India's "Beta-cracy"

Just yesterday I was watching Karan Johar's latest movie Student of the Year starring the Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan the kids of Mahesh Bhatt and David Dhawan respectively. In this movie, there was another character who had a decent role, a chubby bespectacled kid Parsi boy who had pretty strong lines and scenes considering the usual scope of a supporting role like that of the hero's friend.  I felt happy at-least Kjo had a heart to give lines to a non-star kid. 

Turns out that Parsi kid is Kayoze Irani, the son of Boman Irani another star son launch. DAMN. 

It is not just Kjo giving an easy platform to the star kids, there are plenty of examples of Kapoors, Deols and  even Bhagnanis where it just matters what your surname is. Very few outsiders can even hope to break in the clique and even if they do they did need to work twice as hard to maintain their position.

Even looking beyond Bollywood, look in the corporate industry or politics, you will see several examples of seats been kept warm for the scions. Even in media you have several star sons and daughters, Barkha Dutt is the daughter of leading journalist Prabha Dutt. Rajdeep Sardesai is the son of cricketer of Dileep Sardesai. Sagarika Ghosh is the wife of Rajdeep. Prannoy Roy is the brother in law of Prakat Karat.  

There is not one field in India which are not run by select group of well-connected families. I remember reading in an article few years back, the Pakistan legislature is controlled by 200+ families, I suspect the Indian Parliament must also show similar trends.

The reverse question which people will raise is, if begin a star son a disqualification and speak about the services rendered by the previous generation and qualifications they have acquired. Whilst this is true, the fact is this, it is only a reflection of a feudal mindset where the masses give control of their lives to benevolent landowners or Kings.

Thats why even though I do not really endorse all the following people, I really appreciate the rise of Mamata Banerjee, Narendra Modi, Kejriwal, NRN, Arnab Goswami, John Abraham. India definitely needs change in all fields be it politics, business world, civil service, news media and entertainment.  There needs to be a clear break from the "Beta-cracy" which is plaguing our nation.

The question is will this makes a big difference, will the new blood which will replace the old guard make a difference or will it remain the same. 

The same fiery Bal Thackeray and Karunidhi who drove the Congress dynasty to the ground in the 60-70s are battling with a large dynasty of their own. The vicious circle of nepotism rears its ugly head. The un-holy nexus between politics, business and government is what leading the country to the un-heard of levels of corruptions. 

As the Joker says in The Dark Knight - " The city deserves a better class of criminals" 

Gangnam Style, Kolaveri and Innocence

If you have an existence on social networking sites, you could not have missed a portly Korean man prancing around in extraordinary goofy style which is now "Gangnam Style" the most viewed and liked video in the history of Youtube.  

Some time back, another video sung quiet off-key by Southern Actor Dhanush "Kolaveri Di" was  the talk of town, this very ordinary piece of singing reaching a far greater reach than imagined.  Clearly in this era of the highly networked world, an Internet connection and social media channels like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube, ideas both good, bad, ugly and funny can resonate across the world. 

Takes me back to the song Friday by Rebecca Black which was derided by people all over the world, imagine the kind of rejection the poor girl would have faced.  Still the criticism stayed virtual or the trolls who hound celebs, journalists with vulgar and crude language. 


Sadly another video found a much larger audience than it should have, "The innocence of Muslims" a disparaging video made by mischievous elements with extremely poor production values and the voices overdubbed so even the actors were taken for a ride. 

Such an ugly video, found credence and has been circulated by the same social media channels which promote so much of mirth to become a weapon of hate, leading to deaths and damage to people and property. A mob killing an envoy, bomb killing Russians and South Africans in Afghanistan and attacks on Norwegian embassies and protests worldwide.

The Innocence of Muslims is not the only ugly video on the Internet, there are lots of hate videos against Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs. 

The violence has promoted many nations to block social media sites. Censorship will only take the world on a slippery road, and violence over hate speeches and thoughts will only increase the fault-lines in the society. 

Social Media is not the cause of unrest but only an medium for amplification. I hope in not so distance future only Kolaveri ( Murderous rage) is reserved for the likes of Dhanush and people learn to take things in stride and live life "Gangnam Style".

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. In fact have the wisdom to reject hateful thoughts.

Rise

This post on The Dark Knight Rises (TDKR) is long due now, one of the reasons to wait so long was not seem like a crazed fan-boy ( which off course I am ).   TDKR is a movie event I have been awaiting for the last 4 years after the Dark Knight which was a mind blowing movie which is the Gold Standard for a super hero movie. 

TDKR definitely was a good movie, not as enthralling or having memorable dialogues like its predecessor, the problem being no one could figure out what the hell Bane was saying behind his mask.  The best thing about the movie was the ending which still intrigues me even today, weeks after. 

The Batman actually hangs up his boots and leaves Gotham for good. A superhero who has had enough.  The Batman / Bruce Wayne unlike other superheros like Clark Kent / Peter Parker is not from a humble background or gifted with super powers.  The Batman was never about hope, it was always about channelizing his guilt of being an unwilling part in his parent's death because of his fear of bats. 

The Batman must surely go down in comic book history as one of the most clinically depressed, brooding superheroes who derived no peace in saving Gotham or putting criminals behind bars. 

Christopher Nolan through his Batman trilogy does give Bruce Wayne the perfect arc, starts off as an angry jock, finds his purpose in life in Batman Begins, encounters the Joker and the death of Rachel pushes him off the edge in the Dark Knight and finally in the third  installment he rises above his pain, guilt and anger to save Gotham and himself.

Both Harvey Dent and Bruce Wayne were great men but how each dealt with his pain made the difference, Bruce used his pain for good whilst Dent went down a destructive path. Eventually even Bruce had to move on. 

Remember no pain remains forever, no obligations or burden needs to be borne for eternity, no-one or nothing is irreplaceable ... not even The Dark Knight. 

Trouble in Eden !

There was once a magical land named Eden where the Demi-gods lived, where dreams came true, it was a place where wishes came true and for little efforts, rewards were huge. The Demi-Gods were kind and admitted the mortals freely and for devotion, mortals were rewarded with gold, plush houses.

The mortals from earth could come visit Eden and live for a few years, earn huge fortunes and go back to their land much wealthier and influential. The Demi-Gods just wanted the mortals to make statues and to glorify them.

As the story of the mortal artisans making the trips to Eden became more and more well known, the mortals realized this was an easy ticket to ride. Several schools to train and deploy artisans began to spring up. Other trades began to be ignored, the sole motive of mortals was securing a gateway to Eden.

Like all good things, the good times at Eden also had to come to an end. By the curse of the sages, Eden was struck by a series of natural calamities like quakes and storms. Suddenly the demi gods no longer had the luxury of entertaining the mortals.  Suddenly the demi-gods wanted the mortals out, they began to see the mortals as parasites feeding on their great society.

The mortals were concerned, and once the gateways to Eden began to close, politics and opportunism began to take over, it was no longer easy for people to reach Eden. The journey to the promised land of Eden has just become a nightmare, with thousands and thousands of mortal artisans waiting for their turn to enter Eden, life just got tougher.

As you might have guess, this story was a thinly veiled reference of the Indian IT services industry and the situation in the Western World. India was fortunate to have an army of English speaking programmers who could take on the Y2K problem. Any one who was lucky enough or smart enough to catch the IT wave became quite successful, however the same cannot be said for the young engineering graduate passing out of college today as circumstances have become much more challenging.

Where is the Ad Break Dude ??

Last week, I was seeing a program on CNN IBN - “The Greatest Indian” with the host Rajdeep Sardesai and his boss head of TV18 Raghav Bahl gushing about how Dhirubhai Ambani was a contender to be the greatest Indian and also how he shaped Indian economy and perhaps his achievements were even greater than JRD Tata. 

Although there is nothing wrong in this point of view, what we were not told explicitly, Mukesh Ambani and RIL recently acquired a large stake TV18 including CNN IBN. So how independent is the view taken by the channel. 

Going to more innocuous instances of paid or sponsored media, nothing which comes close was the garish Indian Premier League which successfully sliced ads into the sport itself. DLF Maximum, City Moment of Success and RGV style spider camera looming at different close up angles at the Volkswagen Vento. 

Although this is relatively acceptable, as this is quite direct advertising unlike the movie promotion campaigns. Notice when a big budget movie is going to hit the screens, you see lots of PR spin articles on the news papers, television and even radio. 

FM radio, I remember during the late 90's and early 2000 was a pleasurable experience, the Radio Jockey had a closer connect with the viewers and song selection was without agendas and less audio ads into the program. However cut to 2012, we have radio programs whose Radio Jockeys are screaming non-stop and songs which play which also tie in as promotions to the movie or the actor's previous movies which serve to drive you to the movie hall. 

Even corporates have a convenient relationship with media groups to get positive coverage, when I read newspapers its clear, press releases masquerading as “real news”. Lifestyle channels and news paper supplements all have product placements. 

A leading newspaper Times of India has taken advertising to the next level by accepting equity stake from companies instead of cash as remuneration .Can you imagine negative news ever coming on this newspapers regarding companies which in the media house has a stake in. This allows paid content even in editorial space. 

The most dangerous form of paid news media was exposed by a Press Council of India inquiry commission, during election times, newspapers both vernacular and English media charging candidates from 30-50 lakh rupees for news coverage and also positive spin.  So much for independent media.

I really wonder where's the ad break dude ? At least the advertisements is in the breaks is honest unlike the spin we are subjected to the regular programming. 

Guide – An Enduring Classic

The Guide (1965 ) is based on the novel by R.K Narayan who also wrote the Malgudi Days, the movie adaption directed by Vijay Anand and stars Dev Anand-Waheeda Rahman in stellar performances.

Plot Summary 
Guide is about Raju (Dev Anand) who is a tourist guide and his complex relationship with Rosie (Waheeda Rahman) who is a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage with Marco
who is an archaeologist obsessed with his work.

Rosie turns suicidal but Raju comes into her life and helps her break free from her husband and mentors her to become a classical dancer with great success. They start living together which alienates Raju's family. Eventually his insecurities and access to instant wealth makes him jealous and gets  intimidated by her success. In a moment of indiscretion, he commits a forgery and he gets jailed and the difference of opinions drives a wedge in the relationship of Rosie and Raju. 

Once Raju leaves jail instead of returning to Rosie or his family, he runs away and he is mistaken for a saint in a village. Eventually due to a drought, the villagers persuade him to undertake a 12 day fast to evoke the rain Gods. 

Rosie, his mother and friends try persuading him to give up his fast but he refuses as he does not want to break the faith of the villagers. Eventually the faith of villagers is rewarded and Raju dies in the end but in the end after achieving true peace of mind and transforming from a man to an ideal.  

Takeaways from the Movie  

The first and most daring plot device of a woman in an unhappy marriage and her courage to walk out and have an affair with another man. For the 1960's India it was tremendous leap ahead to show a live in relation between Raju and Rosie. 

Secondly Rosie's pursuit of her dreams to become a dancer and how that leads to souring of her relationship with Raju who eventually succumbs to the typical insecurities. The depiction of an imperfect relationship is quite a refreshing change to the typical goody two shoes romances of the 60's Hindi cinema. 

Thirdly when Raju goes to the village, the depiction of rural India, abject poverty and the willingness of the masses to follow anyone as a spiritual guide / leadership. The rich have the luxury to entertain ideas of atheism and the triumph of science over religion but for the poor, only faith in a higher power God is the only comfort to live on another day. 

Fourthly the movie deals is the exploration of Hindu beliefs of the eternal soul and impermanent body, so when finally Raju dies for the village, it is not an unpleasant choice but actually an evolution in his mindset. The transformation of a impostor to an spiritual being is quite plausible and engaging.

Guide as the Metaphor 

The “Guide” is quite the metaphor, in the first phase, Raju is 'Tourist Guide' guiding people as his work, then he becomes 'Guide-Mentor' to Rosie to end her unhappy marriage and also become a successful dancer. The Third phase of his life is 'Guide-Guru' to the masses as the spiritual Guru. But the most significant transformation as 'Guide to Himself' when he is able to rise above his ego, attachments and pettiness to sacrifice his life for the people.

In the name of 'Bold' movies we are subjected to semi-pornographic movies these days but to be honest, Guide sans skin show was a bold, unconventional movie.  

Words do not do enough to describe this great classic of Indian cinema, I recommend you the reader to catch it soon. 

Mental Crutches

Last week, as my boss mentioned the new Smart Art graphics in power point presentations is making most presentations look the same. I had to agree with him, in the name of improving productivity the dependency on tooling is only dulling our creativity and other mental faculties.

Number Crunching - Thanks to caculators and excel sheets, even basic arthimetic has become impossible, both shop keepers and customers alike are clueless without technology.

Birthday Reminders – There was once a time, I could remember the birthdays of all my close friends and family members, then with the advent of social networks facebook and orkut, the dependency on social networks to remind us of birthdays leading to a large gap in memory.

Spelling – the most disturbing dependency I have fallen prey to is the spell check options in MS Word or even on google search. Now there are words for which I dont ever know the right spelling, just depend on auto corrections. My biggest fear now, writing an written exam on pen and paper.

Limiting Social Interactions – This is the most disturbing dependency which we have grown so fond of , when we could meet face to face, we have moved to cell phone conversations, from cell phone conversations, we have moved to text messenging and most uncapable to making human contact anymore.

Tablets / Smartphone fixation - Steve Jobs proudly claimed the iPad is the definitive post PC device and it is the end of the desktops and laptops. Although I agree desktops and laptops are clunky devices but typing on a glass surface is even more difficult. It is scientifically proven, devices like tablets and smartphones are more suited for passive consumption rather than comfortably typing or creating inputs.

Although technology is definitely taking humanity ahead, there are several de-humanising and limiting effects as well so that mental crutches we have grown to depend on needs to be reduced if not eliminated altogether. 

Trouble in BCCI Paradise

Today Feb 4^th was an awful day for BCCI / IPL with the withdrawal of Sahara India franchise from both the Pune franchise and Indian team sponsorship on the day of the IPL 5 auction. 

The collapse of the Kochi & Pune franchises, the cricket TV rights debacle with Nimbus and the waning form of the Indian cricket team overseas, BCCI is looking at both severe reverses in financial and cricketing fronts.

Just a year back, India winning the ODI world cup and humongous amounts which Kochi and Pune franchises paid for the slice of the IPL action.  

Need to phase out the legends

Indians have always been in awe of their cricketing Gods – they can never imagine them to age and retire on time. It is always a case, we ensure they overstay their welcome and give very few chances to blood new youngsters. It happens when it is too late. 

Cricket Australia has been quite ruthless to cut legends down to size when needed, be it Ian Healy, Mark Taylor or Steve Waugh. 

Over all fitness / intent

Forget the slow moving gentlemen like VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid, younger players like Zaheer Khan and Virendra Sehwag seem so tired and bored to take to the field.  

Easy IPL money

Ravindra Jadeja picking up 2 million $ is crazy for playing a domestic T-20 league to bowl 4 overs and slog the bat. The IPL is an unlikely villain which incentivizes slam bang cricket and further de-incentivize classic test cricketers on the lines of  Wasim Jaffer or Akash Chopra.

DRS obstinacy

One bad experience in Sri Lanka with the DRS, Indian cricket is ready to block DRS thus ensuring cricket games are no longer played in the same playing conditions. The chances of human error can be minimized but never eliminated. If cricket boards had played similar hard ball in the early 90’s we would never had the third umpire.

Neglect of other domestic tournaments

Apart from IPL, the older domestic tournaments like Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy are not getting crowds and even the performances in these games do not get the same visibility of an IPL.

We are creating a generation of T-20 focused cricketers ignoring the other formats of cricket. 

Overpriced business models

SET MAX, Neo and the IPL franchises have definitely over-invested and paid huge amounts, the number of meaningless games and waning interests in both cricket grounds and dropping TRPs is clear that the game is going to see tougher times ahead.

Is there Hope ? I don’t think so

Usually I conclude my posts on an optimistic note but I don’t see one here, a game which is run by business men and active politicians who have no love for the game, a cricket coach and selection committee who cannot take tough calls, this are only going to more bleak. I don’t see any conviction in the cricket administrators to make a change. 

Remember Sachin Tendulkar will retire soon one day, it is going to take some great magic to get the average Indian fan turn on his TV set for 5 am Test match versus Australia or buy a ticket for an IPL match.  

Sahara has seen the storm coming and there is trouble in paradise.

Why do we worry??

An experimental post - I tried using the 5 Why technique to find the root cause of a common problem of worrying.

Why do we worry?

Because we feel we lack control of our destiny  

Why do we feel the lack of control?

Because our plans don’t seem to work at all

Why don’t our plans work?

Because we cannot control things like the economy, people, family problems and other acts of God.

Can we control factors which are outside of our control?

No we need to have patience and wait for things to unfold!

Then why do we lack patience?

It is a lack of faith in our abilities.

Is Faith very important?

The best is to believe in a higher power like benevolent God or at least believe in yourself.

In a terrible situation we lose faith in ourselves and in doing so we also lose confidence in our skills and become a pale shadow of our former selves.

Its remarkable when you need courage the most, we fail. So the only answer to problems in life is having patience, by patience I don’t mean you put up with rubbish but wait enough time for your plans to succeed.

Indeed there will be days when patience will wear thin, those are the days you need to reach out to your friends and family.  Only our true can re-enforce the trust and remind us of our true abilities.

Even Lord Hanuman needed to be reminded of his true nature and skills before He could travel to Lanka to find Sita.

So never be lonely and keep your friends and family close and off course keep the faith