarity to their fellow women who fight to secure a dignified existence!!"

First things first: In spirit, Mr.U says is simple enough: the educated, financially independent urban middle class women professionals should fight to secure dignity for other ill-fortuned women. This is good statement to make. In fact, you could even extend this to apply to any socially responsible person, gender being not a consideration at all.

What raises my curiosity is, how the apparently noble idea is twisted to fit into an ideology to destroy the very foundation of civilization. Look at this: "The women should first identify themselves as full individuals, not as some half of a male and place it before their identities of Wife, GF, Sister, Mother etc, all of which is ESSENTIALLY tied to that of a man's".

Cultural Psyche

What is the cultural psyche of a society? One of my favorite definition is: the common denominator of the expression of the numerous individuals in that society when dealing with an adversity or a negative situation.

I have two use cases to compare. From my own experience.

Situation #1: Some day in year 2008. I am taking reverse in a parking compound in USA. My wife is sitting next to me. I do not notice that there is another car behind me. I stop the car, just in time before I hit the car. The guy in the other car takes his car close to me and says, "Sir, if you are in urgency to take your car, you just need to put your indicator and show me. I would have given way. Your family is with you, so, I am not saying anything more". He drives off, although he is pretty much peeved.

Situation#2: Jun 20th 2014. I take my leg off the break my car when waiting for a signal casually. My wife is sitting next to me (disturbing me, actually. Hope she doesn't read this). My car rolls backwards and is about to hit an auto-taxi behind. The auto driver gets out, comes to me and screams, "Thaanokke enthu kaanikkuvaado? Ithrem purakil nirththeettum enthu kaanikkaanaa purakilekku varunnathu??? Ororuththanokke vannolum.....". My English is not good enough to truly express the emotion he expressed through his words. He goes back.

Is a society better off because it is equanimous, or is a society equanimous because it is better off?

Scratching the Scab

Remember the last time when you tripped down and then got up with a few bruises on your knees? Remember the scabs that covered your knees after the bruises were healed? Remember what happened when you tried to scratch the scabby knees? It seems that the Modi government has been busy doing that: scratching the scabs. And they are getting to know exactly what happens if you do that. Pus. Blood. If you have any doubt, check this out.

Language is a very complicated thing in India. Not just in India, but all over the world. Wars were fought for it. Plenty of them. Unrest over language is not a very distant thing in the past in India. Anybody who has a common sense understanding of the situation of language in India would know that it is a delicate subject. It is a like a pyramid built using eggs. You have to be careful.And then, all of a sudden, barely after a month of taking power, Modi government wants to see what happens if you apply some pressure on top of this pile of eggs. Somebody wants to figure out what lies beneath the solid dry skin of the scab.

Why can't people let things be?