The Tendering syndrome

My recent visit to New York had me unnerved once again and reinforced in me the belief that there are no rich and poor nations but productive and unproductive nations. Is it not unacceptable that even after having served over three decades and a half in the service of the Sarkar, I am yet unsure about what comes first – delivery or process.

The footpaths, the roads, the lamp posts, the buildings, the bridges, almost every infrastructural item that one witnesses in the developed economies is built to last, if not centuries but definitely a couple of decades and here at home the unending cycle of repairs and rebuilding baffles me. All perhaps because we find it almost impossible to go around the established decision making and tendering processes that are neither efficient nor a deterrent for a guy with a crooked intent.

The extremely high delivery by almost everyone in the developed economies is forged out of trust, integrity, commitment and above all simplicity of processes that we have over-complicated in the garb of transparency. It is indeed sad that for far too long this nonsense has carried on uninterrupted!

Will we forever remain a developing nation one really wonders? When shall deliverance be regarded as supreme and those with an honest intent find the courage regardless of the roadblocks that include a host of people ready to point fingers and jump at the slightest perceived mistake.

Handling an airline is definitely not by any stretch of imagination an easy task and this business is therefore regarded as the mother of all businesses. And the beleaguered Air India with a bundle of legacy issues and an empty cash chest made the job even worse. Quick decision making without fear is a philosophy that should be at the core of all businesses that aspire to do well, yet what I found here when I landed with a thud almost a year back was an exact antithesis of this school of thought. The instant feeling was that this airline is waiting silently to pass away into oblivion, unsung without concern. And the underlying reason was what one expected - overemphasis on processes, reacting to symptoms and jumping to conclusions with absolutely no concern whatsoever for delivery, not because the people were not committed or inefficient but due to the all-pervading fear of being pinned down if any decision went even marginally wrong in hindsight. What an insane manner of handling commercial organizations!

The tendering process that we inherited from the british raj is the culprit. Why should I wonder, the process for purchasing potatoes be the same as for buying paintings or contracting for a hotel room or procuring a latest software or adding aircrafts to the fleet? The first thought therefore that comes to mind whenever something innovative is to be resorted to is how this shall be done through the conventional tendering process without the doer landing in a soup himself and avoidance therefore tends to provide solace. Perhaps this is the single reason behind the overarching presence of sub-standard infrastructure, goods and services that we almost always encounter in this nation. The decision making and contracting processes can be and should be overhauled and made simple if we aspire for progress and the silver lining is that there is no doubt about this aspiration in the India of today.

In simplification of processes, not merely flogging it lies the key to success. And let us begin with the tendering process for it has indeed become the bane of delivery in our nation.

Amen!

Common fallacies while serving the nation

Look around within the working environment and one shall find many who never really started or have given up at the slightest pretext. It is such attitude that is indeed the biggest drag in the forward march of organizations and also the nation.

The staff is bad : How common and how unfortunate is the oft heard rant of the senior blokes that if they had better men with them, they would have delivered. I am good and they are bad, I am honest and the rest are not, I am committed and others are not and more often than not – no one else is bothered about the organization. Sadly these are words uttered by the mediocres who aspire for positions, get them and yet never become worthy of them. Over thirty five years of service has convinced me that the root cause behind non deliverance is inadequate bureaucratic leadership.

There is no support : If I had enough support I would have done it. Unfortunately this penchant of relying heavily on support from the superiors has been carried to a ridiculous extent by almost all and sundry. The guy who seeks support from those above him actually rarely supports those who look upto him. It is almost akin to the hostel experience – I was ragged so I will rag, I was not looked after so why should I and so on and so forth. The go-getters however go ahead and do it nevertheless.

People are corrupt – Very often we paint with one black brush those who we work for and also work with. The widespread extent of corruption is indeed undenied yet the only way one can help clean this rut is neither by complaining nor castigating others but by being a crusader for the cause and at the same time carrying an unwavering focus on the objective to be achieved.

Inadequate funds – The failure to realize that money is the least of the issues unfortunately never dawns on most of us who start their careers with and also end up with almost a regular banter about inadequacy of funds, for want of which they believe they have been failing to deliver. Look around and witness the creation of empires literally from scratch by budding entrepreneurs of the yesteryears and even today. They never cribbed and in the process created wealth. That initiative is the first step to generate wealth rarely gets appreciated.

The boss is bad : This is rarely true and but not as often as it is made out to be. The presence of a few rotten apples cannot be wished away yet the realization that if one is a good boss, he also gets one, rarely gets appreciated.

Life is not fair : Having been treated in an unfair manner remains the biggest grouse of almost all blokes thronging the environment. It however rarely matters to them whether they have been fair or not in their dealing with all those who fall within their sphere of influence. And fairness after all is a matter of perception, often perceived wrongly.  

The eternal pessimist : And one often bumps into many of them. That being fiercely optimist is often the only way to turnaround a really bad situation is often never believed and therefore rarely practiced. Like optimism builds itself many times over and in the process converts an impossible scenario into a possible one, pessimism attracts negativity at a much faster rate and often converts an already won battle into a lost one.

And lastly the misplaced notion that a position is merely for self-perpetuation and not a means to achieve an objective, a noble one at that, is so widespread that it is not at all funny. Almost everyone aspires for top slots, but unfortunately only for the power and pelf that goes with it, and the transient nature of these gains is appreciated only when they end, as all good times do but by then it is too late. Performing what the position expects from the incumbent is the only thing that has the power to give a lasting experience.

Amen!

Learning from the past

NOT MERELY SCIENCE, BUT DEDICATION TOO

Tuesday, 11 November 2014 | Ashwani Lohani | in Oped

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Human ego is the biggest stumbling block to progress and growth in today’s era. Bigger the ego, the lesser the delivery

The national penchant for re-inventing the wheel and invariably showcasing efforts as the first of its kind is as damaging as it is hilarious. I vividly remember the beginning of my tenure in the tourism sector when I was asked to take steps to prepare State-level master plans for the development of tourism. I tumbled upon a bookshelf and found that similar reports were prepared many times over in the past.

Yet, in our efforts that are directed towards self-perpetuation, we never learn, nor seem to be inclined to, despite the fact that there is really much that can be gleaned from the affairs of history. Napoleon’s conquests and his emergence as the emperor of France when he was merely 35, the rise of Germany as the most powerful nation in the world within 70 years of its being totally vanquished during the World War I and the ejection of the British Empire from the sub-continent almost single-handedly by Mahatma Gandhi, are classical examples from history that should  inspire us towards achieving greatness.

And it is not merely these great examples. There are many other equally important examples, albeit on a lower scale, that are within the realm of realisation by mere mortals. How many of us know that the great architectural masterpiece, Red Fort, took only 10 years to build — that too almost four centuries ago — and the iconic Howrah bridge took just five? That the three hill railways, namely, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the Kangra Valley Railway and the Kalka Simla Railway, each took less than three years to build, is also beyond the realm of comprehension. Unthinkable indeed in the present era, when the skills, technological as well as managerial, are far more advanced than the time when those masterpieces were created.

Perhaps then delivery was as sacrosanct as processes are today. And therein lies the folly of the systems of present times. And it is also about ego. “The bigger the ego, the lesser the delivery”, a statement that symbolises the working of all the enterprises today, says it all about the causes that underline our most glaring failures. That human ego is the biggest stumbling block to progress and growth is a fact that needs appreciation. Yet what really surprises me is adjustable egos that do not even whimper when a superior pulls one up but flare up in the presence of a subordinate at the slightest pretext. And the tantra is perhaps the finest example of egos that remain elastic throughout ones lifetime. What a great waste of life, human life that according to the Hindushastra is conferred after passing through 84 lakh life forms.

The great Indus Valley civilisation of the 5th century BC is an outstanding example of what our ancestors were capable of even in those days that were bereft of technological advancements of the kind that exist today. The strides that this civilisation made in the fields of town planning, trade and culture are really an eye-opener and make us wonder with awe — if so much could be achieved in those days, why not now?

Perhaps it is all about our ability to dream and having a single-minded focus and determination to convert the same into reality. Yet the same would not be possible without three things — leadership, absolute integrity and ethical behavior, the void of which this great nation had been experiencing for quite some time now.  Yet we remain engrossed in trivialities, things that really do not matter in the long-run or even in the short-run. Moreover self-gratification and an absolute lack of concern for the collective can never propel a nation forward.

Accidents linger on - The rail way

Beginning with the bomb blasts at the Chennai railway station on the 1^st of May 2014, there have been four tragedies classified as accidents on the Indian Railway system in the last two months. The bomb blast incident was followed by the 4^th May accident on the Konkan railway system wherein twenty died, 26^th May collision of the Gorakhdham Express killing twenty five and the 25^th June derailment involving the Dibrugarh Rajdhani wherein four persons breathed their last. Yet it is much more than mere numbers game as road accidents alone account for over a lakh and thirty five thousand deaths per annum in the country. A major railway accident irrespective of the number of people that lose their life is a national catastrophe that shakes the collective psyche of the nation and conveys an impression that all is not well with the country.

Such accidents are invariably followed by compensation and a CRS enquiry that goes into the basic causes leading to the incident. Platitudes are mouthed in the silent backdrop of a hectic blame game being played amongst different railway departments. Yet it is certain that the railway brass is shaken to the core by the spate of accidents else how without even a preliminary enquiry, railways proclaimed Maoists as the perpetrators of the accident, a charge promptly and vehemently denied by the federal home ministry and the state government.

Railways being a human centric organization, human failures are bound to happen, howsoever much we may like to decry the same. Six Sigma, theoretically the best possible performance talks of a one in a million rate of failure and yet in almost all areas of our operations, the railway employees are consistently performing much better than that. The employees at the cutting edge level therefore should ideally remain above reproach, yet that does not happen. In the eagerness to apportion blame and inflict punishments and in the process close the file till the next calamity strikes, railway staff and also officers at the base levels are severely taken up as if they have by their acts of commission caused the accident to happen. This in my view is not the right way to go about things.

Until the realization that accidents and consequently the safety environment on the railways or for that matter any other organization is merely a symptom and not the malaise, sinks in, rhetoric shall continue to preside over rational thought. Perhaps it is all about how organizations are run, how leadership roles play their part in bringing about quantum improvements in performance including the operational and safety scenarios that has not yet appeared in the radar of those who matter yet do not matter in the running of monoliths like the railways.

An archaic, feudal and complicated organization headed not by leaders but by satraps cannot be expected to meet the expectations of the twenty first century India, and therefore it is failing with amazing regularity in almost all fields of its operations, except perhaps taking good care of the bureaucratic and political masters. The ivory tower approach that is at the core of the managerial thought process ensures a total disconnect from the field and therefore witnesses emergence of ideas that appear good on paper and in discussions yet do not exactly matter in the long run. We invariably remain where we started.

The arrival of Modi on the national scene has aroused tremendous expectations in the masses and there is absolutely no doubt even in the minds of the worst of the skeptics that the nation is indeed in for a rapid improvement in the scenario. Yes that is what one man is capable of that a collective can never ensure. Unfortunately till the recent change of guard at the center, railways lacked that one man, both at the political as well as bureaucratic leadership levels.

Mammoth organizations that are operational in nature are meant to be led by a leadership that is proactive, decisive and honest besides having a vision for the future. Unfortunately the forever practiced strategy of fumbling in the dark in search of a miracle cure may be a remunerative exercise for the bureaucratic leadership but not for the teeming millions for whom the railways is the only means of going places. 

It is all about being human!

Birthdays are an ideal occasion to introspect and then if possible, attempt to emerge as a guy better than one has been. My fifty fifth today brings back to me a kaleidoscope of my earlier years, my follies and my weaknesses rather taking center stage.

Fifty five is fairly old despite how young one feels at heart. It is almost seventy over with only about thirty remaining, yet the very thought that one can make a much bigger mark in the remainder is what gives hope and strength. May god give me the strength to get over all my mistakes and shortcomings and help me in emerging a better human being that one has been in the past. 

My morning walk today again gave me an opportunity to blabber out my thoughts. Perhaps the youngster who accompanied me gave his ear out of sheer respect for seniority, yet the blabbering had some sanity and its essence may remain at the core of all my actions for the rest of my life. Perhaps much more important than being wealthy or powerful is being a genuine human being, an act so simple yet so hard to emulate. Emulating simplicity or genuineness is not only difficult but almost impossible, because these traits cannot be emulated, one can only be. Yet the effort has to go on, not only for my own sake, but also for all those who are the intrinsic constituent of my own tiny universe. 

If only the clock could be turned back a few decades, I would radically cut down on my nasty behavior, catch up on a lot of reading and writing that I have missed and not waste time on issues that now appear as mere trivialities. It is indeed true, yet a fairly late realization, perhaps for many like me that life should not be allowed to while away on trivialities, there are much bigger and better things to do like simply being human.

Yes it is true that in the bureaucratic circus I belong to, being human remains farthest from our thoughts and actions and that is the root cause of all our failures, our failures that are not merely ours but strongly impinge upon the organization we work for and the nation. Our sole focus on self gratification and absolute lack of concern for others has hurt the nation in the last sixty seven years and would continue to do so in future unless we recast the governance model of this great nation.

My last five years in the service of the nation begin today with the prayer to the almighty that this period should not be allowed to go in vain. I strongly believe that the contribution to the society at large that one is able to make towards the fag end of the career is what will give me the satisfaction to carry on unabated even after I hang up my official boots on the last day of 2018.

This purpose of this blog is only to strengthen my own thoughts and resolve!

PM's call for sanity

The Prime Minister and the Finance Minister have echoed what the country's bureaucracy had long wanted to hear from the head of its government - that there is a need to differentiate between malafide and mistake. The leaders also said that unless this is done, the decision making process would continue in a state of paralysis. How true and how timely though ostensibly the reason may be different - to save those in power from the heat of the CBI. Yet the solace that these words have given especially to those who are honest and hence a miniscule minority in the bureaucratic fabric of the nation cannot be under estimated. 

Having worked directly under Jagmohan in his avatar as the Minister for Tourism and Culture, I admired his penchant for honesty as well as governance. His style was a far cry from the present times when we are almost always in a situation of honesty sans governance or governance sans honesty or the limbo ie neither governance nor honesty. Practicing effective governance not misdirected efforts at finding faults and crushing with an iron hand dishonest practices that come in the way of deliverance has been the style of Jagmohan who by far has been one of the most able administrators that the nation has sired.  

The working of governments is mired in bureaucratic red tape the world over. However the complex web of the tape is generally inversely proportional to the level of development of the nation. The more developed the nation, the simpler the web and vica-versa has evolved with the global realization that delivery is far more important than process. Yet India continues to be unique in that the web is getting more complex by the day with an absolute disregard for delivery.  

It is indeed unfortunate that even after over sixty six years as a free nation, the tantra and its components continue to lack clarity over what is supreme - process or delivery. Following the process appears to have gained a higher ground over deliverance and therefore we continue to be perpetually, almost at the bottom of the list of nations in all developmental indexes. It is this penchant for processes that has led to the current scenario where a genuine mistake or a deviation from the process even if carried out in the overall interest of the nation gets equated with malafide. A situation ripe enough for the vigilance setups and the CBI to merrily meddle in leading to the paralysis that the Prime Minister spoke about. 

The paralysis that the Prime Minister mentioned in his address had to happen. There is absolutely no doubt that the administration needs to be clean and dishonest practices curbed yet this cannot be the the sole talking point or focus of the establishment. The establishment is meant for delivery, more so in a nation that regards itself as developing and anything that helps delivery therefore needs a proactive support. There is also no doubt that corruption is presently the most severe of our national ailments and therefore needs to be fought tooth and nail. Yet we need to realize that surreptitious attempts to nail corruption as we are witness to in the present times cause more harm than good. Unless this issue is brought onto the table in all official forums, debated at length within the bureaucratic and political establishments and even placed as the most important issue plaguing the nation in the speeches of the prime minister and president delivered on the independence and republic day ceremonies, the battle would not be won.

The Prime Minister has touched a raw nerve in all of us. Yes there is a subtle undercurrent of fear that keeps many of us away from decision making of any kind. Procrastination has emerged as the order of the day. Yet I hope that the conscience keepers respond to the call made by the highest authority in the land to free the sarkari machinery from the fear of the unknown in taking decisions.

Hastinapur would show the way!

Kejriwal gives hope, to the nation as well as humanity. A meteoric rise indeed yet there may be many years when he finally arrives unless of course all poll predictions go wrong that they may and he emerges from the shadows to occupy the throne of Hastinapur.

A former civil servant whose better half still serves the national government and for one who still resides in accommodation provided by the very sarkar he seeks to replace, his guts are indeed amazing and therefore the slight tinge of envy in many of us who would love to be in his boots yet do not have the courage, integrity or the commitment to be so.

His incessant battle against the establishment and also the anti establishment is against all odds, yet a battle that he is fighting with gumption. For his cause is right and intentions noble and this is what really matters when one is fighting for righteousness. Perhaps his integrity and commitment to the cause is what gives him the strength to keep on fighting what appears to be a one sided battle. This reminds us of the Mahabharata, the epic battle between the kauravas and the pandavas, the battle between the right and the wrong, between evil and goodness where despite heavy odds the pandavas won and in the process gave eternal hope to the people of Bharatvarsh.  

“Ekalo Chalo Re”is his slogan and perhaps the right and the only way when the odds are stacked almost to the level of being regarded as impossible. It is always only one man who can take an organization, a state or a nation forward. Gandhi dressed in the barest of attires amidst a sea of immaculately attired adversaries achieved for this nation what even massive armies would fail in. Truth was his only weapon and renunciation of ego his biggest attribute yet he achieved what till the very end appeared almost impossible. 

Arvind Kejriwal is not a Gandhi, but the closest to Gandhi that the nation has got so far. His battle is for a cause that is right, though his means are more direct and do not totally abjure violence. India is not China or Egypt or Syria where the masses have sufficient inner conviction to move out on the streets and face bullets for a cause, yet many people have often come out at his call, not sufficient enough to cause an uprising, yet sufficient enough to create a nationalistic fervor.

The nation is staring at the toughest electoral fights in its history. The battles are bound to be severe and maybe violent at times as patna has recently displayed yet the thought that nectar emerges only after a massive churning exercise has kept the nation moving forward in search of good governance, something that we have missed in the first sixty seven years of existence of an independent yet not a free nation. 

We need to radically improve!

I am now slowly getting convinced that the sarkari tantra in the country has firmly resolved to maintain status quo and vowed not to improve itself. 

The flood of scams has indeed swept us off our feet and almost everyone has lost the count. 2G when it happened indeed hit the nation hard but the flood witnessed thereafter has brought major scams as close to the common man as minor acts of extortion indulged in by petty government functionaries in each and every single sarkari office in the nation. Scams have indeed lost their sheen unless they are in a few lakh of crores bracket.

The indignity heaped on the nation in the night of the 16^th of December 2012 when Nirbhaya was raped and murdered is again a reminder of the our passion for mere rhetoric and not decisive action. Nirbhaya stands forgotten and the case lingers on the lower courts. The leaders who then made tall statements about fast track justice in this case and deterrent steps have almost vanished. The laws remain the same and so is the slowly grinding machinery of the judicial system.

An organization, state or a nation moves forward by decisive action. A resolve unless translated into action is at best a rhetoric and therein lies the tragedy of this great nation. The bureaucratic tantra is so complex that it is unable to go beyond self sustenance, an act that keeps it fully occupied. The political machinery remains confined to exploiting the harvest to recover many times over the major investment it made in getting elected. The poor citizen is left to fend for itself.

Closer home, the great railways continues to remain the paradise of the mediocre and the corrupt. The system that has evolved with the contribution of nine services of the union places on a high pedestal the non–performer and the bechara. The complexity of the tantra ensures that delivery happens only rarely and corruption does not get eradicated. The complex tantra is indeed a perfect shroud for covert practices.

The bureaucrat has stakes only in non deliverance and self gratification. The recent scams have only taught him to be more careful, yet continue with things as they are.

Hum nahi sudharenge kabhi bhi, seems to be the national slogan.   

The 66th anniversary

Today perhaps for the first time one feels the total absence of patriotic fervor on the streets of the capital that till a few years ago reverberated with the same on the eve of independence day. The eve of the sixty sixth independence day is indeed a moment of deep introspection, where have we gone wrong and is redemption possible?

Yes it is true that India has over time emerged as a member of both the atomic and space clubs and that gives us something to be proud of. The rapidly growing middle class and the proliferation of consumer goods is also a positive sign, yet one wonders whether these limited achievements can offset the failures and the acts of shame that the nation has been enduring with amazing regularity in recent times. Even the latest round of skirmish with our neighbour gives us a feeling of belonging to a soft state devoid of national pride.

Mere rhetoric that the nation is showered with on such occasions is not enough. We have to act and grow in the right direction. We have to bring back the spirituality and love for all creations of God that form an essential part of the philosophy of all religions. We have to revitalize the nation and once again aspire for the glory that the nation once had. .  

There have been many occasions in recent years when we as a society had to hang our heads in shame, but the one single incident that recently shook the collective conscience of the nation was the blatant suspension and harassment of Durga Shakti for an act that should otherwise have commanded admiration and appreciation of the nation. The triumph of evil over righteousness that we had sadly and silently been witness to suddenly acquired a new dimension with the governance machinery brazenly conniving with those who loot and plunder. The uproar has died down and the brazenness continues.

Notwithstanding the rapid downslide of moral values in the fabric of the society, it remains  the duty of the governments to abide by raj dharma, yet it is obvious that self gratification by the powers that be has taken the upper hand over principles of justice and equality.

A recent news item about the prime minister of Norway driving a taxi to assess the pulse of his constituents should indeed be an eye opener for the mandarins of this forever developing nation, the constituents of the sarkari machinery of which regard themselves as rulers and not servants of the society that they actually are. This distorted mindset has to change much before the nation starts changing for the better.

Abject poverty, failed governance, rotting infrastructure, rampant corruption, delayed justice and a rapid downslide of moral values fills the heart with anguish on this eve of the sixty sixth anniversary of the independence day.

The India of today is a nation far removed from the ideals that it held close to its heart while striving for self rule. It is obvious that the system of checks and balances instituted by the british and unfortunately perpetuated even during self rule led to the inspector raj that successfully brought the nation to its knees. The social structure that ultimately emerged is bereft of values of any kind and service, despite the piety it evokes has degenerated to service of the self cutting across the bureaucratic and political spectrum throughout the length and breadth of the nation.

Durga Shakti therefore faced the consequences of her action, an action that would have placed her on a very high pedestal had it taken place in a society that places righteousness above evil. Unfortunately the degeneration that picked pace in the early nineties now runs so deep that far from being considered laudable, such actions are punishable. Yet the inherent strength of her name and the radiance that she exudes gives hope that her resolve to take on illegal activities regardless of the strength of the powers that (mis)rule would indeed get strengthened with time. This case spurred by the media has caught the imagination of the nation, yet there would be many more where honesty is being brutalized. 

My recent participation in a course on Indian art was an eye opener. That till the 5^th or 6^th century Indian art was inspired by love for the divine and all his creations after which it started withering in favor of the sponsors and the rulers was indeed the most powerful message that emanated from the course. The various art forms of ancient times inspired by the divine were true creations of love with every single creation being a masterpiece. This is in stark contrast to the art of the present times that is driven by crass commercial interests and is therefore generally ordinary with only a rare few clearing the masterpiece criterion.

It was also inspiring to learn that the art of ancient times did not permit or promote portraits and the artist remained almost under cover as art was only for the joy it gave to the artist and the masses. The practice of self perpetuation through portraits and projection of the artist however started around the mugal era and has perpetuated ever since then. In the present times, the contemporary Indian art as they call it is chiefly inspired by the love of the moolah and the desire to be known, and therein lies the major difference in the quality of the art.

Perhaps it is the same in all fields. A work performed with crass commercial interests or for the sake of self perpetuation is bound to be inferior to the one inspired by the love and the joy of creation. Be it a teacher imparting education to children, a musician stringing his guitar or even a chief executive of an organization performing his role, a performance inspired by the good of the society and the joy of creation is always far superior.

What a fall, not only in the field of art is a striking thought that comes to mind. Another realization that dawns is the greatness of the Indian nation in ancient times, a nation so developed economically and spiritually that it is a striking contrast with the present day society smug even with depravity and self aggrandizement. Yet this day we all hope and pray that the nation would rise from the ashes and acquire her rightful place in the comity of nations.

Jai Hind!

Divine Intervention Solicited!

The Times Now debates have of late emerged as the widely accepted practice of killing time, killing time without later being able to recollect later what indeed the debate was all about. The debates that earlier started and continued with a flourish are now fast losing their relevance as discussions are being held merely for the sake of discussions. Perhaps it is a fine way of many to put on display their faces and thus remain in the reckoning in the public arena.

A couple of years back while living in Bhopal, the city of lakes, I often wondered at the architecture of Hotel Lake View Ashok a property of the tourism major going by the name of ITDC.  The hotel designed by an internationally renowned architect whom one would not like to name had a lobby that can never be air-conditioned for it had all high ceiling with all corridors opening in the vast open space. It was pretty obvious that the hotel was designed for the sake of architecture with perhaps only the architect getting a kick out of the design.

On a similar analogy, handing technical issues now, the injection of new technology in the form of latest international designs of locomotives and coaches always makes me wonder whether a technological upgrade merely implies a transfer of technology from beyond the shores and a couple of overseas junkets without handling the overall associated gamut. And therefore all such upgrades come with massive labor pains that carry well beyond the birth of the child.

I have now realized that a pinch of salt is what one should take while consuming rhetoric of any kind, whether it is a claim to a nationalistic fervor or trumpeting of efforts to heal the wounds of the humanity. The efforts to nail those found with their hand in the till also have to be taken with a lot of salt as the final punishments are never commensurate with the extent of the crime. At a lower bureaucratic level also the statements of intent often proclaimed from rooftops turn out to be falsity personified. The wheel continues to be invented again and again with the difference that unlike in the golden past, those inventing keep on taking sole credit ad-infinitum.

The last decade has indeed been the most horrifying in so far as decline in human values and a disgraceful conduct on display on the part of those occupying high chairs is concerned. Partially successful efforts at selling the family silver cheap marked the beginning of absence of probity in public life, a trend that continues unabated till today, with brazenness emerging as the hallmark of those in power.

Railways also have a long story to tell. While still being counted as an organization that delivers, albeit in a sellers market that too in monopoly, the standards of leadership, governance and management have witnessed a steep decline. The Mahesh Kumar episode is indeed the tip of the iceberg, but perhaps as matters stand today, the full iceberg is never going to be visible and things shall soon return to normalcy with corrupt and unethical practices continuing to rule the roost.

And that makes me certain that the only person capable of setting the nation in order through his impeccable standards of commitment, honesty and guts will never be allowed to rise and lead all of us to glory. Perhaps we can only wait for divine intervention to bail out the nation now!

The wrath of the Gods!

Is it not ironic that Dev Bhoomi suffered the wrath of the gods and people, most of them devotees suffered like no human should be allowed to?

Uttarakhand the newest state of the republic went through one of the severest natural catastrophes the nation faced since it came of its own. Hundreds have died as per official figures though the number is expected to go up many times once the disaster relief and restoration efforts, hampered by the terrain and extent of damage, pick up in the right earnest. Sad it is that this catastrophe happened enroute the abode of the Lord Shiva!
  

Trying times for the new state and the nation, the episode would definitely go down in the annals of history as one of saddest that the nation ever faced. Our heart goes out to those who perished and those who suffered. At such times one indeed looks forward to a humanitarian touch and an efficient handling of the post disaster scenario from the authorities. Is it indeed asking for the moon?

While there is absolutely no doubt that extremely heavy rains and perhaps a cloudburst led to a massive flow of water causing this catastrophe, it is also amply clear that haphazardly mushrooming growth of housing and commercial structures, both authorized and unauthorized in the mountain state have hindered the natural flow of water down the hills. Had the pristine nature and ecology of the mountain state been preserved, the extent of damage would have been far less. This failure to preserve ecology borne out of rampant prevalence of unethical practices in the governance machinery of the nation is a sad yet true scenario.  

The rank inability on the part of the administration to efficiently deal with catastrophes, the disaster and its aftermath generally stinks. The sloth and the rot in the sarkari tantra that lies at the root of the reasons behind such catastrophes in the first place also envelops disaster relief efforts. Restoration works thereafter also leave much to be desired.

Good governance is indeed the answer to all such issues and one eagerly hopes that this sad incident would indeed push the state and its mandarins to provide the much needed good governance. During one of my recent visits to the capital city of the mountain state I was aghast at the extent of infrastructural rot and deficit besides the widely visible symptoms of a city allowed to decay. With its various hill stations also bursting at the seams, it is apparent that the pressing need to develop newer ones has perhaps failed to find acceptance and also the will of the powers that be.

The images of the abode of the Lord Shiva, the holy shrine of Kedarnath both before and after the catastrophe present a sorry picture. The area around the holy shrine that earlier buzzed with a mushrooming growth of ill conceived shanties now looks like a devastated settlement. Perhaps the incident is a way of the gods conveying their unhappiness with the way ecology was being treated in the area around and leading to their abode. Ecological balance would indeed need to be maintained, even at the cost of the so called developmental and political compulsions.

While the extensive loss of lives and damage to infrastructure and property is an irreparable loss, the need of the hour is to take steps to plan and implement a balanced growth of the entire affected belt. The surroundings of the Kedarnath shrine, the approach road and Gauri Kund, all should be developed in an organized manner in keeping with the divine environment, pristine surroundings, need for hygiene and comfort of the devotees. Perhaps the establishment of a shrine board on the lines of Vaishno Devi would mark the perfect beginning of restoration efforts.

The opportunity for a proper positioning of the shrine and the welfare of hordes of devotees should not be allowed to wither away. 

Jambooree on the horizon!

Election fever is on. ON are also accusations and counter accusations between the so called leaders of political parties who claim a right over governing the nation. The mulayam beni barbs, despite the lows that have been attained by men in power are symbolic of the dismal state of political governance in the nation. Yet despite the regular five yearly jamborees, the situation this time is palpably different with the federal government on a life support system with over a year of its assigned life still in the bag.

Too many aspirants for the top job, not for pulling the nation out of its abyss but merely for being the top honcho and the power and perks that go with it. The prevalent environment where almost everyone with power and pelf has their hand in the till, also makes government formation more attractive as well as lucrative.

Yet it stinks. An environment where we witness the law framers bashing up a uniformed official within the precincts of the legislature, or surreptitiously watching blue films on mobile while the august proceedings proceed ahead on taxpayers expense, or lining up for entry to holy Tihar for looting the nation hollow can at best be called sick. Yes it is true that in India, politics has indeed proven itself to be the last refuge of scoundrels.

Despite the rot, sloth and the loot, what really hurts is the absolute apathy of the common man to the prevalent scenario. Perhaps he has lost hope or worse still he has also joined the bandwagon, the strength of which is growing by the day. What else can explain the all pervading corruption, moral degradation and rampant disregard for value systems that one witnesses day in and day out in the Indian social milieu.

The nation is indeed bereft of true leadership at both the political and bureaucratic levels. Merely heading a political or bureaucratic setup or being born in a dynastic family does not confer leadership traits is a reality that needs appreciation and acceptance. What the nation is badly crying for is a dose of true leadership, beginning with the apex level and percolating to all levels below.  

The moot question remains whether the hopes of the conniving public would again be belied in 2014?

The State of the Nation

The plethora of articles and reports on the state of the nation, post the traumatic incident of rape has compelled the denizens of this nation to look inwards. The papers are flooded with suggestions and advice on how to go about life in the aftermath of this ghastly incident. Capital punishment, castration and public flogging are some of the most common suggestions doing the rounds.  And rightly so, sweet pills can never be effective deterrents.

A though provoking piece in the Times on date castigated the city government on merely focussing on building flyovers and not on controlling crime or improving the law and order. The writer hit the nail almost on the head, almost because flyovers are also as much a necessity as the need for a safer living environment. Yet the writer is right, merely building infrastructure is not what nation building is all about.

That there is a sea of a difference between a nation building exercise and mere building of civic infrastructure and providing consumer goods in plenty, is a thought that is yet to find appreciation amongst people who shoulder the major responsibility of leading this nation. The lop sided approach has led to a scenario wherein we have a swanky capital city that is unsafe and also houses, perhaps the most corrupt governance establishment in the world, as has been fairly exposed in recent times.

Is nation building sans character indeed possible, I wonder. Is mere adequacy of civil infrastructure and consumer goods a sign of a nation having arrived? Is a scenario that showcases both abject poverty as well as stinking riches, acceptable? And finally, does a tantra that fends and feeds on itself qualify as a democratic governance machinery? 

While it is apparent that the answer to all these and many more such questions is in the negative, yet the inability of all those who matter to first appreciate and then take corrective steps is indeed sad as well as deplorable.  

A thoroughly corrupt and inept governance machinery sends a powerful message across the nation that it is indeed the right thing to make money on the side and that delivery does not really matter. The recent incidents of rape that are coming to the fore are reflective of a society that in the absence of a clear direction and control has gone astray. Perhaps the lack of priority accorded for education immediately after our tryst with destiny has led to stifling of delivery mechanisms and emergence of a society sans value systems.

A society, the constituents of which expect others to build the country will rarely gallop. Each one of us has to play our roles genuinely and with commitment and only then the collective shall prosper is a thought that needs to go deep into our psyches for the nation to really emerge from the shadows.

India whining!

We would ultimately get what we deserve, despite exhortations to the contrary.

The recent uproar against corruption needs to be viewed in its true perspective.  Yes the CWG, 2G, Adarsh, Coal G, DLF and the disabled, all purported scams of an impressive order rightly highlighted by the recent crusades have brought corruption center stage in this nation that has always silently accepted a customary greasy interaction of the masses with the sarkari tantra. Customary because it has almost become a custom in this nation for sarkari mulazims to seek payment for services rendered and silently because the practice is so deeply pervasive that even a thought of deviation appears sacrilege. The sarkari tantra therefore is seen by the populace as machinery meant to rule not serve and therefore any service by it is regarded neither a right nor an obligation.

Why this great national aspiration for political or bureaucratic careers, the fundamental components of the tantra? During the initial years post independence, the aspiration was to serve the nation and the political or the bureaucratic route was obviously the only one available. For Nehru, Patel, Shastri and many other politicians of that era, a position was merely a means to serve the nation, a nation that they indeed served selflessly. Such high levels of dedication and commitment are unfortunately now passé. The bureaucrats of that era were also full of nationalistic zeal and fervour that vanished in a few decades. The times have indeed changed and an impeccable conduct on the part of a politico or a bureaucrat is now generally considered out of the ordinary.

Many would hold the system responsible and rightly so, though it is a system that we had the liberty to design and evolve. Yet we miserably failed if the yawning gaps in almost all sectors are any indication. Perhaps our misdirected efforts that veered us away from providing a sound educational system to the nation led to the current morass and a sound national character never got built. The political arena that earlier witnessed the entry of only highly committed and principled citizens slowly became more and more difficult as well as costly to enter. With passage of time many started viewing politics as an enterprise where an initial investment leads to hefty benefits in the long run. Mere commitment and the desire to do something for the nation were slowly proving to be inadequate reasons and this shift is the root cause behind the massive indulgence in corrupt practices and muscle power by politicians in connivance with bureaucrats, few exceptions apart. 

Simultaneously, the bureaucracy also miserably failed in sticking to the high ground that its forefathers had set at the onset of a free nation. The growing rut that the bureaucratic system steadily witnessed ensured that a sarkari job started being looked upon as the best route for a comfortable existence in a nation plagued by shortages and a worsening economic scenario.  

With few exceptions that can generally be counted on fingertips, power and money have now emerged as the sole motives for entering the political or the bureaucratic arena. An extremely unfortunate scenario for a nation that after over six decades of existence as a free nation is still bracketed as developing, a situation that displays no signs of abetting in the foreseeable future!

Both India and China gained independence at almost the same period, yet China has emerged as an economic powerhouse with an infrastructure at par with the best in the world and India? India is still grappling with basic issues of sanitation, roads, power, water and housing and above all abject poverty and deprivation, issues that unlike other developing countries are amply visible even in the capital city of Delhi.  The situation in the villages and towns in the back of the beyond is beyond perception of the cocktail crowd. Many would however argue that China being a communist nation could do things that a democratic India could not.  Partly true but the rapid prowess of Germany and Japan in almost the same period after their almost thorough demolition during the second world war would appear inexplicable to most of us. And Japan is a nation that has a much higher population density than India. A high population turned to an advantage through able governance. Yes, the excuses that most of us trot out for the glaring failures of the nation may appeal in isolation, but would fade away if viewed with a global perspective.

It is primarily a directional failure. When India came of its own in 1947, it had no real infrastructure except perhaps the railways built by the british, yet what it had in plenty was a burgeoning population that unfortunately displayed symptoms of poverty and deprivation. The only way the abject poverty and deprivation could have been tackled and the country placed on a growth path was through education, education that would have enabled the citizens to get jobs and indulge in enterprise. Unfortunately it was not to be. If we were really educated, we would have appreciated that the only thing that can take a nation forward is delivery, delivery that leads to generation of wealth for economic growth. We would also have appreciated that our sincerity towards the nation can only be assessed by our own actions and mere pontification would not take the nation anywhere. We have also failed to realize that the only way we can contribute positively to nation building is by ensuring that all our actions lead to enhanced production of goods and services. The very fact that all of us, including those in the service of the sarkar look upon the government to somehow, through a sleight of its hand, take us out of the morass we are living in, speaks volumes about the national mindset.  

Nations do not rise sans toil and sacrifices of its constituents and merely achieving consumer goods in plenty can by no stretch of imagination be regarded as the sign of a nation having arrived. Nation building takes decades of concerted efforts and mere rhetoric can at best give false expectations. That there is no alternative to a sound educational system either is a thought that needs to go deep in the psyche of the government machinery to enable true development, not merely marginal spurts and pockets of delivery and excellence that can be showcased only for taking the world for a ride.   

Perhaps the will is there but the flesh has always been weak. If only wishes were horses!