Lost & Found !

Losing totally sucks! Or does it ? No one likes to lose but inevitably from time to time one has  to lose in order to understand what winning means. Health benefits of losing weight are obvious to everyone.  You are really winning while losing those pounds. Of course if you are losing weight without any serious effort on your part , you better see a doctor.  Now we know that at certain times in our lives we are absolutely keen to lose. Like lose our heart or even virginity.  Ask  a teen if you do not remember. We think we'll win. It is another matter that it does not pan out exactly as advertised. Former event  remains a lifelong loss, mostly and the later event proves such a damp squib that one wonders what all that buzz was about.

We like to be in control .Losing it  is not considered good. Like having one too many and loosing control of the car with your kids strapped in the back seat. That's is a bad  loss; well actually it is criminal. But anyone who has gone through a creative process will tell you that letting things be and loosening control will often lead you to those areas of creativity you had not gone before. Gautama Buddha compared our situation to a little rider (the conscious mind) sitting atop a mighty elephant (the unconscious mind); a rider can coax and cajole, but if the elephant decides  to go in a different direction, you can be sure that is where one is going.

If you stick to your original out line, you will miss the dramatic opportunities that emerge as the story unfolds. If you continue to always attempt  a realistic portrait of your subject you'll never recognize the vibrant areas of colour ; interesting forms and  the dynamic interplay of light that is performing like a magic trick right in front of you. Losing control is good for creativity.

 

Homo Sapiens ; that's us human beings share about 99% of our genome with chimpanzees. Comparative studies have shown that humans have lost  about 500 pieces of DNA that chimps have and we do not. A certain keratin gene that they have and we have lost along the evolutionary road makes them far more hairier than most of us. Humans are rare amongst mammals in that the male penis is not spiked. Barbs, or penile spines, are short spikes made of the above mentioned keratin. They point back towards the body of the male so that after copulation any semen from a previous mate is scraped out of the female’s vagina ! Can't be a lot of fun.  We certainly are not complaining about this loss!

The ventral thalamus  region of the brain is useful in relaying sensory information to the cerebral cortex. It is also involved in consciousness and the regulation of sleep patterns. In chimpanzees the number of cells populating the thalamus is kept in check by a gene called GADD45G . The effectiveness of GADD45G is increased by a DNA element that we have lost therefore we make far less of this protein than chimpanzees. Making our  ventral thalamus  regions  larger. Allowing us  to  process and relay more complex information to the cerebral cortex. This is the part of the brain that is crucial for language, memory, and perception. We would most likely  still be hanging from the trees but for losing that part of the DNA.

Now that the Indian cricket team is  progressing  very well towards a comprehensive loss in Australia; I am of a mind to welcome this development.  Significant benefits of this loss are dramatically expanded by coming as it is ; immediately after a similar loss in England. Gods must be  very kind ! What a lucky break that summer Olympics  in London are just on the horizon ! This loss hopefully will change that part of our mental DNA that thinks Cricket is  India's religion and Sachin is our God ! Maybe as part of the evolutionary process this loss will make those regions of our brain larger that can process the fact that Sania Nehwal; Gagan Narang , Viswanathan Anand and several others are "Gods" as well. Maybe we will start recognizing the fact that we have simply the worst medal wins to population ratio in the entire world. Even Tiny Tim Taiwan had a medal more than "superpower" India in  the Beijing Olympics. It is hoping for too much but it may invigorate the part of  our brain that stores the information  that Field Hockey is our " National Sport".

Three cheers for the two losses ! They are for the best.  Hope they continue losing  in the same vein and eventually we will become good enough to win.

Great margin for error but no room for doubt!

A couple of months ago as US made the commando raid that eventually netted bin laden , I was very sure that the event will make   Pakistan's rulers and the people both sit up and take notice.  This was based on my discussions with my Pakistani friends.  Some how I was  convinced  that such broad minded, educated and balanced group of people will definitely guide their nation towards a course correction.  Now it looks like I certainly keep   wrong company! Such people do not matter in Pakistan.

 Immediately after that event repeated doses of an extremely shrill  rhetoric was deployed from the TV studios which  guided public discourse   towards  illegality of  the American action and towards casting doubts over Osama's presence  in Pakistan itself. There being some merit in both arguments; still one could be excused to think that people who have the power  to change and who are pulling  all the strings in Pakistan might have realized that they have finally been found out !  Whatever one may say for public consumption, in private  even a half wit would have tried to go straight in order to avoid being punished. In normal course albeit.  But that is forgetting it is Pakistan we are talking about.

Army is the real ruler of  Pakistan and that old joke about it being the only army that has a country does not feel like a joke any more. Are they idiots ? Are they reckless ? Are they both? The short answer is no ! They are actually pretty smart  people. Although it does not take a lot but anyone who can continue to pull wool over willing American eyes for so  long and get paid by them to do  it as a bonus , has to be sharp. Lot of commentators discuss this aspect  but most of them  focus on what;  not on why?

 

It is kind of easy to say Pakistan is paranoid about India and is trying to avoid getting caught in a pincer from both east and west.  The scenario is pretty much possible and their fears are not completely unfounded. This is one of the key reasons for their strategic misadventures. However  all  concerns are about the methods they have convinced themselves will yield the desired result. Comparatively speaking India is already caught in a pincer ; between a very hostile Pakistan and a super power adversary, China. Why are India's policies looked upon differently by the world than Pakistan's? They themselves are asking this question but unfortunately do not find the answer to their liking. 

Even now the policy makers are not willing to take on board the fact that their stealth is exposed. More than anyone else Pakistan should realize that  similar to themselves, America is more of a corporation that has got a nation. US inc. will not let go of Afghanistan like they did twenty years ago. They have too much invested in it now. Taliban and ISI proxies will have a tough time repeating their old success. That ,if it happens would actually be catastrophic for Pakistan;   sinking them far deeper in trouble.  In such a situation the corporation will wrest control by force and Pakistan will be right in the middle of that maelstrom.  And I do not see any appreciation of the fact this is not just a bipolar world any more. There are several other forces in the picture and they are not going to be  pushovers  either. Just banking on nuclear blackmail to get your way through is fraught with huge dangers ; not only to the nuclear deterrent but to the entire nation itself. One can sense Pakistani army taking over direct control of day to day policies and messing with the civilian oversight again. Specially the way Husain  Haqqani has been eased out of Washington D.C.. At the same time  Pakistan's other ambassadors  are being chopped and changed in droves as we speak.  And the way zardari has suddenly developed heart trouble and fled the country ostensibly for treatment  gives  a lot of weight to the theory that Pakistan army  has staged a soft coup while keeping a  civilian facade.

Without taking anything away from the 26 odd  servicemen who got killed in the recent Nato attack, one must ask why Pakistan has not shown such a strong reaction when several times more civilians were the victims ? The real truth may never be known but the Nato story that those gunships fired in support of their ground troops who were coming under fire from or close to Pakistan army posts , is very plausible. Specially to an Indian ear .  Providing covering fire to retreating or infiltrating Islamic terrorist  bands is an old and well worn trick that Pakistani army posts have been using  in Kashmir sector for ever and ever. It comes as no surprise that they were using it in the west too.


On the other hand their contention that NATO attacked these post without  a good reason may also have a grain of  truth in it. However if that was the case ,Pakistan's reactions are bewildering to say the least! If this was a warning shot across their bows by NATO; why  have they created such intense war hysteria  among their populace ? What is it they are guilty of?  What are they hiding from their own population?  Blocking supply routes gives them practically zero leverage. Already over 60% of NATO supplies are routed through air or  "northern routes", not Pakistan. NATO has been  quitely preparing for this day for most of   last year or so. Reportedly they have six months supplies in hand. They are not breaking any sweat! Retaking Shamsi airbase may put some temporary breaks on drones but one shudders to think what other alternatives Nato has access to. Long range stealth bombers; missiles.....,it can soon turn into Pakistan's worst  nightmare!  Why is it hard to understand that a negotiated, peaceful  and independent Afghanistan is in everyone's best interests.

Of all the stupid things one could have done the worst was boycotting Bonn! They went ahead and did it too!  If there was  any proof needed  for  the oft  repeated Afghan refrain that Pakistan is the biggest obstacle in achieving peace; you have given them proof.- Idiots ! They are rubbing it in at Bonn. There ! didn't we  say so ?


Ironically Pakistani Army is making these  rank bad  decisions  for the love of their country. Their policies have continuously backfired time and again from kashmir to kargil ;even when faced with a comparatively weaker adversary -India. And now they have an entirely different beast to counter! Only time can tell what kind of misery will they bring upon the hapless people of Pakistan this time round. Their policies have great margin for error which they compound by having no room for any doubt!

 

The Afghan maze !

 

Picture by : Yoshiaki Nagashima 

One of the most poignant short story; "kabuliwala"; about an Afghan is written by the nobel laureate  Tagore. The story of a little girl and an itinerant  almond seller from Kabul touches your heart any time you read it. The short story was later adapted for a movie. My eyes water immediately I hear a song from this movie;"Ay mere pyre watan....". "My dear lovely nation...". is simply the best patriotic song I have ever heard .  

Sadly the lovely nation of the Kabuli wala is in a bad shape. Without going into too much of its history the fact is that Afghanistan is not an ancient nation. It has been a conglomerate of different tribes for most of its history. The tribal alliances and the intra - tribe relations are an important part of governance of this region.  Add foreign invasion and foreign rule into the mix and we have what we have here; a diverse nation with no central authority.  It does not make things any easy that there are several language groups. Mainly Farsi and its dialects and Pashto and its dialects. Historically these language groups have been at  the opposite ends of the political divide for  several hundred  years.

Even in the best  of times whole of Afghanistan was not governable, although it must be said that during the Monarch Amanullah's and his dynasty's time and even later during Daud's time, who wrested power from the dynasty, things were relatively settled. A lot of social reforms and infusion of modern ideas took place. Although it is unthinkable today, it was not unusual on the streets of Kabul  to find women dressed in a western style skirt in late 1960's. The down slide for Afghanistan started on the fateful day Sardar Muhammad Daud destabilized the monarchy and his reign uncorked a can of worms of political anarchy. 

Nur Muhammed Taraki and his group, were communist  minded; when they staged a coup against Daud to gain power. That rang a lot of warning bells in Washington. It was another nail in the Afghan coffin. Taraki's party governed on the soviet model . It curtailed civil liberties and put a number of restrictions on overtly Islamic  way of life. Afghans did not like it a lot.  This was the era of cold war and USSR was supporting the communist Government in kabul. Inevitably "Rambo", had to intervene. The entry of USA was another major setback to Afghanistan, but no one cared about Afghans. USA needed to put one across USSR  so they created a monster and gave it an Islamic name. ISI of pakistan became the mid wife and  its wet nurse and we had " mujahideen". " Freedom fighters"!!! ISI had its own interests in mind and afghans were so expendable, it was a cake walk. Especially with easily available unlimited supply of Saudi money.

Sadly  for  Afghanistan they won !  Portents were clear when Nazibullah's beaten and broken body was hung from a lamp post as the first official act of the freedom fighters. Any way the new power structure did not last long and a civil war ensued  .  Pitting  Northern Alliance on one side Millions of refugees and hundreds of thousands  dead later ; "Taliban "; strode to power in 1996. A bunch of raving , rabid lunatics espousing ruthless;  extremist;  Wahhabi ideology  that had no room for any accommodation. It was their way or death! They brought untold miseries to hapless afghans and really really pushed them back into middle ages as the twenty first century dawned .Their major service to Afghanistan was the destruction of Bamiyan Buddha's. They all were fit to be shot against  a wall for just that act alone but more was to come. One  word for it,  9/11.

World would not have cared otherwise and least of all USA. They were happy to let Taliban and their puppet masters in ISI run the show when Taliban over played their hand. Another set of miseries got unleashed on the Afghans. On one hand they have USA sitting in their homes and on the other hand Taliban is no where close to being decimated. It has now shaped itself into many headed dragon with this name and that name. But surly the dragon has grown big and It is hiding in plain sight  right across the border in Pakistan. 

Where does it leave the Afghans? As the USA finally prepares to leave it is clear that the present Karjai government will not be able to withstand the whirlwind that is brewing. No amount of military training India might provide ; it will be inadequate to stem the tide. Short of sending Indian boots on the ground it can not be stopped and there is very slim chance of that happening. What is worse; no amount of  US coaxing will change  Pakistan's afghan policy. It is based on supporting Taliban and Al Quaida  and their proxies getting back in power in Kabul. Again  nothing short of  USA directly taking out  military targets inside of Pakistan will begin to show any impact . And even then it may be too little too late ! Any way there is a very remote chance of that happening.

A bloody  intra - afghan power struggle is more likely to happen. The present Government will fight for survival with some Indian training and  some US weaponry . It will not be enough. Northern Alliance will try to save their traditional citadels. I do not see them as saviours  of Kabul . I believe they will be stretched unless US and  other western powers step in with equipment and funds. But hey ! that is another problem . Funds is exactly what they do not have! In the short run I feel Pakistan will have its way. A large part of Afghanistan will fall back in the hands of ISI proxies.  A overwhelmingly Sunni, wahabi, pathan , extremist ;anti west ;anti India, anti Russia and  anti everything other that themselves and their kind kind of government will rule Kabul again.  Sadly I can not see Afghans coming together in some kind of positive political movement that will keep away Taliban.

And with that will begin the final end game in Afghanistan.  I feel that  in this final round , thanks  to their army, Pakistan will be suckered in so deeply and inextricably  in the quagmire that it will impossible to come out even if they want it. A lot of pieces will fly about. Unlike last time there are a lot more active players in the game this time .  Apart from original US and Russia ; covert and overt roles of Iran and India have  expanded hugely . It will be fool hardy to dismiss this new development. EU and UK  will continue as serious elements of the jigsaw. And then there is China. The biggest chess player of all time. What is quite amazing to me that most of them will find themselves ranged on one side albeit for their own interests. The trick will be not to get caught on the other side. The trouble for Afghans is far from over.  Dust will take a little while to settle. But in the end It has to be Afghans who will have to bear the responsibility of  forging a stable  representative political system. Only they can make the final move.

Project Tiger!

India holds over half the world's tiger population. According to the latest tiger census report released on March 28, 2011 by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the current tiger population estimated is 1,706. Not many years ago this number was above 5000. That  dwindled alarmingly to around low 1300's . Some focused preservation of the tiger habitat and good protection strategies in recent times have ensured this new encouraging number. It is an achievement of sorts.

However the fact remains that overall more tigers are dying than are being born.  And now Tiger Pataudi is dead too! The fact that he captained India  in old times is not important in my opinion. The  fact that he played that spoiled brat of a game - cricket is of lesser importance. He did not earn his nick name because he was born with a silver spoon in nobility and  managed to sweep a reigning queen of the silver screen, off her feet. In fact some of those facts and events that followed them are a cross mark against him. Anyway they are not of any consequence. They did not make him a tiger.

What made him a tiger was the fact that he followed his dreams. Lot of us do. We do not all become tigers. He followed his when he had no eyes to see those dreams much less follow them. I realized this the other day while playing street cricket with a tennis ball. It was so difficult to follow a circle about 3" diameter  with two eyes much less hit it with any success on a regular basis. Even when it was thrown at me by a mere child. Tiger  faced the fastest bowlers of his time unmindful of his handicap. He Overcame his partial blindness in one eye. He changed his stance;he changed his style; he curbed his strokes ; he did everything  but  he played. Only  because he wanted to play and it did not matter if he had only one good eye where even two sharp young eyes are not enough. 

 Last time I saw him was at opening of an exhibition in Delhi. He  quietly studied the  canvases on show; made a couple of very informed comments and generally behaved in a most graceful manner . No fuss , no nawabi tantrums and no throwing his weight around.
There is a lesson in his life for the rest of us. There are obstacles galore and life invariably throws curved balls at us . When life hands us a lemon we must bravely make lemon juice   and try to be a tiger.

Lage Raho Anna Bhai!

"Gandhigiri" means to use non violent means to express dissent, get your point across and  have your demands met. It is a pun on Gundagiri which means rowdyism! At times there is a very thin line that separates the two. Seems like it is a summer of discontent - worldwide. People everywhere are agitating sometimes using guns as in Libya or using  Facebook to organize looting parties as in England . In India people are asking to be heard by going hungry and skipping a meal! This is meant to shame the government already inundated with countless fiscal scams and worst kind of malfeasance . At the time of writing no government including  the Indian one was about to give in. 

Why is change for the better so hard to make? My theory is that  it is because we always look for a Messiah to come deliver us. Both collectively as a society as well as in our individual capacity. We need  Jesus to pay for "our" sins so we are absolved. We need Muhhamed to intercede for "our" behalf and soon as we read the kalma our place in heaven is guaranteed . We need Gandhi to get "our" freedom and now we do not need to do anything to preserve it.  Messiah have  taken care of it. We hide behind them and refuse to take responsibility . Always hankering for one Messiah after another. If we do not find one, we create one. As long as we can avoid taking charge! Until we start bearing our own crosses things won't change.

Human society probably can never be entirely free of corruption . Greed for power and money is a human  weakness. That is why governments, laws and systems of governance were invented. Biggest tragedy is that those nations which can least afford it are beset by endemic corruption. Where limited resources and poor development requires that every last available  penny is used for public good; sees the severest form of systematic institutionalized loot of public funds. Several of African nations easily come to mind. Lots of  Latin American and Asian one's too. Pakistan is reportedly led by a "Mr. Ten Percent", meaning one tenth of all resources are pocketed by him. India of course is miles ahead  and seemingly her government is also a "Ten Percent" government. In their case ten percent is used for  the public . Only ninety is siphoned off!

We have known it all along. We have experienced it everyday in our daily lives.  Each one of us has seen this monster  grow  many times faster than  the economy ; eat away at progress ; corrode governance; rot our society  and widen the gap between haves and have not's. We have even participated in this madness by paying bribes here and there and even accepting them here and there.  Some times brazenly , some times in the garb of "Diwali sweets". Have we done anything to arrest this slide? Well we were waiting for a Messiah to come deliver us!

Man Mohan Singh is an honest man ! He will change the face of India! .....I was one of those fools who believed in it. We made him an icon of honesty . Yes he will do it  and we kept our eyes closed! Lo & behold ! He takes the prize for heading  without argument the most corrupt government in India's recorded history.  This messiah failed too. Even foreign invaders who made us slaves and exploited India  were not half as bad. Some of them made Taj Mahal . Something beautiful and substantial to show for our ancestor's toil and their tax money. Some of those foreign rulers laid railways across the length and breadth of the nation. Iron railway bridge over river Yamuna in Dehi is still standing after hundred odd years. Compare to what we know  happened when this government made Asian Games village! And who can forget the pedestrian bridge in front of Nehru Stadium which collapsed even before a single person could use it. India was shamed in front of the world but these thick skinned people carried on as if nothing  happened.

We did not do anything  as we were waiting for a Messiah. In came Baba Ramdev. We all thought he will do it .Long story short government did succeeded in throwing a lot of mud at him and cane charged him ..... so people lost interest. And now we have Anna. Will he do it ? Mind you he has made the government blink but  only because people  came on the streets. People took charge. Once his fast for fifteen days ends what  will happen next ? Government is pretty sure public fatigue will set in by then and everything will be as it was. They are counting on our lethargy , disinterest and passivity.People will not disappoint them ! They know election is far away  and by that time they will pull some other gimmick to come through again.  Even if there is a short fall in seats they can throw money at it. Afterall that's why 2G and CWG scams took place.  To create an election fund!

We can all say "Lage raho Anna Bhai. Carry on Anna! It is up to you . You are our Messiah". And that will be a strategic mistake  once again. Anna will fail if we do not take charge and carry this forward till the end. As long as it takes. Or else wait for Godot. Forever.

End of Portrait.

 'Reflection', By Lucien freud ,1985   56x51 cm ; oil on canvas

Camera and the photographic process came into vogue early in the nineteenth century and with it came the belief that the art of portrait will die soon. It of course did not happen. since artists used portrait as a way of  creative expression. Not as a way to represent likeness.

Lucien freud (Yes,  he is related to Sigmund !) a foremost exponent of the portrait said about a portrait artist  ,"And, since the model he faithfully copies is not going to be hung up next to the picture, since the picture is going to be there on its own, it is of no interest whether it is an accurate copy of the model."  and also

 "I paint people, not because of what they are like, not exactly in spite of what they are like, but how they happen to be." 

 Even a cursory examination of his body of work will prove how successful he was in doing exactly that. His success in capturing the very essence of his models, depicting the core of their personality on a canvas is without compare. He translated a model; his feelings and their circumstances  into paint. As he said,"The aura given out by a person or object is as much a part of them as their flesh."

As is the wont of most artists ,his personal life was quite eventful . It is his figurative work that he persisted with despite opposition of critics and trends ;  that makes him a leading artist of our time and among of the greats ever. His work  became hugely popular among public during his own life time and that is literally a silver lining . In May 2008, his 1995 picture Benefits Supervisor Sleeping was sold at Christie's in New York for $33.6 million, a record for a work by a living artist.

Well the artist last week passed on  to the great beyond . In the summer of 2002 during a retrospective his work considered to be among ten most popular shows ever; he jokingly told a friend that he would also like to go and see if all the things he has read about his work are actually true!

Actually they are and it was a life well spent.

 

Not an Intelligence failure!

I have no pretensions of being a security expert, yet the last time Mumbai was assaulted  I could clearly see the writing on the wall.And this blog is a witness to the fact that I predicted more attacks.  http://byteandbark.blogspot.com/2009/11/fighting-with-candles.html

Well I am no Nostradamus. I based my predictions entirely on how we handled that episode and what we did afterwards. It did not need any special intelligence on my part  to figure out that if anyone is fooling anyone it is us fooling ourselves. We took out candle light processions and Shahrukh Khan pontificated  from India gate .Regurgitated some corny dialogues from a movie , taught us  difference between mullah's islam and allah's islam.... and everyone went home afterwards feeling happy. This was the total sum of our response. Shame on us ! Did we expect terrorists and their masters to be afraid of our lit candles; or shake in their boots with fear as SRK mouthed his meaningless sentence? I am sure they were shaking but with mirth , laughter and joy at their success. 9 of them and 166 of ours with 1 left costing us millions to keep him alive.

Terrorism is a low investment high profits business. You  stop them by taking them out of business, period !Not by taking out your candles. Are you serious! And as 13th July has proved you have not stopped them. Not even a little bit . Unless you make them pay a heavy price for their dare why on earth would they stop this profitable business? Why? This is apparent to even a non professional average Joe  such as myself . It is amazing that our Home minister is not so clear, although I have to agree with him on one thing. It is not an intelligence failure! Honestly it is not; because we have not even begin to use our intelligence in the first place. It is a complete absence of brains! The alternative is worse.  It is either that or our government does not care as long as they have their vote banks .Choose for yourself but please for God's sake do not say " we will not tolerate terrorism any more"! It is a lie ,because you do. And show some respect to all those who have perished in the recent carnage. Do not take part in meaningless candle light vigils and do not talk about the "spirit of Mumbai". It is an affront to the memory of all those who needlessly lost their lives .It  just means  that you do not care and would like to get on with your lives.

If you want to show support please take responsibility for our collective response and the response of our government. They have failed us because we have let them. Make sure this time round their response is adequate ; immediate; and measurable. Hold them and ourselves accountable or be prepared for more .