Jul

31

From yawn to dust

July 31, 2007 posted by indiatime | Leave a Comment

The Daily Telegraph’s Judy Rumbold has a harsh look at Bollywood’s Shilpa Shetty and contends that there is a yawning gap between Shilpa’s public image and reality.

my arrival at her hotel is met by a languid yawn and a look of undisguised boredom. She makes no move to rise from her chair, shake my hand or remove her sunglasses.

While she has her eyes closed mid-yawn, there is time to take in the most mesmeric pair of breasts – perfectly spherical and crammed into a low-cut brown T-shirt – I have ever seen. With respect (and not a little awe), she ought to get them out more.

I want to tell her that in Britain, at least, she has a few months, tops, before the Shilpa love-in ends and she and her sizeable arsenal of gold jewellery are consigned to the remainder bin.

In the absence of any tangible talent other than dancing skills and a forgiving way with racist oiks, the brutally short attention span of the Heat-reading masses will see to it that she is over before she ever really got going

Publicity is a double-edged sword and Shilpa Shetty surely is getting a handful of both the edges. What has begun as a dream-year has started looking a little more or a little less, and by the end of the year, we all will find out if Shilpa Shetty was really a has-been or a will-be.

The Times’ Rashmee Roshan Lall comments on the Rumbold interview predicting that Shilpa’s love-fest with Great Britain may truly be over very soon. That may happen sooner than expected, or may not happen ever at all. Destiny, this year, has brought strangely happy twists of fate for several Indians whom none of us knew or had completely forgotten about. Amongst all those fortunate ones, Shilpa’s case is a little different because fame came to her not in India but outside. The downside of that is that those outside fans, may not be as forgiving or compassionate as the inside ones who don’t really care about a Bollywood idol’s gray matter or the lack of it.

Jul

31

The mango misstep

July 31, 2007 posted by indiatime | 1 Comment

Only a few weeks ago, India was all excited about the export of our world class mangoes to the Unites States market. It has been about 3 months that the first shipments arrived, and the results are in!

I’m sorry to report my friends, that every NRI that I’ve talked to and who has tasted the new Indian mango shipments, literally each and every one of my acquaintances tell me, that Indian mangoes that have been coming into the US market, suck big time!

These mangoes that are making it to the USA are nowhere near the exceptionally tasty alphanso variety Indians have known for centuries. These fruits do not even come from the center of alphanso valley in India - the western coastal regions of southern konkan in Maharashtra. In fact, many now believe that it has been a hasty mistake to have pushed for the current crop of mangoes, as these have set a tasteless precedent in a highly sought after foreign market.

Personally, it doesn’t matter to me if the mango is from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka or Kerala. Let it come from wherever as long as it wows the american palate and increases the demand for Indian mangoes to the foreign markets. But, after all the hype about the superlative taste of Indian mangoes, if we drop the ball and send faddoos tasteless mangoes that taste like @#$%^, then the US market is not going to be that hot for the Indian mango for long.

So whoever the mango exporters are on the Indian side, take notice. Your days are numbered if you underestimate and insult the US market by sending your second-grade export material. What the Indian mango exporters need to understand is that it is not mango-ignorant Americans buying their mangoes, but it is the the non-resident Indian Americans, who for years have been craving for that out-worldly alphanso taste. Their palates remember the real alphanso very well, and the one that has been coming to the US shores is not that alphanso.

For years, Canadians have been enjoying real tasty alphansoes from India. It seems that the US market, however, is being tricked into buying a substandard variety that may eventually stop this mango tango and make Indian lose its face.

Jul

30

Arjun Singh, the union minister for Human Resource and Development is now caught smack in the middle of his own hypocrisy. The government’s most vocal proponent of reservations for backward classes and reparations for age-old ancestral castisms, the minister is now ‘distancing himself’ from a dowry scandal in his own family.

Madhvendra Singh, the father of Arjun SIngh’s granddaughter-in-law Priyanka, has files a case against Singh and his whole family for allegedly harassing the granddaughter-in-law for a dowry of a mercedes car and an apartment.

What did Arjun Singh have to say to that? “I have nothing to do with it. My opinion was sidelined at the wedding,”, said Arjun Singh.

That’s very, very convenient Mr. Singh.

For all those thousands of years that the downtrodden of this country faced injustice and unfair treatments, my ancestors had nothing to do with that either. More so, I myself had nothing to do with it. In fact, the opinions of my ancestors or my own for that matter, did not even matter. So why the heck do I have to account for the sins of people who were not even my fathers or forefathers?

And you, Mr. Singh, try to distance yourself from something that you apparently admit your own son and your own family to be guilty of. Why don’t you face the situation and reserve some sympathy for your own granddaughter-in-law and her family? Why don’t you open up your own quota of open heart and goodwill? Why don’t you distance yourself from this hypocrisy and show some fairness to the Indian public?

I, hereby distance myself from the reservation and quota policies of this government. I further distance myself from Arjun Singh, the minister for human resources. Not just me, but my father and his father and even his father had nothing to do with the caste system. They were poor souls who worked hard to bring bread and butter to the table. They did not offend any untouchables. They did not take food away from anybody. They did not lynch anybody. They didn’t ask anybody for a mercedes car or an apartment. They did not take any dowry from their daughters-in-law. So, once again, let the record books show that I had nothing to do with it. My family had nothing to do with it.

Jul

30

Ex-terror suspect, now free-bird, Dr. Mohammed Haneef has been handed the ultimate good twist of fate. The Indian doctor under arrest in Australia for the recent UK terror bombing plot, is now back home in Bangalore. But destiny may have greater things in store for him than just the current 15-minutes of fame that he’s been getting.

1. A state job in Bangalore with a government car and a big house (Kumaraswamy, the chief minister of Karnataka had already expressed happiness over Dr. Haneef’s release. But he has now gone a step further. “I’m willing to offer Dr. Haneef a government job”, he said, adding “our state needs able doctors”.)

2. There are so many opportunities on TV. New chief judge of Indian Idol or a place next to Rakhi Sawant in the comedy show. Actually, Dr. Haneef can get any top spot in the evening soaps, and my hunch is he would do better than any of the current male leads, anyways.

3. A spot on India’s cricket team when India visits Australia next time. Australians are now so scared of Haneef that they would not dare bowl him anything faster than 5 miles per hour. The umpires would never dare to say he’s out for fear of sparking another international incident. Haneef can keep playing until he’s tired. Indian cricket team is never going to be able to legitimately beat the Australians at home, so I think this would be a good thing for India.

4. A book deal convertible into a Bollywood action film “Brisbane Ke Woh Bees Din” (20 Days in Brisbane). Himesh Reshamiya can play Dr. Haneef. Himesh doesn’t need to learn new dialogs as most of his dialog from ‘Aap Ka Suroor’ can be reused. In fact, several shots with white police arresting Himesh could be reused as well. The film can be ready in record time and Himesh can contribute with a sufi number that would aptly speak about the twists of fate in a man’s life. And I would nominate newly free Monica Bedi to play Dr. Haneef’s wife in the movie.

5. Dr. Haneef can become the Local MLA (member of legislative assembly) from Bangalore. I am pretty sure this would be an uncontested election for him.

6. If his good fortunes last long, he can become the MP (member of parliament) from Bangalore. This would also be an uncontested win for him.

7. If his fortunes last even longer, he can become India’s new Minister of health and Information to replace the current Dr. Ramdoss.

8. India’s new ambassador to Australia. Let the Australians really have it. What better way to rub salt on the Australian government’s wounds than having Dr. Haneef giving it back to the Aussies? I bet he can get any deal signed there, Uranium or Platinum, now that no government official is going to risk crossing with Dr. Haneef.

9. India’s vice-presidency. All 3 nominees are muslims and the only qualification this year, seems to be that one would need to be a muslim to be the vice-president. Dr. Haneef is not only a muslim, but a very well-qualified one, so I say, kick out all the other nominees, and let’s vote for Dr. Haneef for India’s vice-president. Needless to say, if he is elected, he would be visiting Australia first.

10. Haneef missed this one, but had he been released just a week earlier, he would surely have been the all-party nominee for India’s presidency. There wasn’t much initial consensus with Mrs. Patil’s candidacy and it would have been very, very hard for any party to reject a Haneef candidacy. Darn! The Australians blew this biggie for him.

Jul

30

The Adman family values

July 30, 2007 posted by indiatime | 2 Comments

In their recent survey, the Target Group Index (TGI), a global network of market research surveys, has the results on how various countries around the world are doing with the concept of family values.

The survey claims that in most countries worldwide, more than two-thirds of the population still respects traditional values. Of the various countries studies, Indians were the ones most concerned about whether their family thought they were doing well in life. India also seemed to be doing well with divorce statistics (66% adults are still married), the matter of staying together with spouses (82% Indians support that concept) and parental expectations (more than 50% Indian parents put pressure on their kids to stufy harder or do better).

I don’t think the TGI survey proves that India is still a traditional society. The questions asked of the participants are in no way, form or fashion, indicative of the actual family values those participants espouse or practise. (Indians are too smart and too savvy enough to trick surveys like this). In fact, just recently Renuka Chowdhury, India’s minister for women and child welfare, public told Indian women not to trust their husbands.

The TGI survey wants to make a big deal about family values because it wants advertising agencies to harp on the family value theme more and more. “…Global brand owners entering local markets can thus safely incorporate these values into their campaigns….”, says the TGI survey. That makes this whole survey sound like a big scam to me. Do we really need such global surveys to convince us that family values is a good theme to be played out by the ad marketeers? Tomorrow another global survey company will publish results saying that majority of the men on the planet value seeing women in scanty clothes, therefore global brand owners should incorporate women in scanty clothes into ad commercials!

Long ago, there was a king who sent messengers out into his kingdom to gauge the happiness index of his people. The messengers would come back every month and report their findings. Those who brought the sad news about famines, droughts, quarrels and skirmishes, the king summarily executed. And he would reward those who brought the good news about happy families living together and producing babies. So the messengers started bringing only good news, and those who had any bad news managed not to get killed by keeping the bad news to themselves. Within a few years, there was a bloody revolution, the king was overthrown, and the members of the public decided to hang him to death. “What did I do wrong”, the king pleaded, “…Nobody ever told me that the people were unhappy…”!

The family value survey is a good news survey that hides a lot of problems in the Indian society. To say that India is peserving its family values is a joke, and we all know that. Is dowry a traditional family value? Is Sutee a family value too? What about mass murders of female fetuses? What about the safety conditions in the capital? What about the jilted lovers killing their crushes? What about 12th grade kids committing suicides due to excessive pressure? What about first-year students ending their lives to escape ragging? What about farmers ending their lives because they cannot pay back their minor debts? What about railway cops trying to molest railways passengers? What about hospital staff raping anesthetised patients? Are those India’s family values? And what about the sex scandals on CDs? What about the desecration of our ancient rivers? Are those our traditional values? What about the caste system? What about untouchability? What about reservations and quotas? What amongst these appeals to you as a family value?

For now, I just don’t need no global ad executives telling me about my traditional values. And I don’t need no marketing firm bullshitting me about my country’s values just to put its hands into my pockets.

Jul

29

Broadcast ministry removes underwear ads

July 29, 2007 posted by indiatime | 9 Comments

Indian government has now banned two television ‘indecent, vulgar, and suggestive’ ads. The ads did not comply with the content code, newly issued by the ministry of Broadcasting and Information. The ads did not receive any objections from the India’s advertising standards body (ASCI), but sparked the ire of the ministry that on its own homepage describes its mission as playing a significant part in helping the people to have access to free flow of information.

The first ad is this Amul Macho underwear commercial. Notice the part where the camera closes in on the woman in red as she is assumed to be washing her husband’s underwear. It’s probably not the fact that she’s doing her husband’s laundry, but her eyes-half closed, undulating movements suggesting something of a more sexual nature, that upset the government.

The second ad is for the Lux Cozy underwears. It shows a man wrapped in merely a towel at first, and his friends play a prank on him when they remove his towel, shut him out of the house, with a group of women ogling the naked man.

I do get the ‘fantasy’ theme of the Amul ad, and I think it’s definitely a brilliant piece with great potential for a series of ads on such a theme. The second one I am not too sure about, especially the ugly part where the man in the underwear comes back home. Arghgg…!

Jul

29

Jagatguru Kripalu Maharaj, also known as Ram Tripathi is a free man again. A carribean court has now cleared him of rape and molestation charges brought by a 22-year old disciple.

The 85-year old Hindu spiritual guru, who is famous for his discourses and writings on the philosophy of Divine love, got entangled in the case when the 22-year old guyanese disciple complained to Trinidad police that while seeking spiritual assistance, the famous swami went beyond the divine, and raped her.

There are reports about old rape and kidnapping charges and accusations ranging from 1984-1991, from Nagpur where the maharaj had set up his divine abode. In one of those cases, the 2 rape victims told the court that they had had consensual sex with the divine swami.

Now that he is released, the maharaj according to his own website, should be back with his devotees, showering the nectar of Krishn love in many ways.

Jul

28

Never give your SIMcard to your cousin

July 28, 2007 posted by indiatime | 1 Comment

Australia has now completely backtracked on the terror charges against Indian doctor Dr Mohammed Haneef, dropping all terrorism-related charges and admitting the snafu as an embarassing mistake. Dr. Haneef’s wife, his family, the Indian government and Dr. Haneef himself had been pleading not guilty since the doctor was first taken into custody earlier this month.

The Direcor of Public Prosecutions admitted that there were key errors made on the prosecution’s part and that had eventually led to the dismissal of all charges against Dr. Haneef. But Cameron Murphy, Secretary for Council of Civil Liberties, said that the case against Dr. Haneef was politically driven and influenced by Attorney General Ruddock and Immigration minister Andrews.

Dr. Haneef’s case can be construed as a classic example of misguided profiling being used to bolster fabricated investigations. At the same time, it needs to be reminded that Dr. Haneef is a relative of the main accused in the Glasgow bombing case, and yes, it did appear that he was abruptly rushing home to India. The police at the time surely couldn’t have been aware that he had had a baby just a few days ago, until after they talked to him.

So it seems that the police did not initiate their case with any prejudicial mindset, but somewhere along the way, the lure of arresting a relative of the main accused in a high profile international terror investigation, probably proved too much for some in the prosecutorial office. And instead of patiently building their case on evidence, there was an immature rush to convict Dr. Haneef without any evidentiary support.

Indian government, surprisingly, showed vocal support for the doctor, even in the initial stages of the episode. That part of this story also demonstrates the new dynamics of the Indo-Australian relationship, and the tilting of fortunes to the Indian side. Ten years ago, the same story might have ended differently for Dr. Haneef. These days, Indian NRIs have definitely been getting the benefit of some new muscle power from back home.

As for me, the lessons I have learnt from Dr. Haneef’s episodes are:

1. Never share your cellphone SIMcard with anyone, least of all with a cousin plotting to bomb half the city.
2. Do not maintain diaries.
3. Never buy one-way ticket to anywhere. It can be harder to explain than a round-trip ticket.
4. If your wife is delivering, do not wait to visit until 10 days after the baby is delivered. You need to be with your wife when she’s going through a hardship that you initiated.
5. If your SIMcard has extra minutes, call your mother and tell her that you love her. If it still has extra minutes, call your teacher, or your wife, or just call some TV talk show, say the horsocope show or something. But never give that SIMcard to just about anybody because he or she may be the satan in disguise.

Jul

27

Tata welcomes Jaguar and Land Rover

July 27, 2007 posted by indiatime | 4 Comments

India’s Tata Motors, formerly Telco, has quietly made big news by acquiring two famous symbols of British automobile industry - the British Jaguar and the Land Rover from Ford which had owned and managed the two brands for a while (Ford has had Jaguar since 1989 and Land Rover since 2000).

For last few years, Tata Motors has upped the pace of international acquisitions and mergers in the auto industry. Here is what the company has been up to in just last 3 years:

1. Acquires Daewoo Commercial Vehicles (Korea’s second largest truck maker) in 2004
2. Buys a stake in Hispano Carrocera (Spanish bus and coach maker) in 2005
3. Joint venture with Maropolo (Brazilian body-maker for buses and coaches) in 2006
4. Memo of understanding with Fiat in 2006
5. Joint venture with Thonburi (Thai Automotive Assembly maker) in 2006

But with the Land Rover purchase, Tata Motors gets a real front door foothold into the north american auto market, the sandbox of the auto industry. Additionally, the Jaguar gives it an opening into the international luxury market which Tata Motors hasn’t really had before (Tata does have a joint venture with Mercedes to manufactire Mercedes cars for the Indian market).

After starting its journey in 1945, Tata’s first collaboration came in 1948, with Marshall Sons (UK), for the manufactuing of steam road rollers. The next 60 years of Tata Motors almost mirror the fortunes of India itself - starting small and slowly but definitively making headway to become an international giant.Pretty much like the giant steam road roller that it started out to manufacture.

Famous American humorist Mark Twain, a guest with Tatas when he traveled to Bombay in 1896, once said that “An Englishman is a person who does things because they have been done before. An American is a person who does things because they haven’t been done before”. Todays Tatas belong to the group of Indian companies which believe that the modern Indian is a person who does things because, for too long, Americans, Britishers, and the rest of the world have been doing a lot of things and it’s high time this sleeping giant stepped in.

Jul

27

Buddhadeb goes bananas

July 27, 2007 posted by indiatime | Leave a Comment

Yesterday, the chief minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee accused United States of inciting terroristic activities intended to split and disintegrate India. I hope Mr Bhattacharjee was smoking weed before he decided to initiate his personal and one-sided rant. Because if he weren’t, then the matter is actually much more serious, and medical and psychiatric consultations may need to requested.

“…There is a global conspiracy to break India from within…the hand of the United States cannot be ruled out…”, said the chief minister.

Seems to me that Buddhadeb who has been previously acknowledged as a liberal and compassionate communist, is trying to appease and attract the attention of the staunch die-hard communists in his state, doing the typical ’rounding up the usual suspects’ dance. He needs to say something about terrorism, and what better way than to implicate the capitalist infidels? He has also had to defend the police shootings in Nandigram over Special Economic Zone (SEZ) protests.

When in distress, politicians often turn to the art of deception and misdirection. Buddhadeb, now maturing into the arts and faculties of politicking, is playing that classic misdirection trick, to neutralize and non-plus the heat within the party. But in doing so, he has decided to scapegoat and offend a powerful business ally. That to me, is plain stupid. The only reason he might get away with such nonsensical and frivolous accusations is that just like his ignorance index, his insignificance index, too, is very high.

Jul

26

A new talk show with hosts Kalam and Bedi

July 26, 2007 posted by indiatime | 1 Comment

Yesterday, two people in India breathed a sigh of relief and started a new life full of new dreams, freedom, and hopes. For last five-plus years, both these people were in confinement, and couldn’t really articulate their expression of freedom.

Monica Bedi, former Bollywood actress and a former girlfriend of mafia gangster Abu Salem, was released from a prison in Hyderabad after being imprisoned for more than 5 years. Bedi told reporters that she is thinking about several new offers that she’s received from Bollywood and wanted to spend some time with her family first.

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, elite scientist and now a former president, received a constitutional release from his duties a India’s president, and a release from the presidential prison home also known as Rashtrapati Bhavan. Dr. Kalam has told the press that he will be taking up a teaching asignment at the Anna University in Chennai, but first, would spend some time with his family.

I would like to suggest to both these celebrities, that they should join hands, in hosting a new television talk show. These two celebrities, between themselves, would really cover the wide spectrum of personalities, beauty, intelligence, knowledgebase, world travel, behavioral studies, technical knowhow, Bollywood trivia, literally the whole gamut of things a TV talk show is supposed to cover. Their fan base would also probably cover most of the population. Young children love Dr. Kalam. Older children like Monica. Kalam is a devout follower of his religion. Monica has also amply thanked God for her recent good fortunes. Both have the gift of the gab and both could probably entertain and enthrall TV viewers for hours.

I’m pretty sure one of these two is going to have a lot of TV time in years to come. The idea is to allow the other one to be with us and not disappear behind the scenes as happens very often with former….!

Jul

25

Not all Indian in-laws mistreat their daughters-in-law. In fact, a medical clinic owner Dr. Verma, of Aligarh, in north India, proved just how far a father-in-law will go to please and appease his daughter-in-law.

Authorities in Aligarh arrested Dr. G. S. Verma yesterday, for allowing his daughter-in-law to perform an emergency Caesarean section. He was arrested not because the patient bled volumes of blood, not because the uterus was shred to pieces, or not even because the fetus didn’t make it. The fetus had already died, so that wasn’t even a concern.

Dr. Verma was arrested, because, Mithilesh Verma, the good doctor’s daughter-in-law and the ‘doctor’ who performed the surgery, is not a doctor at all. But she is India’s first woman who is really a primary teacher and has now performed a caesarean section, successfully, unsuccesfully or just for the heck of it.

As India’s new President - the first woman president took office today, some have wondered if she will deliver. Whether someone can deliver, really depends on what is to be delivered. In the Aligarh caesarean case, the primary school teacher did deliver the dead fetus. It was another matter that the uterus was shred to pieces and the patient will never conceive again and the doctor will never deliver again.

After recently having claimed the world’s first 15-year old doctor performing surgery, India has now gone in the record books with our first primary teacher surgeon. And yes, the first woman president. Sorry I Keep forgetting that one.

Jul

25

“…I like pink color as it is sparkling and glowing and I want to give the essence of this colour to my community so that they feel lifted in their status…”
- Mayawati, Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh,
speaking to NDTV, May 23rd

The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh knew what she was talking about when she told the NDTV on May 23rd, that she disliked film stars. Denying the she would pursue a politics of vendetta, she promised that she would go after those that were perceived as having benefitted during her predecessor’s period in power.

One of the film stars the pink panther is plotting revenge against is of course, Amitabh Bachchan, the darling of Bollywood, and also the darling of the previous government in power. One of the benefits of that association was a piece of farmland Mr. Bachchan was allotted in the district of Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh.

That deal came into question when the political fortunes changed in Uttar Pradesh, and Mr. Bachchan became a target of lawsuits seeking him to give up that piece of land, plus questioning the legalities of that deal itself. A similar land parcel near Pune in Maharashtra state, also became a matter of hot debate.

In a twist to the whole issue, Mr. Amitabh Bachchan recently gave up his claim on both his land parcels, the one in Uttar Pradesh as well as the one near Pune in Maharashtra. In Pune, Bachchan ran into legal quagmire delaying the handover of the land to the original owners of that farmland. In Uttar Pradesh, the government is taking a hardline, saying that Mr. Bachchan’s attempt to give up the land in question is violating court orders and is an illegal act.

I don’t know what else to call this but an act of governmental vengeance against Amitabh Bachchan who finally seems to have done the right thing in returning the questionable property to the local farmers. And if Ms. Mayawati thinks that she can get away standing on high ground and shooting from the hip, then it is becoming a little obvious to everyone.

I would be lying if I say that I am not a fan of Amitabh Bachchan. But I have not flinched from criticising the thespian. And I have done that more than once, with his land deal, or for his disinterest in innovation. But this is one time I am fully in support of Mr. Bachchan’s actions. What else is he expected to do beyond giving up miilions of dollars worth of land? Does Mayawati really expect and hope to prosecute and persecute Mr. Bachchan enough to lock him up for a few? Come on, the man has shown enough sense and action to express his feelings about the land deals.

Ms. Mayawati, there are enough screwy things going on in your Uttar Pradesh. So, stop persecuting the man, now that he has given up the lands in question. Otherwise, this whole funny charade is starting to look less like a legal battle and more like the revenge of the pink panther!

Jul

24

Four varnas and a superpower

July 24, 2007 posted by indiatime | Leave a Comment

The Times of India editorial, today focuses on India’s new christening by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). India, according to the USAID, is no more a developing country, but a transforming country.

That’s a great achievement, but it is hardly enough. The Times rightly points out that India needed to get out of the developing country mode of thinking, so this ‘transforming’ business is a good step. But “…we have a lot of way to make up for the lost years of chronic, self-pitying underdevelopment. And we are not there yet…”.

One of the tenets of Hinduism, Chaturvarna or 4 classes, has been subverted by political and interest groups for a long time, and evokes negative thoughts about India’s abhhorent caste system and inhuman racial divisions. But bear with me, and consider 4 modern versions of those classes, for a minute.

For a nation to be a real superpower, it needs to be a leader in all or most of these 4 major areas, which are general extrapolations based on the same 4 classes talked about for centuries.

1) Intellectual property rights
2) Military
3) Commerce, finance, manufacturing
4) Service industry

India, at this point, is probably doing very well in the 4th area - the service industry. The call centers, the BPOs, the IT revolution, all point to India’s emergence as the world’s leading supplier of service-oriented resources. Well done.

India, at this point, is probably doing alright, but not that well in the 3rd area - the manufacturing, the commerce, and the finance sector. But there is increasing investor attention from all over the globe, suggesting that India’s standing in this area is improving, albeit slower than expected by some.

India, at this point, is one of the world’s major military forces. India has the second largest standing army in the world (2.5 million), the fifth-largest navy in the world, and the fourth-largest airforce in the world. It will be hard for anyone to deny that India is one of the major military superpowers on the planet.

Ok, here it comes. India, at this point, is very, very badly placed as far as the race for intellectual property rights is concerned. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ranks India in the lowest 2 or 3 countries in terms of patent statistics (I’m not not kidding). India can boast of multiple IITs and IIMs, but those so-called premier instititutions are not only not doing enough, they are doing nothing at all.

So, let’s check those 4 areas once again. In the Intellectual property business, we rank almost the last in all the nations that matter. In military matters, there are more than one countries that have bigger forces than we do in almost every category. In business, only 6 companies made Fortune’s global-500 list. As for call centers, we rule for now, but other countries are doing their best to catch up fast.

And now, beyond all that, coming back to the point that the Times editorial made. “…our infant mortality rate is higher than Bangladesh or Namibia and about double that of Egypt. We’ve been left far behind by China in power, ports, roads, health and education, and we have a lot of way to make up for the lost years of chronic, self-pitying underdevelopment…”.

What say you, folks?

Jul

23

A quintessence of secularism

July 23, 2007 posted by indiatime | 2 Comments

Having decided the fate of the presidency, India is now busy choosing a vice-president for itself. With that nomination race heating up, India’s perpetual coddling of minority groups has now reached a ridiculous new high - all the three nominees for the vice-presidential race are muslims.

So what’s wrong with that? The ruling party’s nominee Hameed Ansari, BJP/NDA’s Najma Heptulla, and the third front’s Rashid Masood, all seemingly able and deserving to be a heartbeat away from the highest office in the country. What is wrong with that picture is that it is too darn obvious to even newborn babies born in India this morning, that these three candidates have become nominees because of their religion and not because of anything else.

That act, to me, is not just coddling and appeasement of minorities. It is an insult to every other religious group and much more so to the muslims. It is an insult to the outgoing president, a muslim himself, who in spite of his stature, intelligence and independent stance, was not supported for a second term by any of the political parties in India. And now, it is these same political parties trying to insult your, mine and every Indian’s intelligence by showing us how they love this country’s muslims. Please, spare me your love for muslims, you rotten politicians. We have not forgotten that you all insulted and ignored a good human being, the outgoing president who happens to be a muslim.

I am sick and tired of this whole charade of minority appeasement, this melting pot masquerade, this travesty of the constitutional principles of equality, this political circus we so lovingly call democracy. Come on, this has gotten so hilarious that even the hindu nationalist party has a muslim nominee. Haha!

As for the candidates themselves, they all seemed unanimous in thinking that this was a great day for the muslims in this country. Just a few days ago, the first woman president had similar feelings after being elected, that it was a proud day for the women of India that a woman had become president.

So here are my predictions for the next few cycles of presidency and vice-presidency of Hindustan:

1. Christian president, Sikh vice-president
2. Sikh president, Dalit vice-president
3. Dalit woman president, Hindu vice-president
4. Sikh woman president, Chrisitian woman vice-president (two women at the top posts - first time in history!)
5. time for another Muslim president/vice president

Bravo! The quintessence of secularism! The nectar of democracy!

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