Student speak: Continuous and comprehensive evaluation

Meeta Sengupta
30 July 2013, 11:41 PM IST

Listen to the Children Series: On CCE

Once in a while children say it better than we can. As I was scanning all fora, newsletters, blogs, conference papers, presentations, academic papers and all the other sources that help me keep up with the world of education, I came across this angry young man on Quora. Angry, with good reason - and those of us who have followed this blog know how inadequate training and poor implementation of the CCE system have jeopardised its success. The point of the CCE was to reduce pressure of examinations and grade regular, creative and thoughtful assignments set during the year. This way children do more than merely study for the examination, and teachers get the chance to explore the subject more in depth. It allows for the possibility of  customising assignments according to the abilities and talents of the children, possibly via team assignments. 

When I wrote of this last year, there was the excuse - early days, teething troubles. But if the system is still misunderstood, and misapplied, I begin to lost hope. 

For today, I merely replicate what this bright young student has to say. All I have done is remove names to protect identities. 

(He has permitted me to replicate it, and said his parents are okay with using his name. Till I get an email from his parents clearing that, the name is left out. I will update this with his name once the permission is in place. Similarly, I omit the name of the school, to respect his privacy) 

 ***********

"Reduce Pressure ? REDUCE PRESSURE ?

Fellow Quora netizens, I'm a mere high school student who's about to appear for his boards. So that does kinda give me an upper hand while answering this question.

When I was in class 7th this new system called Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) was introduced. Initially  we were all wary and cynical of this system. Soon we were apprehensive. Now we simply hate it. We hate it from the bottom of our hearts. CCE has caused damage of such colossal magnitude that it may even take decades to rectify. 

Irreversible damage, which is going to cost the nations free thinkers, problem solvers and go-getters. 

There is a certain Education system in our country, which though outdated, does produce some of the finest minds of the world.The system which has been appreciated by all the nations.

Now, The HRD ministry comes out of nowhere and implements this newly devised 'brainchild' of theirs, Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation.

The minister is quoted as  saying, "This system has been implemented to benefit the average student and to ensure student's do not face any pressure."

(strong language deleted, it was decent, but strong)

In any school there are different kinds of kids with different needs.True, focus should not be on grades but on the overall development of the child. True, the average student should not feel he's worthless.

But CCE has not achieved any of these goals so far.

Due to CCE, Children are unable to grow during their formative years. They are unable to learn. They are unable to just be regular children. 

Due to CCE, we the children, Have been overburdened with school work,class work and home work. If that was not enough we have to spend hours on our computer copying Wikipedia and other websites for the so called 'Projects'.

We have no time to breathe, to enjoy, to relax or to even think.

We have been transformed into robots to follow a monotonous schedule and lead a monochromatic life.

Talk about pressure.

Earlier we just had to give unit tests once a week, appear for the half-yearlies and at the end of the year take the final exams.

Now ? We Do everything mentioned above + complete our copies,do homework,classwork (we get graded for all of this) and also submit projects.Projects are just printouts of Wikipedia pages which are graded on how beautiful the presentation is and how well decorated it is.

And all of this for all the 7 subjects we have. (11 if you break down science and SSt  

No pressure, right ?

You may feel that I'm one of  the only few harboring such negative feelings against CCE.

I study in one of the premiere schools of the nation with maximum CBSE toppers every year. Our School has 5000 kids. 

Sometime back, all the kids were asked to write a letter *which was supposed to go to the HRD ministry* giving feedback about the system.

Boy, the letters were so harsh that children were reprimanded for writing them. Not one child wrote in support of CCE. Not a single teacher disagreed with the students.

Okay, there may be exceptions somewhere, but most of us,

Ranging from the toppers to the back-benchers to the average kids HATE CCE.

Teacher's hate CCE. This is not the scenario in our school only, but in all the schools everywhere. 

CCE is not only over-burdening the kids with excessive work, it teaches us to accept dishonesty(copying from wikipedia is dishonesty) and has eliminated our thinking aptitude.We do not have time to go outside and play or even interact with our friends.

If you still don't believe me, go to any school, pick out a kid in random and pop him this question. He's bound to have the same feelings and opinions as me.

I have suffered under this system for long, But my heart goes out to the future student's who are going to have an even worse time.

I had some time to play and enjoy my childhood, learn and grow. 

                                        They won't.

***********

Listen to the students, this is about them, for them. 

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Telengana, Jharkhand fixed…..Congress looks at UPA3 with new hope

Prashant Panday
31 July 2013, 10:20 AM IST

In the end, Telengana proved to be an easier-than-thought problem. Newspaper reports indicate how by removing Telengana from "erstwhile" Andhra Pradesh (it's a little unnerving how words like erstwhile get suddenly appended to Andhra!), the remnant part of AP is actually going to emerge even stronger and richer. The realization that they don't have to keep funding Telengana will eventually mean a lot to people there. And of course, the euphoria in Telengana is bound to keep that part cheering. The neat handling of Hyderabad city will also help in the smooth division of the state. All this will no doubt improve the Congress's chances in 2014.

And in Jharkhand, six months after the BJP government in the state collapsed, the President's rule in the state ended with the Congress sewing up an alliance with the JMM. That must surely improve the Congress's and UPA's chances with the 14 seats in that state.

The NDA in contrast has been ransacked and mauled in the last three months since Narendra Modi ascended the throne of his party. First the JD(U) exited a 17-year old relationship with the BJP. The last two poll forecasts had assumed all parties to fight independently in Bihar; hence they had shown the BJP gaining in that state. But surely if the Congress ties up with either the JD(U) or RJD or manages to at least get the support of both (a la UP), the poll equations in that state will change decisively against the NDA and pro the UPA.

Then there are the discomforting (for the BJP) statements made by Mamata Banerjee, Jagan Mohan Reddy, Naveen Patnaik et al, as well as the known stated positions of the UP chieftains, Mulayam and Mayawati that whatever happens they will not sign up with the NDA. Many bridges have been burnt with TMC, DMK, JMM and of course JD(U) since the NDA government of 1999-2004, and many (if not most) of these will prove difficult to re-build. Especially if one looks at the viciousness of the BJP's acrimony towards the JD(U) these days. The other day I heard some BJP spokesperson (I think it was Meenakshi Lekhi, or Smriti Irani) say on TV that JD(U) was never a reliable ally. Never??? But it was your ally for 17 long years…..and it was unreliable??! C'mon there have to be at least some courtesies towards ex partners, right? The Congress never bad mouthed the DMK when it left, nor has it been so vituperative even towards the whimsical Mamata.

The Telengana decision came too late, but it's going to be good for the Congress. How many seats will that improve Congress's chances by (compared to the two polls of the last week?). Maybe 10? And with Jagan Mohan Reddy now cut to size (quite literally!), and with his dislike for BJP very visible, chances are that he will be forced to cut a deal with the Congress, or at least ally with the party post-poll or pre-poll. I have a feeling that the Congress will promise to make him the CM, a condition that should have been met in the first place. But like they say, vision is 20:20 in hindsight!

The Congress has also started speaking more coherently, and strongly with Maken in place. The instant rebuttals of Modi have put him a little in his place. For the last 2 weeks, I haven't heard any big statement from him. He must be carefully researching his numbers now I guess! Equally, asserting that the Indian economy was still the 2^nd fastest growing major economy in the world, the government is finally making an attempt to correct the mis-perceptions that India alone has slipped. Things are bad, but India is hardly the only one suffering. It's not an easy message to drive home, but at least the battle with the BJP's constant hammering of policy paralysis and mis-governance has been joined.

What is easier to deliver however, is the message that this government means business. A slew of reforms have been launched in the last one year. And Chidambaram and the PM have both promised that there are more on the way. The Cabinet Committee of Investments has cleared projects worth tens of thousands of crores, and the PMO's own push with a committee of secretaries, projects worth tens of thousands more. There is a new swagger in the party – with the Congress talking now of liberalizing the FDI regime even in hitherto sacrosanct areas of the economy like Defence, pensions….even news media. It is soon to make FDI norms in multi-brand retail more liberal, maybe even increasing FDI to 74%. It will probably challenge the BJP's double standards on retail – after all if the concern of the BJP is the small retailer (baniya), then why is it OK for domestic biggies to operate in the sector? Will the Reliances, Birlas, Biyanis of the world be more concerned with protecting the livelihood of the baniyas (the rubbish claim that the BJP makes) than Walmart and Carrefour will be?

The real truth is that the 800 pound guerilla, the Grand Old Party as it is called, is ready to fight. And cut its opposition to size. For those who support secular politics, and inclusive growth, it's a reassuring sign. The polls are still many months away – fortunes in India change virtually overnight. UPA3 is hardly a chimera!

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Chennai Express

Meeta Kabra
31 July 2013, 05:26 PM IST

Oh dear...There's not a moment in this trailer that doesn't induce a cringe, except for the one shot in which a car explodes. And that reminds you it is a Rohit Shetty film and you cringe again.

From the train shot where Shah Rukh Khan lends a hand to a lady running on a platform to the drunk scene, Shah Rukh Khan is way too Shah Rukh Khan for you to take the film with an iota of positivity. Then, Deepika Padukone's trained accent sounds even more forced, even if she's got a good punch line.

There's no way I can allow myself to walk into a theater with so much apprehension. So, I set about looking for more clips from the film and came across the presumptuous 'lungi dance'. It really made me wonder - where does fun stop and mockery start?

A film is set in a particular geographical location and thus come the costumes and the accent. When does this stop becoming an excuse for going overboard with the jokes on the people and their way of speaking and being? I don't know. I just wonder.

Moving on, I finally found something that I liked - a couple of songs and the things that go along with them. 'Kashmir main tu Kanyakumari' is peppy and the energy that Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone bring to the song makes you tap your feet. If only the setting wasn't so artificial. Another song, even if set in a tacky atmosphere, worked. Shah Rukh Khan's expression in the first few seconds of this video is heart-warming. He looks like that guy who is smitten in love rather than himself. How refreshing.

Other than that there is hope that at least a little of the comedy will work. These little things are enough for me to go in with a neutral attitude. Thank goodness for small mercies.

Bollyspice - "3/5"

Bollywood Hungama - "3/5"

glamsham - "3.5/5"

IBN Live, IANS - "3.5/5"

Milliblog - "But for these two songs, Chennai Express's soundtrack is like an Amit passing via Chennai"

Music Aloud - "6.5/10"

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OECD's BEPS Action Plan - Part 1

Lubna Kably
30 July 2013, 09:22 AM IST

Will countries agree to a level playing field for corporate tax? Perhaps not and this could be the main stumbling block for curbing BEPS                                       

Zenobia Aunty spent the weekend pouring over OECD's recently released Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS) Action Plan. Silence reigned in the house; only the pitter-patter of the rain and the crackling sound of pages being turned could be heard. Even Spot, perhaps realising the gravity of the content of this report, slept quietly in a corner. 

Her ever obliging niece was called in to type the first column on Zenobia Aunty's take on this report - a broad overview on what it is all about and more importantly, whether in her view countries can actually unite to curb or prevent base erosion.

Alarmed by the increasing tendency of MNCs to ensure maximum shareholder value via 'aggressive' tax structuring, wherein high-end functions that could have generated high profits and thus given a huge slice of the tax pie to the government of the residence country are migrated to low tax jurisdictions, prompted the G20 countries (largely) to band together for the BEPS project even as BRIC countries had a role to play in drawing up the action plan. Such actions by MNCs do optimise (read reduce) the global effective tax rate for the company but this is at the cost of one or more government treasuries, largely those of the residence country.

Mind you, such structuring is done within the framework of law with full cognisance given to substance over form. In recent years, United Kingdom in case of Google, or United States of America in case of Amazon or Apple have frowned on such structuring and these and many more MNCs have been in the news.

In simple terms, here is how it is done. If the corporate tax rate in Country A is very high (say 40%), the manufacturing operations which would generate high profits are migrated to Country B where the tax rate is lower (say 15%). The entity set up in Country B sells it in Country A, via a sales outfit in Country A. The sales outfit earns a lower margin of profits for its activities. Thus a higher quantum of profit derived from the manufacturing activity is subject to a low rate of tax in Country B, and only marginal quantum of profits earned by the sales unit in Country A attract a higher tax. This collectively brings down the global effective rate of tax for the MNC, which has so structured its operations.

As OECD's action plan states: "Moreover, the growing importance of the service component of the economy, and of digital products that often can be delivered over the Internet, has made it much easier for businesses to locate many productive activities in geographic locations that are distant from the physical location of their customers. These developments have been exacerbated by the increasing sophistication of tax planners in identifying and exploiting the legal arbitrage opportunities and the boundaries of acceptable tax planning, thus providing MNCs with more confidence in taking aggressive tax positions. These developments have opened up opportunities for MNCs to greatly minimise their tax burden. This has led to a tense situation in which citizens have become more sensitive to tax fairness issues."

With the global economy not in the pink of health, tax administrators across countries are unsheathing their claws to get the maximum share of the tax pie. Unilateral action by a country in relation to cross border investments can result in economic double taxation – where the same income is taxed twice and worse still it can give rise to tax uncertainty. Countries can also resort to knee-jerk reactions via retrospective amendments or significant transfer pricing demands, which we have seen happening in India.

Thus, there is a dire need to strike a balance to ensure fair tax play without strangulating investments and growth. The focus today – which is also outlined in OECD's action plan, is on economic double non-taxation (if one may use such a term) where income is not taxed in either the source country or residence country or is subject to low taxes, or where double deduction is claimed for expenses be they depreciation or interest. 

OECD's action plan concludes by stating that fundamental, consensus-based changes are needed to address double non-taxation and cases of no or low taxation where business functions are artificially structured. Fifteen action points have been identified and the exercise on each is to be completed by 2014 or 2015.

These action points cover the following spheres: (i) Address the challenges of the digital economy ; (ii) Neutralize the effects of hybrid mismatch arrangements; (iii) Strengthen Controlled Foreign Corporation Rules; (iv) Limit base erosion via interest deductions and other financial payments; (v) Counter harmful tax practices more effectively, taking into account transparency and substance; (vi) Prevent treaty abuse; (vii) Prevent the artificial avoidance of permanent establishment status; (viii to x) Transfer pricing actions in particular aligning transfer pricing outcomes with value creation (There are three action points here relating to intangibles, risks and capital and lastly other high-risk transactions); (xi) Establish methodologies to collect and analyze data on BEPS and actions to address it; (xi) Require taxpayers to disclose aggressive tax planning arrangements; (xiii) Re-examine transfer pricing documentation; (xiv) Make dispute resolution mechanisms more effective; (xv) Develop a multilateral instrument for amending bilateral treaties.

It is easy to understand that shifting of 'aggressive' tax structure can harm some countries. OECD's report points out that in the changing scenario, where citizens are conscious about 'tax fairness' it could also dent the reputation of MNCs engaged in such planning. Moreover, corporations that operate only in domestic markets, including family-owned businesses or new innovative companies, would have difficulty competing with MNCs that have the ability to shift their profits across borders to avoid or reduce tax. Fair competition is harmed by the distortions induced by BEPS. Interestingly, OECD's report also ads that when tax rules permit businesses to reduce their tax burden by shifting their income away from jurisdictions where income producing activities are conducted, other taxpayers in that jurisdiction bear a greater share of the burden.

Zenobia Aunty doesn't believe in tax evasion, but she is finding it a bit hard to fathom the newly emerging concept of 'tax fairness' which seems driven by the desire of countries to grab taxes, during an economic downturn. Further, she wonders whether the objectives of this report will be attained, as tax is a cost and countries do make their jurisdictions more attractive by offering various tax incentives.

She agrees completely with her twitter fan, whose handle is @ArmsLengthTP. He had recently tweeted: Tackling BEPS is not the only solution. OECD should focus on reducing tax competition among countries first. Else BEPS may not successful.

Let's take a few instances of tax competition. While the tax holiday benefits under sections 10A and 10B could have prompted many software companies to outsource their operations to India, this tax holiday has ended. Yet, we still have tax holidays for business operating in SEZs. Singapore's Economic Development Board is willing to negotiate and reduce the already low corporate rate of tax of 17% for companies setting up operations in Singapore depending on the level and nature of investments, employment opportunities that will be generated et al. The United Kingdom has recently introduced a patent box regime to encourage innovation by providing an incentive for companies to 'locate their high-value jobs associated with the development, manufacture and exploitation of patents in the UK and maintain the UK's position as a world leader in patented technologies'. From April 2013, a key benefit of Patent Box is a lower effective rate of corporation tax on profits attributable to UK or European patents - by 2017 the tax rate for such profits will be as low as 10% against the UK corporate tax rate of 20% plus.

Will countries really agree to a level playing field when it comes to corporate tax rates? One doubts it.

Zenobia Aunty visualises a scenario where countries may make it more difficult to move operations overseas. In fact, controlled foreign corporation rules, of which the OECD's Action Plan has not said much could be an 'effective' tool. Then again, the danger is that stifling global expansions to other countries could gain political overtones, not good for a world that is interconnected, intertwined and is getting flatter by the day. Stay tuned for Zenobia Aunty's comments on specific action points covered by OECD's Action Plan, in her subsequent columns.

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The contested ideas of Rayala Telangana

Kingshuk Nag
30 July 2013, 04:46 PM IST

Hard-nosed analysts know that although India is a democracy, Indian politics is all about caste. The Congress in Andhra Pradesh has been the domain of the Reddys ever since it struck deep roots in this part of the world with the Kapus (an intermediate farming caste) and the Dalits as junior partners. Reddys form only 8% of the state's population but as feudal lords in a state where land reforms have been conspicuous by their absence, their influence extends far beyond their numbers. 

For example, 10 out of the 16 chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh have been Reddys, with some serving multiple terms. With the creation of Telangana, the hegemony of the Reddys is expected to be broken with new caste equations coming into play. The attempt to create Rayala Telangana, where Telangana will be fused with two districts of Rayalaseema, is a crude attempt to maintain Reddy dominance in one of the successor states of the present Andhra Pradesh. 

"In the new Andhra state (proposed to be called Andhra Pradesh!), the Kapus and Kammas (represented by Chandrababu Naidu's TDP) will vie for power, leaving the Reddys nowhere. At least there must be one state we are able to dominate," a senior Reddy politician told this writer. 

No wonder then that Jaipal Reddy, a Union minister and staunch Reddy, is credited with the Rayala Telangana plan along with Ghulam Nabi Azad. Azad's interest: there is an apprehension that in the new Telangana state, the spectre of Hindu-Muslim conflict reminiscent of the last decade of the Nizam's rule will hang thick. Stories suggest that Azad has been lobbied by parties like MIM (representing Muslim interests), that the forces will be more "even" if the two Rayalaseema districts are tagged on to Telangana. Some Rayalaseema districts have large Muslim populations, being part of the Nizam's territories that were later ceded to the British. The BJP, conspicuous by its absence in Andhra Pradesh, is looking at the new Telangana as a launching pad in this part of the world. 

Besides this caste rationale, the attempt to create Rayala Telangana is to stymie future demand for a Rayalaseema state. Even as the Telangana movement was raging, influential political figures raised the demand for a separate Rayalaseema state. Not surprising, considering the wide perception among people of Rayalaseema that they would be dominated by Andhra region folks in a new dispensation. 

The demand included the creation of a new state, including Bellary district of neighbouring Karnataka that is historically part of Rayalaseema. Breaking up Rayalaseema, with two districts going to Andhra and two to Telangana, would ensure that the demand for a separate state will be nipped in the bud. 

People of Rayalaseema are distressed at the prospects of Rayala Telangana. The common man in Rayalaseema sees this as a blow to his identity. A senior IPS officer submitted his resignation from the services on Sunday to protest against the move. 

Although Rayalaseema has been the home of many Andhra chief ministers starting with Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, who was later President of India, the region is marked by extreme backwardness. Once part of the Vijayanagara empire, the area fell on bad times later. 

For hundreds of years till the 2000s, it was the state's wild west with a culture of violence, bombs and assassinations. There was no economic activity and unirrigated land was the asset over which families and factions fought and killed for generations.  

This is why the people of Telangana are so cut up with the idea of being boxed in a new state with parts of Rayalaseema. "We don't even intermarry with them. Fusing Rayalaseema into Telangana will give them a free run here, where we don't want them," a journalist from Telangana told me. That is why the Telangana Rashtra Samiti which was in the vanguard of the movement has rejected the Rayala Telangana idea, as has the BJP. 

But the arbitrators of the destiny of India sitting in New Delhi are drawing lines, much like the British, without understanding the ground reality. For them, dividing the 42 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra into two equal parts, each with 21 seats, is the idea of equity. 

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India’s street eats showcased in a London dining room

Zoe Perrett
30 July 2013, 06:32 PM IST

What do you know of British Indian restaurant food? If you've had the chance to sample a small selection, you probably think it's a bit of an eccentricity peculiar to the folks of my green and pleasant land. You - and I - may find it pleasant, but, for the best part, it's not the kinda khana you'll eat anywhere in India.

But – but! – there is the odd exception. With the sheer number of so-called Indian restaurants in the UK numbering over 9,000, you'd expect that to be the case. But places serving food that faithfully brings a little Bombay, Bengal or Bangalore to Britain are very definitely the exception, not the rule. Instead, it's curryhouse cuisine that reigns supreme. You hunch over humdrum dopiaza, dreaming of dum pukht delicacies. 

So one can be left a little dumbstruck on discovering somewhere that delivers even a soupcon of true Indian taste on the plate. And at Potli, the cat may well have your tongue for the entire meal. You might imagine, then, that diners sit in reverential silence, but not a bit of it – this restaurant buzzes with convivial chatter conducted over superior chaat platters.

Potli is the product of a long conversation between co-owners Jay Ghosh and Uttam Tripathy, who found Britain bereft of the welcoming spots they'd patronised back home. To make themselves and fellow ex-patriots feel at home, the duo decided to take things into their own hands, and set up shop serving food imbued with the power to transport guests to Chandni Chowk as they chowed.

And, perhaps more importantly, Potli has the power to transcend Londoner's expectations of just what constitutes 'Indian food'. Unusually, the restaurant's menu is divided into sections named for various Indian markets and bazaars – Chowringhee Lanes; Chowpatty Beach; Charminar. A charming concept, perhaps, but it's hard to conceive just how well and faithfully Jay and Uttam have managed to execute everything from Chicken 65 to Chilli Paneer.

If you live and eat – and live to eat – in India, you may take the little things for granted. Granted, not too many non-Indian folks would notice the absence of a beaten-egg coating on a silky shammi kebab; know the importance of the plump sizing of a tikka; or recognise the nuance of tandoor items given the correct marination - but at Potli, to cut corners is just not done and simply would not cut the mustard.

Regarding mustard, Jay's a Calcutta chap, so regards that particular flavouring with great affection. Particularly good is the chef's Chingri Narkel Diye – although those prawns are perhaps even better prepared in the Patrani, marinated in green spices and grilled in banana leaves. See, Potli doesn't offer British Indian restaurant food. Potli simply offers Indian food that just so happens to be served in a restaurant, served with little ceremony but with a big smile. 

With little exception, the exceptional food is received with just as broad a grin, as one Indian reviewer recently noted. As he stuffed on a feast featuring nut-stuffed Rattan Manjusha Kofta , pindi channa and mutton kacchi biryani, he could barely keep the smile from his face long enough to chew his chicken tikka trio. I was over the moon to witness this joyful phenomenon first-hand as I tucked into my haandi.

Handily, Potli offers an extensive takeway service, though not of the conventional sort. You'll take away a sense of satisfaction at having discovered the bounty of India's bazaars on British soil. You'll take away the warm feeling of being welcomed by a team who understand and adhere to the notion of andaaz. Most of all, you must take away a few pots of Potli's own plastic chutney. This restaurant is a real gem, a rare and valuable venue every bit as precious as every last drop of that chutney. 

If you're in London, visit the restaurant at 319 - 321 King St, Hammersmith, W6 9NH

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Restaurant review: Ristorante Prego (Italian)

Rashmi Uday Singh
27 July 2013, 10:29 AM IST

I'm dining with Mumbai's senior-most Chief Commissioners of Income-Tax and I'm in my comfort zone. At Nariman Point's brand new Ristorante Prego, there's comfort food of pasta, pizza and sandwiches and equally comforting? The company of my lunch guests. Can the company of Chief Commissioners of Tax (who have over 40,00,000 taxpayers and are responsible for `1,75000 crore tax collection) be comforting? It sure is and is sparkled with fun and wit too. Both the dapper TK Shah (Chief Commissioner, City 1) and ever-smiling RK Rai (City 2) were my batchmates, thirty five years ago we trained together (at our IAS and IRS academies in Mussoorie and Nagpur). Over the years, both held challenging charges, TK went on international programmes and conferences in Wharton, Australia and Malaysia and today heads up Mumbai region, while RK is the next senior-most. They continue to be as passionate about work as they are about reading, yoga and experimenting with cuisines. Over a fun-leisurely Saturday lunch, we swap stories about the IT raids (including Bollywood stars) we've been on, the flamboyant Bombay of yesteryears, and how the department has evolved to become almost fully computerised, tax-payer friendly and less intrusive than ever before... a far cry from the fifteen years when I worked there. No! We aren't in this restaurant on a raid but a review... and yes! We will return.

DECOR
Prego is comfortably located on the ground floor of CR2, Nariman Point. It replaces Ruby Tuesday (thank God!). Predictably done up in hues of brown, wood and stone walls, with large glass windows looking onto the street and a tucked away, well-stocked bar too.

FOOD
Prego spotlights Italy, although it takes liberties, among them the generous scattering of cheeses, sauces and olives. It deep fries risotto into crunchy croquettes, and quinoa into balls which it stuffs with feta. Large, generous portions is a hallmark of Delhi's Gaurav Jain's Prego which is all set to carve its place in Mumbai. At an earlier meal, the spaghetti aglio olio had been cooked al dente. A good choice of pasta is on offer. As is the case with the thin crust pizzas. The pepperoni topped pizza delights with its spicy notes. Through it all, we chat about Sunanda Shah (who teaches French and history) and Sabita Rai who cooks excellent Kumaoni and Bihari cuisines as they do Italian, North Indian and Chinese. TK is partial to fish and approves of the blackened fish on olive and tomato risotto. We enjoy the creamy tiramisu and though the chocolate fondant collapses on the plate, it oozes chocolate.

MINUS POINTS
Too many tables have been crammed into a small space and some of the backless seating is uncomfortable. Some of the meats are submerged in sauce and cheese. Aubergine parmigiana is drowned in mozarella cheese while the papardalle pasta overcooked and soggy with white sauce. Though tasty, pizza verdure and the pepperoni pizza could've done with more topping. Smoked cottage cheese and gruyere cheese sandwich is soggy though filling. Though over spiced, the porcini mushroom soup and tomato soup spiked with roasted bell pepper warm us on a rainy afternoon.

MY POINT
Prego's food is forcefully flavoured and generously portioned. It is robust, often rustic and sometimes proudly unsubtle. Plenty for vegetarians here. It is the place for those who prize comfort food over authenticity and are looking for generous portions and prices that comfort the pocket too (Rs 1,200 meal for two). Open through the day,
this large-hearted newcomer is already packed.

Rating: * Food: 3.5 * Service: 3.5 * Décor: 3.5

Times Food Guide
RISTORANTE PREGO
Ground floor, CR2 Mall,
Nariman Point.
Call: 022-6617 2008.
Timings: 12 noon 12 midnight
Price: Average Meal for two: Rs 1,200.

YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE
Exciting times are here. The research on your very own 2014 edition of The Times Food Guide,  Nightlife Guide and Caterers Guide. Come be a part of it.
* Share your favourite restaurants, especially small, off the eaten track ones.
* Would you like to accompany me on my eatbouts? Please send me your contact details by email rashmiudayisngh2014@gmail.com, Twitter @rashmiudaysingh or sms 77380 22873. Waitingly yours.

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Back to an ominous oxymoron

Dileep Padgaonkar
26 July 2013, 09:26 PM IST

The BJP's star campaigner, Narendra Modi, has been wowing audiences with his mantra of effective and clean governance, economic growth, development and a muscular approach to internal and external security challenges. His scathing criticism of the Congress for its failures on these fronts wins him plaudits too. To be sure, his bragging about Gujarat's achievements under his stewardship of the state has been held up to critical scrutiny which suggests that his claims are not bereft of hype and hoopla. But debates on this score focus on facts and statistics, on varying, even rival, interpretations of empirical evidence and not on interminable arguments about identity politics.

Had Modi stuck to this path in a steadfast manner, he would have ensured that the election campaign is conducted on issues that poll after opinion poll suggest are of priority concern to voters: inflation, especially the rise in food prices, the weakening of the rupee, poor physical and social infrastructure, few job opportunities, inept governance and so forth. This is the kind of language that goes down well in urban and rural India alike, particularly among the nation's bourgeoning youthful population. It responds to a discourse that is specific, not general, concrete, not abstract, precise, not rooted in motherhood principles, innovative, not one stuck in the grooves of the rhetoric of the past.

But here is the rub. To keep his 'core' constituency happy, Modi cannot but help airing his pet peeves. Let us set aside for the moment his clumsy effort to abdicate his responsibility in the 2002 communal massacres. The 'puppy' analogy was, at best, insensitive, and, at worst, an expression of ancient hatreds and prejudices cultivated by his ideological mentors in Nagpur. But it is his self-definition as a 'Hindu Nationalist' that must set alarm bells ringing for it reverberates with ominous echoes of the infamous two-nation theory that gave short shrift not only to the religious and cultural diversity of India but also to the eclectic, multilayered nature of Hinduism itself.

This explains why some of the finest minds in our country, steeped in our philosophical and spiritual traditions, were wary of the very idea of nationalism and, by that token, of the nation-state. Tagore, for instance, cautioned time and again that nationalism — let alone Hindu nationalism — is a menace that was at the bottom of India's troubles. Why? Because its sole purpose was to organise people to attain political objectives — strength and efficiency to develop military might and ensure commercial gain — at the expense of the 'higher nature' of Indians that favoured the social regulation of differences and the spiritual unity of humankind.

Towards this end, Tagore explained, a number of great spiritual teachers sought to set at naught all differences between people "by the overflow of our consciousness of God". He went on to add that India's history has not been one of the rise and fall of kingdoms, or of fights for political supremacy, but of "our social life and the attainment of our spiritual attainments". He admitted that India had made grave errors in setting up boundary walls between races and in the process "crippled her children's minds and narrowed their lives in order to fit them in her social forms". Even so, for centuries she undertook new experiments and carried out adjustments to promote tolerance and justice.

In the year before a Hindu fanatic assassinated him, Mahatma Gandhi harped on these very themes in his daily prayer meetings. India was then reeling from the horrendous aftermath of Partition. Time and again he stressed that while he called himself a sanatani Hindu, he could never be a party to Hindu Raj. "That way lies destruction." The Mahatma would doubtless have been pained to learn that more than 60 years later terms like 'Hindu nationalism' — or any other nationalism that bears a religious prefix — are still bandied about in our public life. Modi is within his rights to call himself a Hindu and a nationalist. But the moment he uses the former as an adjective and the latter as a noun he runs the risk of violating the very ethos of our Cons-titution that bonds us as citizens of our one and indivisible republic.

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Rs 32 a day is not enough. But subsidies make it’s value 3 times….

Prashant Panday
27 July 2013, 11:17 AM IST

As is typical with our obstructionist opposition and ill-informed media, the issue of the definition of the poverty line (Rs 32 a day) has turned truly bizarre. For starters, the exact sum of money used to define poverty is itself irrelevant – for our focus should be on "trends" rather than on "absolutes", and irrespective of which cut off point you take, the trends would broadly remain the same i.e. there has been a rapid decline of poverty in the last 7 years. Let me be clear. One could argue that Rs 32 is too low to define the poverty level, but one cannot argue that poverty levels have come down drastically. Nor can we argue that the rate of decline of poverty has been three times higher in the UPA regime than in the previous NDA one.

But let me stick to the Rs 32 point, the one that has caused the most anguish and uproar. Lay people have rightly joked that Rs 32 wouldn't get even one square meal in any urban area. To which some foolish politicians of the Congress have commented that they could actually get food even at half this amount. No one has realized that all of us urban pseudo-intellectuals have made the cardinal mistake of viewing Rs 32 from the prism of our own much-better-off lifestyles. If only we didn't do that, the story would be vastly different.

I first wrote about this subject a few months back when Rs 32 had first caused a stir (October 2, 2011: Rs 32 a day too low a definition of poverty?). I don't think I succeeded in convincing too many people; so let me try again. Let me start by asking a question: what would be the price definition that would surely indicate a level of existence above the poverty line? Would it be Rs 100 per person per day? Since we don't normally think of our income in daily and per-person terms, let me convert this to a monthly household income. Assuming a family size of 4.5 (for the urban poor), this converts to about Rs 13,500 per month. Would this be an acceptable cut-off for poverty? Or should we say the daily amount should be Rs 125, which would convert to Rs 16,875 per month. Or just topping Rs 2 lacs per annum. Incidentally, at this level, the person would start to be called a tax payer.

In any case, the cut off cannot be above Rs 125 a day. Most people (except those who really want to badger up this government!) would agree to even Rs 100 a day. So lets just stick to Rs 100 per day or Rs 13,500 per month.

My contention is that in real terms, the poor who gets (earns) Rs 32 is already getting Rs 100 a day in his hands. The reason is that his cost of living is highly subsidized by the Government. He gets wheat at Rs 2 per kg, rice at Rs 3 per kg, and coarse grains at Rs 1 per kg or some such low numbers. Equally, daal, sugar, oil and fuels like kerosene and LPG are highly subsidized. Lets try and put the market rates (which we inadvertently benchmark everything to) for these goodies. If the family gets on average 30 kg grain per month, and the price differential between PDS and market rates is an average of Rs 30 per kg, then that's an additional Rs 900 per month in the kitty.

Take cooking gas. If a family uses 1 cylinder of LPG a month, then we know that the subsidy is of the order of Rs 600 per cylinder. Then take school education. Most poor kids get education for free, while most people like us (the ones who pompously comment and complain!) pay anything from Rs 1000 to Rs 4000 and even higher per month. Let's take an average of Rs 1500 per month. For 2.5 kids, that's Rs 3750 per month.

So far, we have taken care of food and education. What about clothing? Unfortunately again, most people like us think of how much we spend on clothes as a proxy for what the poor would need. But again what we find is that the poor can get clothes at less than 10% of what we spend on our clothes (branded; even non-branded). But let's take a higher number of 25% (which means that if you buy your shirt and trouser at Rs 500 and Rs 1000 respectively, the poor can get good, clean ones at Rs 125 and Rs 250 per piece). How much do we spend on clothes per month. Say, a low average of Rs 2000? The difference with the cleanly dressed poor? Approx Rs 1500 per month.

What about transport? Now I agree this is where there is a convergence of sorts between us and the poor. We use the metro, and the bus….and so do the poor. Transport cost is a killer. And the poor surely feel the pinch. But maybe we can start to appreciate the concept of fuel subsidy a wee bit? Or subsidized metro and bus rates a tad? We can complain about the quality of the service, but the poor who is just interested merely in getting from point A to B is happy that the rates are subsidized. I don't want to assign any monetary value to this, but let's just agree that there is some value packed in here.

The real problem of course is housing. And the related subject of sanitation. This is what really defines poverty in our country. It's when we look at people living in slums that we go about calling them poor. Its hardly ever that poor people don't get enough to eat, or work, or travel, or put their kids through school. It's almost always about the squalid conditions in which they live. This is where our biggest failure has been. And when I say "our", I include the NDA as well. There is no politics in this. It's a joint failure. At the very minimum, one has to say that the Congress has made attempts to provide affordable housing to the poor, but the migration into cities is so huge that it's our biggest urban suffering. And failure.

So let me close by calculating the poor man's real buying power. There's Rs 32 – which translates to 32 x 30 days x 4.5 people = Rs 4,320. Add subsidies on food (Rs 900), gas (Rs 600), education (Rs 3750) and clothes (Rs 1500) which makes it Rs 11,070. I am not trivializing here. I am merely putting the original Rs 32 in the right "context". This is the "PPP" (Purchasing Power Parity) principle in practice. And its based on solid economics that neither Sen nor Bhagwati can dispute!

Let me put it another way. Critics of the Congress lampoon it once for its subsidy culture. Then they lampoon it again when it defines poverty at Rs 32 a day. C'mon, that's unfair. Criticize on either the subsidy or the Rs 32, not on both!

Let me put it yet another way. If the government were to cut subsidies and convert everything to cash transfers (DBT), then Rs 11,070 (and more) is what a poor family would get in its bank account every month. Would you then call them poor?

The real truth is that if we remove the politics, there is nothing wrong in Rs 32 a day. People like us who crib forget the subsidies that the poor get. That lifts the Rs 32 a month at least 3 to 4 times that number. It's not about eating out in restaurants. None of us eats out every day. Its about living a decent life. Besides, the point is not the number. The larger point is that whatever the number, hundreds of millions of people are going above that defined line. That's what we should be happy as Indians, and what BJP trolls should worry about near election time!

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Grilled Basa in pesto mix

Kalyan Karmakar
25 July 2013, 04:51 PM IST

The Vietnamese Basa fish has flooded the markets of Mumbai.

The high price of local seafood favourites... pomfret, surmai and rawas... coupled with the low supply of the same in the monsoons has helped basa make great inroads into Mumbai the market. Basa which sometimes retails at around Rs 250 a kilo works out to be a cheaper fish around. What you get when you buy basa are boneless fillets which works for restaurateurs. So from high end Continental places to local Malvani restaurants, the Vietnamese basa features everywhere.

It would be interesting to see if this move towards basa brings down the prices of the locally available fish.

We've started using a fair bit of basa at home these days. Our preferred form is to grill it. This recipe is based on the popular Italian cooking paste of pesto, uses Vietnamese basa bought from a market in Mumbai's Bandra to cook up a quick and simple dinner.

Ingredients (for 2):

• Pesto mix: 2 handfuls of fresh basil leaves, 50 g of pine nuts (I used walnuts in this case), 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 50 g parmesan
• 1 teaspoon sea salt or table salt
• 750 g of basa fillets

Prep:

• Grind together the pesto mix ingredients in a food processor
• Apply the pesto mix on both sides of the basa. Sprinkle sea salt on both sides of the fish and let it marinate for half an hour on a baking tray

Cook:

• Preheat the oven for 10 min on 200 C
• Put the tray into the oven. Let it grill for 15 min at 200 C. Don't cover the fish while grilling. The end result sought should have a slight crunch on the skin and the fish should be succulent and juicy below the skin

You can serve this with bread or a simple spaghetti Aglio Olio

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Cops and robbers, together they can

Parakram Rautela
25 July 2013, 05:06 PM IST

Instead of simply locking them up and throwing away the keys, South East District Delhi Police have decided to offer ex criminals counselling, education and vocational training, in the hope of weaning them off a life of crime. It will take time, but the results should show

There are, broadly speaking, two types of policing. The first method is straightforward. It decrees that you takes the criminal types — what we rather amusingly call BCs, or "bad characters" — and you lock them up. That way you "keep them out of circulation". And if the BCs are safely locked up inside jail, then obviously they cannot do any harm. 

The second method is more long-drawn, and somewhat more touchy-feely. It says that you take the BCs, or at least first-time offenders, treat them with courtesy, offer them counselling, education, and vocational training, and then help them find jobs. In that way you try and incorporate them back into society. 

In effect, you "mainstream" them. 

This past month, Delhi Police, or at least a section of it, has been trying the latter. The South East District Police (Delhi has a total of 11 police districts) have begun a rehabilitation programme for first-time offenders. So far, two meetings have been held between the cops and the criminals (sorry, first-time offenders), chai has been sipped convivially, and the outlaws have been asked how the police can help them find surer footing in the big, bad world. 

"The response has been fantastic," says Ajay Chaudhry, additional commissioner of police, south east district, and the cop who began the rehabilitation programme. "We had a 109 offenders come in for the first meeting. And we have also allowed repeat offenders to take part. How can you say no?" 

But of course there have been teething problems. There were for example so many people at the first meeting that the conference room of the Sarita Vihar police station, the intended venue of the meeting, proved to be too small. So, says Chaudhry, they decided to move to a tent outside and when even that did not work, they decided to load everybody into a bus and relocate to a nearby banquet hall. 

This proved difficult. The offenders, very suspiciously, asked Chaudhry: "You assemble all the BCs in your district, and then you want to load them into a police bus! Er, where exactly might you be wanting to take us sir?" 

Then, adds Chaudhry, when the police took their particulars — on a form which asked them how they were making a living, what they would like to do in the future, and what help they would like to that end — a number of them wrote down incorrect mobile numbers. 

At this point, Chaudhry, who has what can only be called a trustworthy face — he says he has often been accused of not "looking a like a policeman". To which he says, "Thank you. I will take that as a compliment" — allows himself a smile. 

So far, he says, it's been a success. "At our second meeting, a few offenders walked in with buddies in tow." 

Chaudhry says it can be difficult to break out of the vicious cycle of circumstance and crime. Sometimes, he says, first-time offenders will commit a second crime to pay off the legal fees incurred in fighting the charges they were slapped with for their first crime. 

The police's way of solving a crime, he adds, is to round up an area's BCs whenever crime should occur in that area. That repeated humiliation and loss of face, he says, can be difficult to stomach. 

And that it does little for police and community relations. This softer approach then, he says, might be a better option. 

The forms the South East District Police have collected seem to say the same thing. 

Bhola is 20, and has studied up to class 8. He is a painter, but writes that he would like to become a driver. Ramesh is 19. He says he fell in with bad company, and that he has no wish to ever go back to jail. He too would like to learn how to drive. Subhash is 35, and has studied up to class 7. He works as a painter but would like to become a master mason. 

"Most of them seemed to want to become drivers," says Chaudhry. Because of which he got in touch with the Maruti-run Institute of Driving Training and Research at Sarai Kale Khan, hoping they will teach the boys who wish to learn how to drive. And that they will do it gratis. 

Aditya Ghildyal, who works with human resources for New Holland, and who has helped fund some of the police's earlier initiatives, says the corporates should be happier to help now that the law states they have to spend 2% of their profits on corporate social responsibility.

And Tripta Dhawan, who has worked on prisoner rehabilitation programmes for Art of Living, which runs the programmes in jails around the country, says it helps when the police themselves get into the act. That the corporates tend to be a lot more willing when the police, rather than an NGO, knock on their doors, politely asking for a favour. 

Chaudhry's programme also gets the thumbs up from Kiran Bedi, who says she ran similar programmes when she looked after West Delhi from 1980-81 and North Delhi from 1986-88. And Sunil Gupta, who is the PRO for Tihar Jail, says the programmes can be effective. According to him, the repeat-offender population in Tihar used to be 35% about 20 years ago. Today, the prisoner rehabilitation programmes run by the jail have brought down its repeat-offender population to about 20%. 

Chaudhry himself says that if he is able to rehabilitate even 10% of the men who pass through the programme, he will be satisfied. But that it will take time. "Nobody's going to turn over a new leaf because he attended two meetings." 

Kiran Bedi says the same thing. That this has got to be a continuous policy, while adding that very often there is a lack of continuity in the police's policies. 

That one commissioner might believe in the velvet glove and the next in the iron hand, and that therefore the policies begun by the former will not be continued with by the latter. 

Bedi adds that the other police districts should be running similar programmes. 

It will also take time to convince the ex-cons of the merits of the programme. Monu for example is 23 and has the sort of voice that even over the telephone makes you want to run for cover. He says he became a pickpocket after he fell into bad company and that in the process, he also knifed a person or two. How, he asks, is the programme expected to work? "Mushkil chalega," he says, "Yeh sab BC na, yeh toh sab makkaar hotein hain." 

But yes, he says, it would be nice to have a job. On his form, he wrote that he would like to learn videography. "Tankha milegi, izzat bhi milega." 

And Sumesh, 21, starts out by saying "it is always Delhi Police's fault". After which he tells a rather fantastical tale about having drunk a morning and afternoon away with a friend, in celebration of the purchase of a new motorcycle. Then the friend tried to molest a girl, and ended up snatching the chain she was wearing. Sumesh says he was the one who called the police but that they did not "cooperate back". 

Sumesh now runs two Santros as taxis, but says he would like to learn English. That it will help him better communicate with the foreigners he ferries in his cabs. 

Funnily enough then, it is possible that the most resistance to the rehabilitation programme will come from within the force itself. Remember the two types of policing? Some of the cops who work under Chaudhry will believe in the harsher method, a fact that Chaudhry is aware of. 

He says that from time to time he has also been accused of "being soft". But that he doesn't agree with that. "This is just an approach," he says. And so far, he adds, all the SHOs under him have come to the two meetings. And that nobody has voiced dissent to his face, as yet. 

But then, so far, neither have the other 10 police districts rolled out their own versions of a rehabilitation programme for ex-cons. And Kiran Bedi says that back in the 80s, her's were the only districts running the programme. And that very often, her colleagues seemed to hint that the programmes were nothing more than showing off.

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Detroit, Delhi and small town Indians

Archana Khare Ghose
25 July 2013, 07:08 PM IST

On the face of it, there is nothing that instantly connects Detroit with Delhi, and certainly not with Bhopal — my hometown from where I moved to the national capital 13 years ago. 

But in my sub-conscience, a pattern has been forming with Detroit's filing for bankruptcy, Delhi's drowning under an unprecedented shower on July 20, and the monumental inconvenience Delhi's citizens faced as a consequence.

It's an inconvenience that people in our cities — especially Mumbai and Delhi — have to endure every time there is a torrential downpour. It's a different matter, though, that everything is forgotten the moment sun peeps out of a thick posse of clouds. On Saturday last, I was stranded on the road for three hours, and eventually reached home after wading through knee-deep water near three flyovers. 

Detroit is making global headlines and my senior colleague Surojit Gupta has done a detailed report on the bleeding civic bodies of various Indian cities ('Detroit is broke, Indian cities limping too', The Times of India, July 23), bringing into focus the near-crumbling status of India's 'growing' cities.

One needn't be a town planner or a civic issue expert to realize the enormous weight of population that is crushing our cities every hour. Even if civic bodies responsible were to do their job with perfection, I wonder if our metropolitan cities would ever stop groaning under the weight of the people they support.

Who are these people bringing Delhi to its knees and grounding it increasingly with each passing year? Outsiders, of course. Those lucky enough to be born and brought up here have given themselves a natural right over the humongous resources that this city commands, thanks to its status as the capital of the nation. 'Outsiders' in this city must fight for their basic rights as Indian citizens as if they were castaways from a hostile nation.

Most of the people around me are from 'outside'. May be, it's about this profession, may be not. But even so, it says a lot about those who make up this city. My colleague, who sits right next to me — she is from Guwahati — and I recently made a random note on the roots of our friends and acquaintances. And most of us turned out to be 'outsiders'.

Here, I'm not going to take a detour into the subject of step-citizen treatment that most Delhiites reserve for people from 'outside'. That will be highly emotional and I hold it back for a later date. The moot point is why are so many of us here? 

Better opportunities. Hackneyed response, but that is why most of us are here. Most of my 'outsider' friends in Delhi came here not because they were starry-eyed youngsters dying to live a big city life but because they had no worthwhile options to realise their dreams in their home towns.

There's no denying the fact that quite a few do come to Delhi with dreams in their eyes. But, so many of us would give an arm and a leg to lead a life of professional and personal satisfaction back in the places we grew up in.

Every time I've rued the stressful life I lead in this city, I've been asked why did I come to Delhi in the first place. Because, my home state failed me. I've no other answer to give.

For most of us, our home states failed to meet our expectations born out of good education. We had no alternative but to board the first train out of our cities soon after school or college, with a few essentials and dreams in our bags, and land in Delhi. Most of us came here not because we wanted to conquer this city of power and everything big but simply to earn a livelihood the way we wanted to.  

I came here driven by a combination of these compulsions more than a decade ago. The situation remains unchanged even now. A big chunk of young people in the 'growing' Tier II and Tier III cities continues its exodus out of its nests for the same truth — better opportunities.

I don't have figures to fall back on, but I can roughly, and perhaps correctly, conjecture that migration continues from Tier II cities of the country to the top 6 Tier I cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad — at such an alarming rate that soon a drizzle would be enough to collapse these cities during the monsoon. And God save these cities if the MET department ever predicts a robust monsoon. For all your Facebook Aha! moments and pictures of 'rain finally' in any of these Big 6, it wouldn't be a time worth remembering ever.

As for the Tier II cities that youngsters abandon as soon as they can, all their growth stories — largely realty and retail related — are mere eyewash.

Are people going to return to their hometowns only to buy cheap houses and shop at malls that wear gloss and a look of exclamation at all times? What about basic needs? What about uninterrupted electricity? What about water, roads and sundry other facilities that are taken for granted in the more civilised part of the world?

Tier I cities too may be bad on these fronts but still fare better than their Tier II cousins. 

When the IT sun had begun rising on the Indian horizon, most of our states lived through the golden opening in a slumber. They are still in a slumber. They have missed the bus, because of which the young people in those states have to board a faster vehicle out of their hometowns.

What prospects does a software engineer have even in the capital cities of these states that couldn't hitch themselves to the IT wagon? Let us not even get into the fate of trained personnel from other professions.

So, we the people of small states of the country, are all piling up in metropolitan India and adding to the pressure that will mash these cities to pulp eventually.

And no politician — they are the only ones who can make a substantial difference to anything in this country if they have a will — has taken it upon himself to develop other pockets of the country to have more world class cities with genuine options for locals and outsiders alike.

It will really be sad if Delhi, or Mumbai, or any of the other Big 6 will have to eventually declare itself bankrupt. It will be sad because the bankruptcy would be the result, not of the changing dynamics of a global auto industry but because of our sheer stupidity as a nation.

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Bad meat - the head always stinks first

Veeresh Malik
24 July 2013, 03:27 PM IST

 

Decades of hard effort as well as good training by friends who live along the coast and on islands has given me a reasonably good idea on how to select and judge sea-fish for our kitchen. Yes, we now manage to do this in Delhi also, and for a meat devouring Punjabi married to a vegetarian Kannadiga, the absolute need for fresh and non-frozen sea fish reigns paramount.

And has surprised more than a few people who have shared and broken fresh bread and fresh sea fish with us on our dining table, both best eaten by hand, without cutlery. Write to me and I will let you in on this from the culinary point of view, if interested, but this essay is not about food. Not mostly.

What I do want to tell you is something I learnt at sea, under mess-cooks who had decades at sea under their chopping boards, and the wisdom of food before sail. "Always, but always, smell the head of the fish. If the fish is going bad, the head part will always stink first".

Here is also where I learnt to tell the difference between the sweet, salty and invigorating as well as healthy smell of good fresh fish, and fish that was going bad, for whatever reason. 

"Should we throw it out then", I remember asking them. One and all, the answer was straight - "no need. Simply cut off the head, and smell the fish again, and keep cutting top down till you reach a part where it starts smelling nice and fishy again."

This may sound strange to some, but that is why I always seek out the tail piece when eating fish, what about you?

But to continue with this short essay, in the aftermath of what is soon going to be known as "letter-scam", in honour of the 64 or 65 Honourables who are said to have addressed a letter to the American President seeking certain consular services or denial therein - I would like to put across that smelling stinking scams in India is now becoming totally tiresome.

And one reason for that is this - people are typically not smelling the top of the fish. They prod the middle, make a hole in the lower part, and then simply wallop the tail. Which is, actually, often, the best part.

To anybody who has got his eyes open, even to the blind, the fish of State in India is stinking. Top down.

Who, then, is going to take a knife to the head and throw it away? Difficult task. Not too many good cooks around.

But then, atleast let us not be fooled into buying the fish which has a stinking head, again?

And incidentally, this simple rule applies to all meat, fish, poultry, 4-legged. And ofcourse, to human beings too, though I am not suggesting you try to eat them.

The Head of the Indian, errrm, "fsh", is stinking. 

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Amartya Sen and the ayatollahs of secularism – part 3

Minhaz Merchant
24 July 2013, 03:33 PM IST

Dr. Amartya Sen compels me to return to a subject India should have long buried: secularism. Dr. Sen's definition of secularism is as misty-eyed as that purveyed increasingly by secular liberals who – in the classical sense of those terms – are neither. 

As I wrote in The Ayatollahs of secularism - part 2, Indians six decades ago had to make a choice between a theocratic Pakistan and a secular India: "On a cool spring day in 1950 at a California college campus, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a tall, angular man of 22, was in a garrulous mood. He told my father: 'Ah, Pakistan. See what we will do with my wonderful new country.' My father, like young Bhutto, a student at the University of California, Berkeley, was unimpressed. 'A country founded on theocracy,' he told Bhutto, 'will never work.' Bhutto walked away in a huff." 

Sixty-three years later, has India lived up to its secular promise? The short answer: yes. The larger question: why is India secular? The answer: because the majority community is intrinsically secular. If it wasn't, India would have been, in Shashi Tharoor's words, a "Hindu Pakistan": the kind Bhutto would have understood. 

So what is Amartya Sen's definition of secularism? 

In his 2005 book, The Argumentative Indian, Dr. Sen devoted 23 pages to explaining his views on secularism – without coming to a definitive conclusion. This is what he wrote in one passage: 

"Secularism in the political – as opposed to ecclesiastical – sense requires the separation of the state from any particular religious order. This can be interpreted in at least two different ways. The first view argues that secularism demands that the state be equidistant from all religions – refusing to take sides and having a neutral attitude towards them. The second – more severe – view insists that the state must not have any relation at all with any religion. The equidistance must take the form, then, of being altogether removed from each. 

"In both interpretations, secularism goes against giving any religion a privileged position in the activities of the state. In the broader interpretation (the first view), however there is no demand that the state must stay clear of any association with any religious matter whatsoever. Rather what is needed is to make sure that in so far as the state has to deal with different religions and members of different religious communities, there must be a basic symmetry of treatment."  

Symmetry of treatment is crucial: What does symmetry imply? Clearly, equality for all, special privileges on the basis of religion to none. That is not Dr. Sen's conclusion at the end of his 23-page chapter on secularism. And it is certainly not the secularism that – for example – the Congress practises today.

In an interview with The Economic Times, on July 22, 2013, Dr. Sen said he would like a "secular person to be prime minister" and added: "I would not like to see Narendra Modi as India's prime minister and I'm speaking as a citizen of India." 

Dr. Sen, on being probed further, clarified why not: "(He) generates concern and fear on the part of minorities." 

But surely it is parties which preach secularism but practise an insidious form of communal separateness which feed a false fear among Muslim voters? 

Such "secular" parties don't care for Muslims. They care for Muslim votes. If they had "real concern" for Muslims – a key quality in a prime minister according to Dr. Sen – Muslims would not be as poor, as deprived, as backward, as alienated and as stigmatised as they are today. 

After 54 years of Congress governments, each preaching secularism but practising the opposite, the appalling state of Muslims is a telling indictment of faux secular governance.

                                             * * *

Dr. Sen is surprisingly coy about Rahul Gandhi. When The Economic Times asked him what he thought of Rahul, Dr. Sen parried the question instead of taking it head on as would be expected of an independent mind. 

Here's what he said: "I haven't assessed him in that way. I know him as a different figure (not a politician). I know him as a likeable young man who was a student in Trinity College (Cambridge). We have met when I was Master of Trinity. We spent a pleasant day together. I did ask him then if he was interested in politics or not. At that time he wasn't. However, I haven't assessed him as a politician or a potential prime minister." 

That's an extraordinary answer. Rahul, the Congress vice-president, has been in electoral politics for over nine years and Dr. Sen, so knowledgeable and outspoken otherwise about Indian politics and economics, hasn't "assessed him" yet as a politician or a potential prime minister? Surely, Rahul deserves more of Dr. Sen's attention. 

Dr. Sen's kerfuffle with Professors Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya of Columbia University over growth vs. inclusion is meanwhile a red herring. Good governance is the real answer: both economic growth and inclusion are intrinsic to it. 

The real issue is entitlement vs. empowerment. Profs Bhagwati and Panagariya rightly argue that economic growth, allied with welfare schemes which build productive capital assets (rather than the NAC-Sen-Dreze formula of handouts which create dependencies) is the most efficient development model for India. 

Who can best create that model? Certainly not those who advocate a policy of entitlement with its attendant fiscal profligacy that has so severely damaged India's economy. 

Follow@minhazmerchant on twitter

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Scrap AFSPA, save India

TK Arun
24 July 2013, 03:59 PM IST

Scrap the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), not only to resolve the conflicts in Jammu and Kashmir and the north-east but also as part of reversing an ongoing weakening of the country's democratic institutions. The short point: AFSPA is not a problem that affects the periphery alone, it is something that weakens India's democratic core. 

AFSPA is a leftover from the Raj, designed to place the stamp of the law on what would, in all normal circumstances, be labelled extra-judicial killings and other violations of fundamental rights. Learned judges, former policemen and liberal academics, besides activists, have repeatedly recommended that this particular colonial derelict be scrapped altogether or altered drastically to bring it in line with the framework of a functional democracy. 

The armed forces have been steadfast in their resistance to any proposal to repeal this law that gives them the power of life and death over ordinary citizens in areas brought under the Act's purview, with no questions asked. And the inability of the country's civilian leadership to override the resistance of the armed forces is part and parcel of the overall weakening of political authority that today threatens to unravel India's democratic state. 

Sure enough, it is pointless to blame the armed forces or the politicians alone in this regard. Equally at fault are other actors. A middle class guided by a narrow vision of its own self-interest. A relatively lazy and incompetent media that fails to put in the hard work needed to understand reality in its complexity and plumps, instead, for the shortcut of zeroing in on one, any one, sensational dimension of the problem to be reported. 

Democracy Under Threat 
Constitutional bodies like the Comptroller and Auditor General that hunt for populist glory rather than serve out their assigned job of providing inputs to committees of Parliament that would hold the executive to account. Civil servants who find easy refuge in institutionalised absence of accountability. And the courts that take blithe advantage of missing specific constitutional restraint to foray into areas far beyond their competence and comprehension, a tendency deplored by sections of the judiciary itself. 

The continuing revelations on how Ishrat Jahan was killed in cold blood, along with three others, in a joint operation by the Gujarat police and the Intelligence Bureau, tell a tale, among other things, of degradation of Indian democracy. 

Men in uniform can kill off anyone, just about anyone, provided they take the trouble to fabricate a charge of threatening the authority and integrity of the Indian state. There is no institutional mechanism in place to check their behaviour, save vigilance of the courts. 

When our armed forces can kill, rape, torture, maim and heap indignities on ordinary people, under the cover of a law that gives them absolute impunity, and when policemen can bump off whom they like in staged encounters, are we really a democracy? Does the political system that tolerates such cold-blooded murder of people by agencies of the state have any right to present itself to the world as its largest democracy? 

This is not a debate in political classification or about the foolishness of seeking a middle ground in binary choices, like suggesting that someone is a little pregnant. That would be like worrying about the chastity of a rape victim assaulted savagely enough to bring out her entrails, as in the infamous Delhi rape of December 2012. 

What Holds India Together 
Liberal democracy is what allows India to be. With its enormous diversity, multiple group identities of caste, religion, region, ethnicity and language, India is still a functional entity only because its organising principle is democracy. If democracy comes unstuck, so will India. 

Doesn't this claim run counter to our historical experience? After all, India has existed for millennia without the aid of democracy, hasn't it? No, it has not. India has existed as a place of shared culture and history and intertwined belief systems, but not as a cohesive nation-state. That is a strictly modern phenomenon. 

How India can Unravel 
And, for its myriad, diverse and often mutually antagonistic constituents to cohere together as a nation, India needs democracy as its operating framework. Trying anything else would cause extreme disruption, as some group or the other seeks noninstitutional means to right a deemed wrong. Institutional means of shared, transparent decision-making is the only way all of the country's diverse groups can feel they are getting their legitimate due within the larger collective and that the advance of the larger collective is indeed to their own advantage. And that institutional framework of shared, transparent decision-making is democracy, currently under assault from diverse quarters, of which AFSPA represents one. 

Let us stop the pretence that AFSPA is all about the periphery. The law, in conjunction with other processes, is bleeding the core of India's already anaemic democracy. Let us scrap AFSPA.

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Whether Modi divides the nation or not, he is surely dividing his party!

Prashant Panday
23 July 2013, 10:29 AM IST

Two stories in today's papers suggest that Modi's ascension to the top of the throne in the BJP has created quite stir. Whether Modi divides the nation or not, he is dividing his party up for sure! The party's Bihar state unit appears to be crumbling with "50% of the MLAs" wanting to join Nitish as per one disgruntled BJP MLA. At the same time, the MP unit of the BJP has virtually mounted an assault on Modi.

Then there is the latest CNN IBN poll which suggests that the JD(U) is pretty much retaining its vote base and holding on to its tally of Parliamentary seats. The BJP is gaining in vote share; however if the party splits the way it is forecast, most of the vote share gains will dissipate. Also, the vote share gain needs to be understood better. Mathematically speaking, is the new higher vote share simply a result of more seats being contested by the party, or is it that its vote share is genuinely increasing within the seats it contested the last time around? If it is the former, as I suspect it is, then its no big deal. Fighting in more constituencies is bound to increase the number of votes.

Besides, these are the vote share possibilities assuming all parties fight individually by themselves, without any prepoll alliances. Now it's almost impossible that the Congress will not ally with one of the two – Laloo or Nitish. If it has to enhance the power of its 10% expected voteshare, it has no option. The 10% by itself is meaningless, getting the party only between 0-4 seats, but when added to the JD(U)'s or RJD's vote base, it can make a huge impact. The Congress finds itself in the driver's seat, even with a minor presence, just like so many regional parties found themselves in the driver's seat at the Center, thanks to the fragmented vote shares of the main national parties. Net net, if alliances are considered, the BJP's seats from Bihar are bound to shrink. What that does to Modi's PM ambitions is anyone's guess.

What is really shocking about this 50%-want-to-quit charge is that just a few weeks back when the BJP snapped ties with JD(U), the local party unit tried to create the impression that the whole state unit wanted Modi as its leader. If even a fraction of the 50% dissenters is correct, it shows that a heavy hand alongwith the trademark BJP PR pressure was used to obfuscate the truth. We've seen that in Gujarat, where all forms of protest against the government are given the go-by. Looks like the two Modis (Narendra and Sushil) come from the same gene pool!

And what's with this MP campaign. I mean, if Shivraj Singh Chouhan can put Ananth Kumar's face up on the posters, surely it cannot be a mere slip that Modi's face is missing? After all, who is Ananth Kumar? He's not even anybody major nationally, leave alone in MP. Clearly, Chouhan, egged on no doubt by the Advani/Sushma camp, is attacking Modi. It's amazing the opportunity Modi has created for the Congress. It needs to do nothing but just wait for the BJP to self-destruct!

And what's this desperate plea of Rajnath Singh to the US administration to lift the visa ban on Modi. If anything, Modi should have shunned the US, and made that country eat humble pie when (and if) he got elected India's PM, for it would surely have to invite Modi then. That would have been a real snub for the US. But instead we find Rajnath Singh groveling before the US. Looks like Modi, like all Gujjus, loves the US and will do anything to go there!

As if all this was not enough, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has categorically said that he wouldn't want Modi to be the PM of India because the minorities of the country don't trust him. Now BJP trolls will attack Amartya Sen the same way they do anybody who opposes them or Modi. Poor Amartya Sen – a mere economics and philosophy professor – will now see his every credential being shredded by the BJP. He will even be called a Congressi. Just like Jean Dreze, the lead author of the book co-authored by Amartya Sen – has been called the NAC's spokesperson even though he is no longer with the NAC. Besides, the NAC itself and its members – Aruna Roy for one – has been scalding in its attacks on the government on several occasions. Unfortunately, such fine points miss the thick-skinned BJP members.

Then there was also Anna recently who recanted from his pro-Modi utterances of the past. What prompted him to issue this clarification? Is Modi's – and the BJP's – descent so visible that everyperson worth his two bits of fame is rushing to play down any association he had with Modi? I guess when your own party folks speak against you, the signals are pretty clear right? Just a few days back, Yashwant Sinha of "the opposition must oppose" fame, cribbed against Modi for taking the focus away from the Congress's "misgovernance". One strong leader Modi is!

The real truth is that the BJP is in disarray. Yet again. This time thanks to Modi. It's "strong" regional leaders – nay satraps – are starting to pull in opposite directions. The smell of blood from the Congress's wounds is so strong that it arouses them into attacking each other. In the meanwhile, the Congress itself is on quick repair. Policy paralysis has morphed into policy aggression. Lost ground is being made up. 2G/Coal are issues of the past. The country is obsessed with Modi, and his communal politics. It couldn't have been better for the Congress!

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Jack of all malls... master of none!

Swati Sucharita
23 July 2013, 03:55 PM IST

The other day, the strap of my high-heeled sandals broke, most exasperatingly, on my way to a wedding venue. Anyone who has shared my predicament would appreciate just how vulnerable one feels on such occasions. I scanned the landscape near and far, but there wasn't a single cobbler in sight. This was Banjara Hills, with all its glitzy malls, supermarkets and fancy apartments. Would I have to go limping to the wedding and be a social disgrace, I wondered.

The only cobbler I knew of was close to my house, (in a locality off one of the many roads in Banjara Hills), a good amount of traffic away. Never mind if my cobbler charged me fifty bucks and more to knock in a single nail on a single shoe, at least he had helped me out in many such moments of distress, by mending accessories like footwear, bags and on occasion, even luggage.

This brings me back to inter-city disparity on mundane matters, such as a cobbler's wages of labour. Recently, we were in Mumbai and the handle of my handbag needed urgent repair, as our flight was a few hours away. We were in Fort area and the cabbie took us to a pavement outside the metropolitan court, at which the IPL case was being heard, so there was a huge posse of TV vans and mediapersons. Our man of the moment, the cobbler, was dozing off over his little space housing his trade, and a helpful cameraperson managed to nudge him out of his lunch-induced stupor. After sheepishly shaking himself up, he worked his skills on the torn sling and had it neatly stiched in no time. When I asked him what his fees were, he gave me the princely amount of 5 bucks, I handed him a ten rupee note, of which I refused to take the change. I digress, but what I took away that day was having experienced dignity of labour and the small price attached so honestly to a job well-done…I also wondered why Hyderabad has to be more expensive than Mumbai, but that's another story.

Coming back to my shoe saga in the City of Nizams, I managed to save the day by buying a bunch of safety pins from a small provisions store (thankfully, some of them still exist, going by names like, Balaji Home Needs etc) and with a rather patchy contraption passing off as footwear, while praying that nobody would look down at it, went through the social event, without further ado.

On my way back, I got thinking to how, eight years ago, when we moved to Hyderabad, the pavements and lanes used be dotted with cycle and scooter tyre repair shops, cobblers, tailors (for alterations and the odd mending), and even the occasional barber stall. In fact, most of us who have grown up in the '70s would remember such small vendors and tradesmen in every small town, city or metro.

In its place today, are malls of every type, size and make, in which are housed multiplexes, food courts, and retail stores of every conceivable MNC brand. The atmosphere inside, after one has had one's fill of being a mall rat, is synthetic and soul-empty. And one mall could pretty much be the clone of another, despite belonging to different real estate sharks.

It just made me think: where on earth, have these tradesmen, the roadside barbers, alteration tailors, 'Tel Maalish champiwalla', (a la Johnny Walker), the ear cleaners, cobblers, cycle repairs, knife sharpeners, and their assorted tribes, gone? Of course, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that some of them would be accommodated in the aforementioned malls, but at what cost to their trade skills?

They would be displaying the high-priced wares, apparel, accessories, electronics, of some MNCs, the brand names which they can't even pronounce, far from knowing about the fine art of merchandising required in high-end retail. Some would of course be serving at restaurants (now often serving exotic cuisines, as remote as Greek, Italian, etc.), which is as good as Roman and Greek, pun intended, to these boys from Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, etc. Never mind their smart uniforms and the smattering of mandatory English\Hindi they have been forced to learn, they can't even tell you the names of the dishes they are serving, far from knowing what the ingredients of the dish are, or how it is made.

Isn't there space for government-subsidised kiosks and vans for small vendors, who used to make our lives easier by looking after all these needs?

Aren't we just promoting Jack of all malls, master of none, in our race to keep up with the Westernised Jones?

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Doubles prize money is charity; lack of gratitude Jwala's speciality

Amit Karmarkar
23 July 2013, 05:12 PM IST

It's time we rename tennis and badminton doubles something more realistic.

For, some of India's ordinary singles players who go by the name of doubles 'specialists' are under the impression that they are world-class tennis or badminton players.

In reality, they are products of considerate organizers and sponsors who offer them decent financial returns despite they being far less attractive and of a far lesser pedigree than the singles players.

The so-called specialists shift to doubles after realizing that doubles semifinal spots and not early losses in singles will sustain them financially. In the process, it enhances their brand values: From near failures in singles to almost icons in doubles. Of course, they must be working hard for it. But in the lower echelons of the game.

Singles players are so caught up in their own world and intense competition that they are either unaware that doubles players are paid excessively or they are magnanimous in recognizing doubles players and not gunning for their pie in the prize fund.

If the doubles is so skilful and self-reliant, why don't they organize a separate 'doubles only' event? Or why is that the Wimbledon's official films have minimal doubles footage, only for representation purpose?. Perhaps, they know that it won't attract attention. I perfectly understand that doubles too require skills.

The coordination, quick and supple hands at the net, team spirit, different strategy, intercepting, using tramlines etc are fascinating. But in relation to the singles' level, doubles is quite a few notches below. And nothing wrong in that. But you need clean heart and clear brain to accept it without bitterness.

If your backhand service return is ordinary, you can't possibly become a consistent title contender in singles on the ATP tour. But in the doubles, that can be avoided by simply turning into a "deuce court" receiver.

Lack of some skills (for example, backhand service return as mentioned above) can be hidden in the doubles while some genuine skills - like volleying - get elevated. Here too, you may not need to hit an approach shot and charge the net. Your partner serves, if your opponents are average players, the return will be average. You are standing at the net waiting to kill that  ball with the first volley; at times even by poaching. Who says serve and volley is out of the game?!

However, I have observed no rush in front of the TV screens for doubles even if the Indians are playing. But when the likes of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan play, even the non-sports followers wait and watch in front of the telly, or follow the scores. The nationality goes out of the window in such singles cases.

There are many examples of singles players doing decently well in doubles (Federer won the Olympic doubles gold; Murray won the mixed silver; the Williams sisters swept the women's doubles) but the reverse examples are almost absent. It's true that doubles practice can help your singles play (Victoria Azarenka is one such example) but that suggests that singles is a harder expedition.

Please note that there are examples of singles players (Gopi Chand, Prakash Padukone) filling in for doubles in team competitions and making valuable Thomas Cup contributions; but not the other way round.

I don't mind doubles specialists bragging about their token grand slams and super series titles. But their demand to be treated "on par" with singles exponents gets my goat (And I'm not referring to the GOAT debate here) . Their demand is deplorably ridiculous!!

Hopefully, the TV ratings for tennis doubles and the Indian Badminton League (IBL) auction has given these "specialists" a dose of stark realism. They will do well to accept it.

Human beings face problems of taking things for granted sometime or the other. Lack of gratitude is dangerous and can lead the 'infected' nowhere. Some of the doubles players, especially Jwala Gutta, has a trait of ingratitude. And thereby is cheating herself and trying to cheat the public at large.

Davis Cup (qualifier) tamasha, Olympic team tamasha, perennial demand to recognize doubles feats and crying foul play... all these are the natural consequence when players are over-rated by self and surroundings. They can't be blamed alone.

What about naming doubles as "extended" tennis or "extended" badminton? After all, they are largely about extending flagging careers. Renaming will make things crystal clear and hopefully it will force doubles stars to accept reality. That they are of a far lesser breed.

But why take such a drastic a step of renaming the sport? Well, because the doubles and singles are like chalk and cheese. And these doubles specialists have become so unreasonable that could demand that singles be renamed as solo!!!

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Gujarat Shining…..but Gujaratis?

Prashant Panday
22 July 2013, 08:07 AM IST

Today's TOI brings out more facts and truths about Gujarat – not tainted by any PR spin –seriously questioning just how good the vaunted development model of the state is (Gujarat slides in both rural and urban spending). NSSO data over the last ten years (most of it covering Modi's tenure in the state) shows that the state has slid on a key economic variable – Household spending. Gujarat's rural rank has slipped to 8^th from 4^th and urban to 9^th from 7^th. It is these kind of statistics that help bust the myth that Modi's spin doctors keep putting out.

The India Shining campaign – based on a false understanding of how India was faring – had bombed in the BJP's face in 2004. Even back then, the BJP was always more of a "talk more, do less" kind of party. It did do some good work in its period of rule, but then every party does that. The amount of hype that the BJP generated then is what got people really upset. If India was shining, why weren't they? In a similar, but much bigger way, Gujarat Shining has been thrust on the people of India. The hype about Gujarat being like Singapore has made people believe that Modi will make all of India like that island-state. People all over India now believe that Gujaratis are rich like the Europeans. And have become rich in the last ten years thanks to Modi. Well, the NSSO data shows it's not true.

If the people are not spending, they are surely not doing well. If quality of life is measured by consumption, then consumer spends have to rise. The expected BJP lie will go something like this: the incomes are rising, and the inflation is so low in Gujarat, that the spends are rising less! Well, that's hardly true. Take the data readily available on the GDP of Indian states. As per Wikipedia (the most public of all sources!), (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indian_states_by_GDP), Gujarat is ranked 5^th in terms of GDP size. It's ranked 10^th by population, which explains why it is called a developed state (nothing to do with Modi). But look at growth between 2011-12 and 2004-5 (coinciding with Modi's and UPA's tenures) and one finds that Gujarat's GDP has grown by 3 times over this period of time (in nominal rupee terms). But Maharashtra's – whose economy is nearly twice of Gujarat's) has also grown smartly by 2.8 times. And yet, we hardly find the Maharashtra CM crooning about his achievements the way Modi does! TN and AP have also grown 2.9 and 3 times – and both are bigger economies than Gujarat.

Of course, if we add on any social dimension to this discussion, the Gujarat story pales even more. Take simple ones like "decadal population growth" and Gujarat at 19.2% is closer to wayward UP's 20.1% than to Maharashtra's 16.0%. TN (15.6%) and WB (13.9%) both do better than Gujarat. Data with respect to health care is already well known to most readers now. It's shocking really. Even the sex ratio of Gujarat (918) is worse than all in the top five states, except UP (Maharashtra: 946. TN: 995, AP: 992, WB: 947 and UP: 908). So what are we really talking about here?

It's not difficult to explain why Gujarat is shining, but Gujaratis aren't. The state has made a lot of noise over its industrial growth. But take the case of the two poster boys of Gujarat. Mukesh Ambani (though his is hardly a Gujarat-based group, one of his biggest investment is in Jamnagar, Gujarat) is amongst the largest private groups in India with a revenue base of US$ 73 billion and assets of US$ 61 billion. Gautam Adani's group has revenue of US$ 7.8 billion and assets of US$ 19.0 billion. Both of these are the biggest showpieces of Modi. They hug and kiss him at every Vibrant Gujarat event. And yet, both of these groups employ merely 23,500 and 10,400 people. How many of these are in Gujarat is another question. In contrast, older generation (pre-Modi) companies like Nirma and Arvind Mills employ 14,000 and 25,600 people respectively, even though their turnovers are far smaller (Rs 3500 crores and Rs 5250 crores respectively). Just imagine. Modi's biggest showpieces hardly do anything for the people of the state. This is the tragedy of Gujarat's shiny growth.

If this is true in the urban areas, it's worse in the rural areas. Because largely of Modi's brand of politics, the state has shunned NREGA in large measure, destroying the lives of the poor. (When the state is trying to foist the myth of being rich onto the world, in order to propel the ambitions of its CM, what else can we expect?). Gujarat generated only 2.8 crore person-days of employment under NREGA covering just 6.8 lac HHs (source: NREGA website). In contrast, West Bengal generated 20.1 crore person days for 58 lac people. If you thought this was because WB was poor, then consider TN (41 crore person days over 71 lac HHs) and Maharashtra (8.5 crore person days over 16 lac HHs). Gujarat and Maharashtra are almost similar in per-capita income with TN just marginally behind.

The only reason Modi has been able to tomtom his state's achievements is because of the big ticket investments in the form of Tatas and Maruti. Land has been doled out at cheap rates with gay abandon. With no Lok Ayukta in place, Modi has shielded himself from the kind of criticism that no other state or central government can possibly do. Wait for the newly appointed Lok Ayukta to do its job. The muck will start to emerge. The CAG does bring out the state's goof ups every now and then, but with a brute majority in the state assembly, Modi simply ignores the comments.

The real truth is that Gujarat may be shining, but Gujaratis aren't. Oh, I am not talking of the Ambanis and the Adanis, nor the Mehtas (Torrent) and the Pankaj Patels (Cadila). I am talking of the lay Gujarati, who in the personal battle of the state's CM, is getting crushed every year…..Why does he continue to vote for Modi? We know the answer for that. Godhra…..

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