Mr Modi’s third midnight surgical strike

While NidraDevi casts her spell over rest of India, Mr Modi creates defining moments of his reign-midnight  surgical strikes. One strike across the border sobered Pak and its jihadis and we no longer have a Kashmir problem, another demonised and commandeered all black money and the nation is now rid of it.  The last one beheaded top two directors of CBI . The moot question is will that have solved the CBI problem, whatever that implies ? That the SC may decide today. 

Meanwhile the development gives an insight into the peculiarities of regime’s menagerie of binaries, the ‘-ables’ and ‘un-ables’ like expendables-unexpendables ,knowables-unknowables, touchables-untouchables. For example ,a #MeToo taint in an election year compounded by a flawed political pedigree (a Congress deserter ) makes MJ Akbar not great rather readily expendable, so sloughed off . However , Rakesh Asthana , with the right lineage - Gujarat cadre parentage , a Godhra saviour and PM’s personal choice brushing aside all insinuations of corruption is an unexpendable, a fish not fried  but cooked delicately and exotically. His being drawn into yet another graft whirlpool is a ricocheting hit-wicket jeopardising his Godfather’s assiduously self-cultivated, saffron hyped, media chiselled ‘unsmirched’ image. He needs rescuing, burnishing and restorating to pristine resplendent splendour. 

Of necessity, Alok Verma thus becomes expendable. In a midnight coup reminiscent of Nixonian ‘Saturday Night Massacre’ in 1973 that saw a President electing to oust FBI special prosecutor, Mr Archibald Cox, rather than hand over unedited Watergate tapes, the CBI director, Alok Verma was ordered to sit at home. Investigative heads world over need to seriously consider propitiating the nocturnal god, Rahu - Mr Cox’s head rolled on a Saturday night, James Comey,FBI Chief, lost it on a Tuesday when it was night here, and now Alok Verma. 

Abnormal circumstances often sprout ‘accidental’ Knight Templars . In the Indian ecosystem such Knight Templars are Nayaks and true to form one reincarnated in Mr Nageshwar Rao. Unlike Bollywoodian ‘Nayak’ though this man’s baggage stinks but like a true Nayak he arrives on the scene with an understandable display of state panoply- ensconced within a motorcade escort of Delhi police to assume charge. Within hours the IO of Asthana case , Mr Bassi, is sentenced to kalapani ( got off lightly, Mr Cox had lost his job), thirteen other officers receive marching orders. Mr Tarun Gauba, recipient of President’s Medal for outstanding investigation in Vyapam case that failed to unearth complicity of  Shivraj Singh Chauhan, CM, gets a chance to do an encore. He now investigates the Asthana case. Oh ! the amount of turmoil the unexpendable cause. 

The expendable -unexpendable binary , some call it cronyism, extends to  other spheres as well. Of the many suited-booted who cleave to PM on foreign visits the unexpendables, Ambanis and Adanis walk away with creamy business deals. Others in the entourage being expendables make do with minor crumbs. Even in matters of Education other private institutions must wait for Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Institute of Eminence to take roots and achieve true Eminence before they think of seeking Eminence for themselves. 

Truth that arraigns the ruling dispensation or unsettles its applecart is expendable, its seekers consigned to ‘reformatories’. Rajeev Singh and three more investigating the Nirav-Mehul bhai PNB scam or the CIO who ordered DU to furnish documents of Mr Modi’s degree, Maj Gen B C Khanduri, Chairman of Standing Committee on Defence pointing out dangerously depleted levels of stock of defence armaments now inhabit it. 

Among the unknowables is the genuiness of PM’s academic degree. Notwithstanding CIC and Court orders his degree in ‘Entire Political Science ‘ remains entirely shrouded in mystery, so are the names of his co-students that fateful year. Disclosure of names of delegates who accompanied PM on foreign visits is another unknowable, as are the price elements of renegotiated Rafale deal or the price discovery mechanism in Government-to-Government defence purchases. Cash donations exceeding ₹2000 to political parties is knowable but those by way of electoral bonds is unknowable. 

And those who feigned ignorance of the binary  of touchable-untouchable had hard landings for not picking out the untouchables and turning their faces the other way. However this narrative isn’t intended to be a catalogue but just a ‘Zaika Modi ka ‘.  Savour it.

Ravana never dies

Bad days for demons and rakshas ! Goddess Durga annihilated the Mahisasurs ,Chandas  and Mundas yesterday, Rakshas turn comes tomorrow. Yet, next year , and the year after till doomsday the demons will resuscitate to repeatedly torment us, like the new heads of Ravana sprouting as often as Rama chopped them off. Why ? Maybe Ramkien holds an insight. . 

Ramakien, is the retelling of Ramayana by king Rama I of Thailand in 1807. The narrative is captured in a kaleidoscopic explosion of colours in 178 mural panels on the wall enclosing the huge Emerald Buddha complex in Bangkok. But let’s be clear, Ramakien has no religious import in Thai culture ; for visiting Hindus, however, the murals are an edifying sight for it closely follows the Valmiki epic. ( Rama I is the founder of the present Chakra dynasty, with its new capital at Bangkok after the old capital, Ayudhya, was ransacked by the Burmese) 

Ramakien recalls the ancient times when there were two principal cities -Ayudhya populated by men and ruled by descendants of Narai (Narayana) and Lanka settled by Brahma for giants and ruled by his relative Chaturpak from whom Totsakan (Ravana ) traced his descent as ruler of Lanka. In his previous incarnation Ravana was a giant named Nonduk in the service of Shiva whose abode was atop the Krailat hill. Nonduk’s job was to wash the feet of any visitor who took the first step to climb up the hill. While getting their feet washed gods used to tease and playfully pull his hair. One day Nonduk found out that the gods had made him bald as a coot. Enraged he complained to Shiva. To placate him Shiva gave a boon that made his forefinger as strong as a diamond and if pointed at anyone that person would immediately drop dead. Now when visiting gods teased him Nonduk simply pointed his forefinger and that would be the end of him. Gods panicked, went to Shiva who tells Narayana to kill him. 

Narayana takes the form of a beautiful damsel, a Mohini, and lures Nonduk to a dance. Gradually, Narayana so manoeuvres dance gestures that Nonduk’s forefinger points inwards. The moment it does, Nonduk suffers death pangs and Narayana resumes his original form. Nonduk feels cheated and calls Narayana a coward for killing him through deceit. Before Nonduk dies, Narayana tells him that in the next birth Nonduk would be born with ten heads, twenty hands and endowed with powerful weapons, while he would be reborn as a normal human being only to do battle with him. So a Ravana-Rama war was pre-ordained. 

In his present birth Ravana suffers humiliating defeats and loss of face in a number encounters with Palee (Bali) and Orajun, so he goes to his guru, Kobut, and implores him to somehow make him strong and invulnerable. Kobut takes out Ravana’s soul ,encases it and keeps it securely in his hermitage. Unless body and soul is killed simultaneously Ravana cannot die. He becomes invincible and immortal. 

When the Lanka Yudha reaches its zenith Rama is wonder-struck that Ravana’s brothers and sons, other kith and kin,seasoned generals and stalwart warriors fall but he remains unscathed. Puzzled he asks Bibhishan who lets him in on the most well kept secret. Hanuman is told to find a way out. Hanuman and Ongkot (Angad) hatch a ploy. They meet Kobut and spill out a litany of mistreatment, slights, insults, and abuses the two brothers had meted out to them despite their unflinching loyalty and dedicated service. Better to serve Ravana than such a master.  Seething with bottled up rage they had come to offer their services. Only he could convince Ravana of their sincerity to help his cause and their own selfish one of seeking revenge and settling scores with Rama. 

Kobut decides to take them to Ravana. 

Hanuman asks , “would it be safe to leave behind Ravana’s soul ?”

Kobut agrees and carries along the soul cage.

On way, Hanuman asks “why is the soul cage kept so far away, isn’t it inconvenient ?”

Kobut explains, “soul has an innate affinity for its body so must be kept away.” 

They reach the gates of Lanka city. 

Hanuman queries “wouldn’t it be better to leave the cage here instead of taking it close to Ravana ?” 

Again Kobut agrees. Ongkot stays behind with the soul cage while the two go to meet Ravana who is delighted beyond words to enfold a renegade as powerful as Hanuman. Meanwhile, Ongkot using magical powers makes a perfect replica of the soul cage and hands it to an unsuspecting Kobut. 

Now Hanuman goes to war on the side of Ravana and battles Laxman most creditably and returns to a hero’s welcome. Ravana rewards him with slain Indrajit’s property and widow and declares him heir of Lanka. Next day, Ravana brings up the rear of Hanuman’s forces. At the battlefield Ravana sees Ongkot handing over the real soul cage to Hanuman. He now knows Hanuman has duped him. His time is up . Rama shoots an arrow that pierces his chest ; at that very instant Hanuman tramples upon his soul pulverising it to dust . Ravana is dead. 

Yes, one Ravana died, but souls of many remain intact. No wonder, Ravanas revivify. Ramakien itself is proof enough. Bibhishan is challenged by Ravana’s sympathisers and Rama has to rescue him. Ravana’s anonymous son, however, dethrones him and Hanuman has to do battle again. Ravanas never die. 

#MeTooIndia-A Unique Exercise in Women Power

Among the many manifestations of Womanhood revered in Hindu mythology the one of Shakti, the embodiment of divine powers of purificatory destruction, is uppermost in our national consciousness just now. For Hindus these are days of supplication to Shakti as Goddess Durga to slay the buffalo-demon Mahisasur and proclaim eternal victory of goodness over evil. More earthy interest will, however, centre around the unfolding of #MeTooIndia movement . Is it Shakti playing out in real life on ground Zero ? 

The movement draws both its inspiration and format from #MeToo in USA. Alyssa Milano, a Hollywood actress and victim of sexual harassment, tweeted on 15th Oct 2017 “ If you have been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet. “ By next day, 30000 had responded with tweets of  #MeToo opening the flood gates to a unique form of social protest -cum-solidarity movement in human history. Women from all theatres of human activity poured out sordid tales of sexual manipulations by their superiors, even co-workers, both at work places and home. A volcano had burst and its lava flowed all over singing men at the lowest level of power exercised by a foreman to a Hollywood director, a mogul, a senator and even the President.The accusations of sexual infractions were multiple -  lewd comments, forced kisses, opportunistic gropes , pats, pinches, grabs, propositioning to bed, sexual assault and even rape. The malaise of demanding sexual favours was both rampant and deep-seated. In a symbolic acknowledgement of their show of courage in disclosing their horrific demeaning experiences ,Time magazine under the collective of ‘The Silence Breakers’ named them “Person of the Year-2017 ” overriding other weightier nominations. 

The potency of the movement lies in its unorthodoxy. It is a hashtag movement, entirely apolitical, leaderless, and amorphous giving a measure of anonymity to its participants. That encourages others 

to freely share their own horrendous moments with co-victims and generate widespread solidarity and a collective voice. Given that social media has grown into such a behemoth, voices on it can no longer be ignored by decision-makers in any field.

#MeTooIndia is therefore bound to affect the manner in which men in positions of authority or even co-workers will henceforth interact with female subordinates, colleagues. The veil of innocuity hitherto overlaid on what were truly sexually inappropriate acts will no longer be available. Will even innocent light-hearted acts be tolerated ? How it will pan out no one knows. But its relevance as an instrument of social change can’t be ignored. It will compel tremendous soul- searching among policy makers. 

Its Indian edition, #MeTooIndia, is yet a toddler. A long way lies ahead of it. But already a few reputations lie besmirched . Amitabh Bachchan is hit by actress Sayali Bhagat’s allegation that when she bent down to touch his feet to seek  blessings, he put his hands on her butt and felt it up, blessings with an unwanted freebie. M J Akbar  allegedly took recruitment interviews of aspiring journos in hotel rooms sitting close enough to put an arm around their shoulders. Vikas Behl director of ‘Queen’ is alleged to have taken non-consensual sexual liberties with many real queens. Some other named culprits doing the rounds are- Alok Nath and Sajid Khan from Bollywood, Harinder Baweja, KRSreenivas, Gautam Adhikari and Prasant Jha from print media ,Chetan Bhagat and Kiran Nagarkar both authors. More skeletons keep tumbling out of old closets of many other eminences.

It all started with actress, Tanushree Dutta, raking up her decade old complaints. Vivek Agnihotri, whose famous tweet wisdom ‘ staring at boobs extends male life by five years.’ still rankles, asked her in 2008 to ‘ kapde utar ke naach’. Nana Patekar forced her to do lewd,vulgar,and uncomfortable dance steps with inappropriate touches thrown in at the sets of ‘Horn Ok Pleassss’. From thereon the
 hashtag movement took off. 

However, social movements don’t just erupt, the causative disquiet lies smouldering, building up steam before a spark releases its fury. In 2005, when Shakti Kapoor talked of sex for screen time requirement in Bollywood industry, or when Mahesh Bhatt admitted to the casting couch as "Bollywood’s best-known secret" nothing stirred. Nor did Tanushree’s complaint in 2008 cause

 more than a storm in a tea-cup. But a decade later the same complaint resurfaces to find sufficient resonance and solidarity to spearhead a movement. 

So what changed to precipitate #MeTooIndia ? Maybe larger  participation of women in economic activity without matching changes in societal mores and attitudes towards the female gender has something to do with it. We continue to revere womanhood in temples but outside its precincts subordinate a woman’s status to a male-serving creature . That translates into more male predation simply because there are more females around in work places to cast the net. A decade ago women bore insults silently. Not any more. Their upbringing makes them more assertive today, they claim their free space and stamp their individuality. She knows how to say ‘No’ to unwanted overtures and to make ‘No’s stick. Laws relating to sexual harassment aid her. 

Also #MeTooIndia is a budding of simmering angst among the urbanised female over a patriarchal social order that presumes female guilt in any situation of sexual infractions - must have dressed provocatively, why stayed late, she had it coming when she went out alone; female culpability is deemed as obvious as male’s preserve to exploit such situations for sexual gain. A right leaning polity makes matters worse by soft pedalling gender issues. When sexual offenders adorn ministries, officials disciplined for sexual harassment find more honoured places elsewhere , or the connoisseur of ‘boobs’ , Vivek Agnihotri , gets an invite to World Hindu Conference the message to public at large is not one of deterrence but of ‘chalta hai’. 

And of course #MeToo USA showed  the way to ventilate repressed anguish and frustration. The Indian redaction is yet in its incipient stages. Rainmakers are not falling off like ninepins as in USA . But one hopes it generates the motive power to demolish deeply ingrained gender prejudices, something our politicians have neither the will nor inclination to do. Hopefully a bit of the ‘The Dirty Picture’ may be cleaned up and its perpetrators shamed. A unique experiment in social change is underway.

Defining what precisely constitutes sexual harassment is impossible. What is inappropriate behaviour as distinct from a mere banter, or a flirtatious engagement is so dependent on contextual interpretation that many #MeToo allegations will inevitably fall through, some rightly, some wrongly. It doesn’t matter . What matters is for #MeTooIndia to chorus loudly and long enough to create widespread awareness of a problem only whispered in shadows for fear of acknowledgement. 

PM, Mr Modi, Gandhi means more than sweeping streets and building toilets

Gandhi Jayanti is the VIP’s day out. Broom in hand, facial cavities,nose and mouth, safely masked, body bedecked in freshly starched spotless kurta pyjamas adorned with flashy bundies the VIP waits expectantly on some non-descript street. A battery of cameramen facing him jostle for space. A hump of pre-strewn litter on an otherwise clean stretch separates them from the VIP. On cue, he starts waggling the broom over the litter. Cameras explode with sounds of shutter clicks. Video cameras capture every twitch of his body fibre and the glitter of litter. Mikes are thrust into his face, someone shouts, Sir, take off the mask else the voice will get garbled. He graciously obliges with a condescending grin suffusing his countenance. Gandhian cliches, homilies and resolves for citizens flow into those mikes as ritual messaging of Swacch Bharat to be passed over, loud and distinct , instantly to masses through the idiot box. 

Next pic ,he stands before a newly built toilet instead of the litter on the road, and the rest follows. Later in the day, he will say much the same thing with greater eloquence,duly embroidered with seminal Gandhian quotes and thoughts in meets, seminars, conferences, other such events. Over to next year. 

That’s how Gandhi Jayanti manifests itself - cleaning streets, and building toilets to shit at home rather than in open spaces ; and mouthing platitudinous references to Gandhi and affectations of faith in his  principles. 

In reality, Gandhi is a forsaken God ,a  ‘Father of the nation’ who competes for reverence in some states with the cow as the ‘mother of the nation’. He practiced what he preached, his followers only preach what he practiced. He advocated a simple living humble enough to earn the epithet of ‘half-naked fakir’. Today’s ‘fakir’ netas present fashion spectacles in  monogrammed suits, Bylagri specs, Movado watches , Mount Blanc pens et al costing lacs of rupees. 

But on a serious note, Gandhiji has been more read than acted upon. He denigrated capitalism for its exploitative excesses and demeaning competition. Nehru agreed but did not embrace his Gram Swarajya , the self-governing self-sustaining entity, for being impractical. So he plumbed for a via media ,Fabian socialism. Even this Gandhi ji rejected ‘No amount of socialisation can eradicate the evils of capitalism.’ 

Ironically, Modinomics has swung to a more vicious concoction of capitalism - crony capitalism, where the commanding heights of economy pass increasingly and inexorably to fewer and fewer chosen hands. The levers of state power emasculate public sector by doing little to salvage and revitalise ailing PSUs like BSNL, MTNL, Air India , LIC that facilitates entry and growth of crony capitalists. At the extreme, it displaces public enterprises totally like HAL by Reliance in Rafale deal. The new DPP reserves production of four categories of defence equipments for private entries selected by the state thus hobbling defence PSUs. If Gandhi disfavoured capitalism but he intensely abhorred  plutarchy. 

Indian footprints in capitalism were made in the 1980s. Since then the top 0.1% of earners have captured more growth than all of the bottom 50% put together ,while the middle 40% 

have not benefitted at all. India remains among the most unequal nation in the world. And the income/wealth gap is only widening, and more worryingly none seems worried. The Gandhian conception of property being held in trust by owners for managing in common interest now does not even merit a public debate. Property is privately held by a few for only self aggrandisement. As one third of Indians go to sleep with just one meal a day ,more and more enter the millionaires club every year. Gandhi foresaw this long ago ,but none believe him even now. 

As a way out he evangelised village and cottage industries as the only available option to gain full employment in villages. But there are no takers for his ideation of small is beautiful. The prevailing dogma is big, so big that it is ‘too big to fail’. Production not in villages but for villages, on its vestiges.The unsavoury saga of Land Bill is testimony to it. 

Gandhi’s heart lay in villages and its development . But urbanisation aggressively swallows up more and more of agricultural land. Industrial hubs , SEZs , industrial corridors, highways, bullet trains, progressively and stealthily eat into it as well. That will eventually destroy rural communities ,convert rural labourers, small and marginal farmers into daily wage earners ; their individuality squelched to become slaves of an all embracing modernism. On their ruins will be built highly urbanised gated communities , the smart cities , serviced by slums beyond its gates  ; slums peopled by those displaced from the very lands on which the cities shall stand. 

Admittedly, the world has moved way beyond Gandhiji’s conception of Hind S waraj to have any pertinancy. But why disregard the core principle behind this thought - individualism. The state is soulless ,its power, Gandhi observed “does the greatest harm to mankind by destroying individuality”. The human being has a soul and a conscience which endows him with an innate right to rebel, through acts of civil disobedience, against policies that he considers morally wrong. Today, when the VIP hollers from the podium about Gandhian legacies he needs to answer why protestors showing black flags or shouting anti PM slogans at the venues of his meeting or on the sidelines of his motorcade are blocked, thrashed, arrested and prosecuted ,or explain the even more ridiculous act of requiring people to shed anything black on their body - burka, black dupatta, black hair bands, black pants, salwars, black shirts before entering venues of PMs. It is totally unGandhian. 

Even greater challenge to the individual’s freedom is the entry of state into private homes through technological innovations, be it Aadhar, social media analytics, or internet surveillance. Contrary to the Gandhian precept of decentralised power the state aided by tech is relentlessly burgeoning into one  uncontrollable leviathan. And its power is getting concentrated in one individual both in the state and within a political party. From a cabinet system of governance we have unwittingly moved to a presidential form and one where both executive and legislative initiatives flow from one fountainhead. A cabinet exists, only as a rubber stamp as evidenced by Rafale and Demonetisation episodes, and ministers sally forth as pygmies. 

Lastly, a majority rule, Gandhi wrote, in ‘Young India’ could not run roughshod on issues on which the minority harbours strong views. Contrarily, we see the state energetically rushing through issues of triple talaq and masjid not being integral to Islam, issues hotly contested by the ignored Muslims. The state needs to take them along too. 

While Gandhi wanted Indians to see themselves primarily as Indian citizen but also as Indian Hindus and Indian Muslims, a political entity fertilised in a religious soil. Let it stay that way, Mr VIP even after the Gandhi Jayanti celebs end.