From the fourth estate to becoming fourth rate !

Last year after the 26/11 attack, I had written a post on the 5 vultures which hound our nation today including politicians, bureaucrats, unfriendly neighbouring countries, media and the finally us the common public who have become apathetic to its surrounding environment.

The year 2009 has particularly one of the above mentioned to falling further from grace that is the media. The Indian media grappling with the new needs of a 24X7 news channel coverage has come to its wits end. The commercialization is so rampant that, they are forced to run feeds of reality shows at non prime time, run interviews of Saif and Kareena on prime time television and also talk about Ashwariya Rai bumping into her ex Salman and Vivek in great gusto.

Ridiculous programming

Apart from this, wild insane programming which talks about the end of the world by the CERN “Maha yantra” (India TV is convinced once the CERN Particle Accelerator is operational, KABOOM end of the world) and other ridiculous stories like Rakhi Sawant par Janta ki mukadama. If you ask the channel people they will say, we give what the people want and that’s what we are giving it to them. Especially the Hindi news channels are more guilty in selling out to cater to the lowest common denominator, but even the English media cannot be claim to be covering themselves in glory. The distinction between a general entertainment channel and a news channel is very little these days.

Anniversary Obsessions

The English media is now obsessed with date and anniversaries; it is an easy method of lazy news coverage, a 26/11, 7/11, 9/11, pull out archive footage, add some dramatic music and ta da … 3 hours of prime time coverage is ready. There is no real introspection of the event, just call politicians names, reopen old scars by asking a husband how he feels about his lost wife and recreate the fearful gloomy atmosphere for all. The coverage is getting elitist; Taj and Trident deaths get more coverage than the deaths at Cama Hospital or CST station. Where were the candle light processions when the July train blasts occurred? Surely some terrorist attacks are not more equal than others.

Crime shows

Crime is another favorite exploited genre which is milked for prime-time viewing; today we are talking about a police commissioner molesting a young tennis player, while the Arushi murder case was dissected to the maximum making the private lives of Dr Talwar n his wife a public mockery. I still remember the remorseless headline of television channel; “Daddy killed Arushi” which they retracted after some hours. This is the kind of irresponsible sensational media coverage we are subjected to these days. Crime coverage is voyeuristic, typical police bashing and case is only followed as long as the public memory lasts and then it becomes another footnote in the television history.

All the same

The argument which you shall get from the news channels is that, if you don’t like then don’t watch, you can surf ahead and watch something else, but then if the catch is its 10.30 all channels air sports content, on a weekend it will be Auto and Gadget shows at the same slot, so you hardly get an option to watch something else anyway. The airing of same content ensures the viewer has no choice but to either suffer through the same programming or switch off the TV.

Inadvertently promoting fringe violent groups

The fringe groups like Sri Ram Sena led by Promod Muthalik and MNS get undue coverage in the media which in fact incites them to take to violence as a weapon which gives them a larger audience using the media as a platform. These anti-social elements should be condemned for the law breaking not eulogized by getting “exclusive interviews”.

Abdication of Neutrality

Another recent blot on the media emerged in the current general elections, where the sections of print media were accused of selling the interview space to candidates for bribes. Apart from this we also see incidents of biased reporting, look at any US media reports on the Copenhagen climate summit, they paint India and China as villains, while the Indian media sees it a moral victory for our side. We cannot see to get an objective view which is honest and the truth.

Conclusion

I don’t paint the entire media in black but the fact is, as a watch-dog which passes sweeping judgments on the other estates such as politicians, bureaucrats, police; it must introspect more closely. The Fourth Estate has actually become a fourth-rate enterprise seeking TRPs alone as measure of success.

Lessons from Iaccocca one of America's most respected business professional

After a long time, I decided to read Iaccoca’s autobiography again as several years ago when I was an aspirant to do my MBA, somebody told me this book was a good start. It did make some sense back then but it had even more sense now. Clearly reading the book the second time, you do realize the man has a very large ego and most of the book is written in first person, it takes pot shots at opponents and glosses over personal failures. Although it is an engaging book, it is not very objective and projects as Iaccoca as a superman. In my mind, the most objective business book written by a corporate manager must be ‘Who says Elephants cannot Dance?’ by Louis Gernster the CEO of IBM who oversaw the reinvention of the IBM business strategy in the late 90’s.

Who is Lee Iaccoca

Iaccoca was the son of an Italian migrant who went on to become the president at the Ford motor company, he was subsequently fired from his job at the age of 54 as a result of differences with the CEO and owner Henry Ford Jr. Instead of going home and enjoying retirement, he took over the reins of a financially struggling company Chrysler by taking a loan bailout from the US government and made it up and running again. This bailout package which has become so common in today’s economic scenario was extremely controversial in the early 80’s. One ironic fact, when Iaccoca testified before congress for a bailout, one of the staunch opponents was then chief executive of Lehman Brothers on the basis that a bailout was against the principles of free market economy. It is amazing indeed how times change so quickly.

Lessons for Professionals

Need for a good boss – It is very important to have a good boss to look up to. A good boss not only helps you to get the best of your professional capabilities and also helps the organization to be more profitable and sharper to handle competition.

Data is important but avoid analysis paralysis - Iaccoca is a believer in having good data and research work but it is not a great idea to wait endlessly for some small piece of data when you have more than 80% facts already.

Need for strong corporate governance - During his Ford days, Iaccoca talks about how the management regularly misused the company resources for personal use. The directors on the board often have collusions with the company executives which lead them to ignore excesses in financial planning. The problems faced by Chrysler highlights this fact. This point is pertinent as Iaccoca pointed this out in 1984 long before the Enron and Arthur Andersen scandals which shocked the world.

Lessons for Politicians and Economists

America is investing too much in paper money – Iaccoca in his closing remarks mentions that America is slowly moving away from a manufacturing and export driven nation to an import driven economy in many key sectors. An obsession with paper money was creating assets on paper instead on direct investment in the American economy. This point is well made as America has plunged into the subprime crisis and secondly the FIIs have been fuelling the economies of developing countries like India, China, and Brazil instead of strengthening the job market in the US. (Not that I am complaining about it, the IT industry boom has helped several professionals including myself to make a living and put India on the global map)

The debate about capitalism versus communism is dead- In the 80’s when Chrysler Corporation, the third largest American automobile company went to the government for a bailout package; it was severely criticized in the media and financial circles that it is a bad precedent. Now after the failure of the USSR in the later 80’s and the American economy meltdown in 2008 now question of taking extreme stands on capitalism versus communism is futile. You need free markets and competition but it has to be coupled with checks and balances in form of an industry regulator.

End Note

In the book it is mentioned, in 1980 when Chrysler was undergoing the financial crisis and was in line for a government bailout, the stand-up comedian Bill Cosby made a joke on the company's financial condition. "A guy was so mean... so mean that he called up Chrysler and asked them how is business?”

Two days back, Conan O Brien on the tonight show said“You know why Chrysler’s cars are the safest in the world, because most of them don’t leave the dealer’s store anyway”

The greatest lesson from history is that it repeats itself because men do not learn lessons from it.

Why Gene Roddenberry the creator of Star Trek deserves a Nobel Peace Prize.

The recent news of President Obama being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize was greeted with first with suprise and then derision. The best comment I saw on this topic which was the one which said by this award, two of the great brands the Nobel Prize and President Obama have both being devalued as both have taken a beating in terms of credibility.

Considering the Nobel Peace Prize committee is judging people on intent and vision rather than actual execution of the ideas, I just wondered why Gene Roddenberry who was an ex policeman who went on to produce a science fiction series in the 1960s which was cancelled after 3 seasons but became such a classic on re-runs and spawn so several sequels and dedicated fans across the world, cannot be considered for this honour.

Top reasons why Gene deserved a Nobel

Belief in the triumph of humanity

Unlike all science fiction like Martix, Terminator series which always show the bleak future belonging to the machines, Gene saw humanity being the master in the future, being united as one planet and taking to space exploration boldly.

Shunned Racism

During the 60s, Asians and Afro-Americans were never given leading roles, in fact they were discriminated against, Gene has the courage to cast an Afro-American actress and a Japenese actor in the main cast. The show also showed the first inter-racial kiss on American television media, surely a bold step where no man had gone before. His belief of a future free of bigotry and racias bias was surely admirable.

Such was the influence of the series when Nichelle Nichols the Afro-American actress wanted to withdraw from the series, Martin Luther King personally intervented and asked her to stay on the show as she was a role model for many black woman to emulate.

Having a Russian on the Show during middle of the Cold War

US and the USSR were locked in a bitter cold war and the arms and the space race was on full swing. In spite of this animosity which existed between the 2 nations, Gene introduced a new Russian character Chekov in season 2 after he was chided in a Russian newspaper that inspite of Russians being the first in space by launching the Spuntik, there were no Russians on the show. Even before the cold war ended, Gene saw an united effort from people of all nationalities coming together for common good.

Economy of the Future – No Money

Gene imagined in the future there would be no money, no poverty or disease. The basic needs of people would be taken care of and the primary goal of a person would not acquistion of wealth but at betterment of season. If you consider Maslow's hierarchy of needs, people would exist at the level of self actualization – wherein people work for betterment and achieving their personal talents and goals.

Logic versus Emotion

The character of Mr. Spock who is from an alien race who believes in pure logic was always in clash with the human characters in the ship, the best takeaway from this debate of logic and emotions served up interesting insights on how should humanity evolve, and finally the take on the show was that you need a bit of both a cool head and a warm heart.

Technology

The influence on science and technology is immense, Martin Cooper inventor of the mobile phone was inspired the communicators shown in the series. The show also showcased voice recognition and user friendly personal computers in the 1960's which it was beyond imagination of scientists and techies. In the honour of the influence Star Trek held on the American scientific community, the first space shuttle of NASA was named Enterprise after the fictional ship on which the adventures were based.

Gene Roddenberry might have actually changed the world much more in his own small way as compared to the current American President Obama. Gene might not have explored space in reality but he did convey a message of courage, peace and collaboration from all nationalities, gender and race which lives on after his death in 1991.

My Top Five Favourite Movie Moments

I was watching Munnabhai MBBS and saw one of my really favorite movie moments and was inspired to think about the really wonderful movie moments which have stayed with me over the recent years.

Number 5 – V for Vendetta

The protagonist V who is an freedom fighter/terrorist who breaks into the official news channel of a fascist British Government and ignites the minds of the masses who have been subdued by a dictator for several years now. It is not a well known movie so I am reproducing the dialogue for better context.

“Good evening, London. Allow me first to apologize for this interruption. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of every day routine- the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. I enjoy them as much as any bloke. But in the spirit of commemoration, thereby those important events of the past usually associated with someone's death or the end of some awful bloody struggle, a celebration of a nice holiday, I thought we could mark this November the 5th, a day that is sadly no longer remembered, by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat. There are of course those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the now high chancellor, Adam Sutler. He promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent.”

It is a fantastic scene, especially in the post 9/11 scenario, or even if you consider closer home, the mindset of certain politicians offering security and strong governance who vilify the Muslim community and take a us versus them stance. Secondly creating a campaign of fear,death and destruction. It is remarkable even the tyrannical dictators in the Muslim countries and the Taliban project the western world as a threat and brainwash the people by propaganda,fear,and control through censorship. The strong message from this scene despite all pressures, we must never lose ground and hold our political class accountable to us instead of the other way around.

Number 4 – Munnabhai MBBS

The Parsi Dr. Rustam's old father who has lost the will to live and gives up eating is brought to the hospital and is administered saline drips. Munna bhai and Circuit play a game of carrom to revive the old man's spirits. The touching message from the moment is that at any stage of life, its the will to live and something to look forward too in life which keeps a man going. The legendary dialogue being ..”carrom khelanu, juice piyanu .. Mazzani life !!”

Number 3 – Kal Ho Na Ho

I know it could offend some purists that a Karan Johar flick comes in my top 5 list, but the scene when saif is going to propose to preity, she comes and tells him that she loves SRK and if she is mad enough to think if he will accept. Saif says “koi pagal hi hoga joh tumse pyaar nahi karega abhi jao” with such intensity, that really stayed with me for every guy who has ever had a crush on a good friend and he had to tell her the right thing, that she go for the other guy. Friendship winning over personal feelings is so bitter sweet !

Number 2 – The Dark Knight

Although critics and fans rave about the Joker's performance and his anchary the character for whom I really felt strongly about in the movie was Harvey Dent, a sane morally strong man who is reduced to a n psychotic killer who loses all his faith and belief in the world and system.

“You thought we could be decent men in an indecent time. But you were wrong. The world is cruel, and the only morality in a cruel world is chance. Unbiased. Unprejudiced. Fair.”

The solution which the batman could give the people was the need to have faith, and he takes the fall for the crimes committed by Harvey.

"Sometimes people don't need the truth, they deserve something better... they need to have their faiths rewarded."

The irony being Alfred his butler burning Rachel's letter telling Bruce Wayne that she loves Dent and wants to marry him and lets Bruce believe that one day Rachel would have come back to him underlying the fact even a superhero is vulnerable and needs faith more than truth was the fantastic climax to this brilliant movie. I wished this movie picked up more Oscars than it really did.

Number 1 – Lagaan

The villagers are upset with Bhuvan, that he pit them in this impossible match against the British and vow not to assist him in this foolhardy mission. Bhuvan and the young boy Tipu play the game in the centre of the village to attract the attention of the village folks. “Koi badi baat nahi Tipu,hum isle gilli danda kehte hai aur angrez isse crickut”.

He misses the ball twice, the entire village watches the 3rd ball, and the hopes, fear and tension of the villagers mount and Bhuvan sends the ball crashing to the temple bell and the mute guy Bhagga joins the team and slowly people's faith is won step by step. For me, that moment of gaining the faith of the people was a far more satisfying scene than the 1 hour plus cricket match climax.

So these were my favorite top 5 movie moments, the one which closely missed out the list was Forrest Gump, who goes back to save his friend Bubba in Vientam war zone. Bubba is fatally wounded, has a look at Forrest, smiles and says “I knew you would come back for me” and dies. The sheer beauty of true friendship and faith was conveyed so subtly by the director.

These were my favorite movie moments so tell me what was yours ?

The illusion of reality ….

Surf any channel you shall find reality shows for every possible genre song, dance,comedy,eating insects and worms,staying locked for 90 days, romance and even swayambar of Rakhi Sawant an item girl turned adarsh bahu. The latest to add to that list is the controversial Sach ka Saamna which even sent the Parliament in a tizzy.

When the saas bahu K serials ruled the roost, slient prayers by youth across the country yearned for something new and something refreshing. The channel owners hit upon the magic formula of Reality television,

There are people who are increasing finding the shows becoming more voyeuristic and making a bad impact on young children watching these shows. There is a group of member who believe in the freedom of expression and abhor any kind of censorship.

Song/dance Shows Indian Idol/ Sa re Ga ma

The first few shows were the simple harmless song and dance shows, people sing and you the audience can decide the faith of these contestants. Slowly this genre degenerated into asking for votes from the people of your region. Slowly the North East began to assert their presence in India by en mass voting. Then the hosts themselves would mention Bengal ke Debojit needs your votes, Punjab ke Sandeep needs your support etc. If that wasnt enough people started doing melodrama, crying fighting in order to create an impression, talent is not a prerequiste, it is the likeability of a contestant that matters.

So you have hearts of talents crushed and talentless singers getting their 2 minutes of fame and then fading away faster than they even ascended to the stars.

Roadies / Spiltsvilla/Big Boss

Nothing can be more infruitating that a show which says it potrays the youth of the nation, so you have a classic stereotype, a delhite fake english accent, lots of gaalis, tantrums and flirting on the show. You have a bald man, who thinks he is god's gift to humanity and the only thing he loves is run people down. Put people in situations, people fight and say hurtful things with a lot of beeps. Put the show at 7 pm prime time and repeat shows throughout the clock. The host/makers say that they respect women but the tasks and contestants reduce women to mere sex objects. These shows can impact the thought of entire tween generation, the pre teens who are trying to grow up too fast.

The myth called free will....

When there are any calls for regulation on these reality shows, the simple answer the show makers tell us is you can switch off the television. Easier said than done. The same shows run at different times, similar shows exist across different channels. Children cannot be supervised all the time, and temptation and curosity to explore some new stimulus often gets the better of common sense. The kids today are growing up too fast and infact the information fed to them isnt objective. The vices are packaged as style statements, being rude/crass is shown to be cool attitude. The loss of innocene in the future generation is what disturbs me a lot.

I am afraid that choice has already been made for the next generation by the consistent bombardment of voyereutic, consumeristic lifestyle choices. I know I may seem a tad old fashioned in this post but when I look back in the days of Doordarshan, I watched Fun Time an one hour cartoon serial slot from 12.00 to 1.00 in the afternoon during summer vacations and went teary eyed when the show wound up with the end of summer vacations. Now, we have maybe 10 dedicated cartoon channels but the kids today watch Roadies/big Boss or Spiltsvilla.

The truth is complex and rarely simple – Oscar Wilde I think battle between regulation and freedom of expression is far from over !!

Pointless things people say Part II – Shaadi ke Side Effects !!

The age of 26-27 is a very interesting period of life and a very challenging one. Your peer group begins to get married suddenly and suddenly the world becomes divided into the haves and have-nots. It does not matter which group you are in, you experience a weird feeling and are awkward how to talk about the topic regarding impeding marriage. The following are the few gems which you shall hear in conversations. What they say and What they mean.

You two make a great couple / You two look cute together


Even if the guy looks like a rhinoceros and the girl looks like giraffe who could be mistaken for a ladder, you have to say this statement because it is politically correct thing to say. Alternatively It is also a nice way of saying, teri aaukat ke liye this person is more than enough.


Who is the lucky girl ?


This is a line said with least conscience, especially when you know the guy is a drunkard, constant womanizer or he is very orthodox / boring. There is no way in life, you would want your sister or friends to marry this chap, still do you really think the girl is lucky. Shame on all of you who use this line without remorse.


Beta shaadi ke baad you are so dead !!


It is extremely ironical, it is always the single unmarried man who seems to know that marriage is a deathtrap. It has been passed on from generations of unmarried men to make fun of the guy who is going to get married. I mean what empirical proof exists that states that married folks are more unhappy than whining pining single clan ?


I have found the one....

I was given this unsolicited but extremely relevant advice by a thrice married and thrice divorced person that “ Get married early in life, then you get to choose, in case you wait too late you get chosen”.

Arranged or love marriages become a stressful experience after a period of time , if you have seen more and more people without success. At first you are idealistic, you have a role model about your ideal person. With more rejections on the way, then you think there is something wrong with you , so you are ready to compromise with your dream man/woman a little.

Eventually the little compromise ended up with you are just glad that he/she is human, off the opposite gender and for some wierd reason doesnt seem to dislike you unlike the rest of her/his gender.

The sentence should actually read as I have the found the one … ( perhaps the last one on earth so Hurry offer valid untill stocks last !! )


It happened so fast … I didn't time to tell anyone


I had all the time, I didnt have time to tell you even my my 3rd cousin from Alaska knew before you. I seriously hope you didn't fall for that one. The fact is I did not want to share it with you, at least now get a hint of your standing in my social circle you loser !!


Disclaimer – The comments are exaggerated liberally so don't take offense to them
Yeah right, I have said what I wanted to really say but now,with this disclaimer, I can shirk the responsibilities for my statements ;)

The Order in Chaos … that is India !!

I must admit, I have been a bit out of touch from posting on my blog due to certain other commitments in life, feeling a bit rusty so forgive the lazy writing to follow.

India the world's largest democracy, one the world's oldest civilization and second largest populous nation with a huge youth population does look forward to a very great and vibrant future. But many historians, economists and many citizens see it as a chronic under-performer and condemn it as though it is close to a failed state. Let us look at a few common criticisms India has faced in the past 60 odd years of independence.

Extended Socialism Tryst and Anti Business Attitude

To be honest, India had the scars of being victim of imperialism and being taken over by a very large corporation , remember The East India Company, all our leaders were in jail and faced oppression from the British Raj, so there was strong urge to break free from all Western. It was more a misdirected anger towards all things Western and capitalists who exploited India as a colony.

So I would say India behaved like an angry emotional adolescent who did not want to talked down anymore and wants to break from the past completely. A case of throwing the baby out with the water.

The Pro Russia Stance and Non Allied Movement setbacks

It is a fact, India still does not enjoy the best of relations of US in spite of being a democracy, the US with its regional interests still views Pakistan as a key ally and does not want to provoke China. In the 70's during Bangladesh war, the Americans were pro Pakistanis.

India was like Karan from Mahabharata, when faced isolation in the South Asia with the twin threats of Pakistan and China with US taking the opposite side, India chose to side with the Russians. India which had strong socialist leanings naturally sided with the Russians who eventually went on to lose the Cold War.

Caste based Reservations and politics

The only issue which is very close to my heart, that merit does not get its due in this nation due to a large proportion of reservations in college/government. In this case, I have two points of views to be objective, the scheduled castes and tribes did suffer extreme atrocities in the past. They needed some economic benefits to find their feet. The Congress party which had the mandate from the people from 1947 to 1977 – 30 years could not give a coherent solution to the masses. The 1975 Emergency was the last straw for the people of India and Congress party lost its first Lok Sabha elections. In 1978, the Mandal Commission was set up by the Janta Party Govt. which paved the way for wide spread reservations and the rise of the caste based parties.

My conclusion, I agree Caste based politics is detrimental to the nation, but it was the mistake of founding fathers of Independent India that they could not address this issue in the first 3 decades and finally it became an emotive issue for exploitation. The funny part is there are poor people in the villages who face the Maoists and rich people driving in cars who have a OBC certificate who keep get the benefits of the reservation schemes. It is flawed but even nations like the US have suffered from apartheid, India is not unique in its problems.

Conclusion

India has its flaws, but the fact is India is a vibrant economy which gives people the right choose its government, you have a free press which reports events as it happens, not like our neighbouring China which is ruled with an iron glove with extreme censorship, The crack down on Tiebetans and now against the Muslim Uyghurs is one such example. The world is silent about these events but I am happier India has made slower progress than China, at least we have an open free society. India is finally on the way to realize its dreams with an economy which is robust and has great potential. Indian entrepreneurs, Tatas, Ambanis, Mittals ( Sunil and Laxmi), Premji and Murthy taking India to center stage.

I would like to end with two points, US got its independence in 1776 and is 233 year old democracy and the UK gave women the right to vote only in the year 1928 after long and bitter struggle for equal rights. India despite a large illiterate population and a large diversity in religion, language barriers and regional aspirations has remarkably succeeded as a democracy.

There have been blemishes on occasions but I think for a 62 year nation it has done pretty well considering the constraints and the environment. Let us consider the first 50 years like birth pangs and adolescence phase during which our nation learned the ropes. The new India is mature and raring to go. India was founded on a noble ideas freedom, social justice and religious tolerance.

Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come !! That Idea is India. There is a method to this madness and an inherent order in this chaos.