The contrarian Babu is almost always a misfit in polite society. Life
in the bureaucracy is getting increasingly difficult. Accountability grows,
discretion reduces and one is always exposed to public scrutiny. In a world
full of worshippers of First world ways and success, it is hard to strike a
jarring note. When I talked about misdirected policies to invite FDI in
education in this blog, many of my good friends chided me. They call me a
commie, a medievalist and what not. What rankles most is when they accuse me of
having acquired a foreign degree for myself and is now arguing against letting
other countrymen from getting one. I had also written about how foolish it is
to expect those who clear IIM/IIT entrance exams to fund their education by
loans. Recently two of my colleagues(including my Office peon who sent his son
to Engineering, paying a modest amount as capitation fee in a second rung
college) have failed to get education loans from State Bank despite being
government servants with steady income streams. Proves my point, I suppose..
My reasons for opposing FDI in multi-brand retail are similar. In
the real world, none of the arguments for it hold water. It is the lazy Babu’s
fancy solution to show growth in numbers. Some standard arguments for apologists
of the proposal are- it would help to channelize investments to establish
cold chains, it would beget fair price for farmers, it helps disintermediation
of markets and it helps employment generation. I see it more as a failure of
administration. If we can send rockets and missiles, can’t we set up cold
chains? If we can set up science labs, IITs and IIMs, can’t we set up
institutions that facilitate access for farmers to markets and slash the role
of intermediaries? Employment generation is the most specious of all arguments.
While in Australia, I realized that mostly available jobs for
students were that of checkout counter staff in supermarkets. Students would be
paid 8-10 dollars per hour. The other alternative is to get into stacking
inventory or packaging. Slowly these jobs were also vanishing. In big city
markets, billing was being automated to such an extent that one could dump a
bag full of purchases into a huge enclosure and the total bill amount would be
displayed. One could then proceed to pay with credit cards. In other words, big
retailers, while thirsting to grow, do not want to employ humans. Employing
humans is a problem as the violence in Maruti plant in Manesar has shown. For a
country with so much entrepreneurial energy and huge reservoir of manpower,
asking Walmart to set up shop is like a huge admission of failure of
governance. It exposes our faulty vision and lack of imagination. Soon teeming
millions dependent on farm incomes or small retail shops will move to checkout counters
of Walmart and from there they would vanish one day, unsung….un-mourned.
******
When Metallica played in Bangalore, I was there with my son.
The huge towers of speakers were very close, from where every
clash of cymbal, every roll of drum and every thrum of the lead or bass guitar
was emanating with deep unexplored depths. If one suffered from minor heart
ailments, one particularly sustained roll of drums could dispatch you to early
death. The song Nothing else matters sent the crowd into raptures. It was a
slushy day and the ground was wet. As I came out of the concert, I realized
that except for the band members of Metallica, none were in my age group. We
made an odd combination. The entire crowd was in the twenties and
thirties. My son is 17 and I am 49. As for Chathu, he hadn’t progressed to
imbibing beer and letting his hair down. So he was saddled with his humorless
father. One realizes slowly what embarrassment one turns into in old age
*********
I read “Beyond the lines”by Kuldip Nayar. It is an easy read,
which gives interesting insights into several important phases of the nation’s
history. A bit pompous in patches, the writer is wont to name-drop
occasionally. For instance, the Press Officer to Minister would not have as much
access to the Minister these days. When the writer talk of his proximity to
Shastri or Pant, it is hard to believe it- especially since yours truly has
worked in the silly building called South Block. Nevertheless he married well (A
Governor’s daughter, no less), developed great connections and went to jail
during emergency. But what I found heartrending was his nostalgia of undivided
India. As a Pakistan buff, I thought Kuldip Nayar’s peace constituency is
shrinking in this country. We have to live with the ghosts of the past. When I
read the Dawn (Pakistani newspaper), I realize how much the ordinary citizens
of that country cherish the shared past.
It is only with peace that both countries can get down to the business
of development. Instead of lighting candles at Wagah, I would like to hear the
youth of India and Pakistan play and sing Bob Dylan’s Blowing in the wind at
Wagah one day.
I also read “Dividing
Lines by K N Raghavan- a book on the China war recommended by an acquaintance. The
book is kind of a ready reckoner of the China war of 1962. It is neatly
organized into the buildup, the war itself and the various perspectives around
what caused it and how it panned out. It was amusing to learn that the author
is a fellow bureaucrat one batch junior to self and the Missus from the Civil
services- a medical doctor and a customs Official. I wonder where he got the
time to write a book. It must have taken tremendous self-discipline. I had read
most of the stuff he relied on to write this book. But it takes a lot of
thought and research to neatly put it into a book. Hats off to K N Raghavan!!
I also read two Malayalam
books. Both came heavily recommended. One was by Subash Chandran- (Introduction
to man- Manushyanu oru Aamukham) and Benyamin (Goat Life- Aadujeevitham). Both
are young authors. I was impressed by the confident handling of language of
Subash Chandran, his ability to shrink the whole sweep and magnitude of several
ordinary lives into a tightly written tale, the characters leaving a lasting
impression on the reader’s mind. Benyamin tells a touching tale- of a Malayali
who landed in the Gulf and ends up being a shepherd, ruthlessly exploited and
tortured. The tale brings tears to one’s eyes. It is a story straight from the
heart. Both these young, confident
writers had one thing in common. They do not follow any method of world-prize
winning literature. I see a great future for these writers. That they are at
least ten years younger than me gives great hope about the future of Malayalam
literature.
********
The sedate Bureaucrat is usually full of self importance- for he
is the Master of all he surveys... Along comes the odd event that exposes him as
the straw man; full of flaws and it embarrasses him terribly. Failures ought to
be remembered, for they contain valuable lessons in them. Embarrassments are
best forgotten. When I am confronted by failures in the workplace, I want to
throw it all away, retire to my village, sit under a tree and read books. When
I am confronted by embarrassments on the personal front, I want to kick myself
to death. When life is on a roll, it helps to remember one’s embarrassments and
failures and laugh at oneself. When the chips are down, you can always draw
solace from the fact that in the end, you are nobody. As the book of Job in the
Bible says, you came unto earth with nothing; you go from here with nothing…-
No property, no gadgets, no shares and debentures; only a handful of
experiences; of joy, sorrow, heartbreaks, fleeting jealousies and oceans of love....
