A page from a "Statesman's Diary".

"I want to do", rather " I wish things be done". So do I really want to do what I wish be done. I mean, certainly in my mind I have no doubt that I want to do things but then at the same time I wish things be done too, not necessarily by me but only so far from me that I can say " I did it"(I can have the credit for it). So is "I want to do" always in anticipation of the consequential "I did it". For if I did something I would certainly wish to say that I did it but does this thought occupy me every time I say "I want to do". For if it does it simply means I do something just so that it be known that I did it. Or would I mind, if it may be unknown that I did it for if it wouldn't, it shouldn't. And yes there remains the ultimate question of " I want but I can't" for if I know already that saying "I did it " is out of the question, if "I can't do it" and can't have the credit for it( much more important), why would I want to do it. But, do I really want something I can't or is it just one of the irregular verbs:-

I can't

You shan't

He shouldn't

It is awfully frightening also, when :

"Someone could" but "He shouldn't",

"Someone couldn't" but "He should have".

All in all

what "I do" is what "I did";

but what others do is what "they could"

and

what "I didn't", "I couldn't;

" but what others didn't, they "shouldn't have anyway"

is what I say

and

what "I do", "I could";

what others do is what "they did";

what " I didn't" , "I wouldn't have";

but what "others didn't", "others couldn't" ;

is what they(my opposition,of course) say.

Frightfully funny,isn't it.

The Surreal Pragmatist

So I am just back from a trip to Kolkatta and every time I have been there the city has spoken to me. Some voices I have heard out of preoccupation and some out of contemplation. But all in all I have come across several thoughts every time I think of this indigenously grown microcosm of center left and extreme left wing ideologies. Its in the heart of this city that an organism named Indian Marxism has bred over several of the past decades and every time you look for opinions you are surprised. On many of my past trips to the city and being in Kharagpur myself, I have talked to many people, commoners mostly about how they felt about the state of affairs in West Bengal. I mean anyone who has been in the IIT campus has learnt how to criticize the communists for having ruined a major part of their college life.But I have been curious about how people who have put these leftists in power feel about their leaders and what possesses them that they have elected leftist leaders for the past 33 years now.

Today's protagonist is the poster boy for the Bengali affair with Marxism. In fact he is the mascot for Indian version of Communism. Our dear Jyoti Babu was the longest serving Chief Minister in the history of Indian Democracy, serving for 23 years straight,he shall always be remembered as the pioneer of Pragmatism in India. But his following is on a fall among the populists today and he is accused of having traded economic development at the cost of forced equity.

Jyotendra Basu was an urbane born to upper middle class parents in Calcutta in 1914. He studied at the London School of Economics where he was inspired by his Professor Harold Laski.Jyoti Basu was inspired by Marxism and he returned to India and joined the Indian Communist Movement as part of the CPI. In the 1964 split of the CPI Basu became one of the founding members of the Communist Party of India(Marxist). In 1967 and again in 1969 Basu became the Deputy Chief Minister of West Bengal in a coalition government led by Bangla Congress's Leader Ajoy Mukherjee. But along with power came the responsibility to fulfill commitments. The CPM was the political party for all of extreme left wing activists who now believed that with Basu in power now was their time to get rid of the feudal system of land ownership. But caught in the battle between ideology and reality the CPM could not support the farmers(Sharecroppers) claim. This is when unrest started in a village called Naxalbari in the district of Darjeeling which started a whole new movement of armed revolution.

Naxalbari today is perhaps the most infamous place is India because any uprising against the state today is termed as Naksalwaad or Naxalite movement. The extremists under Charu Mazumdar formed a new party called the CPI(ML) and they included the name of the great revolutionist Lenin from the Soviet union along with Marx. Anyhow, moving on with our Jyoti Babu, the man was far from over yet. He grew in strength even as the state of West Bengal was turmoiled by the Naxalite upsurge. The CPM came into power for the first time in 1977 and Jyoti Basu was sworn into the office which he would hold for more than two decades. Basu lived up to the promises he had made in his election manifesto and initiated land reforms as soon he came into power. The operation Barga remains one of the most successful land reforms in the Indian history wherein the farmers where given there share out of the feudal landowners . This remains a primary reason why even today the farmers are so loyal to the communist party. The reforms ensured that the farmer would be self sufficient.

Basu continued to lead the government of West Bengal but in his urge to become pragmatist he lost count of the reality and surreality started occupying the primary place in the socialist ideology. The state of Bengal lost its sheen as the primary center for trade and commerce as more and more firms started shutting down their operations in the state partly because of the government policies and partly because of the terror that the Naxalites/Maoists had reigned. All in all the economic conditions worsened and development of infrastructure recieved a major setback.

Basu though remained a prime figure in the Indian Politics. Circa 1996 Basu was chosen as the consensus leader to become the Prime Minister of India in the United Front government. But the Politburo of CPM decided not to take part in government and Jyoti Basu,(8 years before Sonia Gandhi would do the same ) refused the supreme post. Basu later termed it as a "historic blunder".

Basu continued as the CM of West Bengal and retired from power in 2000. He played a major role as an architect of the first UPA government which was supported by the CPM from outside. Jyoti Babu retired from the CPM poltiburo in 2008 and remained a permanent politburo invitee till his death in 2010.

Basu marked the beginning of a new governance ideology in India, one driven with good conscience perhaps but one which resulted in blunders one after the other. His pro Chinese stance on foreign policies has been criticized by many and even termed as anti-Indian. He was always a loyal supporter of the Chinese and the Chinese always reciprocated with great respect and admiration for their fellow comrade.

Just as West Bengal perhaps looks to introduce reforms in economy and governance their is another storm that is being raised. This one led by Didi who is doing just what Jyoti Basu did when he was at his political peak. The Singur and Nandigram movement has already painted the CPM government in wrong shades in the eyes of their most loyal and trusted Farmers. So looks like industrial development and modernization is something that is still very far-fetched for this great state.

This is the biggest irony of India, we have leaders who want to deliver from the past, others who are just interested in the projection of a Superpower like future. Lost in the midst of all this is the present of our country. This is perfectly voiced in one of the lines from Rang de Basanti :

" ik pair past mein ta ik pair future mein, tabhi toh hum aaj par moot rahe hain"

Reference:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyoti_Basu
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_India_(Marxist)
3. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/i-still-think-it-was-a-historic-blunder.-because-such-an-opportunity-to-become-pm-does-not-come-often/568465/
4. http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article82177.ece
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naxalite
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naxalbari
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Barga
8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_India_Trinamool_Congress

P.S. : and the conspiracy theory special is hard to find for this one because Basu was openly loyal to the Chinese. :P

Ji Mantriji!!

So day 3 and I have so many people to cover, but one person at a time is the way I go. I have been thinking about who gets to be the protagonist of todays post and well I decided it should be contemporary and in contrast with the Nehru era. The best period which fulfills these requirements happens to be the Vajpayee era. Many of you would have guessed who this post is going to be about, but I am afraid thats not how I roll. Of course the image must suggest our dear kaviraj but its not the revered poet. It is the man to the left of him, Mr. Brajesh Mishra.

So I am quite sure many readers would not recognize him so here is a brief introduction.

Mr. Brajesh Mishra is an IFS officer who retired in 1987. By then he had taken up key positions like India's permanent representative at Geneva and India's ambassador to Indonesia.He is the son of senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh C.M. D.P. Mishra . In spite of the fact that his father was a senior leader in congress Brajesh Mishra joined the Bhartiya Janata Party in 1991 and became a key figure in formulating party's stand on foreign policy issues. He also became a very close aide to Mr.Atal Bihari Vajpayee.When the BJP came into power for the first time in 1998 he was appointed as the principal secretary to the Prime Minster. He also became the first National Security Advisor of the country.

So, I guess that was an introduction good enough. Lets get to the task at hand, trying to decode the reason why this gentleman happens to be so important in Indian politics. Well it just so happens that Mishra belonged to a regime of diplomats which followed a pro-Russia pro-left ideology, thanks to the Nehru era policies and his confidant V.K. Menon's approach. I have written about it in my previous post. While working as an Indian diplomat he always felt the need for reforms and once he retired out of the Indian Foreign Services he joined the BJP and formulated the foreign policy for the party think-tank right from the scratch. He also became a close friend of Mr. Vajpayee, who was an important figure in Indian foreign policy issues being the Minister for External Affairs in the Morarji Desai cabinet and member of several parliamentary committees on foreign affairs.

Circa 1998, the BJP came into power and Mishra became the first non-IAS officer to take up the post of the Principal Secretary to the P.M., he also became the inaugural holder of the office of National Security Advisor of the country. What followed was a series of events that reshaped India's politics forever.

* The Prime Minister's Office bypassed the Ministry of Foreign affairs on almost all major foreign policy matters. Mishra started major reforms in this direction and he had the full support and conservation of the P.M. The foundations for closer ties with the U.S were laid during this period.

* Mishra played a pivotal role in the Pokhran-II and coordinated with finesse between the Scientific community and the Government.

* Further, Mishra remained Vajpayee's chief aide on almost all issues from National Security to Home affairs, People in the South Block and the North Block were now feeling the heat from the P.M.O and the National Security Council.

* Mishra was the troubleshooter during IC-814 and it was he who coordinated the overall proceedings during the incident. He was the link between the Cabinet Committee on Security and the Negotiators from India.

* He was instrumental in initiating a new series of strategic dialog with the U.S. and Pakistan.

Mishra is considered by many as the second in command after the P.M. himself . In fact, in his book My country, My life Advani mentions an event where he went to the P.M. along with other members of the cabinet to reassign the post of Principal Secretary to the P.M. because he believed that with the two posts Mishra had become very powerful. Mishra ran the most powerful P.M.O in the history of independent India.

Mishra is credited for having revamped the Indian foreign policy and having paved the way for closer ties with the U.S. He helped improve India's position in strategic terms. He was also the support for the P.M. who led a government as well as a party that was divided into several factions.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh briefed him about the Indo-Nuclear U.S. deal after Mishra went public with his skepticism for the agreement. Mishra then endorsed the deal and said it would be in the best interest of the country. He also congratulated the Think-Tank for having prepared a perfect draft of the agreement. Today he is one of the top strategic thinkers of the country.

Many criticize him for having undermined the cabinet members on several occasions. But he had the conservation and full support of the Prime Minister. In a recent statement, Mishra said that the office of the National Security Advisor should be dissolved as it was not required and his responsibilities be split between the P.M.O. and the cabinet committee on security. This was a shock given he was the one who ran the first omnipotent office. He has also been criticized for the events following the Kandahar incident. The beauty of Mishra's job was that he got credit for all that went right and the blame went to the B.J.P so much so that they lost the 2004 general elections.

Anyhow he can be termed as one of the most powerful bureaucrats in the Indian political history in the league of the likes of V.K. Menon. He also formulated the Indian stand on several issues and prepared India for the 21st century.

But his biggest achievement remains the reforms he brought in governance. He took the Union government from being a collage of several conflicting individuals to leadership. Even in the era of coalition it was thanks to his support that Vajpayee could lead with such stability. He was India's first equivalent for a White House Chief of the Staff. It is this philosophy of governance that has continued in the UPA government and has allowed a politically powerless Prime Minister to be able to govern with favorable results for the country. It is this philosophy that enables India to prepare for the challenges the modern World order has posed in front of us.

So I am off to Kolkatta for the weekend and it is there that my next icon hails from. A spoiler!!!!!

Lets see on Monday.

References:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brijesh_Mishra
2. http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?20998
3. http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/indo-us-strategic-ties-won/t-be-easy-feels-brajesh/106301/on
4. http://www.timesnow.tv/articleshow/4325803.cms

and here is the conspiracy theory special :

http://intellibriefs.blogspot.com/2005/04/brijesh-mishra-cia-agent.html

enjoy!!!!!

So, January 27th 2011. Just one day after I took the oath(or was it a pledge) to decode our leaders, one leader at a time, I am bubbling with ideas to kick the journey off. But for reasons which happen to be very close to my heart I chose to start to with our dear Chachaji.

Chacha Nehru , oh!! what a man. Legend has it that on a fine evening of mid November 1889, in a country (read colony) oppressed by the rule of the British was born the liberator. Born in a family that was one of the wealthiest in their era ( among the Indians of course), the boy went on to study at big schools(Harrow and Trinity) at Cambridge and earned the distinction of JB(Jailed in Britain). He then returned back to his country, as British as one(an Indian) could be and started to fight for India's independence. The legend goes on to say that he met a Mahatma en route his fight for freedom and the Mahatma changed him forever. Inspired by Mahatma's " Simple living and high thinking", the boy( now a full-grown man) became an "Indian" now. He would wear khadi and try to cut down on his lavish lifestyle.

He became the preferati in the eyes of the Mahatma and led the country with Mahatma's blessings. Chachaji became the first leader of independent India ( some part of the original one anyway) and paved the way for all that was to follow for this great nation.

The marvelous folklore recited at almost all schools of India today portray our dear chachu as a man of principles and great love for children. From time to time in our great peninsula's story men are born who pave the way for liberation of mankind and offer a path of true enlightenment for everyone. Such leaders need to remembered and revered in our hearts, for they are the ones that make a community truly proud.

Now one might choose to believe in all of this or one could try and analyze various aspects of Panditji's persona. Of course, a deeper analysis shall imply we look into sources that criticize Panditji for various reasons and then find counter arguments in the folklore to prove he was a great man. Of all the places where you might find subtle as well as exaggerated criticism of the great Chachaji almost all of them tend to agree that he was involved in adultery( the Indian version, of course) on several occasions. In fact, the First Lady(seems reasonable) at the time of the Kashmir crisis ( Lady Mountbatten ) claimed it was her influence on Panditji that led to the issue of Kashmir being taken to the United Nations.

But leave personal life apart. Seriously what have I got to do with the personal life of one of our "greatest" leaders, never mind his personal life may have put issues of national importance at jeopardy . Anyhow, talking politics, Panditji did some great things for the country too. Like setting up the IITs and the IIMs. Integration of the great country. He did indeed lay the foundation for further development in various sectors. Lakme for instance was Panditji's brainchild. But beyond all of these achievements lies failures ( read betrayals ) that the country is paying for even today.

* Nehru refused the permanent membership at the United Nations Security Council and decided to give it to the People's Republic of China instead, but since China was being opposed for the membership the seat was given to Republic Of China( Taiwan) instead,until 1971 when China(mainland) entered the UNSC.

* Nehru refused the offer of United States for help to develop a nuclear bomb as early as the 1960s(allegedly) citing panchsheel as his reason for non-alignment.

* Nehru placed immense faith in the Chinese and could never see through their motives of imperialism and never as a leader of free India did he take a solid stand against the oppression in Tibet.

* Nehru brought Kashmir to a stalemate by taking the issue to UN General Assembly and even today the issue is far from resolved.

* Nehru paved way for India's Hypo-critic adventure with socialism, wherein he created a culture of bureaucratic buffoonery which eventually created a system that our forefathers had to fight against for many decades. It was only until recently that restraint was exercised on the practice of "Fake Socialism". Anyhow, the party at the secretariats is far from over and the modern day bourgeoises( the bureaucrats) are here to stay.

* Perhaps the primary reason for the partition of the country was the animosity between Panditji and Jinnah.Now,how much of this could be pinned on Nehru is for God to decide , but Nehru was a primary figure in this dispute.

* And finally Nehru had confidants like V.K. Menon( India's first high commissioner to UK and later the Defence Minister in Nehru Cabinet) who single-handedly destroyed India's chances in the Shino-Indian War of 1962.

All said there are still several reasons to believe that Nehru was just another human being and perhaps all that he did was out of desperation to set up a country that was perfectly idealistic. Nevertheless, the very fact that he himself never realized anything wrong with his grand design for the country. And never ever worked on anything to rectify all that he had set wrong makes him perhaps the initiator of a political and economic system that shall take ages before it finally comes on a path our forefathers wanted it to be.

P.S. : I herewith include some references for further information on the content of this post.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V._K._Krishna_Menon
2. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/08/AR2010110800495_2.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2010110402773
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_and_the_United_Nations
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakm%C3%A9
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawaharlal_Nehru
6. http://www.india-today.com/itoday/millennium/100people/nehru.html

PPS : And also a special link for all those who love conspiracy theories, personally I couldn't digest the contents of the following link , but what the hell it is a conspiracy theory:

1. http://www.krishnajnehru.blogspot.com/

The Pilot

Assume that I actually decide to form a political party. Well, would I write something to describe it. Of course, I could write an article voicing my anguish about whatever wrong I perceive of the current state of affairs. I mean, why do politicians get to have all the fun. Big Bank accounts in safe havens, added to that a whole army of diplomats just to keep these havens safe and yes tax-free. Never mind, foreign economies may profiteer while we fail to feed the hungry and the starving. Never mind, the world believes us to be leaders of the future, a powerhouse in the making, and all it would take the great nation to halt is uncovering of these bank accounts. Seriously, how would a country function when a large chunk of its leaders, policy-makers, think tank and diplomats might be required to quit their offices on charges of corruption. It doesn't add up, I mean , how could we as a people be so ignorant. It seems the day I took over my senses I have heard one thing from everyone, irrespective of age, color, caste or political ideology, that we as a people are primarily corrupt. That, for a popular sentiment among people who claim to follow the most "pure" culture that has ever been. Why do we give into corruption anyways. Is it the size of our population that makes us feel that to be distinguished among the crowd, you need to slip something under the table. Or is it that we were ruled by outsiders for so long that as soon as the power to rule went to the majority ( "debatable"), we chose to not do it right , just so that we do not upset the prevalent rhythm of oppression and deceit. I mean a people governed by the ruthless colonists for so long would want to set things in place as soon as they had the opportunity. But no, instead we chose to draft a constitution that resembled our previous rulers to a remarkable degree. And we let them call us a dominion, even after 63 odd years of independence.Added to that leaders placed an immense faith in the civil services that existed at that point, forgetting that these were the ones manufactured in imperialist regimes just so that colonial motives could be served. Perhaps,it was us struggling with the idea of modern complex democracy, perhaps it was a first for us anyways. No but wait, didn't we have something even before the Roman republic that was democratic. Yes, the panchayat system , but who cares for that , the imperialists had just left and the civil services had to feast. It was a party that started on a midnight after all. Integration of the country was a major issue, of course and how beautifully our "Iron Man" performed along with his army of "Selfless" yet " Underpaid Babus" . All settled, maybe now we give a thought to panchayati or something, put some faith in the ideology our "father of nation" preached. But no, the father has found a profound place on our currency, thats it for him. We go by what our priest suggests. Nonetheless, the priest was perhaps anti- anything that would strengthen the country's position in strategic terms.

Add to that he had confidants, who were not "pro-India". Wow, thats "made up" for sure I mean for the leader, the first one in fact of the free nation to seek advice from someone who wasn't pro-India, not possible. Perhaps these are all baseless allegations ( of course,they are not), the priest however dies of a stroke("debatable") leaving the country at the hands of a shorty with taller principles than his predecessor but guess what just when he is at an all time high followed by a steep fall, he was gone in a very fishy manner, nobody smelled it well enough but it was fishy alright and then the reign of Madame........................................................... But hey where are we headed with all this, I mean lets do all this in an orderly fashion.

So today on the day of our true liberation( because of the constitution and all that ) , I undertake a journey to decode leaders from India and abroad,with everlasting impact on us, one leader at a time.

P.S. : Anything cited in this post is quite factual.Arguable,of course, but factual. No names of course.

But as a matter of fact(pun intended), what is truthful is not for me to tell anyone, its for you to believe, as Gurudev once said:

"Facts can be many, but there is only one real truth."