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Telangana Crisis – United We Stand, Divided We Fall – Part1

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.

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Is the behaviour of citizens on our roads indicative of how we respect our nation (or) national space?

I write this post with an acute sense of anguish and helplessness. I was trying to cross the road the other day and preferred to take the zebra crossing at the end of the road. Dutifully, I started walking when the light turned green and to the utter shock of my life one motorcyclist whizzed past, jumped the red light at the signal and would have almost hit me had I not ducked him and his bike. What do you do when fellow-citizens mistake the regular main roads or high streets as grand prix racetracks? Several stories abound like this: it’s a miracle that the accident rate is where it is (i.e. not higher) in our cities.

 
Our citizens are now delighted that the vehicles available for sale in the Indian market and visible on the roads have long passed the old models of cars and bikes of the pre-Maruti era. Now everything that we own that moves is besides being a mode of transport also a personality statement. Along with globalization and increased business, we now have many more commercial vehicles plying our roads. What does this mean? Less space on our old roads and almost no footpaths. Few reworked roads have become expressways and flyovers. By and large the new volume of traffic is still operating within the older confines. The poor public transport system has also led to a steep increase in the number of privately owned vehicles. One would think that this would result in a greater sensitivity and alertness on the part of our citizens to manage road space in a careful and responsible manner.

Cut to the chase. Here begins the blame game. The motorcyclist blames the car-driver for chaos, the car-drivers blame the auto-rickshaws, the latter blames the motorcyclist and they all take turns in blaming the big lorries, buses, trailers and we cannot omit the cyclist who launches into a break dance in the midst of all this. Our commandos can learn a trick or two from our motorists: the calm of a main road can be shaken with a screeching halt of a vehicle because of a surprising intruder from a side-lane. What happens to our people when they sit behind a wheel or are at the helm of a bike defeats my understanding. There is a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde problem there. The feel of the wheel and the roar of the engine transform an otherwise well-meaning citizen into a sort of ‘beast’ almost who terrifies all on the road. Again, there is some confusion in the minds of our citizens if repeated collective honking qualifies for the symphony of some orchestra or pure cacophony that pierces and hurts our ear-drums. That kind of noise-pollution does add to our stress levels. So, our be-good, do-good vehicle rider has to have eyes in the front, back and the sides of his head. Whoever said, we needed to be trained to multi-task. Anyone who has driven on our roads and followed the rules knows what that means.

There are a couple of other players whom we cannot omit in all this. The pedestrian! Those who have travelled abroad have seen the streets of Europe and Singapore where every pedestrian crossing is activated with the help of a switch enabling pedestrians to move across smoothly. In India on the contrary, struggling with kids and even grandparents, there is the other type of pedestrian who choses to exhibit what a dreamer he is. These pedestrians are the ones with complete disregard for vehicles moving on the road, jaywalking anywhere and everywhere, putting the vehicles and themselves at great risk! Then of course, is the contribution of telecommunications to road risk in the form of the omnipresent mobile phone and single-handed driving, again putting several people at risk. The best part of all the above is if anyone in his (in)sane mind choses to correct the other party, there would be a slew of abuse, interestingly and obviously by the wrong-doer. This abuse by the party making the mistake is clearly a defense-mechanism to cover up his/her error. Immediately, peace-loving citizens try to play down the incident for the sheer fear of it becoming a full-blown case of road rage in which they would not even want to be involved as witnesses. Several have been the cases reported of arguments between motorists becoming cases of road rage and turning fully violent with sad consequences. How often would we also have not noticed the haywire movement of vehicles coming in from the opposite direction not being given a margin of space to move forward resulting in a stalemate or a complete jam?

How can I omit the other culprit? Vehicle exhaust. The famed emitter of fumes, carbon-dioxide/CFC’s, keeping our doctors on their toes and resulting in loss of health to individuals and man-hours to our organizations. I am very allergic to these fumes and if I happen to inhale them at any point, it takes me 2-3 days to recover. What in the name of the Lord makes the owners of these vehicles think they can get away playing with the health of their fellow-citizens without paying a penalty beats my imagination! One has been given to understand that in certain countries there is a fine of more than a thousand USD to ensure that the person gets his vehicle in order and does not repeat such behavior. Some point to the poor enforcement of traffic rules and corruption that prevails in certain quarters that makes public safety and health a casualty.

In the middle of all this, is the spectacle of our population who use the roadsides as public washrooms, throw rubbish all over the place and finally spit anytime anyplace.

I recollect the title of a nice book “All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten” (by Robert Fulghum). An important point: that’s where our earliest lessons on how to use the road were taught to us. In those textbooks in primary schools, there were the instructions and diagrams on how to cross, how to treat a traffic signal etc. If we followed those instructions today, we would be in great difficulty(?!!) My friends are amused to no end when I say that when I take the first step to cross a road, I look both ways. :)For you can no longer assume on our streets and roads what the lanes indicate and what the behaviour of the motorist is! It seems all are culpable and all are in a state of denial. Speaking of traffic-signals, the erratic nature of their functioning in several places leaves much to improve upon. I have often wondered why at some very critical junctions and points there is neither the traffic signal functioning nor anyone manning that point. Utter chaos prevails in such places! Truly as believing people, we, Indians have the hand of God helping us. 🙂  Given such a context that I have attempted to describe in this brief contribution, it should be no surprise to us that our main roads are full of long and winding traffic jams delaying the movement of people. Just saying that the state of affairs of road behaviour in one city is better than another does not condone us; likewise comparisons between developing countries where unplanned urbanization has also taken its toll also does not help us.

Our homes are our private spaces. Once we step out into the streets, roads and expressways then we are onto what are known as public places or what we can also call national spaces. As an extension, if one were to see that public place also as national space, we do great injustice and unfairness to how we should conduct ourselves in these places/spaces. We take pride in propping up statues of our yesteryear leaders along all these roads. For a minute, if one were to imagine that they were looking down and observing as to what was happening on our roads, they would be very saddened. For this was not the nation for whose freedom they fought for. Everyone today wants to get to their destinations in the fastest manner possible even if it is reckless and even if it is at the cost of God forbid, the life of a fellow-citizen. The value of life has thus diminished. That is not the value-system our forebears bequeathed us. In sum, the meaning of responsible conduct on our roads would go a long way in establishing a life-enhancing, less-stressful and clearly a healthier society.

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Don’t kill the word

We are pleased to have RK Kuppurao, a veteran blogger with 250+ 280+ posts, write a post on this blog. Please encourage him with your comments. – Sukumar & Ganesh

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wenz d lst tym U rED gud eng? dont u tnk we ll shd taK mor tym 2 read w@ we read d wA dey shd B? w@ posibly justifies dis crunch of tym, nt 2 mention murdA of lang?

Where have the words gone? Where has the story gone? Where has the context gone?

As opposed to reading a story or have somebody having a plain conversation, we have lost ourselves in the hype of telegraphic communication. As technologies become advanced, sophisticated and affordable, it should allow for relaxed communication. By relaxed, I mean use of analogies, metaphors, comparisons etc…Because it is then possible to live the moment, reflect on your experience of life, reflect on the author’s (or the speaker’s) experience of life, have a “wah” moment and build mutual rapport – either interactive (speaking-listening) or non-interactive (reading).

Instead, we have given ourselves to believing that we don’t have time, words are expensive, story-tellers are boring and have permanently taken on the “cut to the chase” attitude.

SMS for example is great but has made people forget the beauty of words and sentences…kids have forgotten to spell words correctly.

Twitter helps make statements, but you can’t justify your statements, you cannot provide a build-up, you cannot say a story…because 160 is the limit….your urge to shrink your words increases, as the remaining characters approach zero…sometimes when you are done getting the message out of your system and find the remaining characters are “-14”, my gawd – the things we do to trim it down 🙂

You might say one shouldn’t be tweeting in that case. Now, who do you think is going to spend time reading a ¾ page blog on it? People want it faster, people want the summary – coz that is the only way they can swallow more. They want to be following 246 people on Twitter and read that many more tweets than read a well-written blog.

If I’d noticed how quickly social media tools became popular, I should know these are not going to change. We are not going to – all of a sudden – adopt a slow movement.

But all I ask of you is this – next time you write something, type “love” instead of “lv”. Next time you write/tell somebody a story, refrain from cutting to the chase. Remember, we are in no great scarcity of words (or time).

Wl U?

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You can read more of RK’s writings on his own blog at kuppurao.com

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Microsoft’s 3 Screen Strategy is DOA?

Prolog

The telcos have been talking about their 3 screens since last year. Interestingly,  Microsoft recently has started articulating the 3 screens and a cloud as their strategy (PC, Cellphone and TV being the 3).  Let me go out on a limb and lay it down – Microsoft’s’ 3 Screen Strategy is Dead on Arrival.  Stay tuned.

Obviously, Mobile Phones Rule

The rapid rise of the mobile phone market with 4.1B units in use worldwide is a phenomenon that everyone in the tech world is familiar with. And in case you are still interested in PC stats, they are expected to hit 2B only in 2014.

Similarly, everyone will agree that  iPhone, RIM..  have shown the immense potential of the smart phone at the high end.  That makes it is easy to see why Microsoft and others would pick the 3rd screen as the mobile.

But are Mobile phones sufficient?

Not quite.  And this is mainly due to the newly emerging scenarios of usage:

1. Curl on the bed and read an e-book.

2. Share photos and/or videos from the most recent vacation with a friend.

3. Have a Skype video call with someone across the globe.

4. Check facebook/twitter updates

Combined with some traditional usage – browse the web,  type up a short document or a presentation. And maybe there are  few more simple scenarios, none of which fit the mobile phone form factor, especially when you consider doing the above over an extended period of time.

Judging from the reactions to  my previous post on PCs, i don’t think PCs (as well as Macs) can be effective as well, although technically they can do all of the above except possibly no.1. Not to mention the enormous learning curves of PCs/Macs for the average user who is not tech-savvy.

The 4th Screen

Clearly a new type of device that can do all of the above is warranted. Will it be the much anticipated Apple iTablet or iPad or whatever?   To me Time Magazine’s concept video, embedded below,  nails it (though it omits  a video camera and not knowing its weight).

The 5th, 6th, Nth Screens..

I was talking to Priya Raju and she said something very interesting and insightful – why don’t we analogize screens to the clock face showing time. Now,  time has become a feature of many devices  starting from a car to a microwave oven.  So why not we have a cloud-backed screen in more devices? Why restrict them to 3 or 4 screens?

Epilog

What do you think? Do you agree that Microsoft’s 3 screen strategy is flawed (the cloud part of it seems correct though) ? What is your vision for the future?

Notes & References:

1. Scoble has some great thoughts on how Chrome OS could be targeting a new ~100$ device.  He takes the example of a computer in the kitchen to look at recipes that could use Chrome OS. I don’t agree with Scoble. i don’t think anyone wouldn’t want something as complicated as a PC in the kitchen even if it sports Chrome OS.

2. Sergey Brin on Chrome OS & Android Convergence . Interesting thoughts on how the mobile and netbook markets are converging.

3. Although the Amazon Kindle is a great device. I found it a tad heavy, preventing the curling on the bed with a book scenario,  and limited in scope and function for a device at its price point.

4. I found the Time Inc concept video via this article.

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The Plight of the Invisible

He was lying on the pavement of a busy street. He was the human image of filth. Flies were buzzing around his nose. He was lying in his feces, his shirtless torso & matted hair covered in dust. His pants might have once had a color, but now it had acquired the sorry hue of dirt. His bloodshot eyes were open, his eyeballs hidden by fluttering eyelids. His half open mouth was drooling.

It was Sunday evening. We were walking along an arterial road of Chennai – Radhakrishnan Salai. We were running an errand, I forget what exactly – something trivial & silly. We were looking for an address when we saw him. He was in a piteous state.

We looked at each other, our errand hovering in the background. But we had to do something to help him, he was clearly mentally deranged. Surely, many non-profit organizations serve the mentally ill.

So we called “Udhavum Karangal” (Helping Hands), an NGO that serves orphans & the destitute. A grumpy voice answered our call. “You’re calling on Sunday, a holiday” the voice said accusingly. But this man is very ill, we pleaded. “Have you called the police? That’s the procedure”.

We called the Police Control Room & made our request. Could the police please pick up the man? “Can the old man walk?” asked the police. We begged the police, he can’t be more than 30 but he looks like hell. Could you please pick him up? “You have to call the ambulance, #108 for that” we were told.

We called #108. The line was dead.

It was 4:30 PM. The Chennai sun was doing what it does best, which is scorching everything below. It was unbearably hot. Protected by a clump of trees, we were sweating profusely. The man was tossing & turning on the hot cement pavement, helpless & unprotected from the merciless sun.

We called the police again. “Please Sir. Help him”. They assured us that they will contact the ambulance. In the meantime, they agreed to send someone in 15 minutes.

We were standing directly opposite the “City Center” Mall, right next to the “Levis Strauss” outlet. Countless cars, bikes and people whizzed by. Men & women dressed to the nines. Youngsters out to have a good time. Parents dragging their children for a quick prayer in a nearby make-shift temple . Hardly anyone stopped to offer assistance. The battered man writhing on the street did not merit a single glance of pity.

An inspector promptly arrived in 20 minutes. “This is the procedure” he said briskly. “If anyone is willing to accompany him to the hospital & act as his relative, I’ll call the ambulance immediately”. He then took a closer look at the man. “This guy? We’ve admitted him to KMCH (Kilpauk Medical College Hospital) twice so far. Within a few days of his release, he’s back on the streets” he said, shaking his head.

We called “Udhavum Karangal” again. Please, we begged. Can someone from your organization accompany this man to KMCH? “We are full. We can’t take him in” we were told. You don’t have to take him in, can you accompany him to KMCH? “I need my Manager’s permission” – Unbelievable, we thought. Bureaucracy, when you least expect it. We donate liberally to you, we reminded them. Please call your manager. “He’s unreachable, sorry”.

“Did you find someone, madam?” asked the inspector, not unkindly. Please give us some time, we requested humbly. He agreed & busied himself with what inspectors do, he caught a bunch of traffic violators & wrote them tickets. “Please don’t mistake me madam” he said. “My workload is heavy & I don’t even have constables assisting me. I can’t accompany this man in the ambulance. But if you find someone that can take charge of him..”.

Let’s try “The Banyan”, we decided. Their primary goal is to help women, but certainly they won’t leave a schizophrenic lying on the streets near a cesspool. “We’re sorry, today is a holiday, so you have to call our volunteer” we were told. We called the volunteer.

“A man!” he said reproachfully. “Sorry sir, we only serve women”. But this man needs their help, we implored. Please, you don’t have to do anything, will you accompany him to the hospital? “We are full, we can’t help him”. We were stumped. Is there some other organization that he could recommend, that might help this man? “Well sir, had this been a woman, I could have given you 3 or 4 other numbers”.

This was new, we thought bitterly. Discrimination against men. The volunteer thawed slightly. “Well, since you’re persistent, please try Mahabodhi. They help old people”. The man wasn’t old. Our hearts fell into our stomach. But we still called Mahabodhi. The line was dead.

“Well, sir?” asked the inspector. “I’ve been waiting for 30 minutes. Did you find someone?”. My husband looked at me. “I’ll go with him” he said. “What? You in a disease-ridden ambulance with him?” I balked. Involuntarily, we looked at him. His whole body was jerking spasmodically. He was having a seizure.

That settled it for me. “Both of us will accompany him, Inspector” I said. “We’ll follow the ambulance”. The inspector looked a little taken aback. He was probably not expecting this response. “You look like decent people” he said. “Do you know what accompanying him means? If he runs away from the hospital or needs any kind of attention, you’ll be the 1st point of contact”. We looked at each other & our faces fell. We’ll become his guardians? We were not prepared for that. He was a stranger, he could be dangerous.

“Please don’t think ill of me, its not that I don’t want to help him” said the inspector, sensing our dismay. “You see, all this is new to you. I see much sadness & depravity everyday that I’m benumbed” he said uncomfortably. We couldn’t speak, we just nodded our heads. Meeting the inspector had been the best part of the ordeal.

“Say” said the inspector. “I’m positive this guy does drugs. He’s not ill at all, he’s on a high now. in another hour, he’ll be fine” he said. We think he made that up to make us & himself feel better. “Spend your time with your family, don’t waste your weekend with drug-dealing scum”.

As we turned to leave, thanking the inspector for his help, he said simply – “Please don’t think I’m heartless. I did my best”. We stammered our thanks & assured him that we didn’t think badly of him. After all, the Police Department had gone above & beyond their call of duty, while the others were no-shows.

The man lay on the pavement in the twilight, twitching slightly.