IS THE INDIAN DIASPORA GETTING A TASTE OF ITS OWN MEDICINE ?

 Someone I know recently went to Vietnam; on a sight-seeing visit to the Da Nang bridge he came across a large group of Indian tourists, waving the Indian flag and yelling (for no apparent reason) "Bharat Mata ki Jai", with the bemused local Vietnamese looking on unapprovingly- an unnecessary display of aggressive nationalism in a foreign country which can teach us a thing or two about what constitutes genuine nationalism. And herein lies one of the reasons why the huge Indian diaspora, especially in the Anglophone world of WENA (Western Europe and North America), is suddenly facing a lot of hostility, if not downright anti-immigration racism and shouts of GO BACK!

In Ireland, France, the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, even the usually gentle New Zealand, Indians (citizens, residents, visitors) are being subjected to abuse, sloganeering, slurs and even violence including being murdered without any ostensible reason. Trump, of course, has gone even further and is deporting them back here in their hundreds, usually in chains and handcuffs, something the MEA cannot see because of its worsening cataract. What explains this sudden change in attitude to a community hitherto well regarded, successful, low-key, unintrusive and law abiding? Why are Indians now acquiring an almost pariah status in their adopted countries?

Writers like Shashi Tharoor and Vir Sanghvi have addressed the issue in their pieces, ascribing this hostility to envy of the diaspora's economic success, the perception that they are taking away jobs from natives, their low visibility and reluctance to integrate into society there, their failure to evolve into a political force, their inability to influence policy or to comment on crucial issues concerning India.. All these reasons are valid, but do not explain why this antagonism has suddenly erupted over the last few years, after decades of  peaceful co-existence with, and acceptance by, the WENA citizens and governments. The nearest someone has come to placing his finger on the real reason, I feel, is my batchmate and ex-TMC MP, Jawhar Sircar in an article in THE WIRE dated October 9, 2025.   His assessment, in brief, is that the real, and disturbing, reasons lie in the politicisation and Hindutva-isation of the diaspora since the BJP came to power in 2014. This is a penetrating thesis and a closer look shows that there is a lot of substance in it. The Vietnam anecdote points to it.

Since 2014 the WENA diaspora has identified itself too closely with Mr. Modi and his abrasive brand of politics. Not identified with India, it may be noted, because they have maintained complete silence (as Shashi Tharoor has pointed out) on matters that bedevil relations between their parent and adopted countries- tariffs, immigration, visas, deportations, racism. They have instead become Mr. Modi's cheerleaders of the Howdy Modi! type, as if there has never been a Prime Minister before him, nor will be after him. This embarrassing and sacerdotal fawning, tolerated silently for some time, is now taking a beating with the decline in the Prime Minister's global image and ratings.

Mr. Modi's "statesman" and Vishwaguru claim is now unravelling fast with his dismal human rights record, the country's "electoral autocracy" rating, its poor rankings on free speech, press freedom, equality, environment, federalism, judicial and institutional independence; our opportunistic and unprincipled policies on Palestine and the Ukraine war, the support for and partnership with Israel, all have put him firmly in the extreme right-wing camp along with Netanyahu, Orban and Trump, not recommended company if one wants to be respected by the global citizenry and community (as opposed to governments). Our diaspora's blind Modi worship is now coming back to bite it and attracting wide-spread disappoval globally by association.

There is a latent irony here too. Our Indian diaspora, especially in the USA, has been vociferous and indecently demonstrative in its support for Mr. Modi's brand of politics- uber nationalism, persecution of minorities, riding roughshod over the concept of federalism and power-sharing, arbitrary decision making, misuse of power and police, use of the visa and the OCI card as a weapon to target dissidents (remember Tavleen Singh's son Aatish Taseer and Professor Francesca Orsini ?). Well guess what? The same qualities and tactics define Trump and are being used by him against Indians in the USA: it doesn't matter whether they are tourists, naturalized citizens, legal or illegal immigrants, students, Green card holders- his contempt for them encompasses all without any discrimination. The chickens are coming home to roost with the likes of  Tommy Robinson (UK), Geert Wilders (Netherlands), Charlie Kirk and of course, Trump. As one Youtuber recently asked our countrymen abroad: "How does it feel being treated like a M***** is in India?"  In a way our diaspora is being hoist on its own petard, and it doesn't make a pretty sight! 

And this is not all. Our countrymen abroad have gone even further in their support for the Hindu samrat- they have embraced his divisive and malevolent brand of Hindutva with a vengeance, Islamophobia and all. They make a public exhibition of it on any occasion- Hindu festivals, Independence Day, Modi's visits- raising it almost to the status of Hindu militancy, a perception reinforced by the "hot pursuit" policy of Mr. Doval in Canada, USA and even Australia. This "in your face" type of aggressive religious proselytising has not gone down well with their adopted countries where religious beliefs are not paraded aggressively on the streets, and religion itself occupies a pew in the last row of social commitments. In fact, as I write this, reports are now appearing of the diaspora's over the top Diwali celebrations in the UK, New Jersey and Australian towns- sound and air pollution, littering and threat of fires by the crackers. The police had to be called out in some cases. In a shocking display of religious zealotry an obscure Hindu outfit called Stop Hindu Genocide staged a public demonstration last week in Times Square, New York, banners and all, condemning the Chief Justice of India and branding him as an anti-Hindu bigot! This crass and vulgar show was organised to protest against an alleged obiter dicta comment {since denied) made by him in a recent case regarding a Hindu deity. For good measure they also castigated other Supreme Court judges, including the future Chief Justice designate Justice Surya Kant for their "anti-Hindu" judgments! This may be acceptable  behaviour in Delhi but the citizens and governments of those countries obviously take a different view of it. 

I will be the first to concede that not all members of our diaspora behave in this bigoted, disgraceful and inconsiderate manner but it takes just one rotten apple to spoil the basket. And the studied silence of the saner lot, their reluctance to call out these shameless elements among them puts the whole diaspora under the same cloak. To conclude. Indians abroad are collectively destroying the image of our country assiduously built by those who preceded them; they have to stop atoning for the guilt of abandoning their own country by adopting and supporting everything that is bad in India, including bad politics and religious extremism. They are now getting a taste of their own medicine. It's time to discard this medicine- and the doctor who prescribed them.

AI HAS ARRIVED. WHAT'S THE POINT OF GOING ON LIVING ?

 At nearly 75 years, I have for long endorsed Bob Hope's dictum: I'm not afraid of dying but I don't want to be around when it happens. But of late I am more inclined to go with "Death, where is thy sting?" by the Apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians of the New Testament. The simple reason is that I can no longer cope with the tectonic changes taking place in a world where AI means Artificial Intelligence and not the more familiar Artificial Insemination people of my generation were used to. I've always been scientifically challenged: in school I thought a light year was one when you didn't get any home work for the vacations, and even as a grown-up I am convinced that the reason I can't get out of bed in the morning is because of Newton's First Law: a body at rest will continue to be at rest unless acted upon by an external force. That external force is Neerja, which only proves my point (and Newton's). I guess what I'm trying to convey is that I lack the knowledge to make any sense of technological "progress".

 For example, I cannot figure out what has happened to my email- I no longer receive mails from ladies. I discovered this yesterday: someone, or something, has installed malware in my laptop which automatically filters out all mails sent by females. It could be Neerja, or it could be Trump with his misogynistic brain, but the point is: what the hell am I supposed to do? And what's next- will they also filter mails from homosexuals, lesbians (sorry, they're already out), my editors, anti-bhakts, Mani Shankar Aiyer and Kunal Kamra? If so, then what's the point of going on living?

I can't wrap my head around this Artificial Intelligence and robotic thingy either; compared to Trumpian and "andh-bhakt" intelligence it's a god given gift and we should be welcoming it. But I believe it's wiping out millions of jobs, and that the time is not far off when we will be to robots what dogs are to us- loyal but totally confused. The optimists tell us that AI will delete jobs but will create new ones, but the problem is no one can tell which jobs it will create. Bill Gates recently said in an interview that only three types of jobs will remain- energy sector related, biological sciences and coding for AI itself. For us non-techie types, most of whom swarm the IAS, the only remaining jobs will be that of horse whisperers, dog walkers, tarot card readers and vastu planners. There will be no re-employment after retirement, either. As for robots, we already have plenty of them in the Election Commission, Sena Bhavan, University administrations, Censor Board, Information Commissions, CAG's office and so on. Do we really need more of them ? Actually, perhaps we do- even a half-wit is better than a nit-wit.

Of course, Gates missed out on one job that will survive against all odds- politicians. They are a mutant sub-species of homo sapiens known as homo crapiens. Unlike the former, they did not emerge from Africa but from the cesspools that were the inevitable result of apes descending from the trees and living in groups. They evolved slowly over the last five thousand years or so, gradually losing their VMPFC (ventromedial prefrontal cortex) which enables us to have a conscience and moral sense of right and wrong. This is precisely what the AI robots also lack, consequently there is no difference between homo crapiens and AI. Which is why AI will never replace politicians. Mr. Gates might like to make a note of this.

And things are soon going to get whackier. In a few years we shall be able to opt for designer babies with Einstein's beauty and Kangana Ranaut's brains, who will probably be home delivered by Blinkit; women will be eternally safe because their nether garments shall henceforth be password protected or have facial recognition features embedded in them with their own OTP (Only This Person) giving the acronym an entirely novel meaning; the uber wealthy will never die-they will inject themselves with thousands of nano robots which will repair their cells as they break down in real time; a new species of homo sapiens will emerge- cybernetic nerds- which will be a blend of human bodies, potato wafers and AI chips (Donald Trump may be a prototype); astrologers will go extinct because Chat GPT will now predict your future, not a difficult job because said future will be the same for just about everybody except the multi billionaires- nobody will have a job,  no one will be married because the female bots will be far more attractive than the female of our species, no one will die of old age, everyone shall die of boredom and ennui because there will be nothing for them to do except to listen to Mann Ki Baat. And one cannot even begin to imagine what the geniuses in Jamtara will do with AI once they are free from hacking the voters' lists in Bihar (probably join the Election Commission as consultants for the rolled out SIR!).

Time for me to walk into that glorious sunset, folks, even if it's AI generated.

THE DAY AFTER DIWALI, AND WHY AMITABH KANT BE FAULTED

I usually don't find it difficult to disagree with Mr. Amitabh Kant, the sherpa of Raisina Hill (there are no mountains in Delhi other than the Gazipur landfill, so it has to be a hill and not a mountain), but for once I cannot disagree with him on his recent comments on the lifting of the fire cracker ban by the Supreme Court. Of course there's a little bit of scrambled egg on his face because he forgot that his mentor's govt. in Delhi is equally responsible for this relaxation, but then, being a hard boiled egg himself, he can take that in his stride. As Confucius said- an egg a day keeps you in play. Let me explain with a metaphor.

A metaphor is a word, phrase, picture or even event that symbolises or gives meaning to something else. For example, Tianamen Square is a metaphor for state brutality. The lyrics of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez are a metaphor for youthful opposition to capitalism and an uncaring society. Kangana Ranaut is a metaphor for another metaphor- a bull in a china shop. Trump's ongoing demolition of the East wing of the White House has become a metaphor for his wrecking ball style of functioning. In the same manner the fire cracker discourse/ decision in Delhi is an apt metaphor for how dysfunctional we have become as a nation, society and polity. All our institutions, including the judiciary, have become moribund and defunct, driven more by faith and populism than by science and evidence, their  reasoning increasingly sophistical and medieval.

Given that Delhi is a constant among the top 10 polluted capitals of the world and that its citizens' lives are shortened by 8 to 10 years due to the year-long poisonous shroud, fire crackers had been banned here for the last few years. This was reiterated in just April this year by a two judge bench of the Supreme Court, ahead of Diwali. Incomprehensively, however, the ban was relaxed in October by another bench, to permit the bursting of the misnamed "green" crackers. No cogent reasoning was given for overturning the earlier order. There is nothing green about green firecrackers: evidence shows that they cause between 70-80%  of the pollution of a the normal cracker. Furthermore, by allowing them, the court in effect gave a licence to burst any type of cracker, for it is practically impossible for the consumer or the enforcement agencies to identify the "type" of cracker in the Diwali haze. It was an appalling decision, but in the grand tradition of previous judgments where also the science and expert evidence had been ignored- Ram Mandir, the Chardham highway, the Great Nicobar project, Pegasus, the stray dogs matter. Amitabh Kant was perfectly justified in outraging that the court had prioritised the right to pollute over the right to health and life. And, lest he be hauled up for contempt, he then donned the environmentalist hat and went and bought an EV car the next day!

The BJP led govt. in Delhi, as expected, has been more concerned about projecting its Hindutva credentials than protecting its citizens: it petitioned the SC to allow the bursting of green crackers, which opened the doors for lifting the ban. Having succeeded in this retrogressive venture, it then sat back and failed to enforce any of the conditions the court had imposed (for whatever they were worth, which was not much to begin with). Instead, it got going on what it is best at- fudging figures. We were told that the maximum AQI reading was somewhere below 400, whereas the international agency, IQAIR, showed it near 2000! Then reports emerged in the media that air sprinklers and smog guns were set up near the measuring stations so as to cleanse the air there and get lower readings. When even that didn't work, one third of the stations in the main hot spots mysteriously stopped working! Finally, someone revealed that the CPCB measuring meters were programmed to stop recording the air quality when the reading hit 500. Reason? There was little point, since 500 was already lethal enough, any incremental increase after that did not matter! Which validates a saying we have in UP- "Murde par sau man mitti, to ek man aur sahi!". (There's already tons of soil on the corpse, another ton won't make any difference!) Because its dead, you see, like you and I will soon be, too.                              

As any village idiot could have told the Supreme Court, the good citizens of the NCR, who have the civic sense of tapeworms and the suicidal instincts of lemmings, went into a predictable orgy of incendiarism for a week. The result was there for all to see-and breathe- on the day after. From my sixth floor flat in the NCR, the nightscape looked like the Gaza night-sky: bursts and explosions everywhere, the horizon ablaze with red tinted smoke, the terrified barking of the poor strays on the streets. The road outside our complex was carpeted the next morning with ankle-deep litter of the previous night, the rag pickers scrolling through it to eke out a few rupees. Our vaunted upper middle class, of course, had by then retired to the safety of their air conditioned and air-purified flats, leaving the jhuggi wallahs and pavement dwellers to bear the brunt of their "shraddha" and EMI induced disposable income.

The AQI reading is still near 300 in my area, one week after Diwali. But that, and the half a million Indians who die of air pollution every year, are a small price to pay for being the fourth largest economy in the world, isn't it?

CHNADRAKHANI PASS- GATEWAY TO MALANA

 

              CHANDRAKHANI  PASS- GATEWAY TO MALANA

 

   One of the most beautiful high altitude passes in Himachal, Chandrakhani pass is the traditional gateway to the state’s most famous and mysterious village, Malana. Along with its twin, the Rasol pass, it also connects the valleys of the Beas and Parbati rivers.

   The trek begins from the tiny hamlet of Rumsu (1800 meters), about six kms. above the historical village of Naggar on the left bank of the Beas, 20 kms below Manali. It is well worth spending a few hours in Naggar and visiting its two landmarks: Naggar castle, a well preserved building from where the Kings of Kullu ruled before they shifted to Kullu town; it then became the residence of the British Resident, and today is a hotel. The second landmark is the Roerich museum, dedicated to the paintings of this legendary Russian artist with a passion for the Himalayan landscape.

   One climbs gradually from Rumsu in a SE direction through dense forests of deodar, fir, and horse chestnut, crossing two big “thatches”- Stelling thatch and Dhankarari thatch. From the latter one gets a panoramic view of the entire Pir Panjal range to the north and can clearly see Friendship, Patalsu, Hanuman Tibba, and Shittidhar peaks and make a guess at the location of the Kalihani pass behind which lies the forbidding Bara Bhangal valley. At Dhankarari the track abruptly swerves eastwards, following the ridge line, and after another two hours one reaches the first day’s camping site, Chaklani ( 3300 m.), a huge thatch surrounded by dwarf rhododendron which were in full bloom when we arrived there, ringing the pasture in a haze of pink and mauve. Chandrakhani pass is visble now, about 2 kms away, its massive but gently inclining flanks completely carpeted with spruce, birch, and betula (bhojpatra) till about 200 meters below the saddle from where the snow took over. It was a lovely sight, made magical by the rays of the setting sun.

                              [Chandrakhani Pass. Photo by author]

   It snowed that night and in the morning crispness we could see that the pass had a two to three feet thick mantle of snow. Covering the two kms to the pass was no problem, but once on the saddle we had to be extremely careful for it slopes sharply to the left and ends in a precipice. Half a kilometre on the saddle and we arrived at the narrow aperture on the ridge line which is the Chandrakhani pass itself (3700 m). Legend has it that Jamlu devta (or Jamadagni rishi), the presiding deity of Malana who had kept all the other minor gods in his closed fist, once came to the pass and flung them all to the winds. They were wafted to all parts of Kullu, which is why every village and valley of Kullu has its own devta. They all collect even now in Kullu town during the Dussehra, but Jamlu devta does not join in the festivities because he considers them all inferior to him; instead, he watches the proceedings from the heights of Bijli Mahadev, another lofty peak nearby.

   From the pass the track drops sharply to the south-east, a precipitous 5000 feet or so to the Malana gorge and the village which takes its name from it. It’s a knee crushing descent, made slightly bearable by the magnificent vistas to the east-the soaring peaks of Indrasen and Deo Tibba and the Malana glacier below which is spread out the Nagroni pasture, a full day’s trek away.

     [Malana village. In the background, left of center, is Chandrakhani Pass.           Photo by author]

   The unfortunately(and undeservedly) infamous Malana village is attained in four hours; it’s large by mountain standards, about 150 well constructed wooden houses, situated 200 meters above the gorge. Its residents are believed to be descended from AWOL soldiers of Alexander’s army who deserted the Greek general when he reached the Indus, fed up of the continuous fighting. Malana is thought to be the oldest democracy in the world and still has its own “Parliament” which makes laws and passes decrees. It resolves all disputes and people are forbidden to go to the police. It is ruled with an iron hand by Jamlu devta: till a couple of decades ago even the Deputy Commissioner or the Police Superintendent could not enter the village without the devta’s approval! But things are now changing and the splendid isolation which enabled Malana to preserve its unique culture for hundreds of years is now being nibbled away. The prime culprits are two hydel projects on the Malana stream, a few hours away. Their roads have made access easier, hundreds of outside labour have brought their own influences, Malana’s own youth are now going out, finding jobs, and coming back with modern ideas and habits. The govt’s relentless drive to “civilise” this oldest of civilisations means that the hey days of this unique culture are all but over.

   What will prevail, however, for a longer time is the famous Malana Cream, the best cannabis in the world. Cultivated by Malanians as their prime cash crop, it is smuggled out in huge quantities and has many exotically named variants: AK47, Russian Mist, Space Ball etc. The police wage a losing battle to eradicate this crop even though destroy hundreds of acres every year. The villagers simply shift deeper and higher into the forested terrain they grew up in, which the out-of-condition cops can barely negotiate. My sympathies are with the hardy folks of Malana- this is their only economic activity, practised for generations untold, and the govt. has failed to provide them any alternative livelihood. The state govt. is now making efforts to legalize the growing of cannabis for non-narcotic purposes.

   Because of the cannabis connection, the Malanians do not welcome outsiders and we were advised not to stay in the village but to camp outside. We spent the night in a “dogri”, a rough hut in the forest with the not unpleasant aroma of hash all around! The next day brings another 1000 meter strenuous climb to Rasol pass (3200 meters), beyond which is the Parbati valley. The descent from here is as precipitous as the previous day’s, through a dirty little village called Rasol. It is another eight kms. to Kasol, a tourist hub on the banks of the Parbati with its dozens of guest houses, pizza parlours, billiard halls and ATMs. I, however, much preferred the spartan isolation of Malana and the unparalleled beauty of Chandrakhani. 

HIMACHAL'S CADRE MANAGEMENT BY REEMPLOYMENTS, EXTENSIONS AND ADDITIONAL CHARGES IS A DISASTER.

 My home cadre, Himachal Pradesh, has been witnessing an extraordinary (and ongoing) kerfuffle in its corridors of power over the last month or so. I am no stranger to bureaucratic "lapsus calami" during my long and undistinguished career in government, and have probably been responsible for quite a few of them myself, but what is happening now is of Trumpian proportions. Since I still draw a pension from the state, minus the last five DA instalments because the state coffers are as dry as the Indus basin in Pakistan post operation Sindoor, I had initially decided not to comment on this issue, believing in the time-tested canine dictum: If you can't eat it, or hump it, or change it, then just piss on it and walk away. But a statement made by the Chief Minister last Wednesday cannot be allowed to go uncontested, because it is pregnant with the potential for more administrative calamities in the future.

Addressing the members of the State Electricity Board union who have been getting restive for some time now at not receiving their pensions and arrears on time, the CM claimed that the problem was due to there being too many (highly paid) officers in the Board, draining its finances. Now, this is true, not only for the Board but for the whole government generally. Himachal probably has the highest employee/pensioner to population ratio in the country; in a previous blog I had suggested that the govt. could easily be downsized by 20%. But the irony and disingenuity in the CM's statement lies elsewhere.

Why did the govt. add another "highly paid" officer to the Board just a week earlier, appointing a retired Chief Secretary as the Chairman when there was an abundance of serving officers available, both within and outside the Board? Does the additional Rs. 50 to 60 lakhs per annum which the Board now has to bear for this officer square with the CM's claim? Unfortunately, such appointments and "extensions" have become a norm in this bankrupt state, which is why the CM's statement is not likely to find many takers.

For the fact is that the state's senior HR management over the last couple of years has been a disaster. Rules and conventions have been thrown out of the window in order to favour some and to (presumably) serve political interests. Even as I write this piece, a most unusual situation prevails- the top-most three administrative posts in the state, all belonging to the All India Services, are held by officers in an officiating, and not regular, capacity. The Chief Secretary, the Director-General of Police and the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests are all holding ADDITIONAL charge of their posts, and will probably do so till they retire in a few months. This is absolutely unprecedented and I can't recollect whether this has ever happened in any state at any time! This is ad-hocism at its worst. The point I am making is simple- if the govt. found these officers suitable in terms of seniority and merit to  be appointed to these posts (even by superseding their seniors)  then why not do it in a substantive capacity, so that they can function with confidence? And if the reason for giving them officiating or additional charge isbecause they lack in these qualities, then why appoint them in the first place? Is it the objective to keep them insecure and on tenterhooks so that they toe the political line and do the "official" bidding?

Sadly, this is not an isolated example but appears to have become part of a pattern in recent times. Extensions in service, reemployment and appointment of "Advisors" is the new leitmotif of Himachal's cadre management. There does not appear to be any public interest involved in them-I can only guess what other motives are in play. All four of the last four Chief Secretaries have been reemployed. Extensions have become the order of the day, if the concerned officer has sufficient clout at the Center. There are at least half a dozen Advisors-God only knows what advice they are rendering, given the sorry condition of the state's finances, infrastructure and environment.

The IAS cadre strength of Himachal is about 140; for a small state with only 12 districts that is more than enough to staff every Board, Corporation and Regulatory authority or Commission: there is absolutely no reason to appoint retired officers or outsiders to them. This is also reason enough not to give indiscriminate extensions in service to anyone or to deny regular postings to deserving candidates. Such a policy demotivates those in the line of succession and encourages the more "political" or "connected" among them to play their tricks and to undermine their superiors. It is difficult for an "officiating" boss to command the respect and obedience of his team. And a state which has a debt burden which is almost double its annual budget can ill afford to spend crores pandering to personal or political interests of a few. 

A cadre or organisation can give of its best only when seniority is respected, merit is recognized, tenures are stable and career trajectories are not dogged with uncertainty. Sadly, all these factors are missing in Himachal's cadre management. It is perhaps time for the Chief Minister to course- correct, and to abide by the rules and conventions which have stood the test of time over seven decades. Any implement or tool is only as good as the hand that wields it.

[ Post Script: Actually, if you ask me, the state needs only one Advisor- Kangana Ranaut. The lissome lady can (and does) speak on any subject under the sun, disburses her advice even when no one wants it, is prone to thinking (is that the word?) out of the box, and best of all, does not care to charge a penny for it. One hopes that said penny drops for the Hon' CM.]

HIMALAYAN STATES MUST BE INCENTIVISED TO PROTECT THEIR ENVIRONMENT

 Himalayan states like Himachal and Uttarakhand are slowly going to pieces, literally, under the onslaught of cloudbursts, flash floods, land subsidence and collapsing infrastructure. In just the last four years (2022-2025) Himachal has lost 1200 lives and suffered a loss of Rs. 18000 crores in these disasters (and this does not include the indirect loss to trade and economic activities). Whether these are natural disasters, as the government would like us to believe, or man-made disasters, is debatable; but that is not the focus of this piece and can be left for another day. I am on a larger and more fundamental point: can the country afford the destruction of the Himalayas and do these Himalayan states need help? 

North India and its Gangetic plain would not survive without the forests, the glaciers and  rivers that originate from Himachal and Uttarakhand, and would soon become a desert: these rivers sustain a population of almost 300 million people and are a lifeline for many cities. The Himalaya Hindukush  ranges help to moderate the climate, enable the monsoon precipitation and snow that recharge the rivers every year. They contain some of Hinduism's most revered religious shrines and pilgrimages. They are the green lungs which enable north India to breathe and provide relief to 40 million tourists every year. We cannot afford to lose this landscape.

But losing them we are, because of financial compulsions. Himalayan states like Himachal suffer from a double whammy: on the one hand they are revenue deficit because they have limited sources of income. They have no industrial or manufacturing base, services sector or surplus agriculture (other than the apple crop). On the other hand, the cost of providing basic development to the people is double that of the plains because of topographical and climatic reasons. The only low hanging source of income they have are their natural resources- the forests and rivers- and these are therefore being exploited ruthlessly for hydel projects and tourism, causing immense damage to the ecology, and resulting in the death and destruction we have been witnessing in the last few years. (Himachal has diverted 11000 hectares of dense forests for various non-forestry projects in the last 20 years alone). This is being further exacerbated by climate change which is drastically altering the hydrology of the rivers, accelerating glacial melt and the threat of GLOF (Glacial Lake Overflow).

        (View of the Greater Himalayas from the author's cottage in Puranikoti, Shimla)

The irony, and tragedy, is that this need not be a zero sum game, if only the central government was to recognise the real wealth and contribution of these states to the national economy and well-being. According to a 2025 report of the Institute of Forest management, Bhopal, the total forest wealth of Himachal was valued at Rs. 9.95 lakh crores. The report calculated the annual Total Economic Value (TEV) of Himachal's forests at Rs. 3.20 lakh crores; this includes Rs.1.65 lakh crores for carbon sequestration, Rs. 68941 crores for eco-system services, Rs. 32901 crores as the value of bio-diversity, Rs. 15132 crores for water provisioning, Rs. 3000 crores for regulatory services such as flood control and sediment retention . These contributions benefit the whole nation, not just Himachal. Unfortunately, these  are neither acknowledged nor taken into account while disbursing central assistance to the states.

But this must change. Himachal (and other Himalayan states) must be compensated by the central govt. for their non-monetary, but vital, contribution to the country's well being, quality of life and sectors like agriculture, climate control, hydel power, carbon capture and tourism. The mechanism to do so already exists- the Finance Commissions, which determine the formula for devolving central funds to the states. A beginning was made by the 12th Finance Commission which allocated a total of Rs. 1000 crores for this purpose, which was termed a Green Bonus; the share of Himachal was a paltry Rs. 20 crores.

This idea must be amplified and taken forward by the 16th FC. The Himachal Chief Minister has taken up this matter of the creation of a  Green Fund or Green Bonus with the Chairman of the 16th (current) Finance Commission, requesting for an outlay of Rs. 50000 crores for incentivising the mountain states. This is an idea which must be considered seriously; the additional devolutions would go a long way towards ameliorating their financial condition and removing their present compulsion to ruthlessly exploit their forest and ecological capital to meet budget deficits. Release of this money should be indexed to improvement in environmental parameters, sustainability of development and tourism projects, protection of rivers and curbing of illegal mining and construction. In fact, the Supreme Court which is holding suo moto hearings on the environmental devastation in Himachal and has said that at this rate the state would "vanish from the map of India", should also consider this issue and nudge the central govt. to create such a fund. Protecting the Himalayas has to be seen as a shared responsibility, not as the concern of the mountain states alone. If the Himalayas lose their forests, rivers and glaciers it won't be long before north India goes the way of the Indus Valley civilisation.

THE ANATOMY OF A PARTLY WASTED LIFE

Most of us seek wisdom by reading tomes by wise men and Shashi Tharoor, but once in a while, going through a book for some entertainment and fun, we come across something that makes us think and exclaim: Hold on! This is bang on! Why didn't I think of this earlier?

The other day I was reading a book by one of my favourite writers, Jeremy Clarkson (of the BBC Top Gear fame), when I came across this gem: If you die with a hefty bank balance and a clear conscience, it means you have led a wasted life ! I poured myself a stiff single malt, lit a cigarette and went into a meditative torpor- By Jove! there was a lot to think about here!

Clarkson's aphorism, of course, applies to middle-class folks like you and me, not to the fat cats. The Adanis and Ambanis have no choice but to die with hefty bank balances for they are too big to hit the minimum balance, and have too much moolah to spend or give away. Anyone whose monthly residential electricity bill runs to Rs. 76 lakhs is not the type of guy Clarkson was thinking about: the only way they can shuffle off this mortal coil without a hefty bank balance is if the five biggest banks in India collapse,  St. Kitts and the Cayman island disappear under the  waters or they enter into a partnership with Trump.

Clarkson's thesis that a good life means that we live beyond our means applies to the Gen X,Y and Z of the EMI and credit card culture, but not to the fossils of my generation. We were taught to live below, not above, our means, to build our little nest eggs hidden away from Ms Sitharaman, to be left behind when we cross the rainbow, for our Hindu faith tells us that we will be reborn in the same family, so why not begin the second innings with a little advance deposit in the State Bank of India? Creating that nest-egg, however, from an erratic pension from a bankrupt state govt. and sliding repo rates, 6% inflation, sin taxes on liquor and cigarettes, Mr. Gadkari's toll tax, is no easy matter. It can only be done by adopting the virgin's SOP- say "NO" to everything.

Which is what I do. The membership of the Noida Golf Club will have to wait for a rebirth, as will that trip to Switzerland to catch up with my old friend Jogishwar Singh, or that Arctic cruise which costs an arm and a leg whether you see a polar bear or not. The single malts are reserved for special occasions, the books are purchased once a year at the World Book Fair from the second hand stalls, Old Spice will have to do in place of Paco Rabanne, the kababs are from Singh's Tandoor in Noida and not Le Merediene. But here's the funny thing, Mr Clarkson: all this self-denial does not make an iota of difference to the quality of my life. I can meet Jogishwar in Delhi (if he's stupid enough to come to India), Blender's Pride tastes just as good to my untrained palate as Laphroaig, the second hand books read as well as the new ones, the cologne doesn't matter since, insofar as attracting ladies is concerned I'm well past my sell-by date,  the best kababs are to be found in street food joints not five star hotels, and I can see as well through a Lenskart  specs as through a Ray Ban Oakley. So I think I'll continue to live below my means, thank you, and invest in a little insurance for the next life and for the inevitable ICU (Incentive Care Unit in hospital parlance because the docs are incentivised to keep you there as long as possible).

On the other hand, dying with a tainted conscience (Clarkson's second imperative for having lived a good life) is much easier to do. It doesn't require much effort in a world of dog- eat- dog ambitions, competitive aspirations, television induced temptations, a culture of doing unto others before they do unto you. Ask Moses, whose ten commandments became a hundred fragments even before he reached the bottom of the mountain. How, I asked my pooch after the third peg, does one retain a clear, spotless conscience when everything which is desirable is either illegal, immoral, or married to someone else? Not that I haven't tried, in the best traditions of Vanprasta.

I've tried yoga, meditation, cold water baths and even suffered through a few "Mann ki baats", but my conscience refuses to cleanse itself. It acquires a new blemish every time I cast a second, furtive look at the neighbour's wife hanging out the clothes on the balcony, my inner voice will not cease to wish that Netanyahu's suffers as much as the 65000 Palestinians he has killed, it insists that I do not have to disclose to Ms. Sitharaman the royalty I received for my last book, it always argues that giving up my seat on the metro for any woman is sheer stupidity, it tells me to ignore Neerja's glare and go ahead and have that last (fourth) drink for the gutter.  And, having lost most of my spine during the course of 35 years spent in the bureaucracy, I'm in no position to stand up to that damned, tainted conscience which now resembles the typical American trouser bottom when they ran out of toilet paper during the initial days of Covid.

So it hasn't been a totally wasted life, Mr Clarkson: I have a nest egg tucked away where even my descendants can't find it, and a tainted conscience the devil would be proud of. What more can one ask for?