A Voice for Green

Environment is one of the most talked about issues today. You read about it in newspapers, magazines and hear it debated on television. You see National Geographic–type pictures showing how abuse of environment has left various forms of lives, including humans, affected. You also have people leap at you on road and say, 'Can I talk to you for two minutes – I am from Greenpeace?' Concern for environment has become fashionable. The old divide between the poor and rich is obsolete. Now it’s all about people who care about environment and the ones who expand their wealth at the expense of it. Environment has become a drawing room discussion. Political parties have made it part of their manifestos. Not surprisingly, it also made its way into a humble cyber café I had visited for printouts (I don’t have a printer at home).

While I was at computer, adjusting the configurations of a page to be sent out for a print, a girl stepped in and started a conversation with the shopkeeper. Initially, I dismissed her as a sales girl. But then I realized the conversion wasn’t about sales: it was about environment.

“So they finally had the tree felled?” questioned the girl.

“Yes, yesterday they had a few guys come and do that. I wanted to complain because a branch of the tree used to guard my shop from the sun, but I didn’t. Who will complain about these Reddys of Koramangla; they are very big people here. And I suggest you don’t investigate this case; otherwise, you will get identified,” warned the shop owner somewhat dropping his voice.

“What identified?! I am a journalist and I am doing my job. All I’m doing is creating awareness about trees being felled at will in various parts of Koramangla,” the girl answered indignantly.

“Which paper do you write for?” a boy asked looking away from his computer screen interrupting the conversation. “Hindu,” replied the girl with a trace of pride.

I also wanted to participate in the conversation, but kept quite.

I found the conversation interesting because to me it presented the two sides of the environment concern, the personal and the impersonal. To the shopkeeper, the concern is that the branch being cut has exposed his shop to the sun; to the girl the problem is larger; shrinking greenery. I felt all of us contribute to environmental degradation in our own way, like here I was doing my bit by taking paper printouts. Each time we don’t object to the shopkeeper packing our purchase in a polythene bag, instead of a paper bag, we are guilty of it. My colleagues who have fashionably included 'Print this mail only if you need it; contribute to a safe environment' in their office mail footer smugly walk in with a polythene bag returning from their occasional shopping spree from our office campus (nowadays every IT complex has one).

For next couple of days, I searched for the article on tree felling in Koramangla but didn’t get. Probably I missed the article because I am not a regular subscriber to Hindu  (I just go a grab copy from the stand sometimes). But I appreciated the initiative they have taken up and also how the girl was going about her job.

On a hot day, when I walk on familiar street and suddenly don’t feel the cooling shade of the tree I had felt last time and look up to find an open sky instead of my view obstructed by the foliage which protected me last time from the sun, I realise someone has to stand up so that trees don’t fall. Thankfully, many are doing so and at least they have been able to make us spare a thought for the environment.

It was time for me to leave the cyber café.

Left Politics in Bengal by Monobina Gupta

India is never short of political problems and doomsday theories. One of the political theories that’s doing the rounds is whether the Marxist government in Bengal is on its way out. Monobina Gupta’s book Left Politics in Bengal analyses this issue approaching the Left rule in Bengal through its coming to power, 35 years of stay in power and its slow degeneration from a revolutionary party to a power-grabbing machine.

Monobina’s scanner hardly misses anything taking into account smallest of details and humblest of men and their contributions to Left’s deterioration as a party. She blames Left’s fall from grace mainly on two factors: its reliance on violence as a means of perpetuating power and its intolerance of dissent and dissenters. And attributes Left’s continuity in power despite its lack of performance to two things: a) subversion of the electoral process where elections are either rigged or people coerced to vote for the party; b) jingoistic speeches which always create an enemy to blame Left's failures and problems on. This has helped Left, she alleges, be seen as a pro-poor underdog fighting for the masses against imperialist powers who are constantly conspiring to keep a toiling people down who are led by the Robinhood party. She says they have used the Congress and the CIA alternately as the enemy. This creates a certain emotional bonding between the party and the people it leads where the people develop a sense of victimhood and sees the party as their savior. This has always been a ploy of the communists, she says. Infighting among various Left parties has also been a cause for concern. Being from West Bengal, I agree with her.

 To support her analyses, she cites parallels from history. Instances of Lelin and Stalin and their belief in violence to help a ‘larger’ cause find generous mention in the book.

Although Budhadeb Bhatterjee, the current West Bengal CM, has come in for criticism, Jyoti Basu the Left patriarch of Bengal has been praised for the most part. She interestingly details the hours in 1996 that led to the decision that Left wouldn’t be part of government formation at the center with Basu missing out on his opportunity to be the prime minister. She describes Basu as a pragmatist who mostly found himself in minority in his party.

On the other hand, Monobina doesn’t invest hopes in Mamta Banerjee, the leader of the main opposition party, Trinomool Congress. 

Although the language is a little heavy and impersonal with long sentences and journalistic approach, it doesn’t take away from the readability of the book. The paragraphs are sometimes packed with details that are so local to Kolkata that an outsider may feel a little put off. Initially the book may also read like a catharsis of bitterness about the Left. The overall narrative, however, is very gripping and anybody searching for an answer to why the Left continues to rule Bengal for so long will find it interesting.

Applaud Liu Xiabo

China’s bossiness in international politics is clearly on the rise. The western countries congratulating Liu Xiabo, the 2010 Peace Nobel Price winner for non-voilent struggle for fundamental human rights in China, has again pricked China's allergy for criticism. It has also betrayed China's belief that because of its new-found economic muscle, it can browbeat any nation into toeing its line.

Support for Liu has mainly come in form of countries demanding his release from prison. China has dismissed the international community's reactions calling them an attempt to subvert China's sovereignty. But  it would be interesting to see how the Chinese government handles the support for Liu growing within China.

China tried to arm-twist Norway to prevent it from awarding Liu, but failed. Severing of ties with Norway followed. Now through its angry outbursts directed at the western countries (including the US) that are applauding Liu, China is threatening them with the same consequence: severance of ties. Is this the behavior of a rising super power?

India along with the other BRIC (Brazil and Russia) countries isn’t risking China’s wrath, though. Apart from the BRIC nations, the Arab countries and some countries in Africa have also followed the wisdom that silence is golden. India, having strained its relations with the Myanmar government for celebrating Aung San Suikyi being awarded with the Peace Nobel Prize in 1991, is reluctant to risk straining its already strained relations with China.  However, the countries have said their colonial experience has taught them not to interfere with others’ internal matters.  

It's understandable that offending China may hurt economic interests, but shouldn't a country also  stand for certain ideals? If countries refuse to rise above their day-to-day interests in response to higher human concerns,  the world will become a difficult place. Imagine if the world had remained cold to the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa. International opinion did a play role, if not the most important, in helping former colonies get their independence.

Through solidarity with the democratic movements and voices inside China, the international community can at least alter, if not reverse, China’s attitude towards fundamental rights of its citizens. Even embarrassment might have a slow effect on the Chinese government. By applauding Liu, the western countries have played a constructive role. And by playing mute spectators, their Asian counterparts have allowed themselves to be bullied by Beijing.

Absolute Kushwant - a collection of essays

I read many authors but the author whose titles I buy most frequently is Kushwant Singh. I have read only one novel by him – Train to Pakistan – but all his short stories, written over last 50 years or so, and majority of his essays. The best thing about a Kushwant Singh essay book is that he keeps you guessing what the next essay is on. Political personalities, large sweep of history, social habits, friends, tittle tattle, nothing goes untouched. He converts everything, however large or complex the matter, into a simple, readable one-page-to-one-and-half page piece. His new collection of essays – Absolute Khushwant – is no different.

It is a collection of essays on anything you can think of – Nehru and Gandhi, the partition of subcontinent, honesty, religion, autobiographical pieces and there are many more. And in typical Khuswant tradition, all the pieces are immensely readable and in a matter of half an hour you will breeze through a bunch of them.

If you have been reading him for a while, you may find some of the articles repetitive and some just reworkings of his past articles but most are new. The book has a generous sprinkling of autobiographical essays dealing with his successes and failures, his marriage, his time in England as a law student, friends etc. The book also has a few pieces on the Nehru-Gandhi family where the author has drawn comparisons between the current scions of the family (mainly Rahul and Varun) with the old generation. He says Sanjay Gandhi was a courteous and warm person but a despot.

Rajeev comes in for heavy criticism and he rubbishes the claim that Rajeev was responsible for bringing computer to India and says such policies had started during Indira Gandhi’s time. He praises Rahul but says most of the things he does are gestures but they have a sound thought behind them. He informs Varun is a good poet but blames BJP for not punishing him for that venomous speech. The book also has some pictures.

Kushwant’s personal brushes with historical moments and personalities bring the events (Partition and 1984 Delhi riots etc) and personalities he talks about nearer to you. Having lived a life spanning almost a century and grown up in a family of high connections and privileges, he has many of them.

When Kushwant Singh was at Modern school, it was once visited by Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhiji sat on a platform and the students in front of him; Singh was in the front row. While talking to the students, Gandhiji suddenly bent, held Singh’s shirt collar and said: “Where is it made?” “Foreign,” Kushwant replied proudly. “Had it been made in India, it would be so much better,” told the Mahatma. Kushwant started wearing Khadi following the incident. During the partition, he fled Lahore, when it became unsafe for non-Muslims to stay, and reached Delhi. Upon reaching Delhi, near Parlaiment House, he heard Nehru’s "tryst with destiny”.

Even at 95, Kushwant continues to bring fun to his readers through the written word.  

Changing Food Landscape of India

I like to try out new things to eat every weekend. And I observed yesterday that everything I have experimented with over one month or so is within the space of European cuisine. There are mainly two reasons why I have grown to like European cuisine: the pleasant post-eating experience – where you feel light yet full - and their varied nature: pasta is very different from, say, a club sandwich. Chinese cuisine also has the same qualities but everything on the Chinese menu has been tried and tested many times over.

European cuisine is comparatively new for the average Indian. It was always available but only at select places and exquisite prices. Now there are countless outlets offering European food at affordable prices. As a result of which, it's gradually grabbing the place that Chinese food used to occupy until few year ago. Now European food stands for what Chinese food stood for once: delicacy and affordability rolled into one. Today a European restaurant is where you want to date.

Mughlai, on the other hand, has retained its position. You may have switched your loyalty from Chinese to continental but you still look forward to Biriyianis and Kababs. Mughlai is very rich and so the occasion has to warrant it. People still prefer Muhglai at weddings. But culinary space in anything that’s a little cosmopolitan – like a birthday bash – was a toss up between pizza and Chinese until few years ago but with Chinese on its way out and European still not having established itself as a favorite of all (European is still something you want to eat with your close friends whose taste you know), there remains a vacuum.

There are few more challenges Euro cuisine faces in India. One of them is lack of awareness. People often mix it up with American food. For the average eater, there is not much difference between pizza (which is basically an American food) and pasta. Both are foreign, both contain lots of cheese, and therefore both are same.

The names of continental dishes are difficult to remember and different outlets have different things on offer, so what is authentic and what is a localized version of its continental counterpart is difficult to work out. That’s why I have remained restricted to a few items despite my penchant for food adventurism. Perhaps the joints and brands offering European fare can educate people about Euro cuisine through the media.

But to become a household favorite, European food has to be more widely available through restaurants in all Indian cities and Indianize itself to convert the people who find it bland. There is space for both authentic and localized varieties. Some Chinese dishes are more Indian than Chinese.

Some of the places I frequent are Casapicola, Friends, Sweet Chariot etc. I also visit Subway outlets, to gorge on sub-sandwiches. There are many more. I have tried out many items by now but my favorites are club sandwiches, penne, pasta (not always since it’s very cheesy). I don’t remember more names.

And the problem refused to go - part 2

Sometime back I had blogged on my burgeoning electricity bill and some of you were kind enough to express your sympathy and profess that the problem would eventually go. But it didn't. So I thought to bring you up-to-date on where it stands now, in case you care to know and still have some sympathy and patience left for me.

Few days after the meter guys checked the meter, I met the landlord to give his rent. I again told him the entire episode and he repeated that the problem was that of power theft and the culprit was the jeweler. He informed the jeweler had not been paying his rent and the landlord would soon oust him. The landlord and the jeweler were close friends once and although I had suspected they had fallen apart, I couldn’t work out why.

The landlord fished out his cell phone (an iphone he uses only to make and receive calls; he doesn’t know any other functionalities) and called his electrician with a sense of urgency, asking him to fix the problem without the jeweler getting a whiff of the problem being fixed. He assured me he would also be there (the landlord doesn't stay in the building) with the electrician to make sure that not only was my meter ridded of the problem but all other meters were protected from future power theft with an iron cage put around them and the door locked. But, he added, he would have to find out a time when the jeweler would not be there. He sounded as if he was planning an income tax raid.

I understood the landlord’s presence with the electrician would cause embarrassment in case they were to bump on to the jeweler. But it’s difficult to be there and not find the jeweler because the meter is located next to the jewelry shop and the jeweler remains in his shop the whole day with occasional venture-outs but at no fixed time. I sensed under the pretext of being there in the absence of the jeweler the landlord would procrastinate.

I was not wrong. I neither saw the electrician nor the landlord nor his iron cage. When I called the landlord to check when he would send the electrician, he didn’t receive the call. I decided it was time to look for a new address. Few days later I received my meter bill. Bingo, it was Rs 200 fewer than the last bill, although still much higher than my actual power consumption. It will be interesting to see how much it’s next time and how long I can be patient.

In case you didn't read the earlier blog, click this.

Bandh and its Price

As a kid, when I was growing up in Calcutta, I used to equate Bandh (or strike) with holiday. Bandh meant trooping out to the road, putting up stamps 22 yards apart and playing cricket without any concern for traffic. Calcutta, as a city ruled by Bandh-friendly leftists, has a fair share of Bandhs every year.

The Bandh yesterday, which was called for rise in fuel price, took me back to my days in Calcutta sans the cricket. Every shop in the locality was shut. The streets were deserted with only a few souls here and there. Some goons were roaming the streets on bikes to ensure total compliance to the Bandh.

Had it not been for a guy selling tea in flask, I would have gone through the morning without the all-important day starter. For lunch, I had stocked some biscuits and butter the previous day.

The Bandh was successful – and I wondered how a successful Bandh affects local economy. The Internet has minimized the impact of Bandhs as many forms of businesses can be transacted indoors, but businesses that depend on daily cash collections like shops have not become Bandh-proof.

Do Bandhs really manage to force a government to alter an unfavorable policy? Even if they do, it comes at a price: the local economy and the image of the place. It is also not easy to decipher whether the policy was changed due to the Bandh or general protest against the policy.

One might argue that Bandh is the most effective way to take a message to the commonest of common as it directly affects their lives, unlike protests voiced in public offices or via media, which many don’t come to know about.

But: a) by affecting the local economy, a Bandh affects the interest of the very poor that it claims to protect; b) the shopkeeper doesn’t keep is his shop shut to show solidarity but to avoid incurring the wrath of party goons. Bandh is largely an Indian concept that the western democracies today are hardly familiar with. And even in India, some cities see higher number of Bandhs than others.

So next time when there is a successful Bandh, enjoy your day indoors – there is no point fighting party goons trying to defy the Bandh – but also spare a thought for the shop next to your house.