Hiding the eLephants!

It was reported that the Election Commission ordered the covering of all elephant statues in Uttar Pradesh in the run up to the polls. Given the humongous size and number of these, it was estimated to cost upwards of a crore of rupees. In response to hushed questions the EC clarified that 'it was a matter of principle, and cannot be set aside on grounds of expenses'.

What was the principle the EC was alluding to? It appears that the principle had to do with the statues having been erected using public money. The argument was that since public monies had been used to build them, and since the sight of these could afford 'advantage' to a particular party, it was deemed necessary to cover them so as to nullify the advantage. In other words, it was meant to create a level playing field in the electoral competition.

Can one contest this? Certainly not, if one were only to be formal and adopt a linear view of things.

But come to think of it: the statues have been around for a while, at least for more than a year! For the residents of Lucknow, as also for frequent visitors to the city, the statues, the park, and the works must have become a part of the landscape, much like the furniture in a house. The act of covering them would, however, attract attention. People who would otherwise pass by without even a look up to the 'monumental' figures, would certainly be drawn to have a look when there is a change in the 'grammar' of the landscape that is certainly to happen with the spreading of the covers.

In such a case, it would be like pouring 'good money after bad', so to speak! With additional expenses at the cost of the exchequer, the order of the EC is likely to create fresh 'look ups' and hence talking points about the statues and the symbolism they represent.

It would thus appear that the decision is ill conceived and could be expected to result in exactly the opposite to what was intended! 

India Against Corruption - 2

In the build up to the movement against corruption at least two issues have got entangled. First is the 'protest fast'   centred movement led by Shri Anna Hazare. Second is the draft Jan Lok Pal Bill  [Document File here] that the organisers of the movement are said to be pushing for. Without a doubt there has been an outpouring of support for the former. It is edifying to see people cutting across age groups, gender, and occupation joining the protest at Jantar Mantar (New Delhi), even more to note similar protest fasts being undertaken in other cities. For the media, especially the TV channels, this is big and they are devoting hours to cover the happenings. The latter has been referred to by only a few discussants on the TV channels, but widely critiqued on the blogs by many.

It is necessary to disentangle the two for at least two reasons. First, the protest is gaining momentum and given the method adopted and the high credibility of personalities associated with it, the government is being forced to respond. Second, the draft bill, though noble in its intent, suffers from a number of deficits on the conventional yardstick of democracy. There is a danger that the support for the former could be construed as a support for the latter. It would be a pity if that happens and hence it is incumbent that one apprises her/himself of the draft bill and expresses opinion on it separately.

I will take up the two separately in days to come. I would also like to join issue with some of the scathing critics that have appeared in some newspapers.

On the question of movement against corruption, I stand firm alongside the protesters. 

India Against Corruption - 1

Over the 60 plus years of independence and commencement of the Constitution, it appears that the biggest casualty has been the fundamental truism of democracy, i.e.,  sovereignty resides in people. It is the people (WE THE PEOPLE...starts the preamble to the Constitution!) in whose name the Constitution was drafted. The inauguration of the Constitution made the people (the adult members) citizens and gave shape to the State with the responsibility for governance. Again, it is important to note that, the text of the Constitution first elucidated the  rights of citizens after a very short introductory section on 'India that is Bharat....' before it went on to elaborate on the system of government. The chronology of chapters could not have been an accident. The drafting committee that prepared the Constitution and the constituent assembly that debated the draft before adopting it was surely conscious of the momentous task that it was engaged in, the monumental text that it was producing that would go on to lock the destiny of a people and shape their daily experiences. Thus without a doubt, the people came first, prior to the Constitution, and were sovereign. With the Constitution adopted in the name of the people, they became citizens and the Constitution first secured their rights before elaborating on the governmental system. That then is the true meaning of a 'republic' (it needs be said with emphasis)

What an irony is it today! It is the people and citizens who are made to feel as if they are supplicants in every public sphere where they come in contact with the 'State' or the face of it that appear before them. And in our daily lives who do we interact with? Beginning with the traffic constable, the forest beat guard, the talati, to the gate-keepers at every government office; it is an ordeal to go beyond the first (the lowest) level of the governmental office before you could transact any business! The lower the level of governmental office the greater is the ordeal. 

In a sense the biggest corruption in our society today is this. The daily experience of being the supplicant, being subservient to an 'office' and its officials. 

The battle against corruption has just begun. Shri Anna Hazareji is simultaneously leading and giving expression to the public disgust and impatience with corruption. The move is gathering support by the day. There are people pouring in at Jantar Mantar; reports suggest that ordinary people in many parts of the country are organising events to express their support to the movement against corruption. The web is active; netizens are silently but deliberately signing in to express their support and solidarity. There is a suggestion that we might wear black badges while going to work. Before soon this will happen. 

To me it seems to be the most important first step in dealing with corruption. Yet I am aware that if this movement succeeds, it would be plucking the low hanging fruits. The movement must remain relentless and gather momentum to deal with the corruption of the constitutional philosophy that has come to be our everyday experience.

Let this be a long battle; let's hope that we will rise in common cause of correcting the corruption in our constitutional system at work. Let's bag the battles and win the war decisively.  

In solidarity I remain. 

WC Cricket - Continuing Excitement

So the mother of all contests is now behind us. Last night India beat Pakistan by 29 runs to enter the the final of ICC World Cup 2011. This will be India's third appearance in the WC final. The first, of course, was the historic victory in 1983. In 2003 India played Australia in the final. The match is best remembered for the parody on one ad-line that it spawned. The ad for a telecom service provider (BSNL, if memory serves me right) showed the mother calling Sehwag to inspire him with a punch line. After the match, someone quipped, because of cross connection the call ended up with Ponting's phone. As it turned out the match was a thorough dressing down for the Indian team. The 2007 edition was a fiasco both for India and Pakistan. India lost to Bangladesh in the league stage and exited. Pakistan cricket entered a phase of crisis in the wake of the controversy surrounding the death of its coach Bob Woolmer.

WC 2011 held in the sub-continent after 15 years has been different for both the teams. Pakistan topped the group and India stood second. Pakistan had an easy match in the QF with the West Indies team capitulating even before one had the time to turn on the TV. India, in contrast, had a tough game against the reigning champions Australia. India recovered from a precarious situation having lost 6 wickets with 60 runs still to chase. At the end, India won and the victory ended a golden run for Australia in WC cricket.

The 1987 edition was the first held outside England. In that tournament both India and Pakistan, as joint hosts, were expected to do well. Both progressed well till they lost to Australia and England respectively in the Semi-Final. Australia won the WC that year for the first time.

1992 and 1996 WC cricket saw the rise of sub-continental teams with Pakistan winning the former and Sri Lanka emerging champions in the latter. Since then it has been Australia as the dominant force in world cricket. Champions in 1999, 2003 and 2007, Australia came to this edition with considerable doubts about their prospects. They has lost the Ashes but retrieved some ground defeating England in the one-day series. England on the other hand with two consecutive Ashes victories and T-20 Championship in their kitty came into the WC as clear favorites. They had two a lacklustre show in the group stage. They won against the fancied teams and tied with India but lost to Bangladesh and Ireland. Finally curtains came down for them in the Quarter Finals. South Africa came into the tournament with hot prospects but kept their record of exiting from the knock-out stage in tact.

This left three sub-continental teams and New Zealand to fight it out in the last four stage. Sri Lanka made a clinical demolition of New Zealand. This left the last but one contest, that between Pakistan and India to decide the second contestant for this Saturday's final game against the SL at Mumbai.

This was the background to the India Pakistan match. Prime Minister of India used the opportunity to extend and invitation to his counterpart in Pakistan who kindly obliged. The prospect of a summit meeting in the stadium at Mohali during the semi final match added to the attractiveness of the match itself.

India won the toss. Much to the consternation of commentators Indian team had omitted R Ashwin in favour of Ashish Nehra, who up until now had a rather lacklustre run in the tournament. India won the toss and chose to bat. Before soon they were flying away with Sehwag being particularly severe on Umar Gul, by far the best rated fast bowler from Pakistan. The fall of Sehwag signalled Sachin taking over and his partnership with Gambhir held out great expectations. India were 120 for 2 in the 20th over, going at 6 runs per over. It was clear that a score in excess of 300 would be reached.

But then, as so very often in the recent and distant past, there was a collapse. India were soon struggling at 200 for 6 by the 40th over. A good knock from Raina and some support from Harbhajan saw India finish at 260 for 9. It was a consensus view at that stage that India ended at least 20 runs short and the odds had swung in favour of Pakistan. Fortunately for India, some of the younger and talented batsmen exhibited suicidal shot selection after showing great promise at the beginning. And soon Pakistan was tottering at 200 for 7. The lone ranger left was Misbah. At this stage memories of the 2007 T20 final game came flashing. From a precarious position needing almost 60 runs to win in the last 4 overs, Misbah had brought Pakistan periously close to winning. But for that blunder of a scoop shot that made the ball land safely in Sreesanth's hands, Pakistan had almost won the match.

But this time that magic did not work. Misbah is 4 years older from that game in 2007. I was reminded of the parallel feeling I had watching Javed Miandad struggle in a similar situation at the quarter final stage in 1996 against India. If only Miandad was a few years younger (meaning, as he played when he was a few years younger) that match would have gone Pakistan's way. The same perhaps happened with Misbah this time. And on both occasions India won. India kept her record of WC constests against Pakistan clean; 5 match ups and 5 victories.

Spare a thought for the valiant efforts of Indian bowlers. How often one sees five bowlers, each bowling his quota of 10 overs taking 2 wickets apiece? This happened and India was the winner. One felt sad retrospectively for all the barbs that had been thrown at Nehra and Munaf; if one went by economy rate, they were the pick of the bowlers!

Sachin survived five dropped catches. It appeared as if the stars had conspired to make India victorious.

Shahid Afridi endeared himself with his generous comments in the post match press conference. He was forthright with his analysis of his team's performance, in giving credit to India, saying sorry to Pakistan cricket fans and asked, did we not entertain you well? Yes, you did, Shahid. In fact you did more than that. You lost the match but won our hearts. The entire team deserves a great welcome back home.

Congratulations India; thank you Pakistan for your great show in the tournament.

An appeal for the release of two officials in Malkangiri

A certain unease crept in when read the news today about the abduction of the Collector and Executive Engineer in Malkangiri district of Orissa by the Maoists. Two things caused the unease; first, the Collector is an institution of immense significance in the governance system of India. Though the jury is still out on the question of utility of the institution 60 years after independence, imagining an alternative continues to elude us. Second was the severe beating inflicted to the fervent hope that Maoists would combine humanism with their commitment to the cause.

This piece is not meant to be an evaluation either of the institution of Collector (or other functionaries of government, for that matter), nor is it meant to comment on the ideology or methods of the Maoists. I write this  as an appeal for the immediate release of the two officials. Would be beholden to the Maoists for a long time if they were to do so without any precondition/ without awaiting for the response of the State government.

Doing Village Fieldwork

The second week of the Fieldwork Segment has concluded. By now you would have grasped the lay of the land, met several people, observed how the village wakes up to life and retires for the night. You would probably be beginning to wonder what is more to see! What is there for me to spend more time on!! It is beginning to be monotonous!!! If you think so, think again. 


Today and tomorrow spend some quality time alone; think through the narrative that you would report upon return to the campus. Make notes. Is the narrative flowing? Are you able to run through it without a break? Or, are there gaps, breaks in the narration? If you feel satisfied, think of an issue that is in national news. Think of writing a 3 page note on this from the viewpoint of a village resident. Are you able to do it? Then think of any fresh initiative of the government or of a development agency or of a business organisation. Imagine yourself with the task of introducing this in the village. Are you able to figure out the communication? Would you be able to influence the design so that it gets quick acceptance in the village? 


If your answer to all these is a confident 'yes', take a bow. You have truly completed the segment. 


Hang on before you start packing your bags. Can you answer the following questions with clarity?

1. what is happening to household economies? Have income sources changed over time? How are people coping with inflation?
2. what is happening to the village as a 'sociological space'?
3. what is happening to village power structure? Whose view would you stand by? that of Gandhiji or that of Dr. Ambedkar? Is the Gram Panchayat helping take democracy to the village level? Is it making any difference to the power structure of the village in terms of decisions and actions relating to things that matter most for the village residents? 
4. how is the Public Distribution System (PDS), the fair price shop, functioning? what items are available in the shop? how often does it open and operate? are people able to use the shop? etc. Is it making any difference to the food security of households?

If you have all the answers and if you are convinced about them then there is no question - you are ready for the second classroom term. 

Doing village fieldwork is like long distance running. Not in a race, but as a daily workout. The first few laps are easy; motivation is high and you still are full of energy. But then as you complete the fifth lap, you might wonder what you were doing - going round and round in a circles! A few laps less would not matter!! You have that special DVD to watch or music to listen to; and catch up with a friend!!! After all there is opportunity cost for your time!!!! It is here that you need to tell yourself that all these must wait till you completed the 10th lap. You would reap the benefits if you keep at it and keep doing it on a regular basis. 

Village fieldwork experience could also be akin to nuclear half-life. The first half is reached pretty quickly; you begin to feel that you have seen all there is to see. But then, the second half is an endless process. There is no end to what could be learnt and what knowledge could be created. 

Please remain steadfast and not let your enthusiasm wane; you must complete what you have set out to achieve and do it well. 

Best wishes.