Is it an upset World Cup?

Well the way things are proceeding fancied teams are having a tough time look at Brazil (North Korea!!), Spain (what happened there?), Italy, England (must say was disappointed), France (really bad performance)…Germany probably was an exception and was clinical (despite absence of Ballack). Paraguay was impressive. This world cup is exceptionally noisy…well that adds to the fun. Some incidents are memorable in its irony like for instance Thierry expressing disbelief on being denied handball however best was when the commentator said as Maradona, the coach, picked up the ball from the sidelines “that is the first time Maradona handled the ball in fifa finals” just couldn’t help laughing. Good one that. Camera work has been high quality. Great work.

Bhopal unfolds after 26 years: Its amazing to see the unfolding of Bhopal tragedy, wonder what was media doing all these years?. These “revelation” only adds to criminal negligence by all the people at the helm of affairs. What makes the contrast terrible is how Americans are handling the oil spill. These big companies have gotten away with worst transgressions in Africa. I guess some life are cheap, it’s a matter of geography. Isn’t former honorable Chief Justice of India Ahmedi contempt on society?. All the people who gained from these and other deals have passed these tactics/benefits to the next generation, so you know what this young new India is all about. It is extending what is passed from the corrupt/power hungry elder generation (it’s also about loving the one’s family!!). Recognize where the next big lick is and wag your tail accordingly. The binge is now on being liberal and yes viciously secular (whatever that means) and if you missed that one take the boat that goes the other extreme. Market media is into balancing act so you are sure to get your bite and god saving attention. India is relatively peaceful or for that matter secular (whatever that means) not because of these macaques who shout (one rodent has even sneaked into Rajya Sabha recently with his big mouth, till recently the moron was making fun of young people through reality shows,whatever crap you do if it is market friendly then there is a easy take as modern, if you have a muslim name wonderful, clearly our young leaders watch too much TV!!) but because of traditional/cultural values passed on from generations around the country, that provides the resilience (of course there are regressive elements too but that shouldn’t be the reason to condemn the whole) and reference points.This blogger is not against discussion but it shouldn't be entertainment with small timers. These are serious matter and in depth understanding needed and not frivolous titillations, anyway Delhi based tail wagers are not competent for these. They could learn from BBC (except that Punjab is not Pooonjab!! Sorry dear Master it is too late to change for your convenience). I take strong exception against using victims who don't understand English by English channels as dummies for their purpose, the onus is on TV channels to provide them translation of proceedings, that is basic decency. I hope they are also paid.

Hundreds of Bhopal (using it as a metaphor for corruption) happens all the time around the country, you have to be cunning to gain from these (as the marketer would say “capitalizing the opportunities”) and then it is about consolidating one’s position by doing some “good work” also referred to as charity (O the joy of giving), cynics would call it brand building!!. This blogger isn’t much bothered about Corporate Social Responsibility but is very concerned how responsibly/legally and ethically they earn. Laws should be stricter and any transgression seriously dealt. India is also one of the very few countries that have not ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), other countries that has not ratified the treaty (that was adopted in 2003 and came into affect from 2005) include Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Italy (it’s been under Mister Berlusconi for a decade now). Let me quote a para under Criminalization and Law Enforcement (Chapter III, Articles 15-44):

Chapter III calls on States Parties to establish or maintain a series of specific criminal offences including not only long-established crimes such as various forms of bribery and embezzlement, but also conduct not already criminalized in many States, such as trading in official influence and other abuses of official functions. The broad range of ways in which corruption has manifested itself in different countries and the novelty of some of the offences pose serious legislative and constitutional challenges, a fact reflected in the decision of the Ad Hoc Committee to make some of the requirements either optional on the part of States Parties (“…shall consider adopting…”) or subject to domestic constitutional or other fundamental requirements (“…subject to its constitution and the fundamental principles of its legal system…”). Specific acts that States Parties must criminalize include active bribery (the offer or giving of an undue advantage) of a national, international or foreign public official, and passive bribery of a national public official and embezzlement of public funds. Other mandatory crimes include obstruction of justice, and the concealment, conversion or transfer of criminal proceeds (money laundering). Sanctions extend to those who participate in or attempt to commit corruption offences. The Convention goes thus beyond previous instruments of this kind that criminalize only basic forms of corruption. States are encouraged – but not required – to criminalize, inter alia, passive bribery of foreign and international public officials, trading in influence, abuse of function, illicit enrichment, private sector bribery and embezzlement, money laundering, and the concealment of illicit assets.

This time its Africa !!!!

The game begins at Madeba land

The place to be in for next few weeks is South Africa, and as audiences I would say Kerala is always exciting place to be in during the matches it is electrifying. Traditional supporter of Brazil and Argentina this time I am putting my money on an outsider England. Don’t know I am doing a blasphemy… yah guys why not England they look quite balanced, of course Spain is always a threat. So it is a goaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal for next few weeks

Travesty

It is a matter of shame, it just goes on to show how cheap life of common Indians are. So shouldn’t the gas victims take up arms or join the Naxals?. They have tried everything possible peacefully and it is clear that Indian state is not equipped to give justice nor it seems particularly bothered. This blogger believes that this case should be tried at the international level this is crime against humanity. Not only the criminal negligence by the company but the politicians who are involved in these as also the lack of justice for so many years.

Union carbide is now back as Dow chemicals and our policy makers have rolled out the red carpet- O the precious unscrupulous FDI (not the least by comrades in Bengal), it seems our life (and yes death too…cheap deaths) is dependent on it. And then there is a case for GDP that makes lot of people ecstatic. The moral of the story is if you swindle, swindle it big so that you are too precious to fail (Wall Street can teach more on this). You can poison and maim thousands of people for generations and still live like Anderson in villas on some US beach. I like most people are tired of this joke. The least they could have done was to atleast show that justice is being given but today’s verdict is a cruel joke , accentuated by the fact that this is the first conviction in 25years of struggle. Shame on Indian Judiciary.

Post Script: BP oil spill is such a catastrophe and gallons of oil is leaking every second causing significant damage to ecology but the CEO (fellow named Tony Hayward) after initially denying it as minor and then shirking responsibility is now using this precious time to come out with an ad trying to garner sympathy (the way he express his sadness should fetch him an Oscar). A seasoned marketer would say “that is capitalising opportunity this is in the nature of market”. What kind of scoundrels are these?

What a charming movie!!

I am just out of theater watching the movie Avatar, thought of blogging about it since I have an hour to surf. What an amazing movie. It so happened that the movie was being shown at PVR Gold, now I have absolutely no idea about these classifications only when I reached the theatre (quite far from where I stay) that I came to know it is super luxury class- the ticket costing almost thousand bucks !!!. I had such a shock, it took me moments to gather my senses then evaluated my options (this is the only theater that is showing this movie and so on) and decided to shell out the money, though quite reluctantly. The theatre itself was quite an experience the kind I don’t think I will forget in a hurry. Cozy sofas that stretch all the way, waiters waiting to take order from the menu placed and so on. Man it was some other world!!.

Coming to the movie, it is a stupendous effort. How do they do it?. How do they create these amazing worlds? I think the previous movie which left me astounded was almost two decades back: The Jurassic Park, I couldn’t believe what I saw (only Steven Spielberg could make that one. Richard Attenborugh was amazing presence, I am a big admirer of David Attenborugh too- incidentally there is a new program in Discovery channel every day at 8pm that i love so much...it is nothing short of incredible), James Cameron has extended that world o so beautifully. Amazing visual kept me spell bounded, the story too had lot of contemporary relevance ('shock and awe'...yah cud see that!!). Some dialogues stand out like when she says “mother earth doesn’t take side she only balances life”. Overall I loved this movie and will cherish for a long time

I would love to see the movie again but I guess the cost factor is a dampener. I could have seen this movie earlier but one thing or other came up, also I rarely go to crowded theaters and I was into traveling and so on (not that I was busy, I rarely am busy. Love it that way)

Where exactly is UN?

Israel has seriously flouted international laws and norms, and if UN doesn’t take any action then we are in for it. This could escalate into dangerous new level. Most importantly it will give legitimacy to fringe groups as happened after invasion of Iraq. What Israel has done is nothing but state terrorism and if international community doesn’t deal with situation in all its fairness then we can expect extreme elements to capitalize, and for a country like Turkey this is catastrophe. UN is expected to take stringent action at the earliest.

So aloofly precise and so fragilely proud...

On why Szymborska matters and matters so much…

I am quoting from part of the Nobel Prize speech by Wislawa Syzmborska that I thought was quite brilliant and very relevant to the contemporary times we live in…

I've mentioned inspiration. Contemporary poets answer evasively when asked what it is, and if it actually exists. It's not that they've never known the blessing of this inner impulse. It's just not easy to explain something to someone else that you don't understand yourself.

When I'm asked about this on occasion, I hedge the question too. But my answer is this: inspiration is not the exclusive privilege of poets or artists generally. There is, has been, and will always be a certain group of people whom inspiration visits. It's made up of all those who've consciously chosen their calling and do their job with love and imagination. It may include doctors, teachers, gardeners - and I could list a hundred more professions. Their work becomes one continuous adventure as long as they manage to keep discovering new challenges in it. Difficulties and setbacks never quell their curiosity. A swarm of new questions emerges from every problem they solve. Whatever inspiration is, it's born from a continuous "I don't know."

There aren't many such people. Most of the earth's inhabitants work to get by. They work because they have to. They didn't pick this or that kind of job out of passion; the circumstances of their lives did the choosing for them. Loveless work, boring work, work valued only because others haven't got even that much, however loveless and boring - this is one of the harshest human miseries. And there's no sign that coming centuries will produce any changes for the better as far as this goes.

And so, though I may deny poets their monopoly on inspiration, I still place them in a select group of Fortune's darlings.
At this point, though, certain doubts may arise in my audience. All sorts of torturers, dictators, fanatics, and demagogues struggling for power by way of a few loudly shouted slogans also enjoy their jobs, and they too perform their duties with inventive fervor. Well, yes, but they "know." They know, and whatever they know is enough for them once and for all. They don't want to find out about anything else, since that might diminish their arguments' force. And any knowledge that doesn't lead to new questions quickly dies out: it fails to maintain the temperature required for sustaining life. In the most extreme cases, cases well known from ancient and modern history, it even poses a lethal threat to society (emphasis mine).

This is why I value that little phrase "I don't know" so highly. It's small, but it flies on mighty wings. It expands our lives to include the spaces within us as well as those outer expanses in which our tiny Earth hangs suspended. If Isaac Newton had never said to himself "I don't know," the apples in his little orchard might have dropped to the ground like hailstones and at best he would have stooped to pick them up and gobble them with gusto. Had my compatriot Marie Curie said to herself "I don't know", she probably would have wound up teaching chemistry at some private high school for young ladies from good families, and would have ended her days performing this otherwise perfectly respectable job. But she kept on saying "I don't know," and these words led her, not just once but twice, to Stockholm, where restless, questing spirits are occasionally rewarded with the Nobel Prize.

Poets, if they're genuine, must also keep repeating "I don't know." Each poem marks an effort to answer this statement, but as soon as the final period hits the page, the poet begins to hesitate, starts to realize that this particular answer was pure makeshift that's absolutely inadequate to boot. So the poets keep on trying, and sooner or later the consecutive results of their self-dissatisfaction are clipped together with a giant paperclip by literary historians and called their "oeuvre" ...

I sometimes dream of situations that can't possibly come true. I audaciously imagine, for example, that I get a chance to chat with the Ecclesiastes, the author of that moving lament on the vanity of all human endeavors. I would bow very deeply before him, because he is, after all, one of the greatest poets, for me at least. That done, I would grab his hand. "'There's nothing new under the sun': that's what you wrote, Ecclesiastes. But you yourself were born new under the sun. And the poem you created is also new under the sun, since no one wrote it down before you. And all your readers are also new under the sun, since those who lived before you couldn't read your poem. And that cypress that you're sitting under hasn't been growing since the dawn of time. It came into being by way of another cypress similar to yours, but not exactly the same. And Ecclesiastes, I'd also like to ask you what new thing under the sun you're planning to work on now? A further supplement to the thoughts you've already expressed? Or maybe you're tempted to contradict some of them now? In your earlier work you mentioned joy - so what if it's fleeting? So maybe your new-under-the-sun poem will be about joy? Have you taken notes yet, do you have drafts? I doubt you'll say, 'I've written everything down, I've got nothing left to add.' There's no poet in the world who can say this, least of all a great poet like yourself.

(You can read the full text at Nobel Prize website- go to the link. The amazing pic of water lily was taken at recent visit to Coorg)

Wall Street and code of conduct !!

I came across this on the Net.

A fellow Ernie Paragallo was convicted last week, fined and sent to jail for two years (the maximum penalty) for starving and neglecting many of the 177 thoroughbred horses on his upstate New York facility. Judge (George J. Pulver Jr.) at Paragallo’s sentencing had this to say “Your moral compass is out of kilter and points you in improper directions…Your sense of integrity, your code of conduct, your perception of right and wrong was perhaps formed by your days on either mean streets or Wall Street.” (emphasis mine)

tragic...

Quite tragic, one of the worst accidents in Indian aviation history. Most of the victims are Keralites, don’t know when was the last time when so many keralites died like this. Quite a tough life when you work hard for years and decide to return with savings and end up like this. That compounds the tragedy for many people.

Condolences

Bairon Singh Shekhawat was quite a popular and respected leader, also known for his progressive interventions. At a personal level I recall bragging about having met him to kids in school. Quite saddened...

PS: quite a strange thing happened two days back, I have this breathing issue and as i got up late in the night I realized I was dreaming about meeting Mr. Shekhawat!!. (I often have dreams about childhood and spaceships...i guess that is quite common!!)

Talking about spooky happenings more than a decade back I wanted to buy Swiss knife (that multipurpose pocket knife), so I went to this exclusive shop in Connaught place. A beautiful contraption no doubt but unaffordable, disappointed I returned. Few days later I was sitting in the nearby park and lo somebody seem to have forgotten the very same Swiss knife I wanted to buy!!!. It was quite unbelievable. It is one of my favorite possessions and much used while I travel. Every time I look at it I do feel quite strange even now. I guess one of the coincidences that happen in life.

The tragedy in denial of ordinary

There are events that defy nature that is considered impossible, is that then miracle?. If it is impossible then how does it happen?. Clearly there must be some scientific explanation otherwise it is hoax. What is miracle now maybe explained later till then it is miracle. Or it could be that we create miracles since we want to feel the presence of superior force that can defy laws of nature thus indicating its whims to control these. Thus the creator and destroyer- the god. This I find horrendous and to have this as the basis of religion seems like arrogance to say the least. Since it denies the existence of ordinary, it denies small wonders. The extraordinary miracles of each life and nature are missed in this construction. This denial is then celebrated through stamping the nature and building edifices of human achievement over these. Everything becomes subsidiary (indeed exists) for human progress, it is like the planet is a mall for us to choose from. The alienation has begun.

It is quite clear that humans have created religion to justify their arrogance. Though they play the act of being subservient to supreme, what they are actually doing is serving their own conceptions. It is the ego that is playing supreme. And they construct huge monuments to preserve and edify these. Thus ego acquires halo of sacredness. Sociologists will find lots of functionalism in these gatherings but at the end of the day it is collective hallucinations, it is assertion of superego of human society. It has served socio-cultural function alright but what it has denied is immense. The loss to human conscious to significance of ordinary beauty of the surroundings is colossal. Religion is therefore incomplete since it is denying the smallness, it is denying ordinary.

In this partial world the arrogance of humans pupates into unchallenged bigger ideas of self (ofcourse as a servant of god) then the egos clash. The world becomes too small for these big egos they therefore take it to afterlife. Therefore these grand plans of destruction, this asserting of self as means of god’s will, this madness. When they resurrect their faith what they destroy is millions of small miracles. When they blast bombs they are destroying themselves too this they don’t understand since they have denied the nature, their very own origin. Their ego that constructed their god denies the understanding that it is nature that preserves and sustains this life. This understanding is too minor too simple for their exaggerated conceptions. Thus they deny part of themselves, destruction therefore becomes cannibalism. Every terrorist, every destroyer, is eating into his own self.

The issue now is youngsters are being sucked into this system without as much having an experience of life, without any awareness of self and surroundings, there is denial of choices. This is dangerous since what is being denied is core that defines individual life (the self and surrounding, intricate symbiotic connections) they are being denied the experience of miracles in ordinary. This has become acute recently since ordinary is slowly vanishing from our surroundings, we live trapped in colossal and make believe- the virtual. In the pursuit of grand even the idea of destruction is grander. If they could learn it from the diligence of as small a life as spider or an ant that there is so much to learn from nature and how insignificant we are in this vast universe then they may just pause a while. And the miracle may happen in that pause. A realization that millions of ordinary miracles surround us and that they can live and thrive very well without us or our juvenile constructions (not denying these may help in our own existential predicaments). It is time to appreciate the beauty of what has been dismissed for too long as ordinary. How about starting with an ordinary flower or an ordinary insect?

Thailand is slipping…

One of the most beautiful country and a favorite destination for many tourists around the world is slipping quite badly…hope it is not civil war that will be tragic. This blogger sincerely hopes and prays that they find peaceful solution.

Is your chocolate product of Fair trade?

You shouldn’t be surprised if your chocolate is a product of child labour. I happen to see this program on BBC the other day (they sometimes come out with some amazing programs). The cocoa that is majorily cultivated in West African region uses exploitative conditions. This program (Paul Kenayon-the reporter) traces how children are sold for labor and these cocoas finally end up as the raw material for huge conglomerates. ‘Fairtrade’ is the logo that was agreed upon to prevent these, after much reluctance from multi billion dollar companies. (A brief history: The controversy came to a head in 2001, when U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel and Sen. Tom Harkin introduced legislation mandating a labeling system for chocolate. The industry fought back, and a compromise was reached establishing a voluntary protocol by which chocolate companies would wean themselves from child labor, then certify that they had done so. The certification process would not involve labeling of products, but it would call for public reporting by African governments, third-party verification and poverty remediation by 2005). This situation still remains grim. So next time you have chocolate bar (these days shops are stacked with chocolate bars…looking at these is in itself amazing) check out for Fairtrade logo but also keep in mind that this logo in itself is no surety that the child labor is being used or not, as the program so effectively brings out. By the way any idea why region around the world that are rich in natural resources are inhabited by poorest people?. The MNCs tends to multiply their profit while the people go further down (you must see the deprivations in these regions, it is heartbreaking). This blogger is not into chocolate (I do buy one in case I am satisfied with a story I have written, which means it is rare!) but I guess one can live without chocolates. It doesn’t seem to worth it, definitely not over the tears of children.

Talking about child labour I think we Indians do have an unenviable record. Despite laws child labour is rampant. Child labour is used quite openly by garment industry (indeed right in the middle of Delhi in poshest of places-the fashion industry-children were being used in most exploitative conditions). I see child labour all the time while traveling, it need be added that the mid day meal scheme has been a brilliant conception and has attracted many children from poor families to schools.

Celebrating Tagore

This blogger was fortunate to be part of 150^th birth anniversary celebration at lawns of Ravindra Kalashetra the other day. It was morning well spent (I would have loved to see the complete program but due to demands of job I had to leave midway). You will get the amazing lyrics in tagore’s renditions if you hear it in Bengali, and yes one can feel the language if you know Hindi. This elderly lady’s song was absolutely mesmerizing, I also need to point out these kids here, their effort was brilliant. For more pictures visit photo blog…

Beloved Tagore

I cannot even explain how much I love Rabindranath Tagore. At one point I used to carry a thin copy of Gitanjali wherever I traveled. Those days I used to spent lots of time wandering the mountains of Himalayas. It is here I understood how tremendous this book is. It was enlightening. Much later I came across photos of some of the verses of Tagore in one of the libraries (I guess there is a copy in Sahitya Akademi Delhi, recently I saw it at Cubbon Park library too). It is a beautiful book and you can spend hours looking at . There are some amazing Black and white pictures. Read these enchanting lines of Tagore...with the pictures i took (i always wanted to do it!) 

  Let my doing nothing when I have nothing to do become untroubled in its depth of peace like the evening in seashore when the water is silent

I have scaled the peak and found no shelter in fame’s bleak and barren height. 

Lead me my guide, before the light fades, into the valley of quiet where life’s harvest mellows into golden wisdom

The tall grass sends waves of laughter to the sky in its flowers and I gaze upon the horizon

Earth, clamped into rock or flitting into the clouds; rapt in mediation in the silence of a ring of mountains or noisy with the roar of sleepless sea waves; you are beauty and abundance, terror and famine

Waves rise and fall The flowers blossom and fade 

And my heart yearns for its place At the feet of endless

Congratulation Mr Gill

people of this country are indebted to you...

Goldman Sachs: a case when the greed becomes too much for Capitalism!!

Imagine you go to bank and the “investment advisor” (I never dealt with them, since I don’t invest) gives you his valuable advice on how to go about investing the money that is lent to you, the bank in the meantime very much aware it will be difficult for you to repay and will eventually default. And on the other desk another part of the bank is putting money on you to fail. In the mortgage crisis that hit US millions lost all their savings and home but companies like Goldman Sachs earned huge profits (they bought securities from the firm, sold them to clients, and then bet against those same securities). Whatever euphemism they use this is gamble and the worst part is they are gambling on common people’s savings. An insider expert in BBC (as also many including one Mr Andrew Clark in Guardian) was quoted as saying this is a “normal practice in big organization”. Really!!. I thought ‘conflict of interest’ was another concept you come across in well written essays!!. Incidentally Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein calls his company ‘a machine” another euphemism for professionalism to obfuscate ethics, clearly. He argues that “there's no problem in selling clients a security that Goldman will then bet against, because that's the nature of the market”. Frankly the issue here is much more than Goldman Sach, it is whole nature of economy system as is being practiced and replicated all around the world.

Two references: one is a book by Michael Lewis “The Big Short” (read few things on the net) and second the documentary by Mike Moore “Capitalism: A love story” (finally I got the cd last week). Both these are apt in understanding the problems of corporates like Goldman Sachs and how societies end up paying for their greed. The shocking level they intrude into policy making (Goldman Sachs is well documented by Moore) and even have the clout to scuttle law making (if this could happen in US, just imagine how much vulnerable poorer societies around the world are). It is not a coincidence that powerful people always talk of removing regulations while poor queue up to elect government to regulate the country. Indeed many Corporates see democracy as a threat. The problem with capitalism is that it is a monster if it is not regulated. Capitalism arose from ethical context but when greed replaced ethical norms the system had already started to cannibalize. Therefore the paradox of unethical act but not illegal. It is becoming very much clear that only democracy can temper market greed. Incidentally Lewis (“The Big Short”) did point out that Goldman Sachs and other banks conspired to inflate the price of mortgage-backed securities well into 2007, even when they knew the true value was falling, only marking them down in value after their own hedging strategies were in place. And that top executives were largely clueless about the risks their organizations were taking.

It is not surprising that Church (et al Protestant ethics and Spirit of Capitalism-Max Weber) nor founders of market economy will find anything admirable about present nature of market functioning. One of the most neglected aspects of Adam Smith is the book “Moral Sentiment”. In the age of market hooliganism it is time to revisit his writings. Smith writes, "A great part of the capital of the country is kept out of the hands which were most likely to make a profitable and advantageous use of it, and thrown into those which were most likely to waste and destroy it". Smith saw the task of political economy as the pursuit of "two distinct objects": "first, to provide a plentiful revenue or subsistence for the people, or more properly to enable them to provide such a revenue or subsistence for themselves; and second, to supply the state or commonwealth with revenue sufficient for the public services". He acknowledged the importance of interventions on behalf of the poor "When the regulation is in favor of the workmen, it is always just and equitable; but it is sometimes otherwise when in favor of the masters." Smith was both a proponent of a plural institutional structure and a champion of social values that transcend the profit motive, in principle as well as in actual reach (some quotes taken from Amartya Sen).

The tragedy of the times we live in is that the best brains are going into managing greed, the economics is reduced to gamble at stock exchange (stock exchange is no longer place to raise capital for business). Perceptions are created on daily basis, companies plan for short term take, employee bonuses and perks are based on year end results. What incentive is there not to invest in something that makes money today but will likely implode three years from now?

Michael Lewis (the author of “The Big Short”) who left Wall Street at a time when the big investment banks were turning from partnerships into publicly-traded companies (which placed the ultimate risk on a new and remote participant- the public shareholder) writes “There was a very clear sense that we were behaving in ways with this money that we would not behave if it was our money.”. He further points “People on the trading floors could be sitting two desks away from each other, and not have the first freaking clue what the other guy was doing. That the places had become so big and so balkanized that nobody had a really clear overview of their own firms.” He concludes “It took four years before any serious reform passed through Congress after the crash of 1929, I think the endgame here, and what's likely to happen, is that these big firms are going to become much less profitable businesses and much less interesting places to work. Saner, duller. The political winds are so clearly blowing in the direction of changing the way these places operate”

I guess last few decades were about Wall Street making billions of dollars at the expense of Main Street. Time for change the Americans voted for is now. What happens in America will significantly impact the world.

a poem

Sublime submissions

Flowers are god’s way of answering prayers
short prayers, long prayers
fervent prayers, disconsolate prayers
prayers said in happiness
prayers said in gratitude
all precisely arranged
and acknowledged with care

(Dedicated to everyone involved in protection of environment)

Over to Cancun, Mexico

'People's Agreement' adopted by the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth at Cochabamba

This part of agreement document agreed at the summit (for full transcript visit http://pwccc.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/peoples-agreement)

Today, our Mother Earth is wounded and the future of humanity is in danger.

If global warming increases by more than 2 degrees Celsius, a situation that the “Copenhagen Accord” could lead to, there is a 50% probability that the damages caused to our Mother Earth will be completely irreversible. Between 20% and 30% of species would be in danger of disappearing. Large extensions of forest would be affected, droughts and floods would affect different regions of the planet, deserts would expand, and the melting of the polar ice caps and the glaciers in the Andes and Himalayas would worsen. Many island states would disappear, and Africa would suffer an increase in temperature of more than 3 degrees Celsius. Likewise, the production of food would diminish in the world, causing catastrophic impact on the survival of inhabitants from vast regions in the planet, and the number of people in the world suffering from hunger would increase dramatically, a figure that already exceeds 1.02 billion people.

The corporations and governments of the so-called “developed” countries, in complicity with a segment of the scientific community, have led us to discuss climate change as a problem limited to the rise in temperature without questioning the cause, which is the capitalist system.

We confront the terminal crisis of a civilizing model that is patriarchal and based on the submission and destruction of human beings and nature that accelerated since the industrial revolution.

The capitalist system has imposed on us a logic of competition, progress and limitless growth. This regime of production and consumption seeks profit without limits, separating human beings from nature and imposing a logic of domination upon nature, transforming everything into commodities: water, earth, the human genome, ancestral cultures, biodiversity, justice, ethics, the rights of peoples, and life itself.

Under capitalism, Mother Earth is converted into a source of raw materials, and human beings into consumers and a means of production, into people that are seen as valuable only for what they own, and not for what they are.

Capitalism requires a powerful military industry for its processes of accumulation and imposition of control over territories and natural resources, suppressing the resistance of the peoples. It is an imperialist system of colonization of the planet.

Humanity confronts a great dilemma: to continue on the path of capitalism, depredation, and death, or to choose the path of harmony with nature and respect for life.

It is imperative that we forge a new system that restores harmony with nature and among human beings. And in order for there to be balance with nature, there must first be equity among human beings. We propose to the peoples of the world the recovery, revalorization, and strengthening of the knowledge, wisdom, and ancestral practices of Indigenous Peoples, which are affirmed in the thought and practices of “Living Well,” recognizing Mother Earth as a living being with which we have an indivisible, interdependent, complementary and spiritual relationship. To face climate change, we must recognize Mother Earth as the source of life and forge a new system based on the principles of:

• harmony and balance among all and with all things;
• complementarity, solidarity, and equality;
• collective well-being and the satisfaction of the basic necessities of all;
• people in harmony with nature;
• recognition of human beings for what they are, not what they own;
• elimination of all forms of colonialism, imperialism and interventionism;
• peace among the peoples and with Mother Earth;

The model we support is not a model of limitless and destructive development. All countries need to produce the goods and services necessary to satisfy the fundamental needs of their populations, but by no means can they continue to follow the path of development that has led the richest countries to have an ecological footprint five times bigger than what the planet is able to support. Currently, the regenerative capacity of the planet has been already exceeded by more than 30 percent. If this pace of over-exploitation of our Mother Earth continues, we will need two planets by the year 2030. In an interdependent system in which human beings are only one component, it is not possible to recognize rights only to the human part without provoking an imbalance in the system as a whole. To guarantee human rights and to restore harmony with nature, it is necessary to effectively recognize and apply the rights of Mother Earth. For this purpose, we propose the attached project for the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth, in which it’s recorded that:

• The right to live and to exist;
• The right to be respected;
• The right to regenerate its bio-capacity and to continue it’s vital cycles and processes free of human alteration;
• The right to maintain their identity and integrity as differentiated beings, self-regulated and interrelated;
• The right to water as the source of life;
• The right to clean air;
• The right to comprehensive health;
• The right to be free of contamination and pollution, free of toxic and radioactive waste;
• The right to be free of alterations or modifications of it’s genetic structure in a manner that threatens it’s integrity or vital and healthy functioning;
• The right to prompt and full restoration for violations to the rights acknowledged in this Declaration caused by human activities.

A video by Greenpeace on Earth Day and a poem

Memories of trees

I have many memories of trees
the tree that spread its ecstatic branch
to greet me through me study window
after night of monsoon downpour.
The tree that refuse to speak
one summer afternoon
as I lay under its cool shade
contemplating my life.
Then there was this young tree
that sobbed in cemented pathway
despite the assurances from the city authorities.
I have so many memories of trees
that could fill into a book
and find its place in racks of books
that tell many more memories
of trees.
But my memories are always
about a tree
that decided to kill itself
to turn into
a monument one day.

(this poem will be removed to birds blog soon)

Voices heard at Cochabamba

"We are gathered here because the so-called developed countries didn't meet their obligation of establishing substantial commitments to cutting greenhouse gas emissions in Copenhagen," Morales said. "If those countries had respected the Kyoto Protocol and had agreed to substantially reduce the emissions inside their borders, this conference wouldn't be necessary."

"We are not part of the problem, we are part of the solution, we the indigenous peoples, the peasant communities, so let us offer you the solution because we are the ones suffering," said Justo Cruz, an Aymara indigenous leader. "Ordinary people are never allowed to talk, yet we are the ones paying the price for what the rich are doing to our planet, to our Mother Earth."

"It is not that it wasn't important what governments were discussing in Copenhagen but the problem is that it was discussed from a corporate perspective and here we are discussing it from an indigenous perspective we have a great deal of respect for Mother Earth, we have a direct accountability to her, something that developed nations seem not to have", says Vanessa Inarunekia, a Taino indigenous woman from Puerto Rico. "Human beings cannot survive without Mother Earth; Mother Earth can survive without us," she said.

Domingo Lechon, climate justice co-ordinator from Friends of the Earth Mexico, said: "Cochabamba represents a unique opportunity for popular demands to be adopted by governments. We will use this new people's agenda as a rallying call to mobilise movements of affected peoples, indigenous peoples, peasant farmers, trade unions and women to dismantle corporate power and force our governments into action."

All eyes on Cochabamba

World People's Summit on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, the alternative climate change summit, will be starting in Cochabamba, Bolivia, from tomorrow. Evo Morales the president of Bolivia (incidentally the first indigenous head of state) has initiated this summit. The main focus of the summit would be “Structural Change for Environment”. It be recalled that last year the UN general assembly approved Morales initiative of launching the International Mother Earth Day every 22nd of April to protect the rights of the Andean divinity, Pachamama (Mother Earth), and of "all living beings". Also the symbolism of the city Cochabamba shouldn’t be lost. Almost a decade back people of this city fought attempts to privatize water. The organizers have attempted an inclusive forum and invited all 192 member states and indigenous communities, civil society (unlike Copenhagen). About 15,000 people are expected, including representatives from 100 governments and 10 heads of state.

The growing synergies between an increasingly powerful global grassroots movement for climate justice and small but increasingly vocal states seeking people inspired alternative proposals is sought to be consolidated. These movements for climate justice represent an important alternative path to face the climate crisis.

The summit is intended to give voice to the world's poorest people, those most affected by climate change, and to make governments more aware of their plight. The main goal is to present draft proposals to the UN climate meeting due to be held in Mexico later this year.

Morales will also use the meeting to announce what could be the world's largest referendum, with up to 2 billion people being asked to vote on ways out of the climate crisis. Bolivia wants to create a UN charter of rights and to draft an action plan to set up an International Climate Justice Tribunal (this blogger is extremely excited about this plan. It definitely is the time for ICJT)

Says Quispean, an Aymara indigenous leader, who is attending the summit "According to some analysis, about 80% of the world's pollution comes from developed nations and harms, mostly, developing nations. So we feel we have to do something, we must be heard, we must be compensated". This blogger would read 'developed nations' as consumption and wasteful culture of societies (and individuals) wherever located.

"Bolivia's positioning on environmental issues provides a beacon of hope which we encourage other governments and local authorities to follow. Despite being economically challenged, Bolivia has rightfully and bravely stood up to the divide-and-rule tactics that have been deployed by rich industrialized countries,” said Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends of the Earth International.

For more on this summit please visit http://pwccc.wordpress.com/

Dealing with the Naxals (or the Maoists)

This blogger has been reading lots of reactions on the Net with regard to recent happening in Dantewada and so on. The problem with reactions in the net is that views are unedited (and so they can write such vicious things…it’s not about this issue it’s about anything around, nationally and internationally. There seems to be so much venom in the world that I have crossed the stage of nausea to amazement. Although majority of netizens do indulge in trash there are some amazing people and thought provoking views. The reason why reading these can be quite fulfilling), the views do get polarized most of the times. Forget netizens even in the parliament as also around the country there seem to be no single solution. BJP and CPM seem to be the only set of people who have no qualms about how to deal with Naxals. “Eliminate them” “sanitize the region” are some of the kind of words used. For a moment one would mistake it for punch line of some cockroach spray in the market.

The issue is no doubt complicated. I guess 60years on we have reached a tipping point, something radical has to be included and institutionalized in the understanding of development. Development may be about revenue generated for few and economic indicators for many but unless it is equitable and sustainable it will lead to these situations. Most importantly poor and marginalised cannot be taken for granted; the world has changed quite drastically in recent times. Medieval methods may not work. In recent times world seem to be evaluating other nations in terms of economic clout which in turn is being defined by “growth rate” like GDP, export, consumption pattern, industrial production and so on. This in turn leads to employment generation, comfort and consumption. Now that puts pressure on the governments, they are forced to maintain these “growth rate” and make the nation investment friendly. Impetus seems to be on short term measures and benefits.

There seems to be a vicious cycle that the world has got into. And unless an immediate effort not taken this blogger doesn’t really know where it will all lead to (I don’t want to sound pessimistic). Inequitable development finally ends with poor getting further marginalised and threatened (unsustainable development leads to environment paying the price). The government is forced to exploit the natural resources (India is one of the largest producers of mineral and ores and the revenue generated goes into billions) and thus the poor too get exploited. It is inbuilt in such systems. There can be pressure groups that protest for poor, for environment, but at the end of the day government will have to show the “growth rate” (indeed the policy makers were proud that India was able to maintain steady growth despite financial crisis effecting the world). Increasing chasms in the societies around the world is now turning to surrealism. The incredibly rich and incredibly poor looks as if are aliens and the world is getting polarized not only at material level but at the level of incredulity. So malls are so overstocked with food and children die of malnutrition. Since I travel a lot the sights/experiences in recent times have severely shaken my senses, it wasn’t so acute and rampant a decade back. This not to deny the fact that more people have benefited materially in recent times around the country than few decades back, the symbols of prosperity is widespread.

Sometime back the French set up a committee to replace these definitions of development (members included Stiglitz and Sen) they don’t seem to have succeeded. If the world has to exist for market then we are really in for something nasty, the affects are getting compounded at an exponential rate (to start with: the whole idea of some brilliant people working to create amazing products and then leaving it to cretins to sell it assuming that the buyers-that is society- consist of juveniles is in itself incredibly rotten). There is a fake world being created that live on exaggerations and perceptions. Seeing societies as potential customers, seeing the world as market…these are the worldview that seems to have started to dominate the understanding in recent times. They are the people who seem to be influencing policy makers. Frankly I find it difficult to blame the politicians…they too are victims of this vicious cycle. This blogger requests the world community to come out with a system, or indicators that balances this vicious nature of market onslaught. It is having a devastating affect in poorer societies.

Indian government (and this true for most developing societies) will have to put high premium on natural resources and products arising from these. The socio-cultural cost is heavy and should be included. Steve jobs and Bill gates (to take some popular examples) are billionaires because of their ideas, skills and talents. But when you look at rich people in developing societies most seem to be rich because of natural resources (that also includes “property developers” -they were the ones who were behind SEZs), they are necessarily the product of corruption and nepotism, it’s about manipulations. Not denying that it does require talent!. The companies that make money exploiting natural resources will have to pay back to society. It is criminal lack on the part of successive governments that these have been kept as lucrative ventures, it is about rampant corruption. This the main reason why big industrialists over the decades have shifted to these easy opportunities instead of keeping themselves competitive by pumping money into R&D and so on (compare this with countries like Japan, Germany or Korea). Many of these millionaires have become like mafia and with this easy money have developed enormous political clout -take the case of Karnataka the place this blogger is based. It is an extension of feudalism that is being supported and perpetrated by economy driven corrupt system. So Bill Gates will spend his millions on philanthropy while Bellary brothers will make obscene display to temples and even have the audacity to threaten the elected government. This is the difference. The problem is some get huge money without going through the process thus are still primitive. Market seems to encourage these atavisms, the caveman’s primitive instinct to acquire. Latest technologies are used as aids to perpetuate these. Bellary brothers (they are only a small example, there are hundreds and thousands of them) know how lucky they are. Luck here is not providential. It’s about exploiting nature, corrupting people. Now you multiple this situations few thousand times and you will understand why there are Naxals and Maoists in places rich in natural resources, and why poor people live in mineral rich land get poorer. Add to this consumption oriented middle class and their hypocrisies. And then the free media to serve them.

To solve the issue of naxalism needs compassion. Compassion doesn’t come in short term packages they come from understanding livelihood needs and challenges people face. Tribals wouldn’t have deviated to Maoists if they had choices. This blogger expects government to deal with the violent element in the region severely (not to expect criminal elements in the groups is a mistake) but in the meantime open a channel for dialogue without any preconditions. There could be peace groups created through intellectuals/tribal activists/respected people from the region (like for instance ULFA issue was sought to be mitigated with help of likes of Indira Goswami and so on). This will have to be dealt innovatively.