Small and Big Steps

Yesterday I came across few developments from different quarters. The messages were read completely casually and hence the pattern that emerged left me thinking..

1. A social entrepreneurship venture in Kenya that has come out with a cost effective technology with a sound business model to back it for providing electricity to the people in the country who are still languishing in the shadows of the glitz that marks the other part of the world
2. A news brief explaining how Indian railways is will be installing 2500 ecofriendly toilets as against the present shoddy system of human waste disposal. Each unit will apparently cost around  Rs100000.  Thats a big sum of money ! Considering that a train generally has around 16 coaches, this will approximately cover close to 156 trains and which is really good.
3. The third piece of data I received was from the pollution board of the state where I reside. It was an SMS- "Let's celebrate eco friendly Holi, avoid chiemcial toxic colour, use natural Eco Friendly colours, save water, protect environment- Maharashtra Pollution Control Board"

One may say that I chose to read on a given topic and hence found three messages that are indicative of the small and big steps being taken at various geographies but the interesting part for me was that these three bits of information have come almost on the same day and I just happened to read about them. They are developments at different levels of space viz. First one in a different country and continent, Second one at a Central govt level in India and the third one is at a Regional level again in India.

These initiatives are indicative of the efforts being taken at different levels by different stake holders and they will surely have an impact on the ground. It may need reciprocation from various quarter- such as the third one on the appeal by the pollution control Board.

Many a times the magnitude of the problem- like sustainability is daunting and gives us a perception that there is little that is happening but if we truly try to count such efforts and consolidate them over a period of time, it surely would amount to a wise set of decisions that lead us to live in a more harmonious way with nature. Its a very positive trend.

Every small and big step would matter. What matters is to act. All have a role to play- big or small.

Power of the Powerless by Havel

The timeless essay - "Power of the Powerless" by Vaclav Havel.

A peep into the history of social media

A nice article giving sound instance of how the new word 'social media' is not actually a thing of today.  The author explains the effort of Luther in Germany way back in 16th century and how he managed to shape public opinions during his times.

It was a refreshing read on the subject

Pseudo heroism?

The above image has been taken from one of the protest in a European country in the year 2011. A close examination of this visual struck me from the point of view of the number of people who were trying to capture images at the moment. Several people can be seen weilding cameras, phones, ipads or some other gadget. One thought that came to me was possibly that there are people from the media. But the sheer number of such individuals as seen in the visual makes me wonder whether they are all from the media.

There are two aspects to it-

• In the age of social media, we want to feel good about ourselves and what we have been upto. Sharing of images from such protests when one is part of it is one aspect of this self love. 
• There is a sense of romanticisation about fight against state which has been glorified not just by media but also by entertainment industry. Films like Hazaron Khwaishein Aisi, Hazar Chaurasi ki Ma, Rang de basanti are all testimony to it. There are some movies from India. There are several from the west too where the oppresive state against unarmed citizens makes for an engaging story. Remember the iconic image of the revolutionary Che that we have seen on many a t-shirts?

A genuine revolutionary whose image became iconic amongst youth

An image from Rang de Basanti signifying the attitude of 'letting go'

In a state of extreme emotion, do we really feel like pulling out our camera to capture being present there?

There is a sense of high that one feels by claiming that one got hit by police or else when one was caught by the police. But isn't it totally different from the kind of struggle that freedom fighters did or else people like Suu Kyi and all have gone through. Shouldn 't people try to be more genuine when they seek to be in the middle of such movements.


Movements require passionate people and the passion should be towards the cause and nothing else. But if one enters into these protests for the sheer appeal of being captured in the press or sharing it on facebook, it loses its essential value. And the same momentum can't last beyond few hours. All leaders who start such movements should be vary of such 'supporters' as it is very difficult to guage from the crowd as to who is supporting what at that point in time.

This is one reason why Gandhian followers (in the true sense) and on extreme level terrorists never care to come in front of the media. Media searches for them when possible. They are committed to the cause because they believe in a given ideology, they understand its roots, history and possibilities. They are not there for bubble fames. And such people will aways be few.

It is important to distil true heroism from pseudo heroism. The former gives you numbers but the latter is about sustained strength.

The age of Eklavyas

 Any person who has taken interest in Mahabharata even remotely would be aware of the story of Eklavya. The famous archer who considered Drona to be his guru and developed his expertise after taking inspiration from him. Drona didn't agree to teach him archery because he was associated with Arjuna- a kshatriya, while Eklavya was apparently from a lower sociological strata. This didn't deter Eklavya to give up his passion.

Fast forward and come to the 21st century. There may be few Dronas now who may be unwilling to tutor anyone for sociological reasons. But on the flip side there are millions who can't really afford to pay to learn from professors of the best universities of the world.  Had internet existed in the age of Mahabharata, Eklavya would have been able to see Drona on youtube, listened to his thoughts on podcast, read about his theories of warfare online and may be even attended his webinar without Drona ever getting to know about all this. We are all Eklavya's in some form trying to learn from Dronas scattered all over the world. The distance between Arjuna and Eklavya has shrunk considerably.

Today we as Eklavyas can get to learn from whosoever we want to, provided we have the intent and inclination to do that. Big assumption being we can afford to access internet. 

And the icing on the cake is that, the Drona will not get to ask his thumb as gurudakshina any more.

It has taken several ages to reach this stage. Some distances are just so long to cover !

Lokpal: Civil society is as much at crossroad as the government

Couple of months back I posted my thoughts about the need for Anna and the team to do some soul searching considering the increasing tensions that were evident and out there in the media for us to absorb. The fears that i had at that time didn't prove too off the mark looking at the response that the movement received this time.

Anna Hazare and his team did a wonderful job in bringing the issue of corruption to national consciousness. Considering the various layers and layers of issues and important questions that lie in each clause at a technical level, it is critical that the bill is debated thoroughly before it sees the light of the day. The debates in the Parliament undoubtedly were fine exhibition of understanding of legislation and political rhetoric. A learning experience for me for sure.

As much as it will be important to understand in what form Congress brings the bill back to Lok Sabha, it will be critical to understand what does Anna do to build the pressure for a strong Lok Pal. When i state thus, i am not referring to Anna as the person who should be responsible for creating pressure but as someone who has already taken the lead and did manage to capture the imagination of people at large. Its not his agenda alone but a national cause for which he waged the battle.

To understand the sudden silence in December's fast, it may help to do a kind of referendum (on its own approach) that the group claimed to do in Chandni Chowk to understand what really went wrong. Why weren't people enthusiastic any more. And the more difficult question is how do we enthuse people now?

Just one day prior to the proposed fast i.e on 26th of Dec, law minister- Salman Khurshid was asked by Barkha Dutta about what he felt about the over 1 lakh people who had signed the online petition towards "jail bharo" call  His response was 'signing online and actually going to jail are completely different aspects. We will see how many actually do that.'  As a politician it is not surprising that their sense of pulse of people will be better than people outside or else why will they be elected representatives but that surely should also encourage us as citizens to understand where did the civil society lose out?

In a very interesting turn, Medha Patkar who was as vocal as anyone can be in the August'11 fast, in one of the talk shows held just the day the bill was being debated in Rajya Sabha states that they should not insist on the timeline now that the debate is being done rigorously. This again is a shift from the earlier stand of we have to get the bill passed in the winter session.

Thus it seems that every aspect of argument or stand that one is taking in the passing of this historic bill, there are strong arguments from either side and a loud claim of one section knowing it all is highly misplaced at least and a grave error at maximum. Thus if someone says that the panel should have representation from various sections, another section of society says why should there be quota in something like LokPal which should be an unbiased body. Similarly Pratap Bhanu Mehta- head of center for civil society made a compelling case in front of Standing Committee on why the PM should not be part of Lok Pal and how that argument was fairly strong. Thus if each aspect of this bill along with the method of public pressure is so contentious, it is anyone's guess on what will work and what won't.

Thus strategizing for Anna is going to be very difficult going ahead since one it would call for him to eat some of the words that he committed and secondly each decision would be fraught with greatest uncertainty on how the civil society will actually take it and whether it would support it.

It has to be principally understood that in a political domain, one's powers emerge from the support base that we are able to gather and not our belief or conviction alone. If the latter doesn't result in the former, the person will be as weak or strong as any other person walking on the street.

The essential flame

A brilliant article by Aung San Suu Kyi examining the role of power and passion in shaping nations.

Mujhko bhi tarkeeb sikha yar julahe

A wonderful poem by Gulzar sahab where he uses the analogy of a weaver who is able to handle his tender threads so deftly despite those threads giving way at times.  How the end work doesn't give any indication of those broken joints as against his efforts at trying to maintain a single relationship which appears full of strains and joints.

मुझको भी तरकीब सिखा यार जुलाहे

अकसर तुझको देखा है कि ताना बुनते
जब कोइ तागा टुट गया या खत्म हुआ
फिर से बांध के
और सिरा कोई जोड़ के उसमे
आगे बुनने लगते हो
तेरे इस ताने में लेकिन
इक भी गांठ गिराह बुन्तर की
देख नहीं सकता कोई

मैनें तो ईक बार बुना था एक ही रिश्ता
लेकिन उसकी सारी गिराहे
साफ नजर आती हैं मेरे यार जुलाहे

Need for governance practices for civil society organization

A good article by Kiran Karnik on the need for good governance mechanisms for civil society organizations.

Team Anna's troubles

I expressed my thoughts on the challenges for Anna Hazare's team in my post yesterday.


The editorial today in Indian Express from Shekhar Gupta is a scathing expression of the point  of trying to hold a sky high moral ground whose foundations are not totally rock solid.  Though i find him biased on a lot of matters otherwise, in this section I feel the questions raised do hold water.

Whatever is happening is not good at all for the cause by any standards.

Anna needs to call a 'Chintan Shibir'

Some of the developments in Anna Hazare team's efforts drive me to feel that there are clear causes for concern.

Discussions have subsided. Facebook updates have waned away. Discussions about the bill are not happening.No fervent demonstrations etc happening.Routine life has cast its own net and we are back to our respective domains. Steve Jobs' death was the latest event that drew the sentiments of the youth last time.

Those who were involved in the movement from the very beginning are continuing to raise voices. The hope was in their voice. The hope will continue to lie in their efforts. Rest will follow as and when through discussions or through efforts.

What has happened with Team Anna in the past few weeks is actually worth note as it provides vital insights into some cracks in its management.

Few facts:

1. Despite the fact that Govt stated its intention to bring the bill into the parliament in the winter session, three members of the team decided to use Hissar poll to pressurise the government. The idea was to put political pressure even though there were no 'clean' candidate in other parties and in the absence of 'Right to Recall' the members voiced that the new people would be ousted in case they also acted in the lines of Congress.

Thus though they say they are not going to form a political party, they are trying to influence electoral results by direct action.

What drove the people to vote for Bishnoi from BJP is anybody's guess. Kejriwal feels its their victory while BJP members and political analysts think otherwise.


2. Factions are seen within the party as two of the senior members left the group stating above as the reason. They found the act to be an act of impatience and not in line with their opinion.  The expression of the members even revealed that they never agreed to support it in this form.

3. Prashant Bhushan- the senior lawyer within the group made certain comments in the public about his views on Kashmir (a subject unrelated to corruption) leading to rowdy reaction from some unknown group. Anna Hazare expressed that he didn't agree to both the content of the speech and also the fact that he spoke on this issue in public without group consent.

4. Arvind Kejriwal also faced a backlash when one of the Congress supporters hurled a shoe at him. He commented on the media stating that they are even willing to face bullets. Anna Hazare stood behind his words stating that such things do happen but won't deter the group.

5. Kiran Bedi is being questioned on why she chooses to claim the entire fare for her travels while she has been awarded rebate by GoI on Air India tickets.

6. In the debates shown in certain news channel, it is seen that senior members within the team are not in sync with the method and controls that are governing the progression of the movement.

7. The group members continue to dodge the question on whether they would ever form a political party. The huge gap one creates when one says- i don't want to enter politics but i want to clean it is one of the most counter intuitive statements one can make.


Lessons

1. Carrying the Cross:Team Anna comprises of people of impeccable integrity who have spent decades in public life doing remarkable work through the years.  Through the aspersions they have cast on the politicians, they have kind of worn a halo of morality around their head. This kind of positioning once taken, makes one extremely vulnerable to attacks as well. In one way the group has invited the kind of probity thats happening towards their own selves.
 Does this kind of a situation have the potential of denting the image of the party in any form?


2. Intent of Institution Building is missing- 'Team Anna' which got formed as a team while it became a movement when people showed their faith in them and that was driven by the hyper intensive media coverage. It is to be noted that the members within the team are not really known for institution building. They are strong individualistic players. Would someone like Tata or Deepak Parekh given a different structure to the way the group is progressing?Would the present members also want to be tied to a certain order in which they speak and express themselves in public? The fact that people are expressing views about various things and expressing their disagreement with each other is a sign that they are not as prepared as any political party is generally seen to be with clear guidelines on who is authorised to express on what aspects? The challenges are two fold- first the journey towards routing out corruption doesn't end with the passing of Lokpal bill. In fact it may begin decisively from there onwards. What is the group doing for the long haul if at all? People like Kejriwal have a lot of demands like a lot of other activists in public life but is there an organized effort required to attain it or can it be done in an adhoc manner the way it has progressed so far? 
Secondly,  an institution which has clearly laid down role for its members to work towards can really draw upon their energies in the most efficient way possible. Wonder what Rajinder Singh (who left the group) would contribute considering his perspective towards corruption is driven by the the deep angst he has towards pollution of our splendid rivers.

3. The dangers of impatience: It is evident that within this group people like Arvind Kejriwal are having far less patience than others. The danger with impatience is that it can lead to over enthusiastic steps and in the worse case, draw the wrath of those who feel patience is a virtue. (Giving a reason that the bill is pending since 60s is incorrect since several small steps have been taken in that direction but with little impact.) This is particularly important when one is engaging with the highest offices in the country. The kind of impatience seen also leads one to uncomfortable questions since one has not thought well enough before acting. For example what does the group do in UP elections where probably all the parties are having deep corruption records like BSP, SP etc.

Its the same impatience which if not challenged for long can also lead to hubris as it happened when several civil society leaders expressed their dissent on not factoring in their views and only trying to push the singular agenda of Jan Lokpal. This is another reason the group is finding itself isolated by some other very well meaning people.

One of the members who left even stated that this is not the kind of example that we should leave in front of the youth.

My personal opinion is that, one of the key qualities that the group needs to develop is the ability to build consensus through patient hearing and persuasion. Something that people like Patel, Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr were known for. A national level leader can't give knee jerk reactions or conduct oneself out of bravado alone.

4. The difficulty of holding together a very high powered group of leaders: Considering the stature of the people in this 'team' (i hate to constantly call it team though), it is very likely that all these people will have their own opinion on different salient issues of our country. While a political party needs to have coherent and articulate policies around these issues where all members have to concur when they talk to the media. And this takes time sometimes even in years. They can debate endlessly and thrash it out but once they are out there, there can't be dissonance. The simple mind listening to them doesn't care what their views our as much as he would want to see them speak in sync. In fact this was what energized people more than anything else. Educated people expressed that they don't know whats there in the bill but the fact that they are fighting for it is good enough. A kind of outsourcing of thinking happened. But if the unit you outsource your thinking to, shows signs of dissonance, it can lead to annoyance.

The effort towards holding the group together has not been put at all. Since corruption is a multi layered problem, questions can be raised on any aspect say from policy on electoral financing, to public distribution system to regulation of NREGA. What mechanism should the group have to ensure that it doesn't keep on stepping on each other's shoes from time to time while responding to each.


The possible way ahead

Thus, from the way the things have progressed, it appears that the group needs a 'Chintan Shibir' or a self reflection forum to put its own house in order. Understand the kind of organized effort it needs to develop its strength from within. In the absence of that, attacks- both through ideas and physically can cause immense damage thereby leading to weakening of the public image of the group because for such an agenda, its the image that matters more than anything else to see the light of the day.


Anna Hazare has taken immense efforts to reach this level. Further serious soul searching and self critique will help in consolidating the efforts for the times ahead.

Taking science to masses

Arvind Gupta is no less than a magician. In a world where the price of toys are shooting out of the roof, here comes an engineer having the capacity to make science enjoyable by making scientists out of municipal school kids.