Highway * * *

Okay so, you know that story right, where a rich girl has that sudden urge to run away one day before the her lavish wedding into the lap of the nature and to explore the real meaning of our lives which one can only find beyond the four walls of comforts. Imtiaz Ali uses the same frame but as they say, do not judge a book by its cover. The movie has so much more to offer than the regular sized rom-com with the pretty lady falling in love with a troubled man from the ghetto. And surely he produces yet another masterpiece of the league of "Jab We Met" and "Rockstar". A more spiritual and philosophical one though!

So Veera (Alia Bhatt) apparently is having this life crisis courtesy her born-with-a-silver-spoon past, the prospect of getting married to the likes of her parents and the invisible cage that she is always into.She feels suffocated in this zone of comfort as if the air of freedom has been viciously sucked out of it in the disguise of protection and purity. She wants to break free. She wants to be in the open. She wants to run away. She has been warned of the dangers which are waiting outside. No body tells her of the enemy who is inside.She had been violated at times but was too afraid to come out.

And hence she comes out on a little tour outside the city with her fiancee when everybody is asleep. And that is exactly when she gets all that she desired although in a little scary way. She gets kidnapped by a bunch of contract criminals led by the audacious Randeep Hooda who brilliantly portrays a stoic man who was once deeply hurt by the evils of the society which choked her mother completely. Witnessing that horror, he had perhaps lost all of his emotions and the ability to feel. An old point well depicted - no one chooses to be a part of the bad neighborhood, they are rather coerced into it.

On the other hand, this girl Veera, is a little confused over not feeling scared or sad on being taken away from her mega palace. She seems puzzled and surprisingly a little happy. She smells freedom in spite of being a hostage. When she was kidnapped, she was actually being freed from the people who had held her like a hostage all her life. The gang has to keep on moving, so she is always on the road, on the run to neverland perhaps. But she does not want to sit in the dark rear of the truck. She wants to experience the journey, the changing weathers and the unique lives of people where ever they go. She starts enjoying it slowly, she starts living life slowly.

Alia Bhatt has given an outstanding outstanding (repetition intentional) performance. She carries the role so effortlessly and one just cannot believe that she is just one of the pretty ladies having recently entered the film fraternity. She looks and performs like a seasoned actress already. Certainly one of the best females performances of this 21st century. This journey is not just about freedom. It is also about coming across genuine people who are not just pretending to be free. Those who are actually alive. She finds one in her abductor Mahavir (Randeep). She opens up to him and shares everything even about how she was violated as a child and her screams were brutally suppressed by her own mother. And when the dark shell of the abductor cracks, even he tells her finds comfort in her.

We all at times feel puzzled seeking the purpose of our lives. We at times feel lonely in a crowd and feel complete roaming alone. Why is that? This question is the soul of this movie. And the feeling of Veera is a beautiful answer one must witness. It is perhaps the journey that one enjoys, not the destination. Perhaps we never want to reach the destination. Apart from that, the chemistry between this rich lass and the rowdy abductor is nicely shown and it feels so natural and real. You feel for both characters. But it becomes slow and directionless towards the very end and it should have answered the questions raised in a better way perhaps. Nevertheless, watch it for a breathtaking performance from Alia, good support from Randeep and a beautiful roadtrip courtesy Imtiaz to tingle your spiritual and philosophical cravings! 

Queen * * * *

Indian women are beautiful, cute and sturdy reserves of our cultural heritage. And this year's International Women's Day is made even more special by this marvelous masterpiece of Vikas Bahl making the above point out loud who earlier came up with a beautiful work for children in "Chillar Party". And the icing on the cake is the outstanding blue-moon performance by Kangana Ranaut. And here the icing is gigantic in proportion to the cake.

This feel-good tale is about a conservative middle-class Indian girl who lives in Rajouri, Delhi and falls for this son-of-a-family-friend. Now this guy is no ordinary prick but represents the average middle-class Indian Bachelor who falls for the prettiest possibility around and shamelessly forgets his commitment for the next better opportunity he gets. Why would he care about the feelings of the girl who in her heart has already committed everything to this hollow man? It is still a damn patriarchal society which would make him right. Poor ancestral legacies at play!

So after 10 long years of goofing around, this guy returns from London all jazzed up and thinks this chick is old school for me now. She would not understand my intellectual crap and would be an embarrassment for me in my so called hi-profile circles. And ergo he decides to dump her right before the wedding and at the time when the girl's family is drowned in the festivities of marriage with all pompous and fanfare. It breaks the girl's heart. Actually herself as well. And what to say of the lowered head of the daughter's dad for whom it was to be the biggest event of his life perhaps.

An air of sorrow and disgust prevails all thanks to the apparently modern spine-less asshole. But because of this pretentious douchbag why should the girl suffer the guilt? Why should the girl's family bring their flags down? And right here starts the whole point of the movie. Our Protagonist, Rani, the girl, who likes the name "Queen" rather, realizes the same and decides to go on the Honeymoon all alone. It has been her dream all her life. Why to let go? Go Girl!

Over in Paris and Amsterdam, she meets people from across the globe and learns the elements of freedom, pain and joy with sharing her life with theirs. The glimpses of her controlled and rigid relationship come flashing back to her and make her realize that was not love. That was mere possession. She was rather owned. There was no freedom. And no love for sure. No meaning crying for something that was so wrong. For instance, when she is dancing in the bar in one scene she remembers how her fiancee had thrashed her for dancing in public once. She had apologized then, she feels guilty of that now. She spread her arms wider, opens her hair. She dances with more energy now, full throttle. She is more vibrant. She is free after all. And all these things are depicted in kangana's eyes and gestures. Superb expressions!

And the story goes on on these lines. It is about a woman who realizes how in every way she was being restrained. The remnants of patriarchy are still at play and she needs to break free. She is no puppet in the hands of power-hungry male fraternity. Queen represents the women of today who are determined to be free, to prove herself and to be independent. Queen represents a hope for the elimination of gender bias. And Kangana's portrayal is far beyond a character. It is a phenomenon who's time has come. The director deserves special mention.

Apart from this, the movie is tremendously hilarious as well. Be it the nuances of Indian shy culture or the simplicity of the Indian girl which brightens up your face. For creating masterpieces about children and women, his corporate social responsibility must be rewarded. Go watch, learn and contribute!

[UPSC Essay] Be the change you want to see in others

Once upon a time a promising young lawyer from India embarked upon a journey to the Dark Continent which would later prove to be the making of the father of our Nation. While practicing there he came across the social evil of apartheid and empathized with the locals. He himself became the victim once when he was thrown out of a train carriage because of his complexion and in spite of carrying a first class ticket. All this happened courtesy a white man who felt that his purity was compromised by sharing the carriage with a colored man. Most of us would have accepted the situation the way it was but Gandhi did not. He wanted this racial discrimination to end. He wanted the attitude of the white men to change. And thus to pursue this vision of his, he stayed in South Africa for the next 21 years. He helped those who were shackled to bondage because of their color. He educated them and made them aware of this historic injustice. And rest is just history.

Mahatma Gandhi through his actions has always exemplified that he practiced what he preached to others. To those who ignored his principles of truth and non-violence at the first place, his life became a testimony and he eventually showed them how that was supposed to be done. This statement by Mahatma Gandhi is not just a fancy juxtaposition of words but has embedded in it, the very philosophy of his life which can be supported by many instances. Once a woman came to Mahatma Gandhi requesting him to ask his son not to eat too much of jaggery as it is harmful to the body. Gandhi kept on asking them to come again and again before simply advising her son not to do so. The woman was puzzled and wondered why he asked them to come again and again just to be told this simple instruction. To this Gandhiji explained that he first needed time to rectify his own habit of eating too much jaggery!

The person from whom these precious words surfaced himself is the greatest illustration substantiating the underlying truth and practicality of them. When he came back to India after a remarkable stint in South Africa fighting the apartheid, he was appalled to witness the atrocities of the colonial rulers on his countrymen. But at the same time he did not approve of the violent ways of revolutionary terrorism to drive out our oppressors. He believed that this task should be only attained travelling the path of truth and non-violence. And through the various events highlighting the national freedom struggle, he was able to turn this superior vision into reality. The withdrawal of the Non-cooperation movement after the violence at Chauri-Chaura exemplified the integrity of this principled man. Imagine if he only had this vision of these principles and devoid of the determination and capacity to inspire the masses. It would have been so futile a wandering.

Right from the very genesis of human civilization there have been people who have personified this statement given by Mahatma Gandhi and it has been only due to their endeavor that the civilization has progressed, persisted and prevailed.  There have been individuals different from the average crowd who had a better vision of the world, who had the capacity to influence the direction in which we were heading and who came forward to act. It is for these people that we stand here today on a progressive path overcoming the darker era and it is for such people from our era that we embark upon a journey to an even better world. Pondering over the ancient era, we come across the example of Ashoka the Great who conquered almost the entire Indian sub-continent but after the victory at Kalinga, there came an immense change in his worldview and perception. Walking past the river of blood and bodies marked by the overwhelming grief of their kiths and kin, he regretted the act of war. It occurred to him suddenly that all this bloodshed for territorial gains only suffices the greed of the aristocratic classes but millions of innocents die in vain. But by then he had become the beacon of expansionist policies, the valor of defeating others in war and the naked pompous show of power. How would people accept his new radical vision? That could have only happened by showing the change within him and in fact that is what eventually happened. He reduced the standing armies by great proportions and became a great believer of Buddhism. It was his act of reforming himself first that made his followers belief in the change.

Moving on to the inspiring times of contemporary history of our nation, one just cannot overlook the father of modern India i.e. Raja Rammohan Roy and his numerous contributions to liberate and emancipate the Indian women and to cure people from the malaise called religious fundamentalism and absolutism. He worked immensely for these reforms and created many groups and sabhas to propagate his liberal views and to end the blind faith of people. He protested strongly against the social evil of ‘Sati’ and it was his activism and charisma that played a great role in its abolition. He was among the few persons in those times who could see the catastrophic repercussions of extreme religiosity and dedicated all his life to work against it and to educate people.

During this era, we also witnessed various other visionaries like Ramkrishna Paramhansa and Swami Vivekananda who believed that “work is workship”. They setup various missions and foundations which even today promote this very idea. They dedicated all their lives to make people understand the value of service to the mankind. Mother Teresa believed that “the hands that serve are more sacred than the lips that pray”. She even today symbolizes selfless service to the mankind and inspires millions of modern-day philanthropists. These legends had a pious worldview and envisioned a far better society and via their actions and gestures they keep inspiring the future generations to move closer and closer to this apparent utopia. Moreover, when we talk of modern-philanthropy, we come across names like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet who have greatly inspired the rich to share their exorbitant resources with the needy and the desperate. The fact is that still only a small fraction of people are cornering most of the resources and the truth is that if they are willing to share a bit, we can eradicate poverty and destitution. The simple yet elusive truth!

And coming to the recent post-modern era, we still find the shades of this age-old philosophy but of course in the form of a new variant called ‘Entrepreneurship’. Today the youth is in no mood to work indifferently and dispassionately for the monstrous and greedy corporations and businesses that have become leviathans unyielding to the expectations of today’s workforce. Today the youth has very many ideas and innovations which they want to take forward and turn them into full fledged reality. Today they dream about changing the ways of modern living and by turning these dreams into entrepreneurship ventures they are showing the world how to bring about change. So, entrepreneurship is nothing but the manifestation of this age-old philosophy as evident in the present generation.

Having discussed these conspicuous illustrations we must also answer the very basic question that what does change mean to people? Everyone sees the world differently and influenced by their primary and secondary socialization, they have a unique perception of the community as a whole. We admire certain things about the society but at the same time we admonish many others. And the commonalities are called collective conscience. Now this might not be even close to the picture painted by us while creating our own ideal type. And to influence this collective conscience towards this ideal type, we wish certain changes to occur. Now most of us are complacent waiting for this change passively. We become cynical of everything the other does as long as it is not taking the collective conscience towards the ideal type that we created. And we take no affirmative action while relaxing in our armchair.

This statement by Mahatma Gandhi is also like the fountainhead yielding multiple values and virtues and showing the pathways to those looking for a genuine direction to their lives. It talks about ‘initiative’ and how each and every person should have the ability to move away from the herd mentality and make a unique space for himself. And to take such initiative and to implement it would be requiring leadership skills. To be the change or to be the causal agent one needs to have the ability to motivate and inspire others as undoubtedly to succeed in any given scenario, apart from the individual brilliance there must be pivotal synergy of operation.

But often, change is not that easily achieved as there are conservative elements which seek self-aggrandizement by means of status-quo and fabricate various predicaments to those who seek to alter the archaic order. Ergo in order to eventually succeed, there must be perseverance. Every failure must be answered by renewed vigor. Another aspect of this vision is that it promotes a progressive approach. Here the ‘change’ denotes a positive development in the existing system to ameliorate the loopholes and thus to make it more robust and sustainable.

So what changes are pivotal today for the community to move forward with a substantial pace but at the same time in a sustainable manner? The first impediment to all sorts of developments is the absence of integrity, more commonly referred to as ‘corruption’.  And the worst kind is that at the political level as it leads to all the other kinds and is gigantic in proportion. Few years back a bunch of social activists took this up and tried to wake the sleeping common man who was lulled deep into slumber by the promises of democracy. But the extent of corruption had become so colossal that we witnessed it on every crossroad. And hence came the largest mass movement of recent times. There was a partial victory but few among them were wise to understand that real change can only happen when the reform the whole political system. And then we saw the conceptualization and formation of a political party which promised governance with integrity. So to change the political system, they became a part of it. They protested, then contested and then they conquered. Here we also see that how good examples can result into their imitations by others in dire need of reforms.

Another aspect that has immense relevance today is the conservation of natural heritage and bio-diversity to maintain the ecological balance. Mahatma Gandhi once famously remarked that “there is enough in this world to satisfy everyone’s need but not everyone’s greed”. We humans, most of us, have acted with utter greed especially when it comes to the utilization of natural resources the mindless infrastructural expansion. It is a proven fact that even slight disturbances to the natural balance can result into catastrophic calamities even capable of wiping out the human race altogether. Another point here is that we have a moral obligation not to endanger the prospects and living standards of the coming generation. We just cannot mindlessly grow and grow at the expense of our future generations. There have been various crusaders to the likes of Sundarlal Bahuguna, Rajendra Singh etc who have encouraged and inspired masses to take up these cases.

Apart from these there is another fundamental change that is required. We must change the way in which we educate the young and the restless. Who are we to prepare ready-made moulds to shape them up into engineers and doctors? Who are we to dictate what they should read and what they should play? The last time I checked it was a democracy after all. We as their parents, guardians and teachers have the obligation to make them aware of all possible directions in which they can proceeds. We must discuss with them all the possible pathways and avenues. And then we should just let them decide for themselves. We must not coerce them into anything. They will choose what they are passionate about.  And also that, passion is not manufactured, it is only discovered. So it is high time to move away from the tools of rote learning and venture into the schools of innovation and creativity.

Well of course this is not in any way an exhaustive list of changes that are paramount at the moment but definitely among the relevant ones. So do you think that the education sector is rotting and needs reforms? Be the next Yash pal! Do you think that the healthcare advancements are out of reach for the poor? Be the next Devi Shetty! Do you think that telecom revolution needs to revitalize? Be the next Sam Pitroda! Do you think that the rocket propulsion systems of India can be further sophisticated? Be the next Kalam! The essence is, be the change you want to see!

Lastly I recall a small yet significant incident from my past that somehow relates to the philosophy being talked about here. There was a friend of mine who was rather a good man with only one fallacy that he used to throw litter anywhere without any concern. I tried to lecture him many times on the importance of hygiene but they had no impact on him. One day we were wandering around with a common friend of ours who was so motivated to teach my friend a lesson on cleanliness that he picked up things thrown by my friend on the road and put them in the dust bin. He did this for the whole day. By the end , my litter friend was so embarrassed that understood the point we were making. At the end, these words by Paulo Coelho sum it up nicely, “The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion”.

(2347 words)

Book Review: India Grows at Night *

Author: Gurcharan Das
My Rating: 1/5

Well, this book comes out to be a third volume of author's effort to explain and put forward the Indian economic System. The first book "India Unbound", which is also the best among the lot, covers the post-independence period ending just before the economic reforms of the nineties. The second book, "The Elephant Paradigm", covers the liberating decade of the nineties. The review of this one is available here.

This Book takes the story forward and discusses the happenings in the first decade of this 21st century and eventually the author makes a liberal case for a strong state. As compared to the earlier books, the intensity of writing and the ability to grasp the attention of the reader both have gone down drastically. The impressive writing style ubiquitous in "India Unbound" is certainly missing here.

Here Das discusses the Indian Model which is very unique given the versatile environmental parameters present here in India. He goes on to discuss the importance and history of rule of law in India. Moving on to the specifics of capitalism and the rise of middle-class in India, he brings forward a liberal case for India. Along with this he deals with the pervasive problems of corruption and the politics of aspiration in India. And finally some cliched prescriptions. Nothing innovative!

Also, in the process of writing the book, the author fluctuates in his belief and fundamentals regarding the importance of a strong state, which is admits himself. But that itself makes the assertions little less convincing. Nevertheless, if you have read the last two, you can go with this one.

Some good lines from the book...

"For our vibrant democracy, I give credit to Nehru, who laid its foundations. but India rose economically only after Nehru's over-regulating State stepped out of the way."

"India has law and China has order, but a successful nation needs both."

"Indian model is unique because it got democracy before capitalism, economic rise has been driven from below and by domestic demand rather than exports."

"Father and daughter had shackled the energies of the Indian people under a 'mixed' economy that combined the worst features of capitalism and socialism."

"In the holy name of socialism, the political masters and the senior policy making officials created dozens of controls, which in the end may have killed India's Industrial revolution."

"History shows, however, that it is difficult for a liberal free-market party to succeed in a modern democracy without a conservative social agenda."

The road to e-India

This era of electronic governance has the potential to address the impediments before the framework of Indian administration and to eventually end the lethargic state of affairs infected by the bureau pathologies of red-tapism and corruption. No doubt we have taken some affirmative action but a lot needs to be done!

India is today the second most populous country in the world and on its way to reach the apex soon. This would be a victory which we would not celebrate as it is the beacon of our incapacity to control the exponential rise of our population and the symbol of the coming jeopardy across all domains of human life. Whatsoever be the volume of the citizenship, the government needs to provide certain essential services catering to the needs and aspirations of its people. It becomes a difficult task when the national boundary spans a colossal area and when it represents around 17.5 percent of the world population. As a result, more infrastructure, more human resources and optimal utilization of the resources is required. To add to this, India is a heterogeneous society with numerous ethnicities representing a rainbow of aspirations. Ergo, amidst all these challenges, governance is obstructed with proportionate impediments and only e-Governance can address all these concerns in a fast, efficient and effective manner.

Governance is the exercise of authority over the socio-economic resources of a country in line with the policy objectives formulated by the government of the land. And e-Governance is the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to facilitate governance. This governance is not only carried out by the State but also by various other non-State actors like NGOs, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and other interest groups representing various sections of the population. In a country of the magnitude of India, it is not a choice but an imperative that the non-State actors also participate in the process of governance. But as voluntarism is still a novelty in India, most of the governance is carried out by the government itself. And when government institutions interact with other entities on the electronic forums, we refer to it as e-Government.

As per recent statistics, the overall teledensity of India is nearing 80 per cent which is a remarkable achievement given the ephemeral time period in which this fete has been achieved. More encouraging than this is the fact that the rural teledensity is also rising exponentially as a result of the mushrooming of   service providers after the opening up of telecom sector. Moreover, the number of broadband subscribers has exceeded 15 million depicting the growing awareness among the people of the importance of getting wired to the world of the internet. This encouraging statistics offer us an opportunity to overhaul our governance infrastructure by providing as many services possible by the means of electronic media. In a positive move, the present government drafted the Electronic Delivery of Services Bill, but that is still to see the light of the day.

To understand the relevance and urgency of e-Governance, we need to visualize it as an avenue for the government to facilitate Good Governance. Good Governance was conceptualized by the World Bank which characterized it as governance which is consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, participatory, responsible, responsive and one which facilitates rule of law. All these features can be best guaranteed and achieved by the help of e-Governance as it would unable the government to provide them faster and efficiently.

One of the most conspicuous and instrumental step taken by India towards providing e-Governance is the conceptualization and the ongoing implementation of the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP). The vision of this endeavor is to make all services available via electronic media and this came up as a recommendation of the 2^nd Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC).  This recommendation was given shape by the Department of Information technology in partnership with the Department of Administrative Reforms. It comprises of 27 mission mode projects having various objectives including the creation of several Common Service Centers (CSCs) , State Wide Area Networks (SWANs) and State Date Centers (SDCs). These institutions would create a framework for the electronic delivery of services and that prototype would be replicated across all the departments and government institutions.  Given the large volume of government institutions, it might be a tedious task, but the cornerstones have surely been laid for a promising future of e-Governance.

Creating a unifying thread of e-Governance might be a gigantic task but various states have themselves taken initiatives in this regard instead of just waiting for the union government to consolidate all its efforts. There are various examples of e-Governance across India – e-SLA in Delhi, Gyandoot in Madhya Pradesh, e-SEVA in Andhra Pradesh, Bhulekh in Gujarat, FRIENDS in Kerala etc. These states have become a role model in the field of electronic delivery and are collaborating with the other states to incubate similar initiatives in the rest of the states. This has benefitted the states in two ways – the people are getting better delivery of services and the revenues received by the State departments are on the up. Moreover, with the ease of service delivery, the trust deficit between the people and the state governments is automatically bridged. These electronic forums also facilitate better people participation and thus strengthen the democratic fabric of our country.

Lately there have been numerous cases of corruption, graft and embezzlement unearthed from every nook and corner of our country.  Interestingly, e-Governance is also a remedy for the pathology of corruption. In an organization where all actions and transactions are quantified and collated, the extent of administrative discretion can be reduced to a great extent thus restricting the avenues for rent-seeking behavior by our government institutions.  Moreover as all the information is out in the open and accessible to the people of this country, this would facilitate transparency and accountability. The availability of information to the higher echelons of bureaucracy would facilitate better decision-making which was previously eclipsed by red-tapism and formalism. This would be extremely useful to further expand the utility of Right to Information which has already bought a revolution of transparency in the governance of our country.

Another major problem which can be addressed by this IT revolution is the provision of services in the rural areas of the country still comprising of 60 per cent of our population. The idea of Village Resource Centres (VRCs) which would provide electronic services to all nearby villages is revolutionary in itself. These areas do not usually have the human resources to dispense educational and medical services to the local inhabitants. This can be taken care of by the provision of tele-medicine and tele-education services. Thus, the human resources of the urban areas who are often unwilling to relocate themselves in rural areas can be utilized to cater to the needs of the backwards areas. This e-Governance would also lead to the inclusion of these left-out sections from the process of development.

From a futuristic point, the era of m-Governance stands next in line where the State would utilize the high teledensity of the country to gather information and to dispense relevant information and services to the citizens of the country. As most people would be having a mobile device, the government institutions can directly reach them for the provision of services. An ongoing project called “Dr.SMS” in Kerala is an excellent example of m-Governance where people can obtain any health related information via SMS services. Many States also provides weather information to the farmers via SMS services in order to aid them in their agricultural activities. All these initiatives promise a forthcoming era of m-Governance.

The mission mode implementation of the Unique Identification (UID) is a key to link all the electronic services into one thread. This would allow the government to uniquely indentify the citizens and to transfer the benefits to weaker sections by the scheme of Direct Benefits Transfers (DBT). All these initiatives have huge potential to address the current problems of India but at the same time we need to be aware of the dangers as well.  This IT revolution has also given rise to Cyber Crimes, Cyber thefts, Identity thefts and numerous novel avenues of money laundering. To tackle these vagaries of e-Governance we currently do not have regulatory mechanisms and infrastructure. The government recognizing this has conceptualized various organizations like Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-IN) but they are still in their infancy and lack sophistication of operation. The road to e-India presents a plethora of innovative solutions but first we need to create check posts to safeguard them and take every e-step with utter caution!

Published in 
http://www.pardesipulse.com/flipbooks/December-2013/december-2013.html