Down the Childhood Memory Lane 1

Many little things linger in the mind from Childhood days. Why do I remember only those? I don't know.

 

Maybe today's generation may find it silly if I were to describe some of those memories. We lived in an age, when everything was scarce, and hence the value attached to any gift, albeit small, was very high. This is in contrast to the today's generation (at least in our family, which is more affluent now, though I guess many less affluent families even today may have the same feelings which I underwent all those years), who has got everything and more without being asked, and hence seem to take many things for granted.

 

The first memory is of me being gifted with a Polyester shirt for my birthday at the age of 6 and going to the School wearing it. This was in 1970. I felt like a Royal, as kids wore only cotton those days. I remember the Class Teacher, a nun, making me sit separately on my birthday in the class on a side chair. Why she did it, I still don't know!

 

When I was 8, father gifted me my first Cricket Bat. It cost all of Rs 6, was mildly damaged at the inside edge in the lower portion. It had black dots to start with and the a small portion broke off later, leading to the scuffed portion, hitting the inside of my left leg, opening small wounds, that bled often. I was brought up in an era, where we were taught to play with bat as close to legs (pads) as possible, which led to leg getting cut.

 

The other enduring memory is that of my father bowling overs after overs, using a tennis ball,  squatting on the floor in our Palghat house, while I batted with the door as stump. With so many glass articles around, I was allowed to play only front foot or backfoot defense.

 

 

 

Speaking of Tennis Balls, it was beyond our means to buy a new Tennis Ball. Father, on his return from Ernakulam, will stop at Bannerjee Club in Trichur and buy one or two used Tennis Balls, that cost 50 paise each, once a year. This was the ultimate gift, as my friends didn't have even that! These balls were used till their felt cover was worn off, and patches appeared. The manufacturer, Symonds, would have cringed if they had a chance to see the ultimate shape of the Ball.

 

Father had a friend, Ramachandran Mama, who was running his own Car Workshop, and Mechanical Genius. Father will use his friend's skills to get some special toys made for me. Everyone those days used to run with a cycle tyre, beating it with a stick. But father wanted his son to be different. He got Ramachandran Mama to work on a Truck Steering Wheel, which can be controlled by a specially made stick that had a sleeve at the bottom welded into the stick. The frail son was barely able to lift the Steering wheel!

 

Father bought a Bicycle with Gears (perhaps the one of the two in the city) for me, Golden in colour. Suddenly I was the envy of the town. My friends would ask me to allow them to ride, but I never obliged, for fear of the gears getting damaged. Out of spite, once when I went to our sports club, and was playing Cricket, some of my friends took my Cycle and hid it, which made me cry for a while.

 

But somehow, my memory is not of this bicycle, but of the earlier rickety small bicycle I used to rent, for 25 paise per hour, whose paint had peeled off long ago, and which didn't have bell or brake. I had to walk with my Servant Velayudhan 1 Km to hire the Cycle. I was allowed to rent it for one hour every week, which was the high point of my week. Once I crashed it against the wall, coming down a slope, and ended up in the ditch, with cuts on my lower lip, which took a long while to heal.

 

And it was when I was 10 year old, I was bitten by a Black Scorpion, which got into my bed. It stung and hurt for a couple of days. This was perhaps the first and only time I saw my father panic. A quick dash to Dr C V Raman, our family doctor, pacified everyone.

 

I had a brush with death when I was 10. I had to walk to the bus stand from School, about 1 km away. The new bus stand was being constructed. There was a big ditch, size of a small pond, opposite to it full of water. I got too close to it, and fell into the water, and was drowning. Some good Samaritans jumped in and pulled me out in the nick of the time. I never told my parents till they died.

 

 

Yatho Dharmasthatho Jaya:

Regular readers of this blog knows how critical am I of the Indian Judiciary. Couple of decades of Weak Governments and still weaker leaders emboldened the Judiciary to encroach the domain of the Executive, and pass orders on everything from Cowdung to BCCI.

 

And it is getting worse.

 

The Collegium System practiced  by the SC in appointing Judges to the higher courts is an utter disgrace that should never have been allowed in the first place. That SC, who spoke in a sanctimonious tone on the Conflict of Interests in BCCI, did not blink an eye when it comes to hearing a case on Judicial Accountability Bill passed by the Parliament with a thumping majority, where the SC itself was the Culprit and worse still, passed a judgment in its own favour, must go down in the history of jurisprudence as its lowest point. The least they could have done is to have the case heard by a group of arbiters.

 

The recent protest by the four senior most judges against the CJI, would have and should have resulted in the sacking of the four of them within 24 hours in any decent organization. That the Judges did not deem it fit to protest against the lack of strength in various courts, outdated Judicial system that cries for modernization, unwanted PILs, courts taking up absurd cases, and the bane of the Indian Judicial System - adjournments, but rather chose to strike over 'Important Case being allotted/not allotted' tells much about where the priorities lay. The CJI has to date not commented on it, the Judges did not even get a show cause notice and no one knows what happened to the grievance. Only in India this can happen.

 

Adding insult to injury, the Collegium had the gumption to violate all the norms for Promotion, and nominated a junior and a very much junior High Court judge to the Supreme Court Judges panel. That the Government sent the nomination back is the only saving grace.

 

The SC has no accountability. It took the charisma and the bloody mindedness of Jagmohan Dalmiya and those who came after him at BCCI to break the England-Australia vice like grip on ICC, and made India the prima donna in World Cricket. No one disagrees that BCCI needed reforms and there were many unsavoury things happening there. SC pointed out cronyism, which is laughable, as it is SC that practices cronyism better than anyone.  SC's meddling in BCCI made BCCI a laughing stock in World Cricket and India losing its clout and revenue share. SC appointed a Committee of Administrators to oversee the implementation of SC recommended reforms, which itself was an overreach and absurd. Couple of years down the line, none of the reforms have been implemented, and instead of Srinivasan or XYZ heading the Board, it is the unelected COA that runs the Board. And no one knows when they will leave or whether. There is a Conflict of Interest accusation against one of the COA members herself!

 

Take the case of Tamil Nadu Assembly. The Speaker, rightly or wrongly, disqualified AIADMK MLAs loyal to TTV Dinakaran, who went to Court. Fair enough. The HC immediately gave a stay, and asked the Speaker not to conduct a Floor Test till they give their verdict. It has been a few months since this stay was given, and again no one knows when a judgment will be given. This is blatantly incompetent and unfair on the people of TN. In all likelihood, TN is currently being run by a minority government who is taking policy decisions that has far reaching implications.

 

The President of India, on the recommendation of Election Commission of India, both Statutory Bodies, dismissed 21 AAP MLAs for holding Office of Profit. Once a MLA is dismissed, elections have to be held within 6 months. The HC has given a stay and have asked the EC not to commence the Election Process till it gives a verdict. Only God knows, when the Verdict will be given. In the meanwhile, the people are not being represented which is against all that our democratic values stand for.

 

Our Judicial System, modeled on the cumbersome British System, is outdated and broken. It cant be fixed. The Judges have become a law unto themselves, many or most are corrupt, either morally or financially, and it has become impossible to make them accountable for anything. This has to change.  We need to demolish the existing system and create a modern Judiciary that is in tune with the aspirations of the current generation and not hang on to the colonial past. First thing that has to go is the silly dresses of the Judges, the Advocates and those poor people who wear fancy uniforms and ushers in the Judge- Nauseating. We need to computerize all the cases, verdicts. Cases have to be heard on a time bound scale. Let us leave the existing courts to handle the current set of cases in the current format. At least effective 1st January 2020, we can have all new cases diverted to a parallel system of courts that is modern in all aspects.

 

Can we pull it off?

 

A Country and a leader who pulled of the demonetization of 86% of Currency without any major fall out, or who implement GST can do this too.

 

Judicial reforms in parallel with Police reforms is the need of the hour. We were a tax non compliant nation till GST and Aadhar, but it is changing fast. We continue to be a no law abiding nation. That is because, in India, it pays to be a criminal. As a wag quipped on hearing Boney Kapoor is  suspected of murdering Sridevi " He must be an idiot if he were to try it in Dubai, where he is sure to get his head chopped off. If I were him, I would do it in India, and be rest assured that I will never be arrested"

 

Seeing the unconvinced face of this listener he laughed loud " As a living proof, we have an Ex Minister roaming free"

 

Will Modi do something to fix this mess? If he misses this opportunity, we may never get another for a Century at least. And posterity will never forgive us.

 

We need to ensure 'Neethi and Nyayam' for all. India has history of excellent jurisprudence that goes back thousands of years. Our history and scriptures are full of wisdom and rules about ensuring Neethi and Nyayam. We need to go back to our roots, take out the best, and create a Neethi Vyavastha that is fair, quick and equitable to the rich and the poor, men and women, the mighty and weak.

 

Yatho Dharmasthatho Jaya:

Apparition in the Hills!

I took over the Sales Area of Coimbatore South in 1989, as a 25 year old in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. The Sales Area was handled by Officers close to retirement for a long time and was reasonably neglected. In a couple of years, I earned the reputation for being innovative, tough and a no nonsense go getter who took lot of risks.

 

Being a MBA Graduate, a rarity those days, I decided to clean up the mess and started a crusade against Adulteration and poor Service. This made me lots of enemies. At the same time, I made it a point to paint, clean up all my Retail Outlets. We had enough Budget for sprucing up the Outlets.

 

We also had Consumer Outlets which is dedicated only to a particular consumer, either a Government Agency or an Industrial Customer or a Road Transport Undertaking. In most of these places, our facility comprising of an Underground Tank and a Dispensing Unit is inside the Customers premises, and not visible to the public.

 

There was once exception in my area. It was a tiny village in the Western Ghats, and the facility was for the Tamil Nadu PWD officials who were there to maintain the Dam, but it was on the main road, as would any normal petrol pump. They consume only 4000 litres every year, but we maintained the facility for the sake of good relationship with the Government. It didn't make economical sense for us to have it. And other than the PWD guys and their Contractors, no one ever visited this location

 

As Sales Officers we were given budget for repair and maintenance. I had a budget for Consumer Outlets. One year I had a bit of surplus, and remembered this Facility and I sent my Contractor to this hilly terrain to paint the sign board, dispensing unit and the building. He did so promptly, and was happy to go there as the Government officials treated them royally, including some choice meat.

 

He came back happy, collected his payment and we all forgot about it. He told me that the Sign Board and Dispensing unit had rusted, and the whole place looked forlorn before they painted. It appears that none from HPCL visited this place for years and no one even knew such a facility existed or how it looked like, least of all my Regional Office guys in Cochin.

 

About 2 months later, my entire Regional Office and Terminal Guys from Cochin planned a weekend trip to this place. Normally whenever they travel the local Petrol Pump owner will be on standby to assist them. But in this case they booked themselves in the PWD guest house, which was the only available place to stay.

 

They started from Cochin in the evening, and as is the normal practice started drinking heavily. They landed at the destination close to midnight fully drunk. It was very cold outside in this hilly hamlet. Exhausted they dropped off to sleep, but my Manager and couple of my Sales Officer colleagues from Kerala (I didn't join them), got up by 4 am, and decided to clear their head by taking a stroll and in search of a tea shop.

 

They were still groggy from the previous evenings orgy, and were bemoaning the absence of a HP Petrol Station in the area, as then the dealer would have ensured they get tea and food on time. It was misty, hazy and bitterly cold outside.

 

As they were grumbling, one of the Sales Officers cried out 'Sir, there is a HP Pump here!'.

 

The Manager who was taking a leak, said ' Are you crazy? This is my area and I know there is no Petrol Station here. You must be dreaming'. 

 

'Then what is this? my Colleague asked.

 

As the Manager turned, his jaws dropped. There it stood in front of him, partially visible through the mist, a freshly painted HP Sign Board, a Dispensing Unit and a painted Office Room. He asked his colleagues to pinch him to ensure what he was seeing was not an apparition. Still disbelieving, they inspected the facility which was locked off course. Manager's initial reaction was "I know Rajan takes risks, but even he wont dare to open a Retail outlet without permissions!" He couldn't understand what was going on and how there was a HP facility in this god forsaken place, which as the Manager in charge he was not aware of.

 

He went around and asked the local tea shop guy who said "It was there since the last 25 years?"

 

Being in an era when mobile telephones didnt exist, Manager had to wait till 9 am to find a Telephone Booth and call me to seek a clarification.

 

He was relieved only when I reminded him of the Consumer Facility for PWD. He laughed for a full minute over telephone and told me later that all of them took a while to get over seeing 'what they thought was a ghost' in the early hours.

 

This story was later retold in Sales Review Meetings to highlight how a Sales Officer took the pains to keep All his Outlets well painted and maintained.

 

We had moved on in life. I quit HPCL a couple of  years after that and moved to Gulf.. He retired from HPCL. But recently when I met him, he still remembered this incident, and shared with me his and his colleagues utter shock on seeing a well painted HP outlet, partially visible through the mist, at 4 am in a quiet uninhabited place all those years ago. 



On to the Second Term......................................

I am not worried about Modi winning a Second Term in 2019. Despite Congress, along with Opposition Parties, and JNU type hard core Communists trying to create social unrest amongst lower class hindus, I feel BJP is on a strong wicket. Also, Modi is not A B Vajpayee. He and Amit Shah are like Srikrishna and Arjuna, conquering all in front, and the opposition have no Bhishmar, Dronar or Karnan skilled enough to take them on. Social Media like trolling by Rahul Gandhi taking potshots at Modi is not going to win votes. Congress has no grass root workers and is a party full of dynastic leaders with no dedicated workers at the ground level. With hardly any money to be doled out nor favours, there is no incentive for the remaining Congressmen to put all their efforts in a campaign.

 

Amit Shah has travelled across the country and has developed the party infrastructure from ground up. BJP, today, is an election winning machine. It is likely to win Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, but my lose Rajasthan in 2018.

 

Modi has worked very hard during the past 3 1/2 years. Even his harshest critics will not question him for his commitment and honesty. He is personally clean, and after a long time, we have a Prime Minister who is a true leader. And people do look up to a leader.

 

The Bureaucrats are the villains. Having enjoyed the perks and the right to indulge in corruption during the UPA regime, they are up against it now. They are loyal to Congress, and are putting road blocks in the way of Modi implementing many schemes. They have tried to torpedo Demonetization, Swatch Bharath and GST in a big way, and managed to get some bad press for the Government. It is to Modi's credit that, despite their shenanigans, and the Luteyan's vicious campaign against him, the common man stood solidly behind him, and helped him tide over the man made crisis.

 

This doesn't mean Victory is granted in the 2019 polls. Siva Sena is a pain in the neck, though Modi has checkmated them with NCP. Either BJP will tie up with NCP, or they will ensure there is a 4 way contest in Maharashtra, which will favour BJP.

 

Tamil Nadu is a critical state with 39 MPs. BJP has to take a call on taking the support of a discredited AIADMK or a weakened, corrupt DMK or place its bets on a reluctant, untested Rajanikanth. None of the options look great. The only winning possibility looks like BJP+Rajanikanth+either AIADMK or DMK in an alliance fighting the polls.

 

The Country needs BJP to get majority on its own or better still 300 seats.

 

We have around 15-16 months to go for the elections, though I guess Modi will call for a snap poll in November, immediately after the Kharif Season, provide the monsoon is good this year. That gives him about 9 months to fix some of the issues.

 

The first one is the lack of action against the Corrupt UPA leaders, who looted the Country during the UPA regime. Admitted, our Judiciary is painfully slow and corrupted. But people need to see the intent from the Government to punish the crooks. Maybe Modi is waiting to do it during the second half of this year, so that it remains fresh in the minds of the people.

 

I am not worried about the Middle Class bitching against Modi. Middle Class vote bank is a myth. The loss here is more than compensated by the gains BJP will make amongst the poor and the underprivileged.

 

But I am concerned about Modi letting down the Hindu Vote Bank, All he has to do is to see the support Yogi gets in UP, by taking a Hindu line to administration. Modi can start by releasing the temples from State Administration and giving it back to the believers. He should also take a hard stand against Conversions which is threatening the very existence of Sanatana Dharma. In addition, he can and should allow Hindus to have the right to run their own Educational Institutions, with the same privileges enjoyed by the Minorities. And taking the steps to build Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, is a necessity. Forget about Supreme Court and the Judges who are likely to keep the issue prolonged for another 100 years.

 

Finally, we need to show Pakistan its place. Why not revoke the MFN status, stop all trade between two countries and close the borders? Like Trump, let us back our words with action. Today, due to the deft diplomacy of Modi, Pakistan has been exposed internationally. This is the time to hit them on the head and bury the nuisance once and for all.

 

 

English New Year Wishes to All

 

|| Lokah Samastha Sukhino Bhavanthu ||

|| Sarve Janah Sukhino Bhavanthu||

|| Sarva Jeeva Janthu Sukhino Bhavanthu||

Deliberate Gaffes

People are missing the wood for the trees.

As the counting day of Gujarat Election gets nearer, Congress has to find reasons for the resounding defeat it is likely to face, especially in view of Rahul Gandhi follishly upping the ante in an election where BJP was always going to win.

For Gujaratis, Modi is their pride and there is no other State which is as Hindu as Gujarat.

With Rahul Gandhi about to be anointed as Party Chief, and with him running around Gujarat temples brandishing his newfound Shiv Bhakth status, and poised for a thrashing in the elections, Congress needs an excuse to protect the scion.

Hence the utterences by Kapil Sibal in Supreme Court first asking Ayodhya Hearing to be postponed post 2019 elections, followed by motormouth Mani Shanker Aiyer calling Modi a “Neech”.

Mani resigned from Foreign Service and is very close to Sonia, as also Kapil Sibal. Both are intelligent men to make gaffes like this without Sonia Gandhis or Congress Dirty Tricks Department to make such comments.

They were made deliberately so that Congress can cite them as reason when they eventually get thrashed in Gujarat

Indian Middle Class Hypocricy

The much hyped Middle Class in India are the biggest hypocrites.

 

Two years ago, one of my Colleagues, a Senior Consultant working in Oman, but hailing from Tamil Nadu was vociferous about the Corruption in his home State. Most of the days one can hear him accuse both the AIADMK and DMK of destroying Tamil Nadu. He was a practicing Christian, and his wife was a Senior Government Servant. We all used to agree with him that the politicians in TN were a class apart in looting the State and how black money was the root cause of all evil.

 

Then his son passed his XII standard with around 70% marks. He moved heaven and earth to get a Medical Seat for his son, and ultimately paid close to Rs 55 Lakhs as Capitation Fee, and another Rs 50 Lakhs to be paid as Fee for the next 4-5 years. He also was using his Christian connection to the hilt, and even once had the temerity to tell me that he told his Parish Priest "Why should I be a Christian, if you cannot get my son a seat in a Christian College?'

 

One day, after he paid the Capitation Fee (he converted his hard earned white money to black money to achieve this!), he was again heard talking about Corruption in the State. I walked out of my cabin, and confronted him that he himself has contributed to creation of black money just recently.

 

Challenged, he went on the defensive. He said, he had no choice. I replied that he indeed had. All his son had to do is to study well and get a Medical Seat on Merit. Or alternatively he should take up some other course which his marks deserves. He would have none of it. His argument was that his son wanted to be a Doctor and nothing else. I stood my ground, and told him that then he should have worked towards this goal by studying hard and scoring high marks. All my logic fell on deaf ears.

 

He started blaming the Government, the Educational system, Self Financing Colleges, their greed for him having to pay the Capitation Fee. He did not want to take any responsibility for his action of abetting corruption to meet his ends and was in fact justifying his action for almost an hour. He wanted everyone to clean up their act before he turns honest

 

I saw the futility of arguing with him, but told him in no uncertain terms that he has forfeited his right to talk about corruption.

 

I made an enemy that day!!!

 

This is the typical Indian Middle Class hypocrisy.

 

The Indian Middle Class has been shouting about rising corruption, increase in circulation of Black Money, Political Ineptitude, Tax Evasion, Poor Services for ages. They wanted the Government to take action and clean up the mess.

 

Then they got the wish on 8th November 2016. Demonetization, followed by Digitalization, Aadhar Card linkage, insistence on Tax compliance had every economic crook running for cover.

 

You would expect the Middle Class to support the Government right?

 

But No!

 

The Middle Class, were evading the tax themselves by not insisting on bills for purchase, spending black money on real estate deals, not declaring their income to the Authorities, enjoying privileges like PDS, free White Goods, Subsidies, getting rent for their Property without disclosing et al., which they didn't deserve, and not being questioned by anyone, suddenly found themselves being disciplined and ask to organize their lives with the prevailing laws. And they hated it.

 

The Middle Class is the biggest hypocrites. They want everyone else, the Politicians, Bureaucrats, Society and even the Poor to clean up their acts, but they want their perks and privileges to be preserved, and not questioned.

 

It is why the Middle Class don't like Modi. They don't want to contribute to Nation Building.

 

But the Middle Class Vote Bank is a myth. They never went out and voted in any election. They were only good at cribbing, sitting at home. They mocked the poor and under privileged, ridiculed their lack of education, and wailed that it is the votes of these guys that decide who rules India.

 

They forgot that the Poor are Street Smart, more Socially Responsible, and Politically Savvy. They have always voted with sense, after Emergency, or Janata Rule, or for VP Singh (a vote against Corruption) and then decisively against the Congress and in favour of Modi in 2014. They know what is good for them. They stand in a much higher pedestal than the hypocrite Middle Class.

 

Modi knows this too. All his actions are aimed at creating a disciplined society, and upliftment of the poor, who constitute 70% of the Vote Bank. He is ensuring they get Electricity, Water, Toilets, Benefits of Direct Cash Transfer, Housing and Road Connectivity. Poor wants to live with dignity. They don't expect free lunch like the Middle Class. They are willing to tighten their belt and ensure India progresses.

 

And the rogue Middle Class who cuts corners? They have to either Ship up or Shape out. It is time they realized they don't have as much clout  they think they have. Their wailing against Demonetization and Tax Compliance don't matter at all.

 

That is the reality.