Monday, October 29, 2012

Sherlock Holmes: The game just got hotter...


Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Every Sherlock film is invariably weighed in the same nostalgic spirit of Victorian England of old. But Guy Ritchie had changed all that with his first installment of the master detective's bravados, at least on screen, by taking the lock, stock and barrel of Sherlock Holmes through nifty FX and stylised sequences of neo-baritsu.

In this second installment, The Game of Shadows, the formula which proved so successful earlier is strictly followed. Robert Downey Jr. in a long line of outstanding artists who played Holmes, and his interpretation of the character, is undoubtedly one of the best and he proves it once again with his charming, quirky mannerisms and a very proper British accent. Jude Law too proved to be a worthy sidekick of the sleuth and his gentlemanly fists showed to be no less formidable than the cannon he uses to blow down an entire stone tower.

The two most interesting characters were of course Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's elder brother and Prof. Moriarty, Holmes greatest nemesis and his equal perhaps in everything apart from the chess board. Played by Stephen Fry and Jared Harris respectively, they were a treat to watch. The interactions between Holmes and Moriarty have been brilliantly scripted. The film gave us glimpses of the Sherlock in Conan Doyle's works, who did most of his work in the mind. Not that he isn't as smart in the film, but only if the plot wasn't so grand. James Bond could have also had a go here, saving the entire world from a war of gigantic proportions, unlike the smaller issues which, in the novels, the clients would invariably bring to 221B Baker Street.

The film is not a faithful interpretation of the canon. Neither is it a faithful interpretation of 1900s England. What it is, is a great new avatar of our beloved Holmes who has gone through so much for so many years; surely he can shrug a few special effects off now.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

It has been a winter of discontent as an eventful 2011 ended. faced with bleak business prospects, india inc expects the government to act and act fast.


When Commerce & Industry Minister Anand Sharma went into a high-powered meeting with the joint task force of business leaders and government on industrial slowdown on December 19, 2011, he must have had some inkling of the unpleasantness in store for him. Barely days ago, India Inc. had publicly hit out at the policy paralysis that had visibly derailed the reforms agenda of UPA II. But any ideas that the Minister harboured to pacify the growing discontent in India Inc. were quickly put to rest. Peeved with the stubbornly high inflation, mounting fiscal deficit, the declining rupee, among a host of other negative sentiments, the meeting saw belligerent industry captains turn the heat on the government instead. Strident in their approach, industry representatives on the joint task force viz. JK Paper MD Harsh Pati Singhania, FICCI President Harsh Mariwala, Bharti Group Chairman Sunil Mittal, and HSBC chief Naina Lal Kidwai, urged the government to break the logjam with the opposition and end the policy paralysis in decision making and governance.

Lack of any major reforms since the 2008 global crisis coupled with spiralling inflation, worsening domestic finances and policy impediments in doing business (India ranks 137th out of 183 economies in ‘Ease of Doing Business’ according to World Bank), has not only slowed global investments into India to a crawl, but has also had a huge negative impact on Indian exports. Says Siddhartha Rajagopal, Executive Director of the Cotton Textile Export Promotion Council, “We are growing at 8-10% but lack of demand is a barrier. Besides, higher interests and capital costs are pushing up our manufacturing costs.” Ali Ahmed Khan, Executive Director of the Council for Leather Exports agrees that the order position has reduced drastically and bemoans government inaction and laments that the government has done nothing.

The latest nail in the coffin for the government’s reforms agenda has ostensibly been the retail FDI debacle. The government was forced to eat crow and shelve its decision to allow 51% FDI in multi-brand retail after key allies joined opposition ranks on the issue. But the retail FDI debacle perhaps was only the tipping point that brought the simmering discontent. In October last year, 14 eminent citizens including entrepreneurs like Deepak Parekh, Azim Premji and Adi Godrej issued a note of caution to the government in a joint statement. Their open letter to the Prime Minister drew attention to four failures of the government viz. growing governance deficit, galloping corruption, need to distinguish between dissent and disruption and environmental challenges. Only a few days later, India’s Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai also delivered a stinging indictment stating, “Governance is at its lowest ebb,” adding that decision-making was the biggest casualty. In yet another embarrassment, the government had to revise its earlier projection of 9% growth. Barely three months after the announcement, the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council cut the growth forecast to 8.2%. So much so that Dr Kaushik Basu, the government’s chief economic adviser, even conceded that there was a certain slow-down in bureaucratic decision-making. “Given the corruption scandals and subsequent witch hunt, some decision-makers are going slowly,” he admitted.

Clearly, the industry outlook for the future appears a tad disappointing and discouraging. While a fiscal stimulus would be a far cry, is there a way out of the current economic imbroglio? Dr Arun Singh, Senior Economist, Dun & Bradstreet, India highlights, “At this juncture, a marked improvement in business confidence and upturn in economic activity is heavily contingent on speedy implementation of big-ticket economic reforms,” he avers. Just implementing the long due GST (Goods and Services Tax) regime, with a simplified and long term direct tax code could electrify business prospects, feels D. S. Rawat, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM. “Investors must find a robust bond market and corporate debt market working in India. Early implementation of market driven pricing of oil products to reduce subsidy outgo and conserve oil and gas resources should be undertaken,” he adds.

And if implementing the GST seems like a far cry at present with opposition from BJP ruled states, then Commerce Minister Anand Sharma only has to go back and refer the notes of his December 19 meeting with the joint task force on industrial slowdown. Industry representatives had then suggested that the government identify 50 major (but do-able) projects, give them priority status and send out the right signals to the country and the world. The government may continue to maintain that it’s not about policy-paralysis, but they need to demonstrate their supposed non-inertia through action instead of merely paying lip-service to rev up the growth process.

With inputs from Karan Arora and Mona Mehta

Monday, October 22, 2012

New-age old age

IIPM Review Ranking/Rankings Across India

Save your pity… old age homes are no longer the last refuge of the abandoned old folks. they are the newest hangout joints for the young at heart. TSI socialises with some happy and healthy souls...

New-age old age
Living in a modest home in the heart of the country, this is the story of a couple who was not very affluent to say, but solvent enough to keep themselves and their two sons happy. Striving to keep pace with the world with their busy jobs, the couple spent time doting on their children and dreaming for their future. Like every set of parents, this couple too placed their kids before them, and the children grew up with a lot of love and respect for their folks. Years went by and the two sons married, earned respectable jobs of their own and led comfortable lives. However, fate robbed them of their father and the mother resorted to a routine of alternately staying at her sons’ residences. They of course gave her a comfortable life, and gave her no opportunity for any complaints. And yet, the place where I met her wasn't either of her children’s abodes, but an old age home.

Mrs Murthy wasn't sent there by her sons; she chose it for herself. And surprisingly, she isn't the only odd case. The usual impression of an old age home is that of a refuge for the abandoned where pity pours for the senile disenfranchised, and bewilderment at the heartless ways of what they call blood. Not so here.

I visited one so-called old age home, but far from the gloomy hallways of a cold institution, this one was like one huge bustling joint family. "Coming here was a tough call," said Mrs Murthy, basking in the afternoon sun. "I lost my husband about three years ago and since then I had been dependent on my sons. They and their wives are very kind and gave me all the comfort." Then what made her choose this life away from family? "I found no purpose in my life there. After my husband was gone, I was suddenly left with no one to share my thoughts and feelings with. I wanted to be with people like me, those I would have common things to talk about," she said. Mrs Murthy wasn't the only one sailor in this boat of what she called 'choice living'. Two others I met had jettisoned all comforts and sought out this family for companionship.

While these ladies spoke of their desire to be in a place and with people where their hearts would feel at home, I wondered about the right steps to take for a son or daughter in the wake of a dilemma like this. Psychiatrist Dr Deepa Kaul helped me find an answer. "After a certain age, especially upon retirement from work and children’s marriage, people usually don't find any useful purpose of living. Also boredom sets in when one doesn't have a partner," she explained. Children might provide all the material comfort, but it has been observed that comfort and hours of watching TV doesn't really match up to a social life where mindsets match. In the face of such a request, Dr Kaul’s suggestions for the offspring are, "Don't take offense. Understand and don't force them to live with you due to emotional ties. At that age, it’s more important to help your folks keep frustration at bay."

The atmosphere at this old age home (name withheld on request) made me leave my sympathies at the door. There were also those sent away forcibly, but you couldn’t tell those from the ones there of their own accord. Everyone had smile on their faces. One of the office bearers of the old age home, Mr K Puri said, "It’s usually tough for children to send their parents away from them, and especially when they know that they can take care of the parents. But there's a certain sense of freedom that old citizens feel when here. Even those who had come feeling invalid, involve themselves in little hobbies. Most importantly, staying with people of the same age, talking and sharing experiences about being through similar phases in life, makes life interesting."

In the West, once 18, children are supposed to make independent lives; here, the interdependence – traditional and often voluntary – continues well into the grandparent-age of the parents. Surely a boon in most cases, and yet may be a little selfish to impose our expectations all over again in their twilight years. As long as it ensures health and happiness, let’s be open to it. 



Thursday, October 18, 2012

Real estate edges out industry


One of India’s more prosperous states faces the prospect of turning into an industrial wasteland. The reasons are many

Until the turn of the millennium, Punjab was a highly industrialised state thanks to the many viable commercial ventures that flourished here and provided employment to lakhs of people. However, in the last ten years, the tables have turned and several big industrial houses like Hero, Vardhman, Saluja Steel and ND Garg Group have left Punjab and set up bases in other states.

Aarti Steel has moved to Orissa while the ND Garg Group has made Chhattisgarh its home. Even Avon Cycles is receiving offers from Bihar. Many small industrial units have shifted to nearby Himachal Pradesh. More than 1,500 factories could not start their operations in Punjab as they were not provided with adequate power supply.

RP Singh, general secretary of the Mohali Industrial Association, tells TSI: “The economic health of the state is under threat. A host of industries are moving to other states that are offering incentives. In Punjab, factories are getting neither electricity nor water supply.”

Singh, who owns a paper molding mill, adds: “The roads in industrial areas aren’t good enough. To make matters worse, more and more taxes are being levied. The apathy of the government towards industry has forced 90 percent of the units in Punjab to shift to the nearby Himachal town of Baddi.”

Singh asserts that the industrial environment in other states is infinitely better. “States like Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan go out of their way to offer land to industrialists. In Punjab, it is almost impossible to acquire even a small piece of land from the government. In the other states, industry is given tax rebates. If Punjab continues with its current policies for five to ten more years, industry would be a thing of the past here,” he adds.

The Punjab government, which blames the Centre for every shortcoming, has been repeatedly saying that Delhi is not giving any industrial package to the state. In contrast, industry is flourishing in some states even though they have not been given any industrial package from the Centre.

In the last eight years, more than 50 big and small companies have shifted their new units to other states. Big companies have invested more than Rs 50,000 crore in other states in the process. Saluja Group has shifted a unit worth Rs 2000 crore to Madhya Pradesh while Vardhman has also moved to the same state. The Trident Group, too, has shifted many units to other states.

Badish Kumar Jindal, president of the Federation of Punjab Small Scale Industries Association, explains why industry is in a shambles in the state. “We use generators when power supply is frequently off. This costs us 12 to 14 rupees more per unit. If we purchase power from outside, it affects the manufacturing costs.”

As roads are in rather bad shape in parts of the state, industrialists are compelled to spend more on the transportation of goods to and from their factories. “In most places, we have to do without a proper sewage system or drainage mechanism,” says Jindal.

The mounting tax burden is one of the main reasons for Punjab's dwindling industrial stocks. Manufacturing costs in Punjab are 20 to 30 percent more than in the neighbouring states of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand. In Punjab, central excise is 10.24 percent, while Himachal and Jammu levy no excise duty.

Punjab-based industry has to pay 2 percent central sales tax while there is no such tax in Himachal and Jammu. Moreover, income tax is imposed in Punjab while industry in other states has to pay nominal income tax.

Chandershekhar, vice president, Punjab unit of CITU, says, “The policies of the state government have all but destroyed industry. Other states are offering cheaper power, state-of-the-art infrastructure and a host of rebates.

Why wouldn’t industrial units shift to these states?”

The CITU leader also alleges that ministers in Punjab are hand in gloves with real estate developers. The latter acquire land for commercial purposes and then use the plots to build residential colonies. “There is probably no minister here who does not have links with estate developers,” Chandershekhar adds.

About the labour crunch facing industry, he says wages are very low in the state. ”There is no labour crunch in Delhi and Ghaziabad. Workers are paid Rs 6,000 a month. In Punjab, the monthly wages are only Rs 4000. The state government has not increased the minimum wages for five years,” he says.

Vinod Thapar, president, Knitwear Club Ludhiana, says, “The textile industry has seen no growth for the last ten years. In Tripura, the annual exports are valued at Rs 18,000 crore while in Ludhiana, which has 14,000 textile units, the figure is merely Rs 9000 crore. Moreover, no special facilities are provided to us by the government. In such a scenario, industrial units are bound to move out to more industry-friendly states.” Veteran journalist ON Garg says, “The failure of the government lies in the fact that it could not create an industry-friendly environment. There is insecurity in the minds of investors. Both NRIs and big entrepreneurs fear investing in the state. Another reason is that the state has failed to provide required power supply to industrial units.” As industry flounders in the face of declining investment, the state government merrily spends public money to woo voters by organizing events like the Kabaddi World Cup and hosting glitzy Bollywood shows. How lopsided can a state’s priorities get?

 

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

The Baptism of an "Almost Christian"

IIPM Review Ranking/Rankings Across India


By awarding a narrow win at Iowa to Mitt Romney, the conservative base has given a clear signal that they'll rather have a Mormon in White House than a "Leftist”

It is singularly impossible to explain to non-Americans who exactly Mormons are and what are their beliefs. I mean it is difficult for an audience who generally tends to identify Christians as Catholics or Protestants to comprehend what kind of religious-socio dogma Mormonism is. And that is precisely why it is difficult for them to understand why even a near-tie achieved at the Iowa Caucus by Mitt Romney is no less than a triumph.

In short, Mormons are basically Wahhabis in tuxedos with equally bizarre sets of rules and regulations, many of which are anathema for regular Evangelical Christians. Although they have reformed under pressure both from inside and outside, the Evangelicals, at the most, regard them as “almost there” Christians and not the true-blood kind. And US watchers will tell you that it is a big consideration when voters get out of their homes in the Midwest to vote. And that is why with a tie at Iowa, Mitt Romney has given a clear signal that he is here to stay.

Returns from nearly all of the 1774 precincts showed both Romney and his closest rival Rick Santorum with 25 per cent votes whereas moderate Republican Ron Paul polled a solid 22 per cent, which was good but not good enough. A state that polled a hundred thousand-plus votes, the difference between Romney and Santorum was merely eight votes. It was a dead heat in the truest sense of the word.

Among the other candidates, Newt Gingrich polled a paltry 13 per cent, followed by Rick Perry, 10 per cent, and Bachmann with 5 per cent. It has also been made clear by the officials that they will not go for recount even if the difference is of a single vote. Although the result appears inconclusive prima facie, it has offered some interesting answers.

Let's start with Ron Paul. Any casual listener who has heard Ron Paul speak might mistake him for a Left-wing Democrat on a delightful sunny morning.

His opinions on a range of issues such as war in Afghanistan, a possible war in Iran and a host of others would be music to the ears of liberals. That they will appear as musical to conservative ears to fetch him a respectable 22 per cent in Iowa has surprised even the pundits.

Matt Stoller, a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute and a Republican watcher, tells TSI, “The most puzzling character in Congress, ideologically considering, is Ron Paul. The fellow is a Republican for all technical purposes, who is also an unswerving opposer of American empire and big finance. His concepts on the Federal Reserve, earlier fluid, has grounded itself recently, and he has taken potent runs at President Obama on what appears an obscure theme of monetary policy. Paul never goes by the rules of engagement and that is why while old pamphlets bearing his name showcase apparent white supremacy, he is probably also the lone outstanding politician, let alone Presidential candidate, who agrees openly that the drug war in the US has racist origins. That this fellow has bagged so much among the ultra-conservatives is evident that people here are really fed up with old politicking.” Now that surely is a compliment coming from a liberal. And Ron Paul seems to deserve this. How much will he sustain in the long run is not very clear but he definitely has managed to pull out his libertarian message from the fringes and put it in the mainstream.

On the other hand, what Rick Santorum has managed from Iowa is also nothing short of an achievement considering he is considered by the Republican rank and file as an “upstart” who even lost the Senate run 6 years ago. Also, Santorum's purse is hopelessly lighter than both Paul and Romney when it comes to that and that is why his campaign in Iowa was a curious (and definitely intelligent) mix of some crisp speeches, ground strategies and less goodies. But having said that, one must not discount the fact that he would have never been the first choice of Evangelicals had he been fighting against anyone but a Mormon Mitt Romney. It won't be an exaggeration to say that many of those who voted for him don't actually like him. But they hate Romney more. However, it will be difficult for him to repeat the performance in upcoming caucuses and primaries specially those in North Carolina and New Hampshire, which are up next, in the absence of funds and volunteers.

That leaves us with Newt Gingrich. Gingrich is everything that Ron Paul is not. Gingrich is from the creed that still believes that Republicans are stuck in the Reagan-Bush era and need more than occasional pep talks. On his sober days, Gingrich appears to be on a mix of Ecstasy and Acid. Under the hangover of hubris, he gives a few social anthropology lessons to Americans on races and people who have been “invented” and who haven't. But that was before a sustained campaign by a few lobby groups pulled the carpet from beneath his feet. Talking to TSI, Joel S. Hirschhorn, a political scientist and sociologist based at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, says, “His [Newt Gingrich] candidacy offers an important chance for a new, bigger form of failure that could elucidate to most Americans just how damaged the electoral system is. Counter intuitively, a President Gingrich could help resuscitate American democracy. He is the failure we have been waiting for, just the right old, fat, loud mouth, hypocritical white guy. I mean how low can you go.” Ouch. That would have hurt.

His below average performance in Iowa has virtually hammered the death-nail in his campaign for all practical purposes. Technically speaking, he can still revive his campaign but that will need either a colossal blunder or a damaging skeleton-in-the-cupboard on Romney's or Santorum's part to do that.

Perry and Bachmann at the most can be called “also rans”. And that pretty much leaves us with the dapper Willard Mitt Romney.

“All three of us will be campaigning very hard... This is a campaign night where America wins. [Obama is] a president who is a nice guy but who may be in over his head. ...This has been a failed presidency. ...I think he gets his inspiration from the social welfare states of Europe,” Romney said after his win.

His winning speech gives a clear idea how his campaign has shaped in all these weeks. To start with, he has focused more on the failures of Obama in his speeches than on the possible inability of his fellow Republican aspirants to challenge him. And that has struck a chord with the voters. Such has been the fear-mongering about a possible shift to Leftist policies that even Iowans finally decided that they will have an 'almost' Christian in the White House than a “Leftist”.

But that's purely the thinking of the conservative base. Polls suggest that the majority of Americans still believe that President Obama is not the cause of economic uncertainty. He has just inherited it from the Bush administration. Unless the Euro-zone crisis goes spiral and its effect is seen on the US economy, things will only improve for President Obama in the run-up to Election Day. Also, lately, Obama has been very categorical and clear in his criticism of Republicans in the Congress. More and more voters have begun to shift the blame from Obama's administration to the acts of GOP Congressmen. Under the circumstances, Romney's bellicosity vis-a-vis Iran will only evoke the dreaded gung-ho, trigger happy Bush era. And that will push more and more indecisive voters towards Obama.

A ridiculously few of these voters would ever be expected to root for a Republican. Having said that, a president who managed to win the election with merely 53 per cent of the popular votes does not have a comfortable enough margin to simply sit back and do nothing. Among other things, Obama also needs to seriously do something to uplift the ever sinking morale of his one-time ardent supporters. And that won't be easy at all.

It is in through these breaches that Romney has seen his realistic chance to topple him. But he needs to buck up. Iowa results have in fact again raised questions on Romney's ability to build support beyond the 25 per cent level that he seems to have held for quite sometime now. And this when Republican and Democrat experts both agree that he will be the only formidable challenge to Obama who will have a realistic chance to unseat him.

And if you look at it through that prism, the actual winner who has come out of the Iowa caucus is none other than President Obama. He'll have another month or two to set his house in order as the Republicans will slug it out in state after state. A definite result at Iowa wouldn't have necessitated it.


Sunday, October 14, 2012

21.12.2012: Apocalypse Now?

IIPM Review MBA 2012


Is this the end or a new beginning? Making sense of all the wild doomsday prophecies that are swirling around us. A TSI Exclusive

Is doomsday knocking on our doors? Well, it depends on how sturdy our doors are. Many centuries ago, a Mayan calendar ‘predicted’ the end of the world in 2012. For those with a rational bent of mind, this would be a whole load of hoary gobbledygook. But there might be large swathes of people out there who believe that before this year ends, the world that we know will be gone.

Though there is no credible evidence to support this long-standing prognostication, a fascination with apocalyptic horror tales is ingrained deep down in the collective human consciousness. And we aren’t just talking climate change, runaway pollution, depletion of natural resources and a nuclear holocaust, which are real threats to the well-being of the universe.

There is something beyond these explainable phenomena that troubles our thoughts. Just the other night, many village folk in parts of north India stayed up till sunrise because they feared they would turn into stone if they went to sleep. Yes, that is how ridiculous it can get in a country where Faith is almost always an eyeless, if not feckless, entity. History is replete with stories of mass destruction and natural calamities, and mythology from around the world abounds in tales of devastating celestial events.

Over the centuries, prophets and sages have narrated chilling tales of an unseen power that could one day, in the wink of an eye, strike everything out of existence. Just like that, in a jiffy. Imagine fire and brimstone raining from the sky and reducing the world to cinders or flash floods flattening the Earth we inhabit into a mangled, unrecognisable splotch. Such imagined cataclysms make for great stories.

But that apart, the concept of the “End” – in other words, Judgment Day – is an integral part of the world’s great religions. Some have prophesied a complete annihilation of the world with no trace of life surviving in its aftermath, while others have ordained that the end of one age will be followed by the beginning of another.

Some give us hope by predicting the resurrection of Messiahs, while others deprive us of little mercies by providing the gory blow-by-blow details of the hours of destruction. Doomsday of some kind or the other is a distinct concept in every religion, be it Christianity, Islam or Hinduism, which explains why it has such instant acceptability. The calendar of the ancient Mayan civilization, which originated in 2600 BC in Yucatan and reached its zenith around 250 AD in what is today Mexico, Guatemala, western Honduras, El Salvador and northern Belize, comes to an abrupt, unexplained halt on December 21, 2012. And that date is perceived by fear-mongers as a sign that thereafter there will be nothing left of the world that we live in.

Take that with a fistful of salt. “Doomsday is a typical Western concept,” says tarot card reader Sonal Varma. “The Earth is said to have a life span of four billion years. Humanity will not be wiped out in a day. The depletion of the Earth’s resources is only a gradual process. And it is a process that could well be reversed.”

Astrologer Pawan Sinha explains that some of the Mayan calendar predictions – for example, the New Orleans deluge and the Indian Ocean tsunami – have come true. “So some people tend to believe that its doomsday inference might not be off the mark either,” he adds. He points out that once every 89 years, the Sun undergoes a change, which affects human beings and flora and fauna. “The year 2012 marks the beginning of the next cycle of 89 years,” he says. “So we might see some changes, but they will happen gradually. After all, doomsday doesn’t come in a day.”

According to Hindu beliefs, time revolves in "yugas" or ages. The universe was created in the "Satya yuga" and its destruction will be brought about by Lord Shiva at the end of the "Kali yuga" and after Kalki, the tenth "avtaar" or incarnation of Lord Vishnu, has appeared to cleanse mankind of its sins.

In Islam, the Day of Judgment or "Yawm ad-Din", meaning the day when the Almighty will assess all human beings, is a crucial concept.

According to documented texts, the Day of Judgment is preceded by the end of the world which would not come until the appearance of some distinct signs, including smoke, Dajjal or anti-Christ, the rising of the sun in the west, the emergence of Gog and Magog, and three huge earthquakes. However, according to Islamic belief, there is no definite timeline for the destruction to take place; only Allah knows when that would happen.

In Christianity, the second coming of Jesus Christ is the chief phenomenon. According to the Book of Revelation, death and suffering will continue to exist until Christ has returned. Most scholars of Christianity see Revelation in reference to events which have not come to pass as yet, but which will come to pass at the end of the age, and the end of the world. Chennai-based astro-occult scientist Vikravandi V Ravichandran has a question: “The Mayan civilization itself exists no more. Did they ever predict their own extinction? If they knew when the world would end, wouldn’t they have also known about the demise of their own civilisation?”

Ravichandran also cites previous doomsday predictions, including the one made by Nostradamus in the 16th century, which turned out to be hoaxes.

“(American psychic) Jeron Criswell (he died in 1982) had predicted that the world would end in 1999 as a result of a disturbance in the Earth’s magnetic field. It never came to pass. In the 18th century, a British nun had predicted that earthquakes and wars would be apocalyptic and the world would be destroyed by 2000 AD,” he says.

The world does face many threats to its continued existence, but doomsday, as Sri Sri Ravi Shankar stresses (see interview), happens only in Hollywood blockbusters.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Ten things to die for...

IIPM Review MBA 2012


Hum intezar karenge tera qayamat tak Khuda kare ki qayamat ho aur tu aaye (I will wait for you till doomsday comes, May God wish for doomsday and hasten your arrival)

Urdu poet and lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri must have longed for doomsday for sure. But who knows if his beloved ever arrived! If doomsday did come, would the poet have lived to see another day?

Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, too, probably had a foreboding. Why else would she have got a time capsule buried in Red Fort in Delhi on August 15, 1973. The 'history' contained in that pot became the talk of the town.

It is 2012 and everyone is talking about doomsday all over again. What if the world does indeed come to an end this year? What would we, as a nation, want to pass on for posterity – if there is one – to remember us by?

Anand Prakash and Sanjay Srivastava draw up a bucket list of ten things/concepts/symbols that define the India of 2012, things that would necessarily make the cut if another time-capsule were to be lowered into the bowels of the earth.

Lathi
For the rest of the world, the pen might be mightier than the sword. But in the Indian context, nothing can be stronger than the lathi. Via Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the wooden staff became a totem of our freedom struggle. From political firebrands battling for a cause to men in uniform staving off trouble to schoolmasters waving a firm hand at students, they have all wielded the lathi to great effect.

Jalebi
The juicy, crispy, yummy sweetmeat with many a delightful twist is an integral part of Indian street food. It not only satiates our collective proverbial sweet tooth, it serves as a great leveller in a mind-bogglingly diverse country, binding the rich and the poor, the south and the north, and the high and the low. Jai ho, jalebi!

Cuss words
Want to get something done in a rush? Hurl a choice gaali and see the kamaal unfold! In a land blessed with a multiplicity of languages and dialects, these colourful expletives that are used to soften up friends and enemies, and everyone else in between, emit just the right sound waves to dispel all prospective opposition. No blow is too low when a swear word is unleashed with intent and no effect that it has is too surprising! We are like this only.

Roti
The spherical, handmade wheat-bread makes the world go round in this part of the globe. In India, when we pray for our daily bread, it is roti that we always mean. The nation has its share of rice eaters no doubt, but can the roti ever be dislodged from our dietary spread, no matter which part of the country we live in? Roti-boti, rozi-roti and aatey-dal ka bhaav are inseparable from our upcountry patois. The parantha is, clearly, a neglected and limited species.

Uparwala
We probably hate the idea, but we are undeniably a land of snake charmers. India is home to a million superstitions and rituals. Every joy has a divine reason. And every woe is caused by God's wrath. Births, deaths, floods, droughts, lightning, thunder, happiness, sorrow, madness, delirium – everything is blamed on uparwale ki marzi (God's will). Thousands may die of snake bites every year in this country, but millions turn out every Nag Panchami day to celebrate the power of the serpents. Faith always wins even if life doesn't.

Song and dance
If literature is society’s mirror, cinema is its lens. But what this lens usually captures is a larger-than-life reality that demands a complete suspension of disbelief. Indian popular cinema peddles dreams and sugar-coated lies, but we love to lap it all up. Fashion, passion and tashan are the three pillars on which these yarns stand and whirl: India wouldn't be half as interesting a place without its 24-frames-a-second song and dance extravaganzas.

Paan
This is probably the only widely consumed edible item in the country – and the world – that is meant for nothing else but spitting out. The betel leaf juice is believed to activate the digestive system after a hearty meal, but this activity has defaced the innards of many of our monuments and other public edifices? But do we ever see red? A vital part of India's mass culture, we live with it in absolute harmony.

Joint family
The storyteller grandparents have become stories themselves. The joint family was supposed to be a specialty of this country. Grandparents, parents and children used to live under one roof. The oldest member used to be the head of the family. Call it the need of the hour or a modern-day compulsion, one can't live in a joint family today even if one wants to. Joint families are a thing of the past. Bring on the time capsule!

Kamasutra
The timeless text that turned carnality into an art is India's cultural meal ticket in the West. Nothing sells like sex. In a country where moral policemen frequently dismiss any overt display of sexuality as a Western aberration, the Kamasutra, a celebration of sexual adventurism, remains the essential riposte to all the killjoys who want to reduce India to a sexless land where you would do 'it' only to procreate and nothing else. Thank God for Vatsyayan!

Neta
Our political leaders are a breed so apart that they could put Marie Antoinette to shame. They are the butt of constant mass ridicule but they continue regardless, powered by the ballot. More than 60 years after Independence, their greed and incompetence have ensured that India languishes at the bottom of the human development index. Time was when the neta would hide under a Gandhi topi. Today, he has discarded all vestiges of purity. So, why would we want anybody to remember them? Simple. So that history isn't repeated!