Option C

Vir Sanghvi in his Sunday HT column:

Here is a hypothetical question. It is 26/11...
...Ajmal Kasab arrives in your custody.
You ask him where his fellow terrorists are and what they have planned. He laughs in your face.
What do you now do? These are your options:
a) You advise him of his rights and let him phone his lawyer.
b) You settle down for a sustained interrogation knowing that eventually he will slip up and reveal something.
c) You pull out his fingernails till he tells you exactly how many terrorists there are, what locations have been targeted and where their orders are coming from.

I, and most of you, will go for option c : Pull Out His Fingernails. (And don't stop even after he has told you everything!) But in moral terms, the torture presents us a terribly difficult question. If torture is not to be used, how would police get information? On the other hand, how could police be sure all the time that the person being tortured isn't innocent? Americans are debating the torture currently. We never debated it, and we are happy.

Inspiration

An American writer decided to live out "green lifestyle", that will inflict zero damage on the environment. For one full year, alongwith his wife and kids.
He planned to write a book on the experience later. (He wrote it and recently it was published.)

From the review in Newyorker: On the first morning of his experiment, Beavan wakes up with a stuffy nose. Back in his high-impact days, twelve hours earlier, he would have just used a Kleenex and tossed it in the garbage. But the initial challenge he has set for No Impact Man is eliminating trash. After wandering around the apartment for a while in his underwear, he has an inspiration. He will blow his nose in a cloth napkin, and then throw the napkin in the wash...

To a person living outside the First World, this would seem ludicrous. People in my country blow their noses on the road, or even in their own courtyards, without the benefit of hankie or tissue. You need inspiration to think of a cloth napkin as an alternative to Kleenex? And yet, twenty years on, we too may get used to Kleenex, and forget that after crapping, one can wash the bottom by hand if toilet paper is not available.

Beavan's experiment reminded me of a certain Arun Deshpande. Anil Awachat had written about him some years ago. Mr Deshpande, a civil engineer, left the city-life and became a farmer. He decided he wouldn't use anything that grew/was produced outside his farm. Within a couple of years, he claimed self-sufficieny. So much so that he was planning to cut off MSEB power connection at one point; he had his bio-gas.

Such experiments -- stunts, Newyorker calls them -- are pointless. They would be admired or lauged at, but won't be copied. Environmental Conscience, even in the face of global warming, is a rare commodity. What can be done is to make the Kleenex unaffordable, then people won't need inspiration to rediscover cloth napkin.

Ourselves

Supreme Court Judges are now ready to declare their assets. This has to do with the pressure built up by the media.

What about the men and women of media? How many of us would want to disclose if they have benefited from government's largessee? A flat here and a plot there?

Father

A drugs smuggler's son tells his story.

I, for the record, am not an Anthony—either on my birth certificate or so far in life. My father's implosion has been too complete for me to really fear becoming him. I have a lovely wife, good health, great friends, and a job I like, so it's hard for me to imagine detouring into a life of drugs and crime. But he still haunts me, making me fearful of the genes I carry and the man I may become.

...On my most recent trip a few weeks back, he said he had less than $5 in his pocket—so I bought him a pack of cigarettes and took him out to a decent fish dinner near Harvard's campus. We made for an odd pair, I guess, because when we stopped at a bank to use the ATM, the guard came over to me to make sure I wasn't being bothered.

PM

BJP slogan, April 2009:

Advani For PM

BJP slogan, August 2009:

BJP for PM. Post Mortem!

Why Didn't Thou?

Gujarat riots disturbed Vajpayee so much that at one point he was about to resign. So says Jaswant Singh.

Why didn't you then, O Atal? Then it would have been possible to continue to admire you, to continue feeling lucky that our system could produce men like you, never mind the thugs that it produces otherwise.

From Pakistan

Pakistani newspaper's take on Jaswant's book. Interesting read.

Just Wont

A colleague said: Why BJP expelled Jaswant Singh? Because he just-won't-singh RSS tune on Jinnah!

And Then There Was Drought

Long long ago, there was a certain state on the banks of Ganga. A just king ruled there, loved by all. Citizens were virtuous, and their women couldn't be seen to foreigners. Elders were respected, and cows were well-fed.

Then came another King. He defeated the old King in a great battle, through deceit and machination. The old King went into exile. New King took the throne.

Then one day, astrologers came to the New King, and said unto him: O King, seven days from now, Rahu The Demon is going to gobble up the Sun. The Great Sun will be eclipsed. Issue orders to perform Yagnas, to please the Gods. Otherwise the eclipse wouldn't end. And let the people be advised not to step out during the eclipse, and to shun food, drink and sex.

The new King bellowed with laughter. He said: Nonsense. Eclipse would last just a few hours. No reason to worry.

On the day of the eclipse, when the Great Sun disappeared and darkness ruled, the New King stood on the bank of Ganga with his ministers, ate various delicacies, and when the Great Sun came out, he said: See, it's over.

But The Gods were angry. They said: This King doesn't care for what Shastras have prescribed. Let us punish him. Let there be no rain upon his kingdom.

And then there was drought.

(This inspired this piece.)

Jinnah, Again

Its time I weighed in on Jinnah issue.

Jinnah, I say, was a communal politician.

He also happened to be secular. He ate pork (Read Justice Chhagla's memoirs.). He barely knew his Quran.

There is no contradiction here, but there is a paradox. (This is sure to go over the heads of RSS apparatchiks.) Jinnah, in personal life, wasn't a religious man. He loved finer things in life. And he did not want a Pakistan governed by Sharia laws. Which it is now.

Equally, he was keenly aware of his Muslim identity, and he put the cause of his coreligionist above the cause of Hindustan. He, and many others, felt that Hindu majority will trample over the Muslims. So he wanted homeland where Muslims would dominate, in numbers, but not an Islamic homeland.

It's hard to say whether this insecurity was unwarranted. But to feel it, seems natural. I would feel insecure if I were a member of minority group. Jinnah could be blamed for the catastrophe that partition brought about. But surely he was not the first Taliban.

The problem with Jaswant Singh's book (haven't read it) seems to be that he praises Jinnah and puts the blame for partition's mess on Gandhi and Nehru. That's a stupid, simplistic reading of history. Trust a politician to read it that way.

Stand Up & Ad-Up

Anil Ambani has now launched an ad-war against Bada Bhai. The advertisements -- which appeared yesterday and today -- target Petroleum Ministry, for allegedly favouring RIL.

The allegation isn't new. It has been levelled in the Bombay High Court. But putting out ads, and taking on the government on the front page of national dailies, is unprecedented for a business house.

Would this do any good to Anil? Doesn't he fear antagonizing the UPA government?

Let Anil worry about that. The Ambani feud has been good for the media so far. To start with it got stories that had a lot of juice. Now it is getting advertisements. If Uncle Murli's ministry and Mukesh Bhai too join in the ad-war, nothing like it.

By the way, this proves that market is democratic. Your paper may be pally with Mukesh's camp, but would you say no to a front-page ad?

Dog-Owners Of India

Dog match-making in India makes the front-page of today's New York Times' online edition. The article says:

.....But the pups of India’s surging middle class have a problem. Everyone, it seems, wants a male dog.

..... Indians’ penchant for male dogs is partly a result of a societal preference towards all things male, breeders here say. In parts of India, sons are treasured far more than daughters. This fact is reflected in the skewed ratio of boys to girls in some states, evidence of the illegal but still prevalent practice of aborting female fetuses.

There is also the perception, false for the most part, that females are more trouble to keep than males as a result of their menstrual cycles. And in the past, when most people got dogs to guard their homes, the perception that male dogs were more aggressive gave them an edge.

Sandeep Chopra, whose company, Classic Kennels, provides dogs to pet shops across the country, said... “When a customer goes and buys a dog, 99 percent go for a male, and down the road when they need a mate, they face a problem,” Mr. Chopra said.

So Many Chavans

This is from the transcript of Shekhar Gupta's latest Walk-The-Talk, where Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan was the guest.

Shekhar Gupta: You have been in public life for a long time. Your father was one of our prominent political leaders, former home minister of India Yashwantrao Chavan. How do you analyse these delays? Something that should take three years takes nine years in India....

Ashok Chavan: You see, procedural issues are there. Then of course, we have the local people who have some problems — the people staying in the vicinity, the coolies and the fishermen. There was some problem which had to be sorted out. We had to change the alignment of the bridge. Such issues came up which actually delayed the project for some time but nevertheless, I think it has worked out to be fine now.

They were talking about delay in completion of Worli sea link project. Who cares? But, and here I gasp: Your father was one of our prominent political leaders, former home minister of India Yashwantrao Chavan..

Yeshwantrao Chavan? Ashokrao's father? Poor Shankarrao Chavan must be squirming in his grave!

Wanted More Of Them

Economist: Perhaps people living in the repressive atmosphere that prevails in much of the Islamic world can be forgiven if their courage falters. But what of the Muslim diaspora? So far, just a handful of Muslims living in the West have spoken out unequivocally for the rights of coreligionists with dissonant views to live in safety (see article). There should be more of them.

And what of Muslims of India? There was Hamid Dalwai, and there is Asgar Ali Engineer, but as the article says, there should be more of them. Islam needs a robust criticism from within, it needs a movement that will lead to big churning. Such movement began in Hinduism with Raja Ram-mohan Rai. That was 200 years ago. Islam needs to catch up, fast. It might be difficult, due to ghetto-isation and sense of victimisation. But surely, in India, a Muslim reformer won't face death-threats, unlike in the Arab world.

Since Islam doesn't offer space for critics within, the space is occupied by outsiders, the Islam-bashers of Sangh Parivar. Which doesn't help nobody.

White Tiger

Yesterday I finished reading White Tiger. It deserves its Man Booker. It's a sort of Indian success-fable. Read it.

And mark my words: the narrative will make a first-class screenplay. I hope Adiga sells (if he sells) film-rights to the right director.

Plant

New York Times:
WASHINGTON — Former President Bill Clinton arrived in Los Angeles Wednesday morning after a dramatic 20-hour visit to North Korea, in which he won the freedom of two American journalists, opened a diplomatic channel to North Korea’s reclusive government and dined with the North’s ailing leader, Kim Jong-il.

The private plane, carrying Mr. Clinton and the journalists, Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36, landed at 5:50 a.m. Pacific Standard Time at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, just outside Los Angeles.

Bravo, Bill. But how do they know the two lady journalists who returned to Los Angeles were the originals? I mean, is it not possible that the wily Kim Jong Il has replaced the two with his moles?
Or is it not even possible that he sent back a dummy Bill Clinton and kept the original guy? Is it not possible that some years ago, an intern called Lewinsky was planted in White House for this purpose only -- simply to get Bill's genetic material, so that it could be cloned? And now would Hillary ever found out? What a triumph for Dear Leader. A mole who has keys to US foreign secretary's bedroom.

I am not on cocaine or somesuchthing. My friend suspects so after reading this, but.

Gas

Government recently told the Supreme Court, which is hearing the RIL-RNRL case, that Ambanis were treating natural gas, a national resource, as a "family property".

I have some questions for Petroleum Minister Deora . Before that, some background:

When Reliance got the rights (from the government) to explore gas in Krishna Godavari (KG) basin, family was still united. Mukesh and Anil hadn't split. When it struck gas, it offerred it first to NTPC, a government company. A deal was made. Then, in 2005, brothers decided to divide Dhirubhai's empire. An informal agreement -- brokered by their mother Kokilaben -- was put down in the form of an Memorandum Of Understanding . The MoU said that Mukesh will get the petrochemicals business (including the gas exploration enterprise), but he will supply gas to Anil's power generation companies.

Trouble began when Mukesh said he could not give gas to Anil for USD 2.34 per unit; because
price must be first approved by government. Anil put finger on MoU, which says gas would be sold to him for USD 2.34.

Questions for Mr Deora:
1. Gas is undoubtedly a sovereign property. But didn't government give the Reliance rights to explore as well as to sell the gas? Or did the initial agreement -- which gave Reliance license to drill for gas in KG basin -- say that it would only explore?
2. If latter was the case -- Reliance had no right to sell the gas -- how did NTPC enter into agreement with it? Why didn't government take objection then? It wasn't a secret deal.
3. If Reliance indeed had the right to sell the gas to anybody -- provided it paid royalty to government -- why couldn't there be a sale-purchase agreement between the brothers?