CHURUMURI POLL: Will Yedi complete term?

Barely a fortnight after registering a thumping win in the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP government of B.S. Yediyurappa has run head-first into a storm of dissidence.

Power minister K.S. Eswarappa has openly criticised the chief minister on the choice of his son B.Y. Raghavendra as a candidate, and raised questions on the means adopted for the BJP’s win in Karnataka. The Reddy Brothers—Somashekhar, Karunakar and Janardhan—absented themselves from the first anniversary fete. Tourism minister B. Sriramulu is said to be peeved at the small margin of his sister J. Shantha‘s victory. And rumours of between 40-60 legislators being disillusioned enough with Yediyurappa to sharpen their knives are doing the rounds.

Question: Will B.S. Yediyurappa complete his term? Or is the writing on the wall?

Also read: The most f***ing versatile word in the world

Where can you view such masterpiece sunsets?

CHETAN KRISHNASWAMY writes: The Kukkarahalli Kere in Mysore stirs the soul.

Unfailingly, every evening, the calm waters lunge flirtatiously towards a flamboyant sun performing a visual jugalbandi enthralling the walkers around the bund.

Prof Shivaram Malavalli—an illustrious Mysorean and a venerable friend—has over the months captured the Kukkarahalli’s mystique through his mobile phone.

Last week, I ran into him during one of my rare visits to the lake.

Prof Shivaram, brother of Kumar Malavalli, maintains that every day is a new day at KK and its moods are varied.

To quote R.K. Narayan, another Kukkarahalli lover:

“Sometimes, I went back to the Kukkarahalli tank in the late afternoon, when the evening sun touched the rippling water-surface to produce uncanny lighting effects, and the western sky presented a gorgeous display of colours and cloud formations at sunset. Even today, I would assert, after having visited many parts of the world, that nowhere can you witness such masterpiece sunsets as in Mysore. I would sit on a bench on the tank and watch the sun’s performance, the gradual fading of the colours in the sky, and the emergence of the first single star at dusk.”

View Prof Shivaram’s Facebook album: Kukkarahalli Lake

Also read: Ugadi sunrise over Kukkarahalli Lake

Best-dressed man in Indian politics since Nehru?!

 

E.R. RAMACHANDRAN writes: I had the fortune of eating Masale Dose around the same time that he ate his at MTR, except I ate mine at Udupi Krishna Bhavan in Chikkapete just a couple of kilometres away.

This unique experience was good enough for me wish good luck for the most well-dressed man in Indian politics after Jawaharlal Nehru and equally as well-read, India’s newest external affairs minister.

Using this badarayana sambandha, I sought Shri Krishna’s help for an interview with Timothy Roemer, the new US ambassador to India.

Roemer is a member of the Center for National Policy, member of the 9 /11 Commission, and member of the famous ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ team.

If he were in India I would have taken Roemer to MTR or Udupi Shri Krishna Bhavan, equivalent to Five Guys, for a Dose. However, he graciously agreed to do the interview over the phone.

“Congratulations, Mr Roemer, on being appointed as Ambassador,” I started off.

“Thank you. I look forward to the work ahead in India. Go on, shoot.” Ambassador Roemer was crisp and to the point.

“Mr. Ambassador, as Pakistan’s immediate neighbour, we are concerned with what’s going on in Pakistan. How do you read the situation there?”

“Well, let’s see. There is the Taliban, militant organizations like Al Qaeda and LeT, ISI, the Pakistani government, Baluchis and the tribals. What’s happening there appears to be an interplay of multiple elements operating independently or sometimes collectively but criss-crossing edgeways. This is a polynomial equation of nth degree with indeterminates floating all over and I wonder if any mathematical solution exists for this at all.  A simple answer would be: we don’t know what’s going on there. Period.”

“I thank you for the insightful clarity on the subject. The new Government under president Obama has identified ‘Good’ Taliban and ‘Bad’ Taliban. Could you elaborate on that?”

“They are similar to good cholesterol and bad cholesterol, I guess; which means you try to reduce the bad Taliban and increase the good Taliban like you do with cholesterol. But the problem is how to identify the good eggs from the bad ones? That could take years and any egg, good or bad, starts smelling after sometime making the whole package stink.”

“Your Af-Pak policy hasn’t taken off yet.”

“It has been a bit of a Fak-Ap so far, isn’t it? We coined the term as it sounded good on the ear, but we have yet to prepare the ground to bring the Afghans and Pakis together. It is quite difficult to make Pakistan agree to anything.”

“Most of the aid you have given to Pakistan has been used to buy arms. They have nothing done to stop militants acting against India from their soil.  We don’t even know who is in charge in Pakistan.”

“We face the same problem too when we want to give them money! I would advocate patience here. Patience is India’s virtue since the time of the Vedas. You must also remember they are fighting our terrorists—the Al Qaeda—with all seriousness. Pakistan gets easily upset and distracted when we mention the word ‘India’ to them. Our advice to India is:  maintain a low profile, so that Pakistan can concentrate on the job at hand.”

“Your ‘Congressional Report’ quotes Admiral Mullen saying Pakistan has stacked up 60 nukes pointing towards India and many more in the pipeline, whereas you want a low profile from India?”

“Did they publish the report? I’d be damned! Our administration has been mule-headed to make the Report public.”

“Mr Ambassador, just share with us what exactly is your policy if you have one? Fight only Al Qaeda and leave other terrorists to do as they please. Fund Pakistan to the teeth so that they stack their nuclear arsenal to fight India?”

“I wish I could answer that. Within our own administartion, there are as many indeterminate layers operating like in Pakistan. The Senate, the Congress and their congressional committees, the State department, the White House and the DOD all have a say on our policy. We have no clue who is forming the policy, what it is, and who is implementing which policy. That is what I hope to find out by the time I leave India!”

“Thank you for your illuminating replies, Mr Ambassador. We understand your policies much better now!” I replied.

Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna, as chief minister, had an unsuccessful wild goose chase involving the one-man army or terrorist that was Veerappan. At MEA, I hope he has better luck fighting an army of terrorists partly sponsored by government with lavish funds from abroad.

Will he succeed in the first 100 days, say before Gokulashtami?

Photographs:  S.M. Krishna in his many moods. Top left, yesterday; right, on the day he took over as Union minister for external affairs, and bottom, during the election campaign in Karnataka last year.

“Is there a Mahatma in Melbourne today, mate?”

M.K. VIDYARANYA writes: Whites, thy name is Apartheid.

Wherever there are whites there is apartheid, it seems. Even in this 21st century.

Across the world, Indians—students, doctors, IT professionals, mechanics—give so much to the country where they have migrated, be it in Europe, America, Australia or Africa. They mingle well, abide by the laws, and have become valued members of the community they have settled in.

And this is what they get in return?

***

106 years ago, in white-ruled South Africa, a young Indian found himself in the same situation that young Indian students find themselves in Australia.

The magistrate of the Durban court where the tall gangling man practiced did not take to him as he dressed differently and wore a turban  in the court hall.

Little seems to have changed as the events in Australia in the past week show.

When the magistrate ordered Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to remove his head-dress, he refused and walked out of the court. But he did not buckle in. Gandhi remained in South Africa for a further 20 years, suffering imprisonment many times, but the turban stayed with him  until he left in 1914.

Gandhi did not let the humiliation go uncontested. Inspired by Tolstoy, Christ and Theorau, He began a policy of passive resistance to, and non-cooperation with, the South African authorities. He called it Satyagraha.

***

What we are seeing in Australia, where Indians are being mercilessly attacked, is the offshoot of the remnants of the White Australian policy practiced by them for centuries.

And what we need is a Gandhi who will stand up and not give in.

Australia abolished the ‘White Australia’ policy in 1966. It took further steps in 1973 to remove race as a factor in its immigration policies. Australian law has moved forward, the people still have not.

At least some of them.

Australia’s current migration programme allows people from any country to apply to migrate to Australia, regardless of their ethnicity, culture, religion or language, provided that they meet the criteria set out in law.

It is disturbing to note that even in this 21st century some vested interests in Australia are practising the ‘White Australian Policy’. It is high time the Australian government dealt with the problem with an iron hand before it takes an ugly turn.

But immigrants need an influential person to take up the role Mahatma Gandhi took in South Africa and start a peaceful Satyagraha to achieve the process of equality to all.

Not just for Indians, but for all immigrants down under.

The external affairs minister S.M. Krishna should immediately fly to Australia to make an on-the-spot assessment of the situation arising out of the attack on Indians, hold talks with the Austrlian government, and reassure the Indian community of the steps being taken by the government to ensure their wellbeing and safety.

Free, frank, fearless? No. Grubby, greedy, gutless

A significant outcome of the 2009 general elections has been the “outing” of the corruption in the Indian news media. What was earlier, usually, seen as an individual transgression has grown and morphed into an institutional malaise with long-term implications for our democracy which the aam admi is still to recognise.

Most cases of corruption in the media have so far involved the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Enter, Karnataka.

M.V. Rajeev Gowda, son of former assembly speaker M.V. Venkatappa and a Wharton PhD who teaches at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, writes of the “perversion of the media’s role in a democracy” while campaigning for a friend (presumably a Congressman) during the recent polls.

“Instead of being a neutral, dispassionate observer of what’s going on, media houses milked the election to make big bucks. Representatives of media houses approached candidates promising them coverage in exchange for money.

“Of course, I advised my friend not to succumb because I was confident that we could get substantial coverage just by coming out with different media-oriented events and activities. And we did manage to do that. For free!

“But overall, other candidates jumped on the opportunity to get coverage. And there lies the problem. If coverage just involved reporting on the candidate’s vision, track record and activities, it wouldn’t be that much of an issue. It becomes a challenge when readers cannot differentiate between unbiased reportage and paid advertorials.

“This time, the difference between the two was very difficult to discern. One had to carefully look for “Special Feature” or some other tell-tale sign, which is generally not prominent enough for readers to separate fact and opinion from mercenary fiction.

“I remember the time Ramnath Goenka used to boldly declare that the Indian Express was Free, Frank and Fearless. I don’t know about that newspaper, but many others during this election were just Grubby, Greedy, and Gutless.”

Read the entire article: Notes from the Campaign Trail-III

Graduates of Indian Universities need not apply*

The new council of ministers of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has drawn attention for the number of alumni from St Stephen‘s College in it, the number of women in it, the number of first-time MPs below the age of 40, and sundry other attributes.

It is also remarkable for one other reason: the number of products it boasts of from foreign Universities.

***

Manmohan Singh: University of Oxford, and University of Cambridge

P. Chidambaram: Harvard University

Kapil Sibal: Harvard University

S.M. Krishna: Southern Methodist University, Texas; George Washington University, Washington DC

Jairam Ramesh: Massachusetts Institute fo Technology

Prithviraj Chauhan: University of California at Los Angeles

Salman Kursheed: University of Oxford

M.S. Gill: University of Cambridge

Shashi Tharoor: Tufts University, Massachusetts

Agatha Sangma: Nottingham University

Sachin Pilot: Pennnsylvania University, Wharton Business School

Jyotiraditya Scindia: Harvard University, and Stanford University

* Except to fill the quotas of alliance partners, and minister of State posts