The Forgotten Indians

In the movie “The General’s Daughter,” the character played by James Woods asks John Travolta: “What’s worse than rape?” and continues “When you find that out, you’ll know everything.”

Of all the ineptitude, corruption, bigotry, racism, and blatant disregard for duty found in the Indian administration, that which is found in the Indian Foreign Service, in India’s foreign policy, and the way certain Indians are treated abroad by other people and by their government pisses me off the most. I know I have mentioned the Indian Foreign service here and its members will probably have something to say. That they have taken such and such steps and that they have done so much for Indians abroad. But it isn’t what they have or they have not done that pisses me off, it is their attitude: cavalier and uncaring. I am speaking in general terms.

I was trying to look for how much money Indian labourers in the Gulf send back home. I had heard that the amount that India received from expats totaled $27 billion annually. I was skeptical, but I was wrong, the World Bank figures puts this amount at $30 billion. What I did find regarding the UAE was that 45% of its labour force is Indian. There must be a lot of money getting back even though they earn hardly anything. The only reason I wanted to do this was to try and convey that when a section of your population is helping to fill up your foreign exchange reserve you are expected to do something for them in return. Suddenly I realize that this should not be important at all, i.e., that the question of money does not arise.

I was in Dubai a few years back for a few days. But I hated the place. Most people who go there like it; I did not. The entire nation seemed to be running on borrowed human capital. The top jobs were with the goras, the government jobs went to the Arabs (naturally), the presentable jobs were mostly with chinks and philipinos, and the menial lobour jobs fell to the dime a dozen Indians.

I find it easier to put across my ideas through my experiences and those of others. I met a young man who used to work for my dad in Mumbai/Bombay there. He had gone there to be a tailor. He was instead employed in road construction. He showed me his callused hands and he cried. He wanted to get out. He could not take it anymore. He said he was better off in India amongst his people. I tried to help out, but couldn’t. He got back finally, but only after having slogged for another year and a half. His passport was with his employer. He has not returned to Dubai and never will; I doubt he will leave India again. This is just one person. But this is what thousands of Indians have to put up with.

I remember reading a few months back of a labour uprising in the UAE. Secretly I fantasized that it would spread, that the Indians would rise, possibly with other migrants, and throw the bloody Arabs into the sea; practically it would never happen. The Arabs are the most racist people on earth (generally speaking). The only thing that cowers them is white skin. They wag their tails in front of it. They are nothing but the animals they despise the most: dogs.

I wanted this post to be about the labourers in Dubai, about how they live cramped eight in one room, of what they eat (some laboureres eat food that goes bad because of the intense heat), of their desperation (you can only realize this desperation if you have faced it), and of what they got from their government. India has done nothing for them. Their lot remains the same. Their cause a lost one. And whatever cosmetic steps the Indian government has taken or might have taken have made no difference on the ground. Other governments have the same apathetic attitude towards their citizens in the gulf. But why should I compare or console myself on this point?

They, the Indian labourers, have been raped by the Arabs, and they have their answer. What can be worse than rape?  - Betrayal!

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Tick, tick, tick…

Since I’ve commented on so many issues, I wanted to keep quiet for some time. But I’ll say something here and keep quiet, for some time at least. There was a time I wanted to join the army, I guess I would have, but my parents were against it…and I guess I did not follow it through. I like the Indian army; it has always shied away from politics, which in India is an incredible feat. Imagine the temptation of having so much power and staying away. There were times when it seemed that India was in a mess, but it always stayed away.

It does not anger or surprise me that certain individuals from the army have allegedly resorted to indulge themselves in these recent “explosive” events. For years now, India has been fighting an Islamic insurgency in Kashmir. In the recent past, Muslim terrorists, all over India, and not just in Kashmir, have chosen to use bombs as a way to redress their “wrongs” (I was not wronged in any way). Mismanagement by our government has led to all of this, but maybe not entirely. I remember reading about how victims in Gujarat had trials where their lawyers, the lawyers of the opposition, and the judges were all biased against them. Their reaction also did not surprise me. When Muslims reacted by resorting to terrorism and the government adopted double standards and went soft on certain terrorists these people in the army were probably disillusioned, just as the Muslims had been, and resorted to replying in the same language. And, in a way, a dangerous cycle was established. Evil begets evil.

My uncle is a mathematics professor at a Government school—an army school. He had the chance to immigrate but he prefers living in India. Teachers, especially math professors, are in great demand. Anyhow, a field trip was organized. Kids were taken to a military base, part of the trip involved observing items that were recovered from slain militants. They contained things like the Quran, prayer beads, head scarves with Islamic lettering on them etc etc etc. The sentry had asked him not to enter as he, being a Muslim, would be disturbed. What will get imbedded into the psyche of these kids? Nothing will change that. It’s very sad.

We do not live in a shell; everything in this world is connected. The Muslims need to reform soon, but I don’t see it happening ever. It’s easier to spoil something than to fix it. The radicalization of large sections of Muslims that started during the 70s has spread; a cancer that seems to have no end in sight. What were once a colorful people have become nothing more than shades of black and white? How very sad. Recently, I was watching a so called prominent and educated Islamic scholar on TV, a very famous Indian one. Somebody from the audience asked him about the Buddhas of Bamiyan (Mind you they were not the only things destroyed. The population of Bamiyan, which belonged to another sect, was decimated; their women sold in the bazaars of Peshawar). The person asked was it right of the Taliban to destroy the Buddhas? Our learned man replies that they were educating the disbelievers. I changed the channel; this one seemed devoid of common sense, let alone deep religious principles.

I see a large number of Muslims enrolling into religious schools. It’s the same everywhere; even Hindus are getting very religious. But how long will anyone be tolerant? We have family friends who shifted into a society. They were telling us of how, since they now outnumber the Hindus, from this year onwards they started slaughtering goats in their compound. I don’t know what to say, I try and avoid telling people about such incidents. I went to a meat market once and saw a pig being slaughtered. I couldn’t touch halal meat for a week, it sickened me. I can only imagine what a vegetarian feels, one compelled by faith. I am no longer surprised when Muslims are not allowed flats in certain societies.

I too have very little hope. My only hope is that Hindus in India somehow remember that not all Indian Muslims are the same. My grandfather told me of this incident from his childhood. There were two processions in his home town—one of Holi, the other Mohorram. They were about to pass a square at the same time, there could have been a problem but the Hindus came forward and said “Ours is a happy festival, the Muslims are mourning, let them pass.”

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What’s Wrong With Our Police?

I have had this in mind since a long time but never got the time to actually write about it, till today when I read Arundati Roy’s interview with Karan Thapar on The Devil’s Advocate . On the outset let me state one thing: I don’t believe that the Jamia Nagar encounter, where a highly decorated police officer met with an unfortunate end, was staged. It deeply saddens me that someone like Arundati Roy is out to prove that it was. Has our bureaucratic system become so corrupt that it has now started killing it’s own and that too a President’s gallantry award winning officer? I believe it’s not reached that low, for the sake of the police force and mine.

According to her maybe the right way to interrogate and question the suspects till convicted is by providing them with Paneer Tikkas, Scotch and Wills. Certainly interrogating them in the manner that is done today is in-human and against human rights. How dare the police use such methods to interrogate people suspected of bombing innocent civilians? It is absolutely against human rights to interrogate people who are suspected of brutally killing humans.

Karan Thapar repeatedly told her that her problem is that she doesn’t trust the police force, she said she doesn’t. Do I? Partly yes, but I certainly don’t buy that they are sold out to an extent of killing their own. Why don’t I fully trust the police? Well, for their inability to solve crimes. Case in point, Aarushi murder case; Soumya Vishwanathan murder case and God knows how many more such small & big cases are lying unsolved. Our police is clueless about these crimes. Abso-friggin’-lutely clueless.

Even Delhi chief minister Ms. Shiela Dixit accepts this and has said that being out late at night is "adventurous". What she really meant was that we people should realize that our police force is not capable (for whatever reason) to protect us, hence it is better that we should not go out of our homes; but Ms. Shiela Dixit will not fix the problems of the police force. However, thank you Ms. Dixit for that word-twisted piece of advise. It’s amazing how politicians play with words, isn’t it?

The Aarushi murder case was nothing less than a Mukesh Bhatt flick. It was sensational media at it’s best and I don’t blame them. They were doing their job - increasing their TRPs and bringing you news in way you would sit and watch. The NCR is unfortunately plagued with anti-social activities, from the kidnapping to murder to theft, all possible forms of crimes have been committed there. National Capital of India or National Capital of Crime? Maybe both. Sad but true.

This is scary at 2 levels:

1. Our police is inefficient beyond acceptable levels.
2. Our politicians aware of this fact are doing nothing.

What disturbs me is that nothing is being done to change the situation. At least the police force should question their morals and behave differently, under the table commissions is one thing but not being able to solve crimes and do their job is something totally different. Whether Arundati Roy is right or wrong, one thing for sure that there is something horribly wrong with the public protection system. The Delhi police maybe is in the news but that does not mean the rest are top-notch. Take Bombay for example, MNS runs riots as and when they deam fit. Alleged MNS workers beat up Railway recruitment exam candidates some will be taken into custody and then let off with nothing following this. Joint Commissioner tried to defy Raj Thackeray and got just one statement in reply - give up your uniform and come out in public; unlike Bollywood films where the hero would go in a pair of vest to the politician’s house and beat living crap out of the bad guys our poor old chap had to shut up.

Arundati Roy & I would not have been questioning the police if they had been doing their job a lot better than what they are doing currently. It’s the perception that results suspicion.

Unlike what Arundati Roy feels that the collusion between media and police is what is dangerous, it is the intrusion of politicians in policing that is dangerous and that is what angers me.

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The Aggressive Indian

There comes a time in all walks of life, in all situations, where people suddenly realise that the ways of the past, the ‘methods of our forefathers’, have to be retired. Perhaps it is the ever growing ‘western influence’ or the ‘changing cultural mindset’. Nonetheless, the time has now come for the Youth to show some action.

It should be kept in mind that brutal violence is not an option. It will only result in severe punishment such as jail time or separation from society. However, Controlled, calculated rigidity is what will reap results.

To illustrate which actions are useful and which useless, let us consider for example the case where a man shot his neighbour over a parking space in a ‘posh Delhi colony’. Instead of use of a gun, a number of alternate methods could have been put to use:

a) He could have gone on hunger strike.

b) Thrown away his keys, and refused to ever drive again.

c) Woven A LOT of cloth, and buried the car where it stood.

d) Convinced all his neighbours that they’re messengers from God, and stage an uprising.

e) Got women and children out of their homes to help him silently protest.

spectacular ways to make a big fool of himself.

In another case, consider the ’sealing drive’, when the Delhi Municipal Corporation went around closing shops in Delhi. Let us examine alternate ways shop owners could have acted:

1) Gone on hunger strike (which I think they did).

2) Weave a humungous sheet, and cover the mall… to pretend it was never really there.

3) Embark on a ‘Fancy Fashion’ March, and come up with a way to show that they don’t need lousy land from the government.

4) Get hold of the lock, cloth, and seal; seal everything, including their mouths- so as to confuse authorities about the main task at hand.

5) Boycott all the shops being sealed, to show that ‘we didn’t need them anywayyyy, ha!’

Wonderful ways to not achieve anything.

People need to see that Gandhian principles and Munnabhai methods no longer have any say in matters. The fault is not entirely of the means themselves, but because of the ever adapting aggressive society. Neither will banking on the other end of the spectrum- pick up a gun and let all hell loose achieve anything (though it may seem otherwise).

It is said that mimicking the behaviour of your opponent will lead any battle your way. Meeting aggression with aggression, passiveness with passiveness, etc. In the increasingly aggressive society today, the old notion does come back to being~ survival of the fittest.

Do you disagree with me? I’m six foot three, have learned tae-kwon-do, and have a whole lotta pent up frustration over my exams. Just thought I’d let you know.

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The Blood sucker, Financial Ignorance.

Why wasn’t I taught about MONEY, how I should be spending it investing it or making any sense out of it. What annoys me is that I’ve been ignorant about it in school, my college life or even while I’ve been working for organizations. What kind of wisdom have I acquired on the salary that I’ve been earning and saving in my bank account? I am angry and frustrated; my education degree did not teach me how to manage my money. Ideally it is should have started from home, the primary source, my parents. But that hasn’t happened.

 All of a sudden the clock strikes noon, and it has come to my realisation, with my eyes swirling about and while getting lost into wonder asked my self a question. “Why do the rich get richer and why I am where I am?” I earn and spend and the cycle goes on. The attitude sucks overall in the society that I’ve been in, expenses mounting over. The difference between my best friend and I is that my parents asked me to find a good job to get into a good company while my friend was told by her parents to study well so that she could buy a company.

 A series of questions kept popping into my head, I kept answering them all, quick came the answers, all of which lead into sheer ignorance, Abra Kadabra and then next one popped up. Well have I spotted enough of opportunities to direct my monies or get into additional streams of income? I tire out working in the job that I am in and then there is my stinking attitude which comes out of the feeling of oppression, “I’ll never be rich”. The chains of bondage are here to squeeze me tighter until I can breathe no more.

 Next question,” What is my financial net worth?” Dishoom…Bang it hits…I am supposed to be a commerce graduate. I’m not aware, pops the answer.

 Next question,”What comes to mind, when I think of Finance?” Ahhhh…the monster, Income tax, and to be honest, I know scrap about it. The one thing I know about it is that it is sucking the blood out of me…I keep asking my self in regards to the same, “Is it necessary to pay tax at all? Darn it, some wise crack told me, Yeah it is.

 I need to get my money act right, is what I have decided. A choice is what I’ve had to make…Hmmm and I know the power of choice, it could now make or break, I.

 I dare to ask my self one last question “How many “I’s” are there in my treasured country?” hmmmm.

 I’m a commoner, here to spread light :) Sunshine.

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Take a walk on the wild side

Indians are not known for their risk-taking behavior. We are generally thought to be cautious, plodding and safe. But any foreigner (or Indian) has only to look to our streets to see the wild side of the true Indian.

In most other parts of the world, crossing a busy Indian street is considered a brave feat. And so it is. We dodge megaton buses and trucks, leap out of the way of speeding cars, smartly step around uncountable bikes and bicycles, and navigate our way through sundry animals (buffaloes, cows, goats, chickens, dogs, boars, etc…).

While it is a life-threatening exercise for pedestrians and bike riders, car owners have to be made of a different caliber, i.e., the alert marine. They have to constantly keep an eye out for darting children, animals and people, vehicles that suddenly cut across their path, vehicles that suddenly stop dead in front of them, vehicles that come out of invisible side streets, and pretty much any and all movement around them.

Perhaps the most courageous breed of us all is the bike rider. Formula one MotoGP riders could not compete with our fine fellows. A sidewalk? A puddle? A bus? These aren’t even obstacles worthy of their skills. They need at least a foot high road divider to consider it a challenge.

But the Indian is made of stern stuff. These things faze us not at all. Pedestrians don’t need to look both ways before crossing the street. They can easily outrun the vehicle bearing down on them at full speed. And if they don’t, then it’ll be the vehicle’s fault, not theirs. Drivers don’t need to slow down when someone is crossing the street. They can easily outrun the person or animal, they just need to step on the gas. In the mean time, why should that always important phone call go unanswered just because we’re driving a car or crossing the street?

Foreigners coming in from orderly city streets are at first bewildered. Other cities throughout the world are just as populated, and many have even more vehicles on the streets. They don’t know that they have rules, and we don’t. Apart from the recent crackdown on drunk drivers, our one and only law for cars is wearing a seatbelt on streets where going at the speed at which seatbelts are even required is but a fantasy. A license is only required because otherwise the police can charge more moolah. Our roads are so flexible that the right of way is on both sides of the street. Europeans, who occasionally struggle when required to switch between driving on the left-hand side and right-hand side, could learn a thing or two from us. As for traffic lights, they’re for wimps, which is why we don’t see many of them on our brave Indian streets. Stopping at the rare traffic light is just a waste of the extremely busy Indian’s time.

So, the next time you hear someone say that Indians are not aggressive enough or are too safe, please direct their attention to the daily heroic deeds that can be seen on any busy city street. They are truly unparalleled.

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Magnificence of the Akshardham Temple

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Why is the Indian so patient - Jet Lite Sucks

Patience, this was the word resounding in my head as I calmly waited for my 11 PM flight from Bangalore to Mumbai. At the Cafe Coffee Day outlet inside the Bangalore terminal, the guy blending the coffee was surprisingly cheerful for this time of the night. Maybe happy his shift was coming to an end. Got to ask CCD management what they do to keep their staff motivated.

I grabbed a cold coffee(without ice) and sat down reflecting upon the happenings of the day, or heck even the night before. I had flown down for a customer meeting to Bangalore. Not that it matters, but the customer was the IT head of a privately held $6 billion manufacturing giant (name withheld for no particular reason), and wearing my Business Development hat, I was selling him a solution he didn’t really need. Needless to say the last few days had been super hectic preparing slide decks and having internal tiff-taffs over what should go in what slide and who should present what. To top it all, I had a 6 AM flight, the night before which I was up till One in the morning watching Matt Damon giving Robert Ludlum fans a reason to kill themselves (and not to die for).

My meeting got over at 2 PM and I immediately got busy with work related stuff and waited for an airport drop at 6:30 PM (My flight was scheduled at 8:40 on Jet Lite, Air Sahara’s new avatar, after Jet Airways took over) I was feeling happy I’d get home by 11, blog till midnight….and then poof!!

Braving the Bangalore traffic, which is not much better than the Mumbai one, I arrived at the airport on schedule at 7:30 PM. Was handed over my boarding pass by an unsmiling attendant who informed me casually that my flight was an hour late. Used to traveling in low cost flights, I took the information in good spirit and proceeded towards a small bookstore looking to pass my time.

About 15 minutes later, my literary endeavor was rudely interrupted by an employee of Jet Lite who informed me that the flight was canceled, due to a technical difficulty. She took my boarding pass from me and to my disbelief, proceeded to rip it into pieces as if eliminating damning evidence. I couldn’t help notice a crooked smile on her face and a little shot of blood (is there such a term?) in her eyes. My imagination maybe. I was told, I would be sent on a Jet airways flight at 9:30. I admit that made me a bit happy, being the Indian I am, like the lunatic rush hour motorist who zips through traffic breaking all rules, saving 10 minutes seemed like heaven to me. I was told that I was to collect my “new” boarding pass at 9 PM.

When I went to collect my pass at 9 PM, I was told there was no more space left in the Jet Airways flight as they were accomodating international passengers first, and I would have to take the 11 PM flight. That’s when my world came crashing down and 2 hours and 20 cigarettes later, I boarded the flight and started writing this article. Sounds frustrating right? Let me point out what all was strange in this episode.

1. There were hardly 15 people waiting with me in front of the counter when the cancellation was announced by Jet Lite. Apparently only 15 people had bought tickets for this particular flight. So maybe the flight getting canceled had less to do with technical and more with commercial viability.

2. I was handed a boarding pass and then denied boarding. Lawsuit candidate? Maybe that’s why the nice lady from Jet Lite ripped it from my hand and tore it to bits?

3. International Passengers - I understand their problem, being in their shoes on many a occasion. They could be waiting to get onto a connected flight and a cancellation / reschedule could make the entire itinerary go haywire. But for heaven’s sake have some concern for the poor domestic traveler (read me) who arrived 1 hr 15 minutes before his departure (uncommon in India, people still have the train mentality)

4. The strangest part was that amongst all this frustration, I was still not angry. I was actually in good spirit (though incredibly tired). Even remember making a joke on “not loosing my sense of humor”. None of my fellow passengers were angry either. Everyone was appeasing the jet Airways lady to give them a pass for the 9:30 flight. I guess maybe Air Deccan had lowered our overall expectations.

Right then it struck me! We were so used to our boasting about how patient and persistent we as a people are that we’ve actually become weak. We’ve started hiding our cowardice behind attributes like “level-headed”, “mature” etc.There is clearly a need to let go of this submissive behavior and move towards a more Assertive behavior. Assertive, not aggressive. My behavior in this case was truly submissive.

Here’s how I could have been more assertive:

1. Know the power you possess: The boarding pass was my authorization to board the flight. It allowed me right to board the flight and only a catastrophic failure with the flight or bad weather could have stopped me. I had the power, but chose not to exercise it, consciously? No. It was my submissive reflex at it’s best when I handed over the pass to the “lady ripper”

2. Challenge the Status Quo: I should have challenged the authenticity of the claim that there was a technical difficulty. I should have asked to speak to the duty manager and demanded an apology if nothing else.

3. Give Feedback and Follow up: I Should have filled out a feedback form. This is my major motivator to write this article. I intend to send an email to the Jet Lite raising my concerns and keep following up till I get a reply. I will read their explanations with an open mind.

Patience and Persistence are great virtues, but without assertiveness they’re useless. Assertiveness is a key ingredient in making strong leaders and that’s what we lack and because we don’t exhibit thoe characteristics ourselves, we don’t choose leaders who possess them

My name is not relevant and I am the Angry Indian

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Indian Youth for Equality - Your online presence sucks

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The Indian is Angry

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