Why Germany?

…and why for godsake Sanskrit? I am quite shocked by the choice of Germany in Kendriya Vidayalayas (KVs). On what basis this language was included in the syllabus, this blogger likes to know. Who decided it? Shocking indeed. KVs have no business promoting foreign languages as the market dictates. The market may need youngsters as backend employees to maintain the German economy, in the mean process cut cost in labour. Economy doesn’t decide linguistic choices in schools. Schools are not the place for producing market designed products. I have nothing against Germany as much as I have nothing against Swahili. Did PM Modi ask Chancellor Merkel why Tamil or Mundari is not taught in schools in Germany?

Clearly the mediocre people in previous government had included Germany as a hint on internationalism therefore showcasing their harebrained market initiated liberalism. While the present government as expected has replaced it with Sanskrit, a language that has squatter’s intention written all over it. It never had nor will it ever have any precedence over any of hundreds of beautiful Indian languages. This attempt to promote Sanskrit –that indeed has legacy of atrocities, should be resisted. Further learning Sanskrit serves no purpose, nor does it in any way give us any insight on nuances of Indian languages. I also studied Sanskrit in school (in KV), and did some ram ramo ramosya…and related crap. Absolute waste, it was an effort to make zombie out of children.

This blogger believes that instead of promoting any particular language there should be lessons on introduction to Indian languages. Basic understanding of all languages and the amazing legacies they carry. This blogger has, in the last many years, astounded by the linguistic diversity in India, its cultural expressions and literary nuances are sometimes so brilliant that you want more. It is absolutely incredible. That many of these languages are facing threats, indeed extinction, is a painful reality. These insights came quite accidently while travelling to different places, getting interested, then taking efforts to read and understand. What was providence could have been part of my syllabus in school, that would have introduced me to these wonders in a more systematic manner rather than bumping into them. It is undoubtedly a failure of education system. The present government should not repeat these mistakes. It will be a travesty on amazing linguistic diversity of this land which undoubtedly is collective legacy of not only Indians but whole of humanity, therefore should be cherished.    

The Indian look at US, or is it the other way around?!!

I came across these paragraphs from US army in Kolkata during 1945, as some kind of instruction to American soldiers…interesting (source: “The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply Base Section Two Division, Information and education Branch, United States Army Forces in India - Burma, 1945:  at: http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)

The Indian Looks At You 

For a long time India looked across the seas toward that shining example, America. And now, right here in their own country, Indians are looking at Americans, they are looking at you. And what do they see? Fine strong men wearing clothes of a general excellence, possessing am abundance of material things, equipped with countless mechanical devices - men who have everything and yet are without the normal affections of the non-Indian dealing with the Indian. Your naturalness is noticed and admired. You offer a cigarette to a rickshaw wallah, and the Indian is astonished. You bewilder him in many ways. But out of the first mist of bewilderment there comes to the Hindu the realization that the American is endowed with feelings that are very much human. You are a possible friend to him - a hope for the future. You startle him from his torpor of pessimism. You provide him with a contrast. Your kind, frank, honest behavior open up for the Hindu a new vista of optimism; and on the whole he is more than prepared to accept you as a shining example, as a true friend. That poses a problem for YOU. Are you going to tear yourself and your country down in the Indian's eyes, or are you going to conduct yourself so that the Indian can keep his shining example, his hope for the future?

GETTING ALONG WITH THE PEOPLE

If you are good-natured and patient in your dealings with Indians you won't have any trouble with them even if you find some of their ways hard to understand and even annoying at times. For instance, they feel it is only polite to tell you what you want to hear. Very often that politeness of theirs will get you much misinformation. If you ask: "Is this the right road to ----?", the Indian probably will say "Yes", even if it isn't. To be on the safe side ask: "Which road goes to our camp, etc?"

Almost anywhere you go in India, you will find people who speak at least some English. Although many languages are spoken, the most widespread is Hindustani. It will pay you to learn some common words and phrases of Hindustani, which you will find at the end of this book. 
Time and punctuality 
Most Indians have a different idea about time and punctuality from ours. If a man says he will come at 5 o'clock he doesn't necessarily mean 5 o'clock sharp but within and hour or two of five. If you instruct a workman to finish a job by Tuesday, he may take it to mean merely sometime soon. If you want work done on time, you must keep a close check on the progress of it. All work stops on holidays, which sometimes last for several days. 
“You not sweep today – you not work tomorrow.” 

In the mills the Indian traditions were likewise facing a shake-up. The sergeant in charge of the workshop, seeing the workers departing at the end of the day, stopped them to inquire “What about sweping the floor?” “Sahib,” came the answer, “we not sweepers –we no sweep.” The reaction was simple. “You not sweep today – you not work tomorrow.” They swept.

Americans and the real India

On my way to Arakan in February 1943 I stopped briefly in Calcutta, through which I was to pass many times in the next two years. Calcutta, like Delhi, was crowded with American GIs and officers, and this was my first exposure to Americans en masse. Although far more informal and friendly than the British, they were more difficult to adjust to and it took time to accustom oneself to their speech and their manner of life. Later, staying in American military centres and camps, often sharing tents and bashas and roughing it together in the war areas, we came to know one another better : I count many Americans among my friends today. At the me, a good many of them struck me as more lonely and homesick than their British counterparts; more lost and bewildered. The British being the rulers were in a way at home in India. But the Americans, accustomed to see India through Hollywood's cameras as a fabulous land peopled by maharajas and elephants, were appalled and sickened by the stink and poverty of the place.

Their disillusion was heightened by the backlash of the terrible Bengal famine, then raging in the rural and outlying districts around Calcutta, and reaching its peak in the last quarter of 1943, to claim a total of nearly three and a half million lives. Outside the luxury hotels, the bars and crowded restaurants strung along Chowinghee, Calcutta's main thoroughfare, one often saw human skeletons in filthy rags gazing hungrily with avid eyes at the eatables, cakes and cookies piled behind the glass windows. They were refugees from the affected areas. 'If I were they,' an American GI growled, 'I'd smash those glass windows and help myself to all that's there.' I thought of what I had once heard Sarojini Naidu exclaim: 'Oh, the patience of India! How I hate her patience!'

Stupendous

Philae –the probe, from the Rosetta spacecraft has landed on comet (after some initial hiccups it has finally anchored on the comet, this was confirmed few minutes back). It is an amazing achievement, considering the odds: a comet hurling at tremendous velocity, and then to negotiate it as also land on what is essentially a gravityless body. It took ten years of journey to reach this comet. It is mindboggling effort. Brilliant. I am reminded of an ancient Chinese saying “May you live in interesting times”.

I also happen to see Interstellar , the Hollywood movie the other day. The last movie I saw in a theatre was Gravity, so comparison is inevitable.  I remain a big fan of Gravity, it had a tremendous impact on me. The scale of Interstellar is impressive. Some of the visuals and conceptions are riveting (frozen clouds were exciting so was passing through wormhole as also black hole). I keep an eye on Christopher Nolan’s efforts after his Inception –another of path breaking movies. Interstellar has some amazing ideas, but I am bit concerned about the intent. It seems we have moved from adaption and mitigation to abandonment, climate change is being referred to ‘dust that land on corn problem’ (?!! btw I am intrigued by American obsessions with cornfield), as also wild west acknowledgement ‘we are pioneers not caretakers’. I am not at all impressed, and I would absolutely agree with George Manbiot of the The Guardian here.   

In the meanwhile IPCC has come out with devastating report on Climate change, they haven’t minced any words. They have stood up to their responsibilities. We are quite grateful to them. The other day US-China too have taken some encouraging steps. Let us see how things are going to concretize later next year at Paris. I had become quite a cynic in recent times (look at the stupid people in Australia, with an equally harebrained leader to match…I am not even able to recall his name…never mind he doesn’t matter, these are minor nuisance in blink of time), there seems to be some rays of hope.     

Engaging with the Indian media (specifically Times of India)

…that surely is the worst thing to do: engaging with people who desperately want your attention! Cunning and conniving Indian media have ‘news’ (if ever in the mesh of views) as an afterthought. It’s the moneybags, with ad agency and PR group, doing the round to trap people for profit, as also gain influence and clout. Of course they do some good, they have to, otherwise the spin is too obvious. This then is where liberal values are negotiated and passed with brief appreciation. Before, of course, we go into a break.  That in short is what Indian media is reduced to (regrets to likes of Amartya Sens of the world, who somehow, from their elevated perch, saw some glitter. I must add that the little lady at little mag with supersize ambition with matching ego has taken her rant one notch up. All for the sake of bharath mata). There are of course exceptions but these are rare and occasional. They can carry on with their sacred act of money making but the degradation they cause will be scrutinized. I do flip through different newspapers (mostly English but sometimes Hindi and Malayalam too) and news channels, but must admit the scene is shoddy, they are reduced to peddler of products. The system the market has created is amazingly juvenile, and that this is the basis on which humanity’s development is hinged, or atleast negotiated through, is a shocking realization. It’s a vicious cycle of consumption driven anarchy and degradation. It’s based on common people’s vulnerabilities, they ransack every possible emotions to sell. At one level it is dehumanisation of emotions, decontextualisation of feeling. This then further degrades into crony capitalism, as the family and friends make merry of the opportunities.

PM Modi calls for ‘Made in India’, good intentioned but will it have any impact. This blogger is not sure. Since, a society where physical work is considered degrading cannot bring in culture of manufacturing, it is too deep rooted malaise. Corporate maybe quite upbeat about India’s youth, the ‘demographic dividend’, but they are one of the most sedate and sterile set of youngsters you can come across. It maybe a gross generalization but I am fairly on-money here. They come from deviant/squatter’s framework, the culture and tradition herewith produces unique individuals who crave for white collar jobs, very keen on hierarchy that will turn into vicious form of feudalism at short notice. Indeed their whole intent is to sniff money and clout, everything else, including education, is a minor conduit for this gargantuan appetite. This deviant understanding of success is what market remarkably fuels at every occasion. The reason they could find so much commonality between Indian scripture (Bhagvad gita is the latest fad, which ironically is much subtler) and management thoughts (which in short boils down to how to maximize the suck). There was once a fellow who used to mail me ‘Chanakya as management guru’ nonsense so often that I had to spam him. Later he came out with a book, that I am told ‘has done quite well’, so we have a writer now!!   

Apart from this there is an attitude of entitled domination, that I have observed comes quite entrenched in squatter’s way of life. Organizational hierarchy therefore quite easily morphs these, and within this manufacturing as dictated or to be emulated works. You will be surprised the vicious form of feudalism that seeps into nook and corner of corporate –that is being goaded as harbinger of modernity. I was once working in a managerial position, and as is my wont I told my colleagues not to refer me as ‘sir’, that probably was my undoing. I realize this society is so much dominated (by squatters/ invaders/britishers so on) that it has become a template for working in a group or human relations. If you don’t dominate they will dominate, it’s an aspirational pattern. It is the reason that the majority prefer a ‘benevolent dictator’, that everyone realize this as an oxymoron makes the matter worse. I was also advised by my ‘senior’ (who intended to groom me i.e use me for his narrow ambitions) that I should not roam around too much and do menial works, rather I should be at desk and dictate to others. That is what manager does. It so effortlessly sieve into squatter’s world. The reason some do so well, telling others what to do, in pedaling things, in PR works…manufacturing and innovations (which essentially is connecting to the reality of surrounding and empathy) herewith will have to wait. It needs altitudinal change that this society will take some time to ingrain. In the meanwhile the spin doctors are at the doorstep.  

The dealings and nuances too is much complicated, it is much layered. Once I asked this young lad, an engineer, in an MNC, as we headed for food “whether he is non-veg?” He said with much seriousness that “he is a vegetarian but takes non-veg”. Any other place this would be hilarious but this is his way of establishing his pecking order. With such screwed up minds nothing special can be expected. Yes they will very diligently do the back end jobs. It is too much to expect anything more, indeed it would distress our little fellow.     

In this context the recent attempt by HRD to segregate vegetarian and non vegetarian canteen in colleges is extremely regressive and should be protested. This is heinous, evidently inspired by squatters purity driven muck worldview. Being vegetarian is a culinary choice and not matter of entitled superiority. People should share table, and eat as according to their choice. This culture of disgust on what others eat is deeply ingrained nonsense passed on as tradition. Educational institutions and policy makers have a role to play to remove these. IIT/IIMs have a much broader role to play (anyway they aren’t producing much quality students despite the hype, they rank quite low in world standard, which isn’t unexpected at all).

I was reading yesterday’s Times of India (I am told the largest selling English newspaper in India), now before I get into this let me recall writing about typo in Indian Express, now that may not have been intentional, the attitudinal issue one can gather from this is carelessness, indeed apathy. But TOI has some serious attitudinal issue to work on (not that others are doing well, generally pretentious with high intentions). The editorial (don’t know whether to call one, it has left one dear fellow permanently ‘weebit unhinged’!) had this to say “Fadnavis…is the second Brahmin to hold the CM’s chair after Joshi of Shiv Sena. This suggests that in a changing political landscape merit takes precedence over caste”. Amazing is it not? That is from the largest selling English newspaper in India in its editorial! It’s kind of oxymoronish statement (that morons who wrote it didn’t have the sense to understand). You are mentioning the caste of the person then denying its existence. I gather being casteist goes well in squatter dominating Hindu right, they are our saviors, as they say vasudeva kutumbakam (neighbors not included!!). Being casteist is also heightened state of sickularism. And so despite fratricidal war for poor us they do meet at get together and hug each other longer than usual. It is also amazing that they are equating a person from a particular caste as example of merit. This is market meets merit in action.    

Secondly, the editor (if there is any, or is it the Jain bandhus ‘hand of god’) need to explain what do they mean by ‘brahmin’, I know squatters generally refer to themselves as such, and traditional hindu zombie society has allowed them to squat (occasional respite being the invaders) wherein they should have been evicted and prevented from further degrading Hindu religion. These crude forms of expressions and identities should have been shunned like nazi symbols, because of immense atrocities on common people. The fact that it is being pushed as diversity is where Indian mediocre elite has succeeded and, I believe, invaded the western countries, piggyback riding Gandhi, as nice harmless vegetarian harbingers of peaceful souls. The reality is shockingly opposite.    

Another of intrusion is ‘spiritual’ columns, the attempt-at-making-squatter’s-worldview-palatable-to-market-industry (there are again exceptions, and some smart people who make sense). TOI has this one on the same day as above, Krishna Kops who tries to weave in with Gandhi, Tagore, Foucault, Hegel…in the context of things I can only say: it’s quite a long and impressive list of name dropping to make one singular point: to create market friendly spiritual world. Poorly written and quite simplistically recycled hash this column has these lines that I thought were inching for profoundness! “I remember an interview with an activist and booker prize winner. As usual she was about to rant and rave about capitalistic system, when the journalist asked her, why she was using an iPhone, if this was the case”. He doesn’t mention the name, ah I am so much finding it difficult to guess. Such subtleties is common these days! It’s insightful to discover that products are created by capitalistic system and not collaborative outcome of smart scientists and technologists. So shall we say all that the USSR invented (including the technology for first man in space) were communist inventions? Market created a system of selling, the defect being the sellers pocketing decent cut in the process of weaving on buyers. By this they degrade human intelligence and denigrate people. They also help consolidate regressive norms (TOI in this case being an example). iPhone is a clever example of something of value, our spiritual columnist cunningly avoids the kind of nonsense market brings to suck on people.

Despite the heading of this write up I am not trying to engage with any media. I buy newspapers on random (TOI is only one of them, not that others are much different), and make it a point to return the newspaper once read. If there are good columns I keep it to read again (it is rare these days). We live in a world where even bad publicity sells. Jain Bandhus can carry on with their debauched lives running profitable hereditary family business. Regards.