A Goodbye to Appu

When Delhi hosted the Asian Games in 1982 the mascot of the Games a baby elephant named Appu stayed back in Delhi to become a symbol of unending fun in form of the amusement park known as Appu Ghar. The mascot in form of a dancing elephant adorning the gateway to Appu Ghar provided a cheerful day of fun and frolic during 25 years of it's existence to millions of children. Located in heart of the town and offering so many permutations and combination of joy rides and games it was a place you could head for any time on any day . Weekend outings came to acquire a special meaning specially for the middle class crowds which could have free run of the place at an affordable cost. A whole generation of Delhites grew up with the joy and thrill of the rides and games. Other options to the city's entertainment package by way of water parks or the occassional visiting circuses or the Delhi Zoo remained way behind in the matter of popularity.

Now Appu has grown weak standing on one leg for so many years and a new world is emerging around it which is more professional and devoted to matters of corporate concern, so Appu bids good bye to Delhi and to those whose child hood memories would never be complete without recalling the excitement and thrill of Appu rides. In the age of computer games and multiplexes Appu the symbol of common man's entertainment will perhaps move to some smaller town where child's world is still not trampled upon by monstrous organs of modern society . Delhi richer by achievements of scientific progress and by growth of legal wisdom through the library which will take place of joy rides now has less time to care for the smile of the young child.

Sanju baba in trouble again

Marriages are said to be made in heaven but an act of indiscretion or shall we say an unfortunate slip in compliance with law has lead to unmaking of a marriage of two stars of the earth. The much hyped marriage between Sanjay Dutt and his friend now known as Manyata (meaning recognition) appears to be unrecognizable as per law of the land. It has been discovered that the stars submitted false evidence in support of their proof of residence in Goa and thus the registration of the marriage is held up by the Registrar of marriages. The Govt functionaries who facilitated the submission of false certificates are facing disciplinary action for facilitating the an act of forgery.

It is not known as to what prompted the two film personalities to decide to get married at Goa . Perhaps Sanjay being ignorant of legal impediments and encouraged by some over enthusiastic goan lawyer friend unwittingly allowed himself to be caught in a legal wrangle of his own making. Having just temporarily managed to extricate himself from imprisonment in a criminal case relating to possession of unlicensed AK-47 gun and then getting it destroyed to conceal the evidence, he seems to be heading for another troubled phase in life due to the latest development. To add to his trouble now an ex husband of his lady love who claims to be not properly delinked from his marriage to her is also sending signals from his prison cell about illegality of the whole show.

If the marriage was planned in Goa to make it a secret affair or to escape the demanding ex husband, the move seems to have badly misfired. Media would always be happy if a marriage goes on rocks in comparison to a case where it is over peacefully and away from media glare.

Moreover in our country we have different standards for compliance with law for different social categories. While a politician living in Delhi can claim to be a resident of Assam for facilitating induction in the Parliament, and another one can remain a member of Parliament despite persistent controversies surrounding her nationality , others must not tinker with law. Remember, Delhi Police accused of gross negligence and fabrication of evidence in the Jessica Lal murder case went all the way to Goa for arresting socialite Bina Ramani on charge of giving a false address in her ration card !

It is sad to see Sanju Baba , son of such respected parents finding himself in such embarrassing situation while trying to seek a settled lifestyle, but February 2008 seems to be the month of falling satellites, having gone out of orbit due to calculation errors , perhaps a watchful astrologer could have forewarned the two stars.

Marginalise and Kill : The Politics of Raj

Sare jahan Se accha Hindostan hamara. Hum Bulbulein hain iski yeh gulsitan hamara. ( Our loveable Hindustan is above all others in the world. We are it’s singing birds and this is our garden) . This is how poet Iqbal described India before independence and partition. After independence from the British Raj, the Indian Constitution framed by politicians brought up with such liberal and romantic ideas gave us a free nation which bestowed on all citizens unfettered rights to freely move and settle in any part of the country.

Encouraged by this liberal constitution and newly found freedom the post independence era brought about a great intermingling of it’s people . Our great cities at one time took pride in being labeled as cosmopolitan in nature or sometimes being called a mini India. The south Indian Idly Dosa cuisine found it’s way to each north Indian eating joint and south India in turn felt proud to have a “ Shere Punjab” Hotel in every nook and corner of major metro cities. The Kathak dancers of Lucknow performed to fully packed auditoriums in Goa and the Hindi Cinema anchored at Mumbai established as a million dollar industry with the participation of Kapoor Khandans of Punjab. Considered as the heman of his times actor Dharmendra fell to the charms of South Indian belle Hema Malini and Masoor Ali Khan Nawab of a princely State in Punjab found solace in marriage with an actress of Bengali origin.

But the happiness and enjoyment of the newly born nation in creating a multidimensional social fabric was short-lived. The political leadership which in post independent India found itself overwhelmed with the task of nation building and in turn felt threatened for survival due to lack of imaginative problem solving capabilities reinvented the politics of divide and rule . The desperation and frustration, infact painted the obnoxious agenda with much sinister colours . The agenda got upgraded to marginalize and kill.

The new trend of political one-upmanship is leading to an astonishingly grim scenario . Firstly it was a war between north and south later on we narrowed down our boundaries and developed hatred for natives of all states other than our state . Majority of states now have some grouse with the neighboring state. Process of free flow of human beings across the state borders is considered as an invasion for financial exploitation. Each state has it’s own database to explain as to how business men and jobseekers from other states are choking the sons of soil in their states. Migration is considered as an act of crime to enjoy hard earned economic benefits of the other state. With every passing day the boundaries are shrinking further , now it is a question of culture being confined to cities.

So while Mumbaikars may enjoy their New Yea’s eve in Goa but the north indian taxi driver who ferried them across the border for enjoyments may get mashed up by Shiv Sainiks on return for not belonging to Mumbai ! In not too distant future a railway train running from one end of the country to other end may carry only dead bodies of passengers at the last stop because people of each state (or city?) would attempt to eliminate those passengers who are aliens i.e. from other states or cities.

Who said that the Raj is dead it has emerged in a new avtar.

To seal or to deseal: Question that puzzles Delhi Govt

The Sheila Dixit Govt. in Delhi has at least one major institution building achievement to it’s credit. It introduced the concept of empowerment of Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) in a big way through the Bhagidari Scheme launched by it. The word Bhagidari meant partnership and the concept intended to provide opportunity for sharing of responsibilities and power between the RWAs and the Govt. The Scheme visualized Govt. support and guidance for growth and networking of these institutions to facilitate experience sharing and capacity building. At the initial stage the scheme seemed to have achieved success and earned several prestigious awards for the so called new concept in governance. However ironically a strange twist of events started which became a perpetual cause for conflict between the Govt. and RWAs.

Some of the RWAs were already enlightened to the civic rights of their members and a larger number with the newly acquired sense of power woke up to the need of raising their voices against the Govt’s negligence in enforcing the provisions of Delhi’s Master Plan. Over the years a large number of residential areas in various colonies of Delhi have acquired commercial character leading to progressive deterioration in quality of life for those who continue to live in their residential properties which are getting surrounded by unauthorized commercial structures. When the Govt. machinery was found to be unwilling to change the scenario , the RWAs were forced to take recourse to litigation.

The dispute went up to the Apex Court and the Govt. had to repeatedly cut a sorry figure for it’s knee jerk reaction to the grim scenario. The RWAs which were creatures encouraged and empowered by the Sheila Dixit Govt. found themselves involved in a running battle with the same Govt. The continuous monitoring by the Apex Court and the pressure to catch all the violators irrespective of their status became so intense that even the Chief Minister and certain other bigwigs in her party were running for cover against notices received against their personal properties for violation of Master Plan of Delhi or building bye laws.

The Govt., from the initial stage was cowering under pressure from the law breakers but found itself helpless against people’s power. The stage managed scenes of street violence and a legally unsustainable piece of legislation could not bail it out . The Govt. was forced to mobilize all power of state to seal thousands of Commercial establishments which were functioning in violation of law.

The battle is a rather ironical conflict between the law makers and the law supporters . The process of sealing of properties has taken a heavy toll on personal reputations of several major operators in the field besides the progressive Chief Minister of Delhi who is otherwise a progressive and professional politician. At one stage Delhi was agog with rumors that the whole business was masterminded by the daughter of ruling family who was promoting several new Malls in the city and needed buyers willing to pay high prices. Similar insinuations later popped up against relatives of a key figure connected with judicial activism. The issue is still wide open . A large number of commercial establishments have closed and shifted to conforming areas and to Noida and Gurgaon. However thousands crores of rupees invested in the sealed properties remain blocked and a source of continuous pressure on city govt. to find a way out.

A recent news item says that the Govt. is coming out with a legislative solution. But the outcome of legislation in favour of desealing of offending constructions remains to be seen. For Sheila Dixit Govt. caught in the crossfire , seal or to deseal is the question that keeps it’s intellect puzzled.

Team India shines

Mother India has something to be proud of. A fighter for national pride nicknamed Bhajji , a member of Indian cricket team presently touring Australia has established that he is not one who believes in insulting the racial pride of any human being. He has admitted that certain words uttered by him during a cricket match between India and Australia were in fact intended to be simply abusive in a routine sort of way since the words only referred to the anatomy of victim’s mother rather lecherously and nothing else. Bhajji’s mom heaved a sigh of great relief that his son had not called the foreigner by the name of an animal but was only being vulgar towards another woman. Newspapers carried photographs of young girls in his native territory celebrating this victorious turn of events by carrying playcards “Chak ditta India” a much abused term which translates into something like“India you rammed them”.

The watchgaurds of national pride frothing with tension through out the whole week over the dispute between the players stood vindicated by virtue of a victory scored in the court of enquiry. The dispute had taken an ugly turn after Bhajji was banned from playing next five matches after a summary trial. It ended in our favour after his clarifications of above nature were accepted by the appellate authority.

Indian cricket team members have added another feather to their cap of off the field achievements. Team players shine so well on fashion ramps and on publicity ads even while sponsoring humdrum products like sweetened soda water or biscuits . Their bold gestures like rushing for a movie theatre after loosing a crucial match or competing over starlet girl friends are much acknowledged media events. The Hotels and eateries which they have opened (with the wealth earned partly from the game and substantially from off the field events) for serving fish fry and seek kabas do cover up for missed fours and sixes.

Australians India’s traditional spoil sport rivals however could not relish our feeling of enjoyment. They butchered us on the playfield in the 20-20 match which followed. The onslaught was so devastating that we missed the record for the lowest score by just one run. We must however appreciate Bhajji again for, this brave figure from the land of Shaheed Bhagat Singh scored one single run before going down like a martyr. That single run separated us from the dubious low score record just as his careful selection of abusive utterances saved us from being labeled as a nation of racists.

Rise and fall of BSE Sensex

The rise and fall of Bombay Sensex the popular indicator of stock market sentiments has always been a headline making incident over it’s 20 year life span . The Sensex which is weighted average (based on market capitalization) of 30 leading scrips against base year 1979 has witnessed unanticipated crash or boom on several occasions .

The rise of sensex is linked to strengthening of the Indian economy and fall in sensex is linked to temporary setbacks and corrections over the past two decades. Starting it’s journey from 1986 the sensex touched the four figure mark in July 1990 and later fuelled by the liberal economic policies of the then Finance Minister Manmohn Singh it zoomed past the 4000 mark in 1992 . Arrival of Harshad Mehta on the scene and the subsequent devastation and mayhem in the Stock exchange kept the markets subdued for the next several years . Sensex could touch the 5000 mark only in 1999 . Journey from 6000 to 7000 mark again took 5 years but thereafter there was no looking back. The sensex gained 10000 points in next 30 months touching 18000 in Oct .2007.

The continuous boom in stock market in last five years has lead to growth of prices above 25 % per annum. A market watcher has rightly commented that the Sensex during the period has not grown but jumped . Economy has benefited by the decontrolling influence as well as opening of markets to foreign investors and is fast becoming globalised in true sense of the term. Indian companies have frequently been in news for competitive buying of professionally manged companies abroad. The worth of India in stock market today is in proximity to  $1.5 trillion. Over the years the dominant scrips influencing the market have also changed . The market which was dominated by commodity scrips , now also has a variety of scrips related to infrastructure sector , IT and Telecom with dominant influence. This reflects the chnge in focal activities of the economy.

The rise of sensex has also been punctuated with several market crashes which have sent the investors running for cover. On ten occasions fall of more than 600 points has occurred in a day.

In recent memory while the sensex was climbing record heights it received a jolt in the participatory note crisis in Oct. 2007. The crisis was in follow up to restrictions announced by the Finance Ministry on investments through Participatory Notes. Over period of one hour the sensex declined by 1744 points on 17^th Oct.2007 . The crisis was however promptly tackled by the clarifications given by the Ministry and the sensex bounced back. The 20000 mark was soon crossed over.

Jan.2008 was another memorable month for investors . Against a highly volatile market, investors panicked following apprehensions of US economy plunging into a recession and consequent weakening of global markets. On 21^st and 22^nd of that month, the sensex declined by 2283 points . Jan 22^nd saw the biggest intra day fall of 2273 points. The decline was checked and Trading assumed an upward trend after US Federal Reserve effected a cut in interest rate by 75 basis points . The US authorities move in fact affected the stock markets in other Asian markets too in a positive way .

The crisis repeated the lessons of previous such crashes The message was for small investors ,to stay watchful in an overheated market.

Nano, bane or boon

The launch of Tata’s small car Nano has started a discussion over utility of the small car and it’s impact on the flow of traffic in larger cities, some of which are already facing serious difficulties in managing the same. The discussions are centered around the issue as to whether improvement in the public transport system can be a better option for attending to the transportation needs of the common man.

A debate of this nature can be addressed by appreciating the fact that in India the public transport which for years remained in domain of government control does not have a very encouraging presence . Under the compulsion of maintaining a low tariff structure and also maintaining it’s presence in unprofitable areas a number of states have public transport corporations which are not able to provide quality of service which can be considered to be good enough and several state transport corporations are huge drain on resources of the respective governments.

A look at the evolution of public transport system in Delhi which was a centrally administered territory and is now comparatively efficiently managed city state can give an indication of the difficulties involved . The Govt has for years struggled to make the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) (and it’s predecessor entities) an economically viable public sector unit but found the challenge difficult . It has constantly experimented with various innovative measures to make the commuting comfortable for city dwellers. About 15 years back in one stroke more than 200 private operator controlled redline buses were introduced with the hope of improving the availability of buses on all major routes . The traffic scenario was expected to be metamorphosed in a short while .

However with passage of time the goal appeared to be elusive . Soon questions came to be raised about the intake capacity of roads for additional buses and about the effectiveness of traffic police and transport authorities in controlling such large number of private operators. The bus drivers very soon earned reputation of devils on roads. The number of road accidents became such a regular phenomenon that accident figures were reflected in city newspapers along with weather report every day. At a stage the things got so bad that the colour of these buses had to be changed to blue in order to escape the comparison to the colour of blood. Off course this was only a cosmetic change in true sense of the term and situation could not have changed unless there was a firm control of authorities over the bus operators. With passage of time these buses being operated with poor maintenance became old and difficult to operate in the congested traffic. In an attempt to cut prices operators engage drivers who are under prosecution in other states. Majority of migrant drivers are rootless mercenaries who cannot be expected to have a healthy mind and body. The staff engaged as conductors are suspected to be in league with pickpockets and eve teasers. The common man continues to suffer. The Govt is under extreme pressure to cancel the operation of all the private operators.

In between the city has also continuously invested heavily in construction of flyovers and widening of roads. Other progressive measures like point to point taxi service, a higher tariff for high quality buses and having green corridor on ring road have also been tried with marginal benefits. Scenario appears to improve only slightly for a short time . The recent changes in demographic profile due to decongesting of the central commercial hubs in the city after court orders pertaining to shifting of industries and non conforming commercial establishments had similar short lived effect. Even today a 14 km drive from South Delhi to Airport may take an hour to complete during peak hour.

The Delhi Metro has opened some hope for future. But the project was also in pipeline for a long time due to the unprofessional approach of the policy makers. For years the decision makers continued to make foreign trips for evaluation of options. (It is only our good luck that a decision was taken ultimately). The Delhi Metro Project has also not been universally accepted. There are a number of critics objecting to the project due to high costs , the inconvenience to the public at the construction stage and the possible risk for the buildings due to vibration effects underneath . Some have even questioned the ethics of the project , labeling it as a sort of conspiracy to push the poor underground !

The objective of narrating the above experience is to underline the fact that the need for improvements in public transport system has been appreciated by the governments from earlier stages of evolution of metro cities but for various constraints the public transport system is yet to reach the desired level of consumer satisfaction. The moral of the story is that Improvement of public transport system depends on multiplicity of factors which include the capability of the authorities to provide good governance and of the political leadership in planning and controlling the growth of urban areas with a firm hand and foresight. These goals, given the constraints of a democratic set up may be achievable over a substantial period of time only.

In the meanwhile the changes in pattern of economic activities and consequent growth of middle class has increased the requirement of an affordable transport for them. Several small towns have tried to overcome this need by depending on three wheelers, with various seating capacities , in rural areas jeeps packed with 10 to 12 “sawaris” ( including females ) are the only means of transport which is available for going to hospital or industrial unit outside city limits or reaching the workplace which may be a rural bank or dispensary or tehsil level govt. office . Throughout the year in sun and rain millions of Indians ungrudgingly subject themselves to this torture twice a day. Availability of a cheap transport at their disposal would be beneficial to this category of commuters without causing major traffic bottlenecks.

In the larger or smaller cities a cheap car with latest technology may be expected to replace unsafe three wheelers as well as old rickety fiats and ambassadors which continue to be on road since owners do not have a replacement option within their reach. Against the fear of all motorcycle born youths graduating to small car, it needs to be understood that bike riders are a different class , a good number of them may not like to compromise their macho image by giving up the mean machine in favour of riding a small car. Those having slightly better income levels may not like to be seen driving around in the cheapest car, when a regular car can be had for a few dollars more.

And lastly it needs to be kept in mind that the car costing Rs. 1Lakh may in fact be effectively priced in market at around Rs.1.25 Lakhs .The buyer should also have the capacity to bear the cost of fuel along with the loan installment of around Rs. 2000/- per month which may not be an affordable option for too many people in the lower middle class . So let us keep our fingers crossed and wish good luck to small car.