The Real Story Behind the Biggest Revolution in Indian Politics...

Manmohan Singh did not free the Indian economy; P.V. Narasimha Rao did... Let's get that bit straight... I’ll tell you how.

A human bomb killed Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. Narasimha Rao was just about to retire from politics, but the Congress had other ideas. They wanted to make the – according to them, 70 something, unassuming, dull, and balding – politician to be the ‘stopgap PM’ of a government no one thought would last the whole term. But Narasimha Rao unleashed India’s biggest revolution since 1947 during his stint.

He understood India was bankrupt. Yes, WE WERE BANKRUPT! Our currency reserves wouldn’t let us buy oil for more than 2 weeks, especially with crude prices skyrocketing. There were talks of a bailout from the IMF like some EU countries are offered now. Gold reserves worth $2.2 billion had been flown from India to London as collateral for the bailout! The day after he was sworn into office, Rao stated that the government wanted to ‘remove the cobwebs that come in the way of rapid industrialisation... make India internationally competitive, taking full advantage of... opportunities offered by the evolving global economy’. Rao hired non–politicians to do the job – Manmohan Singh as FM and P. Chidambaram as Commerce Minister.

P.V. Narasimha Rao - our nation's hero

Singh devalued the Indian currency by about 20% in 2 days and proposed to abolish export subsidy, which reduced the fiscal deficit by a mammoth 0.4%. Chidambaram, a Harvard M.B.A. graduate, spent a week burning the midnight oil understanding the major issues India faced. Then, with MMS and Montek Singh Ahluwalia, he dismantled the 40 year old ‘Licence Raj’ in about 8 hours. They hurried to Rao’s house at 9 p.m. and he signed the policy. Rao wanted to further delicence all industries except the sensitive ones related to security. But he didn’t go the whole hog immediately. Instead, he arranged for reforms to be released in a phased manner. He had Chidambaram and MMS reword the policies so they seemed in continuation of Rajiv Gandhi’s work. He had friends in the opposition, whom he covertly convinced to support the new policies. He provided incentives to industries for progress. Consequently, India survived an embarrassment and is today viewed as a potential superpower.

It pains to see Rao not credited for the work he did in liberating the Indian economy; the Congress is always mum. Most experts don’t know the names of cabinet ministers of that time. That’s because Rao held those portfolios himself. If it wasn’t for Rao’s grit, political suaveness and in–depth understanding of India’s problems and their solutions, we would all have been neck deep in crap. Neither Manmohan Singh nor Chidambaram or Ahluwalia could have pulled off what they did without backing and support from Rao. No one else could’ve done what he did. Not Gandhi, not Nehru, not his daughter and neither her son.

Here’s a salute to the visionary named P.V. Narasimha Rao; one of the best things that could happen to India. Thanks to him, today we drive good cars, own fancy gadgets and watch English channels on widescreen TVs. India needs more leaders like him to grow, indeed.

Why We Are Silent Now...

Ramya had gone to a restaurant with her friend. On the adjacent table sat 6 guys who were barely conversing. Strange! Why? They were busy with their mobile phones. One must have been playing Temple Run, one must have been on WhatsApp, one on Facebook, one tweeting, and so on.

Silence engulfs a lot of gatherings these days. We’re lost in our smart phones connecting with people who are not in front of us and neglecting those who are. We prefer WhatsApp and Facebook chats to face – to – face conversations. We inform our friends of changes in our lives via Facebook instead of phone calls. “You didn’t know about it? I put it up on Facebook.”

I’ve been keeping a low profile on the web lately. So a friend called and asked “Where are you these days? You’re not tweeting, no Facebook updates, no blog articles, no WhatsApp messages...” “Well, you should’ve called,” was my response. “Aah! That slipped my mind,” he sheepishly grinned.

Smart phones were meant to supplement us, just like PPTs are meant to supplement our presentations. But just like we let PPTs drive our presentations, we let smart phones control our lives. Internet connections must be on until the battery runs low; switching off our phones feels like a bigger catastrophe than 21^st December 2012; most ads are now about mobile phones; we’ve lost count of the number of apps there are... wait, we never had count of them anyway!

We can't spend a minute without Smartphones

Tyler Dunden had said “Shut down Facebook and Twitter servers. People will make real friends when they come out on the streets rioting.” It is said that we cannot have more than 150 friends in our lives. But 150 friends on Facebook is nothing short of a shame, right? It doesn’t matter if only 10 of them interact with us regularly.

We agree that we need to spend more time in real life than online, right? Let’s extend that lesson to our phones also. Let’s meet people in real world than in the virtual one. Let’s make it a point to call at least one friend a day and speak for 5 minutes. Let smart phones make our lives easier, not become our lives. Let the conversation flow at dinner or lunch rather than on WhatsApp. Reduce playing Temple Run and take a dip in the pool. Stop looking for mobile phone apps and catch a snack with a family member instead. Stop listening to your iPod on a walk. Let your mind wander; you’ll be surprised at what it comes up with. Let’s remember we are humans, not robots; let’s live like them.

Book Review: Lean In - Sheryl Sandberg

Wife and husband, they entered their house after a long gruelling day. “God, I’m exhausted” said the man. The woman, without batting an eyelid, entered the kitchen. She cleaned up the kitchen and the rest of the scattered house. By the time she started getting ready for bed, half an hour had passed and her husband was already snoring.

I read her speech at Harvard. I heard her TED talk. Both were spectacular. So when I saw her book Lean In as a new launch on Random House Publications, I knew I had to get my hands on one. So I did!

Sheryl Sandberg (COO of Facebook) has found her calling, her higher purpose. She wants to make the world (mainly us men) aware of the hardships women go through at work and at home. She exhorts women to tide over them and have faith that they can do it all [though asking for (no, demanding) a little help is always useful].

Sheryl has not written this book to count her accolades or blow her own trumpet (she does admit though, that it’s necessary to blow your trumpet in today’s world). In fact, she sheds light on how her life progressed right from school (where she wasn’t athletically oriented) to the present day. She states that during her pregnancy days, it was her husband who pointed out that pregnant women had reserved parking spaces at Yahoo. Until then, even Sheryl hadn’t given it much of a thought, while pregnant women before her must have silently suffered. She still has women coming up to her who say they want to give up a promising career because they want to start a family. It’s nothing new that women are the gender that is always ready to make sacrifices for their partners; vice versa is generally unheard of. Sheryl encourages women to go against the stereotype if they choose. Believe that they are worth more and focus on their careers instead of feeling guilty that they're bad mothers for not spending more time with their kids.

Lean In - Sheryl Sandberg

The author has dedicated an entire chapter to the importance of having a partner sharing responsibilities at home. Sheryl had a very difficult first child delivery. In fact, she pulled a tendon after delivery and had to walk on crutches for the next 8 days. The bright side for her was that her husband learned how to change the baby’s diapers before her. She’s really happy to have found a supportive partner in him, who actively participates in taking care of the kids and helps in household work too, apart from being an entrepreneur. She cites examples of friends where fathers are just as involved (if not more) in child rearing and domestic chores. Studies say that children in those households develop fastest. There is not much of a difference between children whose mothers stay at home or are working. But actively involved fathers certainly boost their children’s development.

There’s nothing I don’t like about this book. This is Sheryl’s first attempt at writing a book; this is her facing her fears (she wouldn’t have written a book otherwise); this is her trying to bring about a change; this is her leaning in. I spoke to a few women praising her resolve. The women retorted that it’s easy to do something like this once you’re a CXO or something. That’s not the point. Sheryl had this resolve of trying to make things better for women since long. It’s the person’s character that matters, not the designation or power.

Sheryl believes that equality in both genders will not only be reached when there are more women leaders in the corporate, but also when men share 50% of the household work. Good point. A mere 5% of the Fortune 500 companies are headed by women. This skewed statistic has to change. Just like whites were needed to support the revolution for rights of Afro – Americans, men must support the revolution to empower women. But more importantly, women must believe they are worth more. This book is a must read for men and women alike. I used to think that I won’t let my wife work after we have kids. After reading this book, I feel a change; one which will ensure I support women in whatever they want to do regardless of their circumstances. Thank you for sending me this book, Random House Inc.

Should We Start Building Our Own Defence Equipment?

The Augusta – Westland deal (3,500 crores for 12 helicopters) is yet another case of corruption in the Indian system. New names keep cropping up regularly in the case, leaving the Defence Minister A.K. Antony wringing his hands in helplessness.

The calls for involving private sector companies in building defence equipment in India are getting louder. India has become the world’s largest recipient of arms in recent years. On the other hand, China, which held the top spot in 2006, has now fallen to fourth. Several TATA group companies, L&T, Mahindra, Reliance and others are showing increasing capabilities in developing defence equipment. The army, however, doesn’t seem too excited.

The Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO), Defence PSUs (DPSU) and ordnance factory boards (OFBs) hold virtually a monopoly in supplying arms to the Indian army. However, these entities are plagued with corruption, inefficiency and bias. Less than 3% employees in the DRDO hold a Ph.D. An acquaintance of mine has visited the DRDO a few years ago and said a lot of time is spent by employees chatting, sleeping or lazing around. All this while almost 30% procurement and 100% R&D for arms lies in the DRDO’s hands. The DPSUs and OFBs are no better. This is a large point of concern.

3,500 crore for 12 choppers - Augusta Westland deal

Senior officials say middlemen thrive in defence deals because foreign companies do not have the bandwidth to wade through red tapism and corruption in India. India must start developing in house defence equipment. We can’t build all equipment ourselves; some arms still need to be imported. But by doing this, India will reduce dependence on other nations and corruption in this field. We are easily the best software exporters in the world. That expertise can surely be utilized by the defence sector to develop state-of-the-art arms and help India stand shoulder to shoulder with the world. Our soldiers deserve to be better equipped wherever they are deployed.

What do you think?

Congress Now Fighting Terrorism For Us?

Afzal Guru and Ajmal Kasab hanged within 80 days! I don’t know what’s more amusing; them being hanged or how gleefully we Indians have lapped this up.

Where did the Congress suddenly get these balls from? Until a few days ago, this very party running the government was ordering lathi charges on citizens. It sat twiddling its thumbs while the youth demanded justice for the gang rape victim. The Congress sat on its huge ass since 2009 while the Indian economy almost hit rock bottom. Policy paralysis was talked about daily in newspapers. The government failed to bring about a consensus on retail FDI, GST and other policies which should have been implemented long ago. CWG, the telecom spectrum, coal mine allocation... all these scams and more came to light when the Congress was in power since 2009. Mamata Banerjee dumped the Congress, Mayawati’s support was listed by dropping CBI investigations against her; there was no respite from the Naxalite issue either. Instead, the Congress went around trying to implement Section 144 and banning books which they claimed hurt religious sentiment. Pakistani soldiers beheading Indians was also publicized in the media to distract the Indian population from the Delhi gang rape issue. It was easier to make Pakistan look the villain and shift focus from a matter we called our government to action on. Did that party really find the guts to hang terrorists; something which wasn’t done since 12 years?

Kasab & Afzal Guru hanged?

The biggest terrorists are Congress party leaders themselves. In this article, I’ve pointed out how twisted and malicious Sonia Ghandi is. The news of the terrorists being hanged is a political gimmick. Just like the Americans claiming to have killed Bin Laden and buried his body at sea. So fucking predictable! Why would the Indian government have the terrorists hanged and burn their bodies in a hush – hush manner? Wouldn’t they want to display the dead bodies to showcase what they’ve done? Isn’t that normal human tendency? In my opinion, the jailed terrorists have not being hanged. They are alive and well; probably moved to secret location. The government merely wants to earn some brownie points from us citizens ahead of the 2014 elections.

The Congress has repeatedly violated my motherland in this stint. True, other parties have done and will do the same. But when awareness has increased, why must we behave like we used to a decade ago? The Congress needs a jolt like one they got when they lost out to the BJP. They must realize that they can’t take their power for granted. The jolt in 1996 was enough to galvanize them to action when they came to power in 2004. Our GDP grew substantially and people started predicting India’s bright future. Where are we now?

One thing is certain – I’m not voting for the Congress this time. Fuck that, I’ve never voted for them. Instead, I vote for some independent party worker who will be more passionate about development in my area. We need to show politicians that they cannot live their lives battling accusations of corruption, allow crime to continue and try to distract us from core matters by focusing on petty ones. We expect them to provide us a secure environment – economically and personally. What are you going to do?

image: Courtesy Google Images