2G Spectrum Fame/Shame Raja and his tribes should not be allowed to grow. Oh God! Are you listening to our Prayers?

Paul Arokyam Raja, one of my MIM students in the 90’s quickly responded to my blog writing last week – on the reminiscence of recent Mahe visit; his command over English, clarity of expression, and emotional warmth have always made me happy and blanketed me with more love.At a time when I was going through emotional and financial turbulence most of them self inflicted, it came as a relief.

The Raja in our title story, recent hero of spectrum fame or shame is not merely reference to one of the mega corruptions of all times but a true representative sample of all our Rajas, not the old Maha Rajas whose privy purses we abolished long ago. But essentially refers to t the power mongering money seeking, new tribe of shameless Rajas, simply devoid of morals, ethics, sense of shame and self respect. This tribe has grown along with the resurgent India, engendered by corporate monopoly . Of course, this is not the first time that we are witness to an era of a fantastic season of scams. Thanks to dramatic climatic change even usual seasons in an year, drastically change and there is some order there with all chaos. But scams and scandals have become an all time phenomena in the era of liberalisatioin, with the exception of a few good opposition leaders and some good souls in the ruling party; no parliamentarian or Legislative assembly gentleman has any moral right to talk about corruption, and downgrade other fellow politicians. I am surprised and shocked at politicians observing, shrinking of the moral universe.This was once sketched by Prabhat Patnaik in his Convocation Address in Asian College of Journalism at Chennai way back in the mid 2000’s . Raja’s leader, an old man who is in the final leg of his life’s journey is so bemused and bewildered by the massive corruption of his close relatives that he has forgotten his sense of proportion and unashamedly invokes the Dalit card or uses some other clever ploy like playing with words or recollecting corruption of the old times to divert attention of the general public. The gentleman thinks and believes that public memory is short and that they will treat this mega corruption as a matter of no consequence for the simple reason that corruption has become a way of life and no culprit has been ever punished !

India is now really a rich country and shining nation for a select few, sorry for so many great politicians, both young and old, big and small i.e., it is enchanting only for those shameless and faceless individuals who are soaked in that dirt and filth of tainted money. Joseph Stieglitz long ago termed privatization as briberization and the way in which corrupt deals are openly taking place in wholesale fashion even before the eyes of the authorities, symbolized by a (Clean!) and notional prime minister, but not enjoying real power is just shocking, puzzling and frustratingly irritating. I don’t understand for how long, the P.M can afford to lose his prestige and risk his reputation carefully built up over a period of time and allow himself to be just bulldozed by his own cabinet colleague. 2G spectrum may be massive scam but it is only a representative case of other scams like housing, common wealth games scandal and so on. The most distressing thing is that for the last so many years, especially in the last two decades, in the name of liberalization and globalization, many individuals and many favored companies have been looting the country and amassing huge fortune, knowing full well that compulsions of coalition politics will not take them to prison, and judiciary will not act that swiftly.

No political party chief in India can say and suggest that his party really practices democracy and that it does not have any illegal or immoral relationship with corporate sector. The track record of the so called national parties is no cleaner. If a serious research is undertaken to compute the quantum of corruption indulged in by the so called leaders of this country right from independence till this date, it will be a mind boggling amount .When will all the accumulated riches –the tainted money, the sinned money will return to the exchequer ? One day it will. The law of the land may act slowly and for many years or decades may not even act at all but one day or the other the youth of India, in collaboration with ordinary masses will completely recover and restore that wealth in distant future.1789 French Revolution and 1917 October Russian revolution are not just dates in history; the collapse of Berlin Wall or demise of communism in Russia and success of authoritarianism in China do not mean, the poor , the downtrodden , the Dalit , the angry women and all those humans who are dispossessed of everything under the sun will just keep quiet, keeping lollypop in their mouth when the leaders loot the nation. Nature will not allow cumulative weakness and gross corruption for ages and centuries. Oh God ! Are you listening to our complaints?

My First Grand daughter steps into life at Five

My dear Akshya,

The signature of Kanchana,

Your mother and my first precious treasure

My first precious grand daughter

In the family tree of Sambandhan

Today you complete the first

Five years of life

The most innocent part of childhood

Somewhat problematic time for Kanchana’s Motherhood

On this occasion, you were

Blessed by grandparents from both sides

And parents of course

Inclusive of Quarter’s aunties and

Their children, big and small,

And most of them are your friends.

You are lucky that way

To have company to play

And also interact with studies.

It appears as if you were born

Only yesterday.

How the time has moved so fast

Your grandfather is also getting old

But feeling young.

It’s time , you and Darshini made me younger.

The initial transitional problems you had

In your arrival to this beautiful planet

Five years ago,

I still vividly remember,

The full cry of your father on that day

And your mother unaware of all the turmoil

Unleashing in all our hearts and minds

You made your grandmother walk

To the corridors of hospital on that day

It was raining in the evening

That day was more crucial,

As we decided to shift you to JIPMER.

For that welcome event

Inevitable outcome

I had to wage a war

With the hospital chief,

A scholar doctor

A great friendly soul

Who was really the author

And anchor for you,

The real Instrumental factor,

For making your

Mother, as mother and

All the blissful experience

That followed thereafter.

Since your arrival,

And Dharshini’s too later

There has been more joyous laughter

Fun and a lot of merry making

At Home, there and here and everywhere.

There are many things I write

About myself, my agony

And also about my daughters.

On this kind of occasion,

Now they will wait until for

Another day.

From high persistent B.P for

More than a month,

Caused by a host of factors

Many of them not worth revisiting

Nor recollecting.

Your grandfather has come a long way

To a stage of semblance of normalcy,

Not that he has attained wisdom

But he will strive to set aside the trivials

You and Priyadarshini, I must

Hold on and grab as a treasure,

A real solace for me.

Talkative nature and laughter of both of you

Will quickly restore my health.

I will write more as the Days pass on

I am sure, you will be one among my fans

To thumb through the pages

Of countless diaries filled with letters

Echoing your black old man’s feelings and perception

About life and society.

Before I close, I wish you all the best

Akshaya, the gift sent from Heaven

To your parents.

English is mine. Emotion is hers and I can’t position her

There is no dearth of materials in sociology, to talk about displaced individuals, affected by factors such as dam and airport construction in the name of modernity and growth for the affluent. The affected people are essentially poor, with less ambition, and very little shades of selfishness.

The idea of displacement of a different kind is also not new to the affluent/ middle class population with ambition and more impulsive desire for upward mobility, both financially and socially. Following is the brief snapshot picture of a girl of 21 years, flying to the U.S with all colorful dreams but only to understand later that life would be devastatingly frustrating sometimes in stark blue and white. Shall we listen to her? Emotion is hers, English is mine. I can’t position her now. That is immaterial to under the real story. “Everything seemed idyllic, till fate slammed into my life like a big bang for the second time. And there I was a single woman thrown out of home with two children. I was living (with) the America dream. But Alas ! A life filled with fame and fortune came to an abrupt end, to a grinding halt, like a bolt from the blue.

“ But I did not meekly submit and surrender, and was determined to fight and prove my worth. I put the past behind and began to concentrate on my passion and just focus on it. Success eluded at first, but I didn’t scamper into sunset. I had it in me to explore experiment and take risks.

There is no abject reverence to tradition. Nor I am on a confrontationist course. Its time to demystify life and make it simpler, less intimidating, make it a soul sibling experience by searching for fresh movement and charm.

Future is all about innovation. One need not be swayed by emotion and or recognition. We can’t change the attitude and thinking process of others. And yet we must attempt to change the lives of people in whatever way we can, reach out, share ideas and motivate the people.

I trust people despite having been hurt by those whom I trusted most. Take life head on and count success in the chosen field.”

It is not just her emotive feelings alone. I have added my own flavor, butter scotch to give hope and courage to all those who are displaced. At present I am also displaced dispossessed and hence I need this tonic for my own peace and harmony.

Long delayed sentimental trip to Mahe materialized last week-II

The flight was delayed at Chennai airport by more than half an hour. I was worried about catching the connecting flight from Bangalore to Calicut by the same Kingfisher Group Airlines. Fortunately, the same flight by which I travelled and which was scheduled to go to Mangalore from Bangalore was redirected towards Calicut fortunately, because of the delay at Chennai airport. Passengers moving towards Calicut were asked to stay back and in less than forty minutes, it took off towards Calicut.

At the airport, People were there to receive and the car travel was pleasant. I engaged myself in a conversation with those two guys by reliving in the past and narrating so many incidents , telling them that the present Home minister of Kerala was my first batch Third Group student, an obedient and polite student really but firmly rooted in Marxist background. On the way we stopped for a while , and tasted the black lemon tea: I enjoyed myself the cool air of the soil; In a matter of two hours , dream was going to come true after a very very long interval- 38 long years. Around 8 Pm in the night, when the vehicle was crossing the road, towards Mahe I could not believe myself, how a sleepy village had drastically changed in such a dramatic fashion .Until we came near the church and some empty ground opposite to it where some meeting was going on, I was not very clear about the topography of the region I travelled thus far . From there it was just a question of nearly 100 meters and a turn to the right, my old Pre- Degree college was standing majestically in the same old state, now really old but converted into some other office purpose.

I asked them to stop the vehicle and got down.I can’t find words to express my emotive feelings stamping in my heart at that precious moment.It was more like falling on the lap of a girl whom you loved once, but the girl now had become an aged lady, but displaying the eternal beauty . I desired to enter the building but unfortunately the gates were locked. I went near the compound wall,touched the name board and folded my hands towards the Lord, sleeping deeply in heavens, amidst the host of galaxies. At long last, the ardent desire to touch the soil and thank the region -my first place of work was fulfilled. But this thrill, fun and academic adventure lasted until I narrated all those glorious past to my board members the very next day, while going round the Dental college, located in a pleasant environment, surrounded by forest like atmosphere.

Stay in the Star Hotel at Telicherry and its rich food were no substitutes for boys and girls whom I taught forty years ago and whose faces, I could not fully recognize now with the passage of time. If only I had come across some erstwhile Mahe students there by happy accident, I could have been more happy. But a week after I met one of my old Mahe students on Pondicherry beach, who is currently working as commissioner of taxes in Mahe. Unfortunately, even one of my Pondicherry students, who is currently working as principal in one of the higher secondary schools there was not there at that time as he had come back to Pondicherry on an official trip But, I had a good sleep after a warm bath and good food , had a morning walk next day , a very fruitful governing body, followed by simple lunch in the canteen - ordinary fish curry cooked with coconut- the one I had tasted forty years ago.

The only consolation during my stay was that one gentleman who joined along with me as Assistant Professor during in the first week of August 1970 and became the principal of the college later in his pre-retirement days , also happened to be a member of the Board. Together we recollected the past and gathered those moments of joy and happiness. The hosts were kind enough to arrange a trip to nearby Cannur and I tasted the pleasant air of the winter there.We didn’t have time to walk over the beautiful long stretch of beach. A young boy, who was brought up in Pondicherry and whose father I happened to know in Tagore Arts College was instrumental in making our trip possible ,as he drove the vehicle. While returning back in the evening near a road side tent like tea shop I tasted a special kind of rice dish, cooked in a sea shell and fried on the stove , called Kallumakkaya. Then it started raining heavily.We reached Telicherry Gokulam hotel before it became night.

While I give an account of my long dreamt Mahe trip I should specifically mention a small encounter with a Dog, while going for a morning walk and also the pleaseant feeling of mingling with some sixty children and school faculty , who were on a one day picnic to Cochin, flying for the first time in the same flight I was travelling, the next day. That will wait for an day for narration. Will that day come?

Long delayed sentimental trip to Mahe materialized last week

Given a chance, at any point of time in life , any one will be happy and thrilled to visit his home town or village, visit child hood friends and also see the primary school or high school he may attended while he was young and simply breathe the earthly soil of the village. In my case, the long cherished dream was to visit the region called Mahe, the western enclave of Pondicherry Union Territory laying on the lap of the west coast, very near Tellicherry. This was the place where I started my academic career as Assistant Professor in a pre- Degree College , which was then stationed in a school building, overlooking the Mahe river from behind and the lovely backwaters/ Mahe river was mingling with the waves of Arabian Sea. It was really a picturesque postcard kind of typical natural Kerala scenery. I joined Mahe college forty years ago ago, on August 6^th 1970, soon after getting my M.A degree from Madras Presidency College.

After serving for two years (1970-72) at Mahe and getting married during the summer vacation, I returned back to Mahe alone in 1972 to pack up my belongings and start for home, not Pondicherry town but only to Karaikal Government Arts College. There I started my second innings, as a college teacher, this time as a married man. At that time I never thought that for the next thirty eight years I was going to be distanced from my first work place - a place which gave me a decent life and security as a college teacher.

My marital life at Karaikal as also the academic ambiance in the college was incredibly wonderful, and that kind of bliss, exuberance and energetic family and academic life, I could never dream later; four years of stay at Gokhule Institute, Pune during late 70’s and early 80’s – one fourth of the period in Pune spent with family consisting of young wife and young kids .This was the most fruitful time academically speaking but I returned back home in 1982 after the extension of fellowhip without the Ph.D degree , as the area chosen for research viz international finance was not only slippery but I was also too naïve and more academically more greedy. This attitude towards perfection and craving for more academic scholarship continues to remain as a stumbling block for my growth. No regrets.

In the last four decades, especially in the last few years I have travelled extensively to many places but Mahe was always missing in the equation of my journey. My heart beat alone knows how much I longed to see that sleepy village then which is of course more active now.

Thanks to more private capital inflows and Govt funds mushroom growth of Shopping complexes had appeared all over the small region which appears different now. For reasons hard to explain or elaborate, I could not take even a single step towards visiting that region ever since I returned from there in 1972. At long last, came an opportunity to visit the place as a member of Governing Body of Mahe Dental College Hospital, in the capacity of the representative of V.C’s nominee.

Like Cheran’s Autograph movie, I had my own excitement and sense of exhilaration to visit the place but unlike the movie for me there was no agenda to see the old boys and girls, as they might be positioned in different places. This does not imply that there was no boy or a girl in my mind . They all belong to past history and many of them I will never see in this birth again. But the feeling of love or infatuation that I had with at least one or two girls was unilateral and also immature.But it was definitely a kind of love at the right age- a finer feeling which age cannot wither away nor customs stale to tell in Shakespear’s language regardless of the fact that I have become grand father.

The desire was always there to see and engage them in an intellectual conversation.My subconscious mind was craving for it- Knowing fully well that it was next to impossible to find them. They might be in the mid fifties now Thanks to the travel agency and student friends ‘ help in my office, the to and fro trip by air was quickly fixed . I found myself in a fantastic mood of imagination,-seeing and smelling the soil, sitting in my office, a sense of the quiet descended at my heart, by thinking about the visit; Then I recollected my first trip to Mahe as a lone traveler in Mangalore mail forty years ago, landing there on a rainy day to join duty at Mahatma Gandhi Government Arts College. The infinite beauty of an enchanting Kerala girl in the compartment-that vivid memory, lingered in my mind; even after forty years the memory fails to evaporate, though the face has been forgotten. Small wonder then, Poet Bharathi also spoke about the company of beautiful young Kerala girls while rowing boat in the moon lit Ganges river, and singing lyrics in sweet Telugu.