Not ‘just a municipal election’, a defeat of TRS in the Hyderabad Municipal Elections will alter the political discourse of the state

 

The following article was written for OpIndia. Pasting it here for reference:

“Just a municipal election” is the new mantra that is being chanted by the members of the WhatsApp group of English journalists. The reference is to tomorrow’s election to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Council (GHMC) and how BJP’s top central leadership participated in the campaigning for “just for a municipal election”.

What these people very conveniently don’t tell you is that the ruling TRS is also taking the “just a municipal election” very seriously. Almost all ministers of the cabinet have been given specific responsibilities in this campaign. More than 50 MLAs of the party are assisting these ministers in campaign strategy and implementation. The CM himself released the manifesto and spoke for more than an hour there. He spoke for nearly an hour in a public meeting organized on Saturday. Pretty much the entire might of the TRS party is focused on trying to win “just a municipal election”. This begs the basic question – If the incumbent is so serious about it, why shouldn’t the opposition be equally or more serious about it?

This GHMC election is not “just a municipal election”. This election has the potential to alter the political discourse of the Telangana state. The ruling TRS won a very predictable landslide in 2016. It won 99 out of the 150 divisions. Their friend, the MIM won 44 seats. Given the landslide, TRS could have its own mayor without the support of friendly MIM too. That election established the supremacy of TRS in the electoral politics of the new state and set the course for the 2018 election victory of the TRS. BJP won a partly 4 divisions. They were contesting the elections in alliance with TDP, which won only 1 division.

Ever since the crushing defeat in the 2018 Assembly elections, the BJP has been able to challenge the supremacy of TRS slowly but steadily. The first blow to TRS came in the Lok Sabha elections, when TRS  won 9 out of the 17 seats (KCR’s daughter was defeated by BJP; the constituency for which KCR’s son was incharge was won by the BJP). BJP’s victory in 4 LS seats boosted the morale of the cadre. The second blow to TRS came in the recently concluded Dubbaka by-poll where the BJP registered a stunning victory, and more importantly found the right voice to challenge TRS’s monopoly in the Assembly.

It is in this background that the GHMC election is being held. A victory to the BJP does not necessarily mean that they should win the Mayor seat. Given the composition of the GHMC Council that elects the Mayor, the BJP actually has to win a whopping 95 seats out of the 150 to be able to have its own Mayor. On the other hand, the TRS has to win 67 seats to be able to get a Mayor of its own. However, even if the TRS-MIM combine win 67 seats, they will easily come to an agreement to share power and have their Mayors rule the roost.

It is also a victory for the BJP if the TRS fails to win 75/150 seats. Whatever number game will result thereafter, this basically means that TRS did lose the popular mandate of the people. It will rejuvenate the cadre in ways that hasn’t happened in a very very long time. It will give out a message that the mighty TRS can be electorally defeated again and again, if the right guidance and leadership is provided to the party. That today, such a scenario is seen as a strong possibility (TRS not winning 75) is also a testament to the effort the party has put into the fight.

Though the TRS was made to sweat it out, if it does win more than 75 seats, it would reestablish the supremacy of KCR’s son, KTR in the party. It would also mean that the path to even establish a decent opposition to the TRS party has become even more stronger. Undoubtedly, the BJP has replaced Congress as the main opposition, but a victory for TRS would certainly mean that they have a lot of catching up to do.

As is the case with all campaigns, the speeches from both sides had their ups and downs. This is the first time since 2014 that there is a possibility of unseating TRS from a strong position of power. And if that happens, “just a municipal election” would have altered the political discourse of the state. If key leaders of political parties listened to this bunch of condescending English journalists, then they would be confined to the drawing rooms of their party offices. If you don’t believe me, ask the cadre of the Congress party!

When China moved away from Mao, Varavara Rao wanted to keep that flag flying high: Here is a profile of his most deranged thoughts

 

The following article was written for OpIndia. Pasting it here for reference:

“As a writer and rights activist, I am against capital punishment, with abundant faith in the reform of human beings, particularly the oppressed youth.” This has been written by Varavara Rao very recently after he was arrested. Rao claims to be a human rights activist but relishes the events where murderous Naxalites killed police forces ruthlessly, in an ‘act of war’. Varavara Rao not only has “abundant faith in the reform of human beings” but has unique ideas on how to accomplish this reform. 

In an interview, he was asked – “What is your ultimate aim?”. 

His answer:  “Our main aim is: We shall counter the developmental model with our vision of an alternate politics, alternate culture, plus an alternate value system”.

Even Rahul Gandhi will sound more coherent in his ramblings than what Varavara Rao described as his aim. Do you want to know what alternate politics, culture and system he has in mind? You must listen to how he proudly tells us a story about the dreaded Peoples War Group (PWG) from the year 1981. From 11:40 in this video (where he is seen drinking water from a Kinley water bottle!), he flashes a book – some 9th volume of Mao Tse Tung thoughts. He tells the audience that this volume was not published by China, but by some Indians. 

According to him, China stopped publishing these books after volume 4 or volume 5, because they had moved from Mao’s model to an “Investment model” (whatever that means). The dreaded PWG leadership in Andhra Pradesh was very upset with China to have moved from Mao’s model to “Investment Model”. They were so upset that they visited China in 1981 and told the Communist leadership in China that though China has given up on Mao, they will not give up on him. 

The dreaded PWG group told China that they will continue to take inspiration from Mao because of whom the Naxalbari movement was born in India and continue on that path (which basically means that they will continue that same violent path of waging a war with the state and continue to put people in misery.)

Can you find a more deranged and dreaded ideology present anywhere else in the world? When China itself has decided to move away from Mao’s thoughts, it is the ilk of Varavara Rao that wanted to keep that flag flying high, with great impunity. 

You must also listen to his English speech from a 1996 “International Seminar on Nationality Question”. The choice of his language is simply baffling – “The Kashmiris and North East nationalities are struggling for a longer time against this Indian state. On the other hand, since the Naxalbari uprising in 1968, people under communist evolutionaries are waging an armed struggle against the ruling classes and the Indian state.” 

If you are baffled at the usage of terms like “Kashmiri and North East nationalities” and “Communist Evolunataries”, then you must wait for the punchline that comes at around 2:25. “The aim is to create a truly democratic and federal India”!! In 1996, Varavara Rao didn’t believe in Indian democracy. He didn’t believe it in 1970 when he co-founded “Virasam” (Viplava Rachayatala Sangham – Revolutionary Poets Association). He doesn’t believe it in 2020. He will never believe in it till his last breath. And he will never propose an “alternate model” to this democracy, expect to continuously rant about “feudal oppression” and justify the “armed struggle” that put so many people into untold misery. 

In another interview, Varavara Rao tells us that “The only future is the Maoist movement as it is the only alternative politics. People are vexed with parliamentary democracy”. So, we have the same person telling us that he wants democracy and he wants to follow Mao to achieve this path of democracy! How this irony gets missed in all the eulogies he is getting recently, simply baffles me. 

Varavara Rao’s rise in the literary world happened at a time when poverty ruled the roost in our country. I wasn’t there in the 1960s and 1970s but can very well imagine the impoverishment and the misery of those times. I can even understand the angst amongst the villagers of Naxalbari against the oppression they faced and their anger when many of them were killed in a police firing for organizing protests. But for “poets” like Varavara Rao to continue to seek to urge people to take the path of the violent Naxalite movement that followed the Naxalbari massacre should be seen as nothing short of resorting to provoking violence. 

Many portals have mentioned that VVR has been arrested many times and all the 25 odd cases foisted against him were struck down by the courts. True – because VVR never explicitly wrote in his works to create bloodshed (In fact, I find his works dull. You can read a sample here). He was careful enough to espouse the Maoist cause without making a mention of their violent methods; diligent enough to talk only about fight against “oppression” without ever mentioning about the guns being used to fight them; intellectual enough to write about why the armed struggle is happening without ever mentioning about the misery of those with the arms. 

Ever since he was the founding member of “Virasam” in 1970, he has provided space, material and voice to the violent Naxalite movement. I totally understand why he was such a success during those dark years of 1970s and 1980s. Those were the years when the ecosystem was being built and his writings fit extremely well into their planning. But he started becoming irrelevant in the 1990s once people also started seeing through the evil machinations of this ilk. Coupled with India undertaking rapid reforms, VVR and his ilk started fading into oblivion. 

Varavara Rao’s delusion lies in the fact that in a 2016 interview, he tells us that it is the World Bank that hoisted Chandrababu Naidu as the CM of Andhra Pradesh; and that CBN banned PWG at the behest of the World Bank so that more investments can come into Andhra Pradesh. What he didn’t tell us was that more investments meant more development which meant the “alternate vision” of VVR to let people continue to live in misery and pick up arms for an imaginary “struggle”.

Activists like Varavara Rao have normalized violence (and the misery it causes) by writing fancy words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs. His delusional arguments include questions such as why leaders walk around with security with guns if they don’t believe in guns. He continues to be the ideologue of a “Maoists movement inspired by Naxalbari”. That can only mean one thing – violence against the Indian state. 

Varavara Rao must realise that today’s India is much more evolved than when he flourished as an activist. Today’s India will not fall into this violent trap that he seeks to lay. Today’s India has bought into democracy. We don’t need any more lessons from Mao. 

Flustered by BJP’s Campaign Course, KCR Delivers an Insipid Speech

 

The following article has been written for MyInd Makers. Pasting it here for reference:

Elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) are to be held on December 1st. This time, these elections have garnered interest even at the national level. From all ground reports, it is quite clear that the BJP is making TRS sweat it out in this election. This was also evident from the manner in which CM KCR spoke at a public meeting in Hyderabad yesterday evening.

What we saw was the return of the quintessential KCR who used to campaign on fearmongering. During the course of this campaign, he made weird claims that the central government was planning to sell the LIC! He repeated this absurd claim in the public meeting yesterday. In addition, he added that the Modi government is planning to sell off the BHEL and…behold… the Railways too! He went on to exhibit some bravado in claiming that “KCR is being told not to ask these questions but KCR is not afraid of anyone”! If the insipid reaction of the crowd is anything to go by, KCR should have realised that these arguments aren’t cutting any ice.

Towards the end of the speech, KCR also made an appeal (from 43:00 onwards) in both Hindi and English. He appealed to the “intellectuals” to “Save Hyderabad”! He created fear that if TRS doesn’t win the GHMC elections, then there will be unrest here; and therefore, real estate prices will come down; investments will not come; unemployment will increase etc. It was really amusing how he made a pointed reference to real estate prices, because in the runup to the formation of Telangana, this was exactly the argument peddled by those opposed to the formation of the state!

But why is he warning of unrest? TRS’s plank in this GHMC election has been that if BJP wins, then there will be widespread communal unrest in Hyderabad. Even during the recently held Dubbaka by-poll, KCR’s son and minister, KTR held a press conference to accuse the BJP of trying to create bloodshed in Hyderabad. People are still wondering what the link between the Dubbaka by-poll and Hyderabad is!

Last week, KCR suddenly held a review with the top brass of the police on law and order situation of the state. We then had to hear about how he warned about “divisive forces” trying to create havoc in the state and asked the police to take strict action against these forces. The DGP held a press conference in which he told that they had specific inputs about how such havoc was going to be created. Everyone had only one question ever since that review meeting – how many people were arrested based on these “specific inputs”? Chief campaigner KTR was also asked this question many times – we are yet to get a number!

When BJP chief, Bandi Sanjay said that Rohignyas will be thrown out once BJP is voted, many asked what was the BJP doing all these years for the same? And how does being in power in GHMC give them any leeway in doing the same? KTR went to town challenging the BJP to do so. But within days, tables turned with KCR’s review and statements based only on rhetoric.

The first half of KCR’s speech at the public meeting yesterday focused entirely on his government’s achievements – part related to Hyderabad and part related to the entire state. The dialogue delivery that KCR is typically associated was sorely missing in yesterday’s speech. Except for an occasional one liner here and there, the insipid speech does leave one wondering – what happened to KCR?

Today is the last day of campaigning for the election. Amit Shah is slated to come, and conduct road shows today. We are yet to hear the final word on the campaigning!

Buoyed by Dubbaka win, BJP Gearing up to Give Tough Fight in GHMC Elections

 

The following article was written for MyInd Makers. Pasting it here for reference:

This past Sunday morning, a TRS campaign vehicle was passing through our area. On the speaker, we hear a voice telling us how intelligent planning by KCR has helped drastically minimize the traffic jams in Madhapur. Now, you begin to wonder which Madhapur are these people talking about! Up until when the lockdown began – it was nightmare to commute on the Madhapur-HiTech City-Kondapur stretch.

It’s not just about this stretch. During the pre-lockdown days, almost every single day, there is a twitter message from relevant traffic police handles about traffic jams on the same stretch of roads in many parts of the city. Citizens would really expect those in power to apply their mind to this daily irritating problem and try to make their lives easier. So, you would ask - What was done to try and resolve this traffic problem?

You will be told about the Strategic Road Development Program (SRDP). A strategy so brilliant that it created new traffic hurdles at places it was implemented! Don’t believe me? Ask any one of the lakhs of commuter facing that problem at the famed Raheja IT park in HiTech City. Or ask any one of the lakhs of commuters in the central part of the city who haven’t been blessed yet with this strategy.

It’s not that new roads were not built. Many new stretches were developed. Only to be dug again. And again. Or to be built with a sharp turn that will either cause accidents or traffic jams, yet again! There isn’t a single stretch of 1-2 km road where you can drive without worrying about encountering an obstacle! If this is the kind of strategic development that is being envisaged – it is but natural for people to laugh at your claims that traffic problems have been resolved!

The upcoming GHMC elections (originally due in Feb, but preponed to December) have bought this and many other civic issues to the fore. These elections have also grabbed the attention of the English media that sits in Delhi. The BJP is on a high after they defeated TRS in the recent Dubbaka by-poll and is running a high-profile campaign. The ruling TRS is banking on KTR’s charisma and the work that he has done for Hyderabad over the past 5 years. It is important to note that it is KTR alone who has been the face of the party for the past 5 years – the Mayor and corporators have been inconsequential. The Congress party is nowhere to be seen or felt! And the other big player – MIM – is making some noises but for them, they have always won those 40-45 seats in the old city, so there is no real competition for them. After victory, they will anyway align with the TRS party.

GHMC has 150 divisions. In these, 35-45 will be won by MIM. It is a fight between TRS and BJP in the remaining 100-odd divisions. KTR is banking on the fact that many companies have continued to expand or invest into Hyderabad, thereby creating huge employment and enabling more growth of the city. He is also banking on fixing the dreaded power problem of Hyderabad, but many citizens are fully aware that this problem was solved after joint collaboration with the central government only. They are further banking on the 50% waiver given on property tax for this year.

The opposition, in this case the BJP alone, is banking on the misplaced handling of the Corona tests; the bungling of relief distribution for the recent Hyderabad floods; the administrative apathy of the GHMC in resolving simple issues of the citizens; corruption and arrogance of the corporators; and the apathy of the CM in not visiting many affected areas of Hyderabad.

Both the TRS and the BJP are also invoking other state and national issues into this election too – to show the nature of governance both parties can provide to the people. Now, if you were following the English media, you would be baffled at the issues mentioned above because all you can hear is “Communalising” of elections! Well, when you have MIM in the fray, why would elections not become communal in nature?

MIM is the only party that is not banking on development. MIM stopped the expansion of the Metro services into the old city. CM KCR obliged to this weird request. MIM wants the demolition of the P.V.Narasimha Rao’s and NTR’s ghats in Hyderabad. Videos have come up where the crowd is booing the MIM leaders. TRS has gone about telling us that they are not in alliance with MIM, but there is not a soul that believes in this! While the Dubbaka by-poll was happening, TRS working president KTR accused the BJP of trying to foment communal trouble in Hyderabad! Till date, we are still wondering what the link to a by-poll and trouble in Hyderabad is. So even before BJP made any noise, both the TRS and MIM have started accusing the BJP of trying to foment communal trouble in Hyderabad!

While the campaign heats up in the runup to the December 1st poll, one thing is quite clear – this election will not be a predictable landslide like the 2016 one. In that election, TRS won 99 and MIM won 44 of the total 150 divisions. All elections are of course interesting – the 2020 GHMC elections will also be interesting given the close nature of the contest and its potential to alter the political landscape of the state. Over to December 1st for the voter to make the choice!

The importance of Dubbaka, BJP’s win in the by-elections and how Raghunandan Rao achieved the impossible

 

The following article was written for OpIndia. Pasting it here for reference:

While most people in the country were (obviously) interested in the results of the Bihar elections and probably Madhya Pradesh by-elections too, a very gripping story was building up in the bye-election results of the Dubbaka constituency in Telangana. The tension was increasing with every passing round. While BJP maintained a lead in the early rounds, the TRS picked up in the later rounds (even picking up a slender overall lead at end of round 19) but the BJP bounced back again, eventually winning the seat by – 1100 votes! 

Now, Dubbaka is an interesting Assembly constituency. Dubbaka’s neighbouring constituencies are Gajwel (represented by KCR), Siricilla (represented by KCR’s son, KTR) and Siddipet (represented by KCR’s powerful nephew, T. Harish Rao)! With such powerful neighbours, one would easily assume that the election will be a cakewalk for the TRS party! Congress is anyway a sinking boat. BJP lost deposit in Dubbaka constituency in the 2018 election. T. Harish Rao was made in charge for this election, and yet again people assumed that since Harish Rao doesn’t lose elections, this is a done deal for the party. 

Except that the BJP and people had different plans. BJP’s candidate in Dubbaka (in 2018 and now) is one of the most prominent faces of the party in the state – Raghunandan Rao. He is a spokesperson of the party; is the party’s face on most TV debates; is articulate; is aggressive enough to match the style of TRS; is a lawyer; has been in politics for a long time; is a native of Dubbaka and was with TRS since inception and joined BJP post-2014 because his growth in the party was being stunted by KCR and Harish Rao. Today, Raghunandan Rao is at the centre stage at what can very well be the most defining moment of the state BJP. 

In the 2018 Assembly elections in Telangana, the TRS party, led by KCR, won a whopping 88/119 seats. BJP had won just 1 seat and lost deposits in a whopping 106 seats! KCR was actually hoping to win 100 seats. So, within just 3 months, he had further inducted 12 Congress MLAs (out of 19 total) into the TRS bandwagon – thereby taking TRS’s number to 100! With friendly MIM having 7 seats, you can very well imagine the control KCR had on the Assembly.  

The first rude awakening came to KCR in the form of 2019 LS elections, because 1) His daughter lost her Lok Sabha seat (Nizamabad), and 2)  BJP also won the Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat – the home turf of his son KTR! A shock to the dynasty was something no pollster could remotely predict. Both the BJP and Congress won 4 seats each (out of a total of 17), but the BJP wins were also credited to the Modi wave of 2019.  

The BJP still didn’t have a strong voice in the Legislative Assembly. With the numbers you have seen above, you can now very well imagine how the Assembly sessions progress here. There is occasional friendly fire between MIM and TRS leaders; no one cares about what Congress MLAs speak; BJP’s lone MLA T. Raja Singh is no match when it comes to preparing deftly on various policy-related issues or catchy phrases to grab eyeballs/headlines; TRS and KCR get hours and hours of talking time on the basis of their strength in the house and equally large space in the media. 

In addition to continuing to focus on the delivery of many of PM Modi’s flagship schemes, the BJP needed faces and voices that were as aggressive yet articulate as KCR, KTR, Harish Rao etc. They found those faces and voices in leaders like the newly appointed BJP President, Karimnagar MP, Bandi Sanjay Kumar; another MP, D. Arvind (who beat KCR’s daughter) etc. In addition, the party at the national level gave the good position to a few OBC leaders, thereby extending their outreach. Whilst the building up of a new BJP was happening, the sitting TRS MLA of Dubbaka assembly constituency passed away, thereby necessitating a by-election. 

Raghunandan Rao hit the streets well before the party announced his name. His articulation helped him cash in on the rising resentment against KCR. Sensing the mood, TRS deployed their entire party machinery to fight Raghunandan Rao and the BJP. Some analysts even saw this as KCR’s ploy to control his nephew Harish Rao (a loss here would be Harish Rao’s responsibility. Remember – While the son and daughter lost their home turfs in 2019, TRS handsomely won the Medak LS seat for which Harish Rao was the in-charge). 

The new BJP also didn’t back off. They went equally aggressive in their campaigning. The state police raided the houses of Raghunandan Rao’s relatives (I, along with many, had wondered why KCR is resorting to such tactics. It is clear now!), lathi-charged the BJP state President, and KTR even alleged that the BJP is trying to foment communal disturbances (isn’t it cute how everyone falls back to this argument!). Nothing stopped the BJP’s aggressiveness – the cadre and leader alike took up this challenge and put in their sweat to beat the TRS. 

One cannot think of a better MLA than Raghunandan Rao to represent the BJP in the Assembly. His articulation would certainly amp up the debate quotient in the Assembly (today, it’s a one-way street in the Assembly). This is the BJP that the Modi-Shah combination wants to nurture across the country. The 2018 state unit wasn’t up to the mark for this. The new BJP has realised what many other state units are doing and has begun to put in the hard work. Dubbaka victory is undoubtedly one of the greatest first steps towards further growth. The party now has an uphill task ahead to live up to this expectation and emulate this across various areas of the state. Exciting times lie ahead for the state’s political scenarios! 

Solutions for judicial reform are in plain sight, why can’t our Judiciary see it?

 

The following article was written for MyInd Makers. Pasting it here for reference:

My original intention of writing this article was to list down some thoughts and salient points that I think are the key for reforms in the Judiciary. As I was jotting them down, they sounded very common sense-like to me. I began to think – is it really possible that the learned judiciary is not aware of such small things? I then thought, let’s google and see what reports have to say about these. Turns out that for 40 years, there are multiple reports prepared by different committees; multiple articles in the media by many learned folks and many generic reports filed by today’s media; and speeches by the learned Judges themselves!

Recently, Shri Kanchan Gupta reminded us about the whopping number of nearly 4 crore backlog cases in our courts. Amidst such a severe backlog, I couldn’t help but wonder why the likes of Prashant Bhushan get such a free hand in ruining the court’s time over his frivolous ego?

I thought I will write a brilliant suggestion to the Judiciary advising them to increase the number of Judges in our country. Only to find out that there are nearly 400 existing positions of Judges that are lying vacant just in our High Courts. How is it possible in a country like ours that we have so many vacant posts for Judges? Is it really that difficult for our learned judiciary to find just a few people to fill up the most critical posts of the judicial systems – the Judges? Doesn’t it baffle your mind that in a country as large as ours, we have only 34 SC Judges and of that, at any given point of time ~10% of them lie vacant? Feel very free to extrapolate this number to the lowest court of the country (As of 2018, 5000 are vacant!) and then you will know that baffling is a small word to use for this situation.

You think about under-trials and their plight. The legal fees for continuous representation are so high that the undertrials languish in jails for months and years together. And then you realise that the learned Judiciary hasn’t even applied any thought to their plight. Each time, the case comes up for hearing, the default option is to give a new date. The default option is that the under-trial stays in jail till the new date. And the story repeats for every new date. How is it that the learned Judiciary can’t put additional burden on the executive, instead of the prisoner. Why can’t the default option after 2 extensions be bail for the under-trial prisoner? Especially when the Judiciary itself called this as a “crying shame on the judicial system”, way back in 1978!

You may come back with – oh, do you want murderers to roam free on the street? Of course not! Even in criminal cases, why can’t the learned Judiciary have a clear discrimination in violent and non-violent crimes? Why can’t the Judiciary enforce stricter timelines for filing of charge sheets; enforce severe penalties on the case officers; enforce severe penalties on Judges who take a lenient view of repeated delays by the executive? Doesn’t it baffle your mind how our learned Judiciary is simply oblivious to implementing these basic suggestions?

Sometimes, for better optics, courts come up with a dramatic judgment. For example - Cases against elected representatives will be heard daily. Do we have a single example of a case getting disposed of within a month because of hearings daily? First of all, you will find it extremely difficult to even get a list of cases that are being heard daily for this elite group of individuals! There is a CBI Court in Hyderabad that is hearing cases against AP CM Jagan Mohan Reddy, every Friday since the past 8-10 years. And yet the cases linger on. Imagine the plight of a lesser mortal who doesn’t have the wherewithal to fund his bail hearing once a quarter?

The problem of the 5-star lawyers eating up Supreme Court’s time to satisfy their egos is miniscule compared to the humungous delays caused at the lower rung. There are no 5-star lawyers who waste court’s time at the lower rung. There are many studies that already exist about the procedural wrangling’s that cause these delays and solutions for the same. Our citizens are woefully under-informed of their legal rights in case they fall into trouble with the system; and are woefully powerless to fight the corrupt people of this very system. We definitely deserve a better awareness of our legal rights.

What really is needed is that the Judiciary needs to feel the pressure, just like our executive and legislative wings feel at times. What really is needed is for Judiciary to adopt self-correcting measures on the same line that the executive and legislative wings have done over the years. What really is needed is for Judiciary to learn from how the executive and legislative wings have enforced change from within.

Popular uprisings, meaningful debates, social and mainstream media pressure, adaptability to change – these are some of the things that led to both the executive and legislature make far reaching changes in how they function. We don’t need verbose judgments or rhetorical speeches. We need speedier justice and if the learned Judiciary can’t do what it takes to ensure it, then it’s a matter of time before some of these things will make the Judiciary do it. Is the learned Judiciary really waiting for these to happen?

The genius of S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and how he simplified the complexities of music and lyrics

 

The following article was written for MyInd Makers. Pasting it here for reference:

I think it was the year 1997. S.P.Balasubramanyam was the host of the very popular Telugu music reality show on ETV – Paduta Teeyaga. The final of that year was telecast for about 3 hours. True legends of the cinema world were the judges. And in the midst of this, another legend, Saluri Rajeshwara Rao was wheeled onto the stage and we could see a lot of emotion on the stage. And then of course the entire 3 hours was a treat to ears not just because of the music but because of the dialogue around the music. And then my aunt called up my mom to discuss about how beautiful the entire program was. I never knew they had interest in music, let alone discuss about a program on music!

And that to me, is SPB’s biggest contribution to the telugu people. Because that is the story of almost every household in the Telugu states. How SPB used the medium of TV to simplify music and connect with people is simply legendary. His shows were always a treat to watch, because he made us connect to the music. Suddenly we have all of us talking about ragam, thalam etc. We have dining room discussions and jokes on voice, variations and modulations! SPB bought music close to hearts and homes like no one ever did. He anchored this program for nearly two decades and never once fell into the trap of “reality TV shows” where drama precedes everything else. No one else could have done what he did and how he did it.

And not just music, SPB's focus on language and its intricacies during his music programs is also equally legendary. His simplified explanation of complicated lyrics is an art in itself. No one else could have done what he did and how he did it. Is it even possible to put in words, the impact SPB had on crores of people?

We have to also remember that SPB was not just a singer. He was a genius. Not just because he acted in movies, composed music, produced movies and even danced with Prabhu Deva in a movie! But because he sang more than 40,000 songs in more than 15 languages of India, without once failing to understand the nuances of the language he was singing in. It’s one thing for us to understand multiple languages. It’s a whole different level to learn the language to the extent of the listener thinking that the singer is a native of that language! Imagine knowing so many languages, thinking in that language while singing the songs and then switching to do the same thing in another language, back-to-back!

You feel happy, there is an SPB song that you always preferred to listen. You feel sad, there is an SPB song that you always preferred to listen. You feel devotional, his rendition is right there. You want a lullaby, the song is right there. You want intricacy, the song is right there. You want peppy, it’s there. You name the emotion, there is his song available right there. There is a best SPB song in every emotion that we can think of!

SPB is that rare genius who has truly enriched our lives. He bought music into our homes and hearts. As someone mentioned on social media, Rest in Melody SPB garu. Rest in Melody.

A Rebuttal to Chetan Bhagat's Illogical Outburst on the Indian Economy

 

The following article was written for MyInd Makers. Pasting it here for reference:

If you write an article criticizing the Narendra Modi government, it is natural and obvious that people like Shashi Tharoor will like the article, tweet about it and write some nice words about it. It was therefore surprising that someone like Chetan Bhagat was over the moon that “the Shashi Tharoor” liked his article!

It has been a long time since I read any article of Chetan Bhagat, so I thought maybe this is overdue and proceeded to read his article that was pompously titled “The youth need to shut their phones and ask about the economy”.

It’s actually difficult to take any article seriously that starts with saying that demonetization has “derailed India’s economic growth momentum for years.” For a man of Chetan Bhagat’s stature, one would expect that some statistics are presented to explain this (or any) case, but he doesn’t. The entire article follows this path – make lofty and hefty statements without the backing of a single statistic. It is therefore no wonder that the likes of Shashi Tharoor loved this article.

For example, by the end of 2017, One year after demonetization, India’s quarterly GDP growth rate was at 8.2%, nearly close to what it was the quarter before demonetization. How then would intellectuals like Chetan Bhagat and Rahul Gandhi continue to blame demonetization for reduction in growth in late 2018?

It’s further difficult to take any article seriously if it proudly mentions the economic stimulus package of the USA but doesn’t even squeak about the massive 21 lakh crore package announced by the Prime Minister of India. Because it is in this same article that the author derides Indians by telling us that “We, the Indians, are desperate to feel validated that we are good enough.” I don’t know about the “desperation” of fellow Indians, but it sure looks like the author is desperate enough to feel so good about what the USA did and ignore what our country has done.

Chetan Bhagat sermonizes that “The first step is to acknowledge the problem.” Oh, where would we have been without such a massive piece of advice? A package of INR 21-lakh crore to revive the economy was announced without acknowledging the problem? Nearly INR 70,000 crore was given to 42 crore citizens of our country as part of the “Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package” – this was planned and distributed without acknowledging that there was a problem? I can cite more statistics that shows the acknowledgement of the problem but there are more points from the original article that I wish to discuss further!

The latest fad on social media is to deride the lockdown. Chetan Bhagat merely follows this trend, yet again without the backing of a single statistic. While citizens have understood the need for a lockdown early, intellectuals still don’t seem to get a handle around why an early lockdown actually helped India. Citing today’s high number of cases, without a proper context, is the forte of these intellectuals. If we didn’t have a lockdown, our doubling rate would have been worse. Doomsday predictions in March indicated that we will have 3 crore cases by July. I am willing to bet that this same Chetan Bhagat and Shashi Tharoor would have been on the forefront writing articles about how Modi was not brave enough to impose a lockdown in our country to prevent the COVID impact!

I continued to read the article to see if it gets any serious. And then I read this suggestion – “Open the economy up. Like really.” What does this even mean? Why couldn’t he give one, just one concrete example of what he thinks the government should do to “open the economy up”? Who writes likes? Like really!

And then comes to killer paragraph – “At an immediate level, the government needs to give a real fiscal stimulus. As a poor nation, we can’t have a big stimulus. But whatever it is, it has to be a real one, not just numbers that grab headlines.”

“Real fiscal stimulus”, “has to be a real one” – am now trying to understand Chetan Bhagat’s obsession with the word “real”! What does he mean by all these sentences? He couldn’t find time to give a single useful concrete suggestion on what a “real one” should look like? Does he want money into the pockets of the poor? Because that is being done already. Does he want loans to be given at low or no interests for small vendors to setup/revive business? Because that is being done already. You can read the article 100 times, but you will not get a clue on what the “real one” is!

So, what exactly does he want? He wants this – “The youth needs to shut that phone and rise.” Is your head spinning? It will spin further when you read the “real one” – “They need to keep asking questions — why isn’t there more growth?”

Chetan Bhagat tells us that the youth doesn’t care and are stuck doing silly things on their phone and for our economy to rise, the youth have to focus on their dreams and make money and shut down their phone! After reading the article, I am bamboozled as to who he is criticizing – the government of India or the youth of India?

No one is saying that a -23% drastic fall is something to ignore. But one needs to be really myopic not to see the acknowledgement of the problem all around – by the youth and by the government. Follow the right people to know the real demands of the various industries that are still suffering and how the package can be enhanced. Read the right publications to understand the nature of demands being made and how they are being fulfilled. And then perhaps you will see how your article falls short of logic and reason.

Chetan Bhagat may deride the belief of Hindus in his article (yep, he managed to write about Hindus, youth, economy and phones in the same article!), but you aren’t seeing straight if you cannot see the plain simple fact that Corona virus is not the act of this government and a tough decision had to be taken to arrest the spread of a dangerous virus, at the cost of temporary hit to the economy.

I have one final observation. If the youth shut their phones down, many youths associated with the phones industry will lose their jobs. Does Chetan Bhagat want to revive economy by losing jobs? Dear Chetan Bhagat, if you find this logic laughable, then that’s exactly how I found your article to be!