Tigers and Foxes in bureaucratic jungles!

It is not as if the jungles are bereft of tigers – met one in a bhawan today and another a couple of weeks earlier. It is just that in a "no watering hole" jungle full of sheep, monkeys, foxes and coconut trees, tigers have become a rare commodity, are therefore rarely visible and have apparently ceded territory to the wily foxes out of frustration. And such jungles therefore do not gel and make many wonder about authenticity and also whether it is real or just a make believe.

And the sheep, apparently simple and spineless creatures who can be lured by anyone in any direction throng the jungle in the hope that the wily fox in a rare display of compassion would throw some crumbs that they would be equally fast to grab. The sheep in the hope of crumbs are always eager to dump their fellow brethren at the altar of the wily fox at the slightest opportunity.  Unfortunately many of the sheep are actually hypnotized tigers who have forgotten their strength under the influence of the fox that is busy milking the jungle dry.

And the monkeys true to their nature always present a continuous display of jumping from one tree to the other and from one branch to the other mainly to create a ruckus and convey an impression of vibrancy in an otherwise dead environment.  

And the coconut trees, unable to provide even a semblance of shade to the weary complete the incompleteness of the jungle. The stark absence of watering holes completes the saga.  

And the jungle therefore fails to produce anything beyond what the nature automatically does. 

What a jungle – not even a remote cousin of Kanha or Bandhavgarh. In Bandhavgarh it is almost impossible to miss a tiger and in the jungles of Delhi – one bumps only into foxes or their all-pervading smell and influence unless of course one is lucky like I have been today to have bumped into a bubbly tiger raring to romp.  

A single tiger controls a jungle, provide he realizes his lineage. And if he does not then the fox shall rule – the most wily of them shall be the most vicious. The few tigers left in the jungle have to rise and put the jungle in order. They have to emerge from the wilderness and show the foxes their rightful place. Yes they can only if they decide to……..  

The failure of Indian democracy

Today for the first time I felt as if the Indian democratic system has collapsed. The suspension of Durga and the escalation of the political fight over her, not for the cause of justice but for earning brownie points made me sad as never before. Never before, even while witnessing abject poverty, failed governance, rampant corruption and rapid downslide of moral values I regarded them as the failure of the democratic system, yet this single incident crashed the world and hope around us.

I was momentarily transported to those cold wintery days of December 2002 when after having been given the boot from the post of CMD/ITDC, I was reverted unceremoniously to my parent cadre, the railways for having delivered a performance that was regarded as sterling even by my rivals in the hospitality sector. Despite the uproar and the apparent travesty of justice, the government did not budge and went ahead with the sacking even though many in the cabinet expressed their annoyance with the treatment meted out to an officer for turning around a sick public sector organization. Yet the difference remains that apart from the blatantly unfair repatriation, the government did not persecute me like the Durga of today.

The suspension of Durga somehow did not shock me. After all this was what she truly deserved in the India of today, a nation far removed from the ideals that it held close to its heart while aspiring for independence from foreign rule. It is indeed true that the tall personalities who led this nation to freedom would have been unable to visualize the massive drift from human value systems that we are witness to in the present times.

Perhaps our democratic model has been faulty. The social structure that has emerged post independence 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 good acts above everything else. Unfortunately the degeneration that picked up pace in the early nineties now runs so deep that far from being considered laudable, such actions have started being regarded as worthy of a severe punishment. Yet the inherent strength of her name and the radiance that her personality exudes makes me confident that her resolve to take on illegal activities regardless of the strength of the powers that (mis)rule would indeed get strengthened with time.

The case of Durga, spurred by the media has caught the imagination of the nation. Yet there would be hundreds of such cases where honest bureaucrats are routinely crushed by dishonest politicos, cutting across party lines. Khairnar was one and Khemka is another. I wonder what would have been the state of affairs had the media not been what it is today.

Sadder still is the race amongst the politicos to adopt a holier than thou attitude in castigating the Uttar Pradesh government, yet following identical norms in territories that they govern. It is also true that the brazenness of the politicos and bureaucrats alike in committing loot or unjust acts is gaining ground in the absence of better alternatives with the electorate. The electoral system is now confined merely to election of the best amongst the worst and this is not what the founding fathers of Indian democracy visualized or what we actually deserve.

Thanedar certifies!

Thanedar ne achha character certificate de diya.

Yes. The division is on a new high after receiving hearty appreciation from a most unlikely source, the office of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India. The CAG in its much awaited report on the "CWG loot" released on the 5th of August, while severely castigating every department involved with the games, has found sufficient reasons for showering lavish praise on the railways for the work done in improving the New Delhi Railway Station.

After the National award conferred by the Ministry of Tourism, Govt of India for the excellent work done at the station, this praise has further reinforced the belief that despite the rampant sloth, all is not lost yet and sarkari agencies that appreciate good work have not yet ceased to exist.

My skeptism on sarkari matters may also reduce in due course, courtesy the objectivity of the CAG observations.

And this new high has the possibility to spur us to achieve further excellence in the various spheres of activities indulged into by the Delhi division of the Indian Railways. Insha Allah!

Public Sector stinks

My recent stay at Hotel Ashok was a disaster. Checked in in the mornig and checked out in the evening, due to complete failure of the airconditioning and generators. The beautiful suite room had turned into an oven by the evening. It was disgraceful, in fact the worst nightmare of a hotelier, the collapse of both the vital systems. There was a reason, large scale renovation, but the reason was not good enough. Airconditioning and electrical systems in a hotel are not meant to fail, despite whatever. And I moved into Hotel Samrat in the evening. Nothing much to write home about, but the hotel staff out of their love and affection for me and my family made the stay worthwhile.

ITDC is still a great organization with a large mandate "Development of tourism in India". Having headed ITDC in its hey days, albeit under the looming shadow of disinvestment, one of the worst things to have happenned to the corporation, I am still of the firm belief that the best days of ITDC are yet to come. ITDC can still, even now rise from the ashes and become the leader in the tourism scene of the nation.

If only it is handled like a commercial, not a bureaucratic organization and the CEO takes things head on, without bothering about the consequences. Perhaps I am wrong, for I was given the boot in December 2002, when I handled things head on and in the process rubbed the powers that be the wrong way, even though I was right and they were wrong.

And now we hear about the mess that is Air India. Again a classic example of bureaucratic mishandling of a commercial enterprise, rampant internal loot and weak CEO's. But such CEO's last their terms even though the organizaton does not.

God only can now help the public sector in this country.