Saturday 22 June 2013

Uttarakhand: River Wild

This few seconds of video footage (courtesy YouTube) says it all about the fury that Uttarakhand had to go through (now being called the Himalayan tsunami) in the past few days.

When it was first flashed on TV screens my immediate reaction was why is the building located so close to the river, or has the swollen river eaten up the buffer zone? Going by the way building rules are violated in our country, especially in tourist and pilgrim centres, I won't be surprised if some 'enterprising' promoter had constructed this building to cash in on rising pilgrim tourism. In connivance with municipal and civic officials he may have bent a few rules in the process.

Later the promoter may have amassed a fortune by touting it as a river front guest house or apartment with 'breathtaking view' of the river and the adjoining mountains.

Many other TV footage about floods too reveal river banks of Bhagirathi and Alaknanda dotted with similar eyesore inducing concrete structures in close proximity of the rivers. All tell-tale sign of rampant unplanned and unbridled construction activity throughout the region.
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With most of the roads washed away the options before rescue workers have badly narrowed down. They can only use helicopters (and that too if the weather and terrain are favourable) to evacuate the stranded and drop food supplies. Unless the army manages to fix up some of the damaged roads, the evacuation will be slow as helicopters cannot accommodate many.

The relief process poses twin challenges. The first one is to rescue the tourists and pilgrims stranded at various places and secondly to rehabilitate the natives whose home and hearths have been destroyed.

The first one may be comparatively easy as once the marooned pilgrims are evacuated to safety and sent to their homes, the task is over. As for the second it will take a couple of years. With most structures in the area now 'neck deep' in silt, cleaning up is going to be a painstakingly long task. The massive silt deposit is a disturbing indicator of the amount and the speed with which the soil erosion is happening in the Himalayan region. Many of the structure may be barely usable and may need to be totally rebuilt. 
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Flooding caused by Himalayan rivers such as Ganga and Brahmaputra is a routine and annual occurrence and as old as hills. But all these years it used to wreak havoc in the Gangetic plains of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar or Assam (in case of Brahmaputra). Of late the regions located on the Himalayan foothills seem to be bearing the brunt, pointing towards deterioration of ecology in the region.
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The early arrival of monsoon was the main trigger. It came two-weeks ahead of schedule and that too in top gear with a cloudburst over Kedarnath area, which caught pilgrims and district officials unawares. Many pilgrims were in the midst of their  Char Dham and Hem Kund yatras. Lack of any proper disaster response system and large scale environmental degradation only made matters worse.
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As potholes and paan stains on walls epitomise Indian cityscape and ethos so does the penchant to indulge in politics at the time of natural calamities. This is a very Indian trait and cuts across party lines. PR knives are out and no opportunity to score brownie points are spared. So its time for announcement of 'competitive' relief (or maybe one-upmanship relief), photo ops and aerial surveys (with hapless taxpayers footing the bill), all of course with an eye on forthcoming 2014 general election.
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The profiteering, hoarding trader, the venal Lala depicted in many yesteryear Hindi films (with Madan Puri or Prem Chopra playing  the part), is also very much at work. Their knack to see opportunity in every calamity has not diminished a wee bit. Stranded pilgrims alleged they had to fork out Rs 100 for a packet of biscuit and Rs 500 for a meal. There was also a report of rape of two stranded women in the area.

The latest saga of greed during calamity involves a group of 'holy men' caught with cash and ornaments worth over Rs 1 crore. They had allegedly robbed cash from ATMs in the region and removed jewellery from dead bodies. The proverbial cat was out of bag only when they refused to board the rescue helicopters without their heavy bags! 
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The only people who come out shining out of this tragedy are our men in uniform - be it the army, air force or paramilitary forces. It was heartening to see photos and TV visuals of these men herding the injured, children, old and infirm to safety. To many their round-the-clock tireless work came across as the proverbial straw for a drowning person.

Also Read: Bangalore Beat

Wednesday 19 June 2013

Telegram As a Museum Piece



Amid a bewildering deluge of smartphone messenger apps and other high tech text messaging services came the news that the state-owned BSNL has decided to mothball its Telegram service from July 15. It will be the last state-owned telegram service in the world to be shuttered.

The public reaction ranged from nostalgia (for those on the wrong side of 40), to a dismissive 'by-the-way-what-is-a-telegram?' shrug by the Instagram generation.

Telecom and IT minister Kapil Sibal sounded triumphal when he  declared that the country will bid the telegram a 'warm farewell' on July 15 and "the last telegram sent should be a museum piece".

The number of telegrams sent in a day in the country had come down to 5,000 from more than 60 million in 1985 and hence not even remotely viable.

In the pre-fax and -STD phone days telegrams played a major role in Government administration, banks and other commercial establishments.

At a personal level telegrams were seen by people as carriers of bad news. They were opened with anxiety, trepidation and prayer. In fact the receivers would often try to size up the expression of the telegram bearer to gauge whether the tidings were happy or sad. Laconic messages such as 'father serious, start immediately', 'grandpa no more' (in this SMS era even this may look too verbose) or news of birth, job posting, wedding wishes - evoked a range of emotions.

In India telegram services were thrown open to public in 1855 and in most Indian languages it came to be known as vernacular equivalent of the word 'wire' - for instance in Hindi it was called taar. By 1856 itself 4,000 plus miles got 'wired', thanks to the foresight of our colonial masters. The telegraph service came in handy for the East India Company and later the British Empire in quick mobilisation of troops to take part in wars or crush rebellions. A beginning was made at the 1857 revolt itself.

In its 150 plus years journey the telegraph system too changed with the times and underwent many technological metamorphosis. It graduated from Morse code to teleprinters and later to world wide web, but since the 1990s it has been a downhill ride. The advent of internet and later mobile phones made telegrams look primitive.

However, in its zeal to bid a 'warm farewell' the government seems to have overlooked some of the problems that may arise in winding up such a long standing service and has not put any alternative systems in place.

First of all the miniscule number of people who still use telegrams have not been provided with any alternative. Many of them may be residing in places which has little internet or mobile phone penetration. They may be illiterate or technologically challenged nor have the wherewithal to own a mobile phone or a computer.

Unlike e-mails or text messages telegrams enjoy legal sanctity and courts accept it as documentary proof. Courts extensively use telegrams for functions such as sending a notice or court order, informing the family of a person who has been arrested and the like. Without telegrams courts and legal fraternity may find it difficult to carry out such vital functions. It is really strange that the policy makers overlooked this important aspect.

Armed forces personnel posted in far flung border areas too have to depend on telegrams to contact their camps while on leave. In case they need to extend their leave telegram is the best option as phone calls are not accepted and letters take time. Without telegrams they even run the risk of facing disciplinary action.

Also Read: Bangalore Beat

Wednesday 12 June 2013

J Dey - A Forgotten Hero



The second death anniversary of noted Mumbai crime reporter Jyotirmoy Dey got over recently (June 11) but our media, with its nano attention span, has 'moved on' to 'J Dey who?' levels. Last heard that it was recovering from a severe bout of NaMonia. This is despite the fact that the person happened to be from their own tribe.

Probably apart from Mid-Day newspaper, where Dey was employed when the unfortunate incident took place, no media house bothered to  remember him. Mid-Day highlighted the sad plight of his family, especially his mother who feels her son has been denied justice. 

It all happened on a rainy afternoon in Mumbai and many question regarding the audacious killing still remain unanswered. The sequence looked straight out of some Ram Gopal Varma's gangster flick - the only difference was that Dey was riding a humble motorcycle and not inside some swanky car. Four hitmen in two motorcycles pumped bullets at a close range and sped away.

Though the four men were arrested along with seven others and two chargesheets (each running into thousands of pages) filed, the overall picture is still quite hazy. The police would like us to believe that Chhota Rajan had given supari to kill Dey at the behest of Jigna Vora - a woman crime reporter of Asian Age with professional jealousy being the main motive. The case is going on and we hope the police has enough material to prove their allegation.

Already the Bombay High Court had on Feb 13, 2013, censured them for not procuring vital call records that would have established the conspiratorial link between gangster Chhotta Rajan and his lieutenants in India accused of carrying out Dey's murder. The police was tardy in approaching the telecom company for the call records, and the company (as per its rules) had wiped them off as it was more than a year old.

The tragedy of this country is that its prominent underworld mafia dons are holed up in safe havens of Pakistan, Middle East or Far East and well beyond the reach of our law enforcement agencies. They can only lay hands on small fries like sharpshooters and accomplices lurking in the mean streets of Mumbai. Hence the truth regarding many of the cases too remain at best glorified hypotheses and quite often miserably fall apart in the court of law.

The conduct of the media ranged from insensitive to slanderous. We had the bizarre spectacle of various gangsters calling up various media house to either disown or own the killings. First we had Chhotta Shakeel calling up newspaper and TV offices saying he did not kill Dey! Later we had Chhotta Rajan explaining why he killed Dey and at whose behest. In addition, various 'sources' were more than obliging to further spice up news stories. In their race for 'exclusives' and TRPs, media houses unconditionally lapped up these statements.

Going by these reports it would appear that Dey was more of a fixer for various mafia dons than a journalist; had amassed prime properties in Mumbai; a girlfriend tucked somewhere in the city; was frequently visiting abroad to meet various mafia dons. It goes without saying that all these reports warrant lavish pinches of salt. If a well known journalist can be slandered in this manner after his death, one shudders about the plight of lesser mortals.

Thankfully amidst all this puerile circus we had Dey getting recognition in Washington DC at a museum for journalists who lost their lives in the line of duty. Along with his photo they have briefly mentioned about his coverage of Mumbai underworld and the oil mafia and ends with a poignant remark by his mother, "You fought for others rights. Now who will fight for yours?"

Also Read: Bangalore Beat

Thursday 6 June 2013

Suddenly Something



On a languid Saturday morning while the TV channels were dishing out the migraine inducing fare of spot fixing and Srinivasan saga came the news that put the corporate world in a tizzy. The poster boy of India's IT revolution N R Narayana Murthy will be taking back the reins of Infosys - his 'middle child'.

The company, which financial journalists often describe as IT bellwether, of late seems to have lost its byte, much to the disappointment of its shareholders and employees. Hence the top management, in its sheer desperation, decided to press the panic button.

The return of Murthy, though hailed by the corporate world, raises some questions. Infosys right from the early days had tried to project itself as a professionally run company not wedded to any individual or family. All the founders of the company were first generation entrepreneurs. Its management style came as a whiff of fresh air in the Indian corporate world, dominated by clannish Mumbai-centric business dynasties, steeped in crony capitalism.

Murthy himself had always maintained that the CEO should retire at 65 and always kept his family away from the matters of the company. Hence his return and that too along with his son has broken both the above principles, providing ammunition to his detractors. In any other company a former CEO returning along with son in tow would have hardly raised any eyebrows. But Infosys is different and is always viewed with a much loftier yardstick.

Its image of propriety has spread far and wide. Even Government dignitaries from various Western countries while visiting India make it a point to squeeze Bangalore into their itinerary - mainly to visit Infosys campus. Vidhana Soudha - the seat of Karnataka government, is at best an afterthought and often skipped.

Another unhealthy fallout is that Infosys now runs the risk of being seen as a one-man company, something which will not be to the liking of Murthy. Somehow the company failed to groom successors worthy enough to step into the shoes of Narayana Murthy or Nandan Nilekani.

The Infosys co-founder has taken a calculated risk by agreeing to steer the company again and hopefully he does succeed in his task soon and calls it a day for good. Any delay will be good news for his detractors.

Also Read: Bangalore Beat