My New Year's Resolution..Nay, Hope

I heard a remark that no one changed because they were given good advice. Even if the advice is exactly what they want to hear or need to hear, the chances of change are minimal. Young people are often the receivers of generous amounts wisdom from elders. But young people are also considered rebellious, hot-headed and lacking in respect of elders.

I take the case of disrespect while giving and taking advice. When given liberally, to cause a change, it rarely works with young and old. Both will resist the change, whether it is for good or bad. Rebellion is the name given when youngsters do this, whereas the excuse for the elderly to change their set ways is 'you can't teach an old dog, new tricks'.

We cannot be changed from outside, it has to be from within. We cannot force ourselves to change either without any real conviction, it has to be a natural process. But for our own benefit, we must change when needed and be flexible to accept changes. This will require an open. flexible and patient mind.

Why is it that we do not accept and embrace change even when the need for it is obvious? IT is so because any change will question our existence by challenging our present set of ideals and the world we have built around us and our beliefs. Adapting to a new world, ideals and beliefs is not the only hard step. Surviving the onslaught on these ideals itself takes a lot of courage and will, since our lives are built on and around these.

We all live in our own shells, built with our own ideas and beliefs, giving us a view of the world that we want to see- a view which hides more than it reveals and a view which shows makes us see many things that are not there instead of what is there. We react to any such change with hostility exactly because of the threats to this comfortable place that we have built for ourselves. Anyone who talks about a different part of the whole truth must be wrong, must be mad and has to be silenced. That person must be brought to conform with what the accepted view of the other individual or society is.

The truth has no place, especially the inconvenient kind since it will be met with  a level of hostility that will attack, insult and discredit (sometimes even threaten) the individual who speaks the truth. It is this hostile response that must change when someone or something questions our ideals and beliefs. An open mind that tries to understand and analyse, a flexible mindset which can change when necessary and respect the other person and their opinions can enable us to survive and adapt in an ever changing world. But more importantly, a knowledge of this fact will also enable us to appreciate the difficulties faced by others when confronted with change. We need to do this if we are not to become isolated systems that hold obsolete views to be drowned by the speed of our times and pulled down to the dark, irretrievable depths by the pressure of change.

It is fine to say all this, but am I taking a 'holier than thou' stance by advising without doing anything about it in my own life? It is not advice since no one is going to really see this. These are the mad ramblings of someone who realised these facts from experience and is trying to make use of this realisation for a peaceful life. No one ever changes, it is only 'I' that can change. I have made a lot of mistakes in my life, I have not been a good friend, I have pissed of a lot of my friends and room-mates and acquaintances. In fact, I am the opposite of Chandler from FRIENDS- at first this guy might seem the nice kind, but that is only a mirage. The real picture has been quite bad I am afraid. I wish to change, I want to and I hope I can know how to do it soon and implement it. It is not a New Year's Resolution, but part of the hope that I hold out- for a better year, for a better world for all.

One incident, one thousand opinions

There is a saying in Malayalam that 'even if the mother is slapped, there are two views'. There have been several opinions going around the rape that took place in Delhi and the protests it sparked off. The facts are that the woman deserves justice, I hope she recovers and the perpetrators are punished and all of these happen soon. It is also obvious that women in our world are treated as inferior to men and this attitude must change, which is not possible through legislation but can happen only through women empowerment, independence and respecting women- a change that all of us must embrace.

I would like to dwell on some of the views that have been expressed. Internet and avenues like blogs have meant that everyone has their own opinion and unique insight into every event and can express them, but I cannot fail to mention the fact that internet also gives vent to a large amount of passionate, one-sided and ill considered stupidity. The sort of comments that appear at the end of each newspaper article and the personal attacks on the author suggest a good measure of intellectual poverty that causes the individual to swear, insult or personally attack the author. Internet is only a medium- it can transmit good as well as bad, bigotry as well tolerance, stupidity as well as wisdom! I have tried to be free of these blinding emotions as I write this, but writing without passion could perhaps be like sex without love.

I noticed a view going round that it is because the victim of the rape hailed from the middle class in Delhi the protests have been so vocal and evident and that such crimes occur all over the country without any attention and fail to evince any amount of protest. I must admit this is true- Soni Suri, Women in Manipur and J&K, incidents in Rajasthan etc have not lead to any protests of the same scale. But does it mean the protests were unfair and illegal? Does it mean they were fighting only for the urban middle-class woman? I do not think so. This incident woke them up and brought them together, just like the death of one man brought together thousands to demand for regime change in Tunisia.

It is true that they did not specifically mention or call for justice to victims of alleged state sponsored rape that occur in many places and victims in remote parts of the country. But this is an opportunity to fight for stricter enforcement of laws, stricter legislation ("Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill" is still in the doldrums), faster trials and to sensitise police personnel to the mental trauma undergone by a victim and to treat them with respect rather than viewing them as the culprit. This is also an opportunity for us to combat not just rape, but the unequal status that women are subjected to in the country and to make it our priority to treat them with respect and even admiration, for all of us are the result of the pain, anxieties and sacrifices of a woman.

I also read this and since I cannot reply to the author directly, I am posting my reply here-

The protests of Anna Hazare, Baba Ramdev and the current one at Delhi came about not because citizens wanted the government to make concessions, but merely wanted an honest, responsive and effective government that could protect its citizens without robbing them. There was and still is corruption of mind-boggling proportions in our country, women are still treated unfairly and rapes do happen- these are facts, not allegations leveled to pull down the government. True, some amount of political self-serving happened at some of the protests, but if the government had acted before letting the situation deteriorate, we would not have had Baba Ramdev protesting on stage, we would not have had citizens digging in for over 2 days at Vijay Chowk and policemen and protestors injured unnecessarily. If protesting against a government that is failing in its duty is chaos and anarchy, it should be welcomed and it is the duty of a citizen as much as their right.

Mr.Khare also fails to understand that any protest that has a legitimate reason behind it will gather more support and if not addressed by the government in a civilised manner, it could grow violent and stronger. But it should definitely not be allowed to grow in a violent direction. But there is a difference between doing this by engaging with the protestors and just beating them off. But the crowd in Delhi were not just about castration or death penalty for rapists(there were definitely calls for this form of punishment) and definitely not about bringing down the government, but was a protest against a government that has failed half the population of our country. The people are smart enough to know it cannot be fixed quickly, but they also know not doing anything or mere tokenism will simply not do anymore.

Therefore, it is upto the government to do its job and to the people to protest and mobilise themselves if their government is failing the nation. It is then upto the government to rectify itself and talk to the people and protestors to tell them what they are going to do about it and earnestly go ahead with changing itself and working for the nation. But merely resorting to the power of the state against legitimate demands of the people and then lecturing about the need for order and rule of law is just a lame excuse to evade and escape true culpability.

In this current instance, the protestors were first met with water cannons, teargas and lathi charges. This only hardened their resolve to get an answer from the government and a cursory statement would not pacify a crowd that was punished for demanding justice. Along with a statement on what it was doing in the current case, government's stand and measures to improve safety for women, the government should have also explained the harsh steps it took to disperse the crowd rather than labelling the protest as a harbinger of anarchy and chaos.

I would like to add that the crowd did follow its emotions and the anger was definitely evident as some of the demands were not fully reasonable and well thought out. Calling for capital punishment and castration is clearly one step too far since none of these act as deterrents but will only serve as revenge- this is different from justice. We need to understand that in almost 90% of the rape cases, the perpetrators are known to the victim. What this means is that there will be tremendous pressure on the victim by family or friends to not file charges since a person they know will be send to the gallows. There is also the argument that since the perpetrator knows he will be sentenced to death anyway, it might be better to silence the victim- both are strong arguments against the death sentence.

But that does not negate the fact that the protestors did ask for timely justice- faster investigation, speedy trials and convictions. Promptly registering cases and investigations involving scientific methods and concluding the trials on time will mean not only that there is justice but also will change the feeling of impunity that men can get away with rape since the conviction rate is an abysmal 3%. This step will reduce rapes as well as provide justice to the victim. But this is a radical step and will require police reform and judicial reform, needed not only in rape cases, but also in our entire police force and judiciary.

The protestors should have also asked for more sensitive handling of the victim by the police as well as the medical staff, trained policewomen to register rape cases and meet the victim, treating the victim with respect and compassion and a rapid cure to the misconception held by many that women invite rape and their dressing has a lot to do with it. But what if rape is a state sponsored weapon used against its own people as in the red-corridor, north-east and J&K? Here too justice must be delivered if our nation must justify itself as the world's biggest democracy. More policing is required in certain areas, not in numbers but in their ability to respond to citizen who are under threat.

They also sought social change by questioning the way we view women as mere objects to be controlled and used. They asserted the independence of women and men did come out in support of these ideas- conveying a message that there are honest, decent men and we are with you- something the government failed to convey. If discrimination and threats women face right from the womb to the grave is to end, more than anything, it is our attitude that must change. Parents, teachers and society must teach our children that boys and girls are all equal and must respect each other.But before we can do that, we grown-ups must learn that lesson first and practice it in our lives.

Far off from the People

A little over two years ago, a street vendor in Tunisia named Mohamed Bouazizi protested against the municipal official and her aides who seized his wares, in the only way he could in a land that was being ruled by an autocrat for 23 years- he set himself on fire. The wave of protests that it sparked off lead to what has been dubbed as the 'Arab Spring'. In spite of the fact that it has not been fully successful in establishing democracies and answerable governments in the region, that single incident sparked off a series of protests and were met with heavy government force injuring and killing many- to be expected in an area filled with dictators who had been ruling these nations with an iron first for decades.

No one in their right minds would consider these protests as only about demanding a 'judicial inquiry' into the death of Mohamed Bouazizi or about punishing those responsible for his death. These protests were about justice for the entire society, Bouazizi became a symbol for the entire nation and especially for the youth who were struggling in Tunisia under the autocratic regime of Abidine Ben Ali. The protests were about freedom, against tyranny and the heavy hand of the state that could not be tolerated any more.

Last week, India too witnessed protests that were compared to the 'Tahrir Square' protests in Egypt. These protests held near the President's residence and close to the buildings of various Ministries and also the Parliament building demanded justice for not just one person, but for all women. Just like the protests in the Arab world, it was about changing the status quo and not just about one incident. It was not about capturing the criminals who assaulted a woman, but about justice for all our sisters, mothers, wives and daughters. The government failed to realise these truths and reacted in a manner that suggested it was out of touch with the people.

What was the need of a judicial enquiry when the police had already apprehended all the suspects? Why did the government not make any movement for two days and treat it as just a law and order problem when there is a fundamental right to protest? Why could not the President or the Prime Minister defuse the situation by making a clear and bold statement as soon as possible rather than the emotionless statement and banal appeals for calm that it released only two days after the protests? In fact, it beats common sense that at a time when the nation was united in outrage against a heinous crime (quite unlike previous protests which were against corruption in the government), the government did not seize the opportunity to stand with the people and understand their anger.

Even now,attempts are on in certain sections of the media to project that policemen were attacked killed by a violent mob. The protests were highly peaceful with only a few incidents of vandalism and stone-throwing, but most of these too were instigated by police lathi charges and teargas firing. Anyone questioning the protests, their intentions and political motivation has got a highly perverted moral compass since they were only asking for justice and not for resignation or arrest of any political figure. But just like in an autocracy, we have a government out of touch with the people that saw their genuine grievance as just a law and order threat which had to be quashed. Hence the teargas firing, lathi charges and closing down of metro stations. What we saw was the heavy hand of a state repressing an honest, sincere and people driven protest and the protests turned violent only because of the government's refusal to leave their ivory towers and engage with the people.

If the government was sincere and smart, it would have realised crowds that do not have a political affiliation and created by spontaneous outpouring of public sentiment, do not have a well-defined set of rules, demands and a clear leader. They protest not just about one specific incident, but about the horrors plaguing our country. The best way to deal with it, or rather face the situation is to actually listen to the people and understand what they are trying to say. Then come out and make a statement, not read out from a prepared script, that says I understand you, your grievances and we will work together to solve this issue and then putting those words into practice. But to do this, the government must be able to understand the people, not stay away from them while going to them only once in five years. I do not think we have such a government of the people, by the people and for the people, the government response to these protests prove just that.

The Cricket India Deserves

It does not matter whether Sachin retires or not, It does not matter whether we turn out pitches where the ball turns square or rectangle or rhombus or trapezoid! All I know is that the team suffered two white-wash series defeats away and then won an insignificant test series at home against New Zealand, which is not the world's best squad, and now the revenge series against England is level. Sachin or Sehwag or Dhoni, if you do not perform, you should not be playing- it is as simple as that. I guess it is only in Indian politics and in Indian cricket that poor performance is rewarded with more opportunities to play poorly, based poorly on market conditions or lack of options.

So, is there a lack of options? In a nation of one billion people where Cricket is the only sport that gets any media coverage and adulation worth mentioning, we do not have a replacement for one player, we worship that player like a god and believe he has to play on forever. If not us, then those with an interest in keeping him in the team have a free hand to do that. Let us bury the retirement issue there since he is not the only one not performing, it is just that he is the most important player not performing. It is pathetic that we do not give new players a chance and develop them, but instead throw them on to the T20 field through the IPL and turn them into slog-hitters and artillery operators rather talented snipers. It is high time we consider having different squads for different versions of the game and pay all of them well enough so that they don't have to discard one for the other.

The difference between the a 9 wicket victory and a 10 wicket loss is much less than believable-Cheteshwar Pujara, Virender Sehwag, Monty Panesar and Kevin Pietersen. Sehwag fired in the first innings of the first test and his quota for the series is done- he is unreliable, if he fires, he fires. If he doesn't, he doesn't. Call it the natural game or obduracy, this guy is good for one thing and one thing only- hit the ball. Whether it works or not is irrelevant. Pujara failed only in the second innings of the second test and the Indian innings collapsed like a pack of cards. Alistair Cook is not being mentioned here because he played really well in all the opportunities he got. Only a fool would call Panesar the best spinner in world cricket, let alone a legend. He comes nowhere near Warne, Muralitharan or Kumble and yet he was able to make the Indian batsmen walk to the pavilion to his tunes. Pietersen definitely is a talented batsman and he has proved his worth time and again even against an Australian squad at its strength.

What this means is that calling our spinners a failure is mere escapism and silly because the only thing that changed in the England batting is one player and if one player- Kevin Pietersen- can have such an impact on the game, then they deserve it and we do not deserve to play the game. But in our look for excuses to hide our ineptitude, we blame our bowlers who did not do well in spite of a designer pitch. Only two English batsmen bucked the trend, but we could find only one in the first innings and only a half in the second innings of the second test. That is where we failed- our batsmen capitulated against a spin attack that cannot be called deadly and nowhere near the best that has visited these shores. Batting is the strength of our team and yet they have suffered repeated failures and have given nothing for our bowlers to defend, it is here that change must happen immediately. Relying on batting alone does not make a great side, but changes in the bowling department must start at the foundations- identifying talent and encouraging it is being done at the MRF pace foundation. But the pitches in India for Ranji Trophy and normal games are as flat as they can come or just turners, where our fast bowlers die a silent, exhausting death.

The unbridled proliferation of T20 is definitely killing of our best talents too. But then, isn't the money more in T20? Is it because we watch T20 more than test matches (a cursory look at the stands will tell the story) that we are being provided with more of what we want and less of what we deserve? If the death knell of test matches and ODI comes, it is not because people are lacking interest across the world- nothing could have matched the intensity and emotion of the Australia- South Africa series with some stubborn and inspirational defiance by South Africa in the 2nd Test and an emotional farewell to Ricky Ponting in a test dominated by the Proteas- it would come in India first because the administrators think we want T20 more than test matches and ODIs. It is partly true, but we do check the scores (quite regularly) even if we do not watch each and every ball, we do flood to the gates when there is something exciting and would do so more if prices were not so steep and facilities better- who would want to sit in the hot sun for 6 hours and have to look at the electronic scoreboard, if there is one, to know what is happening- and we do appreciate and admire valiant efforts and we do keep the cricinfo tab open even when our managers are lurking in the vicinity.


We like test cricket, especially when guts is on display and does not matter whether it is an Indian team or another one showing its character and teach us how to save a test match from the brink of disaster. We would like to watch T20 when we need some excitement but life is not all about excitement and blind slogging as it also has to do with perseverance, pure quality and leadership. We would like to watch our stalwarts retire with dignity, when they have a fight left in them, not go out silently because there is no other alternative. We want our greats to be replaced by those with better talents and skills, those with a hunger for success and the right attitude for the game. We hope a situation arises where a player who has given his all to the team over two decades is not blamed for the entire team's failure.The team should not have to resort to tricks and manipulating the ground conditions for a victory and we don't want to watch the visiting team beat us in spite of these home advantages. We want quality cricket, not quality entertainment and hair gel or shaving creams, we want pitches where bowlers have a chance and batsmen with skill can meet the challenge fairly, we want a team that can hold its head high even in defeat and players who can face the conditions in any part of the world.