The last of their kind

By all accounts, Dilip was a man of skill and patience. That afternoon must have been an afternoon like every other. The slanting rays of a benign sun had lit up the shimmering leaves and warmed the wild waters just right for their daily dip. Dilip must have been looking forward to spending the afternoon with Shankar who had been his constant companion for nearly a year now.

Dilip must have playfully goaded Shankar a little on their walk to the water that day. Who knows what dark thoughts were triggered in that moment. Shankar’s crazed mind had been smouldering all day. All it needed was a little prodding from Dilip for all that passionate fury to explode. Shankar pulled  Dilip from his shoulder and flung him to the ground. Shocked and startled, Dilip must have screamed out Shankar’s name in fear and hope. But Shankar was too far gone. All he knew was his bloodlust. His aching head and throbbing loins had driven him to the edge. He needed to bury his frustrations, either in an act of passionate love or reckless, mindless violence.

Dilip’s cries fell on ears deafened by the madness. His life-breath burst out of him as his organs collapsed and his once robust form was crushed as Shankar trampled the man who had cared for his every need during his time in Chandaka. Dilip’s heart rending scream pierced the darkening sky, setting the stage for a haunting silence that followed. But the dull thunk-thunk-thunk of a relentless Shankar flailing away at Dilip’s crumpled body went on for a while. Once he realized that the man was no more, Shankar stopped and stared balefully at the mangled corpse. One couldn’t tell if it was remorse or unquenched anger that still clouded Shankar’s beady eyes. As horrified onlookers who were too scared to intervene finally mustered enough courage to try and take Dilip away, Shankar threatened to dismember anybody who dared to come close.

The gigantic tusker stood over the mahout’s body, guarding it for hours, until forest officials managed to tranquilize the elephant and retrieve what remained of Dilip.

Shankar had a reputation as a mahout killer. `Dilip was his third victim. Training and riding elephants is a one of the world’s most hazardous professions. The very scale of the dynamics between puny human beings and the world’s largest land mammal, even with the elephants being as gentle as they can be makes fatal accidents nearly inevitable. Matters are compounded further when male captive elephants become ‘musth’, a seasonal state of extreme sexual arousal which when unrequited finds expression in testosterone charged violence and aggression. Usually male elephants secrete an oily liquid from their temporal glands and dribble urine constantly – signs that the mahouts should be wary and take extreme precautions…

Mahouts can go wrong with reading the signs. Dilip did, and paid for the oversight with his life last November.
I was worried about that while I drove towards the banks of the Yamuna. That’s where you would find Delhi’s haathiwallahs and I was due for a refresher course in elephant riding. I had had a few sessions in the art from a tiny master mahout with a big thick moustache. They called him Phool Singh. But Phool Singh and his elephant were out on ‘government duty’ I was told and so I had arranged for a few lessons with a neighbouring elephant camp.

To get to the camp, one had to drive off the road that bridged the banks of the once mighty Yamuna and onto a dirt track that led down a steep incline. The camp was basically a ramshackle  shed with a pair of cots and dirty mouldy mattresses. Howdahs, elephant saddles, were stacked on top of each other. Charkatiyas, fodder cutters, and mahouts sat around a game of cards and the elephants, two tall females and one rather rotund juvenile swayed about like they were plugged into invisible ipods while in the distance, a massively muscled male with a domed head, chewed impassively on a stack of sugarcane. His creamy tusks  were long and thick, sticking out like sabers from a phalanx. The tips had been sawed off and capped with rings.  I wondered if it had been done because the behemoth had a penchant for sticking them into ‘soft targets’.

“kya chahiye babuji!’ Startled, I turned. I was so intent on taking in the sight of his immense magnificence that I didn’t notice the tall gaunt figure that had crept up behind me. Old worn leather sandals tied around veined feet and thick yellow toenails, a lungi draped around a pair of stork like legs, and a long loose kurta folded at the sleeves covered a lean but broad frame. A  long henna dyed beard framed a wide mouth scattered with pop-corn like wobbly teeth, kohl lined eyes and a head shaved bald completed the picture of the man standing in front of me. I explained that I had called the previous day, given Phool Singh’s reference and mentioned that I wanted to learn how to ride and elephant. A slow realization dawned on the man. He nodded and he turned to his right to call out to one of the boys. But as he turned, I saw the left side of his head and I kid you not, a lesser man would have evacuated the contents of the day’s breakfast on the spot. It took a whole lot of choking back to hold things in. From a couple of inches behind his left temple, spanning the length of his skull ran an ugly gash. The skin had split open and I could see his skull, peeping out from behind. The wound had a yellowish hue, perhaps because of some turmeric based ointment or anti-biotic cream. He saw the involuntary grimace that try as I might, I couldn’t rub away and said “hathi ne mar diya… I was cleaning the area where the elephants are chained, sweeping with a broom while I had bent over, when the elephant just playfully knocked me over with its foot. The animal’s  toe nail caught my head and ripped it open. There was so much blood and my head hurt so bad… didn’t think I would make it. Been two weeks now… It is ok now”

It’s an uneasy truce between man and elephant. Though revered by us for its association with the elephant headed god, Lord Ganesha, domestic elephants lead a rather wretched existence. Most might have enough to eat, but their feet catch infections in their confined quarters. The burning roads in summer, the noise and the pollution in our cities, the cramped living conditions and the cruel methods of catching and training these gentle giants drives these animals to the very edge of their sanity. The cruelest cut of all the  isolation that these highly social and intelligent animals have to endure. Not only are they separated from their herd and family in captivity but even the primal instinct to roam is crushed under the weight of the heavy chains that constrict their freedom. Male elephants suffer even more when they are almost spread eagled with chains for days and weeks while they are in ‘musth’. Given the circumstances it is almost a miracle that many more mahouts don’t end up like Dilip.

One of the charkatiyas came up to me to lead me to the tusker, Bhola, who stood like a granite statue, with flapping ears. His mahout, Saif, a young lad barely out of his teens, was tying the howdah on his broad back. While the boy struggled with the ropes, the elephant ruffled his hair affectionately with his trunk. The boy pushed the trunk away, scolded the animal that towered over his frail frame and moved towards the tail. For a while the elephant played with a stick of cane and then as soon as the boy walked back towards the elephant’s flank, I could swear I saw an impish glint sparkle in the elephant’s eye as he dropped the cane and ruffled the boy’s hair again. The boy rebuked the elephant and pushed the trunk away but then softened, laughed and rubbed the big belly. The bull elephant let out a deep contented growl and curled his trunk around the boy’s wrist and got a few more pats for his effort.

I couldn’t imagine this pair ending up like Dilip and Shankar, and yet… and yet…

There were so many questions swirling in my head. How would I fit in with these two? What will happen to this boy when this elephant’s gone? It is illegal to buy and sell elephants now, so are these the last of their kind? The ancient art of training elephants is all but dead. Is that a good thing? So what happens to the mahouts?

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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From the barrel of a gun

The Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh is a warning that ultras are getting increasingly desperate in an election year, says Anil Dwivedi

The Maoists are waging a ‘do or die’ battle in the badlands of Chhattisgarh. Contrary to popular perception, their lot is getting desperate. Their children instead of taking up arms in the countryside for the cause of revolution are opting for what youngsters do these days – choose the laptop route to greater glories in life. The presence of crack anti-Naxalite Cobra battalions, heavily armed para-military forces and now even the Indian army, have severely restricted their mobility and ability to influence the scope of the movement.

In such a situation, the latest and the most deadly Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh which claimed 29 lives, merely reflects their desperation to galvanise cadres and restore the flagging morale of the party rank and file. By the time of going to press, 32 others are battling between life and death.

While Chhattisgarh has been for close to a decade the epicentre of the extreme left movement, this attack which took place on May 25 constitutes the first and the most brazen attack on leading lights of a major political party.

According to details provided by DGP Mukesh Gupta and the accounts of eyewitnesses, a 20-strong caravan of Congress leaders had concluded their parivartan (development) rally at Sukna and were returning to district headquarters in Jagdalpur when they were ambushed by around 250 ultras who burst bombs and exchanged heavy gun fire. On their radars were Congress leaders in the entourage: one by one senior state leaders were identified and shot. Among those killed were prominent state Congressmen, Salwa Judum leader Mahendra Karma, Chhattisgarh Congress president Nandlal Patel and son Dinesh Patel, former legislator Uday Mudliar and Congress leader Gopi Madhwani. Those on the seriously injured list included veteran Congressman and former union minister VC Shukla and former Bastar MP Kawasi Lakma, both among a clutch of leaders currently fighting for their lives in various ICUs. Such was the daring of the attack that a number of security personnel attached to the VIPs could do no more than be moot spectators as the crowd of Maoist trigger happy gunmen went on the rampage. An attack of this magnitude is something that the state’s security paraphernalia clearly overlooked. Among the visitors were Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The Union home ministry has called for a report by the Chhattisgarh government but early indications suggest that the attack was carried by out by the Dandakarniya special zonal committee and the CPI (Maoist) central committee.

Investigations now suggest that the entourage was headed for Gadiras but the route was changed at the last minute by some local leaders who opted to use the Tongpal and Darbaghati road. While confusion remains on who ordered the change of route, Congress has taken pains to deny that one of them had ordered this change at the last minute. While there were due intelligence warnings, the success of the Congress rally blinded them to the fact that they were deep inside Red territory. Chhattisgarh Congress spokesman Nitin Trivedi has alleged a serious security lapse saying that while force deployment during rallies by BJP Chief Minister Raman Singh was heavy, there was hardly any security during the Congress rally leaving leaders totally vulnerable. Former CM Ajit Jogi has blamed the Sukna SP Abhishek Shandilya for not acting on time. He has also flayed those who claim he had a hand in the attack saying that “Such incidents should not be politicised,” lending weight to rumours that it could have been an inside Congress job. 

The killings have underlined the fragile political situation in Maoist-dominated Chhattisgarh and sent shock waves all over the country and the state. Demands for deploying the army was nipped in the bud by Union Defence Minister AK Anthony. But at the moment, the NIA under the Union Home Secretary RK Singh has begun a probe.

But the defence ministry in consort with the state government has ordered IAF choppers to identify Maoist hotspots after aerial surveys, the borders of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh have been sealed and a 600-strong Cobra force has spread itself in the wilds hot on the heels of the killers. In addition, 2,000 additional para-military forces are going to be deployed keeping the state elections in mind which are due later this year. All this comes as an add on in a state which already has 30,000 para-military troops stationed specially for this purpose.

While the deaths of Congress stalwarts has rocked the state, the death of known anti-Naxalite activist and former legislator Mahendra Karma is seen as a body blow to forces opposed to the Maoist guns. With the death of Nandlal Patel, the polite and highly-rated Congress president of the state, the party has to start afresh in an election year. Patel’s efforts had boosted the Congress that was beginning to see the light of a fresh dawn under his leadership. The bigger question now is who will replace Patel? According to party insiders, in an effort to control Congress sweepstakes, the names of Minister of State in the Union Cabinet Charandas Mahant, Renu Jogi, wife of former CM Ajit Jogi, TS Singhdeo and Satyanarayan Sharma are doing the rounds.

After the kidnapping of Chhattisgarh Deputy Collector Alex Paul Menon in April 2012, the Naxalites were waiting to score a big hit to keep their own flock in order. Intelligence officials say the plan to hit the Congress contingent was chalked out by top Maoist commanders Ganapati, Vinod, Gaganna and Ramanna, all of whom are active in the dense forest on the Andhra Pradesh-Chhattisgarh border. The presence of local tribals has been ruled out, considering that both Karma and Patel were only identified after they had put up their hands in a show of surrender and then shot.Karma had long been on the hit list of Naxalites. An embattled Raman Singh has called for talks with ultras saying ‘if we can talk to terrorists, then what is the harm in talking to ‘our own boys’? Similar tactics by the CM in the Menon kidnapping case could well have led to this outcome because then, after promising the release of Naxalites lodged in various jails, the state government had declined to do so. No ultras have been released and it looks unlikely now that Maoists will return to the table for talks. In a poll year, it could be crucial.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Urban ghettos

The building collapse in Thane which claimed 72 lives was an accident waiting to happen. Muslim localities are sitting on a powderkeg, reports Danish Reyaz

About two years back in Thane’s Mumbra, it was not uncommon to see Fahim Ghare, a young man in his early thirties, hanging out with his bunch of buddies until he was able to lay his hands on a piece of land and erected a one-storey structure within a fortnight.

For a man who did not have much at hand, Fahim’s rise and rise can be considered symptomatic of the times we live in. Within no time, he was driving a brand new two wheeler. But the one-storey was not enough to fuel his ambitions. Within no time, the structure was raised three storeys high and Fahim had moved from driving his two-wheeler to handling a swanky Skoda sedan. For him, life had moved into the fast lane. From three, his building rose to nine floors, all within an unbelievable three months’ - on 1000 square feet of land. A vast migratory cycle ensured that people from low income groups came and settled in the building, the absence of water and power supply hardly any hindrance to their skewed existence. More than anything else, it was this sense of owning a piece of property, a place under the sun, so to speak, that acted as a catalyst.

Fahim is doing what many other young men have done all over the country in predominantly Muslim pockets – in Topsia, Beniapukur, Tangra and Tijala (Kolkata), Jamia Nagar (New Delhi) and Juhapura (Ahmedabad). They are all good examples to illustrate this phenomenon which is now a becoming a growing trend. Which is no small surprise because the one thing common thread that runs through all these ghettos are an utter absence of basic amenities like power, water supply, drainage, government schools, hospitals and access to transport.

Fahim has found a way to beat the system. The first and second storey of his illegal building has been cunningly sold to a school. Children, small and young descend there, study, play and leave safely for their homes.

So while the happy story continues, no one quite knows what lies tomorrow. Municipal officials say that given the time period within which this and other such buildings are `constructed’, safety issues are paramount and come to the fore only in accidents such as the building collapse in Thane which claimed 72 unfortunate people, most of them migrants, in April this year.

So while Fahim merrily continued with his `civil engineering’ feats in open connivance with municipal authorities, people in the neighborhood stood as mute spectators. The reason? His proximity to the local MLA and former mayor of Thane meant he had the system wired.

There are a number of Fahims to be found in Mumbra and elsewhere whose rags-to-riches story can only be matched with the pace of the structures they erect illegally.

Rajan Kine, corporator from Mumbra, puts the blame squarely on the municipal corporation and other authorities saying it is they who have allowed the illegal constructions to flourish. ``Without the consent from authorities, not a brick can be laid down for construction,’’ he says.

People like Fahim are quick to use such stagnant loopholes to carry on with their business uninterrupted. Technically speaking, the Mumbra-Kausa region falls into the forest area and due to its proximity to water bodies, does not lie in the “R” zone. Hence, according to rules and regulations pertaining to construction, the region is unfit for constructing residential structures. Rajan Kine alleges that since the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Jitendra Awhad came to power, construction of eight to nine storey buildings within a time span of three to four months has become the norm.

In Kolkata, the tale repeats itself – albeit tarred with a political brush. ``As far as illegal constructions in Topsia are concerned, all of them were constructed during the former Left Front regime,’’ points out Sovan Chatterjee, Mayor of Kolkata and a Trinamool Congress appointee.

Chatterjee now says that the Kolkata Municipal Corporation is clamping down on illegal constructions of this kind. In the last six months, he says, 70 cases of illegal construction have been traced and 40 FIRs lodged. ``Illegal construction has become a hindrance to development in the City of Joy. After bribing anti-social elements and policemen, people construct illegal buildings,’’ says Kolkata-based architect Azim Danish.

Says Affan Ahmed Kamil, director at Urban Buildcon Solutions Pvt. Ltd. ``illegal construction in New Delhi’s Okhla is the result of vote bank politics. People, usually migrant labourers, are settled en masse and exploited as vote banks. This follows official recognition.”

According to media activist Ghulam Mohammed,``Mumbra, a Muslim ghetto, could have been a model town if the community had not been discriminated against by the communal governments of Mumbai and Maharashtra. Thousands of `illegal’ buildings all over the city and suburbs of Greater Mumbai are turned legitimate through bribe. However, for Muslim entrepreneurs, even that route is closed. So there remains no alternative for the so-called dropout 'builders' other than to take the 'criminal' route. They are forced to remain outside the legal and official framework. Mumbra could have been a planned city, just like Sharad Pawar's Lavasa. But Muslims have no political clout and no access to bank finances. They are forced to work with whatever means available to them. At least they are getting employment for themselves and their workers. If they had finances available like the Bohra community's Bhendi Bazaar Project, they could have come out with flying colours with their flair for entrepreneurship.”

Analysts believe the disastrous crash of the eight-storey building in Thane could have been avoided if authorities had recognized the genuine needs of hundreds of thousands of families uprooted during the Mumbai riots. Since the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation continues to be run by the Shiv Sena that had unleashed the post-Babri Masjid riots of Bombay two decades ago, the gulf between the two communities is still wide and glaring.

Whatever the reasons – and there are many – there is no denying the fact that it is largely due to the lack of attention, deliberate or otherwise, on part of the corporations, that give rise to land sharks and the builder mafia in the society who in the absence of any regulator in the real estate sector, continue with their own merry illegal ways.

Clearly, there are more such collapses and deaths in the offing, but frankly no one is quite bothered. Typically, in the case of the Thane building collapse, after a few noises and a couple of lowly arrests, everything has been conveniently forgotten. For those who live in those hell holes, it was just another day in their lives.

Read more......

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA

Return of The King

By strongly backing Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan has chosen certainty, stability, giving him a definite edge over Imran Khan's Naya Pakistan
Standing at the front door of his house in Karachi on the eve of Pakistan's elections, Mohsin looked the typical south Asian who had just been informed that his daughter has eloped. Liberal, upwardly mobile and a scribe who champions the cause of minorities and women, Mohsin was positively shaken by the drubbing Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) got at the hustings. His shock is understandable. While for most Pakistanis, it was a historic chance to exercise their democratic franchise, for Mohsin it was the unravelling of five years of progressive policies. He makes light of the image of the PPP government tarnished by corruption and non-performance. “Jeene nahi dete the, magar peene to dete the,” he says about his favourite political party (they at least allowed us a drink). Although airy fairy, the remark sums up the response of those who got drubbed in the recently-concluded Pakistan elections.


Mohsin's cynicism notwithstanding, the general elections in Pakistan was something to remember. The fact that it was the first back-to-back elections in Pakistan that saw the completion of the term of a democratically elected government, made it a historic occasion.

But this was not all. Positive participation of youths, the escalation in voting percentages, the unprecedented security arrangements to take on unprecedented security threats, the decimation of political dynasties and the crack in the traditional “biradari (caste) system”, have all combined to make these elections memorable.

Let's look at the results first. As the story goes for print, the results of 267 National Assembly (NA) constituencies out of 272 that were up for grabs was announced. Repolling was ordered in one constituency in Karachi following complaints of massive rigging, where as elections in four constituencies were postponed due to the death of contestants and other reasons.

Of the announced results, Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) emerged as the single largest party by winning as many as 126 seats. The figure is a little short of the simple majority mark but still formidable in a country where regional aspirations often lead to hung verdicts.

According to the provisions laid out by the Constitution of Pakistan, as many as 70 seats are awarded to women and minority candidates through a complex process. This process is similar to the winner-takes-all system which prevails in some states of the US. What it means is that Nawaz's PML (N) will take close to 25 women seats from Punjab and a couple of seats from elsewhere. Minority seats too are contested. PML (N) can expect to bag a couple here too. It will move the party closer to the halfway mark. It is certain to get the support of several independents who won the elections following denial of ticket by PML (N). In short, it will easily form the government.

Although the lion's share of PML (N) seats came from its stronghold and Pakistan's most populated province, Punjab, the party did register its presence in other provinces as well. Its ally PML (F) bagged five seats in Sindh and will help boost PML (N) numbers.

The party also won four National Assembly seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), two from Federal Administered Tribal Agencies (FATA) and a lone seat from Islamabad region while scoring a zilch in Balochistan.

The ruling disposition, PPP, suffered one of the worst drubbings in its political history under the leadership of President Asif Ali Zardari. The party managed to hold on to its stronghold Sindh which contributes 30 out of the 31 seats it won nationally. The self claimed “only truly national party of Pakistan” managed to win just one seat in Punjab and was wiped out in Balochistan, KPK, FATA and the Islamabad region.

Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) did post a remarkable figure, hypes around it apart. It won 29 National Assembly seats and will probably reach the figure of 30 when polls in the other four constituencies take place. PTI nearly swept the province of KPK by bagging 17 out of the 35 seats that went to polls. It also won eight seats in Punjab, two in FATA and lone seats from Sindh and Islamabad region respectively. If one goes strictly by the spread of seats, PTI's emergence as a truly national party remains the biggest story of these Pakistan elections.

Of the Provincial Assembly (PA) seats, PML (N) is set to win a majority in Punjab even after being provided solid competition by PTI in the urban seats. It is also set to form a coalition government in Balochistan, where it secured nine seats, by going into a coalition with Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and the Baloch nationalist, National Party (NP), who have a combined figure of 26 of the 51 general seats in the PA.

The PkMAP that represent the interests of Pakhtuns in Balochistan, emerged as the largest party in the PA having clinched 10 seats, whereas NP bagged eight. After the allotment of the reserved seats for women and religious minorities, the combined strength of the three parties will increase to 36 in a house of 65 and they will be able to comfortably form a government. Some other independents are also ready to join PML (N)'s victory party. Four names circulating in the provincial capital for the post of chief minister include former Senate deputy chairman Mir Mohammad Jamali, Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, Nawabzada Jangez Khan Marri of the PML-N and Nawab Ayaz Khan Jogezai of the PkMAP.

Sindh is a different ball-game altogether where PPP is placed comfortably to form a government of its own and may decide to bring in Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to share power who, as expected, swept the city of Karachi where they bagged 18 NA and 36 PA seats amidst accusation of vote rigging.

In KPK, efforts are on by PTI who emerged as the single largest party with 35 out of 99 seats to form a coalition with Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), which won seven PA seats. There are reports that Maulana Fazlur Rehman was in contact with both JI and PML (N) leaders to form a government, following his rivalry with Imran Khan.

But JI sources told TSI that it is most likely to be part of PTI-formed government. “JI has nothing against Maulana Fazlur Rehman but it would be unfair on PTI if they are not allowed to form a government after winning majority of the seats in KPK,” said the source.

Although the verdict for PML (N) is thumping, there are some evident - and some not so evident - trends that this election has thrown up. The first is the clear mandate for stability and familiarity. Imran Khan's major election plank was “Naya Pakistan”, never mind what it meant. Their idea was to completely revolutionize the way people perceive and vote in elections in Pakistan. Imran did manage to strike a chord with the urban voter who has been at the receiving end of the ever-present and omnipresent security threats, economic stagnation, unemployment and chronic energy crisis.

The imagination of this generation-apathetic at best and apolitical at worst-was fired by Imran Khan who singularly energized them to claim their rights which they did in large numbers. And this hike in voting was evident all over Pakistan. The average voting percentage confined to their 30s and 40s in the last five elections, suddenly jumped to above 50 percent in all the provinces except Balochistan, because of obvious reasons.

Media and civil society also did their bit for democracy. Some TV channels, notably Geo, and almost all the major civil society groups ran a spirited campaign asking people to come out and vote. Street performances, TV ads, monikers, every weapon in the kitty was used to bring the voters out. But what sunk Imran Khan was the fact that not all youngsters who came out to vote, voted for him. In a democracy, it is an established fact.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Albert Einstein to Eric Gutkind

In January of 1954, just a year before his death, Albert Einstein wrote the following letter to philosopher Eric Gutkind after reading his book, "Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt," and made known his views on religion. Apparently Einstein had only read the book due to repeated recommendation by their mutual friend Luitzen Egbertus Jan Brouwer. The letter, as it is said, is full and frank.

Princeton, 3. 1. 1954

Dear Mr Gutkind,

Inspired by Brouwer's repeated suggestion, I read a great deal in your book, and thank you very much for lending it to me. What struck me was this: with regard to the factual attitude to life and to the human community we have a great deal in common. Your personal ideal with its striving for freedom from ego-oriented desires, for making life beautiful and noble, with an emphasis on the purely human element. This unites us as having an "unAmerican attitude."

Still, without Brouwer's suggestion I would never have gotten myself to engage intensively with your book because it is written in a language inaccessible to me. The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still purely primitive, legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation, no matter how subtle, can change this for me. For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstition. And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong, and whose thinking I have a deep affinity for, have no different quality for me than all other people. As far as my experience goes, they are also no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything "chosen" about them.

In general I find it painful that you claim a privileged position and try to defend it by two walls of pride, an external one as a man and an internal one as a Jew. As a man you claim, so to speak, a dispensation from causality otherwise accepted, as a Jew the privilege of monotheism. But a limited causality is no longer a causality at all, as our wonderful Spinoza recognized with all incision, probably as the first one. And the animistic interpretations of the religions of nature are in principle not annulled by monopolization. With such walls we can only attain a certain self-deception, but our moral efforts are not furthered by them. On the contrary.

Now that I have quite openly stated our differences in intellectual convictions it is still clear to me that we are quite close to each other in essential things, i.e; in our evaluations of human behavior. What separates us are only intellectual "props" and "rationalization" in Freud's language. Therefore I think that we would understand each other quite well if we talked about concrete things.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA

The Muslim Mandate

To offset Narendra Modi, Congress is quite prepared to pander to dangerous minority sentiments, says Sutanu Guru
A friend recently pointed out in jest (but with a touch of gravitas) that if all noble intentions and all well meaning policies to promote the well being of minorities in India were honestly implemented over the last 65 odd years, then Muslims would have a higher per capita income than even Jews! Spoken in jest yes, but that just about sums up the shoddy, top down, hand me down and patronizing manner in which Muslims have been treated in this so-called secular country. Lets not repeat the statistics that all of us are familiar with: whether it is the bureaucracy or the corporate jungle, Muslims struggle to find jobs. The successful Muslim entrepreneurs are success stories despite government red tape, not because of favourable policies. And of course when it comes to human development indicators, Muslims invariably find a place at the bottom of the heap.

And yet, huge sections of mainstream English media and academia blindly support the so-called secular parties come election time when it comes to new sops for minorities. Of course, if the bogey in the Indira Gandhi era was the mysterious ‘foreign hand’ that was to blame for all our ills, the bogey in this Sonia Gandhi era is ‘communal forces’. A majority of Indians instinctively shy away from communalism. But it would be laughable to say that a majority of Indian politicians share the same sentiments. And it would be a travesty to accept the myth peddled by mainstream English media and the academia that the Congress is secular.

The fact is, political parties, the Congress more than anybody else, understand the language and logic of power and have no qualms about means as long the end(retaining power) is achieved. For quite some time, the brains trust of the Congress (Have no doubt about their brains, apart from some individual exceptions like Rahul Gandhi) has realized that there is something dangerously seductive about that outsider and ‘impostor’ called Narendra Modi. Despite repeated assaults by the party and the faithful scattered across media, academia and the world of activism, Modi refuses to fade away. This is a man who could teach lessons in marketing and branding strategy to the bunch of Ivy League baba log who advice Rahul Gandhi. No wonder, despite zero evidence that Modi has the power, the ability and the charisma to lure enough voters outside Gujarat, the Congress seems to have pushed the panic button. The Modi hype (And I would still call it hype unless he delivers Delhi to the BJP in 2014) is so potent that almost all the energies of the Congress satraps and sycophants are getting spent on either belittling or demonising Modi.

One thing the Congress strategists know with confidence is that a hell of lot of Muslims across India are very hostile towards Modi. BJP supporters can go blue in the face to defend the Modi track record during the Gujarat riots, but the fact is that politics is often more about perceptions than facts. And the fact is that a majority of Indian Muslims do not really love Modi. The Congress brains trust knows this; just as it knows that it has decisively lost the middle class vote that gave Dr Manmohan Singh and the UPA a second term. For the party, it is crucial to convince (or scare) Muslim voters into opting for the Congress at least as the lesser of the two evils in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. You simply cannot fault the Congress logic at least when it comes to the art of winning elections: if Muslims ‘come back’ to the Congress fold fearful of a Modi victory, then UPA 3 becomes a distinct, if distant, possibility. Who gives a damn about India when South Block is at stake?

It is this logic that prompts the Congress to aggressively push two new ‘Muslim friendly’ policies. The first has been in the works for a while while the second is a new rabbit out of God knows whose hat. The first one is already popular as the Communal Violence Bill that might just become an Act and then law if all ‘secular’ parties in quest of Muslim votes gang up in Parliament to pass it. I will not get into a detailed analysis of this Bill. I will just briefly summarize. If this Bill becomes law, the majority community will automatically and always be the guilty party in the event of a communal incident or riot. If this Bill becomes law, any minority citizen can make an anonymous complaint against a majority citizen accusing him or her of spreading communal feelings and the accused can be arrested immediately. If this Bill becomes law, then top government functionaries of a district like the DM, the SP or the Collector become automatically guilty of dereliction of duty if a communal incident or riot occurs. Much has already been written about the disastrously dangerous consequences of this Bill. I will only say that we are encouraging the creation of yet another Pakistan by advocating such foolish schemes that claim to protect minorities. The second equally disastrous move has been announced by the inimitable and unique Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. He is advocating a policy that will set up special courts for Muslims who have been `falsely' arrested on charges of terrorism. Now, there is no doubt that many innocent Muslims have been framed by Indian cops out to score points and earn promotions. But then that is the destiny of virtually all poor Indians irrespective of caste, creed or religion. When it comes to corruption and an opportunity to extort money, rogue Indian cops do not bother about religion of the victim; they are truly secular in at least this aspect! That great protector of media freedom and motormouth Justice Katju has also jumped into the bandwagon of this cause, as have many “loyal” activists.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA

New release? Rush to...God!!

Never has God been so passionately wooed by the most unlikely devotees as before a movie-release! Monojit Lahiri examines this fascinating phenomenon!

By God... it’s rather odd”, as the Brits might say! It truly is. Here are B-town’s red-hot Dudes & divas, all glitz, glam, gloss, sexy, macho & cool, flashing style & altitude, 24*7, blitzing every available nook & cranny of every conceivable media avenue to gain that extra (publicity) edge over their rival & dig deeper into fan space, living the 10-star perfumed life of the pampered celeb where gossip, scandal, fights, bitching, jealousies, insecurities, posturing & exhibitionism come with the turf, right? However, come a big release & these very same flamboyant, flashy hotties drop everything, change into sack cloth & ashes & make a beeline – folded hands, closed eyes – for the mandir/masjid/religious place of their choice. Religious or not, this is one bulawa they religiously (pun intended) respond to with startling speed because it is closely connected to their future! So suddenly this super-brash hunk – or gorgeous fashionista – super confident about everything is reduced to an everyday, normal, god-fearing mortal, jittery & insecure as hell, leveraging he power of prayer in the hope that the big boy above waves the film through to the select Rs 100 crore club! The latest in the “Help-God!’ trip was the beautiful Kat Kaif who was reported to have made a quick air dash to Ajmer Sharif to seek the blessings of Moinuddin Chisti. Wearing a black trad outfit, head covered the Sheila-ki-Jawani item bomb was a zillion miles away from showbiz & appeared perfectly cast as the earnest devotee requesting god to bless ger latest starrer, Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Considering her fab track record with prayers in this shrine – Ek Tha Tiger & Mere Brother Ki Dulhan - & the readymade 40 carat glow that the film carries, Kaif could well register a hat-trick! Earlier the entire team of the Ajay Devgn – Starrer Son of Sardar – JTHJ’s big rival – was said to have visited the divine Golden Temple in Amritsar, seeking blessings for their film. Several other big cats & banners of Bollywood have, over the years, been moved – literally & otherwise – to fall on the feet of their favourite deity & pray that their film does well. After all, in the final reckoning, beyond star-glow, hysterical promotions, monster budget, spectacular locales, gorgeous music & romance, drama & conflict, action & emotion, there is only one judge n’ jury who can seal the fate of the film… God!

So what does one make of it… does it real make sense? Is it ridiculous dramabaazi? Superstition in action… or just a normal invocation to the almighty to bless their project?

Behavioral Scientist Mira Kakkar thinks that B-town gets the rap for any & every thing it does because of the glamorous space & slot they occupy. “Don’t all organizations hold mahurats, Pujas & religious ceremonies before they commence operations start a new, ambitious project? How come no one bats an eyelid then? It’s a part of the Indian tradition to invoke the blessings of the almighty, so what’s the big deal? Katrina & Ajay did what most big honchos in business & industry do: seek aashirwad. Their being hi-profile luminaries of the glambiz don’t - shouldn’t – erode or trivialize their intent. Sure, a lot of the stuff stars do is for attention-grabbing but that comes with the territory they reside in. To count this as one of them is both insensitive & inaccurate.” Vikas Kharbanda doesn’t agree. The Delhi-based Communication specialist finds “these excursions into god-land hilarious because they are so obviously opportunistic! All year, they live the extravagant life of the pampered rich & famous but the moment a big-ticket release comes up, they turn trembling devotees & mosey across to their favourite gods for maska! God is not that dumb, okay, so he lets his silence do the blessing! Win some, lose some. If these filmy blokes concentrated a little more on the quality of their films & less on shrine-excursions, they may have been better placed. When will their dramabazi stop?

Grow up guys & stop pressuring the old boy! He has enough on his plate!” Film scholar Partho Chatterjee agrees. “It has nothing to do with religion, faith or devotion… it’s about naked commerce! Crores have been sunk into the project, so, please god, let there be a good ROI! It’s a plain & simple business compulsion, a fervent plea to the Big Boss to make the film flop-proof & Rs 100 crore friendly! God must be having a blast seeing these Oscar-winning movies! Funnily, when some of these films strike gold & rake in the stuff, not too much is heard about divine blessings or intervention during the celebration parties!” B-town fan, Neha Sarin supports this move, full-on. Articulates the Dubai-based Housewife. “Mira is right. Bollywood remains the most convenient & favourite punching bag of all the righteous kill-joys who smell a rat wherever they go!

These judgmental, khadoos breed never give these guys any credit or benefit of doubt. Holy shrines belong to everybody & devotees going there don’t need an entry-card/permission from this cynical lot! They have invested blood, sweat & big bucks in their project, so is it a sin to go to these places of worship & ask the blessings of the respected deities/Holy people & pray for their success? Why call it dramabaazi & opportunism when most everyday people do the same? Be honest – How many times do we actually remember god without motive in our everyday lives? Don’t we too seek his blessings on special occasions to fulfill special needs... aren’t these releases too special occasions? C’mon gimme a break! B-town is a soft target. People living in glass houses…”

Phew – quite a mouthful, huh? Cut to another track. This one beams live from Ajmer Sharif – the favourite religious destiny of B-town personalities, big & small. There too opinions seem to be divided between the powers that are regarding the Industry’s agenda, intent & objective of their visit. Dangah Dewan Zainul Abedin Ali Khan – the hereditary Sajjada-nashin of Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisty – believes that a holy place must not be used as a platform for anything that is forbidden by Islamic law. Film stars, he says come there to seek blessings for their films & promote them through the media. He has no problem with the film frat visiting the dargaah, but “mazaar pe CD rakh ke jaate hain, who galat hai.” Why? Because, he explains all sorts of obscene & immoral elements could be in the movie that is blasphemy! He requests all Islamic intellectuals to pay urgent attention to this issue & not remain quiet. He further believes that Ajmer Sharif being such a popular & revered place, Yahan aakar publicity ke liye who yeh sab karte hain. Woh ashleelta ka paros rahe hain,religious jagah pe.” However the Khadim at the Dargah is clearly not on the same page. Avers Qutubuddin Sakhi, “A celebrity or a commoner comes here to pray for his/her well being – not publicity. Bollywood stars have been coming here for the last two decades & more those who feel strongly against & more. Those who feel strongly against this are entitled to their opinion but have no authority to ban them.” Religious heads of another eminent dargah, Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin agree & take it forward. States Syed Afsar Ali Nizami – dargah-in-charge – “To say that stars or directors are using this holy place for commercial purpose & degrading moral values is completely wrong. If the stars believe that their visits at these holy shrines will get their wishes fulfilled, what’s wrong?

Read more.......

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA