Gandhi is not dead...

For some of us, who do not know the background ...

- March 2009 - Aman Kachroo, a first year medical student from Himachal Pradesh, was subjected to brutal ragging session, and lost his life.

- November 11, 2010 - the court gave a sentence of 4-years imprisonment to the 4 seniors who were involved in the ragging.

- November 11, 2010 9PM - Dr. Rajendra Kachroo, father of Aman Kachroo, was interviewed on NDTV about the court’s judgment.

I have been following Dr. Rajendra Kachroo's response (deliberate choice over ‘reaction’) to the tragic, horrific incident of Aman’s death. Losing a son to an incident like this will make most of us lose 'santulan'. But Dr. Kachroo is not most of us. Satya, a dear friend, often uses a phrase called 'functional deployment of anger'. Dr. Kachroo is a role model for this phrase.

In his 'response' and in his 'functional deployment of anger', he has focused all his energies on eradicating the evil of ragging, rather than focusing on the 'punishment' meted out to the 4 perpetrators of the crime. I want to clarify something here. Anyone who has suffered a loss like this has all the 'right’ to go after the perpetrators legally, and I am not belittling their cause; I respect it. It is just how Dr. Kachroo is different that is amazing me.

In the interview (on NDTV), although he felt that punishment for one individual among the four could have been sterner, but he was careful by reiterating many times that he does not want to deflect the debate away from ‘eradication of ragging’. He welcomed the judgment as one step toward the purpose.

What struck me the most was he was less angry about the not-so-severe punishment, but deeply pained and angry about the actions (rather inaction) of bureaucracy. The Supreme Court had asked authorities to create a 'All India crisis hotline and call center' for students affected by ragging. Dr. Kachroo said he was shocked and horrified to note the manner in which the 'hotline and crisis calls' were being handled. Apparently authorities wrote an ordinary post letter to Principal of the college whose student had called the hotline, that too after several months! Outrageous! Can you believe this… a letter by ordinary post in response to a ‘hotline and crisis call'! No wonder Dr. Raj Kachroo was pained and anguished at the pathetic quality of implementation.

As I watched the interview, I was pulled between two extreme emotions, one that of 'utter respect' for Dr. Kachroo’s response, and the other of 'anger and pain' about the authorities’ apathy. I could not deal with these extremes. For the moment, I decided to focus on the emotion of utter respect.

Showing anger to the callous attitude of authorities, and exercising restraint about his personal loss and deploying his anger for a better cause, I saw a Gandhi in him, maybe even greater than the great man (though MKG evokes different political opinions, but he has impacted me big time)

I was moved, touched, pained and humbled. I salute you Dr. Raj Kachroo.

I wish someone made a documentary on your struggle; I wish you were all over in the media; I wish you got as much national mindshare as some of the 'celebrities' do. (Incidentally, when you google for Rajendra Kachroo, you get 31,000 pages as against SRK - 8,440,000, Salman - 5,150,000, Abhishek - 2,990,000, Rakhi Sawant - 4,840,000).

I wish you are heard even more than before, louder than anyone, as there is a great strength in your purpose… he is fighting not for his dead son, but for all the living sons and daughters of India. What I am asking for might be a tad childlike, but I am angry... I am no Dr. Raj Kachroo.

I salute you sir, and wish you and Aman’s mother all the might in your fight.

Sorry Aman, you were subjected to a brutal death. You were denied to live, and you were denied to live with a great man like Dr. Raj Kachroo.

PS - My two cents to the cause…

1. My work takes me to many colleges and many people. I will do my bit in spreading your message sir to whomsoever I can.

2. Sometimes I do participate in discussions with friends when we recall college days and chapters of ragging in a lighter vein. Even though it was harmless in college, but an impressionable listener would take what he/she wants to. I shall refrain from this 100%.

This is my way to deal with the other extreme emotion of 'anger and pain'...trying to functionally deploy the same.

Kya Sachin khel raha hai?

The news ticker was running.
It was displaying the current score of the India Vs Aus match.
The score in the ticker read, 143 for 3
When i read the ticker, i was talking to myself - kya sachin khel raha hoga?
My papa-in-law walked in. (In his early 70's, Cricket is one his passions).
I heard his voice and i turned towards him.
He asked me kya Sachin khel raha hai?
His face was filled with anxiety.
More anxious than when he sent his daughter to live with me..
kya Sachin khel raha hai?
This is one question which all of us would have asked many times...
kya Sachin khel raha hai?
A question that is filled with suspense, anxiety, excitement....
kya Sachin khel raha hai?
whose answer relaxes all our blood pressure, heart rate..
kya Sachin khel raha hai?
whose answer makes our day, mars our day..
kya Sachin khel raha hai?
whose answer makes us drink either in happiness or in sadness..
kya Sachin khel raha hai?
A question that has occupied our air waves for 2 decades..
kya Sachin khel raha hai.
God bless you Sachin.

O..Sainath...Jai Sainath.. A hope

I was surfing channels today..Shahenshah, mhmh; Ghaatak, may be not now; Promo for London Dreams, indifferent; India Vs Aus, who wants to see; NDTV Profit, skip; NDTV, CNNIBN...wait, wait, did i see P Sainath in NDTV Profit? Go back, go back, it is indeed P. Sainath. Oof..a rare media interview, used my rare veto in the room (there were 2 other people) and decided to stay at the channel for 20 minutes... It was difficult to believe that the journalist who was interviewing him, or for that matter most journalists, belong to the same tribe as his.(Not everyone who pads up is Sachin ;-) ) What followed was research, analysis, data-driven approach, deep insights, utter humility (not the Amitabh Bachchan kind) and utter dedication. A hero.. What stood out was his data-driven approach..check this out.

Q. Why are you focussing only in the 5 states? (TN, AP, Kar, Mah, Orissa)
Sainath - Since 1997, there have been 180,000 farmer suicides in India. @ 1 every 30 minutes. 2/3rds of these deaths have been from these 5 states. Infact these states have only about 1/3rd of Indian population. That makes these states, as 'high-density' states. Hence my focus
journalist's (who was interviewing him) eyes fell out.. I was bowled.

Q. What are you disappointed with, in the Indian Media?
Sainath - In 199x (i dont remember), I was at Vidarbha, which had about 7,500 farmer suicides. It was a calamity. Including me there were 6 acrredited journalists. Just an hour of flight away, there were 512 accredited journalists who were covering Lakme Fashion Week. Those ramp models were wearing the very cotton these farmers were making. In most mainstream TV channels there is no 'Agriculture correspondent' or a 'Labour correspondent'. That is shutting 70% of India out. That is why I am disappointed.
Indian media is a child of our freedom struggle, Now the Indian media is under the stranglehold of corporate and therefore shaping its content.

Q. Do you think all our policy makers are not concerned?
Sainath - No, I will not say 'all'. Some are concerned. 80 million people have left farming in the last decade. There is no data or report anywhere on this crisis.

Q. Do you enjoy the rural side?
Sainath - There is a place called 'xxxx' in Orissa. When you drive from there to another place called 'yyyy' and then reach 'zzzz', it is about a 3-4 hour drive. You will encounter 30 languages. I like that diversity... (Sorry i dont remember the names). And then he goes on to say...
- India is a huge paradox. We are in the top 5 in the numer of billionaires, and we are also in the top in poverty.
- We have one of the biggest 'medical tourism' industry, yet 200 million people do not have access to, or visit any hospital.
- States have withdrawn from framing. There has been a negative investment of Rs. 30,000 crore in the last decade. 1000's of banks have pulled out. The western countries, enjoy farm subsidies and dump their produce. Farm input costs have risen dramatically in the past decade. All of these have resulted in people leaving farming..

What data!

Some of his other bytes were
- There is a huge inequality that is building up. This cannot and will not sustain.
- We may as well use airforce and bomb some of these places.

When I heard the last piece, I woke up one more time. The India that we will be leaving behind for children, should not be this. We must fix this problem in our times... Do I have a solution? Yes. I think, I know the first step. May sound simplistic, but I know of no other way..for sheer lack fof knowledge.

Though populist, Nandan looking after the NUID project is a welcome step from this Govt for bringing in 'non-political' talent to manage the country's affairs.
Why not make P. Sainath, a key figure in the Agriculture Ministry, why not use his knowledge in understanding the crisis. 270 days a year and 20 years in rural India.. I am sure he knows the problem 100% and may have some ideas on solving too.

Will this govt do this.. If they don't, Nandan's NUID project will not have many people left in rural India to issue ID cards to...

Man with a Crore

The First Dot.
I recently saw trailer of a Hindi movie, whose name I cannot recall now. In that movie, the protagonist asks his friend what he would do if he had a crore of rupees. His friend says he would give away a significant portion of it, as he doesn't need so much. For this, the protagonist says, 'you will not be the same person anymore then, how can you be so sure?'...Basically, here was a man without a crore of rupees talking about himself with a crore of rupees at a future date, who will think, feel, breathe differently. As per the protagonist, he will be another man altogether! That makes some sense.

The Second Dot
In our organization, we are currently making a business plan for the next 3 years. We have been doing this exercise for about 15 days now. For Time = Aug-09, we are doing planning for next 2-3 years. The first two years are crystal clear to us. The third year is kind of hazy. The process has been great, even though we had our share of heart burns, but the process was a very learning one. For me, this has been an 'inside-out' process. Inspite of the strategies being in place, the technology in place, solutions in place, people are ready and eager, Because I was in touch with myself, I deeply felt something was amiss

Connecting the dots.
What was missing? I got the answer from this Hindi movie trailor. Expectedly, when we travel from Aug-09 to Aug-10, our efforts for getting there would have changed us. On top of it, reaching the goal (a lofty one) would likely have made us different people. Much like the protagonist's friend with a crore of rupees in hand...basically, here we were, three co-founders of the company, planning for future, who themselves will be different people a year hence and we are making choices for that man with a crore...

All our models of business planning, intellectually engage the future. I think it is important to travel emotionally down the path and ask us how the man with a crore would feel, and what choices he will make then. Is it possible? May be not all the times. May be that is why many of the future plans do not remain relevant, when we actually get there.

Can a heightened 'self-awareness', (which is atbest a database of our past and present) help us take this journey? Presently, i dont think so. But i know of no other way. Do you?

Hens and Artists

It is scary to think about the amount of time in our lives that we, as individuals, family, society, and country, spend on art. Commercial programs on TV and most movies are not 'art' forms, you'd agree. Who is to be blamed for this total cut-off from art in our lives? In my mind the artists form a fair share of the problem.

Once upon a time, hens laid eggs in their cycle. Man waited for this cycle to get eggs. Then came a time when man could not wait. He beat the hen's cycle, injected hormones into it, and created broiler eggs. There is a similarity between hens and artists. Once upon a time, when a life-changing experience or a learning or an inspiration touched the artist, he 'laid an egg', a work of art. This work of art captured for time immemorial the artist's life experience. But, much like the hen, man could not wait for the 'egg'. The artist, instead of pursuing an inside-out journey, started taking hormonal shots of 'commercial pressures' and created many eggs out of the natural cycle.

I once had the rare opportunity of spending time with one of the greatest actors in India. He said, in the 80s we had to act whether or not we liked the story, because 'our meters had to run'. A classic case of broilerisation of artists. The broiler eggs tasted just like the natural eggs, but were far behind in nutrition. Similarly these works of art had the taste, i.e., the entertainment value, but lacked purpose.

Art for the sake of entertainment alone is not art, much like food for taste alone is not 'food'. Taste along with nutrition is the mandate of food. Entertainment with a purpose is the mandate of art. When art strives for entertainment alone, it brings along a set of audience which was never her's in the first place. Whereas an art with a purpose can bring in a robust and deep following.

I think the role of artists in shaping what we do is more relevant in today's times than ever
before. With financial structures crumbling around us, global warming threatening us, and the rage of violence all around us, it is only art that can act as a coolant. Though not researched, I see a direct correlation between art and love, art and compassion, art and education in life. I also see a indirect correlation between art and violence, art and greed, art and absence of introspection.

Can artists create the real eggs than broiler eggs? If that happens, it can, to a great extent, increase our timeshare in art. It can bring art back in our lives.

Can art not be made central to education as a process? If a child can spend 2500 hours at school reading Science or Maths, should the child not be attending 500 hours of arts in early childhood (I'm not saying art in place of science, it's art AND science)

We need art as integral part of early education, not to create artists, but to foster artistic
motives in whatever we do later in life. At the end of the day each system, each structure, each design ends up fostering motives. Should we not give art a chance to do its bit?

It would have been fascinating to know how Bharatiar or Tagore or Shakespeare would have looked at our current world. A Gurudutt or an N S Krishnan - what would have been their take on our world? John Lennon, Theyagaraya, S D Burman - what would have been their impacts today. May be, not knowing answers to these questions is our problem, and knowing these answers are our solutions.

We need a different level of thinking and behaviour to change the world we live in. ART can deliver it, give ART a chance!

John Lennon once famously sang "All we are saying, is give peace a chance". If he was around now, he may have sung "All we are saying, is give ART a chance".

Everyone of us, no matter what professions we are in or what roles we play at home, we can give ART a chance before it is too late. We can attempt to pass on a society enriched with ART. I plan to...

All we are saying, is give ART a chance.

Picture is 1000 words...Senior Bachchan where is the sanskruti

Sometimes, there is no need to write...

RIP - Announcing the sad demise of "Moderation"

I once wrote for a magazine on reservation. As it appeared in print, i noticed that the editor had done a marvellous job of making the very article written by me, look completely alien to me...When i asked for the reason, i was told, my article had a moderate view and did not align with one point of view.... which is "pro" reservation or "anti" reservation....

I am constantly bombarded by bytes all around to ALIGN to one point of view...If we see strengths and holes in both points of view, you simply dont have a place...You have to necessarly choose one point over other...Many a times, these points of view are not where we reside in..we possibly reside somewhere in between...even our human body understand this well.....'female' hormones can be found in a super stud like Rambo or Arnold or 'male' hormomes can be found flowing through in a Katrina...But in our thought worlds this cannot happen...

In today's polity, there is space only if you agree to 'appease' or you 'alienate' a minority ..in economics you are "pro-reforms' or you are 'anti-reforms"...There is no middle ground...This is not new. I understand this has been around for ages. Growing up, we were consumed with "gavaskar Vs vishwanath' or '"gavaskar Vs kapil' or 'north vs south'.....it was different then..but not like now...recently, this has got shriller... the culprit or the catalyst is the ever growing 'media'... the 'divisive' politicians..and very sadly some followers of leaders

In this world of 'instant-generalizations" media , there is no place for moderation... It gets killed every single day in television studios..

Either you are in or out...there is no in-between...

Please note - You have only two choices to make, either completely agree with me or completely disagree with me...there can be no moderation