amachwe

The Indian Reply – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Watching the response of the authorities, the media, the common man and those in the line of fire made me realise that the Indian reply is made up of the good the bad and the ugly.

Let me start with something that really made me VERY happy. The statement issued by Taj Group of Hotels. Their premier hotel in Mumbai, operating out of a heritage building has sufferred a lot of damage. But even as the army operations are in progress to flush out the terrorists Taj Group issued the following statement:

“….we will rebuild every inch that has been damaged in this attack and bring back the Taj to its full glory,”

Amazing!

At the other end we find the Government shutting down the city. Wanting people to hide in their homes scared and terrified instead of going about doing normal days work. They pretend as if life is otherwise so normal and safe.

This has also shown how news hungry our media is. If media had their way they would stick a camera right up the ass of the injured and the army people and ask ‘apko kaisa lag raha hai’ (how are you feeling now). The silliest bit was when Barkha Dutt tried to approach a foreigner (a diplomat from the Canadian High Commission) again and again using ‘sir’ and almost ready to lick the persons feet for a sound-byte.

This has also shown how deeply are the Mumbai underworld, the Police and the Government are connected. Three senior police officers being targetted all of whome with a connection with the underworld. Police says that the terrorists came by boat. No way can you land on a boat in a busy city like Mumbai without anyone noticing. I am 100% sure terrorists had help from the authorities.

In this case I think the terrorists made use of the fact that many objectives converged into one big mission. Dealing with cops who attack the underworld, killing cops involved in investigating major crimes (like Malegon blasts), causing chaos, targetting foreigners, destroying a few more buildings and making some silly demands to launch the Kashmir Issue onto the World Stage.

Who knows, maybe Hindus and Muslims are cooperating in terrorism as well! Who benefits from all this? Only the hardline organisations. The Muslims will feel threatened and would increase hostility. The Hindu hardline organisations will use this to spread ‘Hindutva’.

They picked a very bad time though. The world is reeling under the weight of a financial crisis. No one has time for terror. In fact maybe that is why they combined so many operations into one. Maybe terrorists get affected by recession too!

Mumbai Attacks – A Lesson for We Indians

Things are going as I predicted earlier. Terrorism, a failed concept, has taken a desparate turn. Hostage situations, random firing and widespread chaos. All leading to a desparate attempt to stun the people of India.

Again what are 100 dead people? I would say the terrorists are stupid. We kill 1000s of people a day because of corruption and ignorance. People who die of hunger, illness and cold. Food grains after a disaster are diverted. Aid money used to increase personal bank balances.

Furthermore a few hundred terrorists can’t kill a country of 1billion+ people. There are not that many bullets in the world!

Finally this incident reminds us of a very important fact: ‘There are no guarantees in life’ Live the day and do what you have always wanted to do. Pursue and achieve your dreams. You never know when you die!

Radio Taxis in Delhi

Yesterday, for the first time, I travelled by a radio taxi in Delhi. The journey lasted about 40 minutes. The experience of travelling from South Delhi to Connaught Place (a distance of about 15 kms) was quite pleasurable.

I had to travel in to Connaught Place at short notice therefore had to take a taxi. A friend suggested I take a radio taxi. He gave me the number of Ezee Cabs (Contact Number: 011-43434343). Knowing how things sometimes work in India I kept my expectations really low especially when it came to the booking service and the cost.

The first pleasant surprise was the taxi booking process. The Customer Service Representaitve was quite helpful and the taxi was booked within minutes. She asked me whether I knew about the fare structure and when I said that I did not she explained it to me clearly. I got a confirmation sms on my cell giving me the details of my taxi. Within minutes the driver of my taxi called up to ask for exact directions to my house and confirmed that he would be there in some time.

The taxi arrived 10 minutes before the booking time. Again the driver informed me of his arrival.

The taxi itself, while not luxurious, was clean and well maintained. All these taxis have satellite navigation and GPRS datalinks. The jobs are sent via the GPRS datalink. The meter was very clearly visible and it gave both the current cost of the journey as well as the distance travelled.

The driver was curteous and soft-spoken. He asked me straight away if I wanted the A/C switched on (there is no extra cost for the A/C). He also asked me to confirm that the meter was set to zero. The journey itself was quite pleasant with the driver neither rushing nor taking any risks.

I arrived at my destination a satisfied customer. The fare was what I expected it to be.

The fare structure is very simple: for every 1 km they charge 15 rupees. Waiting costs are extra as are the night charges (applicable after 11pm).

There is a funny twist to this story. The driver did not know the directions to Connaught Place (CP) or how to use the GPS equipment to get the directions since he was new to the job. While this might be a bad thing for someone new to the city I felt quite pleased with myself when I managed to navigate to CP without making any mistakes after almost 1 year.

On the whole would recommend radio taxis to anyone as well as would pray to God that future experiences remain positive!

Quotes from Journey to the West

Journey to the West is a Chinese classic. It is an epic (fictional) story about how Buddhist teachings were brought to China.

The English Language version (Chinese Foreign Languages Press edition translated by W.J. F. Jenner) is full of amazing quotes. I will be posting my favourite ones here.

Quote 1: Chapter 26

“If you don’t fight, you can’t make friends”

Quote 2: Chapter 31

“If a man has been your teacher for a day, you should treat him as your father for the rest of his life”

Quote 3: Chapter 33

“A tall tree invites the wind; The wind then shakes the tree;

Whoever strives for fame; destroyed by fame is he”

Quote 4: Chapter 44

“In the dust under one’s eyes are three thousand worlds”

Life in a few lines…

The roar of life is in my ear,
The roar becomes a song.

Life is a blur,
The blur becomes a painting.

I go deep within myself,
I become the egg,
I become the shell.

These above few lines were written by me on the 15th of October 2008.

The Great Indian Truth: Ignorance is Bliss

“In 2008, stampedes have killed 360, blasts 156” – A news item on the Times of India website (1 Oct 2008, 0354 hrs IST) (Click here for the article)

Still thinking why we should have to die from a terrorist bomb?

Death has many forms and one cannot control it. Every form of death has a cause.. and more often than not another human is the cause. With respect to terrorism there is just a clearer connection between the hand holding the smoking gun and the bullet which killed the victim…

This terrorism nonsense is highlighted just because it has deep political implications and for some reason people are scared of bombs. This can be used to focus people’s attention and to increase your votebank. It has another handy side-effect: people give up their civil liberties without much of a fight. It makes people easier to control. Entering a PVR theater in Delhi feels like entering a high-security prison.

More people die every year because of smoking cigarettes than bombs. But we don’t see politicians making a universal smoking ban a hot issue. That second hand smoke you are breathing in while partying in a nightclub is more lethal than a bomb.

If one dies of a heart attack sure enough the cause of death can be traced back to things like bad eating habits, smoking and alcohol abuse. All these point the finger at the person’s parents who could not prevent these bad habits from developing within their child. So how different is the above incident (see link) where surely a local politicians as well as civil servants are to blame along with the temple administration and local police authority. What makes them so different from the so called terrorists?

The funny thing is we GAVE these people the power to kill us. We ELECT the politician and the civil administration which then kills us slowly day by day. At least in case of terrorists they were not given power by us, voluntarily.

In the end I think that is what really hits us. Terrorism is like being stripped naked in public where you know you are being looked at by 100 different people.

Whereas failure of civic machinery is more like a hidden camera movie of someone changing clothes taken by people they trust! The person remains blissfully ignorant of the fact that within hours 1000s of people are downloading a video of them changing and life goes on normally till one fine day when they find out what has been happening behind their backs. But by then the excitement is over, ignorance is bliss and the incident is best forgotten.

In case of a terrorist attack we undergo both the incidents described above. We feel naked and exposed when terrorists hit at familiar everyday locations like a market. We get angry. But for some strange reason we don’t get angry at being decieved by the people we trusted to take care of us.

Ignorance is bliss. Life goes on. One day at a time. Till the clock stops ticking.

Achieving Greatness

The Tao-te Ching is fundamental to the Taoist school of philosophy. It is a gift to the world from ancient China.

About achieving greatness it says the following:

Plan for what is difficult while it is easy, do what is great while it is small.

The most difficult things in the world must be done while they are still easy, the greatest things in the world must be done while they are still small.

For this reason sages never do what is great, and this is why they can achieve that greatness.

The above words written thousands of years ago still hold true. Keeping in shape is easier than loosing loads of weight. Saving early and regularly is easier than waiting for that one big injection of money!

Bullets and Pillows

While I was waiting at the roadside today morning I had a very strong insight about life which I want to share with you.

We all, sometimes, crib about life being tough and there being issues.

I realised that life is not tough. We make it tough by resisting it.

We expect life to be like a pillow. In reality we have to be like a bullet. A bullet offers minimum resistance to the air, it is hard and goes through stuff.

So be a bullet. Don’t resist life and at the same time be tough so that you have the power to go through things that come in the way!

Terrorism: A Failed Concept

Terrorism is being defeated. Step by step. Blast by blast.

Earlier the targets were important locations and people. Bombs were hidden in briefcases, cars and often carried by terrorists on their person.

Now targets are common places and the general population. Bombs are hidden in garbage bins.

This shows how terrorists are unable to target those in power. So now they target those being controlled by the people who have power. If you can’t attack the masters then attack the slaves.

What they don’t realise is that the slaves have enough problems. Another few people being blown to bits is not going to affect them. As a friend said: ‘People have to work so that they can earn money and feed themselves and their families’.

India is not a welfare state where people have the option of living of the state. So people have developed thicker skins. They need to go out and struggle every day. If that involves dealing with killer Blue-line buses, corrupt Government machinery, pathetic hospitals or toxic ground-water then so be it. Add to that a terrorist bomb… who cares!

A terrorist bomb can kill you once. Bad water kills you day by day. Bad electricity supply creates stress minute by minute and the slow machienary of the Government grinds any left over life to bits over a lifetime.

Who need to fear the terrorists the most? People who are not struggling out there. People in power. People sitting on a pile of money which was earned under the table.

A friend of mine asked me (in anger): ‘Why should we be killed by a terrorist bomb?’

In my view the only way you can decide how you will die is if you commit suicide. Then also not all methods of commiting suicide are failsafe.

Terrorism is a mental disease. You have to be insane if you can kill innocent people. Like some diseases it can be cured. Like other diseases it can kill.

In the end life goes on. Nothing can stop it. That is why terrorism fails especially in a country like India. Nothing grounds to a halt. The Americans, in the biggest act of terror, to date, dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima AND Nagasaki (in Japan) resulting in large number of civilian casualties. Today Japan is one of the most advanced countries out there.

That is one thing the terrorists have understood. That is why terrorism is a failed concept.

Nuclear Energy

The Nuclear Deal is through. The deal took something like three years to go through. There were problems, both internal and external. But it went through.

One has to admire what money can do. Impossible odds become high probability happenings. It is after all a $40 billion market!

What next people will ask. Will this make the politicians richer? Will it improve the overall power situation in India? Will it lead to radioactive waste polluting the already polluted Indian countryside?

I don’t think it will make politicians richer. One interesting thing to note is that Atomic Energy is not handled by a Goverment of India ministry. It is handled by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). The DAE is under the direct control of the Prime Minister even though it comes under the Ministry of Science and Technology.

It is under the administration of one of the most important people in India’s nuclear energy setup: Dr Anil Kakodkar. Most of the power plant construction is going to be carried out by private companies. Finally since it is going to have a lot of international involvement the room for small players is limited.

What the UPA government has done is kept the nuclear energy department as separate from rest of the Government of India (GOI) machinery as possible. I think that is why the opposition parties were hopping mad. It neutralised their control/influence on the deal.

The drama that was played out in the Parliament over the nuclear deal shamed the whole nation. It also shows how greedy our politicians can get when it comes to money.

It should also improve the power situation but not in the near future. India plans to add increase nuclear power generation from approx 4200 MW (currently) to 52,000 MW by 2020. But 2020 is a long way down the road. Plans can change and then change again in 12 years.

The effort towards getting thorium-based nuclear power plants up and running (India has one of the highest reserves of thorium in the world) will be one of the most important measures of success of this deal looking at it from the point of view of India.

Nuclear waste and saftey will remain a big issue. India is not known for good saftey records when it comes to industries. But entering into international agreements will ensure that the Indian nuclear power plants come under international safeguards.

Next 5 years will tell the true story of the nuclear deal. The Indian public and the World will know what the signing that deal really meant.

Good luck to India and Good luck to the citizens of India