koi yeh kaise bataayen....

The pain depicted in this song is scalding..

Silli Hawa

Another masterpiece by Gulzaar and R D Burman! One has no option but to get lost in the beauty of the song!

My muse

Like a butterfly, you stay with me for a while before you fly away to unseen lands; leaving the colours of your skin behind on the spot you last touched me before your flight. I look at the remains of our meeting with a wistful smile, smelling the colours of my muse with longing eyes. Sometimes I think of running behind you with a net in my hand to catch you forever but soon realize that some circles are vicious, and some chases endless!

Like the clouds in the sky, you keep changing your forms. One day you are a flower in the garden, second day you resemble the script of God. And just like the son of the sky, you seem far from my reach. I look at you beseechingly to descend down to me and when you do choose to listen to my eyes, I get soaked in your musings.

You come and go at your will. Sometimes you come at the thick of the night when I stand in my balcony staring at the inky night, at other times you come to me furtively on a summer afternoon, climbing the window of my room and stay with me long enough to quench my parched soul.

Sometimes you are the monsoon rains, and sometimes you are the cool evening breeze whispering sweet nothings in my ears. At times you stay with me late into the night until the fairy of sleep does us apart. At other times I wake up with you by my side looking at me with curious eyes. I pick you up and place you on my table and start scribbling in my diary. With the last word I write, you fade away into oblivion. My heart sinks again. The wait has begun. I don’t know when, I don’t know where would you come to meet me again. I keep standing with outstretched arms, waiting to embrace you for as long as I can before you slip away from my grip like quicksand...

The politics of subsidies.

The socialistic orientation of the government of India has resulted in a plethora of subsidies ranging from food grains to kerosene to water. The rationale behind providing subsidies was to make the poor avail basic amenities at an affordable price. However, most of the subsidies have failed to achieve this goal. government provides a number of subsidies and it would be hard to look into the efficacy of all of them so I would be looking only at a few of them including the much talked about petroleum subsidies and a lesser known urban water subsidy.

Due to the subsidies provided by the government on petro goods, huge losses were incurred by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) forcing the government to issue oil bonds to them. This resulted in huge fiscal deficit and also passionate public debate. As a result, the government stopped issuing oil bonds to OMCs. And now after the Additional Collector of Manmad, Yashwant Sonawane was burnt alive by kerosene mafia this issue has again caught the imagination of people.

Considered as “poor man’s fuel”, kerosene is heavily subsidized in our country. A litre costs Rs. 12.70 and the remaining cost of Rs. 20 is borne by the government and the OMCs. However, the fuel rarely makes it to the poor of the country. Instead, a lot of it is either misused to adulterate diesel and petrol or is smuggled to the neighbouring countries where it is priced much higher. According to Assocham, an estimated 38% of kerosene is illegally diverted away from the PDS. This massive leakage of kerosene from our system cannot happen without the collusion of government officials. Oil mafia has become big in our country and every concerned authority has its hands soaked in it. That the benefits of the subsidies do not reach the target population is no secret. In fact the poor end up paying a much higher price as most of the fair price shops collude with the mafia. Yet the government is unwilling to withdraw subsidy from kerosene sighting ‘political compulsions’ thus draining the exchequer.

Now it is not hard to see what these ‘political compulsions’ exactly are. Even after the Manmad tragedy the government has not taken any concrete steps to clamp down the oil mafia. Except for Maharashtra, nowhere else is the administration confiscating illegally stored kerosene. Why? Obviously, due to certain ‘political compulsions.’ Millions of liters of kerosene is pilfered here and crores of rupees are made and everyone gets to smell the heady odour of kerosene money.

PDS kerosene is blue coloured in order to make the identification easy and is called as blue kerosene in common parlance. However, after the death of Yashwant Sonawane and Manju Nath earlier I would rather call it ‘red kerosene’, coloured red by the blood of these two and many others.

Similarly, LPG too is hugely subsidized. In Delhi we pay Rs.345 for a cylinder when the cylinder actually costs Rs. 695. So the government ends up paying the remaining Rs. 350. Numerous studies have proved that the poor hardly use LPG. Most of those using it can afford to pay a higher cost. Again, like kerosene subsidy, the urban poor using LPG mostly buy it from the black market at a higher cost as they do not have a gas connection. Also, subsidized LPG gets diverted to commercial and transport sector thus resulting in mis-targeting of government funds.

To understand the level of subsidy provided by the Indian government let us have a look at the price of an LPG cylinder and kerosene in our poorer neighbours. In Pakistan an LPG cylinder costs Rs. 615, in Nepal Rs. 776, in Sri Lanka Rs. 757 and in Bangladesh Rs. 507. Similarly, a litre of kerosene costs Rs. 37.48 in Pakistan, Nepal Rs. 40.64, Bangladesh Rs. 28, and in Sri Lanka Rs. 22.77. Clearly the Indian government has heavily subsidized these petro goods as compared to its neighbours. This explains why a lot of kerosene is smuggled to these countries. So our subsidies extend to our neighbours too. Following the maxim of “love thy neighbour” to the hilt, aren’t we?

Besides subsidizing petro goods, the government also subsidizes urban drinking water. According to an estimate, the government spends more than 0.5% of GDP in subsidizing water. This was meant to provide clean water at affordable rates to urban dwellers, primarily the poor. But as expected, the beneficiaries are the rich and the middle class. The poor slum dwellers have no access to clean drinking water. In fact they end up paying much higher costs for clean drinking water than the urban rich. 70-80% of the money spent on subsidizing water does not reach the poor.

As with most of the government schemes in India, the subsidy regime too exemplifies right intention but wrong implementation. The motive behind it cannot be questioned; however it has been distorted to serve selfish interests. Subsidies are provided in the developed countries as well but they reach the target population and thus serve their purpose well. In India subsidies have failed. PDS is fraught with corruption and pilferage and only help the corrupt become richer. The government lacks the will to correct the wrongdoings as it is funded by the embezzlers. The media has to make greater efforts and let the common people know the ugly truth behind the subsidy regime. There are other ways through which the poor can be helped, for instance through food/fuel stamps. These are not foolproof but lower the incidence of embezzlement and diversion. The subsidization of petro goods, especially kerosene, needs to end. In the name of the poor, the rich are minting money. The death of Mr. Sonawane has raised this issue once again and this time let the fire not be doused without having its due effect.

This time for Africa!

The Dark Continent is no longer dark! Individual torch lights have now come together creating dazzling sun-like radiance. The continent is aglow with the light of hope and sweet smell of ‘jasmine’ has perfumed the hearts and minds of these people. It all started in Tunisia, a tiny African country which most people had never heard about until now.

I remember how I looked a little baffled when I first met a Tunisian who went on to become a great friend. I had never even heard of the country 6 years back when I met her, leave alone knowing where in the world it was located. She, on the other hand, seemed to know quite a bit about India making me look like a total fool! A politically aware and active individual, she told me about the situation in her country, about how there are little political rights available to the Tunisians which attracts a large number of European tourists for its beautiful beaches. It was through her that I first learned about Ben Ali and his corrupt, autocratic regime. I asked her a rather naïve question then, “So why don’t you people revolt against him?” Her answer was simple. People have now got used to being subjugated. Any dissent is nipped in its bud. And they hardly have any example to follow as their neighbours fair no better on the democracy index. Nonetheless, she thought that change was much needed and there was simmering discontent amongst the people which hopefully would get channelized in the right direction someday.

Her words were proved right just couple of years down the lane. Educated, unemployed youth formed the bulwark of the revolution. They were able to topple one of the most autocratic regimes of the world and the ripples were to be felt as far as Russia. A tiny North African country has caught the imagination of people world over living under dictatorial governments. The autocrats of middle-east, North Africa, parts of central Asia are feeling the heat now and some of them have already taken some steps to placate their people but the spirit of revolution is spreading like wild fire.

After Tunisia, it is now the Egyptian streets that are boiling with anger against the dictatorial regime of Hosni Mubarak. Initially there was a lot of skepticism regarding the success of the Egyptian uprising but the “Million Man March” of February 1^st dispelled all the doubts. Egyptians are no longer ready to live under an autocrat. They want to send Mubarak away and establish a democratic regime and the world is with them.

Another African country that is seeing history being written is Sudan. Recently south Sudanese voted to secede from Sudan in a referendum in January 2011. Now, there are increased demands in Khartoum for democracy. High on revolutionary fervor transmitted to them by their fellow Africans, the Sudanese want to greater political and civil liberties.

Besides Africa, the Middle Eastern countries of Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan etc too are protesting against the autocrats ruling them. Yemen is the most conservative of all these countries. But here we have women protesting alongside men and no one is having any problem with that. The liberals, the conservatives, the feminists, the mullahs, all have forgotten their differences and are fighting for a greater cause. The facebook status of a Yemeni friend of mine sums the spirit of the people there. It says, “It's now or never...viva la revolution.”

It is worth noting that all these autocratic regimes have the support of western democracies. The West, particularly the US, has propped up these regimes to maintain its influence in this resource-rich region. But it has ended up losing goodwill amongst the common men who view the West with suspicion and in many cases, deep hatred.

When I learnt that the Tunisians had been able to remove their inefficient leader, the first thing I did was to send a congratulatory mail to my Tunisian friend. She sounded happy but also said that the greater challenge lay ahead in electing a good government. I again agree with her. The countries might very well succeed in ousting the inefficient leaders but the larger question is who would succeed them? These leaders have systematically killed every powerful voice of dissent. So it would be hard to find a suitable successor in these countries. The opposition is in shambles. In some of the countries the only united opposition is that of the Islamists who do not enjoy widespread support from people.

Africa has passed on the light of revolution to the rest of the world. Hopefully the jasmine which has started to blossom would turn into a beautiful flower retaining its fragrance for years to come.

sona - abhi nahin aana

A soulful song with great lyrics! The sweet pain of waiting depicted beautifully by Sona Mohapatra in her lovely voice.

Black Magic!

God save our poor politicians! With an active media and civil society, their peaceful, scamful life has already been wrecked and now there is another scare running amok amongst these hapless individuals. The fear of black magic! The dark powers are conspiring against them to topple them from their positions of power! The fear of these dark powers has made life a living hell for the CM of the state of Karnataka Mr. Yeddyurappa. His enemies are using the dreaded black arts to eliminate him, he claimed from his residence in Bangalore aka the "Silicon Valley of India." He is now seeking counsel from his astrologer B P Sharma to ward off these evil invisible forces. The latter has advised him to perform Suryanamaskar every day in buff. I must say that the astrologer is a smart cookie! He knows that even the sinister dark powers would not be able stand that sight and would scurry away.

Now those of you mocking the CM for his beliefs need to shut up once and for all! I totally agree with his statements regarding the existence of dark elements that have created a chaos in his life. They exist underground. There are certain elements that are only found deep below the ground. They have now come out of the dark and are tormenting the poor CM. The black has now revealed the work of some Red(dy) forces too. The CM's bonhomie with them made the lokayukta of the state see red causing much distress to Mr. Yeddyurappa. Colours are playing strange games with our beloved Yeddy.

There are also some dark winds blowing in the corridors of the CM's office putting a dark cloak on the happenings in there. The CM is not at fault if he too is unable to see things clearly in his office. Blame it on the dark winds that he didn't know that he was denotifying and allotting land to his kith and kin. He was unable see anything and didn't know where his hands were moving. The dark forces were making him do all that!

Yes! he is right that it was the play of black powers. These dark powers have now engulfed our system and are eating away its insides like termites. It is extremely important to destroy these forces before they leave us hollow. Each one of us needs to check the growth of these dark forces within us so that they do not make us commit acts which we are not able to accept later and put us to shame. If we do not curb them now, no amount of suryanamaskar or praying for divine intervention would be able to help our country.

Procrastination: Our birth right!

A Bangladeshi friend of mine once said, "Procrastination runs in the blood of the South-Asians." I couldn't have agreed more! Procrastination is something that is not taught to us. We are born with it. In my two-year stint as a student in the US, this fact became even clearer to me. Me and my fellow South-Asians could never manage to submit our assignments on time and when we did we would be all groggy-eyed the next day. But despite all our unpunctual habits, we managed to get good grades and I guess that served as a reinforcer.

I remember how I would go to my professors a day before the due date and almost beg for an extension. It was really easy initially as being a foreign student is always an asset. But later I really had to use my creativity and a bit of acting skills to get an extension. I had already killed my dead grandmothers thrice (of course with different professors from different departments). My poor grannies must be rolling in their graves each time I used their names for something as trivial as getting an extension. God! I was cheap!

My roommate who was an American tried her best to turn me into a "non-procrastinator" but how could I go against my own genes? So of course she failed in her numerous attempts.

I remember the last time she tried to "convert" me. I came back to my room after a long post-dinner chat session with friends in the dining hall. I saw her digged into her computer. This is how the conversation strated and ended :

Gill : "So I got an assignment today due next week and I have ALREADY started working on it and NOT wait for the last two days before the due date."

Me:  "And what would you do once you are done with your assignment?"

Gill: "I just sit back and relax."

Me: "Well I do the same except that I just prepone the relaxing to now. So see we two are essentially doing the same thing!"

Exasperated with my weird sense of logic, she gave a huge sigh and turned back towards her laptop to work on her paper.

Indeed there are some exceptions who do not belong to the league. After much diligence and discipline, they manage to reach a point where procrastination ceases to be in their dictionary. But they are, as I said, exceptions. And one such exception was another Bangladeshi friend of mine. He would always finish his work way ahead of time. The day before the due date he would be all smiles, looking at us with a sense of accomplishment when we would be skipping our dinners to start with our ten-page long assignments. But poor guy got into the wrong company. We activated the dormant "procrastination gene" in him. The first time the newly activated gene showed its effect was when he was seen furtively entering the dining hall getting his dinner in a box. It is not hard to spot a brown man in a sea of white people so we caught him in the act. When asked the reason he sheepishly said that he had a paper to submit the next day. Poor guy felt so guilty that he couldn't look into our eyes. Finally nature proclaimed victory over nurture! We gave ourselves a pat on our backs for bringing him back to his roots as from then on he became a habitual offender.

I remember how once I overdid the procrastination bit. I started working on a 15-page research paper for a class of one of the strictest professors of our college. She refused to give any extension so I had to pull an all nighter (my first ever) and ended up getting a C+.  That was my first C+ ever (and thankfully the last one)and served as a learning lesson for me. Though I couldn't get rid of the habit of procrastination, I decided to be a less extreme one. I still couldn't work on my assignments the day they were given to me, but I managed to finish them on the due date and never had to beg for extensions anymore.

There are many examples of procrastination that can be found throughout the length and breadth of the country in the form of delayed projects and massive cost and time overruns. But one that steals the crown is the Commonwealth Games as it made India a world leader in procrastination. Much has been read and seen about this. The stories about how water was being drained out of the basements even as the sportspersons arrived and how some of them had to get their rooms cleaned themselves have become favourite bedtime stories among kids. The remark by one of the Organizing committee members, Lalit Bhanot, regarding differing hygiene standards between Indians and foreigners has now entered the classics. But I wish to inform him that I do not know of any person who uses bathrooms with stained pots and basins and sleeps on sheets with marks of dog feet. I have never had the opportunity to visit Mr. Bhanot's house so I can't really comment on his bathrooms and bedrooms. Though the games went off well, it did some bad PR for us.

This procrastination made us infamous. But we refused to learn from our mistake and now again, barely a couple of months after CWG disaster, we have another procrastination classic. The Cricket World Cup is scheduled to be held in the sub-continent. Eden Gardens in Kolkata was to hold a match on February 27th. But since the refurbishing of the stadium could not be finished on time the venue had to be changed.

We failed to learn from our past mistakes. I am not asking our officials to be like Chinese and finish everything off 6 months before the deadline as that is something that requires a lot of training. All I wish them to do is to atleast meet the deadline. I learnt from my mistake and never got any thing less than an A- ever after my C+. But I think our Indian officials love to see a red-colored F on their report cards every time! Makes it look more colourful, eh?