This is a really difficult piece to write, partly because I still haven't entirely figured out my own thoughts on the subject and partly because at many levels I stubbornly refuse to mutely accept the forced chains of tradition with regard to lineage and rights.
In an earlier post I wrote about the need to include one's caste in the ongoing census in India. To me, it was simple: if you want to integrate marginalized and excluded communities (solely as defined by our unique caste system) into "mainstream" economic channels and social activities, how will you identify who they are? How will you ensure that the real deserving and needy get access to special economic schemes and opportunities targeted at them? And so I saw a self-reported caste count as a step toward better ‘identification’ of these oppressed groups. But this issue on caste in the census has unfolded like a can of worms and its likely going to derail the development process with its endless debates and disruptions. Whether or not we should promote inclusive long-term and sustainable development on the basis of caste, creed, gender or religion is another matter (for the record, its one that I do not agree with - I only support a society built on the strength of its human resource with investments in their future and creation of opportunities for all, irrespective of the origins of its people). The fact however is, in our country, we hail reservations (affirmative action), the women's reservation bill, creations of new and further sub-divisions of existing religious groups and other such exercises undertaken periodically. We also routinely discriminate on the basis of one's geographical origin (“she's from there”, eyes rolled), skin colour (I get aggravated by the numerous skin lightening products in the market, more so when promoted by supposedly leading figures from the entertainment world – get real, people!) as if those parameters in themselves should demarcate any person from the rest of us. And could women in India please put an end to believing that white = good marriage proposal/ good job/good life? Seriously. That would give these overnight wonder white products a run for their money.
So what is caste? Is it merely a statement of the occupational and hierarchical heritage handed down to us by our ancestors? Is it a reflection of our DNA? Both? Neither? Why can’t caste be replaced with economic parameters? Are the recent violent khap panchayat diktats handed out on any scientific understanding of the situation or are they (yet another) form of bullying by mostly male members of two consenting adults who choose to live together and/or marry? When we automatically spew out our caste (known to us only anecdotally any way), do we care to understand if it is relevant in our lives? I’m interested in knowing more about the origins of this system and its intended functions, limitations. What upsets me is if somebody says that a warrior’s son can only be a warrior and cannot convert. I cannot change unless I marry somebody from a different caste and then have to ‘automatically’ assume his caste (or everybody around me assumes it on my behalf!). This is so outdated what with many married women (including myself) not taking their husbands names and families becoming more and more nuclear, a little less focused on what was and a little more focused what we will be.
A few words on religion (this, by the way, is intrinsically linked to caste in our great nation). I’ll stick to Hinduism, that’s what I was initiated into from childhood. Why don’t some of our temple authorities allow certain sections of our society to enter their premises? Faith is faith – is it any different when coming from a dark-skinned individual or a ‘supposedly’ low caste child or women in general? (I say supposedly because I will not adhere to this pre-determined grading system). Temple donations are not indicative of one’s belief; in fact, there are hundreds who give simply in the spirit of giving out of the glare of media. I always thought that temple priests were the epitome of cleanliness and wisdom, symbolizing the word “sacred”. So what/who allows them to show up at work unkempt, filthy-mouthed, blatantly abusing the power vested in them? Who allows them to push around devotees because they can’t be bothered to put in overtime on a busy day? What prevents more women from taking this up as a profession? The deep-rooted exclusion which is ever-present, yet, which we pretend doesn’t exist. Too much needs to change, and quickly.
I’ll sign off with the hope that during the next census round, I’ll be interviewed by a lady who has broken all stereotypes: she’s dark-skinned and overcome obstacles both financially and socially, she’s educated and gone ahead and she’s cast off any doubts that one might have about her aptitude or knowledge. She drinks water from a glass that I would use. I hope that irrespective of my response to her question of caste; she allows herself to consider me as an equal, an Indian.
At the stroke of the midnight hour
02 July 2010
08 June 2010
Customer Service
In India, we have helplines for just about everything. Namashkar, mera naam .... hai, mein aaj aapki kaise sahayata kar sakta(i) hoon? My name is .... how may I help you today? Friendly, pleasant and polite enough. And that's where it ends. Before it even began! I am exhausted by the sheer amount of time and energy (not to mention, money) wasted in dealing with this first line of customer service executives who mean well but are able to help very little in real, substantive terms. Picture this: Me "I'd like some help please in locating my credit card, the courier company says they're unable to deliver it because of an incorrect address provided by you. I don't know the card number since its a new card. Could you trace it by the name of card holder?” Him "Sure, ma'am, what is the CC number? I need the number to proceed" Needless to say, its a fairly pointless dialogue and unless escalated to the level of the supervisor, a lost cause. And its not just credit card companies - this happens with mobile phone service providers, cable guys, public utilities, private banks and so on. The unwillingness, probably stemming from a deficiency in capacity, to grasp a customer's problem and instead rattle off a series of verification questions or worse still so-called problem-solving techniques which are in no way related to your query is incredibly frustrating and unproductive.
For the past 5 days now, I have been trying to get Tata Sky to repair what I think is a minor glitch with the recording function of my TiVo box. After all, how serious can it be if I understand the issue without any training whatsoever in the field of digital transmission and storage of content over satellite? (SK, you will be proud :-)) Service engineers have waltzed in and out of our apartment, set-top boxes have been changed, wires have been ripped out and furious exchanges with team leads at the other end of a phone line have followed, all to no avail. Why not? Because, we as Indians, do not analyse the problem. This is not taught to us in school. What we are taught instead is to memorize solutions (seriously!), blurt them all out and hope that one of them will be the correct answer. Sadly, not.
Since liberalization in 1991/92, we have been promoting our economy as services-oriented, a haven for outsourcing with a focus on large pools of a cheap, English-speaking labour force. To make this model sustainable and profitable in the long-run, we simply cannot ignore a focus on the quality of training imparted to this labour and equally importantly, on the quality of service which they provide. When the West talks about frustration in dealing with Indian staff, lets for a minute, forget about their underlying distaste for our accent and possibly appearance and address another issue here: that of the utter lack of problem-solving aptitude which is all-too-apparent within the first few minutes of getting into a conversation with a helpline agent. Do organizations not lose huge sums of money if every single case is taken up with a mid-level manager? What then, besides benching, is the purpose of hiring hoards of little or badly-trained junior staff? This is employment generation and retention at its worst. Companies often complain that newly-recruited staff is not employable, i.e. the training they bring from their education institutions is so ill-suited to the demands of a real work environment, that they “spend” millions on (re)building this workforce. But I believe that to create a truly skilled worker, they need to “invest” and invest well.
On the Tata Sky front, the manager is now going to come over and attempt to fix the problem. If that too fails, Aamir Khan and Gul Panag, you will be subpoenaed. Stay tuned.
For the past 5 days now, I have been trying to get Tata Sky to repair what I think is a minor glitch with the recording function of my TiVo box. After all, how serious can it be if I understand the issue without any training whatsoever in the field of digital transmission and storage of content over satellite? (SK, you will be proud :-)) Service engineers have waltzed in and out of our apartment, set-top boxes have been changed, wires have been ripped out and furious exchanges with team leads at the other end of a phone line have followed, all to no avail. Why not? Because, we as Indians, do not analyse the problem. This is not taught to us in school. What we are taught instead is to memorize solutions (seriously!), blurt them all out and hope that one of them will be the correct answer. Sadly, not.
Since liberalization in 1991/92, we have been promoting our economy as services-oriented, a haven for outsourcing with a focus on large pools of a cheap, English-speaking labour force. To make this model sustainable and profitable in the long-run, we simply cannot ignore a focus on the quality of training imparted to this labour and equally importantly, on the quality of service which they provide. When the West talks about frustration in dealing with Indian staff, lets for a minute, forget about their underlying distaste for our accent and possibly appearance and address another issue here: that of the utter lack of problem-solving aptitude which is all-too-apparent within the first few minutes of getting into a conversation with a helpline agent. Do organizations not lose huge sums of money if every single case is taken up with a mid-level manager? What then, besides benching, is the purpose of hiring hoards of little or badly-trained junior staff? This is employment generation and retention at its worst. Companies often complain that newly-recruited staff is not employable, i.e. the training they bring from their education institutions is so ill-suited to the demands of a real work environment, that they “spend” millions on (re)building this workforce. But I believe that to create a truly skilled worker, they need to “invest” and invest well.
On the Tata Sky front, the manager is now going to come over and attempt to fix the problem. If that too fails, Aamir Khan and Gul Panag, you will be subpoenaed. Stay tuned.
07 June 2010
Monsoon Magic and Water Woes
The first spell of the southwest monsoon (ver. 2010) rains hit South India a few days ago. Mira Nair made this very special season famous with her heartwarming movie "Monsoon Wedding" - but nothing beats the experience of being caught in a downpour for the very first time after a scorching, unforgiving summer! The earth comes back to life with a heady fragrance of the raindrops hitting the dry mud. Birds chirp away: the cuckoo bird, the mayna bird, the parakeet, all vying for attention as SK and I sip our morning tea on the terrace. Leaves glisten in the sunlight while squirrels run up and down on the tree trunks chasing each other and steering clear of the stray kitty hiding in the bushes. Then there's monsoon food (naturally). Kanda bhajees (for all Punekars out there, atop Sinhagad where the best ones are to be had!) and piping hot momos with thukpa, at Dilli Haat in Dilli. Also, romantic bread-wine-cheese evenings indoors listening to soothing strains of melodious music while watching the rain fall. Or outdoors grabbing a quick bite at the hastily put up food stall with hard-to-resist samosas and jalebis! 'Nuff said.
Last month, I hopped over to Guwahati in Assam, where the northeast monsoon had already started. I don't know anything about this region except what I studied in geography class way back in high school but just the drive from the airport made me want to move there. Lush green landscapes, misty skies, lofty mountain tops and genuinely cool breeze. Little rivers of fresh rainwater were being formed all around me. Its then that I wondered, what happens to it? Do we just allow it to drain off into the soil? Although the northeast gets a got deal of rain every year, paradoxically, it faces a severe clean water shortage, I was told. Not surprisingly then, I saw houses with pipes running across the lengths of their roofs collecting rainwater and emptying it in tubs below for future consumption. How do we go from being a state of want to a state of plenty? What we need is a change in our mindset and a change in our behavior as well, i.e. to save when we have plenty so we aren't caught scrambling in times of dire need.
What is unacceptable is that while parts of our country are flooded annually, there are vast areas which go without water for years on end. Even more criminal is seeing utter wastage of water during transportation - more often than not, water tankers in Delhi have ill-fitting or no caps. As a result, you could practically give yourself a good hose-down if you manage to ride behind one of these tankers as they make their way on somewhat-bumpy roads to quench the thirst of thousands of denizens who queue for hours for a single bucketful of water. Just the sight of children and the elderly all lined up in the afternoon heat should be enough to make us demand that we have better maintained tankers and better enforcement of water utilization. But how many of us bother to get our private water tanks serviced regularly so that they don’t overflow from the morning water supply provided by the authorities? How many of us pay our water bills on time, if at all? Do we care, even for minute, if we don’t face the problem? The pervasive culture in Delhi (and I suspect across many cities in India) is to avoid paying the government even a penny wherever possible and yet complain about the lack of public utilities in the system. Making a large purchase (consumer durables / jewellery / others) and then insisting on a fake receipt or a cash payment – so we don’t pay VAT and the shopkeeper is only too happy to comply since he / she doesn’t need to get books audited and can in turn pay lower taxes. Do we have any justification for complaining about bad roads if we don’t pay road taxes? Ditto with water and electricity consumption.
On a larger scale, we need ways to use (and harvest) water more efficiently. I’ve read that notable efforts (water harvesting, recycling) are already being undertaken by various stakeholders, including large hotel chains and corporations. In the agriculture sector, one such example is SRI or the system of rice intensification methodology for increasing the productivity of irrigated rice cultivation by changing the management of plants, soil, water and nutrients, in turn leading to major water savings.
This is the biggest investment we can make for ourselves and future generations. Save a drop today for an ocean tomorrow.
Last month, I hopped over to Guwahati in Assam, where the northeast monsoon had already started. I don't know anything about this region except what I studied in geography class way back in high school but just the drive from the airport made me want to move there. Lush green landscapes, misty skies, lofty mountain tops and genuinely cool breeze. Little rivers of fresh rainwater were being formed all around me. Its then that I wondered, what happens to it? Do we just allow it to drain off into the soil? Although the northeast gets a got deal of rain every year, paradoxically, it faces a severe clean water shortage, I was told. Not surprisingly then, I saw houses with pipes running across the lengths of their roofs collecting rainwater and emptying it in tubs below for future consumption. How do we go from being a state of want to a state of plenty? What we need is a change in our mindset and a change in our behavior as well, i.e. to save when we have plenty so we aren't caught scrambling in times of dire need.
What is unacceptable is that while parts of our country are flooded annually, there are vast areas which go without water for years on end. Even more criminal is seeing utter wastage of water during transportation - more often than not, water tankers in Delhi have ill-fitting or no caps. As a result, you could practically give yourself a good hose-down if you manage to ride behind one of these tankers as they make their way on somewhat-bumpy roads to quench the thirst of thousands of denizens who queue for hours for a single bucketful of water. Just the sight of children and the elderly all lined up in the afternoon heat should be enough to make us demand that we have better maintained tankers and better enforcement of water utilization. But how many of us bother to get our private water tanks serviced regularly so that they don’t overflow from the morning water supply provided by the authorities? How many of us pay our water bills on time, if at all? Do we care, even for minute, if we don’t face the problem? The pervasive culture in Delhi (and I suspect across many cities in India) is to avoid paying the government even a penny wherever possible and yet complain about the lack of public utilities in the system. Making a large purchase (consumer durables / jewellery / others) and then insisting on a fake receipt or a cash payment – so we don’t pay VAT and the shopkeeper is only too happy to comply since he / she doesn’t need to get books audited and can in turn pay lower taxes. Do we have any justification for complaining about bad roads if we don’t pay road taxes? Ditto with water and electricity consumption.
On a larger scale, we need ways to use (and harvest) water more efficiently. I’ve read that notable efforts (water harvesting, recycling) are already being undertaken by various stakeholders, including large hotel chains and corporations. In the agriculture sector, one such example is SRI or the system of rice intensification methodology for increasing the productivity of irrigated rice cultivation by changing the management of plants, soil, water and nutrients, in turn leading to major water savings.
This is the biggest investment we can make for ourselves and future generations. Save a drop today for an ocean tomorrow.
02 June 2010
Gaon Ki Gori
Does India live in its villages? Does asking this question 62 years after Independence make its rural economy and population more relevant? No, sadly, it doesn't very much. But the village definitely has potential. What lives in the villages is India's massive votebank. Repeatedly abused, often ignored and rampantly (mis)used. A recently released study by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) looks at infrastructure, governance and other challenges facing India's cities and metros and proposes, amongst other policy reforms, a sweeping overhaul of the way cities are managed (including appointing CEOs and the like) and pumping in massive amounts of funding to make them ready for the 590 million-odd people that will reside in them by 2030. A detailed analysis of the migration from the village to the city or the semi-urban area, an all-too-common phenomenon for lack of opportunities/growth prospects/survival mechanisms in the villages linking it to such studies will go a long way in addressing these critical issues.
However, as much as I am a city gal (skyscrapers do make my head spin and Lutyen's Delhi has spoiled me beyond words), my heart and sanity to a large extent are beginning to need a regular infusion of the gaon. There's a purity in the air there that cities cannot match. I am not just referring to the weather but to attitudes as well. Depending on one's definition of quality of life, I'd say, its so much better in many rural areas than in our cities! Yes, its difficult to get power and water a lot of the times. And many village folk do not have access to basic services including primary health care centres, toilets, banking, grocery stores. But the food always tastes nicer, people are kinder and gentler, there's plenty of greenery (in most parts), lots of animals and beautiful birds, a sky full of bright stars. So the gaon also gives me a sense of hope. One day, I hope to muster up the courage to spend an extended period of time there (I still fall prey to the city's offerings: pools and nice roads, nice cars, shopping) and in the process learn about the way villagers lead their lives, with respect for the environment, in today's concrete, urban-centric world.
However, as much as I am a city gal (skyscrapers do make my head spin and Lutyen's Delhi has spoiled me beyond words), my heart and sanity to a large extent are beginning to need a regular infusion of the gaon. There's a purity in the air there that cities cannot match. I am not just referring to the weather but to attitudes as well. Depending on one's definition of quality of life, I'd say, its so much better in many rural areas than in our cities! Yes, its difficult to get power and water a lot of the times. And many village folk do not have access to basic services including primary health care centres, toilets, banking, grocery stores. But the food always tastes nicer, people are kinder and gentler, there's plenty of greenery (in most parts), lots of animals and beautiful birds, a sky full of bright stars. So the gaon also gives me a sense of hope. One day, I hope to muster up the courage to spend an extended period of time there (I still fall prey to the city's offerings: pools and nice roads, nice cars, shopping) and in the process learn about the way villagers lead their lives, with respect for the environment, in today's concrete, urban-centric world.
13 May 2010
Yatra, Zimbly Zouth
My cousin recently hinted that I needed to blog a lot more on my travels than wax eloquent on the state of the nation. S, I'll oblige, quite happily! Work took me to Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Tamil Nadu (TN) last month - yes, yes, I know, *not* the best time. But heat and humidity notwithstanding, it was a very 'warm' visit.
Traveling across India is a fairly unique experience: its at once overwhelming, overcrowded (for the most part) and at times overbearing. However, what's omnipresent is a sense of genuine hospitality and belonging; right from the humble village lady who offered us a home-cooked meal to the luxury hotel staff who went out of their way to make us comfortable. It didn't matter that I had not visited those regions earlier or that I spoke neither of the local languages...there's a familiarity in the everyday surroundings and happenings: from the ubiquitous chaiwallah to the coconut seller to the barber in his makeshift workspace on the pavement to the utterly unproductive task of a municipal corporation employee sweeping away at a busy street intersection (the Rozgar Yojana on display, if you will) to the numerous street dogs who just know the perfect spot to catch a nap on a hot and dusty afternoon to mothers everywhere hurriedly ferrying their children to the school auto / bus and back home.
Then there's comfort food. As much as I adore my ceviche, injeras, sushi and prosciutto with melon, this I will confess: bad Indian food is still way better than bad food anywhere else. Maybe its the intoxicating aroma of the cooking oil and ghee or the fact that most of us live to eat. Or just the fact that for a vast majority of the population, there is still no substitute to actually cooking a meal from scratch. It unites strangers (picture a roadside dhaba where truckers congregate to break bread after a long day), it brings family together, even provides fodder for budding romance! Even I, who do not normally enjoy a meal of rice, tucked into the Hyderabadi biryani, the bisi bele bhaath and curd rice with gusto on this trip. I suppose, in India, there's comfort in food.
Although we didn't spend much time in either of the metros Hyderabad or Chennai, I liked what little I saw. Hyderabad has a spectacular new airport with a very efficient connector toll road to take you right into the city. For years, most roads in South India have been better than those in other states and the newer highways are built like international roadways. Now if we could only find a way and a reason to clear the filth and garbage at a macro level, our cities would look so much more presentable and would definitely be more 'livable'. Chennai feels like an older city, with a stronger colonial hangover than Hyderabad and quite different from the Rajdhani with its brashness and over-the-top show-and-pomp requirements. In many ways it reminded me of Pune - the traditional stronghold that one senses and sees - mogra gajraas, silk sarees (yes, indeed, even in 40c+ weather), the many old (Anglo) colleges and educational institutions, lots of female drivers on the roads and sadly, horrendous traffic patterns. Disclaimer: I do not wish to imply that there is any correlation whatsoever between the gender of the driver and the utter lack of traffic structure :-)
I need to write more about my visits to the rural areas in the states...next post on this for sure!
Traveling across India is a fairly unique experience: its at once overwhelming, overcrowded (for the most part) and at times overbearing. However, what's omnipresent is a sense of genuine hospitality and belonging; right from the humble village lady who offered us a home-cooked meal to the luxury hotel staff who went out of their way to make us comfortable. It didn't matter that I had not visited those regions earlier or that I spoke neither of the local languages...there's a familiarity in the everyday surroundings and happenings: from the ubiquitous chaiwallah to the coconut seller to the barber in his makeshift workspace on the pavement to the utterly unproductive task of a municipal corporation employee sweeping away at a busy street intersection (the Rozgar Yojana on display, if you will) to the numerous street dogs who just know the perfect spot to catch a nap on a hot and dusty afternoon to mothers everywhere hurriedly ferrying their children to the school auto / bus and back home.
Then there's comfort food. As much as I adore my ceviche, injeras, sushi and prosciutto with melon, this I will confess: bad Indian food is still way better than bad food anywhere else. Maybe its the intoxicating aroma of the cooking oil and ghee or the fact that most of us live to eat. Or just the fact that for a vast majority of the population, there is still no substitute to actually cooking a meal from scratch. It unites strangers (picture a roadside dhaba where truckers congregate to break bread after a long day), it brings family together, even provides fodder for budding romance! Even I, who do not normally enjoy a meal of rice, tucked into the Hyderabadi biryani, the bisi bele bhaath and curd rice with gusto on this trip. I suppose, in India, there's comfort in food.
Although we didn't spend much time in either of the metros Hyderabad or Chennai, I liked what little I saw. Hyderabad has a spectacular new airport with a very efficient connector toll road to take you right into the city. For years, most roads in South India have been better than those in other states and the newer highways are built like international roadways. Now if we could only find a way and a reason to clear the filth and garbage at a macro level, our cities would look so much more presentable and would definitely be more 'livable'. Chennai feels like an older city, with a stronger colonial hangover than Hyderabad and quite different from the Rajdhani with its brashness and over-the-top show-and-pomp requirements. In many ways it reminded me of Pune - the traditional stronghold that one senses and sees - mogra gajraas, silk sarees (yes, indeed, even in 40c+ weather), the many old (Anglo) colleges and educational institutions, lots of female drivers on the roads and sadly, horrendous traffic patterns. Disclaimer: I do not wish to imply that there is any correlation whatsoever between the gender of the driver and the utter lack of traffic structure :-)
I need to write more about my visits to the rural areas in the states...next post on this for sure!
01 May 2010
Each One Teach One
We've all probably heard these before....each one, teach one / when you educate a man, you educate a person; when you educate a woman, you educate a family. Well, after seeing so many rural women in India get trained on basic writing and math skills and in turn getting more empowered and self-confident and taking charge of their household finances and other key decisions in the past few months, I've been meaning to attempt the same within my own little community. Yesterday, out of the blue, my cleaning lady asked me simply, is today the 30th? I replied in the affirmative and then asked her if she knew whether this month had 31 days or not. She didn't have a clue! So I decided that this was the moment for me. My moment to teach one and I thought I should get her started with reading numbers and interpreting a calendar.
As an aside, I refrain from calling her my "maid" because she is so much more..she's one of the first persons I meet most mornings: a hardworking young Bengali lady, unfailingly punctual, honest and trustworthy, with a smile on her face and genuine affection for our cats (yes, that is very important :-)), ready to start her job, sadly, for not a whole lot of money. In spite of paying her 'significantly above-market' fees, praising her for her work and offering her paid leave (much to the chagrin of some of my neighbours, who chided me for 'spoiling' her), I still think we vastly underpay our hired help. Too much supply? Perhaps. That's only because of the lack of opportunities in the regions of their origins. I suspect I learn a little bit from her everyday - about tolerance, humility and living within one's means. About being calm in the face of adversity and sharing joys and sorrows. Maybe she's actually the teacher and I the student.
Back to my role as the teacher. Why the humble calendar? Its a ready reckoner for so many possibilities. I would like her to keep track of her own monthly activities, income and expenses, important dates and events. I want her to create milestones for herself and her family, which she can then record. I wish I could get her to remember her birthday, but that, unfortunately, is not a day worth taking note of for her or countless others like her. She tells me she's probably around 35 and already a grandmother of an 18-month old boy. That's right, its the same old story: she was married off at 14, became a mother at 16 and has repeated the cycle with her own daughter. I want her to eventually manage her own time and not be a slave to the demands of everybody else on her time.
Today is May 1st and its celebrated as Labour Day in India. So I will dedicate this post to all our hired help who make life so very easy for us and to hired help everywhere. May they get all the dignity they deserve.
As an aside, I refrain from calling her my "maid" because she is so much more..she's one of the first persons I meet most mornings: a hardworking young Bengali lady, unfailingly punctual, honest and trustworthy, with a smile on her face and genuine affection for our cats (yes, that is very important :-)), ready to start her job, sadly, for not a whole lot of money. In spite of paying her 'significantly above-market' fees, praising her for her work and offering her paid leave (much to the chagrin of some of my neighbours, who chided me for 'spoiling' her), I still think we vastly underpay our hired help. Too much supply? Perhaps. That's only because of the lack of opportunities in the regions of their origins. I suspect I learn a little bit from her everyday - about tolerance, humility and living within one's means. About being calm in the face of adversity and sharing joys and sorrows. Maybe she's actually the teacher and I the student.
Back to my role as the teacher. Why the humble calendar? Its a ready reckoner for so many possibilities. I would like her to keep track of her own monthly activities, income and expenses, important dates and events. I want her to create milestones for herself and her family, which she can then record. I wish I could get her to remember her birthday, but that, unfortunately, is not a day worth taking note of for her or countless others like her. She tells me she's probably around 35 and already a grandmother of an 18-month old boy. That's right, its the same old story: she was married off at 14, became a mother at 16 and has repeated the cycle with her own daughter. I want her to eventually manage her own time and not be a slave to the demands of everybody else on her time.
Today is May 1st and its celebrated as Labour Day in India. So I will dedicate this post to all our hired help who make life so very easy for us and to hired help everywhere. May they get all the dignity they deserve.
16 April 2010
Cricket's Chump Change...
....this is not. Fact: IPL is valued at over $4 billion (to put things in perspective, that amounts roughly to half of the government's allocation to NREGA or equals its outlay to agriculture and allied activities this fiscal year, more on that in another post). Two new franchises, Pune and Kochi, are worth more than the original 8 teams put together. Admittedly, Kochi's fate is now on a sticky wicket and murky(ier) details of the deal are expected in coming days. Unfortunately, the numbers involved are so large that nobody is going to give up without a fight and several third umpires will be called upon to reach a settlement. Kings XI Punjab is up for grabs at..hold your breath....$300 million! Every franchise is set to make a profit of Rs. 25 crores (over $5 million) at the end this season. Not surprisingly then, barely 3 years old, some look upon IPL as a major corporate entity, the kind that draws attention from around the world. SK told me that major basketball leagues in the US are valued at several hundreds of millions of dollars, however the NBA is a well-established, long-running institution in its own right, it has been built and strengthened over several years and when "in season", is the cause of major grief (for me) owing to its all-pervasive nature: TV, streaming over broadband, chat fora, etc. etc.
I'm quite convinced that this is a bubble. IPL is on a high only because of the financial backing they have (thus far) from business houses, Bollywood biggies (admittedly a debatable tag) and the like. However, it has a weak foundation of new and emerging talent. They are fortunate to have some of cricket's best (err..old) players currently playing across all teams, but there's scant attention being given to developing a talent pool that we can draw from in the coming years. Hayden, Gilchrist, Jayasuriya, Ganguly have been off-colour for the most part and newer players exhibit more style in their hair than in their stroke play and swing/spin.
Where is fair play in all of this? I was quite excited when the IPL was launched back in 2008, it was an Indian brand that overseas players wanted to be associated with. We finally didn't need to show off the odd English county association. It commanded credibility and attention. Modi and company (MAC for lack of a better acronym) need to be (re)told the story of the hare and the tortoise. The Tatas and Birlas and Ambanis certainly didn't build their empires in a day and its a lesson MAC would do well to heed. IPL shouldn't crumble like the Kotla pitch, but its repute is on a downhill slope and it can redeem itself only by focusing on the sport, not just the game.
BCCI, with its bursting coffers, can well afford to take a step back to reevaluate and redesign its long term association and strategy with IPL. Also ,what this controversy should lead to is a tightening of the bidding and selection process through enhanced transparency and accountability, i.e. good governance. It needs to serve also as a warning when there comes a time to launch another major sporting league in the country. IPL must be saved, if nothing, then for giving us a reason to turn on the idiot box every evening after work and watch the United Nations of the cricket world converge on a level playing field.
I'm quite convinced that this is a bubble. IPL is on a high only because of the financial backing they have (thus far) from business houses, Bollywood biggies (admittedly a debatable tag) and the like. However, it has a weak foundation of new and emerging talent. They are fortunate to have some of cricket's best (err..old) players currently playing across all teams, but there's scant attention being given to developing a talent pool that we can draw from in the coming years. Hayden, Gilchrist, Jayasuriya, Ganguly have been off-colour for the most part and newer players exhibit more style in their hair than in their stroke play and swing/spin.
Where is fair play in all of this? I was quite excited when the IPL was launched back in 2008, it was an Indian brand that overseas players wanted to be associated with. We finally didn't need to show off the odd English county association. It commanded credibility and attention. Modi and company (MAC for lack of a better acronym) need to be (re)told the story of the hare and the tortoise. The Tatas and Birlas and Ambanis certainly didn't build their empires in a day and its a lesson MAC would do well to heed. IPL shouldn't crumble like the Kotla pitch, but its repute is on a downhill slope and it can redeem itself only by focusing on the sport, not just the game.
BCCI, with its bursting coffers, can well afford to take a step back to reevaluate and redesign its long term association and strategy with IPL. Also ,what this controversy should lead to is a tightening of the bidding and selection process through enhanced transparency and accountability, i.e. good governance. It needs to serve also as a warning when there comes a time to launch another major sporting league in the country. IPL must be saved, if nothing, then for giving us a reason to turn on the idiot box every evening after work and watch the United Nations of the cricket world converge on a level playing field.
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