And it begins May 17, 2009

At first, it had started as normally as always. The arrogant interviews on local television news channels, the smug speeches, the distasteful comments on opposition leaders. But the signs were always there. I suppose we all missed the desperate attempts by the CPI(M) when they tried their hands at caricatures and unhealthy banners around the city on the opposition leaders and the party.

But there was no reason to be hopeful. Every election, hope is what gets denounced. It starts out promising, with the anger towards the governing party as never before, only to Not get translated into votes. As always, the anger, the rejection was there to be seen. From bus stops to shops, from workplaces to restaurants, overhearing such conversations would not have taken you much of an effort.  But the question in my mind was, would the anger be represented in the mandate?

The writing is there on the wall, now. It is unthinkable and unimaginable to some of the opposition leaders who quite unabashedly say that they never believed this could happen! Not the most politically correct statement to make, but that is a ground reality. If you take the case of the city, not one seat has gone to the CPI(M), throwing the whole industrialization factor out of the window. This picture bears no resemblance to the one painted in the 2004 elections when the opposition just got one seat out of the entire 42 seats in West Bengal.

How did this happen? For once, it is heartening to know that people with the cosmopolitan people included, agree that development cannot happen excluding the people. That industrialization at the cost of people is not acceptable. That leaders who are smug and take the people for granted can no longer remain their chosen leaders. Secondly, I am amazed at the will and determination of the people to go to vote and stand for hours when the forces of the Government did anything and everything to discourage them. Violence, insult, jamming of poll booths and all the other regular activities were not enough to stop a more than 60% voting at various places. The resentment was so strong that it has remained, rather increased from the Panchayat polls. And for once, hope is what has returned to Bengal after 25 years.

It is now for us to look beyond. This is the people’s mandate and Mamata Banerjee has to carry this to the Centre, where she is the single largest ally. West Bengal is a very badly run state and we would need concerted efforts for the rebuilding of it. I would say, I am not very satisfied at the mandate at the Centre because the Government had failed on many fronts in the last 5 years and it is only the incapability of the opposition at the Centre which has been unable to focus on issues which matter the most and has brought about the irrelevant ones. But it has turned to be the best I could have hoped for, with the Left front turning irrelevant  as to who forms a Government at the Centre.

Agreed that one thinks that Mamata Banerjee is a bit mad and hysterical, but it took a mad and hysterical woman to bring down a Left inclination in Bengal, so much so that they have now become a minority. For once, I can only hope that the CPI(M) will now start treating the opposition with a bit of respect as a formidable force and not go on about their smug speeches against her. It is too much to ask for anyway.

It is a long way to go now. But the hard thing is over. For once the people are on other side. And the fight has just begun.

Truth and Consequences: Budget 2008 March 1, 2008

 I love the way how the entire country and its citizens are perpetually obsessed by numbers. It doesn’t limit itself to financial and economic arena, though. Just look at how we are so engulfed in questions like how many centuries has Sachin Tendulkar scored and how many thousand runs he has passed and how many test matches he has played etc. At the end of the day, in the moment of truth when we need to win the match, those numbers rarely bail us out.

Quite similar is this year’s Budget. Keeping in mind the elections and yes, the people who vote in elections, the Finance Minister has cleverly and shrewdly provided us a secret gift in a shiny wrapping paper.

What also had to be kept in mind is the slowdown in global markets due to increased fears of US recession, an impact which could directly have in the growing Indian economy. Plus, those fears that the India’s honeymoon with the GDP growth rate was ending. Such slowdown, if true, would be devastating, when the funds riding on the stock markets are primarily of the FII’s, reaping in the benefit.

This post would hardly help the academics or the people preparing for interviews for B schools. What we say there (and I am included too) is what we want to believe and what we want to achieve, NOT what we think is going to happen. Call me cynical, a forbearer of bad news or someone who secretly wishes for doom, but all does not look too well. What the minister did was to tweak a thing or too, which would probably keep the growth rate in Indian economy still at an impressive rate in the next year, enough for his government to get re-elected. As some one sarcastically put it, “The only thing not announced in the budget were the election dates”

To explain things simply, individuals were given a breather with reductions, and other concessions, (One already knows all the numbers). Increasing the disposable income means more buying, more consumption (thereby inducing more production and the Govt coming up with reduced interest rates) with more investment thereby boosting growth in the GDP. Along with this, the budget proposes to increase government expenditure to an all time high with numbers no one had ever dreamt of to increase India’s GDP with a long term intention along with a short term objective to attract all the potential voters and potential Investors.

People, who look at numbers and believe them, would be satisfied at them when they do come out next year. And professional individuals, right now, are also very happy because they think that a high disposable income would increase their ability to buy more. What they will not understand, is that only disposable income increases while goods bought (and necessary ones, those) will not get any cheaper. Inflation will increase, due to increase in money flows, so you pay more than what you are paying now. And you live in an illusion that you have more money now. Measures to check inflation, although, have been conveniently left out in the budget.

The most important question, that everyone is asking right now, is how will the Government arrange for 60,000 crores? That’s not that difficult to explain. The process of loan waivers is a 3 years process, as said by the Finance minister. We only see tax sops to individuals. Corporate tax, on the other hand is a different story. There are stringent rules applied and corporates don’t get any relief. Government hunts down its revenues from here, definitely more than that of individuals.

This budget is actually again a plan suggesting the measures. Implementation is easier said than done. For example, since India still has a deficit in its balance of payments, the loan waiver and other government expenditure has given something to think about. It doesn’t matter if the government is re-elected or not, taxes are bound to increase for the corporate sector next year. Such increase would again cause to look for more SEZs and again the SEZ policy has also been conveniently hidden underneath the carpet, even though Nandigram and Singur were such burning issues this year.

But I do place my facts on the probability that the measures that the government has proposed will be implemented. The building of IITs and IIScs and 16 central universities are still in papers and such “mandatory” announcements are made every year. Evaluation is not done, and the only effects proposed would be short term effects. The numbers, the growth rate, the inflation rate and the tax rate are huge matters which are always applied with a short-term intention, while the consequences are not given any importance.

If the annual financial budget is only created to keep the investor’s confidence, the voter’s confidence and the confidence that India is growing, by whatever measures necessary then what is the need for such annual disclosure? The government and the finance minister can come out every time with their policies when there is an issue at hand, like global markets or economic recession.

Growth is a concept which is never short term. The problem is that foreign investors look for immediate results, through the growth rates. Immediate results can always be arrived at by applying tweaks like increase/decrease in taxes. But in this process, the whole point of the growth of Indian economy in real terms, is absolutely lost.

Of Politics and Pirates. June 14, 2007

If I were to venture into a discussion one day about politics with people face-to-face that would spell trouble. And I find myself avoiding that, consciously.  

In normal circumstances, one would question as to why is it so difficult to enter into a discussion which is logically sound and yet open to differences in opinion. The answer would be that more and more people find it difficult to be tolerant of other’s opinions for reasons which are unknown to me.

  As I have consciously decided not to participate in discussion which relates to politics because it makes people ridicule your knowledge in the political arena instead of not countering your accusations in a productive sort of a way; I tried and looked for discussions on the Internet with people whom I suspect are more tolerant and intelligent. But that was not to be.  In a particular social networking website, I happened to find a particular discussion area comprised of members with a political opinion. Yet, to my disappointment, I find the discussion to be of the usual one dimensional type where everyone agrees with one another and never questions other’s line of thinking and their tendency to support ‘a’ particular party.   

This is where all goes wrong. Frankly speaking, being a descendant of West Bengal, and aware of the political situation within and outside the state, I have always been someone who has been against Communism. Even writing this makes me feel awkward since it exposes my political allegiances to those of my acquaintances who are unaware of this particular information. Why you would ask? Well, it is difficult to explain. Most people, whom I am well acquainted with, are firm believers that the CPI (M) has brought development in the state and their existence for such a long time has always been for greater good for the state. They tend to scorn at those who don’t support this particular party, since if you aren’t one of them, you are against them.

 

  Yes, I don’t support Communism. Most young people in the state believe in this concept, since the idea is quite appealing and romantic to them. That the resources should be shared by all in the economy and there is no distinction between classes; such an idea is absurd. Capitalism is not only rampant in UK or US; it is prevalent in India as well. No matter how we may try to hide from this fact, it is the blatant truth. While every year the government is trying to proclaim that India’s GDP is exemplary to say the least, the companies are busy trying to upgrade their profits by investing in SEZ’s and EPZ’s and young people all over the country are all flocking for an MBA degree for a high range salary; all of these point to the growing capitalistic mindset in India.   The funny thing is when people say they are influenced by Che Guevara and wear T-shirts with his face imprinted on it. I mean, what do they want to prove? The very fact that Mr. Guevara has found himself on T-shirts, caps, bags, key chains, coffee mugs etc points to the fact as to how companies have used Che Guevara to sell such merchandise to young people. That’s Capitalism in any language and from any angle you see, right?   

 Although we don’t have communism today, not even in West Bengal. With the IT upsurge in the state, the growing number of IT companies setting up their branches here, the communist party’s political agenda has taken a beating. What we have today is neo-communism, so more and more noises are being made about jobs and attracting FDI. Even though, they may still exercise their hypocrisy in the Centre and indulge in activities which are morally unethical, most educated and intellectual people seem to miss that. Or do they actually miss it?

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Now for some light coffee table talk.

I just caught the Pirates of the Caribbean on Monday, and well, it took me two days to recover from the film. I couldn’t help but notice how the storyboard seemed absolutely wobbly, convoluted, confusing and self-indulgent. After every scene, I felt like, yes the fun would start now, now is the time for those witty wisecracks of Jack Sparrow, but I am afraid they never came!

  

At times to my horror, I found myself bored and thinking when it would end. The character sketch, other than Jack Sparrow’s, are absolutely rubbish. Why oh why, does Elizabeth Swann keep on kissing every other male character that she can lay her hands upon? She kissed Sparrow last time, this time its Chow-Yun-Fat and Norrington and ofcourse Will Turner. Three different people in one single film! That’s weird.

  

The only thing good is the last 40 minutes of the film, which makes it worthwhile to watch. Otherwise I prefer not to gape with astonishment at the woman who suddenly becomes a super-size giant and breaks into infinite crabs which subsequently make their way to the sea.

  The best film obviously was the first one. Pure unadulterated fun, with the makers never really trying to prove some kind of a point. It was smooth and in its true sense, the movie was a swashbuckling extravaganza.  Johnny Depp as usual tries to hold the film on his own and succeeds to some extent. Most people would have liked to watch the film because of him and because of Jack Sparrow, and I would say he doesn’t disappoint. Especially with the hallucinations he is an absolute joy to watch. But I would still think, that the film was a disappointment.    

West Bengal: The eye of the storm December 4, 2006

A great political upheaval of our times has finally unfolded in West Bengal. The Opposition Parties, who get demolished, thrashed and annihilated during the elections, have finally found a silver lining in their quest to topple this 30 year old Government.

The whole reason for this political agitation began when the West Bengal government decided to hand over the Singur SEZ which will help Ratan Tata build a Tata Motors plant to produce small cars costing as low as a 100,000 rupees. Never before had anyone anywhere in this country anticipated that the Left Government would be going an extra mile to protect a corporate house, but thanks to our chief minister that’s a reality. The local televisions continue to follow this news closely and broadcast all the relevant episodes which are not only dramatic in their nature, but hilarious and absurd; and make you wonder about the example we try to set as we tread the path towards Industrialization.

On Thursday, 30^th November Mamta Bannerjee is stopped by police on her way to Singur and dropped off at Hooghly Bridge. As a reaction to this, her party workers ransack the State Assembly, destroy antique furniture and cause absolute mayhem. The Chief Minister then sarcastically grants the general public a free visit to the State Assembly from Friday to Sunday. And the general suburban public decide to spend their nice weekend by taking a look around at an upside down table made of teak.

The colossal chaos in State Assembly is followed by an obvious 12 hour bandh on Friday. An extra holiday to check out the Assembly while the opposition parties set out to put the city at standstill. The IT sector isn’t spared and various forms of agitations such as burning of effigies of political figures are also tried out.

On Saturday the police clash with the land owners in Singur while fencing is carried on for the land to be allocated to the Tata Motors. Pictures showing the Police beating up the villagers, and launching tear gases at them are shown in local televisions. Mamta Bannerjee, Medha Patkar and others are blocked from going to Singur.

On Sunday, it is the time for all the acronyms to come out from the closet. SUCI, AIDSO, DYFI, SFI and all the others ABCDEFGHI’s come and want to make their presence felt in various universities. While it is Black Day being observed in Jadavpur University, engineering students decide to boycott semester examinations, SUCI decides to call for Bengal Bandh on Tuesday, Trinamool Congress decides to launch Statewide Road Blockages in various parts of the city on Wednesday, Mamta Bannerjee decides to go for an indefinite hunger strike in front of metro cinema from Monday.

On Monday, the Tata Motors showroom is ransacked, window panes are broken by some unidentified men and a commotion is created.

While Mamta Bannerjee mingles freely with BJP, Congress finds that hard to digest. Individual agitations are the need of the hour, as political parties are seen creating rallies in various important parts of the city. And as each day passes, new plans of agitations are announced.

Such is the political condition here, that one cannot choose either of the two parties. The Jury is divided. While one party is trying to support a corporation by whisking off various dignitaries from the road that leads to Singur thereby proving to be fascists, the other, is trying to stop Industrialization hitting the state which has long harbored a sorry state of affairs regarding industry and work culture. Even as the magnitude of agitation increases, the message to the corporate sector is clear.
West Bengal is still not ready

If the opposition is trying to make a political issue out of it, a reason to finally get back at those who are at the helm of affairs, then the loser is Bengal after all. The political situation is absurd, as the communist party goes out of their line to support capitalists and even as the Left Parties cry foul over Bharti-Walmart tie up, the Chief Minister chooses to keep a stiff upper lip.

Seems like the communist party has lost their political agenda somewhere.

Tea, News and Me. August 24, 2006

Now, the local newspapers in Calcutta are never all that attractive. Its just the same boring old stuff they cover, terrorism, attack on Shahrukh’s bungalow, cola thing etc. But reading the newspaper everyday is a religious activity for me, well at least the headlines, and the business page. I do enjoy reading the sports page, but more often than not it doesn’t have anything worthwhile. 2 out of 4 pages cover Cricket, and the other two cover advertisements. If it is a Monday or a Tuesday, you might get lucky with a report from the UK edition of the Telegraph, but that’s about it. 

But sometimes, the people in Telegraph suddenly assume the identity of Lucifer. Such reports come only once in a while, when I presume, the correspondent attains extremities in terms of sarcasm. But come election time, its time to disappear into thin air.  Or should we say, finger in the ears time. The report in the first page yesterday, was simply marvelous, to say the least. I am sure I will run out of superlatives. Lets just say, it made my morning tea extra bit special. 

Wanted, cream to cure tensionThe Telegraph 23rd August 2006

 Now it can be told with authority that Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee does not need beauty cream.

But what the chief minister needs badly is something the rest of modern-day world has found elusive.

“Please give me something that will ease my tension,” Bhattacharjee told a meeting where he was offered a beauty cream to sample. “I suffer from severe tension.”

The chief minister’s fervent plea was addressed to a group of ayurveds and experts on medicinal plants who had gathered for the inauguration of an ayurveda college.

The dam burst when the former vice-chancellor of Jadavpur University, Ashok Nath Basu, handed him a container of the beauty cream, made by researchers of the varsity. “I don’t know whether our chief minister uses beauty cream. But if he does, I am sure he will love it. It will make him look much more attractive,” Basu said.

But Bhattacharjee shook his head. “Oh, what are you giving me! I don’t need any beauty cream but please give me something which can ease my tension. I suffer terribly because of my tension. Please do something which will be really helpful to me,” he said.

Bhattacharjee said he had discussed the problem with health minister Surjya Kanta Mishra, who is an allopath. “Our health minister has advised me to remain close to greenery and rely more on ayurvedic medicine. I am trying to follow his advice as much as possible.”

Palm Avenue, where the chief minister resides, has some tree-lined stretches. Nandan, once a favourite haunt of the playwright-cum-politician, has greenery. But ever since he became chief minister, Bhattacharjee’s evening visits there have become less frequent.

Bhattacharjee did not specify the cause of his tension, though he has been nursing some headaches like land acquisition and cricket elections.

But then, imagine the plight of a certain Manmohan Singh, who has to deal with Bhattacharjee’s comrade Prakash Karat, Natwar Singh and now Telengana spearhead K. Chandrashekhar Rao!

Now, after reading this report, I also remembered another one of its kind. I consider them these pieces pure gems. And, they just come once in a year. So, as I am extremely jobless, and the situation is pathetic in relation to studies, it would hardly hurt if I include this story as well. 

Bandh Buddha turns deaf ear - Queries on strike strategy fobbed off

Telegraph  29th September 2005.

Sorry, I’m a little hard of hearing… I don’t always catch everything that is said” , chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Wednesday, with a hint of a smile.Eyes twinkling, Bhattacharjee chose to turn a deaf ear to the flurry of questions on how his government planned to foil Thursday’s strike and keep the city in work mode.‘Aami shunte pai ni (I could not hear you),’ said Bhattacharjee, brushing past reporters in the corridors of Writers? Buildings.According to doctors, hearing loss in Calcutta could set in gradually at the age of 50 to 55. The chief minister, 61, is a prime target, as he lives and works in congested and noisy zones, which can affect the auditory nerves in the internal ear. This prevents sound vibrations from being picked up effectively.‘Please write that I could not hear you… All questions cannot be answered,’ Bhattacharjee had added when asked later in the day about his government’s (anti)-strike strategy. But I will attend office tomorrow,’ he slipped in, for good measure.One doesn’t know if Bhattacharjee’s attendance record on Thursday would set at rest the apprehensions of his star guest on Wednesday, N.R. Narayana Murthy.The Infosys chief mentor, after meeting the chief minister, said: “Strikes are worrying… But as long as the government does not support the strike and takes steps to ensure normal running of business, it’s fine.’If Wednesday’s deaf-ear act was any indication, government measures taken to ensure normalcy on Citu strike day would be few and far between.Transport minister and Citu vice-president Subhas Chakraborty confirmed fears of government inertia during the bandh.“I can’t guarantee whether buses will ply. They will ply only if the drivers report for duty. However, those who want to come are free to do so,” said Chakraborty, adding that it was a workers’ strike and they could keep away from work if they chose to.On the eve of the 24-hour strike, the 61-year-old chief minister, however, had managed to deflect some attention from the city’s impending harassment to his so-called hearing impairment. When Metro lobbed the question to doctors, the most common reply was: why not get an audiogram done?“I am not sure how to take the chief minister?s reported hearing impairment, with concern or good-natured disbelief,’ said Shantanu Banerjee, a leading audiologist. ‘But seriously, his could be a case of noise-induced hearing loss, affecting a lot of Calcuttans above 50.’The prescription: use of an advanced hearing aid, either digital or analogue.  *Sigh* some masterpiece there. Please keep it coming Telegraph. You are an asset.