Better India

Why Bangalore became Bengaluru?

2006-11-05T19:23:00.000-08:00

Many may be wondering whether the proposed change of name of the City of Bangalore to Bengaluru has anything to do with Numerology. Some say that killing “Brand Bangalore” which is known worldwide and given the tag “Silicon City of India” is a marketing blunder.

Leaving aside the arguments in favour of or against the “Brand”, it appears that there is one other strong reason why there is a ground for calling “Bangalore” as “Bengaluru”. This change though practically painful will serve one purpose ..that every one will notice that Bangalore is no longer Bangalore. Then they will ask why Bangalore had to become Bengaluru?. Then some one will tell them that this is because this is how Bangalore is called in Kannada. Oh! Kannada?..What is it? Is it Kannad which our TV fellows refer? Or is it Karnad?. Then some one will tell them that Kannada is a language spoken by over 50 million people, often not remembered by people in Bangalore and is the official language of a state called Karnataka in South India.

I am sure that this will be a news to many in the world who think that South Indian means “Madarsi” and nothing else.

Thus this urge to preserve self identity for the state is one of the reasons why Bangalore has to give way to Bengaluru.
Let us not dismiss this argument as a chauvinistic argument. Look at the papers today. (Vijaya Karnataka dated 6th November 2006, Bangalore). There is an interesting report which reproduces a copy of a letter written by Mr V.K.Gupta, Under Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, in which he forwards a letter to the Joint Secretary refering to “Belgaum, Maharashtra”. I am not sure if he is imaginging that there is a second city by the same name in Maharashtra other than the one in Karnataka.

Should we interpret this as “Political Mischief” by an official? Or Ignorance about where Belgaum is situated despite the recent notorious publicity generated by some Maharashtra sympathizers who first passed a resolution in the corporation ceding Belgaum to Maharashtra, and hoisted the Maharashtra flag on the Kannada Rajyotsava Day though Karnataka considers Belgaum as its second capital and held an assembly session a few months back.

In such a reality of glorious geographical and historical illiteracy of our Government officials, it is better they are reminded that there is no Belgaum now and what we have is only "Belagavi". Same way, to prevent some other official suddenly realizing that Bangalore is in Tamil Nadu, we better stamp our identity by stating that now there is no "Bangalore"and there is only "Bengaluru", unmistakably a city of Karnataka.

In the mean time, what do we do with people like Mr Gupta?..Send them back to school so that they can study history and geography of India better before they return to their responsible positions in the Government?.. Let us aks Mr Shivaraj Patil, his boss in the Minsitry who must know the difference between Belgaum, Maharashtra and Belgaum Karnataka.
Sumankar

http://www.sumankar.blogspot.com

The Silent Majority in Muslims Need to Act

2006-10-27T01:39:00.000-07:00

Arrest of two Pakistani terrorists in Mysore who had intentions of attacking the Infosys premises highlights the spread of terrorism in India. The incident also indicates that terrorists are now looking at soft targets away from the glare of major cities. Police have also reported that the terrorists have been trained by the Pakistani military.

While reacting on terrorism recently, General Musharaff had commented ...” Do we call LTTE, Hindu Militants?.. Why should we call other terrorists as Muslim terrorists?”. But what many Indians think is that we should perhaps start calling the terrorists as “Pakistani Terrorists” instead because, all the terrorists who attack India are Pakistani trained terrorists. Today even Al Queda head quarters is also situated in Pakistan.

It is strange that USA still respects Pakistan as an ally in fighting against terrorism. Actually USA is itself losing credibility by its Pro-Pakistani stand where as the real situation is that USA is afraid that if it alienates General Musharaff, Pakistan may hand over its nuclear bombs to the terrorist outfits. USA is therefore under a blackmail from Pakistan in this regard.

If either Pakistan or Muslims have objection to their identity being tagged onto the word “Terrrorism” then the so called “Silent Majority” in these segments have to raise their voice and oppose all terrorist elements in their community.

Would it be possible for two terrorists to sneak in from Pakistan and stay in a sleepy town of Mysore for several months planning terrorist activities without the assistance of the local Muslim community? Leaders in the Muslim community in Mysore therefore have an explanation to provide. Had they been a little alert then terrorists could not have planted themselves in Mysore. In this context we should recall that some time back, a plot to throw Bombs in a Hindu religious procession was foiled because a muslim tipped off the Police. In my opinion he should be considered a “Hero” and honored because he showed the courage to stand up against terrorist plots.

It is this type of people who hold the key to fight against terrorism. If many such persons come up in Pakistan then terrorism can be brought under control.

Sumankar

Will the Indian Politicians clash with the Supreme Court?

2006-10-25T20:39:00.000-07:00

The Supreme Court of India has stated in no uncertain terms that the tendency of Indian politicians to provide cast based reservations needs to be regulated. Successive political upmanship has made “Reservation for the deprived classes” a tool to “Deprive the hitherto non deprived classes”. Several state Governments have reservations upto 67 % in education, jobs and promotions in jobs based on the caste of the candidate. If this continues, hw can the caste system be removed?

In fact a whole generation has grown in India after the independence and introduction of reservations who do not know what was the caste based discriminations and untouchability that prevailed in the earlier days and who were responsible for them. Now what they are seeing is the discrimination against the so called ” forward castes” which only means they are not in the list of the privileged castes who have been termed “backward” and made eligible for many of the benefits of the government. These forward caste population has been seeing dwindling opportunities for education and employment to the extent that day by day they are becoming economically pushed to the corner.

How long will this reverse discrimination be tolerated?.. A sociologist will say that there is a limit to the tolerance of any discrimination. Soon affected people will revolt. This opinion of the sociologists is now upheld by the Indian supreme court in its decision on the need to keep the “Creamy Layer” within the reservation community out of further benefits. While any common man would see the logic that a son of a multi billionaire minister or a government servant does not need the privileges meant for the tribals, the vested interests do not seem to agree.

In this context the observation of the five judge bench of the Supreme Court that “..extending the benefit of reservation … would perpetuate ‘casteism’ in the country and result in ‘reverse discrimination'” is a point to be noted. The supreme court also ahs expressed that any reservation should not exceed the ratio of 50%.
Instead of accepting this judgement and finding the means to eliminate the reservations on a phased manner, some elements in the ruling Government are thinking of bringing constitutional amendments to annul the supreme court judgement.
Knowing that the present ruling Government is controlled by the Congress which has a history of legislation aimed at reversing judicial pronouncements wherever electoral politics is involved, it cannot be ruled out that the law may be changed to defeat the Supreme Court decision.
If so, it will be one more step taken to divide the Country which is already divided. Unfortunately, the only credible alternative to the current political dispensation which is the BJP is also not having men who can stand up to such causes. After Jayaprakash Narayan, there has been no leader who could command the national respect on such issues.
We need leaders who work for “Equality for All..irrespective of caste or religion”. We need to look forward to a new political outfit with this motto.
Sumankar

Virendra Sehwag ..and “Loner in a Team” theory of management

2006-10-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

While Team India is preparing for its mini world cup battle against West Indies on the Cricket field, every sports lover in cricket crazy India is watching for the battle that Virendra Sehwag is fighting with himself. Viru as he is affectionately called, who can singlehandedly destroy the opposition on his day, is now going through a rough patch which if not reversed, could end a promising career.

It is therefore interesting to look at the problem from a non cricketing angle. Knowing Viru’s style, it is clear that he depends more on instinct than on technique for his success. Instincts are however as much a function of the mental state of a human being as his physical well being. While the physical trainers and coaches may be taking care of his physical requirements, it appears that he is mentally not being adequately prepared.

Is this a case of “Lack of Self Confidence”? will repeated auto suggestions could improve the situation?.. Perhaps.. and I think this has already been tried on Viru by his mentors.

My personal reading is that Viru is being bogged down by the responsibility that he feels. He is a person who would blossom if no responsibility is thrust on him psychologically. If he is allowed to function as a loner.. as against the “team man concept”, he is likely to perform better.

This theory of a “Loner in a Team” is a concept which may appear contrarian. But it must be remembered that the cumulative result of the performance of several loners in a team becomes the team effort. This is not to say that a member of a team sport like Cricket can perform effectively without the help of others. But what is essential is that as long as “Being a Loner” is not “Dysfunctional”, some individuals function better without too much of a perceived responsibility. This is precisely the case why some individual players fail when they become captains of the team. At the same time, very aggressive loners end up antagonizing others since they may become too selfish.

The art of success for Viru management is to leave him to perform as a loner. Leave him free not to attend the morning team meeting for strategic thinking and tell him that he should take care of his innings and his innings alone without being bothered by what the team strategy is.. without making him feel that he is being left out or side lined… He is sure to fire. This is also the reason why Viru has performed more during first innings of a test match than in the second innings and that too when India is batting first and he is opening the innings.

Is Team India listening?

Sumankar

India waits for a new generation Gandhi

2006-10-24T21:19:00.000-07:00

The recent decision of the apex court in India that reservation in jobs and educational institutions in India should not be extended to the affluent sections of the community has raised voices of protest from several persons in the community.

“Reservation” was a concept which was introduced during the early days of Indian independence to provide opportunities for those who were deprived in the past due to social customs and caste considerations. It was meant to be a short term measure to be gradually withdrawn. Under the policy a percentage of jobs, seats in educational institutions etc are reserved on the basis of caste of the person.

Whatever be the justification for the introduction of the reservation policy, there is no doubt that it is today a reason for the proliferation of the caste divide in India. Over the years some politicians, notably Mr V.P.Singh in the past and Mr Arjun Singh in the present have misused the provision to enhance their political fortunes. As a result the country today is divided in the lines of not only the basic castes but on the basis of communities and sub communities. Since politicians have found a powerful tool in this divide and rule policy, progress in the country has been severely affected.

Though in India many consider Sonia Gandhi as the most powerful political figure, even she is impotent against the power of caste politics and chosen to tow behind Mr Arjun Singh when he played politics recently insisting on reservations in higher education.

If today Supreme Court of India is upset with the affluent sections of the community identified as the “Creamy Layer” in eligible for reservations, it must be seen in the background that after 60 years of reservation, the policy has created new divisions in the country than ever there was before the introduction of the policy. Reservations have gone to ridiculous lengths such as 67 % where it has ceased to be reservations for the backward community. In fact it is the forward communities that are today reeling under the pressure of lack of opportunities since they are barred from 67% of opportunities by reservations and has to compete within the 33% based on merit to which even the reserved category of persons can compete and also with corruption and nepotism. As a result, the so called non reservation category has slowly been driven to frustration.

Where will this foolish policy take India in the future?..Will it drive meritorious Indians to migrate to foreign land?...are some of the concerns the intellectuals in India are expressing. Unfortunately they are in a minority and donot have the necessary political clout.

The county is waiting for an emancipated leader from the backward community who will stand up and say no to reservations. He will be the new generation Gandhi India is looking for.
Sumankar