India, the world's doormat - Are we a nation of pushovers?? - In light of Indo-China relations.

How often have we heard the phrase "Bhaisaab thoda adjust kar lijiye"??? And more often than not, we do end up adjusting. Yielding to others, even at the risk of discomfort to the self, is an affliction ingrained in us Indians. Though this statement sounds to be against my own principle of steering clear of generalizations of any kind, and commit a great folly in painting our immensely diverse nation in a single color, I should make it clear that my intention is to analyze the impression we shed on the world as a nation. An upcoming economy, a nation swinging between extremes of all kinds; culture, diversity, poverty are known and well - characterized aspects of our country. But I can't help and think, that to a close observer of our foreign policy, especially in the recent years, wouldn't India appear as a giant doormat with the phrase "Welcome!! Walk All Over ME!!" written on it?

On countless issues relating to foreign affairs and world politics, our country has often portrayed itself as a spineless, toothless spectator content with watching from the sidelines and "playing it safe". Apart from making tall claims of being the next, big thing, a superpower in the making, begging for nuclear fuel and a UN Security Council permanent seat, and crying hoarse over Pak - sponsored terrorism and asking the Big Boss (Uncle Sam) to reprimand our naughty neighbor time and again, we really haven't done much to validate our claims of being any kind of influence on the world's political stage. The most glaring examples of weak responses from our government have been the US backed sanctions on Iran and China's constant threat to India' territorial integrity, especially Arunachal Pradesh.

China has, time and again, threatened and claimed parts of Indian territory as its own, be it Aksai Chin or Arunachal Pradesh (the so called "South Tibet"). From Government officials, including the Ambassador to India, declaring Arunachal Pradesh as part of China unabashedly in the media, to sneaky forays into Indian territory in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and J&K by the Chinese army, there have been constant jabs from the other side. What is alarming is that in the past few years ,their frequency has increased dramatically. While on paper the status quo of "Hindi- Chini bhai bhai" is maintained by both the countries in the garb of border dispute talks, joint military drills and booming trade ties, the Chinese side audaciously objects to Indian flag hoisting, infrastructure development, or even the visit of the Indian Prime Minister when it comes to Arunachal Pradesh. Simultaneously, underhanded techniques are being used to apply pressure on Indian Govt., like issuing stapled visas to J&K citizens (citing J&K as disputed territory) and also AP, denying visa to officials as well as locals from Arunachal (claiming them to be citizens of Chinese territories and thus not needing a visa), deeper and deeper forays into Indian territory by Chinese military in Sikkim, J&K, and AP - demolishing stone structures and intimidating locals. There have been many instances of cyber attacks from China on key Indian installations like the navy, electricity grids, websites of government departments and ministries etc. It is widely speculated that these could have been state-sponsored. The tightly state-controlled Chinese media regularly paints India in a negative color, often declaring it as a "wanna-be" which dreams of matching China's growth and status as a superpower, but is incapable of doing so. The standard Indian Government response to any such activity was "registering protest" or "taking a strong exception" in a press release. China doesn't have a cricket team, or the other standard response by our country could have been to suspend cricketing ties with them!

A serious issue like the stapled visas did not figure in the talks held when the Chinese premier arrived on an official visit in 2010 while celebrating 60 years of diplomatic ties. India was more keen to push trade ties and cooperation at the international level. on the other hand, the Chinese foreign ministry was not even slightly hesitant in strongly protesting Manmohan Singh's visit to Arunachal Pradesh in 2009 for election campaigns, calling it an attempt by India to destabilize relations by creating unnecessary tension in the "disputed area". All the External Affairs ministry here could do was to express its "disappointment" over the Chinese objection, when the situation called for India to assert its claims and reprimand the other side in no uncertain terms. While many called for retaliation by India by issuing stapled visas to people from Tibet, Hong Kong etc., the government officials were merely "searching for a de-stapler", and for over two years, China continued to issue stapled visa to J&K residents. The issue came to a head in 2010 when it extended the policy to AP, and was finally resolved when the practice was stopped after talks. Why did it take more than two years for India to get this blatantly provocative issue addressed? Why did it take "talks" for India to get what was right? It was almost like begging for your rights! While a 'tit-for-tat' response might have been immature, and it might be argued that a restrained approach by India addressed the issue without escalating tensions. But how long can we play the nice guy, and get trampled on? While we bask in the glory of our supposedly calm approach, maps all over China would be showing AP, and huge chunks of J&K as part of China, and might as well Sikkim (which hey had earlier recognized as part of India, but still continue military interventions there). China has time and again shown that it can't be relied on, with memories of 1962 still fresh in the the hearts of Indians, and now with Sikkim as well as J&K. China has maintained a long standing policy of being neutral on J&K, and not to favour its buddy Pakistan, but that too went out of the window when the first stapled visa to a J&K resident was issued. While India on its part, seems to have betrayed the thousands of Tibetan refugees by recognizing Tibet as part of China, in an effort to improve relations, similar to its abandoning of friendship dating back to ancient civilizations with Iran when it came to US-backed sanctions at the UN.

That escalating tensions in an already unstable region is not in anyone's interest is beyond doubt. But how long can we watch from the sidelines as the big "brother" of ours continues to bully us?

Musical highs!

When it comes to music and movies, I have pretty unconventional tastes, as most of my friends will vouch for. Especially in the case of movies, I have a tendency to like movies which have been universally dissed, as is the case with Saawariya, Raavan, What's your Raashee, Teri Meri Kahani, 127 hours and so on and so forth. With music, the unconventionality lies in the humongous variety of the music I tend to like. I am a guy who openly admits to loving Shania Twain's music, as well as counting AC/DC, Coldplay, Maroon 5 among my favorite bands. Blues, R&B, Pop, Alternative, Rock, rap, House, Country ...... nothing is out of bounds.

However, I have had been pretty conservative in terms of the artists I would listen to. I would never actively seek out and listen to new artists. I was pretty content with just listening to everything and anything by the artists I already knew. But off late, from about an year or so, I have been having the most amazing time discovering music by artists which are new, or I have never heard before. The Internet, more International music on Indian TV channels and radio stations in Delhi, Facebook .... plenty of contributing factors. But I have heard entire soundtracks of movies lately (Step Up series, Country Strong), many TV series have introduced me to great music (Grey's anatomy being the chief contributor, a well as Private practice, Glee, and the odd episode from sitcoms like Cougar Town). Joining dance classes introduced me to a kind of music I would have particularly cringed at few moths back (the likes of Taio Cruz, Britney Spears and many other unknown artists - to me, that is). But on some level I have learned to appreciate even these, if only as music you can really dance to. As my love and exploration of country music expands beyond Shania Twain to artists like Joe Nichols, Brad Paisely, Blake Shelton and the likes, the contemporary pop artists ruling the charts have also left their impression - Rihanna (We found love), Carly Rae Jepsen, Chris Brown, Wanted, Hot Chelle Rae and so on.

But its the new alternative music that' really buzzing my musical buds lately. As Maroon 5 firmly etched themselves as my all time favorites with Over exposed and moves like Jagger, I rediscovered Jason Mraz's beautiful music all over again after The Remedy. Bands and artists like Fun (Some nights, We are young), The Script, Gym Class heroes, Lady Antebellum, One Republic, Foster the People (HUGE FAN!!!!), Mumford & Sons have got me waiting anxiously for new music from them, something new to me. Now I just feel like listening to all the music by some of these artists which they produced before I got acquainted with them, their older albums - a very scary prospect, considering how much time I already blow away on the Internet. Anyway, I would probably do it anyway, starting with the band whose song stimulated this post - The Killers' Runaways. Something tells me I have heard and liked this band before too, but just can't recall anything. But if this song is any indication, I am sure I would love them. Doesn't this song just reminds you of the 80's music of Springsteen, Meatloaf, a bit of Queen ..... lots of drama. Anyhow, here's the video, and looking forward to more exciting, new music. Suggestion will be highly appreciated.

Growing Pains

If you are an avid Facebook user like me, you would have probably come across a thoroughly entertaining comic strip (or gag, in the latest terminology), featuring a curly haired little boy Guddu and his gang. These gags, found on the Facebook page titled "garbage bin", have almost become a cult among Indian Facebookers, especially the ones who grew up in the late 80's or early 90's. The reason these strips have gained such a massive following in a matter of months is that they touch a cord with our childhood. The use of daily incidents, situations, brands, shows and other icons of the late 80's and early 90's and presenting them as hilarious adventures of two lovable characters was a stroke of genius which instantly hit its target audience. Most of the comments on these strips by followers gloat over the fact that how much they can identify with these situation or characters, how the exact same thing happened with them in their childhood, and their astonishment on the fact that others went through the exact same experiences. The references vary from obviously common phenomena of that era, such as iconic Doordarshan shows and adjusting the TV antennas to get clear reception and 8 bit games like contra (things today's generation will have no clue about), to some which even surprised me like being asked to rush out and get snacks when guests come over, last ki choti wali roti, the ladoos handed out in assembly during Independence day celebrations in school and so on. All of them are so unique and authentic to that era that you can't help but smile and reminisce. Though the kids of that era did not swear as explicitly like the characters of garbage bin (as far as I know), maybe that's an addition to help the modern youth connect. 

According to me, what draws the young, or rather newly adult individuals such as myself, to this strip is our inherent tendency of wanting to escape the troublesome present and worrisome future, and revisit the simpler, happier days of our childhood. Now this may just be me, but I would like to think of it as a wider phenomenon. When life becomes too much to handle, we all tend to seek comfort in the past. A past devoid of responsibilities, one where our actions did not bear consequences - well they did, but the worst was being closed in the dark bathroom or a slap. We knew whatever trouble we got into, our parents would be there to get us out of it. They were there to take care of us. Cut to the present, where the tables have turned.and where we are the grown ups. Our actions, each of our choices, bear major consequences which decide the course of our lives, as well as of those around us. We assume the role of caretakers, rather than the receivers. Its something probably every human being goes through, but while some may never even realize it, others may have a seamless transition. Some might be forced to grow up earlier than their time by circumstances, others because of their natural tendency. But for all of us, at least once in a while, that moment comes when we wish for the security blanket of childhood. As the famous ghazal goes,

"Yeh Daulat Bhi Le Lo,
Yeh Shaurat Bhi Le Lo,
Bhale Cheen Lo Mujhse Se Meri Jawani,
Magar Mujhko Lauta Do
Bachpan Ka Sawan.....
Wo Kagaz Ki Kashti....
Wo Baarish Ka Paani..." 

( loosely translated as "take away my youth and money and fame, but please give me back my childhood"). I guess one eventually learns how to be an adult, how to fend for yourself, how to keep going on forward when there is no one behind to catch you, and how to make lemonade from all those lemons life throws at you.  Ultimately, the onus is on us, whether to use the free-of-cares childhood as an occasional refuge from the harsh realities of life and reclaim our past for a while, or be an escapist, permanently settle down there and refuse to grow up, and live! Because isn't that what life is all about? Constantly growing up (read maturing). But just for now, all my heart is singing is "hum bhi agar, bachche hote...... " !

P.S. - I sincerely apologize if the excessive cheesiness in some portions of this piece made you cringe or gag. 

     

The Indian Olympic Story

The first week of the 2012 London Olympics fortnight is over, and India has already equaled its best showing of 3 medals at the 2008 games. It was widely speculated that this would be the groundbreaking year for Indian sports, with predictions going up to as many as 10 medals. While that might look out of reach now, with medal hopes in archery, tennis and some shooting events dashed, India can still hope to look forward to adding to the tally of 3 with medal hopes still alive in boxing, wrestling, and shooting. A couple of heartbreaks in the boxing ring with unfair decision against Sumit Sangwan and Vikas krishan's win being reversed did mar the Indian party, so did the failure of some sure shot medal hopes in shooting. However, its been a fabulous outing already so far, with historic showing in badminton (Saina's bronze and Kashyap's quarterfinal showing), Irfan Thodi bettering the 20 Km walk national record by more than 2 minutes even as I write this piece and finishing 10th overall, a fantastic showing for Indian athletics.

It has been heartening to see athletes performing their best at the grandest stage a sportsman can hope for, as in the case of Kashyap, Thodi, the rowers, boxer Devender (who is looking good for a medal). Some of them might not be among the medals yet, but its a massive accomplishment if you are achieving your personal bests at the Olympics when faced with the best quality opposition from around the world. That is all one can really expect and hope to do. And especially if you are an Indian athlete, this achievement assumes epic proportions. The usual table toppers, USA, China, Australia have well established sporting infrastructure. Athletes are manufactured and trained in state-sponsored programs. All they do is train and achieve perfection. A Michael Phelps has more medals individually in 3 Olympics than India has to its name in its entire Olympic history. That is why even a qualification for the finals of an event, or finishing among the top 10 is a great achievement for an Indian sportsperson, and winning a medal is phenomenal. A Sania Mirza or Saina Nehwal, an Abhinav Bindra or Mary Kom, a Vijender or a Deepika Kumari do not receive the kind of state support a Chinese or American athlete does. They have to rely on their parents, who move from Haryana to Hyderabad, pour their lives' earnings in their training, take them for training on a scooter 25 km everyday, massage their sore limb and backs, sweat it out with them on the courts, fly them across the globe to participate in ITF tournaments and basically dedicate their lives for their wards' moment of glory.

Things are changing, billions of rupees were evidently invested in training for these Olympics by the government, sponsors are taking interest, infrastructure is improving thanks to events like the Delhi Commonwealth games. But these efforts have just polished the sheen for these athletes, and have just started. The foundations were laid by the dedication and unflinching commitment of these athletes who are now doing us proud. And possibly what makes it all worth it, is the fact that on a day when India clinched a ODI cricket series against arch-rivals Sri Lanka 4-1, the news channels and Indian population were reveling in Saina Olympic glory, and half hour specials were being watched on India's day at the Olympics, with not even a passing mention of the cricket series win, pother than the blinking blob at the bottom of the screen. Slowly, but surely we might be getting there, and as Krishna Poonia takes the field in the women's discus throw finals right now, India's sporting tradition may have also taken a flying start like her discus.   

Random Musings

One of the articles in today's The Hindu was titled "Mamta gets Pranab's letter seeking support". My instant reaction to this was "So what!?", as I am sure it would be for most people. Really, who cares about the presidential elections!? They did hog as much limelight in the last few weeks as they could, but now that its clear that Pranab dada is going to be the next "head" of the country, P.A. Sangma's valiant efforts being futile, does it makes sense for an esteemed publication to carry such a useless piece of junk on its front page? Personally, I feel it doesn't even merit a place in the classifieds. Many stories buried in the centre folds merit that place. Why would it be essential for us to know how the UPA is inflating Mamta didi's ego? Time and again I wonder if our media has got its priorities right. It took three months for the news about the African student beaten inhumanely in Punjab to make it to the mainstream media.

Talking about hogging the limelight, the shameful Guwahati molestation case has captured the nation's attention in the last few days. Nothing new or more can be said or discussed about it than already has been. Here again the television news channel displayed tremendous insensitivity by replaying the video of the incident over and over and over again, with poor attempts to conceal the victim. They claim that the aim is to highlight the offenders, which could easily have been done by just showing their faces repeatedly, instead of playing the incident's video again and again to cater to voyeuristic tendencies of the audience. But what I have been wondering is that while everyone worth his or her weight in salt, from politicians to members of Women's Commission and other NGOs and activists, Police officials and even Mahesh Bhatt, has discussed the issue on national television till the cows come home, I wonder has any thought been given to the victim? Justifiable angst and anger has been stirred in the masses against the offenders, but I just hope someone has bothered to help the victim through this trauma. I am not sure if adequate mechanism or protocol exists in our country to help victims of of such traumatic crimes. I wonder if the victim has received any post trauma rehabilitation, counselling to deal with the experience and repair the emotional and mental damage following such a harrowing episode.

Tennis the Menace!

The only sport that I follow religiously, almost to the point of obsession, is tennis. I have been hooked ever since I saw a 16 year old Martina Hingis win Wimbledon in 1997. From Hingis to Ferrero to Henin, I have always been fascinated with certain individual players at a given point of time. Ever since Sania Mirza burst on the scene in 2005, starting the year at 150 odd in the rankings and ending it in the top 30, my interest in Indian tennis spiked. So come 2012 Olympics, and I was excited for Indian medal prospects in tennis at London. Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupati, Rohan Bopanna and Sania all had stupendous 12 months in doubles, and chances of a medal looked bright, especially in mixed doubles with Bhupati-Mirza at the helm. Bhupati-Bopanna pairing up for men's doubles seemed a foregone conclusion to me, as the two were playing together since the beginning of the year, and Bopanna had broken his highly successful partnership with Aisam from Pakistan to prepare for the Olympics with Bhupati. So it was a terrible shock when last week AITA announced Paes-Bhupati as their chosen pair, and thus fielding only one team when India was eligible for two.

As the week long drama continued, I was totally against everything the AITA was proposing. Pairing Bhupati and Paes who have failed on previous attempts, and have not played with each other in a while, and most importantly, have no trust and camaraderie between them, seemed preposterous. As did denying Bopanna a spot, who is ranked higher than Bhupati, and was the only one who sacrificed personal interest on the ATP tour for the sake of the Olympics.But as the week rolled on, things began to get murkier. The absolute refusal by Bhpuati and Bopanna to team up with Paes seemed more like a spoiled kid's tantrums to get what he wants. Details of the spat and confidential communication was leaked to the media, fathers of both Paes and Bhupati hopped from one channel to another defending their sons' decisions respectively. Paes, who till now had agreed to play with anyone, was encouraged by AITA's backing and refused to play with a lower ranked player, demanding the right to choose his partner by virtue of being the world no. 7, and highest ranked Indian. Slowly my opinion started aligning with that of the AITA's. Pairing Paes, who has been in great form this year, winning the Australian Open doubles, with someone ranked outside the top 200, with whom he has never played before does seem totally unfair and illogical, as there would be no realistic chances of winning a medal. Meanwhile, Bhupati and Paes, with years of experience behind them, could just rise to the occasion if they could overcome all the pettiness. Also, Bhupati and Bopanna have not performed exceptionally on the big stage together, even if showing flashes of brilliance. As such, sending a single team with reasonable chances seemed more palusible and in the interest of the nation than ending two under prerpared teams.

However, objectively looking at the situation, Bhupati-Bopanna's request was also not that beyond reason. But the fact that it was put forth as a demand with a threat of pullout, rather than request, was what made it seem irresponsible. Clearly there could have been no winners. The AITA has to shoulder the blame, as they were aware of the players' situations since the beginning of the year. Paes and Bhupati who paired last year with moderate success with an eye on the Olympics, split again at the year end and made it clear that they couldn't play together anymore. Immediately, Bopanna and Bhupati teamed up. Deliberations should have started much in advance by AITA, and not a week before the deadline to submit names to ITF. Now that AITA has bowed down to Bhupati and Bopanna, they do risk losing the country's best player - incidentally the one who was responsible for India's first individual Olympic medal post independance. The bait they have thrown him is promising him a mixed doubles spot with Sania. But the problem here is clear, as for one, her wildcard is not confirmed, and there may not be any mixed doubles entry from India at all, and two, Sania is playing regularly at slams with Bhupati and has just recently won the French Open with him. So basically we will end up with three teams which will not be our best possible representation. 

One only hopes that Bopanna and Bhupati live up to their premise, and vindicate their stand with a brilliant performance at the Olympics. And if Sania does receive a wildcard, she should enter the upcoming Wimbledon (also the venue for the Olympics tennis event) mixed doubles with Paes instead of Bhupati, to have some big match practice as a team if they are to be paired together. All said and done, where it should have been love all, things are still stuck in at a deuce, and Indian tennis may be down the game, set and match!

Happiness Lies in Sore Legs

From health issues to total confusion and chaos on the career front, the last couple of years haven't exactly been a cakewalk for me. Compared to them, all that cribbing about my life at Pondicherry University (PU) in the initial posts of this blog seem frivolous. Though these issues are far from being sorted out, I have at least learned to live with them, if not just as yet figured out a way to get rid of them. However, last week I did take a small but significant step towards taking control over my life - another attempt at reclamation of my life from the all pervading chaos, most of which is self created.

It is often said that life and all its shenanigans are much easier to deal with if we can manage to take out time for ourselves, and do the things we really enjoy. Though in my case, it wasn't as much a question of taking out time, as it was of getting off my butt and stop being lazy. My first attempt of doing so was when I started this blog, which after showing initial promise, has been dying a slow death lately.

During the two years in hostel at PU I rediscovered my childhood love for dancing, which I had long forgotten. All thanks to the incessant "interaction" sessions with seniors (also known as ragging), and then being part of two rather embarrassing and ill-conceived performances. Apparently, cutting the rug to "Pappu can't dance saala!" (Irony #101) in hostel rooms and labs for nearly 2 months was the trigger needed to reignite my love for dancing. I noticed that I was the happiest when I was dancing. It was literally, a case of "dancing the blues away" for me. So ever since I came back to Delhi, I vowed to take up dancing - i.e. join dance classes. This was mid-2010. Nearly two years down the line, that plan remained a permanent fixture on my countless to-do lists. Many Cul-de-sac plans ensued. I even found quite a few friends who shared this interest, and were willing to give me company in this endeavour. This was crucial for me, as finding a partner for an activity serves as a regulator to ensure that you go through with it. In a rare departure from my usual self, I even showed initiative in compiling a list of dance schools and academies, their contacts, class timings etc. But that's where it ended, cause I never did use any of those contact ids. Nor did my "regulators".

However as they say, nothing happens before its time. Of course, it may be total Bull, and a easy way out for lazy slouches. But it did kind of work that way this time around. Fate, being in the right place at the right time, and one of those supposed-to-be-regulator friends got together and an opportunity landed in my lap to join a jazz workshop being conducted by choreographer Ashley Lobo's dance academy, The Danceworx, literally a day before it was to begin. That might have been a crucial factor, as my ever-doubtful brain didn't get much time to think of excuses for me to shirk and back out. I agreed, managed to stifle the doubts and dozen of reasons that came up for me NOT to join the workshop, and showed up on the fateful Sunday to indulge in the activity that probably elicits my biggest endorphin-rush. And needless to say, I have been reveling in the pure bliss caused by extremely sore legs since then. A six-week workshop with one LONG class a week, culminating in a public performance, may not be enough to satiate my senses, but at least its a beginning. Plus now I don't have to defend the ever-growing share of upbeat, dance tracks in my music collection to my mother, which had really begun to puzzle and bother her off late!

So as I try to bust a move every Sunday, I realize to my utter dismay that I am no Chris Brown or Justin Timberlake as I would picture myself in my head while dancing. Getting down and jiggying with it on the dance floor to a DJ at a party, and coordinating your feet and hands to counts of 8 and uptempo music in front of a mirror and professional dancers are entirely different ball games. However, I am relishing the challenge and the journey from being the apparent star on the dance floor (in my head, that is) to the guy with two left feet who can't get a simple routine down. But I am sure this would be a real help in letting go of some inhibitions and loosening up a bit, not to mention providing the much needed physical exercise to my sedentary ass. Just hope that I would be motivated enough to continue beyond this workshop and take up regular classes. But till then I have these 6 weeks, aur yeh 6 hafte mujhse koi nahi cheen sakta! So, just Turn Up The Music, cause I am gonna Dance Again!

"Always remember, you'll live, you'll love .... you'll dance again"