Random ramble

I have been reading a lot of new blogs recently which are written by very erudite Indians and other subcontinentals. (Acorn, Chapati Mystery, Sepia Mutiny). These are all very popular blogs and very widely read by the Indian and NRI crowd.

Usually, the comments and discussions on these blogs are excellent, and much better than the original article. From these discussions, one can see that there exists (and I guess has always existed) a set of very well read and well informed Indians who are very articulate and brilliant (and also have a lot of time on their hands to blog so proficiently.)

Many of them are PhDs or experts in their fields, and some one can directly be in awe of.

***

Reading a discussion on Indian politics, and the blindness of the elite to the ground realities (viz. the current election), one can talk about an Indian Narrative or narratives, or the lack of a Grand Unifying Indian Narrative. The asinine terminology "India vs. Bharat" tried to capture this dichotomy.

The elites (if you are reading this, you are one - and so are most of your pals) have one particular understanding of India, Indian History and of the Indian experience (or the Urban experience). This is the India that protests against 50% Reservations and caste politics, the India of the Multiplexes and cable TV. This is the India I know.

In the real India (real in the sense of political power) - caste and community, religion and region matter, and will make or break the powers that be. Many of us may consider the use of caste cards and election time sops as cynical ploys - but the fact is that broadly they work because the vacuum exists for such tactics. A vacuum that most urban elites cannot see as it does not conform to their narrow understanding of how India is or should be.

Rural areas, and different communities of the country have a very different narrative of their lives and existence. These narratives are occasionally captured by some journalists and writers, who understand this dichotomy of narratives and who have a first hand experience of the syncretic nature of the Indian experience.

*****

Let me take an example of a college.

The management has a particular narrative and view of what the college is, what it means to them and where it should be going. The staff of the college has another view as to the colleges existence and purpose, and their role in the same. At the other end from the management are the students - who have their own sense of entitlement and views on running the college. And of course, their own narrative of college life.

There are certain power equations between these entities. The final direction the college does take depends on the balance of power between these entities. Another problem is that it is difficult to form a unifying narrtive in such a syncretic stucture. Maybe only outsider (with his own biases and prejudices) can attempt such a description.

In 1947, India was like an unpoliticised campus. The management had all the power (the elites) and they did what they liked (whether for good or bad) and staff and students followed suit.

By the 1970s, the staff formed unions and taking a united stand, could wrest some of the power from the management. The students (the "teeming millions") watched and slowly attained political enlignement.

By the 1990s, the power balance had started shifting - the elites had lost the grip on power and true democracy meant that even students could vy for control of the college or different parts of it. Different hostels (aka communities) elected different leaders to weild power and control the college.

From the managements (the elite - upper cast, educated, rich, urban, middle class) point of view, they cannot understand what is happening and how to deal with it. The management always thought that they knew what was best for the college (the students' opinions be damned), and now they have these rowdy uncouth kids taking over parts of the college.

From the students point of view - they have finally got power and will no longer have to bear the overlordship of the elites who used to completely ignore them and have little or no understanding of their concerns and issues because they live in their ivory towers. The students have a very different narrative. This is the story of Mayawati and Laloo Yadav.

Democracy means a transfer of power to all, and to the elites it has been a steady erosion of power.

While the majority of students may not have econimic power (yet), the political power they have wrested can either result in a re-distribution of wealth (eg. Reservations in Pvt. Sector) or of the student leaders partaking in the loot with the elites. (aka all your corrupt self serving netas).

What must the elite do?

Open their eyes, and see that there exist multiple alternative narratives of being Indian than what they are used to or comfortable with. This is not going to be easy, and will involve dealing with significant cognitive dissonance.

Accept that democracy will mean a loss of power for the elites, and maybe even a loss of relevance.

Learn to work within the new power structure, or exit the nation so as to be cocooned in the diaspora.

I am sure there must be parallels in history that might tell us how what the future is going to be like for India.

Dee-eep

These words exist,
because you are reading them.

Iss Baar Nahi

Iss Baar Nahin

Is baar jab woh choti si bachchi mere paas apni kharonch le kar aayegi
Main usey phoo phoo kar nahin behlaoonga
Panapney doonga uski tees ko
Is baar nahin

Is baar jab main chehron par dard likha dekhoonga
Nahin gaoonga geet peeda bhula dene wale
Dard ko risney doonga,utarney doonga andar gehrey
Is baar nahin

Is baar main na marham lagaoonga
Na hi uthaoonga rui ke phahey
Aur na hi kahoonga ki tum aankein band karlo,gardan udhar kar lo main dawa lagata hoon
Dekhney doonga sabko hum sabko khuley nangey ghaav
Is baar nahin

Is baar jab uljhaney dekhoonga,chatpatahat dekhoonga
Nahin daudoonga uljhee door lapetney
Uljhaney doonga jab tak ulajh sake
Is baar nahin

Is baar karm ka hawala de kar nahin uthaoonga auzaar
Nahin karoonga phir se ek nayee shuruaat
Nahin banoonga misaal ek karmyogi ki
Nahin aaney doonga zindagi ko aasani se patri par
Utarney doonga usey keechad main,tedhey medhey raston pe
Nahin sookhney doonga deewaron par laga khoon
Halka nahin padney doonga uska rang
Is baar nahin banney doonga usey itna laachaar
Ki paan ki peek aur khoon ka fark hi khatm ho jaye
Is baar nahin

Is baar ghawon ko dekhna hai
Gaur se
Thoda lambe wakt tak
Kuch faisley
Aur uskey baad hausley
Kahin toh shuruat karni hi hogi
Is baar yahi tay kiya hai

--- Prasoon Joshi

On Mortality

There is nothing quite like the feeling of being invincible. Knowing that the world is yours for the taking - one by one easy piece. And there is nothing sadder than losing this feeling - for it leaves you so incomplete, and so defeated.

I want the Groove days back...

Project A - These Days by Nico

Goal: Come out with a decently listenable mp3.

The song to be Anu Malikified: Nico's These Days from her 1967 album Chelsea Girls.
The song was written by Brian Cale (IIRC), her band mate from the the Velvet Underground. The lyrics are quite desolate, but the music is not. The objective is to come up with a Hindi song (whether as desolate or completely different) to the music/arrangement.

Was trying my hand at this in class today. Was wondering, what would be the Hindi/Hindustani/Urdu equivalent of the phrase "These days" ? Would it be "Yeh din" "Yeh pal" "In din/dino" "Iss samay" or my fav candidate so far "Aaj Kal"? Any help would be appreciated!

The original lyrics are below:

I've been out walking
I don't do too much talking
These days, these days.
These days I seem to think a lot
About the things that I forgot to do
And all the times I had the chance to.

I've stopped my rambling,
I don't do too much gambling
These days, these days.
These days I seem to think about
How all the changes came about my ways
And I wonder if I'll see another highway.

I had a lover,
I don't think I'll risk another
These days, these days.
And if I seem to be afraid
To live the life that I have made in song
It's just that I've been losing so long.
La la la la la, la la.

I've stopped my dreaming,
I won't do too much scheming
These days, these days.
These days I sit on corner stones
And count the time in quarter tones to ten.
Please don't confront me with my failures,
I had not forgotten them.

You can listen to the original song here: www.megaupload.com/?d=ZU4T4R5T

These boots are made for walking...

Hello blog world. I don't do thee as much as I used to.
***

Drums. And beats. There is something very primal about beats and music - maybe its mathematical. Is the octave scale as obvious as Base 10 or Binary? Is there a pi in music.. our very own 3.141529..... ? Rationals and Irrationals? Real and Complex?

But back to the drums. Beating a stick against a log would have resulted in the world's first drummers.. some thousands of years ago, and the this monkey would have discovered rhythm, and how the brain processes beats, and likes them. Then this snooty pansy would have also discovered scales and thus begot Mozart (and Pussycat Dolls).

***

I am 26 and it feels really old when I think about it, for I's still rather be stuck in the late 90s. Not really. I like where I am.

***

On the other hand, I have fingers.

***

(yes that was a PJ from the late 90s)

***
Revisiting the old you is nice surprise most of the times. One can learn a lot from that that lad. Like scribbling and doodling juvenile on the back of your notebook. And it felt really really good.

***
uh yeah, thats a pic of my shoes in the blog pic above. And I do need to go for that jog.

Being Walter Mitty

http://www.all-story.com/issues.cgi?action=show_story&story_id=100

Dreaming (and dreaming in a way in which one is a character in some sort of long running motion picture or TV show.. a View-per-will TV show) has always come easy to me. Wonder of wonder that there is a character is literature who's famous (rather, infamous) for the same. I believe there is a little bit of a Walter Mitty in all of us.

Of course, some have a lot more of it than others...

Bade Achchhe Lagte Hain

One of the loveliest songs I have heard in recent times. Who knew growing old would be so good :)

Marine Drive and a phonecam

Before my time...

Was reading about the new microblogging (Twitter) phenom, in which junta may use SMS's to blog.

back in summer 2002, while I was busy creating 'Enter the Freshman', I also got a cell phone and a Dolpin (MTNL) prepaid connection. At that time, the billing facility was extremely screwed and certain Dolphin customers could SMS for free. I was one of these. After exhausting the jokes and other crap from Indiatimes and Rediff (8888 and 7333), I discovered that one could send emails using SMS via the indiatimes gateway. Thus was born my mblog project.

I had coded a scipt that would run on logging into my Aerospace account, scan my mailbox from emails from my number, and paste these to a text file that acted as my blog.

I was searching for how to create a daemon on the Aero server, but lost interest, specially after Dolphin got its billing right.

Maybe the same service exists still, and one can update blogger accounts via email.. and thus the world will always be aware of whatever you want it to be aware of.

Thus, a timepass project of 2002 was the new phenom of 2007. Wah wah!

Now I know what Baird felt like.... (ego to dekho munde da!)