Aam Aadmi, the party and Aam Aadmi, the movement

AgayUgen Trongsa
30 April 2014, 03:11 PM IST

No gathering is complete these days without a long discussion of AAP. Condensing the pros and cons (and great many jokes such as "Kejriwal fears being out of the news so much, he gets himself slapped and punched!") one came up with the following thoughts.

Some say that this must be the coming (at last) of the rising awareness, participation and empowerment of the previously indifferent or marginalized Indian citizen. That this is an avalanche of desperation brought about by corruption, self-absorption and indifference to the common good, at the highest rungs of government and business. That it has unleashed the passions of the people into a movement that will change politics and governance for the better.

Depends, on whether we can separate the 'messenger' and the 'message'.

AAP the party is the messenger and support for it should ultimately be based on the worth of individual candidates. Whereas, the message is the movement of empowering the common citizen (through good governance, eradication of corruption, equity, communal harmony, education, etc.), and this is a fire that needs to be stoked and fed so that it burns into every corner of national life.

Kejriwal and AAP are political entities that will be preoccupied in finding a space and then struggling to survive and grow in the political arena. Whereas, the movement of empowerment is a long overdue national endeavor that extends to the day-to-day lives of all Indians.

Kejriwal and AAP may sometimes feed the common citizen the fleeting sense of 'power' that comes from pouring onto streets creating mayhem, storming offices, conducting extra-legal raids, passing short term populist measures and holding dharnas … the euphoria and commotion … keeping them in the limelight. Whereas, the movement would bring true empowerment with this anger and hope of the people manifesting in far reaching and profound improvements in governance, respect for rule of law, judicial integrity, business ethics, equity, communal relations, educational standards and so on.

The messenger and the message must be separated for the movement to succeed.

Already, AAP's politically motivated decision to resign after 49 days has been a bad setback to the movement. A principled AAP government working concertedly to empower the common citizen against the odds would have been an example to the rest of the country where the movement needs the growth of many AAP-like leaders each with their own local relevance and character. It needs able and principled people to take a stand in their own professions. AAP seem to constrain the movement to one that has to be led by AAP and Kejriwal, effectively stunting their great message.

The surge in confidence and hope of the previously marginalized urban poor or apathetic youth resulting in strong support for AAP during the Delhi elections, and its disproportionately strong social presence in the national elections, lies fundamentally in the appeal of the message – that power must lie with the common citizen (their interests being paramount), so to speak. It cannot be said to reflect people's confidence in the dynamism of Kejriwal or AAP though they do profit from its appeal.

Thus, it is important that the message remains the priority and not hinged to AAP's national success or failure.

To his credit, Kejriwal has said this movement will give birth to new leaders to take it forward. However, he must also acknowledge that it is more immediately beneficial to the country if those already in the seats of power reform their mindset and breathe the winds of change. That it is not necessary for AAP to win, but more important instead, for the people to carry the movement forward by holding their elected governments as well as the bureaucracy and other institutions of governance to the highest standards. And that these leaders and institutions have no option but to submit to the will of the people.

That would do more for the Aam Aadmi than waiting for the messenger to become PM Kejriwal. Still, how wonderful that no matter who wins these elections, the entry of AAP has raised the expectations of the people, and the bar for leadership and governance.

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Wounds fester in Kashmir, democracy has proved no balm

Sameer Arshad
30 April 2014, 05:11 PM IST

Early snowfall in Kashmir had turned the weather unusually frosty in November 2008. The wounds of Amarnath agitation were still fresh as the Valley mourned the dozens killed in shootings of unarmed demonstrators protesting transfer of forestland to the shrine in violation of the laws. Consequently, the November-December assembly elections that year were written off as flop show even before the first vote was polled due to greater resonance of the boycott calls.

But naysayers were stunned as people turned out in numbers to vote in with the first phase of the staggered polling. By the end of the phased voting in December 2008, around 70% people had voted. The National Conference (NC)'s strategy of delinking elections from the larger Kashmir problem and making it purely a 'bijli, sadak, pani' issue worked and brought people in record numbers to polling booths. This tipped the scales in the NC's favour and brought it back to power under young chief minister Omar Abdullah's leadership.

For many the new CM represented hope. He had grabbed headlines with his thundering speech in the parliament a few months earlier during a debate on the Amarnath land row. Omar had convincingly eclipsed his main regional rival, Mehbooba Mufti, in the house as she could utter just 'mai kya bolu yaar' during the debate, something the NC has now raked up to corner her. But more importantly his emphasis on 'bijli, sadak and pani' as the main issues of the election, which he insisted would have no bearing on the larger Kashmir issue, worked in his favour. Elections have long been seen as an endorsement to Jammu & Kashmir's political status quo and to dismiss the need for carrying out the promised plebiscite to ascertain the state's political future under the UN resolutions.

The NC's strategy was very clever in this backdrop. But the state has since come full circle, as reflected in low voter turnout in the ongoing parliamentary elections. Balloting has neither brought the promised development nor dignity that the draconian laws that trample over day in and day out in Kashmir. The state government's repeated pleas of revoking the laws have fallen on deaf ears and undermined its credibility even as the militant violence had been negligible consistently over the last several years. No such legislations are applicable in areas facing Maoist insurgency, which the PM Manmohan Singh has declared the biggest threat to India's national security.

The manner in which Afzal Guru's execution was carried out for his indirect role in the Parliament attack and how executions in similar cases were prevented after that highlighted double standards vis-à-vis Kashmir. The Army's move last year to close the Pathribal case, involving extrajudicial killing of five innocent civilians and mutilation of their bodies in 2001, further underlined institutional difficulties in ensuring justice to the Kashmiris despite compelling evidence due to widespread impunity.

Unarmed protesters, who have been talking to the streets to protest this impunity as a consequence of the draconian laws, have been mercilessly gunned down on the streets of Kashmir. This has included women and children. In 2010 alone, over 120 people were killed in firings on unarmed protesters. The so-called non-lethal crowd control methods used since have blinded and maimed many. Hundreds of young men have been scarred for life in torture chambers. These pressing issues have also undermined the credibility of the elected state government and have been one of the reasons explaining the lack of interest in voting. This along with disappearances, custodial killings and other forms of abuse in the last two decades has left Kashmiri wounds to fester. Democracy has turned out to be no balm as more people – over 300 -- have been killed in firings on unarmed protesters than in militant violence since 2008.         

NC has taken much of the blame for being in the government for the longest period of time. But its regional alternative, the People's Democratic Party (PDP), has not inspired much hope. People do remember its 'effective' governance from 2002 to 2005. But structurally it is impossible for any government to go slow on using coercive arms of the state. This was evident when the PDP headed the state government during that period. PDP's critics say it cannot be absolved of its role in the Amarnath land row as it was part of then Congress-led state government in 2008. The despicable and colonial practice of firing at unarmed protesters – a usual occurrence in the 1990s – restarted in Kashmir during the row. PDP's opponents say more people died in custody or were subjected to administrative detention during its rule. Its ambivalence towards the BJP and its prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, has further undermined its standing lately even as it hopes to make the most of the anti-incumbency that its arch foe, the NC, faces.

The NC government could not control the practice of firings on unarmed protesters during its first two years in office. It crossed all limits in 2010. Since then the government has trampled over civil liberties – shut mobile services, intimidated media besides resorting to lockdowns and mass arrests to prevent protests. Its broken promises on the development front have left people further disillusioned along with its inability to keep the pledge to revoke the much hated Armed Forces Special Powers Act that violates the fundamental right to life in a damning indictment of how democracy works in Kashmir.

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It's Special One vs Sime-one

I like Jose Mourinho. He is arrogant and puts people in their places.

But more importantly, he seems to suggest Wenger and Arsenal are morons.

But I must confess that beating Atletico for his Chelsea team in tonight's Champions League semis second-leg won't be easy. The first leg had ended goalless.

After all, Mourinho is facing Diego Simeone, a player of a high pedigree who played for Argentina in the World Cup. I wonder if Mourinho has faced a rival manager of this level frequently.

Simeone had managed Atletico when they beat Chelsea in the Super Cup (a contest between Champions League winners and Europa Cup winners) a couple of years ago when Jose was with Real.

Of course, the thought of revenge and missing three key players (John Terry doubtful; Lampard and Cech out) will make the Blues collectively dangerous.

Mourinho has been a part of nine Champions League knockout games in which no team carried a lead going into the second leg. And his teams have won seven of those nine second-leg games. He had won all the six games when the first leg was tied at 1-1. But he lost two of the three games when the first leg was goalless (like it is now). So, Atletico are not exactly swimming against the tide. 

Only a goalless draw on Wednesday will lead to a penalty shootout. Any scoring draw will be enough for Atletico to advance on the away-goal rule. So, if Atletico scores a goal, Chelsea will have to score two (and so on). 

Mourinho in Champions League 2nd legs after even stevens in the first leg
 

With Porto:

2003-04: bt Deportivo 1-0 in semis (first leg 0-0)

With Chelsea:

2004-05: lost to Liverpool 0-1 in semis (first leg 0-0)

2006-07: bt Porto 2-1 in R16 (first leg 1-1)

2006-07: bt Valencia 2-1 in quarters (first leg 1-1)

With Inter Milan:

2008-09: lost to Man United 0-2 in R16 (first leg 0-0)

With Real Madrid:

2010-11: bt Lyon 3-0 in R16 (first leg 1-1)

2011-12: bt CSKA 4-1 in R16 (first leg 1-1)

2012-13: bt Man Utd 2-1 in R16 (first leg 1-1)

With Chelsea:

2013-14: bt Galatasaray 2-0 in R16 (first leg 1-1)

* When Mourinho won the CL with Inter in 2009-10, his team won all three first-leg games in the KO.

Atletico's Nose (as in Jose): Brazilian defender Filipe Luis battles with Ramirez during the first leg. (Photo credit: AFP)

PS: I respect skills of Bayern Munich players. But it was nice to see their mortal ways, especially after Real Madrid took their own sweet time frequently after taking a 2-0 lead and rubbed it in. The likes of Ribery and Robben were completely frustrated. The Dutchman could not believe that others can playact better than him. So, he could face competition in Veterans Olympics (in diving of course) after his 'foul-smelly' soccer career is over. 

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Promotion system in the defence services: Is merit based promotion for the appointment of service chiefs well-founded?

V Mahalingam
28 April 2014, 04:33 PM IST

 

The incumbent chief of the naval staff has been appointed by the government disregarding the hitherto considered mandatory qualification of command of an operational command besides superseding the senior most candidate. The present incumbent has not even commanded a training command. This has raised a debate as to whether the government should have selected an officer with the required criteria, irrespective of the relative seniority of the eligible candidates? The other questions that is being raised is, since the government has considered and selected an officer for appointment as naval chief with the command experience of a naval fleet only, was it fair for the government to have  excluded the others with similar command experience for consideration irrespective of their seniority or present appointment?  

Presently, the contenders for selection as Service chiefs are those who have come up the ladder right from the junior most rank with over 40 years of service and have been screened repeatedly at every stage of their promotion right from their promotion to their first selection grade rank which in the case of the Army is Colonel. The promotions are based on their Annual Confidential Reports (ACR) rendered by their immediate superiors, reviewed and moderated by other senior appointments in the chain right up to the level of Army Commanders. However the system has a number of shortcomings which tend to make the ACRs subjective and the review speculative. 

Performance appraisal system and its shortcomings

By and far, the defence services in India have the best performance appraisal system within the country's government services. The system caters to assess the personal qualities, professional, administrative and man management capabilities, social conduct and character qualities of the officer reported upon quantitatively. To give shape to the quantitative assessment, provision for a pen picture of the individual highlighting the strong and the weak points is provided for. Based on the assessment, the employability of the officer, his suitability for promotion and recommendations for nomination to professional courses are also made. The system allows the officer reported upon, to see the report initiated by his immediate superior. The counselling points and adverse remarks made by the higher reviewing officers are communicated to him. This is meant to give the individual an opportunity to know his weaknesses and improve upon them. 

The system has its flaws. Since, ACRs occupy the predominant position in deciding the fate of one's career; officers tend to become yes men and go by a zero defect philosophy. Free and frank professional debates are avoided and the tendency to moderate discussions to converge on to the higher commanders' opinion often precludes objectivity. Professional dissentions are shunned. To mitigate these adverse effects and to get a fair assessment of individual officers, it may be worthwhile exploring the possibility of getting a feedback from subordinates. This system is followed by international leadership advisory consulting companies when assessing individuals for top posts in multilateral companies and while giving feedback to such officials for their realization. 

Despite a fairly objective system of ACRs, owing to limited vacancies and promotional avenues, promotion boards in the services act more like rejection boards, perpetually on the lookout for some excuse to reject the officer. Counselling points and adverse remarks thus serve as a tool in denying the officer any further opportunity for career advancement. For the promotion board, it is a question of selecting the best of the available lot within the constraints of the system. As for the individual, rejection at such an early stage in career leaves him, his family and even the children devastated and sulking. The answer probably lies in providing pay promotion in the form of Non - Functional Upgradation (NFU) to officers of the same course as has already been implemented in the civil and organised Group A services. 

In a fighting unit with over 800 men, a grumbling officer rejected or even graded inadequately for promotion for future career advancement could be a menace breeding dissentions, infighting and divisive groupings, the adverse effects of which would permeate to the men, rendering the unit unfit for war. Thus the functional imperative of running an effective and a motivated cohesive team forces unit commanders to willy -  nilly grade most of the officers above average and generally at par with each other besides avoiding any counselling points or adverse remarks.   

The reviewing officer's report (RO) fails to moderate the initiating officer's (IO) assessment as the number of officers which the officers in the review chain have to handle and the limited contact with them do not provide sufficient inputs to be able to report on them objectively. Yet, the review assessment of the superior officer especially when it is negative carries greater weight than that of the initiating officer. 

The other issues which afflict the system which would be common to every service in the country include individual likes, dislikes, biases and opportunities available to individuals to project one. Regimental affiliations are yet another issue applicable exclusively to the Army. In the Armoured Corps, every officer in the chain of reporting were uniformly over assessing their officers which resulted in the Army inventing a quota system based on the cadre strength of individual arms for promotion to general cadre vacancies so as to balance promotions in the system within combat arms. 

The system thus fails to separate the good and the best at the early stages of a young officer's career resulting in the promotion boards with limited vacancies for promotion being flooded with huge numbers. The system thus becomes a mute accomplice to some very deserving officers being discarded and some whose comparable merits are debatable being carried forwarded. 

The imperatives of providing every officer in the line, the opportunity to command units and formations and earn command reports to be eligible to be considered for promotion to the next higher rank results in short command tenures. Short command tenures have their pitfalls. Besides the system promoting individuals to higher command responsibilities with limited inputs, individual officers in command tend to go overboard to show results within their short tenure. This results in unwarranted strain on troops besides training and other objectives shifting every time commanders change.    

In order to give commanders a minimum tenure in important command appointments such as Corps, Army Commands and the chiefs of Services, minimum residual service for appointment to these posts have been laid down. This results in some very deserving candidates missing the boat besides providing an opportunity to the bureaucracy to manipulate the line of succession on the basis of dates of birth of individual contenders by delaying the boards or the results of promotion boards to allow the unwanted to quit the scene. To overcome this, the promotion boards need to be made a regular yearly feature on fixed dates and a time stipulation laid for the Ministry of Defence to approve the board proceedings. A transparent assessment system with clear cut promotion criteria needs to be spelt out for the promotion boards and made known to everyone concerned.   

Truncated command experience is a major flaw in the system. Consequently the system fails to produce the best when comes to the appointment of the service chiefs. 

The bizarre part of the selection system that has evolved over the years is that though the system is merit based as can be seen, due to management constraints it is yet not capable of sieving out the best out of the lot for selection to higher command appointments.  

The system therefore needs to find ways and means to sift officers at the service level of 12 to 15 years of service and second time at the level of Brigadiers. Thus, with limited numbers of officers, the command tenure of officers who are expected to be vested with higher command responsibilities can be increased which automatically will provide better opportunities to those in the chain of command to assess besides the selection of service chiefs becoming more discriminating.    

Deep selection for service chiefs

The suggestion to discard the principle of seniority and introduce merit based promotion for the selection of Service chiefs needs examination. In a system where ACRs form the basis for assessment of the individual for career advancement, is there any other input or means available within the system to decide on the merit of individual officers especially on those who have on ground experience for over 40 years?

As brought out earlier, in the Indian Army's promotion system, officers are scrutinized and Confidential Reports are initiated annually right up to Lt Gens. How would the capabilities assessed over a period of 40 years change overnight when he is being considered for promotion to the appointment of chief? If an officer is good enough to be appointed an Army Commander or the Vice chief, would he be otherwise when it comes to his appointment as Service chief? 

What does merit in the case of selection of officers for the post of Service chief imply? Who in the system is expected to grade Army Commanders to decide on their relative merits and on what basis? Would it be the political head in the Ministry of Defence with his limited knowledge of military and its functions? Can the process be handled by the know all generalist bureaucracy with its vested interests? Considering the strategic culture and the background of individuals constituting the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) or the Parliamentary Standing Committee, would they be in a position to take appropriate decision? What qualification or capability do they have for assessing a professional with over 40 years of service? 

The other suggestion being made is that there is a need to have an informal conversation with the contenders on strategies and policies to determine their views and perspectives as a basis for determining merit. With the type of leadership and the bureaucracy we have in the country and going by past experiences in the appointment to important posts in government services, such interactions will invariably be used as an alibi to eliminate the unpliable as had happened in the case of Sam Manekshaw during his early career.   

The moment the discretion to select the service chiefs are given to the politician bureaucracy combine  sycophancy in the defence services will reach its peak right from the level of Brigadiers and that will be a sure prescription for the politicization of the defence services. The state police example proves the point. The chief minister holding the power to appoint and shift police officers at his discretion with a file on individual officers has made police officers at all levels to scurry favours and dance to his tunes. 

Defence is a vulnerable area for financial misdemeanors with the Official Secrets Act and the national security rhetoric providing adequate cover. The position of service chiefs could thus be misused and exploited for financial gains of individuals and political parties.  

Conclusion

Reforms will have to be brought about in the promotion system in the defence services to make it transparent and non-manipulative. There is a need to put an end to ACR and promotion related policies being changed by every chief and government. Screening of officers at 12 to 15 years of service and the level of Brigadiers will make the system more discerning. To cater for those officers who may be left out in the promotion race, there is need to grant NFU to defence officers. The assessment must include inputs from subordinates to make the system more broad based.  

Service chiefs have a team to work for him including in matters relating to operational strategy and logistics. These teams constitute the key branches in the service headquarters which collectively are very professional and competent. So long as these officers have to depend on the hierarchy within the services to climb up the career ladder and are sure that the handle for career advancement has not been usurped by the bureaucracy or the politicians, these teams will not let things go wrong or allow any compromise on national interests.

Overall, accepting an officer who is thrown up by the system than going in for merit based promotion which has all the possibilities of building an army of sycophants may be the lesser of the two evils. 

 

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The ‘F’ word is the most versatile word in the language – I

Jug Suraiya
28 April 2014, 03:26 PM IST

A disciple once asked Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (later known as Osho) what the guru felt about the word "f**k".  Without batting an eyelid, the sensuous sage replied that it was the most beautiful, expressive and versatile word in the English language. It could be used as a noun, or as a verb, both transitive and intransitive. Suffixed with "about", it meant to play around or dally. Followed by "off" it was an injunction to go away. It could be used as a participial adjective to connote exhaustion. Or as a simple adjective expressing scorn or contempt, or, on the other hand, great approbation. It could be utilised both as an adverb or adjective to denote a superlative, or as an expression indicative of surprise, consternation, delight, wonder, anger, disgust, dismay, elation and discovery. It could also be used as a purely meaningless qualification, merely for the heck of it.

Rajneesh's mini-sermon on the mount, so to speak, was widely reported and avidly discussed by people who felt he was either an effing genius or an effing fake.  But do we really need the services of a godman, true or false, to spell out an obvious fact of life for us?  And the fact is that in an age when the English language boasts a comprehensive and cogent vocabulary of some 1,80,000 words, about thrice that of Shakespeare's time, when the principles of mathematics have been employed to analyse the form and function of language, when fourth generation computers chatter away to each other in electronic dialects and satellite telecommunication has swamped the ether with a sea of verbal and visual messages, in order to express some of our most profound feelings so many of us still rely on a worn-out, rudimentary word which sounds like a foot being pulled out of squelchy mud.  Why do we so abuse language? 

In a recent issue of Maledicta: The International Journal of Verbal Aggression, Dr Reinhold Aman, a Bavarian with a Ph.D. in medieval languages and America's foremost "cursologist", has suggested a reason.  Noting that swearing is a form of displacement behaviour, like the ritualised aggression found in the animal kingdom (the raising of hackles, baring of teeth, drumming of the chest) which obviates recourse to actual violence, Dr Aman approvingly quotes Freud who said that the first human being to hurl a curse instead of a weapon was the founder of civilisation.  In which case modern technological civilisation has got a screw loose, quite literally, and is in danger of self-destructing through an overkill of expletives undeleted. 

A philologist has suggested that the reason why English-speaking people use sexual epithets so much, even on occasions when these are ludicrously inappropriate, is because of the neuter gender, "it", which creates a deep verbal repression requiring the catharsis of sexually charged language.  He is said to have hit upon this theory when he came across two men struggling to change a flat tyre and overheard them employing adjectives for the jack, the spare wheel and the road which, if taken literally, would stymie both the imaginative and physical resources of the most adept of sexual athletes.  How could inanimate objects, and inconveniently formed ones at that, generate such venereal vituperation?  The reason, he felt, must lie in the fact that the speakers suffered from a profound verbal frustration arising out of using a basically sexless language.  He went on to say that in languages like French, which ascribed masculine and feminine genders to objects, there was less of a need for such sexual safety valves.

Ingenious as it is, this theory does not explain the ubiquitous use of sexually charged language.  Though Hindi, for example, dutifully provides masculine and feminine genders for everything from the cradle (masculine) to the grave (feminine), it is capable of highly evocative invective.  Punjabi and Haryanvi are even more so, as anyone who has exchanged words with a Delhi bus driver – or a former Deputy Prime Minister whose permanent form of address was "BC" – knows to his cost.  The pathological syndrome called coprolalia which involves obsessive use of obscene language is a cosmopolitan affliction.

The root meaning of obscene is "off scene" and provides a clue to "bad" language, which in the western world is not restricted to sexual and genital references but also includes excreta and excretive functions.  The French "merde" is as commonly used to signify disgust as the American "crap".  The nursery discipline of potty-training associates bodily excretions with feelings of revulsion, shame and guilt.  In early childhood, deliberate incontinence is often seen as a sign of revolt.  In later years this rebellious "making a mess" is symbolised by the use of a "naughty" or "dirty" word, the association with physical hygiene being maintained by the traditional kindergarten punishment of having your mouth washed with soap if you use bad words.

(To be concluded tomorrow)

jug.suraiya@timesgroup.com

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The accidental prime minister must speak up now

John Cheeran
28 April 2014, 06:41 PM IST

So who did not know that Manmohan Singh was an accidental prime minister? Everyone, including Dr Singh, knew it. Manmohan Singh's strength--that he had no political constituency of his own--was his apparent weakness. Only Dr Singh could have overcome it, no number of wise men could have worked a transformation.

Dr Singh was no stranger to Congress when he was given the nation's reins by Sonia Gandhi. He had been working with the party since 1991 and should have known how much independence and power he would be rationed out by Mrs Gandhi.

Much as Dr Singh's former information adviser Sanjaya Baru laments in his new book The Accidental Prime Minister—The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh (Published by Penguin | Viking, Price Rs 599, Pages 301) how the prime minister frittered away the opportunity to assert himself, you cannot be blind to political reality.

In 2004, there was no one else in Congress party who had Dr Singh's qualities of competence and compliance. As is public knowledge, without Baru saying so, Sonia was certainly not prepared to name Pranab Mukherjee as prime minister or deputy prime minister.

A disillusioned Baru, to buttress his argument, recalls that in 2011 Mukherjee told him—by that time Dr Singh's stature had taken a severe beating thanks to the 2G scam and policy paralysis—that the image of the government and the country is inextricably linked to the image of the prime minister. Baru writes: "With the emasculating of the prime minister, not just Dr Singh himself, but his government and, ultimately, the country, became the losers." 

Despite the PMO's and Congress party's outlandish reactions that termed Baru's book as "fiction" the author has tried to 'project' Dr Singh's image as a competent prime minister during UPA-1, with him being around as information adviser. 

At many levels, this is a kind and considerate account of Dr Singh. Baru reminds us that Dr Singh is the only Indian prime minister not from the Nehru-Gandhi family to have served two terms in office. But the raison d'etre for The Accidental Prime Minister is the public perception that Dr Singh accomplished this feat through unquestioning submissiveness. And Baru's book confirms the public perception. 

Where Baru scores his points is when he writes that Dr Singh ignored his advice to stand on his own feet, especially not contesting the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, which would have added to his political legitimacy. It was, in fact, a piece of very sound advice but Baru unrealistically bet too high on Dr Singh. Now it is a moot question that with Baru as 'adviser' (as a Sanjaya) to the PM (as he was pitching for), would Dr Singh's second term would have been any different?

To be fair to Baru, there are no startling revelations in The Accidental Prime Minister—may be Mrs Kaur's admission comes close--"He swallows everything, doesn't spit anything out." It clearly sums up Dr Singh.

Political observers have often pointed out that Ms Gandhi does not let Manmohan assert himself as PM. Although Baru writes that "Sonia's renunciation of power was more of a political tactic than a response to a higher calling or to an inner voice, as she put it at the time," he has shied away from exploring the equation between Dr Singh and Congress president and it is what takes the sting out of the book.

Baru writes that "handling the delicate equation with Sonia was Dr Singh's first and biggest political challenge. Baru's job as information adviser was to establish Dr Singh's credibility as PM while ensuring that the relationship with Sonia and the party was on an even keel.

Baru, however, pulls his punches when he writes: "It was an early mark of Sonia's regard for and trust in Dr Singh that when she took charge as the party's leader in the Lok Sabha, she nominated Dr Singh as the party's leader in the Rajya Sabha.

In the end, the arrangement suited both Dr Singh and Sonia. Sonia was the caring socialist concerned about the welfare of the poor while Dr Singh was blamed for being too fiscally conservative and pro-business, Baru notes ruefully.

Baru writes that "whenever he asserted prime ministerial authority his image shone. Whenever he shied away from doing so, it took a beating. Creating, building and protecting this image, without necessarily allowing a situation where he would have to publicly differ or confront Sonia or his senior colleagues was the key to his success, his image and his power."

But such tightrope walking could not have gone for long, forcing Dr Singh to tell Baru that "You see, you must understand one thing. I have come to terms with this. There cannot be two centres of power."

Of course, The Accidental Prime Minister is a fine book, a bold effort from a perspicacious journalist who saw things from a vantage point. His tone is not condescending but dignified even when he laments Dr Singh's pusillanimity. 

Finally, the reaction of one man is most important. One presumes Dr Singh would have read the book, but is he going to respond? Is he going to reflect on the years when he 'led' the nation and offer his take? 

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So the New York Times Russians-in-Ukraine photo evidence was a hoax.

Anish Dasgupta
27 April 2014, 10:33 AM IST

Those of you who've been following the crisis in the Ukraine closely will know that the Obama administration has been threatening an armed intervention on behalf of the Ukraine nationals against the alleged Russian military presence in the area. While Russia and the US are going back and forth denying each others' allegations of fabricating stories as an excuse to establish their respective military presence in the area, this is one instance of undisputed fabrication that has come to light. 

On April 20, the New York Times published an article titled Photos Link Masked Men in East Ukraine to Russia which stated that photographs from eastern Ukraine proved that the 'green men' (referring to the gunmen who had seized Ukrainian government sites) were actually Russian military and intelligence forces.

The article highlighted that

1. The photos were endorsed by the Obama administration
2. Ukraine's state security service had identified one of the men in the photographs to be one Igor Ivanovich Strelkov - an operative with the Russian military intelligence who'd been in Georgia in 2008 was also in these photos taken in Ukraine in 2014 

These are the photos they published with the article; in the print version, they were black & white. 

You'll note that the resolution of these images is not very good, but enough apparently for the US State Department. Their spokeswoman Jen Psaki put out a statement saying "There has been broad unity in the international community about the connection between Russia and some of the armed militants in eastern Ukraine, and the photos presented by the Ukrainians last week only further confirm this, which is why US officials have continued to make that case." 

Now, any photos that form the basis (or even a small part of it) for a 'broad unity' in a belief that can result in economic sanctions and/or armed intervention would definitely have been verified and studied with all the technological and professional prowess at the disposal of the US State Department - or so you would expect. On the contrary, in this case, it appears the images published were actually re-sampled to a lower resolution. 

The truth came out a day after the article was published when clear high resolution versions of these same photos (you can see them here, here, here and here) were found online and the error went viral on communities like Reddit. 

At this point, other news networks started looking into the veracity of these images independently (something that the US State Department and the New York Times should have done). The BBC noted that "In the 2014 photos, the man's greying beard appears to be black, while in Georgia six years ago, the slimmer-looking man shown has a reddish beard."

It further observed that the Russian Special Forces patches on the men's uniforms (which the New York Times cited as proof of identity) "can be bought on the Internet for less than $5."

While this raises a lot of questions on the New York Times' credibility, what's more disturbing is the manner in which they decided to craft and publish the article. Instead of scrutiny, they went ahead and contextualized it as evidence - possibly to be the first in a race to get the news out first. 

Now, here's where it gets interesting.

The following day, at a press briefing, Ms. Psaki was questioned by journalists on the veracity of these photos. Here's some excerpts from the briefing. (You can read the whole manuscript on the US State Department's site)

QUESTION: How strong is the case, do you think, that these photographs make?

MS. PSAKI: Well, we've stated the case pretty strongly publicly before these photos were out there, before we were talking about them, in terms of our belief that there's a strong connection between Russia and the armed militants that we've seen in eastern Ukraine and Crimea and other places. So this is more just further photographic evidence of that.

QUESTION: Right. But I mean, how certain are you that these photographs show people, individuals who are – who have links to Russia, who were involved in Georgia in 2008 and now are involved in Ukraine in 2014?

MS. PSAKI: Well, what we're – what we see in the photos that have been, again, in international media, on Twitter, and publicly available, is that there are individuals who visibly appear to be tied to Russia. We've said that publicly a countless number of times. I will let you all draw the conclusions yourself as to whether these are individuals who look similar or not to other events.

QUESTION: Right. But you keep calling it evidence.

MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.

QUESTION: Do you think that this is evidence that would stand up in a court of law?

MS. PSAKI: I don't think it's a legal – we're not making a court of law case here. We're just showing that this is photographic evidence that indicates the connection we've been talking about for weeks now.

This raises a few other doubts - mainly about why Washington would give the New York Times photographs that they knew were not 'evidence'.

One theory is that they knew the Times would print it without further scrutiny and Washington would score propaganda points and have a 'legitimate' excuse to denounce Russia. A second theory suggests that the Times knew these weren't really evidence, but was working with the government to further a political agenda. Both are disturbing.

This, by the way, is the second time that the US has been caught in a hoax in as many weeks. Two weeks back, in Geneva, Secretary of State Kerry spoke strongly against the Nazi leaflets that demanded Jews in Ukraine register - which also turned out to be a hoax. 

So, that's two US fails in a row. Now what? 

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What Is Your Favorite Compliment

Abhijit Bhaduri
27 April 2014, 09:29 AM IST

My parents believed that the child must never be praised in public. My father believed that it would immediately make me complacent and lazy. That in turn, would make me unambitious and eventually ruin my life. My mother believed that praising the kid (in front of others) would make the whole world cast an evil eye. That would bring me bad luck. The routes were different, but the destination was the same. Praise would end up in disaster. Thankfully, they were more generous when others were not around.

When it came to praising others they would be really encouraging. That made them very popular with my friends. They would come home and read out their short stories and poems or show them their paintings and then enjoy all the appreciation that my parents would douse them with. It would make me turn green with envy. There was nothing fake in their appreciation for others, but why did they not apply the same yardstick to me, I wondered.

Modern parents will scoff at that philosophy. "Catch them doing something right" is the operating principle. Parents keep a close watch on their progeny hoping to build their self-esteem by effusively praising them. I am never sure if that is driving up our medals tally at the Olympics or getting us more Nobel Laureates. But I am sure, as a nation our collective self-esteem is going sky high.

I think we do not react equally well to every compliment. We all have one compliment that matters more to us. That is our "favorite compliment". Think about all the compliments that you receive and then single out one that you relish for a long time. The compliment plays in your head over and over again. You replay that blurry moment like a worn out tape that has gone all grainy but you just want to watch that scene one last time.

Compliments are best when they are specific. So when someone appreciates your songs by saying, "You have a lovely voice…" that feels good. It is even better if someone were to say that your voice is imminently suited for soft romantic songs. It could be about the great mint tea you make. The compliment has to be genuine.  

Different people care about different things. I knew a cardiologist who was revered for his professional skills but what made him melt was when someone appreciated his paintings. I knew it meant a lot to him to hear that. He would respond to his favorite compliment by bringing out his sketch book and showing me more of his art. You could of course argue that praising his skills as a surgeon should then get him instantly to the operating table, but no, that is not the point.

I know a very famous singer whose favorite compliment is about her tresses. When a colleague accidentally called her Rapunzel, she blushed like a teenager. There is a glow that is hard to miss when you discover someone's favorite compliment. The person will remember that compliment till their dying day. It is special. No matter how many times you hear that, you can never have enough of it.

What is your favorite compliment? How did you discover that this compliment matters  the most to you?

Join me on Twitter @AbhijitBhaduri

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Why voting is like your relationship

Pooja Bedi
27 April 2014, 01:29 PM IST

Yes, I voted! I made sure I invested the required half an hour in 5 years to make a difference to my country. But the voter turnout was a huge disappointment. People cry, yell, scream and despair, day after day for years about the state of our country, the corruption, the ineffectiveness etc. but don't bother to actually put in any effort to change things.

It's symbolic of people's attitude towards life and probably their relationships too! People yell, scream, despair and tear their hair out in frustration. They complain to their neighbours, their families and friends. They spend almost all their time in highlighting problems of neglect, boredom, infidelity, abuse etc. rather than focussing on what they can do to rectify things. It's said that 'energy goes where thoughts flow'. So do you want to invest your energy into the problems or its solutions? Yes! Every problem does have a solution. Moaning and being angry or being depressed solves nothing! Why is it that so many people are not proactive to positive action? Why is there such a 'chalta hai', or 'this is how it is' attitude to everything around them? People who crib, but did not vote should have no right to complain about the state of governance. And people who crib but do not invest time into changing inter-personal dynamics should not have the right to complain about the state of their relationships. Do not wait for the government or your partner to change their ways. The power to change things lies with you.

Q&A

I am a 31-year old working woman and I've conceived recently. Though I am very excited about the child that will arrive, my husband is not. He keeps insisting that I should abort the child and plan later. We are both well-settled and earn quite well to support a family.
I've always believed that children should be born when both parents are ready to receive them and give them the love and caring they deserve. Having said that, your biological clock is ticking, you're both financially stable and you clearly want the child. Post 30, the chances of problems in pregnancy increase, so the more you wait, the complication arises. His reasons for not wanting one, need to be absolutely watertight for you to even consider an abortion. However, if it's just a disinterest in being a parent, then go ahead but mentally and emotionally prepare yourself to take on all responsibilities for the child till he gets into the groove of being a father.

I am a 22-year-old girl in love with a guy who is 27. We have been dating for a while now, but he suddenly want to break up. I don't know what to do. Please help.
No one suddenly breaks up unless there's a good reason for it. Another woman, boredom, incompatibility and desire to explore options before settling down are some common reasons. Figure out what's going wrong, and if love exists between both, there's always a solution to be found to keep things together. If he's fallen out of love, then it's best to not cling to something that is loveless. You're just 22, and should set the bar high for what you expect in a relationship.

I am a 24-year-old woman who is in love with a guy I've met recently. I am sure he knows how I feel about him, but keeps insisting that we just stay friends. Whenever I see him around or talk to him, I end up falling more for him. I am hurting myself in the process and don't even know if he would feel anything for me in the near future. What should I do?
If he does, he does, and if he doesn't, he doesn't. There are no guarantees about such things. But what you need to address is why you are falling into the typical trap of loving what you cannot have, and loving it more when it shuns you. You just met him recently, so I say easy in and easy out! Please want better for yourself, besides, successful relationships are about the desires of two people, not one.

I am a 24-year-old boy in love with a girl who is just one year elder than me. We both studied together in same class during our engineering days. She loves me a lot as well. We got jobs at the same place. We both want to be together, but her parents are blackmailing her emotionally to not marry me. Her mother is threatening her that she will die if she insists on marrying me. What should I do?
And here comes a movie script! I don't know the reasons for the mother's violent apprehension, but I do know that you both are fully grown adults and perfectly capable of making your life decisions. I suggest both of you get good jobs and get financially secure and then decide how you want to take things forward. At some point, her parents will want to see her married and if she rejects every suitor and your relationship has gone from strength to strength, they will have to start thinking differently.

Editor's note: Do you have a question for Pooja Bedi? Post it here. Your question may be chosen by her for an answer.

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The food scene in Big Apple, what not to miss

Rashmi Uday Singh
26 April 2014, 10:12 AM IST

Pardon the blasphemy: I write from the original Biblical Paradise. I am convinced that it was this very big apple that Eve tempted Adam with. So here's a teeny taste of New York's vast, tentacled food scene's eternally evolving everythingness. My son Dhruv and his friend Tracy help me check it all out... from the low and high, faddish and fun, diabolically tasty, heart-breakingly expensive to the cheapest... happily, vegetarians have plenty to eat everywhere. 

NYC CULT FOOD AND STREET FARE

Go on. Take to the streets and you'll be spoilt for choice, from calzones, falafel to combined papaya juice/hot dog stands, corndogs, grilled chestnuts and more. Go for the steaming, paper thin heaps of pastrami overflowing from a sandwich (Katz Deli ). Manhattan is pizza lovers haven. Lombardis (Spring street) is still my choice though you can pick up a slice most anywhere.

A BITE OF HISTORY

NYC is where  the Delicatessan (Deli) was created by the East European jews as also the Reuben sandwich.

Steak Diane, Vichyssoise and the Waldorf salad. Cronuts being the latest. Crunch on the apple and walnut rich Waldorf salad at the Waldorf Astoria  like we do or step back in time in the old-word charm of Café Carlye (76th and Madison) where music legends have played, we were lucky to hear Woody Allen on the clarinet as we dined on the classic Lobster Bisque and Branzino. Can't keep eating fancy? Do what I did! Go to the iconic Plaza hotel's brand new Todd English Foodhall (1 W 59th street) for affordable fare.

GRANDSTANDS

If you have deep pockets (or like us save up and not shop), then a five-hour Italian meal at celebrity chef Mario Batallis' 24,000 sq ft elegant  Del Posto (85, 10th Ave) is a must. I ate at Perse (Columbus Circle) last trip and found it too frilly and predictable. 

FINE DINE DEMOCRATISED

It's also called the "Momofuku effect" and it all started with my favorite fabulous Michelin starred Changs Momofuku Ssäm bar (East village) superlative food.

We dine with Viveka Purandare at Will Guidara's fabulous NoMad's (1170 Broadway) lacquered roast chicken with truffles and foie gras to  the mindblowing simplicity of red radishes enrobed in a thin shell of butter. On my last trip we had dined at their "Eleven Madison Park" (10 Columbus circle)… astounding though more formal.

OUR CASUAL FAVOURITES

Innovative yet comforting Mediteranean fare at Atrio (Conrad Hotel, Battery park); Chef Antonio Cardoso excels here. Innovative,  inspired, supercharged dimsum at Red Farm (Second Ave East Village); buzzing Parisian bistro. Balthazar (Spring st) are must visits.

INSPIRING INDIA

Michelin starred Junoon (means passion in hindi) (27 W, 24th St) lives up to it's name and serves up an authentic, yet elegantly modern take on Indian cuisine. And four of us speakers (Hemant Oberoi, Zorawar Kalra, Rajesh Bhardwaj and me ) from the Columbia Business school food panel dine in this handsome, high-ceilinged, packed and noisy restaurant where the hot sexy chef Vikas Khanna creates magic. With us are Revti Gupta, Divya Surana and Kersi Shroff the brilliant masterminds of Columbia's Inspiring India.

NIGHTCLUBBING

Whoa! We feasted on the glittering 360 degree view of NYC from the swanky Top of The Standard (848 Washington street) – formerly  Boom Boom Room – luxurious 70s-inspired glam, with starburst chandeliers, gold plated chairs et al.

Equally popular is that oasis of luxe urban cool,  Dream hotel (Midtown West) (owned by Vikram Chatwal) exclusive puny Electric Room nightclub. And PH-D, their rooftop nightclub.

DOLLOPS OF GLAMOR

Asia is on steroids at this sprawling new Tao Downtown (92 9th Ave) loud music, seabass satay, dimsum, sake flight tasting and Patrick Duxbury insists we trip out the most decadent dessert platter. We do happily.

Beauty & Essex… Walk through a jewellery pawn shop into this gem of a restaurant with sharing mutli-ethnic plates. Purvi Thacker and I trip out on Lobster tacos to eggplant pizzettas 

Love the vibe and  Italian fare at Robert di Nero's Greenwich hotel.The fluffy pancakes at Three Guys Restaurant (Madison Avenue) and the Greek manager proudly informs that the worlds most beautiful actress Deepika Padukone  has eaten here.

ROOHI JAIKISHEN RECOMMENDS

It was a virtual miracle: it was on Instagram that I got recommendations from Roohi Jaikishen, the discerning gourmet New York addict and followed them too. Amongst them were, Jean Georges Vongerischten at

1920s Paris meets New York, Mark hotel (super steamed shrimp salad.) Tao, Beauty and Essex, Top of the Standard, Dream hotel Schiller and Arlington recommended by Roohi.

NYC CHEAP AND CHEERFUL

I sniffed out some great finds on my eatabouts all thanks to instagram and twitter (@rashmiudaysingh). I got some amazing recommendations from NYCfoodtastic, Rikin Kadakia and many more.

*Artichoke pizza on Mcdougal

*Xian famous food's  famous lamb burger (St. Marks street) all for $3.

*Malai Marke for Indian food beats Chote Nawab or Bricklane

*Ippudo for amen noodles and burgers

*Los Taco no.1  (chelsea market,) salts of 100 flavours to finger-licking lobsters too.

*Woorijip Authentic Korean food, for buffets with 40+ options

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What happened to my wonderful kaleidoscope?

Shantanu Bhagwat
26 April 2014, 10:55 AM IST

The official website of the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India mentions that, "Religion returns in Indian census provide a wonderful kaleidoscope of the country s rich social composition..".  It also proudly states that "In fact, population census has the rate distinction of being the only instrument that collets the information on this diverse and important characteristic of the Indian population.(sic)".  The site has a helpful and neat table of data from the 2001 census on the main page as well as the distribution of population in various states.

In 2001, out of a population of 1028m, just over 827m (80.5%) mentioned themselves as followers of "Hindu" religion in the census form. 138m Indians (13.4%) identified themselves as Muslims or the followers of Islam. The Christian population was counted at 24m (2.3%).  Barring the five North-Eastern states of Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab and the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, Hindus were a numerical majority in all other states.

Although Jammu & Kashmir was the only Muslim majority state (as well as Lakshadweep, which is a Union Territory), Muslims constituted a significant proportion of population in Assam (30.9%), West Bengal (25.2%), Kerala (24.7%), Uttar Pradesh (18.5%) and Bihar (16.5%) in 2001.  Similarly Christians constituted a sizeable number in Manipur (34.0%), Goa (26.7%), Kerala (19.0%), and Arunachal Pradesh (18.7%) in addition to the Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar islands (21.7%). All these are figures are based on data collected more than 13 years back. 

In 2001, India had its decadal census exercise. Although "Highlights of Census 2011" were released almost a year back, the data on count by religion has not been released more than two years since the completion of Census.  Why? 

This has not gone unnoticed. Priyadarshi Dutta is one of those who noticed. He not only noticed but has been following this matter for long. He suspects "The reason (why the religion-wise breakdown of data has not been made public) is that..(it) is sure to confirm an upsurge in Muslim population…"

Further "It is likely to reveal that the Hindu population has fallen below 80 per cent in India for the first time after independence."

If true, this would imply "...severe micro-level changes in the entire northern belt running from western Uttar Pradesh to Assam covering trans-Ganga districts of Bihar and a chunk of West Bengal…This also has severe implications for internal security"

 

Priyadarshi suggests that such micro-level population shifts may be linked with increasing acts of communal violence in these areas. During my visit to parts of this region in December 2012, this is what I noted in my diary: "…across UP, demographics are changing as "outsiders" (read Bangladeshis) keep pouring in. These "outsiders" bring with them their own interpretation of Islam – far more rigid that than the loose flowing Islam of Bismillah Khan and far less cultured the than poetry of Awadh."

The other change in demographics which I observed during my travels was "..the increasingly young and restive population across the Doab". This was hard to miss, as was the "…growing voice of Muslim intransigence, the stubbornness, which gets amplified multi-fold in the age of social media.. If rumours were fire to riots, social media is a conflagration all by itself.

And finally, the pusillanimity of administration – which leaves in constant fear of being branded anti-minority and communal. Every time a policeman has to think twice about someone's religion before arresting him/her is another breath of life into communalism.."

The riots in Muzaffarnagar last year were tragic reminders of the fear I had highlighted above. Priyadarshi's conclusion that the proportion of Hindus in India's population is set to decline is shared by others too. In an article titled, "Hindu population set to fall below 80% in Census 2011", Manika Premsingh and R Jagannathan mentioned how "In a country where Hinduism is the majority religion, it is a unique trend that the proportion of Hindus has shown a secular decline since 1961, matched by a corresponding increase in the proportion of Muslims."

The article goes on to mention that "The proportion of Hindus has  shrunk from 83.4 percent (in 1961) to 80.5 percent (by 2001). This trend matches with an almost equivalent proportional rise among the Muslims – from 10.7 percent to 13.4 percent from 1961 to 2001.

Further, "Decadal growth in the Hindu population has fallen to 19.3% compared with 23.8% in 1961, as per our estimates…In comparison, the growth in the Muslim population accelerated from 30.6% in 1961 to 34.6% in 2001. (Figures for religious demography in 2011 are yet to be made available)".

But aggregate, high-level, pan-India figures hardly reveal the real story. This is the story of demographic imbalances that are now visible across parts of India which have long-term ramifications – not just for internal security, but also the future of our culture, traditions and "Hindu" religion/ belief system itself. 

In a remarkably thorough and detailed study published in the January-March, 2011 issue of Dialogue, titled, "Religious Demography of the Northeastern States of India:  Trends to look for in the Census 2011",   Sh J.K. Bajaj* mentions how the proportion of Hindus in the population of North-Eastern states has come "..down from 61 percent in 1991 to 57 percent in 2001, registering a decline of 4 percentage points in a single decade".

Over the same period, "Proportion of Muslims..rose from 21.6 to 23.1 percent and that of Christians from 13.7 to 16.2 percent. The decline in the proportion of Hindus and corresponding rise in that of Muslims and Christians in this region was much sharper than that observed during the earlier decade of 1981-1991; there are reasons to believe that this trend of growing differential between the Hindus and others shall get further emphasized during 2001-2011."

Almost all the North-Eastern states (including Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya) have seen an unusual increase in Muslim population over the years – figures which suggest large-scale illegal infiltration from Bangladesh into Assam & Meghalaya and the spill-over into other states.

As you would expect, the trends are much "sharper in some of the individual states and in certain districts within those states". In lower Assam for instance, "..several..districts..are likely to turn Muslim majority (by 2011).  

The "decadal growth of Hindus in several districts of lower Assam, especially in Bongaigaon, Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Barpeta, Nalbari and Darrang was unnaturally low, indicating the possibility of Hindus leaving the area". In fact, "in at least 8 taluks of Dhubri, Kokrajhar and Bongaigaon, the number of Hindus counted in 2001 was in fact lower than their number in 1991".

But the most spectacular example of demographic change in the north-east comes not from Assam but another state whose name begins with the same letter. In a recent piece in WSJ titled, "A Competition for Converts in Arunachal Pradesh", Max Bearak observed that " The 1971 census showed less than 1 percent of Arunachal Pradesh's residents called themselves Christian, but in 2001, 19 percent of the state's total population and 26 percent of the tribal population put themselves in that category.  While religious data for the 2011 census hasn't been released yet, many observers say that it is likely that Christians now form a majority of the approximately 1.4 million people in the state, with some tribes almost fully converted."

Not surprisingly, there are serious concerns that this demographic change, coupled with aggressive evangelization and conversions would erode tribal culture and endanger the local language and customs.

South of Arunachal Pradesh lies Nagaland, a state referred to by a commentator as "…the second biggest success story of evangelists after Phillipines in Asia".  I am reminded of East Timor – one of the only two Catholic countries in Asia today which, less than 40 years ago, had a "population (that) was only about 35-40 percent Catholic.." Today, more than 90% of East Timor is Christian. Nagaland is strategically significant and has been the focus of efforts made by American Baptists to bring all the different warring tribes on a single Baptist platform.

Sh Bajaj's conclusion is stark: "The northeastern states of India have witnessed great changes in their religious demography during the last few decades.  

In the process, large parts of Assam have turned predominantly Muslim and Nagland, Mizoram and the whole of Manipur except the valley districts have become predominantly Christian. In these areas, the changes are almost complete and the only issue of interest is whether the remnants of Hindus in these areas would continue to stay there or will their already negligible presence decline further.

The issue is not yet fully settled in Arunachal Pradesh and to an extent in Meghalaya. For these two states, the figures of 2011 census shall indicate whether the process of change there is also going to be as complete as it has been elsewhere."

But aggressive Christian evangelization is not the only threat facing the North-East. In June 2010, while spending several days in the North-East, this is what I wrote & observed during my travels:

…Infiltration from across the border continues unabated. I sensed a certain degree of fatalism whenever conversation veered on this topic. This is seriously worrying. The scale of people crossing over the border illegally is now estimated to be in thousands – per day. Almost everyone I spoke to mentioned that it will be next to impossible to identify and deport the vast majority of people who have crossed over. Most of them are well entrenched in the "system" with their names on electoral rolls and/or ration cards.

…Land encroachment by these illegal migrants is particularly rampant in the border districts and hard-to-reach villages.

The new generation of migrants crossing over is more brazen and aggressive than before. It is widely believed that everyone is on the "take" – especially in the border regions…

The character of communities where the migrants are settling down is changing slowly but surely…The sounds of "Nam Prasanga" are being replaced by the Azaan(Adhan) and local customs and festivities are being overshadowed by religious processions/ congregations that sometimes take the character of display of strength."

More evidence of significant demographic change in this region comes from a recently leaked Census report, cited by PR Ramesh in "The Untold Census Story. He writes, "..The rise in Muslim numbers is most noticeable in Assam, where they were found to make up 34.2 per cent of the population in 2011, up by more than 3 per cent since 2001. In West Bengal, this religious group's share rose by almost 2 per cent to 27 per cent…"

We dismiss the influx from Bangladesh at our own peril. Almost four years back, political commentator Nitin Pai opened an article on illegal migration with these words (emphasis added):

"Probably the most important event in (Assam) during the last 25 years — an event, moreover,which seems likely to alter permanently the whole future of Assam and the whole structure of Assamese culture and civilization — has been the invasion of a vast horde of land-hungry Bengali immigrants, mostly Muslims, from the districts of (Bangladesh)"

You might think I am quoting a contemporary BJP leader. These are, in fact, words of C S Mullan, census commissioner under the British Raj. He made these comments in 1931. If you thought that the issue of "illegal immigrants from Bangladesh" is a recent one, then think again.

Demographic change in the erstwhile Assam province in the first half of the twentieth century was at the heart of the Muslim League's demand, in the 1940s, that the territory be given to Pakistan. So those who argue that large-scale immigration from Bangladesh is one of the biggest long-term threats to India's national security are right…"

Several others have written about this issue and the threat it poses, in particular, Sandeep Balakrishna and the redoubtable Swapan Dasgupta – who explained why "Assam will never be the same again":

"..The process may yet take another decade to fully fructify. However, if as many in the know suggest, anything between 11 and 13 of the 27 districts of Assam are now Muslim majority, it is only a matter of time before the political consequences of this monumental demographic change begin to be felt.  This is a demographic upheaval that neither Assam nor the rest of India have begun to appreciate…"

It is tempting to dismiss this talk & such reports as baseless propaganda, wild exaggerations and such. I do not wish to indulge in scare-mongering but it is hard to deny the data. And data not just from "biased" Indian sources.

In 2010, the Pew Forum brought out a report on "Religion & Public Life" on the size, distribution and growth of the global Muslim population.  The report mentioned that "The Muslim population in India increased by 76.4 million from 1990 to 2010…". It also mentioned that (although) "Fertility rates for all populations in India have been declining in recent years, …Muslims in India continue to have more children on average than non-Muslims"

What does this mean over the longer term?

While it is almost impossible for untrained commentators & analysts to "predict" future population trends, there is at least one statistic that most commentators agree is important – and is very likely a precursor of things to come.  The statistic is the population in the 0-6 age group. This is what Sh RK Ohri writes about this age-group in "Demographic coup of Islam: Agony of Hindu Civilisation":

 "..Indians must understand the mindboggling import of Statement 7 of Census 2001 Religion Data Report (page xlii) which gives the religion-wise breakup of children in the 0-6 year age group. It shows that the percentage of 0-6 year old Muslim cohorts..is 21% higher than Hindu cohorts. This gives Muslims an advantage of 7.6% over Hindus as and when these cohorts enter reproductive age, say roughly between 2012 and 2016.

…These 0-6 yrs old cohorts (enumerated in 2001) will become reproductively active between 2012 and 2016 and continue to reproduce for the next 30-40 years. With a 21% higher cohort population and at least 25 percent less acceptance of family planning, the growth in Muslim population during the next few decades is likely to become even more fast-paced."

Interestingly, "among all religious groups, the Muslim population of 0-6 year cohorts was highest at 18.7%.  A further analysis of 0-6 year cohorts' data reveals that out of 35 States and Union Territories listed in Statement 7, the percentage of Muslim cohorts was higher than Hindu cohorts in as many as 31 States and UTs."

Sh Ohri is not alone in expressing this fear. In his piece on "Indian Census and Muslim population growth", Vinod Kumar makes a similar point: "…Even more alarming is the fact that the percentage of population in the age group of 0-6 years was maximum among Muslims at 18.7 per cent…This is a significant 20% above the rate among the Hindus."

Unfortunately, neither the data, nor the analysis (or the implications of these demographic shifts), has been discussed in mainstream media or prime-time TV.

Some will no doubt wonder, "Does it matter?"; others would ask, "Why bother?". A few would question my motives. To each of them, I would quote Sh JK Bajaj, once again (emphasis added):

"…We are fortunate to have systematic census data for nearly 140 years. It is important to keep appreciating and analyzing this information to know the momentous changes that are taking place in the religious demography of some parts of India."  Slowly but surely, the ground seems to be slipping from under our feet. We ignore this at our own peril. 

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Leave it to the boys

Prajwal Hegde
26 April 2014, 07:03 PM IST

Somdev Deevarman's young side — Yuki Bhambri, Sanam Singh, Rohan Bopanna and Seketh Myneni — did well to come through the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group One pool.  The reward for that is a World Group play-off tie against mighty Serbia in September (12-14).

The side was without the services of superstar veterans Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi so far this season as they chose to sit out of the team competition. Paes, 40, asked not to be considered for selection, while multiple Grand Slam champion Bhupathi, more businessman than tennis pro today, has failed to make the cut in recent times. 

The duo, one-time friends, now barely on talking terms, who between them have played 85 ties for the country, however, were quick to put up their hands, saying they're available for the World Group play-off in September. While their enthusiasm is understandable even given their considerable numbers, it's perhaps time to let the boys complete a job they started. When the selectors sit down to pick the team in July that should be prime consideration.

Paes, evergreen and eager, with a staggering 88/32 win-loss record in the competition, said he was available in any capacity, captain or player while Bhupathi simply said he was 'always available for India'.  It's as yet unclear, however, if the twosome were available only for the high-voltage play-off tie or if their availability extended to the Incheon Asian Games that follows less than five days after the completion of the tie.

Meanwhile the present side, captained by former Davis Cupper Anand Amritraj and which has the stylish 44-year-old Zeeshan Ali as coach, a young team more by experience than age, with less than 40 Cup ties between them, which is less than the number of ties Paes alone has played, have done commendably to come together a team.

Indian tennis long wrecked by player divide which administrators used to their advantage, the Amritraj-Krishnan feud lasted a couple of generation after which Paes and Bhupathi were at logger heads for almost 15 years. Fortunately for the fresh crop of players, the torcher-bearer of the new generation refused to take any side in the political divide.

Instead Somdev turned his fight against the Association demanding better facilities and remuneration for the players in a bid to lift the state of the game in the country.

A fight, which when it first spilled onto public consciousness, looked set to divide the young crop of players, saw the pros put up an united front. The biggest gain from the year-long players-officials stand-off was that Indian tennis now had a bunch of certified warriors if not the most skilled of players.

Interestingly the players are more united than they've ever been.  Not even untimely reverses like Ramanathan Ramkumar's shocker of a win over Somdev in the first round of the Chennai Open in January and Yuki's upset win over Somdev, older and higher ranked, in the semifinals of the Chennai Challenger in February rocked the boat.

Bopanna explained, "we've all been in tennis long enough to understand that one swallow does not a summer a make. You need consistency, not for nothing does Som have a top-100 ranking. We all respect that."

So much so that when India goes up against Novak Djokovic's Serbia in September their biggest weapon is a unified team, no cracks, just cheer.  "We back each other, we believe in each other. And these aren't just words," Yuki, the youngest member of the team, said.

It's a team anybody would want to be a part of, but for now, maybe, just maybe, the combination shouldn't be tampered with. 

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An agenda for the next government

Minhaz Merchant
25 April 2014, 03:27 PM IST

In the 1960s, the per capita incomes of India and China were roughly similar. After 1966, under Indira Gandhi, socialist India grew tortoise-like for two decades at an annual GDP growth rate of 3%.

With population rising at over 2.4% a year, real per capita income barely rose.

China meanwhile galloped ahead, especially after Deng Xiaoping's 1979 economic reforms. Today China's per capita income is 400% higher than India's. Its cities – not just Beijing and Shanghai but several dozen others – are modern marvels of architecture and world-class infrastructure. 

Whichever government takes office next month after the Lok Sabha election will have to reverse years of economic stagnation, reform a corrupt, rent-seeking governance system and allow India's economy to grow at its true potential: 9% a year. 

The IMF says India can grow at 6.5% a year if the economy is fixed. That may be true of 2014-15. But the growth target for the subsequent four years of the new government must be 9%. 

To achieve this, and ensure that growth is inclusive, the new government should focus on 10 key areas. It will have six weeks to present its budget in July 2014 and it must, literally, hit the ground running.

The 10 key focus areas:

1. Urban centres: Nearly 54% of China's population lives in cities and towns. In India only 33% does. According to a new survey in The Economist, by 2030 nearly 1 billion Chinese will live in urban areas – around 66% of its population. 

China has developed from scratch new cities like Foshan near the metropolis Shenzen in the southern province of Guangdon. Foshan now has a population of 7 million and modern infrastructure. 

The new government must set up a task force with the objective of establishing new urban centres with high-tech facilities, infrastructure, transport and job opportunities. 

If many of these new cities are located within a radius of 50-100 km from town and village clusters, the whole area will become a hub for economic growth and upward social mobility. 

Not only will people migrate to these cities for better job opportunities but the whole region will be boosted by the spillover effect of new roads, housing, manufacturing, information technology, software hubs and consumer spending. 

2. Infrastructure: Projects with investment of nearly Rs. 10 lakh crore remain stuck due to multiple clearances. Manufacturing and industrial production are moribund. 

The new government must unclog the infrastructure pipeline. India needs not just new urban centres but new highways, bridges, houses, factories, airports and sea ports. 

Using e-governance to monitor each infrastructure project, India must write a new paradigm – the India model – which stands for swift decision-making, transparent processes and world-class infrastructure. 

3. Railways: Partnerships with Japan and China, which have the best levitated bullet train technology, can lead to a three-way tie-up: government financing through special rail bonds, Japanese bank loans at an annual interest rate of 1-2%, and Indian private sector participation. 

In this manner, the cost of linking India's major cities with high-speed trains can be both practical and beneficial to passengers as well as ancillary industries in the manufacturing sector. 

Meanwhile, as a parallel project, Indian Railways needs to be restructured with quarterly published audits in four areas: 1. Profitability per route; 2. Hygiene and sanitation upgradation and monitoring; 3. Recruitment transparency; 4. Targeted expenditure to ensure that modern new rakes and railway carriages as well as tracks are upgraded to the highest standards within defined timelines and budgets. 

4. Education: Not a single IIT or IIM features in global top 100 rankings. The new government must allocate a higher budget for these institutions, provide more incentives for original research papers and build a deeper industry-institute interface. 

The R&D divisions of the IITs could emulate the example of IIT Bombay which proactively seeks out innovative work by students and faculty and uses legal attorneys to swiftly file patent applications. India needs to create the next Google, not just low-level IT services for foreign clients. 

5. Healthcare: Chronic malnutrition and hunger require a two-fold solution. The first lies in women's empowerment. Educate the girl child, give her job opportunities when she grows up and you will empower her entire family. 

The second part of the solution lies in inclusive economic growth. Once women become equal partners in a nation's progress, half the battle is won. 

The new government must increase expenditure on health and improving overall sanitation. It should also focus on Primary Health Centres (PHCs) which enable villagers to seek medical help and regular check-ups for their children. 

6. Power: The new administration must cut power theft, install new equipment to reduce transmission & distribution (T&D) losses and restructure power distribution companies (discoms). 

Individual consumers, farmers and industrial users are prepared to pay a reasonable price for reliable, uninterrupted power. They don't want unsustainable subsidies. They want electicity at reasonable rates with an assurance of regular supply to ensure that productivity in farms and industries is maximized. 

Renewable sources of energy today contribute around 12% to India's total power output. The new government's endeavour, through a combination of political will and a facilitating environment, should be to increase this to 20% by 2022. 

7. Water: The Sabarmati river begins in the foothills of the Aravalli ranges near Udaipur and flows into the Gulf of Cambay after passing through Ahmedabad. 

The 11-km stretch of the Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad, when complete, with its public promenade and commercial hubs, will be an example of how water-based urban renewal projects can add to the quality of life in a modern city. 

8. Defence: The new government can begin by indigenising military equipment. The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) has several decades of experience but India still imports most of its military hardware. 

The centre should now involve Indian corporates in public-private partnerships (PPPs) in defence manufacturing. A small beginning has been made with Tatas and Mahindras but the new government should expand the programme significantly. 

India has scientific and technical knowhow but the arms lobby has prevented indigenisation of military hardware. This must change. Making the Indian military more self-reliant is an important priority. 

9. Internal Security: Naxalism remains India's greatest internal security threat. The solution lies in a dual approach. First, the centre needs to equip the state and central reserve police with modern weaponry and logistics support through drones to spot Maoist camps. 

Second, it must win the trust of local villagers in Naxal-affected areas. This can be done by increasing development activity in the region. Maoists thrive when clusters of villages are neglected. 

Economic development with effective policing is the only way to mitigate the scourge of Naxalism and rehabilitate affected villagers and tribals. 

10. Agriculture: New technology in farming and mechanization can sharply boost agricultural productivity. This would cut logistical and transport bottlenecks, sideline middlemen and give farmers better, more transparent prices for a wide range of crops. 

An agricultural growth rate of 5% a year – nearly double the historical growth rate over the past two decades – is achievable if the new government implements these measures. 

Part 2 of this article will focus on foreign policy and fiscal reform – both priorities for the incoming government.

Follow @minhazmerchant on twitter 

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'Much misunderstood' Mulayam, Azam & Abu

Jyoti Malhotra
25 April 2014, 08:48 AM IST

In the Central Doab region of Uttar Pradesh, the land is so fertile on both banks of the Ganga, that scattering a few seeds of wheat and transplanting a few shoots of rice will keep your stomach full and your family happy for a long time. The river meanders past Farrukhabad as well as Fatehgarh – where the beautiful All Souls church, built soon after 1857, found a way to stay alive in public memory by featuring in the movie, 'Junoon' – and remarkably assisted young White men in the service of  the Opium Department of the East India Company, help sedate an entire country to the east of India for several decades – China.

We are now in Kannauj. The earth here is redolent of native flowers – rose, champa, khus, motia, bela – and even commonplace mud, so why not make an entire industry out of it? The wives of the Mughal emperors had the same idea and so they lavished themselves, especially on the "ittar" of rose. It's a simple enough process, explains Fawzan Malik of Mohammed Ayub & Mohammed Yaqoub, a 118-year-old perfumery factory that was started in 1896, easily the oldest in Kannauj. His father is travelling, so the young-ish man is in charge. Quintals and quintals of the flower are put into enormous vats along with water, which is then boiled for hours and hours together until the water vapour, condensing, is collected in another container below. When the vapour cools, the moisture separates from the flower essence.

This is "ittar". You may or may not want to add a few chemicals and transform it into French perfume. A few daubs of the liquid on your wrists or behind your ears, and you're strong enough to do what Lady Macbeth shrank from...If Shakespeare had thought of Kannauj instead of Arabia ( "All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand" ) we might have had less guilt and more mayhem, ah a different story line.

Young Malik simply won't tell me how much his business is worth. "It's enough !" he says, happily, "enough for us and enough for Kannauj !" Clearly, the entire town and much of the region is dependent on it, with little coloured bottles, miniature versions of what Alladin must have once sold along with his lamp, prominently displayed in stores. The Ganga, ever-helpful, provides enough water in the water-table that nurtures the soil that grows these flowers.

Earlier that day last week, Akhilesh Yadav had offered me and a friend "ittar" bottles as souvenirs from his wife's campaign – joking that these are not bribes from the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. His confidence is endearing, and he clearly loves his beautiful-dutiful wife, Dimple. "How many husbands have you seen on the campaign trail?" he asks, laughing.

We can barely hear each other over the din in the large room in the town's Samajwadi party office, which has been taken over by enthusiastic young men who are the backbone as well as the muscle of the Socialist party. Bhaiya ! Bhaiya ! they shout at him, a hundred voices transforming into a roar in which nothing else can be heard. Akhilesh tries to pacify them. You think they're listening ?

For the sake of informing the people of India, this interview must go on.

Why did a minister in your own Cabinet, Azam Khan, say something as 'ajeeb', odd, about the sacrifice of Indian Muslims being much greater than the sacrifice of Indian Hindus in the Kargil war against Pakistan? How can you divide soldier from soldier?

Arrey, you see, that was not what he said. The media has distorted everything. Azam Khan sahib was only talking about the martyrdom of several Indian Muslims in the Army. What he meant to say was that their sacrifice and valour cannot be forgotten, which it sometimes is. He was just reminding his audience...bas ! That's it ! You people just misunderstood what he had to say.

Alright, so why did your own father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Neta ji, such a senior leader in Indian politics, talk about forgiving young men who commit rape because they have "made a mistake.." Is rape not a serious crime?

Of course it is. Neta ji was misunderstood by the media. He explained himself the next day. He was not trying to defend the rapists in the Nirbhaya murder or elsewhere. He was just trying to say that people make mistakes...We have to punish these young men and also explain to them why they make these mistakes...Lots of countries have changed their law on the death penalty...But you know what happens in the press..The press completely takes everything out of context...

And Abu Azmi ? The Samajwadi Party leader in Mumbai ? How would you explain his comments about having women accept some of the blame for rape?

Oh that...He was just misunderstood, his statements taken out of context....He has explained himself, regretted what he said. Everything is alright now !

The "much misunderstood" triumvirate of Samajwadi politics taken care of, Akhilesh Yadav defends his record in government. Certainly, he doesn't want to go down in history as a son whose father ran the show from behind the scenes.

"There is no Modi wave..Who will believe what Modi says...Despite what all you people said in the media, my government has done more for the victims of Muzaffarnagar than anyone else..We gave them the highest compensation ever...You will know when the ballot boxes are opened on May 16, who they have voted for, despite everything...They have voted for us," says Akhilesh.

That last part is largely true, although I wonder whether Akhilesh understands why. Why UP's Muslims are angry with his government, particularly with him, for letting down the idea of a secular state. Whether he can understand their scorn and their fury, reserved especially for him because he, the young politician who had studied abroad and was therefore exposed to the ideas of the brave new world, was supposed to be different. He was supposed to pull them out of their 15^th century poverty – but the doling out of laptops was too superficial. It didn't help, not only because most were resold within a few days at throwaway prices, but because the change that Akhilesh Yadav was supposed to have wrought was supposed to have been much more fundamental and lasting.

"This is Socialist country, here in Kannauj. The Samajwadi party has an old relationship with the people here. Here, the Hindutva card will not work. Here, people won't believe them when you say that Ganesh statues have started drinking milk ! As for the Congress party, it has only now started to attack the BJP for its proximity to big industry," Akhilesh Yadav adds.

"The Congress party spent crores on Raj Babbar's campaign in Firozabad in 2009, when he defeated Dimple," he says. Dimple then went on to fight from Kannauj in 2012, her husband's seat, which he had to leave when he became chief minister.

The roar is quietening now. It seems the crowd outside wants Dimple bhabhi ! Smiling sweetly, she extricates herself from this conversation. I ask her, as she walks past me, what she wants from Kannauj and why she's fighting this election.

"The people want me," she says, smiling sweetly again. She's really a sweet girl, the Bharatiya naari of a million dreams – head slightly bowed signalling obedience, her 'pranam' or 'namaskar' executed in the perfect Bharat Natyam style, her maroon handloom sari-pallu covering her shoulders.

I wonder if she's interested in disturbing the universe, or if she will end up being a latter-day Rabri Devi, speaking only when she's spoken to and delivering on demand. What does she think about the Women's Reservation Bill, for example, that her father-in-law opposes tooth and nail, and which some of his colleagues have derided as the easy way for "par-kati" women, or women with hair (literally, feathers) cut short, to get into politics.

No time for all that on the election trail. Dimple bhabhi is standing in the porch, on the topmost step, receiving the adulation of hundreds of young men – and some women -- lunging at her feet, trying to pay their respects.

"Pair mat chhoo-wo, pair mat chhoo-wo," admonishes an SP worker, "sirf pranam karo !" I suspect this is for my benefit, a media person from Delhi.

Much later on the campaign trail, a policeman will tell me how the SP hordes, barely within two years of the Akhilesh Yadav government in power, have taken to barging into police stations with gay abandon and demanding that they be listened to.

"We may as well wear bangles and sit and do as they order us," the policeman in a town far away from Kannauj, said to me.

Here in Kannauj, I overhear an SP worker complaining to a party manager about the local "daroga" trying to curb his enthusiasm.

"Yeh daroga mujhe be-izzat kar rahe hain ! Inko samjhaiye !" said the party worker to a man said to be close to Akhilesh-Dimple Yadav.

Powerful Party Man to Ordinary Party Worker : "Andar media hai, chup kar jao."

Now addressing the policeman, he adds : "If this young man doesn't display his enthusiasm by shouting and screaming, what does he do?"

But the wind is already turning. As the cavalcade of white SUVs drive off , leaving tread marks on the town road, the rumours start creeping in : Dimple bhabhi has a tough fight on her hands, against none other than Nirmal Tiwari of the Bahujan Samaj Party, the SP's main opponent in the state. Subrat Pathak of the BJP is an acknowledged lightweight.

Akhilesh Yadav is right. At least in this part of UP, caste has always triumphed Hindutva as well as everything else, and there's no reason for change. Narendra Modi must take his chariot elsewhere.       

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Comic Book Benchmarks: Exit Wounds is a riveting ride through Israel

Anish Dasgupta
25 April 2014, 01:26 PM IST

2007 was a good year for the Graphic Novel. First, the success of movies based on them spurred a whole new set of readers to read the original works. Popular movies even used the medium for promotion by launching novels of their own. Then, having established itself as a treasure chest for screenplays (with the benefit of already being storyboarded), the industry saw an influx of capital with rights to various 'scripts' being bought. While all this catered to the masses, the year also produced some phenomenal work that was critically acclaimed. Rutu Modan's Exit Wounds was one of those. Despite winning the coveted 'Best Book of the Year' at the Eisner Awards, very few readers in India have actually heard of it or read it.

While Modan has been in the international spotlight for several years now, a lot of comic aficionados had not heard of her prior to the release of Exit Wounds. Not surprising though since almost all her work has been done in Israel, having worked on comic strips for leading newspapers and won several awards including the Andersen Award for Illustration(2001). Additionally, she's been nominated for the Eisner Awards for Best Comics Anthology of the Year as well as the Promising New Talent Award at the Ignatz Awards.

With credentials like that, it's no surprise that Exit Wounds is a must-read for any serious graphic novel fan. And if you already are a comic buff, then this is the book that you should hold up to those who say that it's all kid's stuff.

If you're wondering whether it's the story or the illustration… well, it's neither by itself, but the balance of both.  Exit Wounds is the story of Koby Franco, a Tel Aviv cab driver in his twenties. The story begins when a woman soldier, tells him that she believes his estranged father was recently killed by a suicide bomber. Koby's initial reaction is one of nonchalance, but she convinces him to help her find out if he did die in the blast. And why is she so concerned about an old man whose own son couldn't care less? Because she was romantically involved with him. And so begins the cross-country hunt.

Modan tells the story expertly; weaving theories for the reader only to shatter them and pull them deeper into the mystery. The chemistry between the two central characters is built up as they constantly fight and allows the reader comic relief, while building up sympathies with their confusion. The backdrop of Tel Aviv adds greatly to this, with the artwork peppered with real-life trauma of those who live there. Yet, not once, do Modan or any of her characters place blame on anyone. This lack of hatred builds up compassion in the reader.

The artwork is characteristically modest. Modan's bold colours are used with a lot of discretion and contrast well in order to highlight what the author wants the reader to see. It is simple, yet engaging - just right for such a strong story.

Do make an effort to read this one, if you haven't already.

P.S - Before I sign off, here's a bit of trivia on Rutu Modan. While most people think of her only as an author of serious contemporary novels, she's also the co-editor of the Hebrew edition of MAD Magazine!

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