Daily Excelsior... Editorial

EDITORIAL

By V.Y. Kantak

Democracy, the unchallenged signpost of modernity, the apotheosis of all who are progressive, has become the target of a sharpshooter. We all know the.. ..more

Elections on February 18?

By Sreedhar

Yoga test of enlightenment

By Swami Kripanand

The ‘ritual’ of 26 January
TALES OF TRAVESTY

By Dr. Jitendra Singh

In June 1930, Sir Winston Churchill, the then Prime Minister of England, had declared, ‘‘Sooner or later, we will have to crush Gandhi and the Indian Congress .....more

EDITORIAL

Counting chickens

Poor chickens! They are in serious trouble. Threat of bird flu is leading to their culling in West Bengal. Alarm bells are ringing in our State as well. On the other hand, ironically, an increasing aversion to red meat is leading to their further extinction all over: they are a gourmet’s delight. In our legislature, responsible leaders are literally counting them. Recipient of such wide but mixed attention the bird must indeed be flying in a no man’s land between hope and despair. It is too much to believe that Finance Minister Tariq Hamid Qarra and National Conference stalwart A.R. Rather have not heard about the age-old idiom: "Don’t count your chickens before they hatch." Indeed, they are aware of it and have employed it in a bid to be one up on each other. Good luck to both of them. The phrase when translated in simple language means that one should not formulate plans on the basis of something that is just happening and is not yet complete. For instance, we start having big dreams of luxuries the moment we buy a lottery ticket. Is it not better to wait for the result? In short, one should not live off hopes and promises. Let us do our best and forget the rest. It is, however, easier said than done. As human beings we are vulnerable to fancies. Aesop made us wiser about this long ago. Who is this Aesop and how is he relevant today? We will develop respect for him when we know more about him. It is from his story that we are cautioned about counting chickens prematurely. He has conveyed this to us through a woman carrying a basket of eggs. As she walked she built castles in the air. How many chicks will she soon have from eggs? How much money will she make by selling them? What an enjoyment will she be to have form the riches thus obtained? As she was lost in her trance she dropped her basket of eggs. Since the time Aesop conceived it the moral of the story has been passed down the generations: "Don’t count your chickens before they hatch." Aesop was a slave in the mid-sixth century B.C. in Greece. Right now we are not going into the details of his personal history. Suffice it to say for our immediate purpose that his fables have yielded lasting moral lessons. Philosophers like Plato, Aristotle and Socrates have felt inspired by his plain tales. Quite a few fables like "the tortoise and the hare" and "sour grapes" are ascribed to him. Leo Tolstoy and Jean de La Fontaine have adapted them to their languages Russian and French, respectively. Could we have known about such genius as Aesop was in the absence of chickens?

Chicken has given big ideas to big people. No less an entrepreneur than Henry Ford has felt inspired: "Business is never so healthy as and when, like a chicken, it must do a certain amount of scratching for what it gets." Its tenderness has come in handy for Winston Churchill to narrate: "When I warned them (the French) that Britain would fight on alone whatever they did their generals told their Prime Minister and his divided Cabinet: ‘In three weeks England will have her neck wring like a chicken." A British-born American comedian had come up with another gem: "A woman had two chickens. One got sick, so the woman had chicken soup out of the other one to help the sick one get well." Have we heard something different now in our legislature?

Democracy's kings

By V.Y. Kantak

Democracy, the unchallenged signpost of modernity, the apotheosis of all who are progressive, has become the target of a sharpshooter. We all know the rhetorical power of the world democracy. It is the modern world's "open sesame", clearing the path for all on whom it showers its approbation, be he a Bush, a Modi or a Laloo. In The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home (the US, that is) and Abroad, Fareed Zakaria, born in India and brought up in his early years in India, makes a strong case for interrogating the hallowed status of democracy, and his pot-shots leave big enough holes on the deified altar of the world's most celebrated political system to prompt debate.

What is of relevance to us is the question of the great Indian state and the legitimacy it seemingly enjoys to do and claim all the things it does. What gives it such unassailable rights over our wealth, lands and resources? From where does it draw the strength to write the rules by which our lives are governed? Wherein, indeed, lies that source of all power, of which the state is seen as the rightful shareholder, and we, the governed, mystified supplicants?

We do not ask these questions often. When we do, we are branded woolly-headed liberals at best, or else senseless anarchists. And yet, those who pillage the land, subvert the very essence of all that is good in common humanity, and line their bloated self-image with the trappings of pelf and privilege, are allowed to be the legitimate standard bearers of the state. Surely, there is something wrong here.

We have ceased to inquire after first causes, and we refuse to consider that which is (and importantly, can be) the right way to govern our lives. We allow bad people to rule us without even the discomfort of having to face rude questions. And continue to allow them, as we have for the years since our Independence, to claim the state for themselves, and perpetrate the worst form of abuse on the very people the state is meant to serve and offer a sense of common cause.

The question of the power of the state became relevant the moment it broke from the church in the West. Even while the king was considered sovereign, others sought to have him share his authority, as is clearly evident from the early example of the Magna Carta. In the summer of 1215, a crude bill of rights was drawn up by the rebellious barons of England, to which King John affixed his seal in Runnymede.

That document marked the weakening of the sovereign, and since then, up to the regicide of Charles I in 1649, a tussle ensued between the nobles and the state. Why? Because as in the rest of Europe, and unlike kings in other continents, the English King really had no resources of his own. The feudal lords were needed to supply men and cash to fight wars and/or keep the wheels of the state moving.

Finally, with emerging ideas of modernity attendant upon the European Enlightenment in the late-17th and 18th centuries, and cataclysmic events like the French Revolution (1789), individual liberty and natural rights became central concerns, with republican ideas and rendering the status of the monarch merely titular. The tenuous power of the state was considered just that-tenuous.

Not argued vigorously by Zakaria, but implied in his thesis is the fact that the 20th century, with the parallel development of 'liberal' democracies, relegitimised the notion of the state, for it was now reviewed as the republican will of the people. The point being stressed here is that we must not accept the a priori suzerainty of the state, as is sought to be foisted on us. It is individual liberty, and the principles of liberalism as espoused by the European Enlightenment, that have resulted in the modern legitimacy of the state.

In all this democracy has played a big role, for it is the manifest instrument through which such a claim is argued. Zakaria tears apart the notion with alacrity by proving how the tag of democracy legitimises regimes that do not practise constitutional liberalism, whereas on the other hand seemingly non-democratic rulers practise it. The rule of law prevails in Singapore, which is not a democracy; sadly, it does not even in the world's largest democracy-India.

Democracy prevails in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, we are told. Why? Because people queue up once every five (at times sooner) to vote. They do so to make us believe their will is imprinted on the state to which they subject their will in the belief that it will ensure the rule of law, create opportunities for their economic well-being, protect their rights and not treat them arbitrarily. It is because of this implied belief that we accord venerated status to those who are allowed to rule through the electoral system.

In early societies, the just were venerated because they were trusted to do that which was best for those who reposed faith in them. This is the implied paradigm that sanctions the special status of the state and those who uphold its pillars.

In India, the state is very powerful. After all, it is meant to be a socialist state. Or so the Constitution tells us. A socialist state controls all the forces of production, or so Marx and Lenin tell us. It also owns all land. It lays down the rules for economic activity. And it ensures redistribution of wealth so that those underprivileged by history are given just recompense.

One could argue, as many do against the demerits of socialist state. But the Indian state is not even a socialist state, nor has ever been. When liberalisation happened in the 1980s under Rajiv Gandhi and got formalised by Manmohan Singh in 1991, economic power merely shifted from a closed group of capitalists to the emergent middle classes. The so-called Nehruvian socialist state was just a cover for monopolistic cabals that carved the market out among themselves without being subject to the exacting competitiveness of a market economy. The ordinary people, who include us by the way, gained nothing from the state in return for the special privilege we had accorded it.

Look around any Indian city or town. The best real estate is owned by the government (in the name of the state). Look at Delhi; from Chanakyapuri to R.K. Puram, the state owns prime property (in your name, by the way). And what happens to such property? Government officers live in them. Just like that. Whether these occupants pay taxes on perks for these accommodations (or for telephones, orderlies, gardeners, chauffeurs, office cars, etc. like executives in private firms now do) is another matter. When private citizens colonise land and develop it to a condition where genuine civic living is possible, the state brands their efforts illegal, as in the case of Sainik Farms in South Delhi. Go back to first causes. Is this not preposterous?

Public land as a concept developed with the idea of the commons, as opposed to the notion that the king owned all land. In India today, there are no commons. The commons belong to the state. When groups of people do what the state has been doing for its own (and its apparatchiks') interest, their activities are labelled illegal. Why?

In India, the state does not work for the people, nor is it of them. It is there only in their name, and engaged, with some help from those who are its 'legitimate' instruments, in the business of making people's lives miserable. We must ask ourselves: For how long will we respect, or even trust, a state that does not belong to the people in whose name it is apparently upheld? INAV

Elections on February 18?

By Sreedhar

With elections in Pakistan due on February 18, less than a month from now, a number of issues are confronting the country. Many Pakistani observers feel that President Musharraf may postpone the elections on security considerations again. Already there were more than four major suicide bomb attacks on security forces in Pakistan since Benazir's assassination on December 27, 2007. This by itself is presenting a grim picture of the situation in Pakistan to hold free and fair elections. At one level many Pakistani sympathizers feel that certain amount of normalcy is required to conduct any elections and at present there is no such normalcy. No doubt security forces can be deployed in large number to ensure "free and fair elections", like they have been deployed for undertaking population census in late 1990s. In fact, the Pakistani President said no one would be allowed to disturb the law and order situation in the country before or after the upcoming elections. Last week, Musharraf announced that the army and other paramilitary forces would be deployed at polling stations to avert incidents of violence.

Here the question that is cropping up is whether Gen. Kayani would like his men in uniform to undertake such civilian jobs. It is also being felt that the Pakistani forces are feeling that they have been reduced into functioning like a police force. With the result there is a certain amount of uncertainty about whom and how the elections are to be conducted.

Second, the so called 'sympathy wave' after the assassination of Benazir has melted away during the past three weeks. Even though elaborate arrangements have been made by the Benazir's family to keep Bhutto legacy and the PPP with in their family only, strong contestants have emerged from the other members of Bhutto family like the wife of Benazir's brother late Murtza Bhutto. Benazir's husband, Mr. Zardari proved to be no match to his late wife's charisma; and his demand for UN probe into the assassination of his wife was not accepted by anybody including Benazir's mentors, the US. Apparently any UN investigation may lead into an elaborate enquiry which may result in the involvement of official machinery. Besides the investigations by Scotland Yard detectives can be influenced; and it had already indicated that there is an external hand of al-Qaida.

In Pakistan right from the assassination of its first Prime Minister Liyaqat Ali Khan no probe was conducted publicly and the report was made available to general public. It appears that even in Benazir's case the same tradition is being followed with a minor variation that any independent enquiry would adversely affect the prospects of President Musharraf.

Third, the developments in Wazirstan and Federally Administered Tribal Areas indicate that the whole issue by the US that it may have to undertake direct military action has worked. The radical Islamic groups active in these areas are finding it difficult to continue to live in their hideouts. Therefore, they are looking around for alternative locations to escape the wrath of the Pakistani army.

By middle of January President Musharaf is able to tell his mentors in the US that he is serious about the war on terrorism and he is doing everything at his command. To what extent the US will continue to support Musharraf in this exercise is to be seen. Some observers feel that Musharraf has to deliver a big catch in the next few months in this war against terrorism to continue to enjoy the US support. The Republican Party which is in power in the US feels that their President must do something dramatic to swing the voters in the forth coming US Presidential elections.

Lastly, even if Musharaf conducts a sham election, there is every possibility of the radical Islamic groups managing to gain control both in national and provincial assemblies. With the PPP and PML (N) not able to mobilize the masses the way Islamic radical groups are doing, indicate that the present leadership in all the established political parties have lost their credibility due to sustained campaign against them by the Armed Forces.

In these circumstances the success of radical Islamic groups along with the chosen few from other political parties like PML (Q) by the Armed Forces are likely to succeed in the coming elections. This will immensely suit the Armed Forces and President Musharraf as both these groups have received innumerable favours from the Armed Forces in the past. As one commentator put it, "if one is on the wrong side of the Armed Forces his future will be bleak. The case of Nawaz Sharif, the leader of PML (N) is the best example. He was a petty trader dabbling in local politics way back in 1980s. He was picked up by late Gen. Zia-ul-haq in late 1980s and provided money and material to fight Benazir's PPP. Nawaz sharif and his party won the elections in 1990 and position himself always on the right side of the Armed Forces up to October 1999".

After Musharrf's coup in October 1999 Nawaz Sharif lost his credibility by various allegations of corruption were made against him by the Government in power.

In this situation the microscopic civil society's desire for the return of democracy in Pakistan seems to be no where near success. In all probability the forth coming elections, if they are held next month, are likely to produces results which will elect only people who are acceptable to the Armed Forces. Apparently even the US will not object to such a result provided tangible results are obtained on ground in the war on terrorism. This would mean one of the important functionaries of Taliban or al-Qaida like Mullah Umar or Osama Bin Laden is to be captured in the next few months.

The pro-Musharraf lobby, on the other hand, argues that no such break through in war on terrorism is needed for the President to remain in power. They feel that the US has no option other than supporting President Musharraf in the existing situation.

The mandarins in South Block are wondering of how to deal with this new combination that is emerging in Pakistan. Some are telling privately that India remained aloof from the internal politics of Pakistan; and the Prime Minister has said more than once that he is willing to do 'business' with the General in civvies in Islamabad. Therefore the political power in Islamabad is going to be guided for the time being by the Armed Forces only and Musharraf has complete control over it. In this peculiar situation step by step approach is needed to deal with Pakistan with keeping all options open by countries like India.-CNF

Yoga test of enlightenment

By Swami Kripanand

Yoga is an ancient science… over 5,000 years old. People give it different names, but it is essentially the same. No one can claim to have invented it. This, of course, hasn't stopped people from relentlessly trying to reinvent yoga, especially over the last century. And somewhere along the way, yoga's merits as a healthy business model have also been discovered. According to Swami Sadyojathah, a senior international faculty member from the Art of Living (AOL), "The global market for yoga is huge and is growing very rapidly. One can say the demand for yoga-based wellness is not lagging behind that of cell phones!" Jagdeep Kapoor, chairman & managing director, Samsika Marketing, believes yoga, along with mobile phones, fit his proprietary REAPS model: "Its appeals is rational, emotional, aspirational, physical and spiritual. All five elements are catered to either tangibly or intangibly."

The size of the market in the US alone is estimated to be over $3 billion. In India, Kapoor estimates the total market for wellness to be around Rs. 12,000 crore, and believes yoga forms a substantial chunk of this, growing at 25 per cent to 30 per cent annually.

Depending on who you speak to, yoga is either living through its golden age, or is in urgent need of salvation from becoming a fad, one that will be devalued by incompetent practitioners and increasingly bizarre cash-ins. There is, for instance, the weird attempt made by Russell Simmons, rap icon and co-founder of Def Jam records, to emphasise the 'Yo' in yoga with 'Yoga Live', a series of instructional videos that layered 'phat' hip-hop beats over yogic postures. Or a series of DVDs from MTV, which can generally be found in bargain bins all over the internet.

Like every market on an upswing, the yoga space is getting cluttered. Yoga Works, a franchisee model funded by Rob Wrubel and George Lichter of AskJeeves.com, has 14 centres across America, a market already full of schools that derive their name and approach from a guru or teacher. Almost every school worth its salt has a significant geographical spread. Even relative newbie, Artistic yoga, is present in Dubai, Seychelles and Moscow and is preparing to start in London later this year. BKS Iyengar was among the first practitioners to go overseas-his first 'western' student was violin maestro Yehudi Menuhin, who, after a chance meeting with young Iyengar in the 1950s, invited the teacher to Switzerland. Isha yoga has covered a lot of ground in the last decade and is now present in the US, Canada, Germany, France, the UK, Switzerland, Holland, Lebanon, Dubai, Singapore, Australia, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Mauritius. Even more significant are yoga retreats that offer intensive courses-a weeklong advanced course on Bikram Yoga in Hawaii costs $1,195. The Great British Yoga festival, which combines several different approaches to yoga, costs £465 for a six-day programme.

The scramble for students is on in India as well, in spite of the organised yoga market being less evolved. Though growing in absolute terms, attrition rates for yoga remain high. It's obvious that the branding of yoga is here to stay, whether regarded as a necessary evil or embraced willingly. While Iyengar yoga is one of the most recognised names in the business, Rajvi Mehta, a spokesperson for the school in Mumbai, says, "We do not consider teaching of yoga as a 'business' or the students as 'customers'. We are teachers who are here to share our experiences and knowledge with those desirous of learning." She says branding was more incidental than deliberate. There's certain inevitability to creating a distinct brand in the space, though. While there may be many who don't entirely approve of yoga programmes being repackaged under different names.

Many yoga institutes argue that the different names and identifies are not just a convenient branding tool, but indicate something fresh brought to the mix. Says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, "Today people want everything to be practical and instant. The Art of Living provides that. Our techniques are applicable in day-to-day life, and they help people become dynamic, creative and happy."

Though all yoga schools claim to be for everybody, there's a fair amount of segmentation and differentiation that's taken place. Iyengar yoga is more traditional in its approach. According to Mehta, "We teach what is best for the students; not what the student 'thinks' is good for him." Artistic yoga is gunning for a premium positioning based on price-at Rs. 3,000 a month, it's one of the most expensive courses available-and novelty of experience. Says Nandan Gautam, managing director, Artistic yoga, "We created a format that addressed not only what traditional yoga offers, but added strength training as well as cardiovascular endurance. Unless each class is different, people get bored."

Artistic yoga tailors its courses to be as convenient to the office-going crowd as possible. The split currently is 80:20 in favour of women-Gautam would like the ratio to be 50:50. Shiv Holistic Yoga offers personalised sessions with teachers and tailor-made programmes for individuals. People dilute yoga since they don't have patience, but my duty as a teacher is to get people to do it; to help and motivate them irrespective of their misgivings and desire to avoid pain. Shiv Holistic Yoga also supplies the yoga component to the programmes of prominent gymkhanas and wellness centres across Mumbai. At the same time, some yoga teachers intend creating modules that tackle specific problems relevant to a broader target audience-for instance, 'passion yoga' that focuses on improving sexual prowess. INAV

The ‘ritual’ of 26 January
TALES OF TRAVESTY

By Dr. Jitendra Singh

In June 1930, Sir Winston Churchill, the then Prime Minister of England, had declared, ‘‘Sooner or later, we will have to crush Gandhi and the Indian Congress and all that they stand for ’’. And in the December of same year Churchill had said, ‘‘We have no intention of casting away India, that most truly bright and precious jewel in the crown of the King, which more than all our dominions and dependencies constitutes the glory and strength of the British empire.’’.

It is difficult to answer how many of the present Congressmen who were all over during the Republic Day celebrations yesterday have ever heard or read of this remark which Churchill made at the expense of their parent organisation. Nevertheless, the ironic truth is that within two decades after that, India led by the Congress party had shown the entire world the path to freedom and sovereignty and while Nehru kept the ‘‘tryst with destiny’’, Churchill and his Conservative Party lost the elections and swallowed a humble pie. There were men who were barely out of their teens when they were sentenced but while still in prison they had turned grey-haired and middle-aged. Many of them died unsung, unhonoured, unrewarded. They got no ministerial berths, no political chairs, no Padmashris, no Padma Bhushans, no Bharat Ratnas.

Yesterday, as we sat before the television set to watch the colourful Republic Day programme, we were only subjecting ourselves to yet another annual ritual to which our minds have got conditioned over the years. It is difficult to guess how many of the ministers and legislators spread over the length and breadth of this politically fertile country will be able to answer as to what precise historical reasons led our founding fathers to choose in particular the date of 26 January and no other date for declaring India as a sovereign Republic. They may also be little aware of the fact that Nehru had personally wished C Rajagopalachari to take over as the first President of the new Indian republic on 26 January 1950 but, a true democrat that Nehru was, he reconciled to the preference that a majority of his colleagues expressed for Babu Rajendra Prasad.

The designer clad Minister of today represents the polity of India 2008. And, on 26 January, the Minister had a hectic schedule. In the morning, he had to be on time for the Republic day function at the stadium. Also lined up with him were all the senior bureaucrats who were obediently there less out of any reverence for the Republic of India and more out of fear of being noticed as being absent when their political bosses are around. The Army was on alert lest any terrorist incident should mar the celeberations and the doctors were ready stand-by with emergency ambulance and bottles of blood lest any VIP should require urgent assistance in the event of a violent militant attack. In the late hours of afternoon or the early hours of evening... one can put it either way... the same ministers and bureaucrats were there on time at Raj Bhavan to attend the Governor's ‘‘At Home’’ on the occasion of Republic Day. But, at the Governor's ‘‘At Home’’, there were others too including several small-time politicians and several small-time shopkeepers who are smart enough to manage an invitation to the lawns of Raj Bhavan so that they could go home and boast that they had their evening tea with the Governor.

The common man, on the other hand, complacently watches the celebrations on television. The pageantry, the spectacle, the gaiety, the colour, the extravaganza of Republic Day are enough to woo an unprivileged Indian have-not. He is overwhelmed by rainbow colours running in symmetrical streaks across the sky as helicoptes and aircrafts join in customary salute. He is delighted by the sight of young boys and girls in their traditional dress dancing in an ecstasy which is seldom witnessed. He is impressed by the smart display of soldiers marching up to the chief guest in carefully timed steps. He hums when music fills the air. He cares not who all are awarded Padmashris or Padma Bhushans and bothers not to know about the recepients of Police medals. For a brief moment, he is contented to forget his day to day woes of deprivation, discrimination and under employment. In a life burdened by economic strain and social stress, what more can a common man look forward to ?

And so, while the politician is busy deriving maximum mileage from Republic Day and the bureaucrat is busy seeking maximum one-upmanship from Republic Day, the unrequited Indian youth helplessly resigns to the monotony of his cheerless daily routine . To Umapathy , a holiday is perhaps the only bonus that a Republic Day offers while the much hyped Republic Day rhetoric makes no difference to his uneventful existence, a La, ‘‘.......Bahut Sunee Takreeren, Badli Nahin Taqdeeren !’’