What I want to share is just a personal opinion, hoping to know what others think about it.

I was travelling in the U.S recently and had a chance to interact to few of my close friends from college.When we were discussing about our kids and how they have grown are interacting with us, this thought came across to me.

Is Indian culture about the way we talk, behave, dress or arts etc? I felt maybe it is something a little different.

There are two traits which is strong in the environment which makes the Indian culture Hierarchy and Resource Constraints.

 Hierarchy

Whether we like it hierarchy exists everywhere, but it is transforming. In my house even today I take permission( to be honest at least FYI my dad if I am going to be late in coming back). One thing this helps me in work it is much easier for me handle hierarchies than my counterparts in U.S. Interestingly they grew here but have spent close to 20 years there that their thinking has transformed. I am not judging that it is good or bad here. It is an observation. They find it difficult to comprehend this rules of hierarchy in functioning of systems at work or outside. I find U.S returned colleagues struggling to adapt this culture over here.

Resource Constraints

There are resource constraints every where in India. From roads to housing to things at work. Being in I.T I can comment on a few things. Product guys in U.S take RAM on computers for granted.In India it is a struggle to get 2GB machines but newer products expect 8GB to be a decent system requirement.The fact is this is a huge constraint. When I walk into our offices in U.S I find desktops with dual monitors that too 19 inch ones and individual rooms for developers to help them work productively.It is cool and nice. I love dual monitors and I ratify it does improve productivity. But in India dual monitors is unimaginable. Recently I saw LCD monitors fixed on the walls of developers and the developer’s desktop reduced to a foot in breadth. Gosh it causes a serious pain in the neck ( pun intended ). There is no way adjust the angle of those monitors also. Hey screw ergonomics, space matters and real estate is expensive.

But the beauty of Indian culture is to accept these attributes as a natural occurrencea and work with it. Imagine a society where all are equal, life will be quite boring actually. If all are intelligent then the word intelligent becomes “just about average”. In physics if there is now high/low how will the electricity flow. There will be have and have-nots. The challenge in life is to accept and work with it. But it is an interesting game we try to equalize it only to realise, we tipped the scale in another direction. Think about the U.S supporting the mujaheddin to balance out Russia, they ended up creating a different kind of imbalance. We will have resource constraints at all levels and in different contexts. Constraints helps us innovate, invent. This introduces newer constraints. Read this “Parable of Horseshit“  interestingly cars( fuel guzzlers and CO2 emitters) where a solution climatic problem at some point in history now we have it and that is a problem.  I think the nice thing about Indian culture helps you embrace these constraints in a positive manner and work with it. It helps us look at constraints with a more positive attitude at least for me. This culture helps accept a constraints without too much frustration. In India you always expect to have constraints and there is a dearth for resources. The environment helps us build this culture – “there are constraints and challenges learn to work with it to succeed.”. Sometimes I feel the western culture does not have as their environment does have a need for it. Which I think works in that environment.

Would love to hear other thoughts/views on this.

P.S : I have assumed readers are in India when I started writing this post, I realise that there are readers from outside India also. Please read it in this perspective.

In the part 1 of this series, I narrated events that happened prior to late 1990s in the Andhra Pradesh.  In the second part, I will cover the evolution of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the changed political climate. I will start with background on Naxal violence in AP.

Even though Naxalism has roots in the Naxalburi area of Dargeeling district, West Bengal, it penetrated strongly in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, United Madhya Pradesh, United Bihar and Maharashtra. Particularly in AP, around 1980s, one leader by name “Kondapalli Seetharamaiah” formed a group called People’s War Group (PWG). PWG has very natural support in the Telangana and Northern Coastal Andhra where landlords and contractors exploit uneducated farmers and tribals.  Few things here are to be noted – in 1992, PWG extremists assassinated a Deputy Inspector General of Police – Vyas few yards away from Police Control Room and State Assembly.  In 1999, they assassinated another IG – Umesh Chandra in Sajeev Reddy Nagar traffic signal – which is perhaps 3 miles away from the CMs residence. Then in 2000, they eliminated Madhava Reddy, ex-home minister around 30 minutes away from Hyderabad. (Of course finally in 2004, they targeted Chandra Babu Naidu in Tirupathi which is in Rayalaseema also). This is just a sample of how well organized this group is in particular in Telangana. When I visited Warangal in 1995, I felt like I was in an army barracks. Heavy security everywhere. Unbelievable to me. Maoist influence in Telangana is to be specifically noted in the background of Telangana struggle.

Coming back to KCR, after launching the party in 2001, very shortly he could create cadre across Telangana. In the 2004 general elections, YS RajaSekhar Reddy (YSR) reluctantly joined Congress with TRS. In 2004, YSR was not as powerful as he became later.  Congress took support of TRS, CPI and CPM for fighting against Chandrababu Naidu, who looked invincible.  TRS won 5 LS Seats and 26 assembly seats. Vote share – 6.83%.   After winning the elections, TRS joined both UPA at center and state governments. TRS as we know has only one agenda – to get separate state. But for YSR, being at heart supporter of Samaikyandhra (United Andhra), started his new line – “problems in AP are due to Mr Naidu not doing enough in irrigation front”.  Jala Yagnam – Water Projects of the scale unimaginable earlier were started with millions of rupees. He also sidelined TRS and forced them come out of the state government. KCR who was central labor minister also resigned in 2006 and withdrew support to UPA because the Telangana issue was kept with a committee headed by Pranab Mukherjee. But things did not move as fast as KCR desired but he used to promise to his cadres that Telangana is coming very soon.  KCR also resigned the LS Seat and in the 2006 by-elections in the Karimnagar constituency, KCR won back the seat he just resigned. He also got a very high majority.

Again the cat and mouse game started. In between, YSR started weakening KCR by splitting TRS. The split faction used to consistently criticize KCR for his lack of commitment and running the party like a family affair.  Meanwhile, Pranab Mukherjee kept sitting on the Telangana issue. Most of the Telangana ministers from Congress, never overtly supported Telangana to be on the good books of YSR.  The only dissident voices from Congress were those Telangana leaders who can never win a direct election all by themselves. There could be other Telangana committed leaders, but were not very vocal.  On the other side,  KCR was getting frustrated. In 2008 (just last year), he made all his 26 MLAs and 4 MPs resign (from his faction of TRS).  In the subsequent bye-election, TRS could just win 2 LS and 7 Assembly Seats.  After forming TRS, this is the worst performance for that party after it’s formation.

Come 2009 General Elections, TRS formed alliance with TDP. TDP for the first time included Telangana in their manifesto due to pressure from the Telangana TDP leaders.  In the elections, TRS won 2 LS seats and 27 Assembly Seats. Congress fared OK but one should agree that Congress won primarily because of splitting of opposition vote by a new party – Praja Rajyam Party(PRP) – launched by film actor Chiranjeevi. PRP won 18 assembly seats (and 16% vote share). Then came YSRs tragic death. I think that changed entire equation.  Dr Rosaiah is a very good No.2 but is not an effective No.1. I think Congress High Command would have thought he would be a good consensus candidate as YSR did not groom any leader of his own stature.  Meanwhile in November 2009, (just last month), elections were held for the Greater Hyderabad City Council. Considering the fact that TRS is traditionally weak in the Hyderabad Urban region and the fact that Hyderabadis are mostly against a separate state, TRS did not even contest the election. TRS argument is different. They thought enough is enough with the political games – let us try something new – fast until death by KCR.  KCR also toured across the Telangana region and prepared the cadres for the big fight. An interesting side note – KCR did a fast until death near Jantar Mantar, New Delhi back in August 2006 as soon as he withdrew support to the UPA government. But he ended the fast just in 2 days at the insistence of Sharad Pawar. So, everybody in the state and center, including the media thought this is another such fast which may go at most 3 days.

Once he started the fast, as expected on the second day of this fast, KCR withdrew the fast and accepted a glass of OJ before the cameras. But what changed the entire scene is the Osmania University Students Joint Action Committee(JAC). These kids were also in the fast in support of KCR. When KCR withdrew they burned the effigies of KCR and projected him as an incapable leader. KCR then told some funny stories which nobody with right mind would believe, and again restarted the fast. KCR is moved to Khammam and eventually to Nizam Hospital, Hyderabad (for better access to National Media, of course which will add pressure). On the other hand, his health situation was deteriorating. There were reports that extremists(Maoists) penetrated into the JAC in Osmania University(proven to be correct).  KCR’s fast soon caught the Congress High Command attention. They convened an all-party meeting inside the State Assembly where TDP, PRP, CPI agreed for announcing T-State. CPM, Lok Satta and MIM(Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) did not support the idea. With TDP and PRPs agreement, P. Chidambaram made the announcement. As soon as this was announced, the coastal andhra and Rayalaseema areas people got really pissed off.  They started pressurizing their elected reps to do something. They announced the resignations and the state entered a political crisis.

One thing that can be inferred from this entire episode – the police intelligence in the state failed completely.  They underestimated everything from end to end.  The reports that OU JAC has outside elements including ex-naxalites is a fact and proven by recent attacks on TDP legislator Nagam Janardhan Reddy who visisted the Osmania University to support the JAC leaders. Even in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, many rowdy elements created havoc. This is a really deplorable situation where police could not control the events.

We have to do a small political analysis on who will benefit if a new T-State is formed -

1) Telangana Congress Leaders – With 4.5 more years Assembly term left until next general elections, even if the state is formed 1 year from now, they will get 3.5 years of ministries and power.  It will be gold mine.

2) KCR/ TRS – KCR will become Father of Telangana and TRS will become an alternate party to reckon with in future. I dont know whether it is good or bad. He is not a trustworthy leader according to even Telanganites. He promotes hate and talks imbalanced.

3) TDP – They have strong cadre in Telangana. They have nothing to lose at least as they do not have power now anyway. So they will work towards strengthening the party.

4) Maoists - From what I know about these groups, they think of new revolution and controlling the country in a single party system with new democracy/ communism etc. Why the hell should they support a split state in Telangana and Goorkhaland? I infer one thing – a new and weak state is easy to have their influence. Not good for Indian Union in any way.

Now what about aam-aadmi – Let us go with the assumption that there is an injustice and Coastal Andhrites are exploiting them. This will not change. With the present state and structure, with the same administrative support – common man in T-state will not see any change in quality of life except a feel-good factor that they got a state of their own. It will be practically impossible to remove the population who migrated and mixed deeply into the Telangana. They will continue to exploit (if they are as smart as they are projected to be) the Telangana region. Next comes the encroachers in Hyderabad. A very large percentage of encroachers in Hyderabad and surroundings are rowdy sheeters who are from Telangana itself not some Coastal Andhrites. Coastal Andhra people really hiked up the market by trading plots around Hyderabad for exorbitant prices.  After real estate crash, they are also impacted.  It is also a proven fact that telanagana rurals were exploited by Telanagana landlords more than anybody else.

Issues which needs consensus even before we think of a new T-state

Hyderabad – Just like we have at least one person from every single district in India at US, we have  at least one person from every Andhra Pradesh village in Hyderabad. I myself have personally at least 25 families of relatives in Hyderabad. If moron leaders/ goons pressurize and threaten, I dont think they will leave. Their life and property is to be protected. They should have equal rights and respect as any native Telanganite. This again is not a charity. This is a fundamental right.  Period.

Water Agreements- I think it is an opportunity for making some innovative agreements between the new state and Andhra. Like KG Basin Energy for river water etc. Both water and energy are going to be scarce. Leaders in both sides should sit together with engineering and scientific community and finalize such agreements.

New Capital- Instead of all departments to be in both capitals, there should be some rational agreements to continue departments that can be run together.  For example, Police, judiciary and marine departments can be shared. know it sounds crazy but I question why not. Whatever reduces the wastage of public money should be thought.

Even before a new state – there should be hard look at the issues that prevented development in Rayalaseema and rural Telangana so far. If they declare in haste – the only benefited parties will be politician and contractor class. Common man’s life may not change. And 30 years down the lane, Adilabad may ask for a separate state.

Hyderabad as a common capital is being discussed a lot. I don’t think it will be practical. But some people
will say – even today everyone will travel all the way to Hyderabad to get things done. Why not in future? It needs broader discussion. One thing is certain majority of Hyderabadis doesnt want to join Telangana. If Telangana people think their sentiment is not respected, I have the same question – should we not respect Hyderabadis sentiment? If not, then it amounts to double standards, which we should be ashamed of.

All in all, what I wanted to say is – if there is a way to really spread the development without dividing the state, it should be strongly explored. If common man in T is going to be under the clutches of same/ similar exploiters, then it is not really a good idea to divide the state for the heck of dividing it.  With Maoist resurgence and the reports that they have equipped latest arms through Nepal connection,  a Telangana state is going to be not a good idea now. I am for a United Andhra for the benefit of entire AP rather than one section. I think it is the responsibility of entire Telugu people to strive for the benefit of the entire state not looking after our own resources we control. It is easy to divide and very difficult to join back. We lose all the leverage we have in the federal system.

I attempted this series because I was pained by the casual nature with which many of my friends from other states took this issue. I thought it could be because of lack of awareness on this issue and thought of explaining to the best of my knowledge. I am also not much politics person and had to research on this a lot to make sure it is as correct as possible.

As we know, the Telangana state cannot be formed by what happens inside Andhra Pradesh. It can be issued by a parliament act which will be voted by all our Lok Sabha reps. As you can see, with so much complexity involved and so many problems unresolved, a new state cannot be formed in haste due to black mail politics or violence spurred by some goondas. It will have impact on the entire country. So, I encourage people to understand this and help people of Andhra Pradesh. Your representatives’ votes and your opinion impacts lives of 8 crores of Andhrites.

We are pleased to have Vamsi Poondla write a post on this blog. He is a regular visitor and commenter on this blog.  Please encourage him with your comments.  - Sukumar

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From the moment Telangana state announcement came on December 9, 2009, the entire Andhra Pradesh is in a political turmoil. I would like to present the background of  this issue and events that led to this situation. Since it is a lengthy post(by my standards) which needs lot of research, I am presenting in two parts. Before I go further this is the disclaimer – I am from Sri Amarajeevi Potti Sri Ramulu Nellore district. As you can see from the name, my district is named after Potti Sriramulu , whose fast-unto-death is one of the triggers for linguistic reorganization of states. So, I may tend to be a little bit biased for United Andhra.  But please correct me if I go wrong anywhere.

Let me start explaining the three major regions in AP – Coastal Andhra(a.k.a Coastaa/Sarkaar), Rayalaseema(a.k.a Ceded) and Telangana. Out of these three regions, Rayalaseema is most underdeveloped and arid region. With no major rivers flowing through and no major irrigation canals, the state of Rayalaseema is pathetic. This I have first hand knowledge because I stayed in Anantapur and traveled extensively through villages of Anantapur, Cudappah, Kurnool and Chittoor districts. Coastal Andhra belt is generally considered to be very rich in agriculture – 3 river basins are in these districts – Godavari, Krishna and Pennar. Culturally also -language, food etc, this area is least affected because it is farthest from the Orissa, MP, Maharashtra, Karnataka and TN. Coastal Andhra has it’s own share of challenges because three districts – Prakasam, Srikakulam, Vijayanagaram are very backward comparable with Rayalaseema districts. Coming to Telangana – besides Hyderabad and it’s neighboring districts,  other districts that are well developed are Warangal, Khammam, Karimnagar and Mehbubnagar. The underdeveloped districts are Adilabad, Nalgonda, Nizambad and Medak. Of these Adilabad is most underdeveloped and it has lots of adivasis.

Andhra Pradesh as we know was formed on 1st November 1956. The events that lead to this is an interesting story by itself.  If we start from the period of Mughals, the most of the present AP region including the coastal belt was under Golkonda Sultanate. But as Mughal empire weakened,  Nizams of Hyderabad started becoming more independent and as part of the agreements with the East India Company, they ceded most of the Rayalaseema and Northern Circar (coastal) districts to the British. But Nizams kept themselves a huge territory under their direct control. Like with all princely states, the British maintained very cordial relationships with these rulers as long as they are no direct threat and they have the trade agreements.  Post independence, Hyderabad Nizam contemplated to stay independent apart from swaying for a short while towards joining Pakistan.  But Sardar Vallabhai Patel did not allow this to happen. He executed Operation Polo and annexed Hyderabad state into Indian Union.  But Hyderabad remained a separate state (with portions of present day Karnataka and Maharashtra).

In the Madras State, Congress the only significant party of India during that time, had a dedicated PCC (State Congress Committe) for Andhra. After Potti Sriramulu’s death (and sacrifice – I really dont know of any others who really died during fasting that too for 58 days), state of Andhra was formed with Kurnool as capital.  Within 1 more year, United Andhra was formed merging the Telugu speaking regions of the previous Hyderabad princely state. Hyderabad, naturally became the capital as it was far better city than any other city in AP in terms of infrastructure. I want readers to look in Wikipedia on history of Hyderabad state and the atrocities of Nizam’s privateers – Razakars. It is a bloody tale which we used to listen with awe when it was narrated. While Sardar Vallabhai Patel was conducting the Operation Polo, two groups were helping the Union of India from inside – Andhra Mahasabha(later became Hyderabad State Congress) and Communist Party of India. After the Hyderabad state was annexed into Indian Union, the same two groups which were very influential during that time, raised a banner of “Visalandhra Movement” (meaning Expanded/Vast Andhra Movement) for the formation of United Andhra Pradesh. During this time, the political awareness of people of Telangana used to be very high. Unlike other regions, poets and intelligentsia’s influence over people used to be high those days.  Finally the state of Andhra Pradesh was formed on 1st November 1956.

Post 1956,  it was settling period. Mostly uneventful except that the trouble was brewing in the name of Mulki Revolt (first telangana agitation).  Dr Chenna Reddy was one of the energetic, ambitious and young leaders with the eye on the chair of Chief Minister-ship. With all due respects, if at an age of 70 being a governor of TN, he could be thorn on the side of the then TN CM, JJ, imagine how he could have been in his 40s? He was instrumental in starting the agitation, splitting Congress(I) as Telangana Praja Samithi, won 12 of 14 seats in the Telangana districts, silently merged into Congress as Indira Gandhi was not keen in creating new states. So a gentlemen’s agreement was signed and TPS merged with Congress. Mrs. Gandhi chose P.V Narasimha Rao as  CM instead of Dr Chenna Reddy. True to the then Indira Gandhi’s finicky political moves, she changed CMs every 3 years. When three leaders from Telangana became CMs, the leaders in Coastal Andhra lit the fire in Vizag for separate Andhra state in 1972-73. It was called Jai Andhra Movement. It was quite bloody and many a times, my parents told how they lost 2 years of their college due to the Jai Andhra movement. It was also suppressed. In a way for Mrs. Gandhi politically, these divisions were very handy as she could keep the bait of CM post and get things done in her favor. Apart from these, compared to the problems Union Government must be facing like Bangaladesh War etc, these regional aspirations are nothing. After that Emergency in 1975 and dreamy Janata Government which failed, kind of rest. Then came Dr. NTR. NT Rama Rao, the matnee idol of telugus shocked everyone by launching a political party, won a majority and became CM. His party manifesto based on Telugu pride, pro poor politics and his charishma created a new dream for the poor people. Many congress leaders moved to TDP. Also many new generation beurocrats, lawyers, doctors and some of his fan’s association folks also joined his party. For the next 18 years there is no talk of separatist movements. AP had major CPI(ML)/ Peoples War Group – Naxalites problem. Incidentally this naxal movement has lot of support from Anatapur(Arid), Warangal, Karimnagar, Khammam(coal mines), Adilabad, Godavari districts, Sreekakulam, Vizag (large adivasi population). Meanwhile state was electing either Congress or TDP in every election. TINA(There Is No Alternative) is very valid for AP. Both these parties got very good cadre and clout. In 1999, after Mr Chandra Babu Naidu’s TDP won the election, a relatively unknown politician, Dr K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) did not get a ministerial berth. He was instead made deputy speaker. He resigned from TDP and formed the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in the same lines of Jarkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM).

Here I would like to add my interactions with friends from Telangana. When I was studying my MCA at JNTU College of Engineering, Anantapur, our class of 30 used to have 33% from each region of AP. So, 10 of my classmates are from Telangana. We used to be very politically active and debating on various social, political issues ( as well as movies) in our mess hall. In my 2.5 years of spending with some of the closest friends – we never had any topic about Telangana state separation. In other words, the issue was non existent before TRS was formed in 2001. Entire focus was on IT, industrialization and development. In my next part, I will cover the situation from 2001 to current day crisis.

Updated: For people that want to understand the manifestos of the key parties, this single page PDF from The Hindu is a good source. Some people on Twitter seem to think we didn’t read the manifestos.

The biggest circus of 2009 – the Indian Parliamentary Election – has ended. The decisive mandate has left many stunned & speechless. I measure my feelings by the Richter scale – so I’m – devastated. We are inundated by claims from Talking Heads that Indians have voted for Stability, Secularity or Pro-Nuclear Deal. All that bunkum has left me slightly nauseous.

To my utter consternation, Sukumar Rajagopal is pleased as punch. Since our reactions are on the opposite ends of the spectrum, in the true spirit of democracy, we had a discussion to understand each other’s perspective. For Parliament literally means, “Speak Your Mind”.

Priya: I’m extremely depressed by the election results. But inexplicably, you’re as happy as a sun-bathing cat.

Sukumar: This is a positive vote for Stability. It allows the Congress to pursue their policies without being hobbled by the Left. What bothers you so much?

Priya: Well, I expected a change. So many things are hopelessly wrong today. And now, tomorrow won’t be any different. Doesn’t corruption bother people any more? Billions of $$ were gobbled up by the DMK goons in Spectrum Allocation. Congress let Quattrochi escape – and here’s the cropper – our Prime Minister almost apologized for putting him through “all the trouble”.

Sukumar: I agree, corruption is an endemic problem in the Indian system. I wonder if anyone can clean it up. As for Quattrochi, what did the BJP do when they were in power for 5 years? They could have easily put all the Bofors scamsters behind bars. What prevented them from doing it?

Priya: So, nothing will clean up India – short of a miracle? I don’t know, I think there are clean leaders in India, that can make a difference. Such as Modi or Nitish Kumar. How about Homeland Security? Terrorists attack us with impunity. Take the ghastly attacks in Mumbai, the nerve center of India. I think Congress – while not exactly soft – isn’t hard enough on terror.

Sukumar:Terrorism is an international scourge. There’s no easy solution. What did BJP do during Kandahar, Babri Masjid or the Godra riots? That doesn’t inspire confidence, at least not mine. Will wonders never cease? You – of all people – are rooting for Modi? Talk about a volte face!

Priya: About Kandahar – BJP freed some terrorists to save 184 passengers. What would you have them do, let a bunch of innocent people die? I don’t have to be a trident wielding, saffron clad Hindutva activist, to appreciate Modi’s administrative prowess. He has indeed reduced corruption in Gujarat. As an honest person that longs for a cleaner government, its hard not to appreciate Narendra Modi for that. But yes, I’m unable to shake the bad taste in my mouth that the Godra riots have created.

Why do you support Congress? What have they done?

Sukumar: If Modi is loved in Gujarat, how did Congress win more seats in this election than in 2004? Even the margins of victory for BJP have come down in Gujarat!

You have to remember, Congress came to power on the Aam Aadmi plank. Their NREGA is  a damn good program, that guarantees employment for the rural poor. But what is more heartening to me is – they continued Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan – BJP’s well-thought out education program.

Priya: Now that you mention it, Praful Patel has performed stupendously by privatizing airports. Laloo Yadav turned the creaking, groaning, inefficient Indian Railways around.

Sukumar: Patel did that in the face of severe opposition! Turning around Railways was thought to be an impossible task. Almost, a Labor of Hercules!

Priya: Still, they had strange bed-fellows. They made CBI their hand-maiden, so that murderers like Shibu Soren could go scot-free. And how about the two-faced Communists. According to them, supporting the United States is unpatriotic. But, they’ll readily sell us to China! “Isms” of all shades disgust me. Not to mention the despicable DMK. Congress never even let out a squeak when Karunanidhi insulted the sentiments of the Hindu majority, by stating that Ram & Sita were siblings. Just so a DMK minister could execute the Sethu Samudram project & line DMK pockets. But, no one was taken to task.

Sukumar: Yes, DMK shouldn’t have done that. You & me, we are non-believers, but we respect the beliefs of others. But, DMK? They are just hypocrites who wouldn’t dare question the beliefs of the minority. I’m certainly glad that they don’t trample on the sentiments of at least some pockets of the society!

Communists were the fly in the ointment for the Nuclear Deal. That’s another achievement of the Congress-led UPA. They resisted all attempts by the Left to sabotage the deal. They stood their ground.

Priya: I still have some grievances around River Water Sharing. Mainly, Cauvery Water. They couldn’t enforce the Supreme Court’s order on Karnataka. They were impotent even when SM Krishna’s Congress government was in power in Karnataka. What’s the use of a National party, if it won’t abandon petty regional interests?

Sukumar: Could BJP make it happen, when it was in power? No one wants to jeopardize their vote banks. I’m happier with a moderately competent government, that is peace-loving & non-threatening to communal harmony. Rather than a potentially competent – yet, rabidly communal government! The latter can cause severe harm to India’s stability as a society.

Priya: Let’s cut the bull, Sukumar. The lower strata of the society voted in droves. When I spoke to some of them, they didn’t even realize that voting for the Parliament (Center) & the Assembly (State) were different. None of them knew about the Nuclear Deal. Most didn’t care about corruption. So how did BJP botch this election? They snatched defeat from the jaws of victory!

Sukumar: I don’t think the Common Men & Women are too disillusioned with Congress. BJP mismanaged their campaign. Advani never proposed good schemes. He didn’t attack the astronomical prices of essential commodities – even though their prices have gone up by 30-40% or even 100-200%, thanks to galloping inflation. That’s a hot button issue for the lower strata. BJP never addressed such basic concerns. Instead, they reopened Ram Janma Bhoomi! Clueless of them.

Priya: I guess you’re right about the Center. But, what about the state? Why didn’t people reject the puke-worthy DMK? I’m shocked that they didn’t face a stronger anti-incumbency wave. Their blatant, shameless promotion of their family members is scary. When Azhagiri’s faction reportedly burnt down the Dinakaran (Newspaper) office, 3 innocent people died. No action has been taken so far – Diddly Squat.

Sukumar: Yes, that is indeed deeply troubling. However, there has been a significant swing of 15% against DMK. Unfortunately 10% of that went to DMDK, Vijayakanth’s party – whose sole reason for existence seems to be to split the ADMK vote! What was Jayalalitha thinking, when she gave so many seats to PMK, MDMK & the Left? Had ADMK contested on those constituencies, it might have changed the outcome of this election, at least in Tamil Nadu.

Priya: I’m grief stricken that the anti-incumbency vote in Tamil Nadu was only 15%. Law & Order has gone to the dogs. DMK distributed money openly to buy votes. Electricity or lack of it in Tamil Nadu, has been nothing short of a disaster! So many small industries went bankrupt thanks to the inept handling by Arcot Veerasamy, the Electricity Minister. How did people forgive DMK?

And while we suffered from Inflation, Terrorism, Rowdyism & Shortage of Electricity, the DMK Supremo fasted for foreigners – Srilankan Tamils. I’ve never felt more insulted before.

Sukumar: IMHO, the most important reason for ADMK’s failure is Jayalalitha’s inability to propose solutions that provide hope. Right now, she merely criticizes DMK on every single thing under the sun. I would accuse BJP of the same foible. Neither parties had a proposal that could galvanize people to rally around them & vote for them.

Priya: When will this change? Are we doomed to put up with Congress & DMK?

Sukumar: BJP & ADMK have their work cut out for them. They have to understand the pulse of the Common People, think of Bold Policies to energize the masses. BJP has the unenviable task of finding a replacement for Advani. Will it be Modi? They better get cracking on cleaning up his “Minority Baiter” image. Not that Advani has a clean image either, what was he – an innocent bystander when Babri Masjid was destroyed?

Readers – What do you think? We’ve reached an impasse. Is there any hope for India? Is BJP our ticket for better governance? Or is it the Secular Congress? Tell us! We’d love to hear from you.

Finally got to watch the movie -  This is by no means a film critique. Nor I am writing for/against the merit of the movie or whether it is award worthy.

While I am not surprised at the reaction from some Indian filmmakers, couldnt let it go that easily.  Again, this is not about the comments on the quality of the movie in a literary sense. But my reaction to the comments like ‘intentional exploitation of India’ by Priyadarshan.

Fact is Danny Boyle has shown the murky underbelly quite visibly. But then, we should be appreciating the fact that someone did it. Yes, the story itself may not be great; it feels like an old Hindi movie at times; but somewhere there is an element of reality which we’ve rarely seen in any Hindi movies.

Back to Priyan’s comment, he is equally free to make a movie that shows UK/US and its underbelly.  No, Priyan is comfortable sitting back and remaking malayalam movies into Hindi with very minimal changes. Arent you exploiting the talented Mally writers & directors? So, I just dont think the comment about exploitation of India is appropriate.

(BTW, I do thoroughly enjoy & appreciate Priyan’s own original mallu movies..)

For once, cant we just appreciate something? Let us welcome the focus on India. Yes, I very much want it to be good PR and about the bright side, but then there is always two sides to the coin and lets not fool ourselves by covering it up or acting to be ignorant.

Secondly & More importantly, the slum scenes in the movie reminded me of my own experience when I had the chance to see dharavi closely. If the situation is the same today, whatever portrayed in the movie is very true. (Ever since those days, every time I land at the mumbai airport, my heart sinks for a moment. But it is quickly morphed into anger/hatred at the very sight of greedy police & security folks at the gates. )

Made me wonder about the level of charity in our country. In general, there seems to be very little Charity activity in India especially compared to US. And I am talking about relative comparison, not absolute comparison. The perception one builds if you’ve lived in both places is that there is a focused effort and recognition for Charitable causes and spending in US. Here is the list of most charitable countries as a % of GDP, India is no where in the list where as even South Africa has found a spot.

Why is there such low level of Charity activity in India? Of course, it can be just perception and a lot is ‘undocumented’ in India where as it is probably deliberately advertised in US. There was even a comparison somewhere on the charitable cotributions b/w the presidential candidates based on their public tax returns. I can only dream of a day when I can see this in India (both the transparency and the charity)

BigB, even you wrote about the murky underbelly. What have you/the bollywood industry done in all these years for the slum dwellers? Why isnt there a focused activity or campaign or organization after all these years to do something so that the infamous slum in mumbai is done with? Take US and even for the slightest cause, there seems to be a non-profit organization with necessary campaigns, events, activities and a celebrity to support the same.

Maybe I am wrong and there is a very healthy charitable contribution made by India’s rich.If anything, SD movie should make us think & act on these lines. Let us appreciate Danny Boyle & crew atleast for that.

Jai Ho!