JULY 2012 `25 An MBD Publication RNI No.: 23870/72
D E M O C R A T I C
W O R L D
THE DOLE DEBATE
SHOULD THE CENTRE SLASH SPECIAL SOPS? PAGE 26
REEL LIFE
TOM ALTER TALKS OF HIS CRAFT, BOLLYWOOD PAGE 44
SOCIAL AGENDA
GOT AN IDEA? PASTE IT ONLINE TO SEE IF IT’S WORTH YOUR WHILE PAGE 18
The
Debonair
Man PLUS:
WAREHOUSE
LOOKING BACK
Articulate, contrarian and never boring, Vinod Mehta is a dynamic editor PAGE 12
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EDIT ORIAL SONICA MALHOTRA KANDHARI | editorial@democraticworld.in
Listening to the Inner Voice EVERY open space, especially a vulnerable and pre-
cious one, requires a gatekeeper; to keep those corrupt at bay, and people within, alert and free. So should the Fourth Estate, especially in this democracy QUOTE ON of ours where it acts as a mouthpiece for million—at DEMOCRACY least Justice Markandey Katju believes so. Without delving deep into the politics of the issue, a recently televised debate did bring to my mind one of the more voluble journalists of India, Vinod Mehta. Mehta is a prominent proponent of self-regulation within the space. He does not want statutory regulations clamping the freedom of speech, rather journalists using their prudence, discretion to lead them—he has always been led by the two. To Mehta’s credit, he has never minced his words nor compromised with the truth—at least, what he considered to be true. For those who have not read his book (Lucknow Boy), do. Not only for its English, which is crisp. Or for its scandals—if you have seen enough television or read newspapers, you are familVINOD MEHTA: “Democracy is in trouble iar with most of them. Read the book for its style— all over the world. Should which is deliciously irreverent and honest. He is also we abandon it? No! There opinionated and by Lord, he knows it. But he does may be things in it that not beg you to believe him and that simply makes does not work, but the him irresistible. system in totality is Mehta’s career has spanned over four decades and indispensable.” within it he has edited a girly mag, revived failing newspapers, written books, has been wooed and sacked by owners, and has mentored some of the big-
gest names in Indian journalism—Tarun Tejpal of Tehelka and Manu Joseph of Open. At present, Mehta is a mellower version of his older self. His answers come after long pauses, and he is actually fairly guarded in some of what he says! But the old spark is kindled when you talk of matters close to his heart. What is admirable about him is his transparency; his gaze is as direct when turned upon himself as it is on others. And he is not afraid of brick-bats. In fact, as a journalist, he embraces them. His interview made me think how simple the Katju debate would have been, had all of us learnt to be honest to ourselves and listened to our inner voices or conscience (call it what you will). Read Mr Mehta’s story on Page 12— like him or not, I believe you won’t be able to simply ignore him. As for our other sections, we spoke to Tom Alter, yet another man who does not believe in mincing his words. Alter is a wonderfully optimistic actor whose faith in his profession and colleagues, and his experiences and anecdotes on Bollywood make for an interesting read. Do let us know what you think about the issue as your comments are always eagerly awaited.
JULY 2012
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TOC
DIPAK SANGHAVI FOLLOWED HIS BUSINESS CANNY TO GIVE A TANGY KICK TO HIS FAMILY FIRM PAGE24
PICKLED STORY
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PHOTO BY SUBHOJIT PAUL
TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S
12 JOHN ELLIOTT
COVER STORY
32 | ROYALS AND REPUBLICANS Political
12 | Straight from the Newsroom Meet the articulate,
horse-trading or pure dynastic ruling—which is the way to be?
never boring and dynamic editor, Vinod Mehta
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22 | BETWEEN TOURISM AND NATIONALISM How Raj Ghat and Gandhi’s memory refuses to fade
30 ISSUE
26 | THE DOLE OR DON’T DEBATE:
Is giving out subsidy the real way forward? Experts debate... FOREIGN DESPATCHES
10 | PRASANT SATAPATHY
44 REEL LIFE
44 | At the ‘Alter’of Acting In
The message is there under layers of music, action replays, tears and tense drama... REGULARS
conversation with thespian, dramatist, director and writer Tom Alter
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DEAR EDITOR, DW PRESENTS A FRESH OUTLOOK TOWARDS DAILY NEWS. I ESPECIALLY LIKE ITS ISSUE SECTION, BECAUSE IT OFFERS ME THE EXPERTS’ VIEWS ON A TOPIC IN LATPERSON’S LANGUAGE—SIMPLE AND LUCID. I CONGRATULATE THE EDITORIAL TEAM FOR BRINGING OUT A MAGAZINE OF SUCH EXCELLENT QUALITY! AM
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Alok Kashyap
Democratic World is a monthly magazine published and printed by M Gulab Singh & Sons Pvt Ltd (a unit of MBD Group). It is published at Gulab Bhawan, 6, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110002, India and printed at Perfect Printers, Gulab Bhawan, 6, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110002, India. The magazine is edited by Dr Chander Trikha, Gulab Bhawan, 6, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi110002, India. Material in this publication may not be reproduced in any form without the written permission of M Gulab Singh & Sons Pvt Ltd. Editorial opinions expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of M Gulab Singh & Sons Pvt Ltd and M Gulab Singh & Sons Pvt Ltd does not take responsibility for the advertising content, content obtained from third parties and views expressed by any independent author/contributor. (M Gulab Singh & Sons Pvt Ltd, Gulab Bhawan, 6, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110002).
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ANONYMOUS INDIA
“If they won’t let us dream, we won’t let them sleep”
THEY SAID IT
UPtoDATE Petrol prices hit a new high, with a hike of `7.50 Citizens feel the heat as the oil hike hits hard
`7.50 a litre in May, leading to furore among automibile owners in all metros. The hike was inevitable as the rupee fell a record life low of `56 per dollar in May. State-owned oil companies decided to raise petrol prices by `6.28 per litre excluding local sales tax and VAT. With the taxes, the hike came to `7.50 per litre. Prior to the hike, petrol costs in the national capital was `65.64 a litre. Currently, it costs `70.24 per litre. Already, oil companies have informed the government about their need to increase the petrol prices by `4 at least. POLITICS \\ Petrol prices were increased by
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The last petrol price hike happened in November 2011even though the Centre had ‘decontrolled’ petrol prices in June 2010. The price of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas were also raise in June 2011. Stateowned oil firms lost a total sum of `4,860 crore on petrol sales at the end of the 2012 fiscal. Even after the price hike they are losing around `6.28 per litre on petrol. The petrol rates in various cities after the hike are: Delhi—`70.24 per litre; Mumbai—`76.45; Kolkata—`75.81 and in Chennai it is to be `75.40. Inflation also rose 7.55 per cent in May because of the rising prices of the petrol and vegetables.
7.55
per cent (approx) rise in inflation was seen due to the petrol hike
up-to-date
FROM AROUND THE WORLD //
Vishy Checkmates for the Fifth Time SPORTS \\ Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand beat
Nine found dead in Vizag Steel Plant Mishap Government orders probe MISHAP \\ A major explosion and fire broke out at the state-owned Visakhapatnam
Steel Plant killing around 15 people. According to plant sources, the explosion occurred at the oxygen control unit near the steel melting shop at the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited’s plant. While the cause of the explosion was not made clear, it was indicated that the blast could have been due to a technical ‘glitch’ at the unit and due to abnormal build-up of pressure within the unit. Nine people were declared dead on the spot and approximately 15 more people were injured in the accident. Six people were declared dead on the site, while three died on their way to the steel plant’s general hospital. Andhra CM N. Kiran Kumar Reddy expressed his “shock and anguish” over the matter and ordered an inquiry under the Factory Act. The joint chief inspector of factories will conduct the inquiry while the director of factories were also asked to look into the matter, according to Information and Public Relations Commissioner, R.V. Chandravadan.
challenger Boris Gelfand of Israel in a nail-biting tie-breaker to win the World Chess Championships for the fifth time since 2007. Anand won the second game, and drew the other three, to win the title at the State Tretyakov Gallery. The finale ended 2.5-1.5 in Anand’s favour after a 6-6 deadlock in 12 games. This victory means that Anand will keep his crown till 2014, when the next World Championship will be held. “The match was so even that I had no sense of what shape the tiebreak would take. Right now the only feeling to have is relief. I am too tense to be happy, I am relieved,” Anand said in the post-match conference. The King had won his first world title in 2000 before winning three in a row in 2007, 2008 and 2010. Anand will get (approx) $1.4 million, 55 per cent of the total prize fund of $2.55 million, while Gelfand will get the remaining amount.
CHESS KING
DEMISE
Legend Mehdi Hassan dies: Ghazal maestro who lent his voice to Patta Patta Boota Boota and Kab Ke Bichhare expired in June at the age of 84 due to multiple organ failure. The India-born, Pakistani Ghazal singer had been admitted to the Agha Khan Hospital, Karachi, and was kept on a ventilator. JULY 2012
DEMOCRATIC WORLD
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up-to-date
\\ FROM AROUND THE WORLD
2012 Winners The King and Queen of the Clay Court Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova, Rafael Nadal are the French Open Champions—2012 SPORTS \\ ‘King of clay’ Rafael Nadal and
‘comeback queen’ Maria Sharapova were crowned the French Open Champions in June. This is Rafael Nadal's seventh French Open title as he defeated the World No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in a match that lasted for 50 minutes. Maria Sharapova who was sidelined in 2008 after an injury to her right shoulder beat surprise finalist Sara Errani of Italy 6-3, 6-2, to win her first French Open and become the tenth woman with a career Grand Slam. Nadal overpowered his opponent with his terrific groundstrokes. Djokovic who fought bravely lost his serve twice in the nine games played, while Nadal gave away only three points of his own delivery. There was a brief shower which threatened to drive players off the court during the fourth set, when the score was standing at 5-4 to Nadal.
As Nadal went on a rampage and kept getting closer to the title as the crowd cheered the opponent, with the hope that they might be able to enjoy the fifth set showdown. Djokovic responded to the cheering crowd by playing more and more aggressively, trying to dictate points with his forehand, but he could not stop Nadal from bringing up the match point and finally winning the title. Nadal has won seven out of his eight French Open Championships, losing only one time to Robin Soderling. The Spanish Matador came back with vengeance in 2010, defeating Soderling 6–4, 6–2, 6–4 to win the French Open. His 2012 victory at Roland Garros marked the second time (2008) that Nadal had won the French Open without dropping a single set. The 25-year-old Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova’s future suddenly came in doubt after the shoulder surgery which kept
“I am speechless. It has been such a journey for me to get to this stage”— Sharapova
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her out of the courtyards for a long time. Sharapova won her first Grand Slam—The Wimbledon—at the age of 17. At the age of 18 she became the world No.1, when she turned 19 she won the US Open Championship and at 20 she was the Australian Open Champion. But after the 2008 injury her rank fell to 126. She did not play any matches from August 2008 till May 2009. In the little French that she had learnt in three months while she was away from her practice, Sharapova said, “It is a wonderful moment in my career.” She then switched to English and said, “I am speechless. It has been such a journey for me to get to this stage.” With a rebuilt shoulder she whipped big serves. Sharapova’s forehands and backhands fell right on line. Moving beautifully on the red surface she beat her Italian opponent and won her first French Open Title ever. The Russian star is a contender to carry the Russian Flag at the opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympic Games.
up-to-date
FROM AROUND THE WORLD //
&
SALT PEPPER
INTERNATIONAL
Desi touch in Google Science Fair SCIENCE \\ Three Indian
school students have made it to the final 15 at the Google Science Fair (GSF) 2012, a competition that encourages young minds to innovate and change our world. The three contestants are Rohit Fenn, 16, from Bethany High School, Raghavendra Ramachanderan, 17, from St John’s
International Residential School (both from Bengaluru) and the youngest candidate Sumit Singh Yadav, 14, from Lucknow Public School, Lucknow. This year, about 16 Indians were selected for the GSF and three made it to the grand finale which would be held mid-July in California. The grand prize is
$100,000 and a trip to the Galapagos Islands, which are a part of continental Ecuador. The select group of 15 were picked from thousands of entries received by Google from 100 countries. Contestants between 13 and 18 years had to submit a 20-slide presentation or a twominute YouTube video.
AS KKR FINALLY WINS THE IPLT20, FANATICS GO BONKERS...
“My tough frıend Jay who saw the 5 years thru wıth a smıle...and Juhı who dıdn’t stop prayıng..ever” Shah Rukh Khan | Actor
Pranab Mukherjee is UPA’s Presidential candidate
“kkr had said they
would give kolkata a team that could win them the ipl. they did.” Harsha Bhogle | Cricket Expert
Mister Popularity: The latest supporter of Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s presidential bid has been BJP’s Maneka Gandhi
POLITICS \\ Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was named the UPA’s
presidential candidate last month. The 77-year-old veteran politician’s name was announced by Congress president Sonia Gandhi at a meeting of Congress leaders and its partners DMK, RLD, NCP, NC and IUML. The decision came after a lot of speculation and chaos. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav gave a blow to the Congress after rejecting the proposed Presidential candidates and giving their support to Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. While BJP was busy garnering support for PA Sangma, the Samajwadi Party minutes after the announcement of Pranab Da’s candidature expressed their undisputed support towards him. He gave in his resignation on June 26 and said that it was an “emotional moment” for him. The two presidential candidates have filed in their nominations, however with all the support Pranab Da’s getting the route to the Rashtrapati Bhawan seems like a cakewalk for him.
“and so IPL5 draws to a close. fantastic season by KKR. congratulations to gautam, @iamsrk , juhi & jay mehta. superb cricket, super spirit.” Rahul Bose | Actor
“The most consistent team of the season lifts the trophy. It’s been a really long but worth all the wait. Well done, KKR. Kudos!” Aakash Chopra | Former Cricketer
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foreign despatches \\ NOTES FROM THE DIA SPOR A
PRASANT SATAPATHY Kabul, Afghanistan
The message is there under layers of music, action replays, tears and tense drama” PRASANT SATAPATHY: To you, it could be the ‘idiot box’. But to me, growing up in a village (approximately) four kilometres off the coast of Balasore, Orissa, it was so much more. I first heard of a device called television while I was in school, as we read about it in class; about television’s history, its first programmes, etc. I remember being smitten by the box that ran on electricity—which was another wonder. The bulb and ceiling fan were alien devices that were not a part of my growing up years. Since my home also was half-a-kilometre from the sea shore, I did not care much about artificial coolers. I got to live in the ‘lap of luxury’ from 1988 when I joined my elder brother in Mizoram, simply put, there we had electricity. My elder brother was a professor of political studies at North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU). I was depended on him for my further studies. Though I was a humanities student, my brother’s association with NEHU enabled me to get into the university’s electronics department where I completed my diploma. Growing up without electricity, it was ironical that I took up electronics as a topic of specialisation. Perhaps that was the reason why I did what I did, in order to fill a gap left in my childhood. My diploma in electronics got me a step closer to my dream of eventually doing something in the television and media industry. At that time I did not know what I was meant to do exactly. But I knew that I was in love with the medium. It was this conviction which made me appear for tests for the Film and Television Institution, (FTII) Pune. There I concentrated on television, documentary and film making courses. Most of my life I may have spoken Oriya, but I have always taken the effort to learn new languages. In Mizoram, I learnt Mizo Twang and much later, made two documentaries in that language. I have loved challenges—if they made it sound hard, I had to do it.
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PRASANT SATAPATHY is
a Indian director awarded The Doordarshan National Award–2004 as the Best documentary producer of the year for Beyond Rainbows which was a tribute to Dr CV Raman, on the occasion of International Celebration of 75 Years of Raman Effect. Orissa’s Satapathy is the first Indian to direct television serials for Afghan television in their local language, Dari. A native of Madanapur in Balasore, Satapathy recently finished shooting of two serials Palwasha (rays of rising sun) and Khooshi (a serial based on family planning). Palwasha, comprising 20 episodes each of 30 minutes is being telecast through Ariana TV in Afghanistan, Khooshi with 12 episodes, will go on air soon. He left India and joined as director of video department in an international media NGO with its headquarters in Paris, France, in July 2004
My admission into FTII was the final stop towards a fulfilled career in media and journalism. I loved the two main types of programmes that were shown on television—documentaries and teleserials. The first teleserial that I ever watched was Kachche Dhoop, directed by Amol Palekar. It which to be aired on Sunday mornings between 10am and 11am. In 1995, I entered the hallowed halls of Doordarshan. For most students it would have been a dream job. To me it was fruition of all my hard work, dreams, aspirations—it was a journey which began in Madanapore and ended in the capital of the country. There I was the producer and concept in-charge. I had arrived. Soon my colleague and I were commissioned to start DD Sports. Albeit I was not interested in sports, I took it up as a challenge. As I have said before—if it seems impossible then I love to take it on. I took the concept of a sports channel further. I incorporated new ideas—such as India’s first-ever morning aerobic and exercise programme. It became a rage and completed 150 episodes. It was in that programme that I introduced a relatively unknown model called Neha Dhupia as the anchor. She later went on to win the Miss India crown and became a Hindi film heroine. Though Doordarshan was great after a while I started to feel restless there. The work was becoming easier, predictable and there were less and less daily challenges. What I could do there, I had done. I had successfully launched a sports channel, I had several documentaries to my credit and had risen through the ranks.
foreign despatches NOTES FROM THE DIA SPOR A //
“How would I convince my father? I had the cushiest job in Doordarshan. I was dreaming of a new beginning in a war-torn nation. I took the easy way out—I lied”
That was when I saw two advertisements—one of them asking for camera experts for a non-government organisation called Aina Media and Culture Centre. The centre endeavoured to strengthen civil society through education and empowerment of women and children. It also trained men and women in communication and information skills. It was fascinating to note that National Geographic Fellow and worldrenowned photojournalist, Reza Deghati, was the man behind Aina. The minute I saw the advertisement, I knew this was just the challenge I was seeking. But there was a problem. How would I convince my father? I had the cushiest job in Doordarshan. And there I was, dreaming of Afghanistan and making a new beginning in a war-torn nation. I took the easy way out—I lied. I informed my father that I was being sent off on an assignment and would be back in a matter of days. I have often regretted the lie—even though my father is rather proud of my choice today—but never the decision to pack up and go. Because Aina has been the biggest adventure that I have ever had. Aina began operations in Kabul exactly three days after the Taliban regime fell and till date, it has trained some 1,000 women and men in media and communication skills. I believe that we have been fortunate enough that more than 90 per cent of our employees have found meaningful employment. The organisation also runs eight publications—two for women and one for children. We regularly shoot documentaries and short feature films. One of our short features produced by an all-female team (a first in Afghanistan) was nominated for an Emmy in 2005. My first assignment in Aina was to train apprentices in video photography. I remember when for the first time an all-women camera crew visited a rural area to film, there was a mild furore. But it all died away as they became more and more familiar with the sight of us. My trainees and I meant business. The team of women were dedicated to their tasks. As time passed, and I became more involved in Aina’s functions, my colleagues encouraged me to use my expertise—direct teleserials in this country. Before I embark on that story, a little needs to be
said about Afghan people. Irrespective of which part of the country they may come from—all love a good cry. That is why Bollywood and Indian television serials have such a presence in that country. They adore the good-versus-evil theme. To them, a family is equally important. They love the exaggerated rituals, rows, drama and joy of Indian television and the silver screen. So, my team and I conceptualised the first teleserial as a family drama. The core subject of women emancipation is a hard story to narrate in any patriarchal society—it was doubly difficult in Afghanistan. We coated the bitter pill with laughter—my team and I decided to make a comedy. We thought about using the struggle of a woman doctor to drive home the point of emancipation among male and female viewers subtlely. People always ask me whether it is very difficult to work in Aghanistan—I say a yes and a no. Language poses a problem. I was not familiar with the several dialects of the country as I am now. At the beginning the citizens were wary of strangers like me. And then, there were the ‘difficult’ people. But such problems exist everywhere—I would have faced them all over the world. Instead of mulling over the negatives, one needs to see beyond; lessons that this war-torn country offers to everyone willing to lend a sympathetic ear. It is inspirational to see people fight for their freedom of expression every day. The stories inspired me to write my latest teleserial— Palwasha, which means the sun’s first rays. I thought of it laying on my bed, watching the rising sun and hearing the day’s first azan. Granted, making a teleserial in Afghanistan is not easy. One needs to be mindful of religious sensitivities. Despite problems when we get the viewers’ endorsement—it is that much sweeter. And Palwasha, the story of a woman who rises to be a lawyer fighting for women’s rights, has received that stamp of approval. We have not dumped a ‘dull story’ on our viewers. The story is about the need to trust a legal system based on Shariat and Quran laws. Like Indians, Afghans too resort to kangaroo courts for quicker settlement of local matters. Our message is hidden under layers of masala— music, action replays, reverberating dialogues, tears and tense drama. As I said earlier, Afghans love a good cry. So far, Palwasha has been aired in Dari and Pashto with 40 per cent of the funding coming in from Usaid. We have cast Mumbai-based actor Sonal Udeshi in the main role. We also flew in our technical, make-up and sound teams from Mumbai. The popularity of the three teleserials produced and directed by us has taken us by surprise. Only 10 to 15 per cent of Afghanistan has electricity being produced from hydroelectric power. For those who don’t have supply, homes and TVs are run by diesel generators. Yet, Kabul stops when these serials come on air. (As told to Rohini Banerjee)
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cover story
Straight from the News Room
\\ THE DEBONAIR MAN
PHOTOGRAPHS BY SUBHOJIT PAUL IMAGING BY SUNEESH K
Editor and author Vinod Mehta has been wooed and abandoned with equal aplomb by publishing houses. However, the man himself, seems unfazed by the adulation and brickbats and would rather concentrate on the tasks at hand THERE ARE DIFFICULT TASKS and then, there is writing this story. If it takes gumption to write about authors, I wonder what it takes to write about a man who has, in his decades-long career, defined Indian journalistic writing and style—at least solid chunks of it. How do you start when the person in question has already bared his soul over 305 pages (his memoir remains suitably ‘unappreciated’ by personalities mentioned in it). How do you add that ‘extra bit’ when he has already done it all. He has taken the world of print media hostage on paper and made its players squirm, so much that they had to call the book boring. Well for a start, take cue from the author himself—devote less time to what people might say, more to the task at hand, and if you can, enjoy the process in the meantime. Vinod Mehta needs little introduction. He has founded or established numerous newspapers and magazines such as The Sunday Observer, India’s first Sunday newspaper; The Indian Post, India’s first mainstream newspaper that devoted space to arts and culture, The Independent and The Pioneer’s Delhi edition. He has been associated with the Debonair, a rather confusing answer to the Playboy with its mix of smut and substance. Before he sort of retired, Mehta was at the helm of Outlook and unearthed some of the biggest headlines, scams and scandals of the past decade. His life does raise eyebrows. And it is downright inspirational—though we get a feeling that he would be greatly disturbed if he knew that. Mehta was talented (or stubborn) enough to jump into the world of print media in his mid-thirties and made a stunning success of it. His foray into journalism was seemingly accidental. As he writes in Lucknow Boy, his memoir, (though he was reluctant to call it such as only those who do great things should be allowed to write one), “Working in an advertising agency had one distinct advantage. It was a ten-to-five job with weekends free. I had plenty of time on my hands, and an East Indian secretary, Sylvie, who was more than willing to do my private typing. Drinking Hercules rum (`16 a bottle) and relishing home-cooked Goan food provided by my friend Roland Rocha, I explored Bombay on foot, bus, train and occasionally taxi. After I managed to acquaint myself with the Parsis and their pigeon-stained statues, I followed my natural bent, surveying Bombay’s low life.” These observations led to Mehta’s first book—Bombay; A Private View. In the book, an acquaintance Khushwant Singh had a full chapter. Allegedly, Mehta met Singh (who he declares to be the best editor in India) during an interview. Mehta asked
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Singh about what he ‘did’ in England. Singh’s replied, he ‘did women, cheese and wine’. It was an auspicious start to a long, professional and personal relationship. Mehta calls himself a ‘dreadful copywriter’. To many he is a good writer and a sharp journalist and possibly one of the greatest editors of India. DW looks at Vinod Mehta—his traits which make him so alive, opinionated and an inspiration. Here is the good and the relatively worse bits of the career of this Lucknow boy.
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The Good
\\ THE DEBONAIR MAN
GROUND-BREAKER, CHANGE-MAKER; “If life could be divided into chapters the most exciting bit would be launching The Sunday Observer. The idea of a Sunday newspaper was one that no one had attempted before. We had the feeling that we were breaking new ground—exciting! Did we know it would work? Of course not! No editor or proprietor knows for certain if an idea would work. And in the print media world ‘working out’ does not mean critical success alone. It should make market sense, attract advertisements. But, we were ready and willing to give it our best shot,” says Mehta. This is what sets Mehta apart; his willingness to give everything his best shot. A Sunday paper, a girly mag, insisting upon an arts and culture page when people said it was a bad idea, think it would not work? Challenge accepted. His most intriguing endeavour, however, was the risque Debonair (1973). Surprisingly, Mehta’s Debonair days are also his most ‘difficult’. “The idea of semi-clad women on the centre fold was unthinkable. My biggest challenge was getting models. I believe that a majority of the photographs carried in those eight years were generally pretty awful, not because of the way they
were shot, but because the women were pretty awful-looking. Sometimes we would get lucky and feature Katie Mirza, who had worked for Playboy before.” Mehta was, and remains, a master of packaging. He has successfully launched products that have a distinct freshness. “His endeavours had the right fine balance of political news, current affairs, international issues, opinion columns, film, sports and trivia and even sex,” adds BBC journalist Rajesh Joshi, while talking about his former boss in Outlook. Mehta’s first break at Debonair came when the Nawab of Pataudi agreed to be interviewed by him. “Like Playboy, Debonair had an interview section which spread over eight pages. But the magazine had such a sleazy reputation that most people would say an emphatic no. I wrote to the Nawab who was in Bombay and he agreed. Once people saw the treatment we had given to the story, it became a little easier to get the next person.” Easier but never easy. “People had a predisposed notion of what we had to offer. Serious journalists refused to acknowledge Debonair as a proper magazine. As for me, the women we featured were a part of the
Rajesh Joshi | Journalist
An Inspiration
I
have attended some of the most interesting editorial meetings of my life at the Outlook. On Mondays we would huddle around VM (Vinod Mehta) and correspondents would present their ideas, while VM would listen without apparent interest, slouched in his seat. I remember that apart from the Outlook, VM always kept a fresh copy of India Today on his table. On one such Monday, we were all brainstorming over a proposed cover story on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). VM was not kicked by any of the ideas. I suggested that we take a look at how RSS has penetrated all walks of life in this country. VM sat up straight and licked his lips (he would do so whenever excited about an idea). He said, “That will work!” He came up with brilliant cover ideas, sometimes stunning us with his editorial instinct and vision. RAJESH GUPTA, But he was equally quick to acknowledge BBC Journalist others. VM hired me for Outlook not because I wrote brilliant English, but because I could break stories. He knew what each person was capable of. I had never worked for any English-language publication before joining Outlook; I was working for Jansatta. I still remember my first interaction with him. “How confident are you about your English?” he asked in the
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first few seconds. “I am not confident at all. I have never written in English barring a few pieces for the Indian Express,” I replied. He hired me. I worked for Outlook for six years and received several assignments, including a chance to cover the Kargil War. When I decided to quit, VM gave me a letter. It is a letter where an ‘editor’ has thanked a journalist for his contributions and expressed his desire to work with him again! This is the only time that I received such an acknowledgement. VM had a towering presence in Outlook. You could argue with him, disagree on ideas or stories, but when he made up his mind, it was difficult to budge him—unless you could show him logical, plausible reasons for it. If you told him that a story wouldn’t work out or that the information was not ripe, he wouldn’t insist on it. I have had my differences with VM, but it never led to a clash. He was an editor who supported everyone— when Sharad Pawar slapped a defamation case against Outlook, he stood his ground and backed his team. When our political editor Padmanand Jha met with an accident and slipped into a coma, VM came to visit ‘Paddy’. These were the days before debit cards. Before leaving he took out his wallet and emptied its content and gave it all to Yubaraj Ghimire and said, “I am sorry that I don’t have more.” The sum was not a lot, but it was really all that he had at that time. In office VM was a stern and no-nonsense boss. But during parties, he would be a different persona—laughing and joking with his colleagues and enjoying his whisky!
HIS PET Vinod Mehta’s pet dog, who he calls Editor
All editors shoul have an instinct to know
rubbish from gold a bull***t detector”
problem. On one hand we carried radically feministic features, on the other, we objectified women,” he says. Finally, he gave up. Today, Mehta does not believe a Debonair would work. The internet is just too full of pornographic writing and images anyway and such a mix of fluff and substance would not be accepted. Mehta moved to The Sunday Observer—his favourite child. THE JOURNALIST’S EDITOR; His dedication to work and his editorial team is evident from the passion with which he writes about both. While talking of the days at The Sunday Observer Mehta writes, “The paper
consumed me. At night in bed I would be mentally strategising the next issue or revisiting a particular story. The few hours I was not at my desk, I was worrying about the paper. I would badger friends whose opinions I respected... with demands to point out weaknesses in the paper. The strengths I knew”. It is this dedication that often sets him apart as one of the greatest editors of Indian print media. “Every editor in this country will have his recipe of what makes a great editor. I believe editors should have an instinct to know rubbish from real gold. It is important for an editor to have a bull***t detector. At the end of the day, no editor works alone. So try to put the best possible team together, and be like the conductor (of an orchestra). An encouraging atmosphere in the newsroom is a must for a productive team,” he says. Good editors are also products of their times and the confidence they enjoy of proprietors. In Mehta’s career, the role of the proprietor has been cardinal. He has enjoyed cordial relationships with most of them—at Debonair, he enjoyed the confidence of Susheel Somani, the first proprietor to interview and hire him. The Sunday Observer’s Ashwin Shah is still a friend. Several of his stints have also been marked by conflict—more of them later. From the alleged mole in Indira Gandhi’s cabinet, to the Radia Tapes, to the cricket match-fixing scandals—Mehta has never been shy of unearthing scandals. And he has stood behind his team, always. “Ideally the job of a proprietor is to select a team and an intelligent editor who understands his vision. Then both get to hiring the right team relying on hunches and instincts—once you have the right person for the job, brief him or her well and let him or her be,” he adds. Mehta practises what he preaches. “The remarkable thing about him is that he doesn’t let his vision get blurred with preconceived notions about individuals or situations, which is not to say that Mehta does not have preconceived notions. He does. But they don’t always come in the way of his editorial judgment. What really impresses me is the transparency in his writing. He is forthright when he writes about himself, his days as an adman and an editor—even confessing his dishonesty in personal relationships. Once he wrote how he and Big Bee (columnist) used to frequent Bombay bars to pick up ‘boring girls’,” says Joshi.
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“If someone asks me about the best editor in this country, I will have to say Khushwant Singh” —Vinod Mehta DEMOCRATIC WORLD
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The Bad
\\ THE DEBONAIR MAN
THE LOOSE CANON; Mehta has a dog called Editor. He has admitted to fathering a child with one his several girlfriends (he did not acknowledge her till he wrote his memoir). Recently, he was sued by The Indian Express for defamation—if there is someone who loves to ruffle feathers or make people flinch— it is him. He has courted controversies right from the start of his journalism days, The Sunday Observer. Its first story on the then-proposed National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA)—The Mausoleum of Culture— was boycotted by the Tata Group, which was financing the endeavour. As an editor, Mehta stood his ground. After a lot of back-and-forth, the story was carried with a rejoinder from the NCPA. Mehta has always stuck to what he has genuinely believed in. If in the process he faced flak from proprietors, politicians, fellow scribes and aam admi (reader)—so be it! Articles on, and by, him end with colorful names left by his readers in the comments section. Samples; pseudo-pseudo secularist, rascal, and the hot favourite, chamcha. Most of these probably elicit a chuckle from the man who enjoys his work and lets it speak for itself. The editor-cum-journalist has been the proverbial loose canon. Thus, his views on regulation on the media come as a surprise. Note that Mehta was one of the few mediapersons who actually lent a patient ear to Justice Markanday Katju’s call for media regulation. Mehta believes in regulation, but one that comes from within and from colleagues. Not the statutory kind. “There is a need for accountability. One can’t have a free-for-all system. Then you will lose your viewers’ support. Which is something that the television media is fast finding out,” he says. Despite his frequent acerbic comments, Mehta is far from being a bitter character. In fact he seems at peace with himself and mellow when we meet him. He is careful to choose his words in the company of
“
younger journalists. He is kind while talking about the importance of roles in journalism—however insignificant they might appear to be. “The space called media is a conflicted one. So, everyone should remember to act as a team. You, and lets say the brand manager, are a team. You and him are equally invested in your product. Both of you work for the same brand—always remember that. One should not assume lack of interest on his part. All assistance that you can give to the manager will ultimately help the brand. His ideas should be taken into account—having said that, a brand manager is not supposed to have any ideas on editorial matters,” he says about the increased corporatisation of the newsroom. “In my life I have not had problems with posts or designations, but with people, incompetent people.” He concedes that in spaces where the proprietor is also the editor, relationships do become problematic (“A proprietor should not intrude as he does not have the specialisation”) but he is not dismissive of that model either. MOST SACKED EDITOR; Mehta has often labelled himself as India’s ‘most sacked editor’. “Being sacked by a proprietor is familiar to me...Making a scene is not my scene. We have parted on generally friendly terms. I have never shouted at my proprietor; my proprietor has never shouted at me. Courtesy and good manners have been the hallmarks of the falling out.” This despite being unceremoniously shown the door by two proprietors—Vijaypat Singhania (Indian Post) and LM Thapar (The Pioneer). One of them took the time to remind Mehta that he was “not indispensable” and was a “manager”. And “just a manager”. “It was difficult to be a media baron at that time (1980s and 1990s), when businessmen had 95 percent interest in businesses
There is need for accountability.
You cannot have a freefor-all system, then you will lose your viewers’ support. Which is something that the television media is finding out” —Vinod Mehta
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TOME TUTOR Of the luminaries who influenced Mehta, George Orwell tops the list
We asked, he said...
Rapid Fire What are your interests beyond the newsroom? When I was young and had several girlfriends, they would complain that I did not have time for anything else apart from journalism. They were probably right. Journalism is such a vast field and you get to meet politicians, writers, scientists, etc. It occupies most of your time and energy if you are truly interested in it. Can a journalist have true friends within or outside the profession? Friendship, in the Hindi film sense, does not have a place in journalism. Because friends do you favours, as you do for them. In this profession if you do favours, VINOD MEHTA then you are violating its code of conduct. Having said that people could maintain cordial relationships. I have had my share of trouble with politicians and fellow journalists. Relationships have soured. When that happens I try and explain to people concerned that I was doing my job. And that they were dragged into it. They were, as I say, collateral damage.
apart from publishing. If they attacked the Centre, then their other business interests would suffer. And I do not believe that I fully appreciated this fact when I was young,” he says of his famous spats with two of the biggest proprietors of all times. MEDIANAMA; Mehta seems to be a worried man today. Not because of his health, which is frailer now. Nor about the future. Between his second book, introductions to his previous ones, regular Outlook Traveller meetings and television appearances, he remains really busy. What makes him uneasy is the state of the print media. “With the internet and TV, weekly news magazines have lost their salience. What was the whole idea of a news magazine? It was meant for the lazy reader who would not read his paper thoroughly. So, once a week he would pick up a magazine and get an idea of what was happening around him. With TV and internet, all general interest news magazines—be an Outlook or Newsweek
Sometimes people understand. Mostly they do not. I have been banned from television channels because of problems which rose through miscommunication—though that ban has been a blessing in disguise. One reason to celebrate when you retire... I would be able to stop reading the rubbish that I have to read everyday. I go through 12 newspapers thoroughly, including business papers. Once I retire, I would probably read just two. And devote time to books that I actually enjoy reading. One rule of journalism that you have flouted? I don’t know whether journalism has any rules per se—there are codes of conduct. If you are in this profession long enough, you realise that rules frequently have to be bent or torn apart. You become a better journalist when you know which rules to tear up and when. I have taken calculated risks and chances. Some have paid off, some haven’t. Talking about risks, my most risky endeavour was in 1988, when I launched The Independent. I believe journalists should always, as they say, try to push the envelope.
or Time—are struggling. In the past week, we have been inundated by news of Mamata (West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee). By the end of the week when a viewer is bored stiff with the news, how does a magazine present all the news in a fresh manner? That is the current challenge. What do you inject in the story? I have not found an answer.” Print media may be in a tight corner, but Mehta’s not spelling doomsday, as yet. Just because a concept does not work, one does not abandon it. One takes it up and polishes it. “Democracy is in trouble all over the world. Should we abandon it? There may be aspects in the democratic system that don’t work, but the system in totality is indispensable. Parliament may not work, but the courts by and large do. The executive may not, but elections do. I don’t think there is such a system where everything works in totality. We can simply pick up the pieces and make it all better.” Take that as a lesson coming from the Lucknow boy if you will.
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MEHTA SAID... DEBONAIR “When I was editing Debonair, being sued in places like Jhumri Telaiya was routine” SUNDAY OBSERVER “It is impossible for me to describe my feelings as I looked and touched what I had given birth to” INDIAN POST “The new look Post received widespread acclaim. The old staff were won over”
OUTLOOK “As I got to meet my proprietor...even if I had to wipe his shoes, I would accept the offer if offered”
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\\ BUSINESS STR ATEGY AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Micro-Economies
Are Here To Stay Kickstart your own firm with help from these cool portals BY TUSHAR KANWAR
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social agenda
BUSINESS STR ATEGY AND SOCIAL MEDIA //
IMAGING BY SUNEESH K
P
sst—got an idea for a product that you think will change the world? If you’d met me a couple of years ago, I would have introduced you to a couple of VCs or angel investors and wished you luck. Luck that you’d need to convince big investment institutions that you’re worth it. Enter Kickstarter, a modern twist on the concept of funding, one that is so alluring that it has convinced more than a million folks to pledge more than a $100 million to back ideas both big and small. The concept behind the Kickstarter’s crowd-funding model is simple. All it needs is a simple project description, accompanied by a
pitch video that aims to sell your idea to the masses. You do need to specify ‘rewards’ for pledge levels on the site—what will different levels of dollar contributions mean to your investors—along with a funding goal and a timeframe for your project. Once it is vetted by the Kickstarter staff and approved, your project is live. Hit your funding goal and patrons get their reward—depending on the value of the contribution, it could range from a commemorative limited edition version of your product to a thank-you card or stickers. Miss your funding goal in the specified timeframe and no one’s card gets charged and you don’t receive any funds. If the approach seems a tad all-or-nothing, it probably is. Consider the benefits though—you avoid wasting thousands of dollars in R&D costs and in manufacturing unproven products. You can know upfront whether your concept aligns with market needs, and by combining tweaks based on feedback by public donors, you could create a much more bankable product on day one. Folks who pre-order your product provide the working capital you will need to sustain production, and above all, donors feel more emotionally invested in the end result. The real beauty about this approach is that unlike traditional funding, you continue to own the end product without diluting ownership of your organisation. Sites like Kickstarter are just one instance of the new micro-economies forming around the world today that let individuals exchange economic value sans the conventional institutions that have so far routed the flow of money. Another example is Pubslush, a social publishing platform for aspiring novelists. Authors can upload a 10-page excerpt along with a pitch. If the book garners a thousand followers or more, Pubslush will publish the book. Think about what Pubslush achieves—not only does it publish work that may have otherwise been shunned by big publishers (thereby rebooting the entire talent discovery process), it puts more revenue into the
TIPS & TOOLS Micro-economies work. Period. Do not sit and waste your time denying the concept. Living in a world which is expanding in terms of economic growth and contracting in terms of connectivity, it is a good time to bring out the product that you think will change the world. Got a radical idea? Go look for an investor who is a click away, literally. Gone are the days when big investors won’t take you and your product ideas seriously. With the internet boom in the last few years and with websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Google grabbing the attention of everyone it is easy to market and sell your idea. Here are a few companies that you should know about. Kickstarter: It is a crowd funding website for creative projects. They have funded cool and exciting Indie films, music, comics, food and journalism related projects so far. Started in 2008 they indeed are here to say. If you are an out-of-box thinker and need likeminded people to fund your ideas, these are the people you need to reach. Pubslush: As happens to great writers, publishers often reject their great work. If it has happened to you, then worry no more! Pubslush is the place to go. You submit your work on their websites and the readers decide to cash it or trash it. Your fate is no more in the hands of the publishers, the people decide. By the people, for the people is their motto and they live by it! Airbnb: It is a unique brand of microeconomies where vacation rentals are listed. For those who are looking for affordable places to stay while on a vacation must log in here. For those who want their vacation rentals to become the talk of the town they too must log in here and get themselves registered.
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author’s pocket, courtesy lower overheads and subsequently higher royalties. Yet, the discussion around micro-economies is not solely around funding a concept, a product or a book. It could be just around the concept of sharing or subletting space you have available, as is the case with Airbnb. Say you are attending an event in Oslo, Norway, and you need an economical place to rent instead of a hotel, Airbnb is the place to go. Airbnb lets home and property owners list (for free) their property—maybe it is that extra bedroom in the converted garage, or the whole house if they choose on the site. Travellers can pick from over 100,000 active listings in 192 countries, depending on what they are comfortable with paying. And before they book, vacationers can read reviews about their hosts (and vice-versa) based on previous Airbnb experiences. From the booking system to the payment everything is handled via Airbnb, who charge a transaction fee per booking. Budget hotels are justifiably nervous already. They should be—Airbnb is now the world’s hottest hotel chain, and all this from just a bunch of spare rooms. Impressive, to say the least. But what makes these micro-economies tick? And more importantly, why now? The internet’s been around for well over a decade, hasn’t it? Why then have these models only flourished in the recent past? Now, as with any marketplace, there is a huge element of trust involved, trust that is based on knowing the reputation of the prospective seller. But it is only recently that we have finally been able to search for a tonne of background information on practically anyone by searching Google, LinkedIn and Facebook, or as some describe, the internet of people. With that trust hurdle crossed, what is to stop end consumers from directly determining the true value of a product or a service in other market segments as well? Micro-economies are here to grow, and it’s only a question of which industry they will disrupt next. Tushar Kanwar, a self-confessed gizmo-holic, is Bengaluru-based technology freelancer, who has contributed to leading Indian technology publications for years.
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BLOG WATCH
US-Pakistan Standoff There is a lot of talk on how US-Pakistan relations are in crisis and 'hitting new lows'. Much of this is indeed true, not because of what the Obama administration says or does not say, but because of how the US Congress perceives the situation. If US politicians have turned hostile towards Pakistan, it is because they are sensitive to public opinion. Until the public mood changes, it will be difficult for any US President to paper over Pakistan’s shenanigans for reasons of foreign policy expediency. Washington’s South Asian commentariat is slowly realising that both the Obama administration and public opinion has left their old narrative behind. The standoff has come about due to two reasons: First, General Kayani overplaying his cards and second, the Zardari government giving up manoeuvring room by passing the buck to the Parliament. The Pakistani Army thought it had a trump card in choking the supply lines and played it. It didn’t work, not least because similar acts in the past had caused US military planners to work out alternatives. Shutting down the supply routes backfired on Pakistan; it has been frozen out of the diplomatic scene, US Congress has cut financial aid and it has ended up back in the doghouse of international public opinion. The Pakistani military establishment still doesn’t get it. Judging from views expressed by pro-establishment opinion-makers, they still seem to believe that the US and NATO need the supply routes to get out of Afghanistan. They do not consider the possibility of an exit strategy involving a combination of airlifts, passage through the Northern Distribution Network, asset transfers to the Afghan Security Forces and destruction of the rest. However, the Pakistani military establishment’s blinkered smugness is bolstering intransigence. Under attack from a stridently anti-American media, a populist Imran Khan and the galvanisation
Nitin Pai
of militant politics, the Zardari government handed over the hot potato of US-Pakistan relations to the Parliament. This was clever, because it passed the buck to the Parliament and diffused responsibility. However, it has tied down the government’s hands now, because it requires a more political capital for Zardari to 'give and take' on anything unless the US delivers on Pakistan’s maximalist claims—an official apology for the Shalala encounter and a complete cessation of drone attacks on Pakistani soil. For all the diplomatic contortions Washington has engaged in over the last 10 years, it is the US military that has suffered the ground reality of Pakistan’s duplicity. So an apology is unlikely until after the US election season is over. Ending drone strikes is even less likely. This stand-off will be hard to resolve. Both parties have changed the framing of the issue to enable a resolution. Note Washington’s public statements tend to be about supply routes—suggesting that if Pakistan offers a reasonable compromise on this issue, the process of rebuilding the relationship can start. Similarly, while Pakistan’s sentencing of the doctor who assisted the CIA in identifying bin Laden is surely a tit-for-tat response to President Obama’s snub at Chicago, it has done so in a manner that allows compromise. The Zardari government is unlikely to be capable of grabbing the negotiating lifeline and arriving at a deal on the supply routes. Getting Sherry Rehman, its US ambassador, and Bilawal Zardari-Bhutto, the party co-chairman, to reinforce the demand for a US apology was a mistake. While the US is concerned about the fate of Dr Shakeel Afridi, it is unlikely to yield to a prisonerswap deal. Neither side is likely to blink. But one side is bleeding. (To read more go to: http://acorn.nationalinterest.in)
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PLATFORM SANTOSH DESAI | Journalist
Between Tourism and Nationalism How Raj Ghat and Gandhi’s memory refuses to fade
DELHI HAS MANY markers of national-
ism, but there is something about Raj Ghat that makes it stand apart. Of all the monuments, Raj Ghat is the one that gets top billing, the one ritual ‘port of calling’ for visitors, as well as being a site of protest and an occasional venue for impromptu dances by senior political leaders. The continued relevance of Raj Ghat as a talismanic symbol of the Indian nation state, a ceremonial headquarter of the idea of Indian nationalism, is interesting. Perhaps the other symbols of nationalism like Parliament and Rashtrapati Bhavan no longer carry the auratic halo, thanks to what goes on inside. The Red Fort continues to hold its own as a monument, but it is increasingly unclear as to what it is a symbol of. While India Gate continues to draw crowds, a lot of the activity that surrounds it is because of its status as a picnic spot. Of all the assorted Ghats and Samadhis, Raj Ghat continues to carry any significance. The recent proliferation of these memorials where many leaders, no matter how fleeting
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their brush with power, have been assigned some holy real estate, has made the business of remembering greatness a bit of a joke. The use of a memorial as a way of establishing importance, a kind of competitive display of political muscle rather than a non-partisan acknowledgement of a leader’s greatness, has decimated any meaning. Shanti Van and Vijay Ghat, once a part of a pilgrimage tour, have, thanks to the newer pretenders, fallen out of favour. Raj Ghat, however, has risen. Even today Raj Ghat derives its identity primarily as a tourist spot. For the common tourist, it is one of the 10-odd places one must ‘do’ when in Delhi; for the world leader, it is a site of ritual pilgrimage that needs to be visited. The meaning attached to Raj Ghat is subsumed in a larger sense of Delhiness; that all its monuments deliver together. The idea of Delhi as the capital of India becomes real with the help of its symbols, as we convert the abstract idea of a centre into the lived reality of The Centre; the focal point of all administrative authority in the
ABOUT THE WRITER Santosh Desai is the author of the bestseller Mother Pious Lady: Making Sense of Everyday India. He is a columnist, media critic and social commentator. He is the MD and CEO of Futurebrands, a branding services and advisory company and serves on the boards of ING Vysya Bank and Mumbai Business School
country. Delhi derives its legitimacy to determine the future of the rest of the country in part through the disproportionate share of nationalistic symbols and the ceaseless production of visual memory through all forms of popular representation, has reinforced Delhi’s association with monuments. For the tourist, Delhi is experienced as a horizontal form of history, where one travels through time using the medium of monuments. For a city whose citizens show little sense of history, tourist Delhi is ironically, a monument to time itself. The idea of a nation-state can be a frustratingly intangible one, and along with other national symbols like the flag, the anthem and the military, Raj Ghat has served as a reminder that nationhood had a point of origin to which we could return. Religions need to locate themselves in defined physical spaces and need apostles to make their intangible abstractions appear real. The religion of a nation-state is no exception to this. But there is more to it than just that when it comes to Raj Ghat. Unlike most other memo-
platform
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rials in Delhi, it points towards an individual—a man—who has proved impossible to either meaningfully remember or conveniently forget. There is something about the memory of a Mahatma Gandhi that evokes stubborn indigestion; just when his memory seems to have been safely domesticated, it rises up again in a new inconvenient context, forcing us to examine him once again. Attempts to buttonhole his philosophy, to capture it in a single idea, label or catchphrase has never quite succeeded. The Indian relationship with the memory of Gandhi has been a complex one, and has gone through several iterative versions. To a generation, Gandhi was a presence on the walls, along with other members of the pantheon—Nehru, Patel and Bose. Raj Ghat was a site of pilgrimage in a way that most sites of pilgrimage operate—one goes there determined to feel pious because of the nameless holiness of the place. The design of Raj Ghat was an interesting one. It drew its meaning from being the cremation spot of Gandhi and instead of creating a monument, created an open space. The act of cremation destroys the corporeal, reducing it to a substance that carries little trace of the original. Instead, it carries with it the residue of all things material. To cremate is to liberate. To create a permanent memorial at the site of something that celebrates the transience of life was an interesting inversion of meaning. The nature of the memorial, however, acknowledged the inability of human beings to cling on to the material markers of life. The memory of Gandhi became an
Raj Ghat, by virtue of its farsighted design, manages to rise above all attempts at invisibility. By eschewing too much specificity in the nature of signs it emits, it compels interpretation” experience, rather than a catalogue of his things or ideas. For a person as awash in symbols as Gandhi, this was an interesting choice— no charkha, no khadi, no glasses. Raj Ghat was neither temple nor mausoleum; it left memory running barefoot and sky-clad. In some ways, it also did justice to the boundary-less nature of Gandhi’s ideas. The name itself is a little more mystifying, for there was nothing about Gandhi that evoked the idea of ‘Raj’; and in English the oft-used loose translation into King’s Bank emphasises the odd nature of the choice. The freeing of Gandhi from the surfeit of symbols that surrounded him is a feat managed only by Raj Ghat. The idea of visualising it as an open space which pays homage to Gandhi, rather than locate him in a closed setting, has given Raj Ghat a sense of timelessness. Is any form of celebration incompatible with the memory of Gandhi? Is Raj Ghat a site of sombre reflection alone or can it accommodate some joy and occasional levity? The idea that memory must be grave, and
respect must be silent, is an accepted convention. But the idea that memory is something that is so easy to defile, smacks of a narrow view. The key issue with the dance was not so much that it defiled the sanctity of Raj Ghat, but that it conferred the wrong kind of sanctity to it. The reduction of Raj Ghat to a generic and shrill form of patriotism, one that thrives on visible display and outward projection is what makes Sushma Swaraj’s performance open to question. Raj Ghat, by virtue of its far-sighted design manages then to rise above all attempts at invisibility. By eschewing too much specificity in the nature of signs it emits, it compels interpretation. Whether used as a tourist spot or a site of protest or as a marker of the nobility of the idea that gave birth to this country, it stubbornly resists irrelevance and invisibility. As a means of bringing us face-to-face with the elusive nature of Gandhi’s being, Raj Ghat succeeds by not trying too hard. In spite of our best attempts. (Views expressed in this column are of the author alone)
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looking back
\\ A SHOK CHAKR ADHAR
A PICKLED
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Dipak Sanghavi followed his business canny to give a tangy kick to his family firm
looking back DIPAK SANGHAVI //
DOSSIER
NAME: Dipak Sanghavi COMPANY NAME: Nilon's STARTED IN: 1962 by Suresh B Sanghavi WHAT IS IT: A company that produces pickles, papads, sauces, vermicelli, macaroni, tomato ketchup and jams
DISTRIBUTION: Nilon's products travel to Japan, France, the US, South Africa, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Canada
F
ounded by my father, Late Suresh Sanghavi, in 1962, Nilon’s has come a long way since its cottage industry days. Today, it is the largest producer and marketer of pickles globally. I believe that I have grown up with the company and that the two (my life and the company’s recent growth) are tied together. I must admit that I am more ambitious than my father ever was. When I took over the family business I was all of 24 years. My father had just passed away. It is not that I was forced into it. It meant a lot to my family and me. My father was a gutsy risk-taker in his early days. But, by his mid-40s, he gravitated towards spirituality. Nilon’s growth slowed down in those days. The company was put on autopilot mode, managed almost entirely by the senior management. When I joined Nilon’s in 2002 after my father’s demise, I realised our senior managers were not ambitious enough. My father used to say—find people better than you to run the company. I set about to do that. It took me 18 months to find the right person. My professor from IIM Ahmedabad introduced me to Rajheev Agarwal. In 2004, he joined us as the company’s director and CEO. That year proved to be the turning point for Nilon’s. We were making `10 crore till then. Within a year, we had doubled that to `22 crore. Since then, Nilon’s has been growing at a CAGR of 55 per cent. Of course, I have inherited my business acumen from my father. But a lot of the lessons also came from colleagues. When you grow up in a family-run business, you only have one perspective. Many secondgeneration entrepreneurs these days work for four to five years in different companies to get different perspectives, before they plunge into their family business. I did not get that chance because I joined Nilon’s right after college. Working with Rajheev
“When you grow up in a familyrun business, you only have one perspective. Many second-generation entrepreneurs these days work in different companies to get different perspectives, before they plunge into their family business ”— Dipak Sanghavi exposed me to different insights. We make a good team. My advice to people who are hoping to enter into the entreprenuership field; do not enter the business with the thought that you own it. Learn from those around you. You can turn your ambitions into reality only if you take people along with you. The way Nilon’s is run today is significantly different from the way my father operated it. I take more risks than my father did. We are much more aggressive and have been so since 2004. We are also more customer-focused. Earlier, we sold products we made. Now, we find out what our consumers want and develop products accordingly with strict quality control. I did not want Nilon’s to remain a pickle company, I wanted it to be known as a processed-food company. So, we diversified our product portfolio to include instant mixes, ginger-garlic pastes and spices. Pickles are still our mainstay. But, they constitute only 45 per cent of our total business today, compared to the 90 per cent. Also, we retail from more than four lakh outlets, compared to just 35,000 in 2004. To ensure that the best quality reaches our consumers we installed state-of-the-art microbial labs. We already had manufacturing plants in Maharashtra and Assam, now we are planning facilities in south and north India to serve more regionally suitable food products. Today our products travel to Japan,
France, the US, South Africa, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Canada. I am happy with our recent journey. Honestly, I would have been happier if Nilon’s had been as aggressive about branding and distribution before I entered the scene. When you join a family business, comparisons between the father and son are bound to happen. In my case, these comparisons are not about business performance, but about whether I have retained my father’s values or not. I might have expanded the company, but people want to know whether I treat our employees the way my father did. He was a pious man. I have strived to continue to treat our employees with the same dignity. If I ever come to know of people, who think otherwise, I introspect to see if I am following in my father’s footsteps. If not, I make a conscious effort to better my performance. The most important ingredient for a successful business is to put the right people on top. Once you have that, rest of the things just fall in place. Over the next three years, Nilon’s is targeting to become a `500-crore company.
Looking Back Even if I had not been born into a business family, I would have done something of my own. It is great to know that I provide so many people with employment. (As told to Ira Swasti)
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issue | A closer look at subsidy
The Dole or Don’t Debate
The rough meaning of subsidy is ‘money granted by the state or a public body to keep down prices of commodities’. The current Indian debate is not on what subsidy is but on whether we need it at all. The subsidy debate has never been as intense as it is now. A section of Indians blame the Centre’s ‘heavy economic dole-outs’ as a cause behind the larger economic malaise plaguing the nation. Others believe that the Centre's economic generosity aids only the larger industrial houses and their interests. And that the rights of the underprivileged section are often overlooked in the name of fiscal consolidation. BY SANJAY KUMAR
SUBSIDISED
A MINIMUM of 46 per cent
of the rural population and 28 per cent of the urban population, meals for vulnerable communities such as the Mid-day Meal Scheme and ICDS will be brought under the Bill. Other nutrition schemes also to be made legal entitlements. THE TOTAL expenditure
for grain supply would be around `1 to 1.5 lakh crore including the states’ share. The rollout will be phased and should be completed by 2013.
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With fiscal deficit rising every year, there is now a growing demand from a particularly vocal section of Indians to bring down subsidies—because it has failed to reach its target group and has become a source of aggrandisement for those privileged. If this demand grows, the proposed National Food Security Bill, which depends on heavy subsidisation of commodities for its implementation, will be under threat. The Cabinet cleared the Bill at a specially-convened meeting on December 19, 2011. The Bill, brought before the Cabinet by Food and Public Distribution minister K.V. Thomas, would be implemented among 75 per cent of the rural population and 50 per cent of the urban population, and cost the government approximately `1 lakh crore. It will require 61 million tonnes of grain to be implemented. The Bill divides its target group into two—the priority group consisting of those living below the poverty line. Such citizens would be provided 7 kilograms of grain per month per person, plus rice at `3 per kilogram, wheat at `2 per kilogram and coarse grain at `1 a kilogram. For the general group each person will receive 3 kilograms of grains per month at half of the minimum support price given to farmers.
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Pro-subsidy groups counter the ‘stop subsidies’ debate by pointing out that aid for the downtrodden has always been questioned, while for industrial houses, making profit due to government’s largesse, has been ignored. They also add that during down-time (read now) far from tightening purse-strings, the government must spend more. They point out that those talking about ‘fiscal prudence’ are not concerned with inequalities, want the government to spend less and balance what it spends by taxing the poor. It has to be admitted that in a developing country like India, where the underprivileged predominantly depend on subsidy for their daily lives, poor implementation of a workable idea cannot be the ground for scrapping an idea altogether. There is general consensus that the solution lies within the implementation process. Debating the issue are two experts who hold strong views on the issue. One of them, Surjit S. Bhalla is the Managing Director of Oxus Research and Investments, a New Delhi-based economic research, asset management, and emerging-markets advisory firm. On the other side is Devinder Sharma, a food and trade policy analyst, columnist and activist.
issue
\\ A CLOSER LOOK AT SUBSIDY
SURJIT S. BHALLA
Trade analyst and author
Surjit S. Bhalla has taught at the Delhi School of Economics and worked for the World Bank. He is the author of Imagine There's No Country: Poverty, Inequality, and Growth in the Era of Globalisation
SURJIT S. BHALLA// The role of subsidy in
any economy—including India—is to redistribute wealth among the bottom-rung of the society. All civil societies have schemes which enable subsidisation of either expenditure, food or purchases made by the underprivileged. The problem in India is not with subsidy per se, but with implementation, which has been poor at best. The main issue lies with leakages—programmes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) or Public Distribution System (PDS) are accessible to people who are below the
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poverty line. I do not believe that there is anything called an ‘over subsidisation’. Having said that, an advocate should keep in mind that subsidies in India never reach their intended target. Despite continuously implementing food subsidies, hunger and malnutrition prevail in our county and I will squarely blame the government and the distribution system for keeping the underprivileged out. Subsidies are not growing into productive investments, and are becoming more like expenditures not reaching the intended beneficiaries. The money which should have been used to boost the coun-
try’s economy is instead getting drained due to an overemphasis on subsidy. As a result the nation's growth is taking a beating. There is a need to control fiscal deficit if we want our economy to grow. In such a state, the Food Security Bill will prove to be an added disadvantage. It is one of the most ill-conceived, highly-flawed bills, unlikely to be passed in the Parliament. It is a Bill that is playing on populist sentiments of the aam aadmi. It would prove to be a great burden on the economy if it is passed. If the government really wishes to aid the poor then why is it not emphasising on cash transfer schemes? Give states that requisite money to get food or transport. Subsidies are to redistribute wealth among the bottom-rungs, so unless it is done efficiently there is no reason to re-distribute at all. And so far India has done a shoddy job as far as redistribution is concerned; one only needs to look at the success rate of every subsidy scheme to gauge whether the job was well done or not. Again, personally transparent, direct cash transfers seem to be the way out of this conundrum. However, such a move will not happen in the immediate future because the concept of subsidy, however flawed in this country, actually translate into votes—so it cannot be taken out of the political context. Politicians lack the courage to privatise lossmaking public sector units because they are afraid of losing the organised labour-class vote. The same sentiment makes them resist dismantling subsidies for power, fertiliser and water, even though it puts a strain on the economy and does not reach the target group. Most politicians would rather jump off a building than question food subsidy—because the underprivileged vote bank is sadly the largest in the country. As long as politicians in this country continue to create election agenda out of subsidies, the bulging fiscal deficit will continue to grow. Why is there a subsidy on petroleum prices—which rung uses it? Not the poor, so why subsidise the rich? Therefore, I see a huge problem the way subsidy programmes are handled in India. As long as we cannot seem to manage the tasks at hand, should we add more?
issue
\\ A CLOSER LOOK AT SUBSIDY
DEVINDER SHARMA
Food and trade analyst, columnist
DEVINDER SHARMA// There is nothing essentially ‘evil’ in the idea of subsidy— even if we consider the way it is handled here. Eighty per cent of our citizens survive on `20 a day—we are essentially a malnourished nation. Yes, there should be a modicum of rationalisation of subsidy, and of course, it should reach the right people. But should we question its very existence? Whether be fertilisers or food, there should be heavy subsidisation of every commodity. Why is it that we become sensitive to the question of ‘waste’ only when it comes to the subsidies for the poor? If the spotlight is turned towards the industries, the corporate world thrives on subsidy. The difference— in case of industries people label them as ‘investment’ while real investment in the underprivileged section is seen as ‘dole’. From 2004-2012, approximately `26,00,000 crore worth of investment has gone into the corporate sector. However, if we look at sectors such as manufacturing, investment and export, they have taken a heavy beating despite investments. Another example—the NREGA—requires `40,000 crore for its implementation. The corporate sector—by way of revenue forgone—requires subsidies worth `5,29,000 crore. Why is it that no one talks of wasted money that went into these sectors? On the Global Hunger Index Report, produced by International Food Research Institute, Washington, India figures 68th among 84 countries. We figured poorer than Rwanda and Sudan with more than 320 million people living in hunger that is nearly the number of citizens in the US. In my understanding, it is a crime to mutely witness death due to hunger and malnutrition especially when a nation goes through a growth trajectory with rising per capita income. And it is the greatest insult to the democratic system of a country. Why should some 320 million people live in poverty or die of it? It is the farmers who produce real food, not the corporates. It is those who are privileged who worry about subsidy for the poor; because they
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want it all for themselves. Of course people want an end to the Indian welfare state, especially when the trend has been the opposite in western nations. Take the US for instance. Every one of its seven citizens suffers from hunger. Thus, in the past 24 years, the US has been raising its subsidies to ensure supplement nutrition programmes. And the US is a developed nation. How then, does a developing nation like ours imagine any alternative to subsidies? I believe the call to lessen subsidies is a clever move by the corporates to ensure that they get more. Having said that there is no denying that programmes are not working the way we want them to. There is always room for improvement and loopholes need to be blocked. In fact, we need to provide more income to the farmer and direct money to the landless labourer. If I had been in some position of political power, I would have ensured that the Food Security Act was implemented. In fact, if the Act is implemented then the manipulation of the poor masses by political classes would have stopped. It is true that India's fiscal deficit is more than 5.2 per cent of the GDP. The Union Finance Minister believes that he will bring down the FD to 2 per cent of the GDP. But that won't be done by taking back the cash from the poor or by withdrawing subsidy meant for those who live below the poverty line. What is the use of 8 per cent economic growth, if 320 million people live in hunger? GDP ideally does not reflect India's reality. Especially when 1 billion people out of 1.2 billion, live below poverty line (Arjun Sengupta Report). The irony is that the middle-class has been the main
Devinder Sharma is an ardent advocate of the development of indigenous models of agricultural growth. He is one of the few economists who believe that wanton liberalisation and privatisation will wreak havoc in the lives of the people
beneficiary of economic reforms. It is they who want food items and petroleum products at a cheaper price. Today, 200 districts of India are affected by Maoist insurgence. If the government does not stop giving away people’s resources at a throwaway price to the governments in these regions, then the problems would be aggravated.
PLATFORM JOHN ELLIOTT | Journalist
Royals and Republicans Political horse-trading or pure dynastic ruling—which is the way to be?
I WAS IN LONDON at the beginning of
June during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations and began to wonder if living in India for 20 years has turned me into a royalist. Isn’t such a system, I thought, better than the self-serving political manipulations that India’s politicians were going through, at the time, over the choice of the next President? The current holder of that office, Pratibha Devisingh Patil, has brought no dignity to the presidency. It seemed that she got the job because Sonia Gandhi, as Congress Party and governing coalition leader, picked her as a ‘safe choice’ and a ‘token’ woman in 2007. Safe choice in this context means someone who would not go against the Gandhi dynasty’s and Congress’s interests—if the 2014 General Elections produce a hung Parliament and the President has to invite someone to form the government. But as Sonia Gandhi discovered with a coalition that scents a lack of leadership, such dynastic considerations may have
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to be adjusted to maintain coalition unity. The politicking that was under way as this column went to press, with rivals emerging against Pranab Mukherjee, Congress’s longest-serving and most-able politician—though not a successful Finance Minister in the early 1980s when I first interviewed him for The Financial Times— showed the system at its worst. This column is going to press before the choice of the next President is clear. Though pointers seem to indicate that it will be Mukherjee. If he has been chosen by the time you read this, then at least Sonia Gandhi has been sensible enough to accept someone who is not believed to be regarded by her as ‘totally safe’ in terms of loyalty to the dynasty, though his loyalty to Congress is unquestioned. To come back to my question; is it good to have a head of state chosen by, what is in effect, political horsetrading? Ten years ago, when Britain’s Queen Mother died, there were debates on whether it was time
Author
John Elliott is a Delhi-based British journalist who has been working in South Asia for approximately 20 years now. In the meantime, Elliott has written for the Financial Times, Fortune, Economist and the New Statesman. You can read his blog and follow him from here: http:// ridingtheelephant. wordpress.com
for the monarchy to be sent packing. I wrote in a column for Business Standard that I’d prefer a royal head of state to a President ‘fixed’ by the then British Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair. The same applies now to the Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron. The question for India is entirely hypothetical. Because there is no chance of it turning to a royal dynasty, though it seems to have no objections to its governments being led for generations by one family. But it is not hypothetical for the UK where there will always be questions about the need for a monarchy, especially when members of the royal family have cavorted through affairs and scandals as they have done during the Queen’s reign. It was amazing to see and be among the hundreds of thousands who lined the banks of the River Thames in cold and wet weather on June 3, to watch a pageant of about 1,000 boats that carried the 86-year-old Queen and 20,000 people
platform
JOHN ELLIOT T //
There is a contrast between India’s lady President who, with her family, made a series of personal blunders, and Britain’s lady monarch who for 60 years has kept stern personal self-control”
through the city centre. The next evening, in better weather, thousands filled the ceremonial Mall Avenue that leads to Buckingham Palace to hear and watch on big telly screens a splendid pop concert and an air force fly past, and to spot the Queen on a palace balcony. Partly inspired by a Canaletto painting of a Thames Pageant in 1752, the river event was the largest since that time, though its message was confused. People cheered on Boris Johnson who had just been re-elected Mayor of London. An elderly man with a naval-looking beard shouted, “Three cheers for the Dunkirk Spirit, our finest hour”, as small boats went past. Everyone joined in with the cheers, yet Dunkirk was not Britain’s finest hour. It was a retreat in 1940 from the German forces in France. But it can be seen as a victory because of the hundreds of civilianowned boats that crossed the English Channel to rescue 300,000 marooned troops. To mark that achievement, about 40 of the boats were in the
pageant. That ‘Dunkirk spirit’—of grabbing salvation from the jaws of defeat—could be a marker of a country in denial. Just as the four-day festival to celebrate the jubilee was, given the current economic crisis facing the UK. There was, however, no denying the mood of celebration—mostly because people wanted a reason to be happy with so much bad news around. Of course, there was criticism of the event and what it stood for. The Guardian praised the pageant for its scale, organisation and the reverence shown to the Queen, but note, “She had sailed up London’s river from Chelsea, home of oligarchs and plutocrats, to the City, home of the unpunished financial sector for whose misdeeds the rest of us are paying”. A blog on The Independent site* criticised the “Dickensian conditions” provided for workers bussed to work at the event (reminiscent of Delhi Commonwealth Games!). Another** suggested that, “A republic will give the people of Britain a
choice and a voice”. That of course would only work if the President was directly elected—and not chosen by an Indian system that puts power in the hands of a cabal of party leaders. Meanwhile, there is a stark contrast between India’s outgoing President who made a series of personal blunders, and Britain’s lady monarch who for 60 years has maintained the stature of the crown. It should not be difficult for India’s next President to restore the post’s image established by predecessors such as Abdul Kalam Azad, but it will tough for the Queen’s successor to emulate her achievement, especially if it is the rather voluble Prince Charles. (All views expressed in the column are of the author alone.) * http://blogs.independent. co.uk/2012/06/07/jubilee-workfare-adickensian-tale-brought-to-life/ ** http://blogs.independent. co.uk/2012/06/05/the-diamondjubilee-elizabeths-60-years-at-odds-withdemocracy/
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good karma \\ MOTHER NGO
HOPE FOR THE
HOMELESS Mother NGO offers destitutes a second life with a roof above their heads and a space to call their own BY MANJIRI INDURKAR
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M
other NGO for the homeless is not a known name nor does it feature high-profile names on its board. And its cause—providing shelter to destitutes—is not a ‘glamorous’ one either. Shakespeare once said, “All that glitters is not gold”. By that logic, one can conclude that some of ‘all’ which does not glitter, could be. The story of Mother NGO, quietly and diligently trying to provide Delhi’s homeless a roof, is an inspiring and a truly golden one.
good karma MOTHER NGO //
Leader
NAME: Mother NGO for Homeless FOUNDED: 2009 WHAT IT IS: Mother NGO for Homeless is a Delhi-based Not-for-profit Organisation working with the homeless. It is a governmentfunded organisation run by the St Stephen’s Hospital with Dr Amod Kumar as its Nodal Officer BASED IN: New Delhi WEBSITE: http://www. homelessdelhi.org/mother-ngofor-homeless.html
For instance, its name is an interesting choice, especially since the organisation does not exclusively associate itself to women and children’s welfare. So why call it thus? Dr Amod Kumar, the nodal officer of the NGO, explains that it is the ‘mother of all NGOs’. The story of its birth is tied to the Mission Convergence programme of the Delhi government. In 2008, Mission Convergence was launched to help the state government realise its goals of poverty alleviation and inclusive growth. To help the government, St Stephen’s Hospital pitched in help working in tandem with the state authorities. On its behalf, the hospital initiated a programme within the Mission Convergence to address issues of those homeless. As Dr Kumar explains, “After a lot of meetings, the state government decided to form six homeless resource centres (HRCs) covering the entire city, and one mother NGO to take care of these six.” Hence the name. Mother NGO not only does the ground work (rescue and rehabilitation) but acts as the interface between the
government and the HRCs. Mother NGO officially opened its doors in 2009 with six centres. Today, it has grown to accommodate approximately 150 centres within the New Delhi area. Its impact has been such that other cities have been mandated, by the Supreme Court, to start similar programmes in their constituencies. At its helm is a passionate crusader—Dr Kumar who was always a man with a social bent of mind. His desire to do something in the socio-developmental field led him to pursue the medical profession. But that was not enough, thus, he joined Mother NGO. He prefers to be as far away from the limelight as possible. Like the man leading it, the organisation, too, remains high on impact but low profile. In a country plagued with several dire issues, it is interesting to note that Dr Kumar and his team believe lack of shelter to be a core problem. “Simply because no one thinks of the destitutes. They are completely invisible because their problem is so commonplace. We take it (homelessness) to be a fact of urban life. There are people who do not have homes. There are millions of citizens on the streets dying out of cold or heat—just because it is a common problem does not mean we do nothing about it.” Fortunately, Mother NGO’s efforts are backed by St Stephen’s Hospital, which has all the facilities ready to help malnourished, ailing destitutes who arrive at its shelters in an deplorable condition. Apart from providing low-cost shelters to those in need, Mother NGO also maintains a helpline— naturally, it is one of the most busy ones in the NCR area. When the NGO receives a call from a location, an ambulance is sent to pick up the homeless person and firstly admit him or her to the hospital. “Since destitute are people without immediate family, they are provided with an attendant, treated and then sent to our shelters where volunteers
are responsible for their further care.” Then begins the search to find the family of the destitute—in case that particular person admits or remembers having one. In 2010, Mother NGO conducted a survey of Delhi and located approximately 55,955 homeless people on its streets—a figure that Dr Kumar admits haunts him when he roams the city streets. The NGO also takes the initiative to give an identity to the destitute—either through an Aadhar (Unique Identification), Beghar or a Voter’s Identity Card. “We take down their details, get photos clicked and help them get their identity back. Sometimes when a destitute person returns to the mainstream we also help him or her to open a bank account.” In a very short time, Mother NGO has been able to achieve quite a lot. However, not all journeys are smooth—their’s have seen its share of struggle. Dr Kumar points out that the major problem has been of funding—a surprising fact considering that the NGO is government funded. “Funding is erratic. Currently we are funded for 15-day projects. An important aspect of our work is the rescue process. Because we also send off rescue teams to disaster areas, Mother NGO dedicates a solid amount of time to this process. Rescue involves providing immediate medical care and bringing victims back to the shelter.” But the problem of funds is not going to stop the NGO from expanding operations further. Dr Kumar talks with almost child-like enthusiasm about the NGO’s future. “We want to develop more rescue and relief programmes and link those to disaster services plan, where we will offer practical training to Caring Angels (volunteers) so that they become adept at handling emergencies.” Dr Kumar also plans to open specific shelters for destitute women and old people and start on-campus residences for destitute children.
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“It’s a fascinating moment in America’s saga and I’m observing a different kind of politics”
READING ROOM
— Edward Luce
Author
Time to Start Thinking: America and the Spectre of Decline An insightful book on one of the most important countries of the current age BY ROHINI BANERJEE
FOR SEVEN years Edward Luce has
been reporting on the United States for British and global audiences for the Financial Times. His observations have been compiled into a book— Time to Start Thinking: America and the Spectre of Decline. Time to Start Thinking focuses chiefly on USA’s politics and economy, drawing upon the author’s experiences in a country which he ‘greatly admires’. Luce’s focus is on the American middleclass, what he hails as the "greatest mass middle-class of the twentieth century", which propelled the country’s rise as a superpower. The underlying assumption is that this middle-class is hollowing out with people getting trapped in debt and dead-end jobs—“America’s middle is increasingly getting lonelier”. Luce points out to a decline of this ‘solid mass’ with its participants being ‘paid less for doing more’. “Meanwhile, the median American household, which accounts for the bulk of America’s workforce, saw its income decline by $2,000—the first time in the modern era that the bulk of Americans were worse off at the end of a business cycle than they
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were at the beginning”. Luce’s central thesis is that America is slowly rolling into an economic and geopolitical decline and to establish his point Luce looks at the changing structure of the US economy, increasing polarisation of its politics, desperation of the middle class and American innovation in technology and business. He says, “America is seeing growth in two types of jobs. On one hand there are the top 10 per cent who continue to do well. These are the Wall Street financiers, Silicon Valley developers, managerial and intellectual elites and doctoral engineers and physicists whose salaries are more in every other educational category, from high school dropouts to a growing share of those with only undergraduate, or vocational degree, as opposed to postgraduate education... Their numbers will grow while their incomes will most likely continue to tread water”. This collapse of “social mobility— the main ingredient in the American Dream—is eating into the economy and this slippage is a result of misguided policies". Luce turns attention to Washington—he identifies the city’s
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Edward Luce is the Washington bureau chief of The Financial Times. Earlier he was a South Asia Bureau Chief based out of New Delhi. He is the author of the 2006 book In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India, and the 2012 book Time to Start Thinking: America in the Age of Descent Publisher: Hachette India ISBN: 971408702758 Price: `699 (Hardback)
lobbying culture, politicians’ need to raise funds, as key stumbling blocks to an organised, functioning political system. The book raises two primary questions: the first is economic. “Can the United States sustain an open economy while simultaneously reviewing income growth for the majority of the population? Whether via the Tea Party or a more broad-based descent into apathy and cynicism, middleclass Americans are losing faith in their country’s direction”. The second question is, according to Luce, cultural. “Can America forge a consensus it would need to respond effectively to growing challenges?” “So if you look at 2002 to 2007 and you observe the structural forces at play in that business expansion— mainly that the middle class income dropped, that very, very few jobs were created and that the higher value-added jobs tended for the most part to be replaced by lower paying ones—those trends became pronounced in the 2009 recovery onwards. That suggests that this is a deep structural problem with the way globalisation and technol-
“The true terror of technology is not the cogs and the wheels, but how it will change us”
reading room CRITICS & AUTHORS //
— James Rollins
ogy is impacting the majority of the American workforce. I am agnostic as to whether this reduces America's overall growth rate. The gains of growth are so deeply skewed to the very highest earners. But there is a lot of evidence in studies of other economies that when you have gross,
Latin American-style inequality, growth and competitiveness tend to get adversely hit.” Luce finishes by noting that “America’s biggest challenges are not unique”. Its difficulties are not fundamentally different from those all the developed countries face in respond-
ing to the global shift of economic power. One of the primary criticisms of the book is that it is written in a classic journalistic style—people and stories interspersed with somewhat sweeping generalisations. An insightful book that leaves you hoping for a bit more.
The Devil Colony A pacy
ABOUT THE AUTHOR James Rollins is the pen name of American veterinarian James Paul Czajkowski also a writer of actionadventurethriller novels. He gave up his veterinary practice in Sacramento, California, to be a full-time author. Publisher: Hachette India
thriller filled with clichés that fizzles out right at the end BY ROHINI BANERJEE
ISBN: 9781409102953 Price: `350
THERE EXISTS a certain category of books best picked at an
airport or a railway station right after the plane or train is delayed. The category can be divided into two subs— breezy romances and pacy thrillers, page-turners that stay in the collective memory for 15 minutes (or less). The Devil Colony snugly fits in the last sub-category. If you have seen a few Indiana Jones movies or read through your Dan Browns, then you could possibly predict most of its “unpredictable” twists. Fortunately, the book is an honest one: it does not claim to change lives. It is just an entertaining read. And, James Rollins is a well-behaved author to let his readers know fact from fiction in a short summary at the end. For lovers of conspiracy theories, this one is not about the Illuminati or Freemasons— words that have started to lead to involuntary groans. This one is all about nano-technology and Native American heritage and The Devil Colony scores when it comes to threading two disparate pieces of history together. Rollin’s seventh book in the Sigma Series goes thus: a secret from the past rises which threatens to destroy the world. Yes, you have probably heard this one before. Unlike a Dan Brown, this book does not start in Europe but in
Rocky Mountains, Utah. The book earns some brownie points for its descriptions of US caves and parks—the author is an amateur spelunker after all. The story starts with the discovery of a cavern full of desiccated human bodies and a gold-coated skull of a saber-toothed tiger. When the prehistoric artifact is brought to the surface, it triggers a blast that creates a force that dissolves the rock, eventually unleashing a volcano. When members of a special forces unit Sigma, led by half native-American and half-white Painter Crowe, investigate, they uncover a conspiracy that has roots in Mormonism, Native American legends, Thomas Jefferson and explorer Meriwether Lewis. A part of a seven-books series, this book holds itself well as a standalone thriller. The writing is deliberately dramatic drowning in Hollywood-style bravado. Characters—the way they walk, talk or think—are described in unnecessary detail. Especially bits dedicated to Siechan—a Manga ‘chick’ meets Quentin Tarantino’s killer ‘babe’. Having said that, next time when you are stranded at an airport with nothing to read, The Devil Colony might be a pick. Time will fly and by the time you reach your destination, you will have forgotten all about it.
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DEMOCRATIC WORLD
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WARE
HOUSE
Our pick of the boldest, best and craziest gadgets. Glance through the Warehouse page and check them out. Happy hunting!
FOCAL GRANDE
Utopia EM Speakers
Imagine a chic designer set of speakers that are custom-made to fit your room’s interior perfectly. That’s what the Focal Grande Utopia EM Speakers are all about. You can order them in the colour you want—not limited to a catalogue but any colour you demand. Essential specs of these bad boys: they are over 6 feet tall, can withstand 15,000 W per channel amps, and they are also regarded as one of the best speaker sets in the world. They are yours for just over a crore!
` 1 CRORE (APPROX)
Focal Grande UtopiaEM Speakers
PICTURE THAT Now a camera which can describe the picture you click with it, by uploading it on web, instantly http://dgit.in/JppPzW
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FUJIFILM’S GLOBETROTTER Globetrotter and Fujifilm’s collaboration is this fancy suitcase filled with an assortment of Fujifilm goodies— just for `5 lakh (approximately)
warehouse
GADGE TS & GIZMOS //
I’M Watch `18,000 - `7,00,000
This one is for the ultra geeks. Do you remember a custom-made iPod watch released some months ago—a brilliant piece of engineering and elegance? Well, one Italian manufacturer has surpassed that project by launching i’m Watch—a smartwatch that runs on Android and tethers to any Smartphone, including a Blackberry and iPhone. The beautiful device can deal with phone calls, text messages and it even lets the user browse through his music and photo albums. Starting price is `18,000 and goes all the way up to `7 lakh.
WRIST MOUNTED finger piano
` 2,000 (APPROX)
You may be no Mozart, but that should not stop you from playing the piano. This Japanese device is a cool customer that lets people play a unique note on every finger and three more from the wrist—with a full octave range. A battery-powered and portable piano at your fingertips.
NIKKOR 6MM F/2.8 LENS
A piece of optical wizardry— Nikkor 6mm f/2.8 lens—is now up for sale for `89 lakh at Grays of Westminster, London, a specialty camera shop
A BUDGET MACBOOK
Apple is set to launch a budgetpriced Macbook Air around $799 in the later half of 2012 http://dgit.in/LDGAvb
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HITCH
HIKER
PHOTOS BY SUMITA VARMA
Stunning Waters: Venice is a city of canals and could give competition to Paris as the most romantic city of love and lights after sundown. A leisurely stroll is a must-do
A Small Slice of Italy
Walk through the magnificent Roman Empire and sample a bit of bellissimo—Italian style
BY SUMITA VARMA
S
hould I start my Italian adventure with that connecting flight that I missed in Zurich? After all it would be a perfectly tense and dramatic Bollywood-ishtyle moment to start a story. Also, it was how we—an overtly-excited bunch of Indian tourists—did begin our experience in modern yet ancient Rome. Indeed, Rome is a city of contradictions; sandwiched between the past and the present. There is no other city in the world thus spotted with historical relics. Built between 1,000BC and 750BC, it has been the centre of modern civilisation for centuries and witnessed assassinations of emperors and powers-that-be, all clamouring for a piece of it. If there is any place on earth where a sense of power and past hangs like a thick fog, it is in Rome. Walking through its cobbled squares and lanes is like treading on pages of history. But let us not linger long in Rome for the first 'official' stop was to be the Vatican City—around 2.76 kilometres away. I probably need not mention that Vatican is a
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country in its own right, and the smallest one at that. It is also one of the holiest Christian places, home to the Pope established in 1929. It seemed then that our travel through Italy was destined to start dramatically—the morning we started
hitchhiker’s guide ITALY //
HIKER OF THE MONTH
walking towards Vatican it began to pour. But, Rome is the city of gallant men and we were rescued, too, by our knight of the shinning brollies—Murad from Bangladesh—who was selling umbrellas right at the hotel entrance as early as 6.00 am. Interestingly, Rome, Florence and Venice are filled to the brim with people from Asia and Africa. Immigrants double up as street vendors selling local wares on pavements. We were still clutching our wet umbrellas when we reached the entrance to the Vatican Museum and what a treat it turned out to be! If one could ignore the milling crowds and queues, the massive sculptures by Michelangelo and Raphael at the entrance could easily transport one to the 16th century. Vatican Museum holds some of the rarest treasures of the world; it has enough creations by Raphael, Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo, under a single roof to make you think it is a miracle. If that does not touch your heart, then a walk to Saint Peter’s Basilica will. A word of caution—the place is usually chock-a-block with people. We anxiously followed our guide’s—Valeria—bobbing black umbrella through the crowds. Also, it would be wiser to pay that extra penny and get a guide. They have interesting tit-bits not mentioned in the guide books. Our experience at Vatican was but a day long and we were back in Rome at the day’s end. The next day was dedicated to the capital city. The city seeks, nay it demands, attention. It needs to be experienced on foot. If you do so, soon your heart will be captured. It is a vibrant place, crisscrossed by walkerfriendly footpaths and pavements. You can tread miles
Sumita Varma currently works so that she can travel. For her passion, she can do anything—double-up as a freelancer, research analyst, writer or translator for national and international organisations. Prior to her current state of freedom, Varma could be spotted in the offices of Sunday Observer and Amar Ujala
Beauty Within: (Above) A celebration parade at Vatican City. That, and the museum should be on your to-do list. (Left) The Colosseum. (Right) The Vatican City
and not feel tired. Since each alley and lane is pictureperfect, you will be encouraged to walk a bit further, and a bit more. No tourist can be in Rome and not visit the Amphitheatre or Colosseum—neither could we. Emperor
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hitchhiker’s guide \\ ITALY
Vespasian started the construction of the Colosseum in 72AD and it was completed in 80AD. When it was completed it is said 55,000 spectators could enter the building through its 80 entrances. Though it is a magnificent ruin one could almost close his eyes and imagine the great games between gladiators. Our must-visit list also included Forum, Trevi Fountain and Piazza della Repubblica. Though we stopped often to ask our way, our walks were guided by the city map which is meticulously drawn up. At times we did have problem communicating but hey, even our vast country has north-south, east-west language gap—and the group was given a sympathetic ear at all times. You must be familiar with an old saying that goes—see Naples and die. Well, we wished to see it and live to tell the tale. This ridiculously picturesque seaside paradise is also a world heritage site and home to pizza, music and oh-the-melodious mandolin. It is also one of the most romantic places I have ever visited, followed perhaps by Florence, where we all had a date with a certain breathtakingly handsome David, who awaited us at the Accademia Gallery Firenze. Alas, we were not his only admirers. The queue of David’s “fans” made us re-think plans for the day. But we did not give up. The next morning we were right under his gaze. What an experience it was, to stand before this magnificent statue—a miracle in marble. We looked on in stunned silence and bated breath (expecting him to speak because he was so life-like). It is indeed an accomplished artists who can both capture the human emotion and set it free on a lifeless piece of amarble. But do not make David
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Venetian Delights: Venice on a sunny day—from the banks and the gondola
AROUND THE ALLEY
A Glimpse: A treasure around every corner
Baroque Beauty: Trevi
Fountain, Rome
Divine Art: Etruscan figures at the fountain
the only must-do; Giotto’s Bell Tower, Piazza Della Signoria, Ufizzi Gallery and the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the birthplace of Galileo, should also be a part of the itinerary. For a foodie, Italy is a gastronomical delight—wine is often cheaper than water and there are those wonderful items (all beginning with a ‘C’ coincidentally); cheese, coffee and chocolate along with freshlymade risotto and spaghetti sprinkled with oil freshly squeezed from orchard grown olives. Osterias are Italy’s answer to a budget traveller’s prayer—these are roadside, locally-run eateries that offer a limited menu, but served with care. Excellent quality at a cheap price. Our final stop was Venice—the city of 118 islands connected by stone footbridges. When in Rome do as the Romans do—walk. There are no wheeled vehicles allowed in this ancient city known for its melody masters such as Vivaldi. At one point of time it was referred to as the Republic of Music and it is said that an anonymous Frenchman remarked that Venice is that place where “In every home, someone is playing a musical instrument or singing. There is music everywhere.” I must confess that the rather ritualistic gondola ride was not that exciting for me because the canals are really not that clean. There is a sense of decadence and decay to Venice that lends it an atmosphere which stands in contrast to its people who are lively and ready with a smile. Bellissimo!
LIFE
PHOTOS BY TOM ALTER
REEL
Thespian’s Take: A scene from Benaras and one of his Hindi plays
At the ‘Alter’ of Acting
In conversation with thespian, dramatist, director and writer Tom Alter BY ROHINI BANERJEE
P
adma Shree awardee Thomas Beach Alter comes across as a patient man. But he does snap. Especially, if one prods him much on his thoughts on “Bollywood and typecasting”. To him, the phenomenon (if it could be called such) is a journalistic term (his words, not mine) coined by “lazy scribes” who snip careers spanning over 40 years and tin them into 40-minutes-worth of non-researched stories. “Before you say typecast, do appreciate what an actor has done in that so-called typecast role. Look at the quality of work that Amitabh Bachchan has done as the ‘angry young man’ in 25 brilliant films. Observe Prem Chopra, Amjad Khan or Pran’s legacies. Their work defined the way villains were perceived,” says he. For those wondering who Mr Thomas Beach Alter is, he is none other than the veteran actor, director and author—Tom Alter. Alter’s grandparents were the first to travel and settle in India in 1916. By the time the third generation was born, the
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family’s ties with India were firmly rooted. Thus, it is not surprising that he gets just a little impatient when prodded one too many times about his “foreigner” status (especially since he is not one), his impeccable English, Hindi and Urdu diction (his father read an Urdu Bible and Alter is fluent in all three tongues), American passport (which he submitted years ago) and being a firang in an industry which, he insists, treats its participants far more kindly than observers give it credit for. “I yearn to be asked questions about my craft and about its challenges!” he lets you know. And he is eager to talk about the 100 years of Indian cinema and the journey thus far. “Look at the themes
reel life
TOM ALTER //
ACTOR OF THE MONTH
being explored today. New filmmakers are looking at politics, violence, corruption and sex from newer angles—we are less guarded now. I am talking of mass films being made for a wider audience base.” All in all, Alter comes across as a kind man, and one suspects, a bit of an optimist. As a student of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, he predicted that two of his batchmates would be stars one day. “I was on my way back to the campus (FTII) when I was stopped by two of my batchmates late in the night. They were worried about an acting project and wanted my opinion on it. I told them to continue acting. They were bound to be famous.” Years later, one of them, Mithun Chakraborty, became the nation’s favourite disco dancer, while the other, Sunil Kapoor immortalised the rogue-meets-jester villain as Shakti Kapoor. It was also at FTII that he met Naseeruddin Shah (a senior) and Benjamin Gilani. In 1979 they began Motley—their own theatre production company. However, as a fresh graduate Alter was more focused on Hindi films in particular and on being a “hero”. He was a sports teacher at a small school at Jagadhri in Haryana in the early 1970s when Alter fell in love. It all began in a darkened theatre with Aradhana involving the hero-heroine-villain triumvirate, romance, music and theatrics of celluloid. However, he did not let his aspirations be known. Even when he sent an application to FTII (written in Hindi, of course) he had not told a soul. But, by the time he reached the main Mussourie bazaar from the post
Tom Alter is a veteran actor who has (approximately) 230 Hindi, Assamese, Bengali and Kumaoni films, 50 plays and three books to his credit. He has also been one of the better-known sports journalist of India. A native of Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, Alter is the son of American Christian missionaries of English and Scottish ancestry and has lived in Mumbai for years now
World Stage: (Right) Tom Alter is soon slated to appear in Life Ki Toh Lag Gayi and Subhash Ghai’s Cycle Kick. (Above) A scene from Ocean of an Old Man and a snippet from a Hindi play
office, news had travelled anyway. If his acquaintances were surprised by his choice, so was his FTII interview panel. Its members were apparently in splits by the time Alter’s skit was over; they were not mocking him but laughing at their incredulous
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reel life
// TOM ALTER
expressions upon hearing a Caucasian man talk in chaste Hindi. Even Amjad Khan “mock searched” Alter for a recorder when he first heard him speak. But, we are getting ahead of ourselves. Post-FTII, Alter got his first break in the Dev Anand-starrer Sahib Bahadur directed by Chetan Anand. His first release was Ramanand Sagar’s Charas in which he played the hero—Dharmendra's—Interpol boss. “The character was supposed to be based out of Malta and obviously we shot in Mumbai,” he laughs. Though he was an “Interpol boss”, Alter played an Indian and spoke with a Punjabi accent. He insists that he played a “typically foreign” character just once. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Alter acted alongside a number of megastars; and yes, he did meet Rajesh Khanna who was “delighted” to hear that Aradhana got Alter into acting. The actor was directed by stalwarts as well; V Shantaram, Raj Kapoor, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Manmohan Desai, Manoj Kumar and Satyajit Ray—the latter being the most “artistically organised” director who he had worked for. “Manikda (as Ray was known) was truly a master of his craft. He was prepared when he came to the sets. His sense of aesthetics was impeccable.” If you think that Alter stayed within the confines of Hindi cinema, you are mistaken. He has acted in regional films—Bengali, Assamese, Telegu, Tamil and Kumaoni—and in several he played the hero. He also became a vital part of Indian television with the tele-serial Junoon which ran for five years, and was a part of the delightful ensemble comedy Zabaan Sambhalke, an Indianised version of BBC’s Mind Your Language. Over the years Alter also accumulated an envious body of theatrical work, which included William Dalrymple’s City of Djinns and the criticallyacclaimed solo play Maulana. Though, he did hate us (journalists) a bit more for it—Alter grudgingly replied that his recent role as a teacher in Ocean of an Old Man was one of the emotionally distraught roles that he had done in his recent
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Scene Stealer: (Above) A still from Raja Nahar Singh. (Left) As the Indian cricket coach in Silence Please... The Dressing Room and the poster of Ocean of an Old Man
REEL BYTES
Celluloid Challenge: Stills from Ocean of an Old Man
Life’s Music: The thespian as writer and author Rabindranath Tagore
career. Strangely, the actor made a conscious decision of choosing few international stints—one of them being One Night With The King with the legendary Peter O’Toole. This Jack of all trades; a former sports journalist who actively wrote between 1980s and early 1990s; author of one fiction and two non-fiction books; and a stage and television director, has chosen Mumbai as his home. His months are split between writing, directing and acting. In between, there is little time for negativity—perhaps that is why his faith in the country in general, and in the Hindi film industry in particular, remains unshakable.
STICKY
A qui ck guide -start to wha fresh, t’s fu worth n & y peek.. of a .
NOTES
KNIGHT THE DARK RISES ears
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WATCH
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN For those who thought that the former SpiderMan movies were too much of a departure from the original Marvel comics, there is good news. The Amazing Spider-Man, which hits the screen on July 3, 2012, promises to bring back some of the old magic of the original ‘cool’ Spidey. Miss it at your own risk!
UGLY BY THE SCREAMING FEMALES
LISTEN
Marissa Paternoster is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and the one-andonly 'female' in the band called Screaming Females. Unlike other women-led punk groups, confirming to normative gender-ruled structures of music, Screaming Females is a no-holds-barred, unapologetically punk band. The New Jersey trio's latest album—Ugly—is out in the stores.
SONS OF BABUR A play which connects the dots between the past and present—Sons of Babur—will compel you to reflect on the Mughal era in a way you haven't before. Directed by thespian Tom Alter, Sons of Babur brings out little-known facts of one of the more colourful era of history. With an ensemble cast of 20 brilliant actors, the play is a visual treat. On July 14, 2012, at 7pm, at Shri Ram Centre, Delhi, the stage will be set and the Mughal emperors will be waiting for you. See you there!
ATTEND
CHAMPAKULAM MOOLAM BOAT RACE
The oldest snake-boat race of Kerala is reason enough to travel to God’s own country in this sweltering heat. The extravagant event is a must-attend not just for the race, but for processions and rituals performed before it. Starting from July 3, 2012, at Pampa River, Champakulam; the race is the place to be.
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