In Praise of Tears.

In Praise of Tears.

The great German Romantic poet A. W. Schlegel, asked in the lyrics of "In Praise of Tears," : "Words, what are they? One tear will say more than all of them."

Tears are the most powerful tool of communication and crying is considered superior to words as a form of communication.  It’s a survival mechanism which we are born with. When the chief justice of India broke down in front of the Prime minister, it became the national news and trending hashtag. His emotional outburst was very child like as it was a cry to attract attention and demanded a fulfillment of a long pending demand from the Man in power. Do tears betray an unforgiveable weakness or cast our leaders in a refreshingly human light? Have we finally accepted that tears are no more feminine? An anonymous British pamphlet from 1755, Man: A Paper for Ennobling the Species, proposed the idea of "moral weeping for the man. It distinguished weeping into two general kinds, genuine and counterfeit; or into physical crying and moral weeping.  Moral weeping it said, comes from the heart, and is always associated with real sentiments.

 Being a woman who demands equality from men and institutions; I always tell my male students & colleagues about two things which were exclusively a part of woman’s domain, but are now shared generously with the men folks. Tears & the color pink. I am happy that crying has shed its tag of weakness and emotional immaturity. In short it is no more feminine. In fact the leaders have recognized its worth and are using this emotional tool to its fullest for making a powerful point. Few decades back Emotions were seen as a weakness in leaders, but ever since Daniel Goldman’s theory of Emotional intelligence became popular, it has gained fair amount of acceptance with leaders, entrepreneurs, sportsmen, performers and heads of nations. In today’s challenging world, showing your emotions is not a sign of weakness or lack of leadership but a sign of strength. To put it in Charlotte Brontë words —Crying does not indicate that you are weak. Since birth, it has always been a sign that you are alive.'

In recent times, male politicians have rushed to bare their sniveling sensitive souls in public. Abraham Lincoln skillfully employed tears in his oratory. In Modern times, every US president since Reagan has deployed a strategic tear or two to be seen as human and powerless. Barack Obama, the most powerful Man on earth, has cried several times on National Platforms. So much so that the catchy phrase “No-Drama Obama” is used both to praise and criticize the President. Most modern-day US presidents or candidates have succumbed to their emotions in public. Former presidents George Bush - both junior and senior, Bill and Hillary Clinton, have all been caught crying at some point. The Ex Brazilian President Lula da Silva was known for his emotional outbursts, memorably shedding tears in 2009 after the announcement that Rio de Janeiro would be the host for the 2016 Olympics. Other leaders who are catching the teary band wagon are, the Ex President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, the Macho leader of Russia, Valadimir Putin, the colorful leader of Italy Silvio Burlesconi, to former Australian prime minister Bob Hawke,who became famous for crying during his time in office. Despite his tough-guy image, he cried while talking about his daughter's drug addiction.

Back home our own Strong Prime Minister Modi has surprisingly choked up on few occasions, the first being the day when he entered the Parliament. Omar Abdullah, Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, and every other judge( not the SC/HC one) who appeared on talent shows, not to forget Amir Khan, who almost cried without shame on every episode of Satyamev Jayate. 

Steve Jobs, the maverick innovator, was a highly emotional person. He often cried when thwarted in some minor goal or ambition, according to Walter Isaacson’s biography. He cried over just about everything. He cried at the beginning of Apple after his friend and partner Steve Wozniak's father pushed his son to take more ownership of the company because he thought Jobs wasn't doing much work Jobs cried when his employee badge and roll call was reduced to #2 instead of #1( wozniak), then ended up getting badge #0. He cried when Apple pushed him out of the company. He cried at Pixar during a battle with Disney. He cried when Time put the Mac on its cover instead of him. He cried when he saw the famous Apple "1984" ad for the first time. He cried about Windows "copying" the Mac. He cried over design questions, He cried over deep issues of personal privacy, , He cried because he wanted the original Apple II to have a one-year warranty, rather than 90 days, and Phew! I simply lost the count of his weepy shows in his biography. 

Women leaders are usually damned if they do cry and damned if they don't. When Hillary Clinton cried during her presidential campaign against Obama, the event was seized on by critics as "proof" that she was "not tough enough" to take it in the top job. And soon Obama proved the entire anti- tier lobby wrong. He has deployed this lethal weapon several times and proved that if used at the right time and in the right place, tears can soften our hearts and make often distant-looking politicians appear human. He should be credited for giving the tears an acceptability which was long overdue at an international platform.

But why do these powerful men cry?

Crying is a natural emotional response to certain feelings, usually sadness and hurt. Most psychologists agree that it is seen as far more acceptable to cry in public than it was several decades ago. We want our leaders to be stronger and smarter than we are but no less human.  Letting your guard down shows you don't have all the answers, so when you ask for help people know you're sincere and are much more likely to respond.  It may also indicate that you are frustrated, overwhelmed or even just trying to get someone's attention, which researchers call a ''secondary gain'' cry.

So how should be calibrate the tears of CJI Thakur? Was he petitioning to the Prime Minister with his tears? In Saint Marie Magdalens Funeral Teares, Robert Southwell writes of tears as if they were attorneys: "Thy tears will obtaine. They are too mighty oratours, to let any suite fall, and though they pleaded at the most rigorous barre, yet haue they so persuading a silense, and so conquering a complaint that they by yielding ouercome, and by intreating they comaund." 

Did the CJI figured his tears as attorneys, just as Southwell suggested? Did he combine the tears of worship, tears of heroism and beauty, and tears of petition in a slightly new way?  Was the CJI displaying a pure emotion out of frustration?  or was it a ‘secondary gain cry’ to attract the attention of the Prime Minister? Were his tears simply serving a social function? to win support from the executive to get what he wanted?  Whatever it was, it did tell us that tears are no more a pitifully self-indulgent symbol of modern times, it can make hearts melt & leaders listen, as soon after, the Prime Minister suggested that they need to meet in private.

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In defense of friendship in the era of social networking

“Without friends, no one would want to live, even if he had all other goods.”- Aristotle:

“What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies." Answered Aristotle,  who wrote extensively about the concept and importance of true friendship. Friendship it is said is the greatest source of good health. It is the most valued relation after the family and often placed higher than family. In fact the closest family relationships are measured in terms of friendship.  Couples aspire to be best friends, and many parents strive to befriend their children. Friendship is vital for our wellbeing. Research points out that if your best friend eats healthily, you are five times more likely to have a healthy diet yourself. Married people say friendship is more than five times as important as physical intimacy within marriage. If you have a “best friend at work”, you are seven times more likely to feel engaged in your job. It may sound surprising, but our social life is more important for longevity than our healthy diet and exercise. Who your friends are is correlated to what kind of lifestyle you have. Good friends have a potent beneficial impact on your health, more than the Gym, and your gluten-free, sugar-free, vegan protein shakes and diet.

In a world of hyper-connectivity driven by technology, what is happening to true friendship? Is it on the decline? Is true friendship really possible? Has social media changed the definition of friendship & intimacy forever? Is it promoting the kind of meaningful existence that Aristotle was seeking and advocating?

Recently I began to seek answers to these questions when I went through a bout of depression. Being a person who expresses my emotions through writings, I ended up posting a series of sad & melancholic poetry on my Time line one after the other. Within minutes I was flooded with messages, phone calls, mails and offers of help, suggestions and invites from my friends. What surprised me that these offers not only came from my old and cherished friends, but from some of my new found friends whom I had befriended on social media and had never met. Being a person who strongly believes in face to face communication, I was taken by surprise at such a response. I realized that in this increasingly disconnected ‘flat’ world as per American journalist Thomas Friedman,  relationships are actually thriving!

To overcome my depression, boredom and to rejuvenate myself,  I  took a trip on my own to visit some of my cherished friends in three different states of India.  During my travel, I realized that every time my flight landed, instead of scrambling like others to get my hand baggage from the overhead storage, I would be busy sending message of  ‘landed safely’ to several worried friends and family on my phone and also to save my phone from the deluge of  messages asking me ‘have you reached safely?’ This made me realise, how blessed I was to have so many people keeping me in my prayers for safe journey. Because despite of erratic weather, it is easier to have faith in a flying machine, but increasingly difficult to have faith in a pilot’s mental health. And prayers have the power to heal mental health too!

Another thing that struck me was that, While I enjoyed immensely the company of my treasured friends (some of whom I met after years), I was constantly on my phone with a set of friends whom, either I had befriended very recently, or have met on social media and has never even seem them. Although in my middle age, I still make friends with considerable ease. The era of digital communication has helped and changed the face of friendship to a great extent. My bouquet of friends is in all hues and colours. I have Twitter friends, Facebook friends and WhatsApp friends apart from my work friends, childhood friends, Mohalla friends, Alumini friends, friends of my children and those of my husband. My son who is often shocked and alarmed at the lightening speed with which I make friends seems to be perpetually worried at the risks I take by meeting my social media friends on and off. I can never forget the horror on my adolescent son’s face one day, when I told him that I was going to meet a twitter friend over a cup of coffee. He complained with shock and anger in his voice, and said, “What? I cannot believe you Amma? All my life you have taught me not to talk to strangers and here you are, going to meet your twitter friend?” Caught on the wrong foot, I immediately reasoned him out with the wealth of  my wisdom and my greying hair and of course took refuge behind my loving husband who was accompanying me for a late night coffee sojourn.  Being a Scorpio, I am blessed me with a rare insight at choosing friends. In a glance I decide the worth of a person and if I need to further engage with him/her, I get an immediate feeling - whether someone is likely to be a friend or foe. Rarely has my instincts betrayed me. On the social media I look for discourse markers and linguistic abilities, background and authenticity, to decide if I can friend a person or not. Thanks to my research in Nonverbal communication, these aspects have always protected me against wrong choice.

Writers have always fascinated me. I fall in love with Poets instantly. This weakness of mine has accelerated the speed with which I make friends on social media  Anyone who writes well is followed by me and I often interact with them on regular basis, and if they write humour, I make sure I know them closely. These thinkers, change makers and satirist fuel my imagination, spice up my skepticism and charge my energies to bring in change through words. It is indeed a delightful experience to read posts from such people about some issue that has been bothering me, in a perfectly crafted, agonizing, complaining post laced with Pun, humour and hope, all in one. This make me think "Oh well he/she thinks like me?" and similarity of thought connects me with them.

As a child I had few ‘Pen friends’ as they were called during the 70s. Magazines in those days regularly published addresses of people from around the world, who were interested in being pen friends. The communication happened through letters only as there was not much possibility of meeting or talking to them in real life thanks to scarce tele-density and near non-existent luxury/ holiday travel. Internet friendship somehow provided the same taste to me. In today’s world relationships that travel through the internet and navigate in non digital world or get stuckup somewhere in between have certain amount of weirdness in them. Since there is a lot of stigma attached to online friendship, I am amazed  at the amount of space virtual interaction in  relationships have taken over in this age of social media. Of course the suspicion of the semi anonymous nature of the net has its risks, but with little experience and age one can decipher easily between the real and the fake. The internet represents the broadening of the spectrum of relationships. I have several WhatsApp friends whom I have never met in real life and may not meet ever in future, but they are as good as my other face to face friends; Compassionate, caring & funny (sense of humour is a must in my friends). The merit of these friendships lies in their mutual likes and respect. Friendship now develops in digital and physical realms, often crossing freely between the two. It is thriving in this 24x7 wired world, thanks to the low cost maintenance of friendship, you only require a smart phone and a data pack. Although the online friends are qualitatively different than your in-person friends, they shape you nevertheless. They can also be your source of life support. They can make you miserable too, especially if you get caught in the “friendship paradox” (the research which says that most people on Facebook have fewer friend). But let this thought not keep you away from making good friends who have similar thoughts, taste & sentiments as you.

In today’s time-starved, stressful, highly mobile society, friendship has never been more necessary. It is believed that loneliness and isolation contribute to more deaths than cancer. Nor have our standards of what constitutes true intimacy in friendship been higher. But the essence of friendship—frequent, lengthy face-to-face conversations—has grown ever more elusive. Hence If we cultivate friendship (online and offline) it can lift some of the burden from our apparently unhappy and  isolated selves. Authentic friendship has two faces-  a therapeutic one, which constitutes listening, affirmation, and unconditional support.  The other is the "feminine" side of friendship that values communication, emotional expressiveness, closeness, the sharing of feelings, and intimate self-disclosure.  Grab any relationship that fulfills these essence of friendships.  Sometimes people hundreds of miles away can make you feel better than the ones near you.

As I recommend and suggest in investing in friendship, there are cautions to be considered too. Friendship thrives on mutual revelations which are concealed from the rest of the world, it flourishes within the boundaries of privacy. The idea of public friendship sounds like an oxymoron, hence apply these long researched notions of friendship to your social networking platforms. It should give you a sense of ‘community’ which is often missing in hollow of the social networking. Its important that we maintain a balance of offline friends and connection with long lost ones through online networks. Use your Whats App and private messaging more often than your wall posts. So how do we know if we are having a cushion of meaningful social relationships around us?  The answer to this question may not be easy, but to be sure ask yourself: Outside of your family, how many people would you be willing to call in the middle of the night if you needed help, and how many of them would be willing to get out of bed and come to rescue you? And: What if you had a great news to share, Who would you call? If you don’t have at least two people (apart from family) on both of your lists, perhaps you should take more seriously the role of friendship or social relationships in your life. If you pick the right friends, they could play a crucial role in your longevity. Trust me, I returned happy, strong & optimistic after visiting my friends.  

My social studies teacher Mrs. Ullal truly empowered me.

It was in my class sixth in St.Joseph's convent when one graduates from junior school (class5) at the ground floor to a senior school in class 6th at the first floor. Both the promotion, that of the floor and from junior to senior  school made us very proud and to some extent arrogant. The pride in attending the senior school assembly was enormous. we were awed by the big Big didies standing next to us. The pride has just started to swell when a new social studies teacher entered the class room. She was Mrs. Ullal, a Goenese who could speak no other language other than English. She was a wife of an army officer. This was in 1978

She started the class by laying certain rules in a highly Anglo Indian accented English. the class began with the reading of the lesson. By chance the student who was reading was almost stopped at every word for her improper pronunciation. In fact so frequent were the interruptions that we all out of fear paid no attention to the lesson but instead to the English in the lesson. It seemed she was here to teach us English and not social studies. The girl who was almost shaking with fear managed all the interruptions and further proceeded to pronounce Buffalo, as 'buffaelo'. all hell broke loose at this point and Mrs. Ullal asked her to repeat the pronunciation. Now completely pale with fear, she did it again by stretching further her 'ae'lo.. the immediate reaction which came from Mrs. Ullal was a gasp, an exclamation, followed by a shout. Oh! My God, you villagers, it is not Buffaelo, but it is 'bufflo' . The whole class was punished to pronounce it several times. thank God that we all were saved by the bell that day and the next period being a PT one, relievd us immensely. we all stood in a line and with due discipline went to the ground. The moment we landed there we all started to shout Bufflo, Bufflo... and erupted into laughter.

Mrs. Ullal was known to dislike our English and kept correcting our pronunciation regularly after that. But this is not what i remember her for. The humble social studies book was full of errors in spellings and often wrong citations. Not only that Mrs. Ullal did not like the book at all and would get the entire chapters deleted and re written by her ( the reasons i don't know), as it pleased her. I admired her for her independence and clarity of thought what should have been taught and what should not. she was vociferously critical about the content and by the term end we almost had cut 75% of the content and re written as per her wishes. This women was amazing. She taught me then and there not to believe in everything written in a text book, question everything, delete what you do not like. create your own book, and overall... that,  social studies does not mean wrong English. I also remember how she distributed social studies test papers during a school picnic, where most of us had performed  disastrously. we cried,  felt disheartened at our performance, called her names, but soon after forgot all about it and moved on by playing. Thats how life is. manage your set backs, and don't' let the enjoyment stop. 

Years later when I was in college, i happened to meet her at a family wedding and related these incidents to her. she laughed heartily and enjoyed listening to my impressions of her.

I often wonder and realise that she truly gave me an important lesson in empowerment. In an era where books are routinely banned and burnt, she taught me to read what i want to read, to simply delete and move forward after a few self mutterings as protest, to write my own books after criticisng them, and overall to be empowered enough to change course my self. make my own destiny. Thank you Mrs.Ullal for teaching the most important lessons of life in a very subtle way. You were truly an amazing teacher. Be it for English or social studies!! 

BHOPALI BIYAS - FROM BEAUTIFUL TO BOLD

BHOPALI BIYAS - FROM BEAUTIFUL TO BOLD

The filing of the chargesheet in the murder of Shehla Masood may have brought this shocking tale to an end, but has left a question mark on the Bhopali society and women in particular. The whole episode was orchestrated by the women against a woman, all belonging to the same community, in the most auspicious and holi month of Ramadan. All the girls have pious religious parents & family background, educated in the best schools & institutions of the city. The life style of Shehla, Zahida & Saba is largely reflected in many household of the bhopali families. The story narrates a shocking tale of ambition in the women of this rather sleepy town with a large number of muslim population. Shivraj singh Chowhan must have found it difficult to build inroads in some areas of this town due the traditional Muslim- BJP anarchy but his MLA seems to have build inroads into the heart of the community’s women. The story of ambition, love , hate and competition between Zahida & Shehla reflects the falling standards of society and culture among the traditional Bhopali Muslim women or as they are popularly called ‘Biya” (a popular form of address for women in Bhopal) of this beautiful town. Pained at the deteriorating culture many of us are forced to aske what is going wrong with the society?

Bhopal has been known as the city of begums as it was ruled by the women for more than 150 years.  Bhopali women has always been extraordinary not only in the sense of their beauty, complexion & traditions, but also in their state of empowerment. A culture which discourages dowry and welcomes the birth of females has always stood out. During the weddings the family of the girl always have an upper hand while deciding the formalities. They take all the major decision from the number of guest to the amount of Mehr (dowry to be paid to the bride and entered in the marriage contract). Giving dinner to the baraties is an option and not mandatory with the girls family.  Asking for dowry in Bhopal is still rare, though many dowry cases are registered in Bhopal courts which are quite often used as a tool in case of bitter divorce battles. A daughter in a Bhopali family is cherished and appreciated. They are brought up with more love and attention than the boys. All this infuses them with a rare self-determination and freedom. One walk in the by lanes of Chowk Bazaar and you get to understand the remarkable spirit and independence of this rare class.  Although dressed traditionally and often in a hijab they could be seen driving from a scooter to a typical Bhopali jeep on the roads without apprehension. Women empowerment might have been a recent phrase in the vocabulary of gender literature, but Bhopal had embraced it for over a century ago.

The ghastly Murder of the daring RTI activist, Shehla Masood was traumatic to the upper middle class Muslim Bhpalies living in the Kohe- Fiza and other Muslim dominated area of the old town. It was a setback for the high spirited, educated and ambitious Bhopali women. Zahida belongs to a traditional and well placed family of Bhopal.  Young, beautiful and self-sufficient – Shehla, Zahida & Saba are the symbol of a new breed of educated, independent and daring muslim girls of the society. Their story and lifestyle has posed several uncomfortable questions for all. Their proximity to RSS /BJP activist and politicians reflects their fierce ambition and attitude in order to attain success in their professional life.  While they flaunted their connections, no one in their family ever objected. The whole incident happened in the Holy month of Ramadan, which the devout bhopalies spend in prayers, charity and self introspection. Unfortunately the planners & perpetrators of the murder were all Muslims. Erosion of religious values is evident here.

 One is forced to ponder if this is an isolated case of revenge between two  women fighting for the attention of a flamboyant MLA, or is this a picture of deteriorating social structure and decaying  Bhopali “tehzeeb’. The rising cases of Divorce and ‘Khula’(a practice where a women asks for a divorce forfeiting her mehr) is already a cause of worry among the Mullahs and community elders. Divorce is not a taboo  in Bhopal and women often get remarried here with much ease which needs to be appreciated. But it is often attained for frivolous reasons. A typical Bhopali Bia is miles apart from her counterparts residing in different part of Bhopal. Their lifestyle attitudes and priorities are bizarre. This is easily reflected in any party, function or a marriage. Attending anybody & everybody’s function is a must.  Always late to arrive past 10 pm, their dedication to self is above all and is clear from their mannerism & makeup. Latest fashion in clothes, extreme glittering makeup with matching eye lenses straight out of salon and late nights, defines them.  A working day ahead or their children’s school does not deter them. The children are fine tuned to this routine from their childhood. Most of these families sleep late after midnight and wake up late. One reason why there was no witness to Shehlas’s murder is that the majority of Muslim dominated areas of Bhopal come to life after 10 Am compared to other areas of working class like BHEL. Even the educated and non working mothers depend on private tutors to take care of their kids homework of class one & two. One look at the Urdu section of any CBSE schools (which consists of 95% bhopali kids of good families) tells you the sorry state of these children’s education. Lack of seriousness on the part of parents is often the cause for pathetic standards of these children. Although the children are given good education in elite schools of Bhopal but the contribution to their studies at home is negligible. Girls largely excel in education leaving behind the Motorbike crazy teenage boys carrying their proud mothers as pillion riders without license of course.  Majority of the Boys start driving without ever attending any driving school or getting a valid license much before 16 years. What amazes me are that often the most notorious of children in bhopali families have extremely religious parents. They are least participative in their children’s activities & lives. Most teachers agree with my opinion of poor parenting and lack of attention to the children in these families to be one of the cause of notoriety in them . Largely the women in bhopali household have the power and the capacity to regulate their day- to- day lives in the social, political and economic terms unlike their counterparts in other cities. This power has enabled quite a number of them to move from the periphery to the centre stage of Politics, business and society. I admire the independent strength of many of these Bhopali ‘biyas’ and a large number of them have brought in a positive change in the society. But the wanton spirit of the likes of Zahida and alike is a warning to many homes. The Shahla Masood episode is a wakeup call for the Bhopali society.

Turbulent times

“Air India is sick and I hope it doesn’t reach ICU” was the honest announcement made by the Minister of Civil aviation Mr. Ajit Singh while combating the fresh threats from the Air India Pilots. His candid admission of the problem faced by the National Carrier did not take any body by surprise. In fact it is common knowledge that the once smiling maharaja is not only sick but on the verge of death. En mass the pilots have actually reported ‘sick’ to halt the operations of the airlines is double irony. This comes a t a time when the entire nation was waiting for the sick AI to take off on a bailout package of Rs.30, 000 Crore and hoped that perhaps this time round the package may cure the airlines of its cancer. But it seems that this cancer is not curable and the Government & its inefficient ‘Babus’ are largely responsible for this malady. The overstaffed jumbo organization is in a complete mess after the merger of the Air India and Indian Airlines. Before its merger in 2007, both were doing just fine and earning profits. The cause of the strike is also rooted in the concern of the senior Pilots of the Air India against the training being given to the erstwhile Indian Airlines Pilots to fly the prestigious 787 ‘Dreamliners’ due to be inducted in the fleet. It is clear and admitted by the Honorable minister himself that all did not go well with the merger. All mergers & acquisition take place after much research and a clear plan to accommodate the smaller company & its executive in the mainstream. The government has miserably failed in providing professional leadership and management strategies to run the airline after the said merger. The sarkari  Babus simply did not do the essential pre-merger exercise and ended up with surplus staff and heart burn among the Indian Airlines Pilots.  The airline has a massive Rs 40,000 crore debt enough to fund and run at least 80 airlines. It has around 475 employees per aircraft as against 70 in Indigo & others. The humongous staff, enormous debts, incompetent management and lack of political will to run it on commercially viable routes, have all contributes greatly in grounding the AI. No wonder the Minister himself admitted that the Government should not be in the business of running an airline which is essentially a service industry.

The Government should learn its lessons from the British Airways & Lufthansa which were privatized some 20 yrs back and are now a much recognizable brand in the aviations sector. It should invite experts like Gopinath, the founder of air Deccan, who have proved their mettle in this sector and start the process of disinvestment to revive the airlines through a credible & strategic partner. On the other hand the highly-paid pilots should sit across the government and solve their problems through dialogues rather than holding the airlines and its passengers to ransom. The government should immediately implement the recommendations of the Justice Dharmadhikari committee report which has suggested ways & means to tackle the problems of the merger of the two giants, and integrate the problems of the human resource, training etc in AI. The problems do not exist only in AI, the Indian aviation sector itself is facing turbulent times, with Kingfisher also running up huge losses and struggling to turn around their operations. The Government must create a vibrant aviation sector and devise long-term plan and vision for all players. It should formulate policies and incentives to increase the percentage of the domestic passengers to competitive international levels and lift this ailing sector from its comatose state. If a surgery is required then it should be performed immediately to save the  smiling Maharaja from death.

Economic Hiccups

Popular perception over the slow pace of reforms got strengthened by our outlook being lowered from stable to negative by Standard & Poor. Slow pace of economic reforms and the numerous hurdles in the way of clearing several crucial legislative Bills has damaged our prospects of growth. An avalanche of criticism followed with every economist blaming it on policy paralysis.uge negativity has settled over the promised 7% growth in future. The lowered outlook jeopardises India's long-term rating of BBB-, which is the lowest investment grade rating.  Kiran Majumdar Shaw’s tweet- “Unfortunately FM's cajoling statement "No need to worry about S&P's downgrade" has no credibility to back it”- reflects the falling hopes of the business community.  S&P ratings for India are the lowest for any of the BRICS nations. From an august company of BRIC nations to the company of countries like Tunisia whose economy is in tatters after last year's revolution is a shame for the UPA government.  There is also the speculation of India being replaced by Indonesia in BRICS. One would believe that perhaps the Finance Ministry’s chief economic adviser Kaushik Basu saw this coming. Just last week he gave out a warning that growth will slow down further and inflation will be back if “political and economic alignments” are not in place. If these alignments work, he said, India will get back to its earlier levels of buoyant growth.

But regional satraps like Mamata Bannerji, are determined to put a spoke in the wheels of economic growth over one pretence or the other. After derailing the Railway Budget presented by the fellow Dinesh trivedi and getting a roll back in passenger fair of lower class, opposing the FDI in retail, the fiery lady is all set to oppose the proposed diesel price rise in the coming days, despite of Government’s agreement in principle to de regulate it. The opposition & Non UPA regional heads are behaving like a pack of unruly teenage kids, who are determined to shoot any proposal put forward by the center without measuring its merits in the national interest. They are more worried about their regional packages and portfolio promises even if it clashes with the larger benefit of the Nation. Unfortunately the very same congress which brought the growth to India had its hand tied by the communists in UPA1 and by its own bullish allies & corrupt partners in UPA2. It has failed in economic management and seems to be slipping even in allies’ management.

Reform is too serious an issue to be turned into a political slugfest. Instead of pointing fingers, the Centre and the opposition need to join hands at all levels to neutralise the threat of S&P’s negative outlook becoming a permanent fixture. Coming from the most conservative of the rating agencies, it’s a wakeup call for the governments to do something meaningful. The long wait for implementing reforms in retail, Insurance, and raising the fuel prices has resulted in the mobilisation of powerful opposing forces against the logic of reforms by itself.  Reforms in a democracy like ours can continue unrestricted only if the regional power heads, political beneficiaries and stakeholders are on the same page. Manmohan Singh’s administration is facing one of the most challenging periods of its second innings. Stung by corruption scandals and failed in statecraft, it is now a humungous task for him to deliver the promised economic growth and improve perceptions. It is not that the solution to the problems is not known. The point is that we just need to implement these solutions now. As the saying goes that "It is not the deficiency of knowledge but the efficiency of execution that separates achievers from the rest." 

Towards a Womenless India

The tragic end of three-month-old Neha Afreen, who was allegedly battered by her father in Karnataka, is a blot on the collective conscience of society and governments across India. If you thought Bengaluru district was any different and more progressive than districts further away, in the state's interiors, think again. The child sex ratio here too has fallen from 943 to 941 over the last decade. While the falling ratio is alarming enough, it is also lower than the average child sex ratio of 944 in the country. Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen expressed concern over the death of battered baby Neha Afreen while suo motu hearing a Public Interest Litigation on the increasing deaths of children due to malnutrition in the State. “Parents harming their own children is a matter of serious concern. Children were treated as treasure, but look at baby Neha’s plight,” the CJ observed.

Afreen’s is neither the first nor will it be the last such case. Sometime back, the death of another battered baby girl (Falak) caused a sensation but it was forgotten soon after. This is because the problem is endemic in nature and there is no region or community free from the virus of female foeticide. Many factors come into play to explain this: infanticide, abuse and neglect of girl children. The decline is largely due to the increased availability of antenatal sex screening. Use of technology like ultrasound to determine the sex of the unborn child has been banned by law but, only a few violators of the law have so far been punished. The government has been forced to admit that its strategy has failed to put an end to female foeticide.

Until 30 years ago, India's sex ratio was "reasonable". Then in 1974, Delhi's prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences came out with a study which said sex-determination tests were a boon for Indian women. It said they no longer needed to produce endless children to have the right number of sons, and it encouraged the determination and elimination of female foetuses as an effective tool of population control. By late 80s, every newspaper in Delhi was advertising for ultrasound sex determination. Clinics from Punjab were boasting that they had 10 years' experience in eliminating girl children and inviting parents to come to them. The results of the dangerous phenomenon are already visible in states like Punjab and Haryana, where shortage of girls compels marriageable men to look for brides elsewhere. The government woke up quite late in 1994,and came up with the Pre-Natal Determination Test (PNDT) Act which outlawed sex-selective abortion. In 2004, it was amended to include gender selection even at the pre-conception stage.

At the all-India level, there are only 914 girls for every 1,000 boys, according to the 2011 census. When Nobel-laureate Amartya Sen wrote a watershed, nay prophetic, essay in ‘The New York Review of Books’ entitled ‘More Than 100 Million Women Are Missing’ in 1990, many questioned its basis. Interestingly, he concluded the essay paying tributes to the high status women enjoyed in Kerala. However, latest census figures show that female foeticide has caught up in the southern state too. Unless society as a whole realises the dangers of a womanless world and ends the murder in the womb, there will be more Afreens.