T20 Politics

The FDI issue showcased the deplorable levels of our political discourse as personal attacks and political convenience dictated the debate in Parliament, rather than its actual effect on farmers, retailers and employment. The electronic media is obsessed with TRP ratings and politicians resort to eye-catching tactics to take advantage of this obsession. Viewers, too, are responsible for the state of affairs as they have not cared to improve their taste, which is what sustains T20 politics.

Published in The Hindu on 13th Dec, 2012

Cash(Vote) Transfer Scheme

After reaping rich dividends from NREGA in the 2009 general elections, it was expected of the Congress to come up with something more effective for vote transfer in 2014. A cash transfer scheme requires careful scrutiny of all provisions and effective checks of leakages, especially in a country where there is large-scale poverty, illiteracy, corruption and political manipulation. The government must take a leaf out of the most successful cash transfer scheme in the world, Brazil’s Bolsa Familia, which has many provisions like transfer through government owned banks and public enlisting of beneficiaries.

What is worrying is the haste with which the UPA government is pushing the scheme without adequately addressing serious concerns raised by civil society organisations. In a highly patriarchal society like ours, the misuse of the cash by male heads of the family is a distinct possibility and needs to be addressed. Without an effective and transparent mechanism for selecting the beneficiaries, there is every chance of manipulation by the party in power.

Published in The Hindu on 30th November 2012

Hyper-consumerism and Commodification of Women

As another Deepawali gets closer and The Times of India turns into The Ads of India, I wonder how many of the commodities- from iPhone, iPad to Nikes and Tag Heuers-being aggressively promoted do we actually need, specially in a world where close to 1.2 billion people survive on less than $1 a day.

Its definitely not expected of millionaires to avoid the show-off of Audi-Porsches and lead a Gandhian way of life, but what's really painful is the pressure that this culture of excessive consumerism is generating on the middle class and the lower segments of society, both economically and socially. It is also creating unnecessary strains on national economy and sustainability. 

Traditional bases of consumerism

In an era where effects of globalization are visible even in remote villages and religious values are giving way to new ways of life, many value aspects related to the all-important marriage ceremony are showing extraordinary resilience. 

Why does Indian society still measure in-laws' affection for the bride in terms of tolas of gold presented to her during marriage ceremony? 

Why do we even need to make a public show of the goods and money exchanged? 

It all gives an impression that the girl's place in the new home banks on the value and quality of the exchanges! Yes, I am pointing to the seedbeds of the plight of women in our society- the consumerist tendencies and the show-off culture. 

Whenever I ask people not to buy gold and switch to other jewelry, I get weird reactions against pointing to the fact that import of gold creates a massive burden on India's balance of payments and adversely affects our economy. Gold has strong backup in the 'golden' social values of our society as reflected in its special importance on the occasion of Dhanteras. Moreover, patriotism, as practised  in our society is a distinctive brand of selfish and parochial patriotism. 

Capitalist mode of consumerism

With the advent of modern means of production and communication, what we have been witnessing with each passing decade, is creation of more and more hypothetical needs through media campaigns funded by giant corporations and then feeding the same with high-profit useless goods. iPhone is a typical example! 'Useless' to me is any commodity which doesn't cater to substantive and real needs of day-to-day life, suitably matched to its monetary value. Only few years ago, many stylish and good to use handsets were in 10k range. Now, as a gentleman is judged not by his shoes but by his mobile handset, this range has crossed 40,000 Rs barrier. Even in the strongest analyses, i haven't found iPhone to be worth even one-fourth its price for the purpose it serves. It has been stealing money from people's pockets merely on the media hype and also because it has become a Veblen good in India.

Replacing one well functioning model by another has become the trend whether it be a cellphone or car and this tendency somewhere leads to replacing a girlfriend or wife with a 'better' one. This sense of good or better are mere manifestations of the consumerist culture. The values which lead man to happiness are being replaced by the values which lead man to madness. It has led to utter chaos of modern day life. No wonder teens are committing murders to own an iPad.

Adding to the woes of aam admi

India has the unique distinction of having more households with a mobile phone than a toilet, even though the latter costs less in most cases and is a far more basic necessity than a cellphone. Not only we need to understand the diversion of limited resources of poor towards unnecessary 'pulls' of consumerism, we also need to be sympathetic towards its reflections in their life in the form of poor nutrition, unhygienic living et c. We can gauge the scale of the problem if we analyse the value of a 3000 Rs cellphone in a rickshaw-puller's life- both in terms of money and its usage, i.e., the cost-benefit analysis. 

No wonder we find women in a highly vulnerable position in our predominantly patriarchal society where finances are handled exclusively by menfolk, primarily on two counts. One- women's needs, which are primarily family needs of nutrition, healthcare, education et c are cornered and consumerist pulls of the menfolk take an unfair share. Number two- the hyper-consumerist paradigm renders women's position as an object of pleasure and show-off thereby leading to the commodification of women that our society is witnessing. Female models featuring prominently along objects of desire in their commercial promotions, their particular positioning in advertisements not only substantiates the process but also strengthens it.

We can't expect the government to stop the juggernaut of giants like Apple and Samsung, especially in the WTO era or even a hefty increase in duties on gold jewelry is not practical due to political compulsions. All that we're left to do is to generate awareness. We need to understand that advertisements and media coverage is one of the most potent weapons of Capitalism today and also the fact that consumerism is its weapon of mass destruction(WMD). In the Galaxy of iPhone, SIII, Notes and Tabs, human beings are rendered as miniature objects and their needs frequently tampered with. We don't buy commodities, commodities buy us by the sheer force of  'appeal'. Even if I have three unused phones in my drawer still a fifth one tries to get its way. And, yes all this has a very deep impact on the quality of life we are living and the quality of the society that we're part of.

Kejriwalmart and Exposé Politics

Beginning with Robert Vadra-DLF episode, then moving onto showing the real Salman Khurshid and finally putting a big question mark on BJP's moral authority to raise issues of corruption, even though IAC has not exactly carved out a niche for itself in Indian political space, it has definitely set the process in motion. Newton's laws will definitely be on demonstration as the concerned political parties will neither remove nor cut the roles of the suspect public figures, continuing with their inherent acceptance of little bit of corruption as the 'in thing', without any precise definition of the 'little bit'. Secondly, enquiries and actions are least expected to be accelerated due to the apparent lack of vote-mass of Kejriwal & Co. Thirdly, there will be a lasting array of counter-allegations 'making mountain of what was not even a molehill'.

The subdued reactions and a confused outlook of the existing political system in the wake of non-stop AK firing presents us some interesting insights.


Post Independence Politics

Post colonial era, India was expected to adopt democracy the same way as you would expect mature behaviour from an adolescent. Unfortunately, to a society which was in tight grips of tradition, there was no institutionalized nurturing of democratic values. To a society, which is credited with contributing the term- communalism to dictionary, there has been no systematic efforts at strengthening the bases of democracy. Communalism originated out of the will to reclaim the lost Kingdoms of Hindus and Muslims. The perceived antagonism between them existed because each was thought to have brought down the other's rule. This mission to reclaim the lost Rajpat continued even among the Indian officials post British Raj and by the time it was noticed, it had engulfed the entire political spectrum by 1980s.

The first generation of nation-serving politicians gave way to increasingly undemocratic and despotic breed of politicians including the likes of Indira Gandhi to Lalu Yadav, Mayawati, all of whom hit democracy where it hurts the most. Dividing a multi-ethnic and increasingly plural society for their petty vote-bank politics was social engineering for them. This phenomenon made the public turn a blind eye to the corrupt practices by the leaders of their own caste, group, community. Indian voter was fooled big-time in the name of promoting caste and community through 'Bhoora baal saaf karo' and Dalit-Brahmin slogans. What they reaped was token service and the politicians amassed colossal wealth using divisive politics as a shield. Despite the large scale loot of public resources for decades, they remained important figures of the political landscape.


Nayi Rajneeti

Our politicians are finding the questions raised about the established political system 'laughable' and 'chillar'. The people who have dared to ask such questions are dismissed as 'mango people of banana republic' and are termed 'megalomaniac'. It sounds very natural as people came into politics to make money, rule like kings so all such allegations and questions are baseless and trivial. Simple!

When a UP minister asked the bureaucrats to steal a little if they're working hard, he was pulled up for sounding bizarre, actually he was not. He was trying to be very practical. If this 'little' would have been set as a statutory limit after being precisely defined as 5% or 10% of the amount under discretion and stealing being subject to hard work, India would have been a far less corrupt country, having a much more efficient administration. You meet wannabe bureaucrats and they would bluntly express their desire of having thoda-bahut and everyone knows what it turns out to be, later. Ashok Khemkas are rarest of rare in bureaucracy and in politics, an equivalent is probably non-existent. What I believe Kejriwal & Company will be able to do, is quick reproduction of the equivalents in the political realms.


The Broad Contours

I'm not a die hard Kejriwal supporter, neither I have any hope in the existing political setup. The real hopes lie in the awakening through increased awareness levels of the Indian voters sustained by questioning the current political standards and norms. The hopes also bank on a certain redefinition of the same. Much more than the number of seats that this anti-corruption politics can corner for itself, its success will be measured by the significant changes it could effectively bring in the public discourse of Indian politics. What we have witnessed in the recent past in the form of remote-controlled & highly centralized government, powerless PM, ideological vaccum along with a series of massive scams is probably the lowest that Indian politics has seen post Independence.

We, as a nation, are destined to see a better politics which would work towards the ideal of truly democratic nation through issue-based, development-oriented and pluralist outlook. Unfortunately, social justice and socialism have been mere slogans in past. If the political class takes note of development as the betterment of life style of the bottom 50 percent and works for institutionalized upliftment through Self-help groups, encouraging entrepreneurship, well-distributed industrialization in the impending 'new' era, 'land grabbing' will not be in headlines. This massive responsibility definitely lies on the shoulders of Kejriwal's yet-to-be-named party and such organisations which may come up in future. I have a certain intuition of the realization of the new era in coming years which will get rid of the system that we all are fed up of and start building the India which we shall proudly leave for the generations to come.

Zindagi Kabhi Kabhi

ज़िन्दगी कभी कभी औकात दिखा देती है 

एक वट वृक्ष को भी पात बना देती है 

एक एक ईंट से आशियाँ बनाया था 

ये न गिरेगा कभी कहके सबको आया था 

औ इसके श्रृंगार में अनगिन पल बीते थे 

जो भी देखता इसे अप्रतिम कह जाता था 

न जाने कब ऐसे आलिशानों को धूल 

बस एक झंझावात बना देती है 

ज़िन्दगी कभी कभी औकात दिखा देती है 

एक वट वृक्ष को भी पात बना देती है 

डिग्रीयां बड़ी बड़ी, ग्रेड्स से सजी धजी

आदमी को खुद पे इतराने तो खूब देती हैं 

कुछ कहीं शिद्दत से, और कठिन मेहनत से 

हुनर और अक्लमंदी की पूज खूब होती है 

आते बड़ी मुश्किलों के, रिश्तों की उलझनों के 

इसी काबिलियत की, situations वाट लगा देती हैं 

ज़िन्दगी कभी कभी औकात दिखा देती है 

एक वट वृक्ष को भी पात बना देती है 

पार्टियों को देख तू, सत्ताधारियों से लैस हैं 

न कोई रोकता, न कोई टोकता, मायावती भैंस हैं 

ऊपर से नीचे तक भ्रष्टाचार में लिप्त हैं 

शान से बोलते- हम वोट-बहुमत दीप्त हैं 

एक आम ईमानदार  की sincerity भी इन्हें 

देश की नज़रों से गिरा, सत्ता से हटा देती है 

ज़िन्दगी कभी कभी औकात दिखा देती है 

एक वट वृक्ष को भी पात बना देती है 

Zindagi kabhi kabhi aukaat dikha deti hai

Ek vatavriksha ko paat bana deti hai

Ek ek eent se aashiyaan banaya tha

Ye na girega kabhi kahke sabko aaya tha

Aur isake shringaar me angin pal beete the

Jo bhi dekhta ise apratim keh jaata tha

Na jaane kab aise aalishaano.n ko dhool

Bas Ek jhanjhavaat bana deti hai..

Zindagi kabhi kabhi aukaat dikha deti hai

Ek vatavriksha ko paat bana deti hai

Degreeyaa.n badi badi, grades se sazi dhazi

Aadmi ko khud pe itraane to khoob deti hain

Kuchh kahi.n shiddat se, aur kathin mehnat se

Hunar aur aklamandi ki pooj khoob hoti hai

Aate badi mushkilo.n ke, rishto.n ki uljhano.n ke

isi kabiliyat ki, situations, watt laga deti hain

Zindagi na kabhi kabhi aukaat dikha deti hai

Ek vatavriksha ko paat bana deti hai

Paartiyo.n ko dekh tu, sattadhariyo.n se lais hain

Na koi rokta, na koi tokta, mayawati bhains hain

Upar se neeche tak bhrashtachaar me lipt hain

Shaan se bolte-hum vote-bahumat deept hain

Ek 'aam' imaandaar ki sincerity bhi inhe

desh ki nazaro.n se gira, satta se hata deti hai

Zindagi kabhi kabhi aukaat dikha deti hai

Ek vatavriksha ko paat bana deti hai

On V-Day

मोहब्बत तो ज़िन्दगी की रूह है हमदम 

सिमटता जा रहा क्यूँ ये बस इक रोज़ में 

Coaching Institutes: Necessity Vs Evil

With about four years of experience in coaching institutes for IIT-JEE in Kota, Delhi, Jaipur and Patna and now almost at the exit point from this profession, i wish to target the 'ouch' factor attached to the coaching industry alongside analyzing its contributions in the light of imminent retributions.


Despite most of the current generation having faced one or the other entrance examination and hence been through the coaching experience, there is a widespread perception that coaching institutes are all about money. Its branding is more of an 'evil' or at best 'a necessary evil'. 


Money brings negative publicity


Salaries reaching astronomical figures and profits crossing 100% barrier, there is a definite feeling of shock rather than awe surrounding the extraordinary growth of coaching institutions. Bansal Classes, my erstwhile employer, reportedly had annual profit as well as income of 125 crores in 2009-10, with all expenses met with interest on fees deposited in the beginning of the session. In 3 years, there is no field that gives you the hike from 4 LPA to 40 LPA. The highest salary figure in Kota reportedly being 1.5 crores per annum for teaching Inorganic Chemistry!

Bansal Classes, Kota

But, you also need to go into the rigors that one goes through and also the fact that not everyone gets such a hike. A Kota teacher, on an average delivers four lectures a day of minimum 90 minutes for most of the year. The duration of the lecture extends to two hours in most of the cases. For a number of faculty members, it's 5 lectures per day from 8 in the morning to 9 in the evening for the whole of academic year. Its not surprising that three to four years into the profession, people start facing health problems such as swelling and pain in ankle, backache, spondylitis and even speech problems. Moreover, the commitment to quality teaching is such that every question in the monthly tests used to be fresh and original in Bansal Classes. 
The lack of vision and strong will to cater to the larger goods of society has definitely cost the industry a bad reputation as most of the stakeholders are focused on maximizing earnings. They need to understand that if you go on exploiting the riches of society without giving it back, it may cost you highly one day. All I mean to say is that there are very few examples where resource-less are provided free education alongwith other facilities. Parents of Rajesh, one of my students at Kota, had to mortgage their land to pay for his stay and coaching fees. He was under severe stress due to frequent reminders by his parents regarding the mortgage. Being an extraordinary student, his only fault is that he was born in such a poor family which cant even afford basic needs properly and a selfish society which cant educate its meritorious children. Not to mention the wonder called Super 30 in Patna, which has got accolades disproportionate to its achievements. The need of the hour being devoting a decent share of profits towards education of the deserving and needy.

Whats so vicious about coaching institutes


First, they charge you very high fees: 80,000 towards only tuition fee for a year for IIT-JEE coaching. Average cost of preparation for a two year period comes out to be around 3 lacs.
Next, they are seemingly depriving the deserving but poor of their success. The fact being they are just making money for providing genuine quality education to the people who can afford it, due to lack of policies governing them. Their very existence being facilitated by the neglect of school education in India and encouraged by the increased incomes of middle class in the last decade.
Lastly, they are a big threat to the existing system of schooling in India as increasingly high percentage of engineering and medical aspirants in classes IX-XII are opting for 100% coaching and zero schooling, creating the danger of leaving schools redundant.

The poor state of mainstream education in India

Among Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, who is still alive? Only a little over a third of class 4 students interviewed as part of a five-city school survey in India got this one right, with a small percentage saying it is Mahatma Gandhi. As many as two-thirds of students, also from class 4, who were asked to state the length of a pencil — placed against a ruler — could not give the right answer.

Nearly half the students in classes 4, 6 and 8 thought the shape of a square object would change if it is tilted. And about 45 per cent of students in these classes seemed to believe that a spider has six legs, despite the arthropod being described or named as ‘eight-legged' in almost all Indian languages.

These are drawn from 89 of the country's top schools, each of which had a library, a laboratory and enough computers, and 93 per cent stated they had internet facilities. And 63 per cent of the parents of these children hold a degree, post-graduate degree or doctorate, and more than 41 per cent of the fathers were into their own business.

These are some of the findings of a ‘Quality Education Study' (QES) by Wipro and Educational Initiatives (EI), covering 23,000 students, 790 teachers and 54 principals from 89 schools across the country. 

Why a necessity


In such a scenario, you are free to imagine the level of science and mathematics of class IX-XII students and the kind of answers you are likely to get from these students. Having been exposed to this all through my teaching career, I can assure you that had it not been for coaching institutions, the majority of students even at IITs would have had shocking levels of mathematics, physics and chemistry.
For me, coaching institutes represent an indispensable system of supplementary education. The poor standards of classroom teaching all across the country and emphasis on rote learning rather than understanding, had created the need for such a system. The numerous institutions that have mushroomed all over the country are just catering to the need. If not so, why would students from as far as Assam  to Kerala flock Kota coachings to follow their instructions 24*7 without going to school for a single class: all of this being voluntary. Right from the quality of textbooks to the content and pattern of board and other school exams, every aspect of the existing school system is way below acceptable levels. Teaching in almost all schools being a formality with zero innovation and zero concern towards conceptual understanding, is the root cause of the mass shift from schools to coaching. Lack of motivation, incentives and attractive salaries have aided to the systemic degeneration in the long run. 
What coaching institutes have done for the students, no government scheme can do in foreseeable future. Graduates, Doctorates and professors from IITs teaching students of class XI and XII has, no doubt, done wonders to the standards of education. 


We definitely need quality teaching to build a noble nation. A nation which is not happy by doing petty outsourced jobs from developed countries, but a nation which leaves developed countries behind in technological innovations, research and development. All this requires a major brainstorming over the existing system of school and college education in India plus increased spending by government on education. 

Baapu Jab Tum Roye The

Composition circa 1997 after going through National Book Trust's booklet on Gandhiji.

Kindly don't mind the level of poem as it was crude emotional expression of a young heart.

लालकिले पर जब तिरंगा फहराया था 

भारत में स्वतंत्रता का परचम लहराया था 

स्वतंत्र होने की ख़ुशी में हम पागल थे 

खूब पटाखे छोड़े हमने, हर्षोल्लास के कायल थे 

तुम्हारा ख्याल न आया उस वक़्त हमें 

इतना झूमे थे, नाचे थे, ख़ुशी में खोये थे 

बापू जब तुम रोये थे

हम अचेतन हो सोये थे 

हिंदुस्तान में स्वराज तुम्हीं ने लाया था 

सही मायने में स्वतंत्रता का अहसास कराया था 

सर्वस्व दान  कर अपना तुमने लड़ी ये लड़ाई थी 

बिना ढाल, खड्ग के आजादी हमें दिलाई थी 

फिर भी, अपने, सगों के देश छोड़ जाने के विरह में

१५ अगस्त '४७ को बिरला हाउस में 

बापू जब तुम रोये थे 

हम अचेतन हो सोये थे 

आपको पुण्यतिथि पर 

Dastaan-E-Bhrashtachaar

Published in Dainik Hindustan circa 1996, when Bihar was deep in Laloo mud and i was high on the newly discovered poet.

discovered today accidentally while browsing old diaries.