VOODOO ECONOMICS - DON'T ILLEGALISE THE BRIBE- TAX IT !

 Many years ago, more years than I care to remember, I was posted as a probationer under district training in Mandi district of Himachal. On two days every week I had to sit with the Deputy Commissioner (DC) in his court when he heard grievances and received petitions from the public. The purpose was to give me an idea of the issues which concerned the public and how to deal with them on a one to one basis. One day a distraught PWD contractor presented himself before the DC and wanted to know what the officially approved rate for a bribe was in the department! He explained that he could not balance his budget for various works with any predictability as different officers wanted different amounts as bribes. He requested the DC to give him a copy of the G.O ( Government Order) in which the rates were specified. The DC assured the poor chap that he would try to get the order but in the interim he should not pay any bribe to anyone.

That was 50 years ago and nothing has changed during this period, it would appear, except that now the rates have gone up manifold under the effect of demonetisation, GST, digitisation of all transactions and PayTM. It is an axiom of the financial underworld that, the more difficult governments make the process of bribery, the higher the rates. Especially if most of this undeclared wealth is sucked out of the system by one entity through sophisticated and sovereign instruments like Electoral bonds and PM Cares!

Who says there's no transparency in this government? Last year local papers published an alleged rate list of the prevailing "baksheesh" in one of the police stations of a western UP district. Now, this is exactly what that supplicant in Mandi wanted, as an important element of ease of doing business. In another reported case in our most progressive state, this year itself, the peon or "chaprasi" of a Naib Tehsildar wrote a letter to the District Magistrate complaining that he was not being given his fair share of the bribes received in that office! He stated that it was his job to extract/collect the bribes, for which the going rate for peons was Rs. 1000/ per day, but he was being paid only Rs.500/- He also demanded that the going rate should be enhanced to keep pace with inflation. Both legitimate grievances, to my mind, when even the Finance Minister cannot afford to eat onions. ( Predictably, the said minion denied that he had written such a letter).

Just last week the press was agog with reports that some thieves had stolen Rs. 65 crores from the house of a retired but still powerful IAS officer from U.P. in a north India hill station. Now, that is the quantum of alleged bribes which brought down Rajiv Gandhi's government, but it is a sign of the Ram Rajya times that it cannot now lay low even a bureaucrat. The officer has not filed any police complaint- he's not stupid, see, that's why he got into the IAS. But efforts are reportedly being made behind the scenes to get his hard earned money back; I would not be surprised if Mossad is roped in to do the job, once they have finished off killing what remains of the Hezbollah leadership, that is.

Bribery-both the giving and taking-is inbuilt into our DNA, even before we evolved from the apes. As definitive proof one just has to go to the monkey infested Jakhoo temple in Shimla. Nine out of ten visitors there will have their handbag or phone snatched by a monkey: the ape will promptly climb a tree and will return your item only after you have proffered a bribe of a banana or orange ( these days they insist on hamburgers or pizza slices.) So bribery is nothing to be ashamed of- it is an inherited evolutionary trait, like stupidity and the urge to beat up wives.

Which is why I strongly believe that the government should stop fighting it and legitimise it. Economists, as usual, cannot agree on whether corruption is good or bad for a country's economy. One group maintains that it lowers GDP growth rates by discouraging foreign and even domestic investments. The other lot differs-it opines that in a heavily regulated and policed economy (like India), corruption should be viewed as "virtuous bribery"- it acts as a deregulation instrument, greases the wheels of the economy, cuts red tape, promotes quick decision making. A third lot feels that there is something like a Laffer's curve in corruption, i.e. bribery is good for the economy up to a certain point, but beyond that it becomes extortion and its benefits to the economy start declining. The jury is still out on this, just like it is in the bail applications of Umar Khalid.

I tend to go with the second lot, after observing the phenomenon at close quarters (sometimes too close!) for 35 years. In our country, without this grease nothing would ever get done- no roads, no bridges, no recruitments, no projects, no welfare schemes. So (and I'm applying for a patent for this idea), why should the government not get a slice of this virtuous pie? According to Prof Bibek Debroy and Laveesh Bhandari in their seminal book, Corruption in India: the DNA and RNA, the total quantum of bribery in India could add up to 1.26% of India's GDP, and at current levels  would be 300 billion US dollars. My suggestion, arrived at after much burning of the single malt, is that the govt. should make bribery legal and impose GST on it. The GST rate would, of course, have to be 28% since bribery is a " sin goods". This would net the exchequer almost 90 billion dollars per annum ! More than enough to pay for the PM's planes, cars, foreign peregrinations, self-publicity, Central Vistas, statues and even the dreaded MSP. A win-win if ever there was one.

The collateral benefits would also be welcome- winding up of the Enforcement Directorate, down sizing the Election Commission and the CBI, a full stop to arresting opposition Chief Ministers, etc. And do spare a thought for that poor IAS chap deprived of his hard-earned 65 crores- he will finally be able to lodge an FIR- after paying a bribe, of course.

" SLOW LIVING" AND THE BOB DYLAN PARAPROSDOKIAN

 At about this time last year my elder son quit his very well paying job as a senior executive in a multi-national: he had had enough of the El Dorado mirage sold by the IIMs and IITs. He had been working 14 hour days non-stop for 16 years, paying Rs. 65000 a month for a flat in Gurgaon where he just went to sleep, lunched and dined exclusively on Zomato and Food Panda, could never find the time to relax in our Purani Koti retreat near Shimla, his liver was beginning to get pickled in Blender's Pride. In short, he was on the verge of a burn out, maybe a couple of puffs away from being stubbed out like a cigarette. One day he saw the light, ignored Mr. Narayan Murthy's exhortation to work 70 hour weeks, regarding with justified suspicion Ms Sitharaman's pious advice to fight work pressure through "inner strength by reaching out to God." His decision to ignore her too was made easier, he told me later, by the possibility that by "God" she meant Mr. Modi, and since he himself "worked" 18 hours, reaching out to him would be futile (as Kangana Ranaut has recently discovered).                                                                                                                                      So, one fine foggy morning in Gurgaon he pinged his boss that he was quitting (that's how they do the hiring, firing and resigning these days, no "Dear sir, it is with profound regret that ..." letters as in our days), packed his suitcase and pooch in his car and joined us in Purani Koti. He now lives off his savings, work-from-home consultancy projects, articles on the auto world, and "revdis" from my pension whenever the state govt. periodically emerges from bankruptcy and doles it out to me. He now has the time to indulge in his passion for photography and gardening, and is currently trying to grow bananas and "peepul" trees at 7000 feet in an area which gets three feet of snow every winter! I'm personally sceptical of that last bit, but who knows- after all, they laughed at Satyanand Stokes when he brought apple plants from the USA, didn't they? And today Himachal is an apple state. If my son succeeds we may yet be a banana republic soon.

Welcome to the world of "Slow Living", the latest concept that is catching on with Gen X (or Gen Z) across the world. More and more of them are just chucking the rat race with its slave-driving, toxic work culture and sweat shop values which just last month took the lives of Anna Sebastian in Mangalore and Sadaf Fatima in Lucknow. These bright youngsters prefer to return back to nature, renewing relationships with family and friends, and doing what they WANT to do- not what neo-capitalism, voodoo economics and the Sanjiv Sanyals of the world expect them to do. Slow Living is the next best thing to a govt. job where you can effectively retire the day you join and nobody will even notice even as Pay Commissions keep hiking your salary and pension with predictable regularity. He has my full support: it is this generation which can perhaps save our once blue planet since my generation has completely abdicated its responsibility. 

This choice of life-style, however, is not all fun and games: it requires the making of responsible choices- in consumption, expenditure, manner of living- since one's income levels drop substantially. It forces one to make an inventory of the important things in life and discard the redundant, superfluous and the wasteful materialism inherent in the "keeping up with the Junejas " South Delhi mentality. It goes hand-in-hand with another trend being increasingly embraced by planet conscious Gen X- Minimalism.

Minimalism is simply "living with less" by decluttering one's physical spaces, reducing unnecessary consumption, seeking quality over quantity, travelling less, curation of possessions to have only the essentials, focusing on personal values rather than reacting to competitive pressures. This is what Slow Living is in essence, and I am now witnessing more and more youngsters consciously opting for this life style and minimalist framework. Just to cite examples of how this works: there is the "sniff test" for clothes- do your clothes need to be washed so frequently, consuming more water, soap, power? Sniff the clothes for malodorous smells- this will probably tell you that you could wear them for another couple of days before consigning them to the washing machine. (A single washing machine discharges 480 kgs of green house gases every year). Then there's the "one in, one out" principle: don't keep adding to your possessions unnecessarily- buy an item only as a replacement, not as an addition, discard the first before buying the second. "Tiny living" is another idea that is gaining traction- small homes (why do you need five bedrooms when it's just you and your wife and maybe one kid?), away from the congestion and pollution of metros, off-grid as regards power and water, self sufficient with solar and rain water harvesting.

A  minimalist life style is good for mother Earth too- the culture of over-consumption, so assiduously promoted by economists, governments and big corporates, has led to the depletion of natural resources and ravaging of forests, rivers, lakes and mountains. Reducing this demand for goods and products and minimising possessions lowers the strain on the natural environment, reduces waste, cuts down on carbon emissions. It is a far more sustainable model of life than the blind GDP growth driven models being foisted on us; in fact, I would go further and say that it is the ONLY life style choice which can save us and the planet from another extinction.

And here's the final, clinching argument which has eluded us but has been instinctively grasped by the younger generation- you are happier as a person when you have minimised your needs. This has been scientifically captured now in a concept which is known as the Easterlin Paradox. This states that happiness does not increase with more money. Happiness is directly proportionate to money up to a certain point, but once your basic needs are met more money does not mean more happiness. After this point happiness is defined, not by money, but by meaning of life, purpose, relationships, contribution to society. (The reader is probably reminded here of Maslow's theory of Hierarchy of Needs). In fact, without the latter components, after that point more money means more worries, tensions, fears and even depression. Bob Dylan put it in a much simpler, easy-to-understand language six decades ago when he sang: "When you ain't got nothing, you've got nothing to lose...."

I'm glad our sons and daughters are beginning to hear this music.

HIMACHAL SHOULD REGULATE TREKKING TO MAKE IT SAFE AND ECO-FRIENDLY ( II)

 

RESTORE  THE  WILD  IN THE  WILDERNESS

[ The second of two blogs on the subject. The first was published on the 30th August, 2024.]

The Himachal Chief Minister recently announced that the state govt. has identified 50 new locations for developing tourism, including adventure sports. The prospect fills me with dread, because the govt.'s track record in this respect so far has been an environmental disaster. Forget the mess in Shimla, Manali, Kufri, Mashobra, McLeodganj or Kasauli. In recent years this tentacle of "development" has seized within its coils places which were pristine areas even ten or fifteen years ago.

The govt's concept of development usually consists of just building bad roads to provide easier vehicular access to these areas, and to allow the mushrooming of hotels, shops, guest houses, home stays without any regulation or regard to carrying capacity. I can quote any number of examples of places which have been turned into environmental shambles to "promote" tourism: Bir-Billing, where so many unauthorised constructions have come up that paragliders have difficulty in locating safe landing spots (and now a wholly unnecessary motorable road is being built from Billing to Rajagunda, towards the majestic Thamsar pass, which will spoil a lovely trek); the road to the sublime Hatu peak above Narkanda:what was once an idyllic 8km walk through dense deodar and oak forests has now been converted into a twenty minute drive and the once verdant pastures at the top have become rutted and dusty parking areas; a road has been built right up to Prashar lake in Mandi district-it has devastated the meadows there, and the unscientific cutting has become the cause of continuous landslides there; another ten km road is being built right through the heart of the Choordhar wild life sanctuary from Nohradhar, and just last week the NGT has issued notice to the state govt. for constructing a road through the Shikari Devi WLS.

All this is just sheer madness- these roads will result in deforestation on a massive scale, calamitous effects on the wildlife in these dense forests, unregulated construction and the consequent scarring of the landscape and generation of thousands of tonnes of muck and debris, blocking of nullahs and water courses, the ingress of thousands of vehicles and even more thousands of irresponsible tourists every day. The revered pilgrimages that added so much value to the traditions and mystique  of the state- Mani Mahesh in Chamba, Shikari Devi in Mandi, Kheerganga in the Parvati valley, Kinner Kailash in Kinnaur, Srikhand Mahadev on the border of Shimla and Kullu- now look like mass migration routes between Columbia and Mexico. Tens of thousands of so called "pilgrims" descend on these valleys and mountains every year leaving behind thousands of tonnes of garbage, plastic, human waste and denuding the nearby forests for their cooking and camp fires. Even the highly endangered and precious "dhoop" shrubs are pulled out by their roots and used for fuel.

What were once challenging but enjoyable treks have now become Ola and Uber rides or overcrowded linear garbage dumps, and the natural wonders of the state are being consumed irreparably at a frightening pace. The wild is being removed from the wilderness. It is high time the state govt. reversed this trend and changed its policies at least towards the few remaining genuine wild spots in the state. We have to preserve this wilderness, their ecology and biodiversity and wildlife for future generations. Other countries have realised this and are taking steps in this direction: from Australia to Brazil, from the UK to Chile, landscapes, abandoned farmlands, ranches, golf clubs, used up quarries are being returned to the wild and reforested, not just by governments but also by private trusts and philanthropists who raise funds for the purpose.  Himachal should learn from them, even if the rest of India doesn't.

First, control the numbers. Another troubling proclamation by the Chief Minister is that the state intends to more than double its tourist arrivals to fifty million by 2030. This would be apocalyptical - there is just no way a state of seven million can sustainably handle such a number, seven times its population. Instead, go in for quality, not mass, tourism. Forget about the bleeding hearts who object to pricing out the "poor": tourism is a product, like any other, and if you have a unique product (like Himachal's natural landscapes) don't short sell it. If people can pay Rs. 500 for a ticket for a Salman Khan trash film, or thousands for a Coldplay live performance, they should not complain if they are asked to pay the same, or more, for the sighting of a brown bear or a western tragopan in the Great Himalayan National Park, or being able to see the coruscating beauty of the night sky at Mantalai lake.

Second, start charging for the treks, depending on their length, environmental impacts, altitude, proximity to glaciers and snowfields, fragility of the landscapes, number of camping nights. One was happy to read that trekkers and campers at Triund are now being charged Rs.250 per night. It's a good beginning, but the fee needs to be raised to at least Rs. 500 per night. Triund is right at the base of the Dhauladhars, the terrain is rocky and fragile, it has no water or toilet disposable facilities; the footprint of any camper there is huge, and he/she should be charged proportionately. For longer treks, the charges should be a minimum of Rs. 500 per night. Part of this levy should go the local EcoSoc (Ecotourism Society) for maintenance and cleanliness of the trails/ areas.

Three, impose a complete ban on camping at altitudes above 3800 metres or in the vicinity of glaciers. This is also the recommendation of a group of scientists/geologists who have studied the impact of camping at high altitudes in Ladakh, Himachal, and Uttarakhand. ( Save the Himalayas: Ban High-Altitude camping, say Ecologists. HIMBUMAIL. 5th August, 2024.) They have found that the camp fires, vehicle emissions, decaying waste matter etc. raise the levels of aerosols and black carbon in the immediate area, leading to a more rapid melting of the glaciers. They have specifically noted this process in the Bara Shigri glacier and in the Chandratal- Batal area in Lahaul Spiti. There is also the issue of the trash and human waste left behind in these pristine landscapes, exposing the local rare wildlife to germs and diseases they have no immunity against. 

It was heartening to note that, as of last month, the local Divisional Forest Officer has banned camping at Kheerganga in the Parbati valley in Kullu. ( Last time I was there the place looked like the Tibetan Dhaba area of north Delhi). This bold initiative, however, has to be extended to other environmentally sensitive areas such as: Chandratal lake, Mantalai lake, all the area above Bhim Dwar on the Srikhand Mahadev trek, the entire area between Nalanti and Chitkul on the Kinner Kailash trek, the Choordhar peak. The Forest department should do a survey of such areas and compile a list for purposes of notification and enforcement.

Four, the Himachal govt. should wake up to the massive degradation that is being caused by so-called "spiritual tourism" in the remoter regions of the state, triggered by the flood of humanity that swamps these destinations every year. Just to give an example: in 1976, as the SDM Chamba, I had accompanied the "yatra" to the holy Manimahesh lake: at that time there were perhaps just about three hundred pilgrims, but even then it was a problem ensuring the cleanliness of the camping grounds at Hadsar, Dhancho, Donali and Gauri Kund. After this year's yatra 8 tonnes of garbage has already been collected by volunteers but much more still remains. Today, about 6 lakhs to 7 lakh people visit the lake on the yatra. This is simply unsustainable: I'm told the lake is full of trash and plastic, the entire trail resembles an elongated latrine pit. I have no reason to believe that the same is not happening to other "yatra" trails- Shikari Devi, Kinner Kailash, Choordhar, Srikhand Mahadev. The govt. should immediately do something about restricting the numbers on these yatras, before we reach the same depths of degradation and destruction as the Char Dham yatra of Uttarakhand. ( To realise what the deplorable current state of the Char Dham yatra route is, one must read an article by Priyadarshani Patel- Char Dham to Char Daam: Desecrating the Himalayas in the Name of "Spiritual Tourism" in THE WIRE of July 13, 2024).

And finally, even nature needs a rest to recover. All trekking trails, especially the high-altitude ones, should be shut down for a year or two at periodic intervals to allow the ecology and wild-life there to  recover and recuperate, reclaim their natural and breeding rhythms, to get a respite from the incessant noise, disturbances and foraging of plant life by thousands of trekkers every year. Many countries faced with similar over-trekking issues are beginning to realise this and have started providing these regular breaks.

The policy makers in Himachal need to wake up urgently to preserve the unique natural landscape of the state. Its over exploitation should be stopped before the devastation reaches a point of no-return. Sustainable policies should be put in place which harvest natural assets scientifically and not squander them recklessly for short term gains. Mother nature will not offer a second chance.

THE UGLY FACE OF HIMACHAL

For the last two weeks now the otherwise tranquil state of Himachal has been roiled in a vortex of Islamophobia, despicable politics, violence and opportunistic silence by those who should be speaking out. Right wing inspired crowds have been flooding the streets of Shimla, Mandi, Solan, Hamirpur and elsewhere, protesting against illegal mosques and "outsiders"(which is sanghi-speak for Muslims). The state government, as usual, has been caught on the back-foot and is scrambling to contain the trouble. Notwithstanding its ineptness, however, the Chief Minister has to be commended for taking an unequivocal stand against vigilante justice and mob violence, and for insisting that the issues shall be decided in the courts and not on the streets.

The sudden and simultaneous mushrooming of these protests at a dozen different places in the state is no coincidence or happenstance, it is part of the BJP's efforts to destabilise the Congress govt.: the BJP is not a party that espouses the Christian virtues of charity and it has neither forgotten nor forgiven the Congress for trouncing it in the elections in 2022. Ever since then it has been fomenting trouble for the Sukhu government- inducing defections, encouraging factionalism within the Congress, denying the state its rightful revenues in order to weaken it financially; the masjid issue is part of this despicable continuum. It is trying to do an Uttarakhand in Himachal, shamelessly and without any concern for the strategic location of a state which borders both Kashmir and Tibet.

The two main demands- instant demolition of "illegal" mosques and verification of "outsiders"- are both contentious and open to question. Firstly, the singling out of mosques alone is mischievous and gives the game away. According to the Town and Country Planning Deptt. there are more than 15000 illegal/irregular buildings in Shimla alone. Furthermore, in an article in the Tribune the ex-Deputy Mayor of Shimla, Tikainder Singh Panwar lists out four popular temples and one gurudwara in Shimla which too are illegal (there will be many more), but no one is making a song and dance about them. Quite clearly, then, what is under attack by these fundamentalists is not the building but the religion.                                                                          Secondly, the exact legal status of the mosques in question is not clear- are they encroachments on govt. lands, have they been built without the requisite approvals, or are the constructions violative of the sanctions ? These are questions which have to be decided by the courts, not the mobs, and in most cases the matters are already being adjudicated by the courts. The Chief Minister has already announced that the cases shall be fast tracked, and in at least two cases (Sanjauli and Mandi) the masjid authorities have either demolished the offending portions themselves or have sought permission to do so. This should have brought closure to the protests, but closure is not what these Islamophobic outfits are interested in- they want to keep the pot boiling, and so they have now shifted to their second demand, "verification" and detention of outsiders- shorthand for barring the entry of labourers, traders, vendors of a particular community into the state. This is something which has become quite common in BJP mis-ruled Uttarakhand but has so far found no traction in Himachal, which has just 2% Muslims.

This demand is straight out of a Nazi tool-kit. India is a democracy and the Constitution gives its citizens the right to live anywhere, practice any profession, and to live life with dignity and freedom. The mobs want these rights to be taken away from the Muslim migrants, and to give in to them would be to convert Himachal into a police state. "Checking" of "outsiders", as demanded, would mean stopping and verifying the papers of every person coming in at the border, something which cannot be done in an open society without specific inputs or cause. And to what purpose, since everybody these days has some ID or the other? And don't forget that Himachal is a tourist state, with almost 20 million "outsiders" visiting the state every year- that would mean checking 50000 people EVERY DAY at the entry points! Or should the police check only those who wear clothes of a particular type, or sport a particular kind of beard?

The Chief Minister has already announced that a comprehensive policy for vendors/ tehbazari would be formulated and only those who have a licence would be allowed to do business on the roads. This should have settled this demand as well, but what is being attempted here by the BJP/VHP is just another version of the economic boycott and exclusion of a particular community. It is no coincidence that the current protests and demonstrations are led by the various Beopar Mandals and the business community. Their real targets are the vendors and small street businesses, a large part of which is in the hands of Muslims. It is now evident that these groups make a significant dent in the earnings of businesses belonging to the majority community, so off with the formers' heads! There is nothing better than combining business with religion, is there- make a few bucks while earning a few brownie points with your Gods at the same time ?! 

The ongoing protests are specious and nothing but an expression of religious hatred and intolerance. But, equally disturbing is the near silence of other sections of society- members of the Congress itself, other civic associations, the media, other political parties, retired govt. officials who are busy Whatsapping banal and vapid greetings to each other but will not raise their voices on such a core issue. (It is, however, heartening to note that some formations like CITU, Himachal Kissan Sabha, DYFI, AILU and Janwadi Mahila Samiti and others have held a meeting on the 16th and have decided to hold a public peace and unity rally on the 27th of this month.) One of the problems of Shimla is that it has no civil society to speak of, which is why the right wing fundamentalists can fill up the vacuum so easily with their hate and Islamophobia. It is encouraging that the Chief Minister has taken a resolute stand against these elements, but he needs the full support of his own party and high command, the state administration, the common citizens and all those who still value the principles of the Mahatma. At stake is not only a government, but the only secular, inclusive, multiculturally sensitive, law abiding state in north India. It is something worth speaking up for and fighting for. 

THE UNLEARNING AND THE NEW LEARNING

 India is going through another great Renaissance, as ordained by a gentleman whose own educational qualifications are shrouded in doubt and about which RTI questions will never be answered. All our learnings of the past two thousand years have to be discarded and a new learning, as enshrined in the NEP (New Education Policy) and prescribed by the UGC, CBSE and NCERT will re-enlighten this land. I must confess that, having already forgotten most of what I had learned in the last 70 years (which wasn't much to begin with) I am excited at the prospect of being educated again. And I have been making some progress, and as evidence of that, would like to share some of these nuggets with my long suffering readers.

Remember that phrase "carrying coals to Newcastle" coined by John Graunt in 1661 ? It denoted a meaningless action, to take something to a place where it's not needed because there's plenty of that stuff already there. Well, in Amritkaal that phrase has been replaced by "carrying coals to Godda". Godda is the place in Jharkhand where Mr. Adani has set up a 1600 MW thermal power station which exports all its power to Bangladesh (or used to, till Hasina was given a one-way ticket to exile). Now, Jharkhand has the largest coal reserves in the world, so  you would expect that the millions of tonnes of coal required for this power station would be mined in Jharkhand itself, right? Wrong. Here is where the gaps in your education become visible- for Adani does not mine the local coal, instead he imports it from 6000 kms away, from his Carmichael mines in Australia! And still manages to sell the power at four times the usual price to Bangladesh, thanks to getting his plant declared as an SEZ by amending the rules, liberal loans from banks, and environment clearances to bring river waters from 100 kms away. Management schools across the world are still trying to figure out why the coal was not sourced more cheaply locally, how a totally unviable project became so profitable, not realising that the answer to that question lies in politics, not economics. But, in the meanwhile, the English language has been changed forever, and John Graunt banished- "carrying coals to Godda" is the new phrase, and don't let anyone tell you that you can't make a handsome profit by doing something conventional wisdom tells you is stupid.

Most of us will remember the haircut from our childhood days, that monthly visit to the barber when we were cut to size. I now go just once a year, for old times' sake, because the ravages of time and shouldering the brown man's burden for 35 years have ensured that my hair raising days are now firmly behind me. Which is a good thing too, because a haircut is no longer what it used to be. It is now a euphemism for fiduciary castration of banks, which is usually you and me because it is our money, after all. This is how it works in New India:

A haircut, in today's parlance, is the money the banks lose (forego) when a company becomes insolvent by siphoning off the bank loans to Bermuda or St. Kitts, and someone else takes it over by paying the bank a fraction of the money owed, say, 10% or 20%. The apotheosis of rogue Capitalism, an ingenious way to transfer public money to private individuals, isn't it? Especially as the new owner is just a proxy for the original, defaulting owner: he gets to keep both the bank's money and the company! The bank takes what is called a haircut, while the barber gets a facial in Monte Carlo. The country has had Rs. 6 lakh crores worth of haircuts in the 612 cases resolved so far under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. which is why we now have more billionaires than Anupam Khair has hair fallicles on his polished nationalistic pate, or Kangana Ranout can count on her manicured fingers (when she is not pointing them at the farmers, that is). Nowadays fat cats don't laugh all the way to the bank, they laugh on their way back from the bank. Which is why the Indian banking system is now on its knees, waiting for something worse than a haircut.

Most people of my generation grew up priding ourselves on India's policy of Non-alignment. It gave us and the third world moral stature in the company of stalwarts like Sukarno, Nkrumah, Tito and Nasser. No more. For our Prime Minister non-alignment is now a dirty word, to be trashed abroad, its meaning completely changed because history has to be distorted to suit, and justify, his personal predilections and hubris. In a brilliant article for The Wire on 28th August, SN Sahu explains that the essence of Non-alignment was "active engagement with all countries with a spirit of friendship, equality and reciprocity.... and neutrality towards military alliances." Speaking recently in Poland, however, Mr. Modi has deliberately distorted and misconstrued it to mean (in his own words) "to maintain distance from all countries". He went on to boast "Today India's policy is to maintain close ties with all countries. Today India wants to connect with everyone." 

Sure. Ask the Palestinians, Srilanka, Nepal, Ukraine, Iran. By all means, if it's in our national interest to refuse to vote at the UN against the genocide and atrocities by Israel and Russia in Gaza and Ukraine, to continue to bolster the Russians by buying their oil, to keep on the right side of a Zionist state so we can buy Pegasus from them, sell them drones or get lucrative contracts for some cronies- if that benefits us, embroider it in gold in the tatters of our foreign policy. But for God's sake, don't misinterpret the concept of non-alignment or denigrate an enlightened policy India followed right up till the time of Vajpayee. It was because of non-alignment that we were the leader of the South, looked up to by the Muslim nations of the world, a role model for other decolonised nations, secured the independence of Austria first and Bangladesh later, were successful in obtaining the Civil Nuclear Cooperation deal with the USA even while most of our weapons came from Russia. We were much better connected with the world in pre- Modieval times than we are today. In comparison, today we are shunned by the global South, distrusted by the West and considered a bully in our own backyard. Nehru's non-alignment has served this country much better than Modi's neo-alignment has.

Don't criticize what you can't understand, said Bob Dylan in his song The Times They Are A-changing. To which one may also add that distorting history or changing its vocabulary is not history, as Ed Koch observed, it's psychiatry, and a bad case of that too.

BEAUTY AMONG THE BEASTS

 Kangana Runout is all over the news these days like a bad rash , there's just no getting away from her interviews, statements and tweets. I find her very refreshing in these morbid days of rapes, lynchings, bridge collapses, encounters, defections and states going bankrupt. What is enlivening in her utterings is the novel perspective she brings to bear on whichever subject she decides to take on. Someone once said that we are all born ignorant, but we have to work hard to be stupid. And no one can accuse the Himachali belle of not working really hard at it. She is a bit like the IAS- an expert on any subject; she has spoken on the US election, history, Manipur, the farmers' protests, the Delhi riots, the 2002 Gujarat carnage, nepotism, Bollywood, sexual exploitation, the caste census, censorship, the freedom movement, among other weighty subjects. And, in keeping with thebest practices in the IAS these days, she is also a lateral entry into Parliament!

She has even started dropping hints about her marriage, and our vacuous media, with no exit polls on the horizon, has started speculating about the wicket keeper who might be responsible for the run-out. It's a bit late for me to throw my hat into the bull ring, having already chucked my towel into another one, but I do have a piece of advice for the gentleman- if you have the Encyclopedia Britannica, sell it to the kabariwallah; you won't be needing it any longer, for your wife knows everything. Ditto for Google Search.

Now, I'm no fan of Ms Ranaut's brand of politics, and I do wish that  she would be less forthcoming with her muddled thoughts on everything under the sun and a little less toxic, but one can't but doff one's hat at her candidness, the courage to call a spade a shovel, and the audacity to call out the power brokers in the world of politics and film making. Among the current crop of female "influencers" she perhaps is the only one of note to say F**K YOU ! in a man's world which is getting more parochial with every successive election. And, sadly, she is paying the price for that.

The hounding of her film Emergency is a case in point, though the malaise it depicts is much larger, for the same thing is happening with the Netflix series IC 814. Taking offence has become a full time, and rewarding, profession in India. It's not something new either- remember Kissa Kursi Ka, Aandhi, Rushdie, A Suitable Boy, Sacred Games, Tandav and the enforced exile of MF Husain? This "hurting of sentiments" is a very dangerous trend in a country with 6 major religions, 3000 castes and 25000 sub-castes, 22 official languages, 121 other languages and 270 mother tongues, 2000 registered political parties and hundreds of millions of morons. Any aspiring or misguided idiot can claim to be offended by anything in a film. In the case of Emergency it is allegedly the "unfavourable" depiction of Sikhs and in IC 814 it is the Hindu names of terrorists and their "humanizing", whatever that means.

Both films are loosely historical, and there are always different perspectives on history, which is the way it should be. In a liberal democracy a writer or director should have the freedom to present his version of any historical event, without any jingoist, communal or political obstructions. If the SGPC does not like the way Sikhs are shown by Ms Ranaut-fine, go and make your own version of it, God knows they have the money to do so. If the fake nationalists have the opposite grouse-whereas the Sikhs are demonised in Emergency, the terrorists are humanised in IC 814- don't watch the film, or ask Vivek Agnihotri to make another film called the Hijack Files.

Lumpen elements one can understand- stupidity is part of our DNA. What one is most shocked at, however, is the way our governments and courts become part of this regressive process. The courts these days will do everything except their jobs, which is to dispense justice in a timely manner. Why, one wonders again and again, do they even admit petitions for banning/ witholding the release of films on grounds of distortion, defamation or hurting of sentiments? Leave it to the Censor Board, and if this august body fails to do its job then haul it over the coals. But why become the court of first resort for any dissatisfied idiot? I am constrained to observe, with great respect and regret, that both the Bombay and Madhya Pradesh High Courts, have not served the cause of free speech by failing to facilitate the scheduled release of Emergency.

The central govt., as is to be expected, has conducted itself with its usual duplicity. Though it found nothing wrong in the dubious representation of facts and tenor with its own propaganda films- Kashmir Files and The Kerala Story-in the case of Ms Ranaut's film it has arm twisted the Censor Board to delay its certification because of the "sensitivity" of the subject- read: possible adverse impact on the BJP in the impending Haryana elections. One would have expected the two High courts to have seen through this dumb charade, but possibly the blindfold over the eyes of  the statue of Justice is tighter than we would have imagined.

Coming on top of the ever increasing restrictions on print and televised media,         social media platforms and OTT channels, the legitimacy now accorded to communities, self appointed "nationalists" and religious groups to block any film, and the reluctance of the judiciary to stop them, is turning India's creative pastures into intellectual deserts. Soon, no one worth his salt will write books or make films except the propagandists of whichever party happens to be in power at the time.

There are two lessons in this for Kangana Ranaut. One, the wheel has come full circle for her, and she has become a victim of the same toxic and intolerant ideology that she supports. Two, she has been betrayed by her own party which has cast her aside for a few seats in Haryana. Her free-roaming and independent spirit does not correspond with the confining and suffocating ethos of the party she belongs to. Time for another battle for the Rani of Jhansi?

HIMACHAL SHOULD REGULATE TREKKING TO MAKE IT SAFE AND ECO-FRIENDLY [ I ]

           TREKKING IS AN ADVENTURE SPORT AND SHOULD BE REGULATED AS ONE. 

On the night of 17th July  about 120 trekkers were stranded below the 14000 feet high Hampta Pass in Himachal, without adequate shelter, clothing or food, in very adverse weather conditions, torrential rain and almost sub-zero temperatures. They were members of three groups whose trips were "organised" by different trekking agencies. When the weather turned bad, the guides and tour leaders simply abandoned their charges and just disappeared. Had it not been for some other professional trekkers and locals who came to their aid, a tragedy like the Sahastra Tal episode in Uttarakhand earlier this year (in which 9 trekkers died in similar conditions and for the same reasons) would have repeated itself. The Himachal government, especially the Forest and Tourism departments, have followed the usual SOP- keep mum, ignore the matter and it will soon become history and be forgotten. Which is convenient, except that it may repeat itself as a tragedy the next time.

                              

                                    [ Camp site below Hampta Pass. Photo by author.]

The Hampta Pass incident raises some important questions. One, this trek is through the Inderkilla National Park which was so notified in 2010 : it is a protected area where entry is supposed to be regulated: did these trekkers have the permission of the Forest department for the trek? It certainly does not appear likely, in which case the Wildlife wing of the department was not doing its job. What is the point of having a National Park if any Tom, Dick and Harry can walk through it whenever he wishes to? The Print reported that one of the travel agencies involved in this incident organises a trek to Hampta Pass every day, another does it every weekend!

Two, how were 120 people allowed in on a single day? This is a trek on a mountain going up to 14000 feet, for God's sake, not Borivali railway station; such a number on a single trek on a single day is unheard of. I have been on this trek myself and can confirm that there is no place along its entire route which can accommodate the tents needed for so many people without causing immense environmental damage. The rubbish and human waste that these numbers would generate does not bear thinking about.

Three, and perhaps the most important in the long term: what mechanisms has the state government put in place for regulating trekking activities in the mountains, including: fixing carrying capacities of various treks, registering and vetting trekking companies, laying down the minimum criteria for their eligibility and for their field staff, notifying basic SOPs, equipments and safety precautions to be followed by them and their clients, ensuring employment of local people, and developing a mechanism for ensuring compliance? To the best of my knowledge there is no such prescribed regimen.

High altitude trekking is a rapidly growing sector in Himachal; almost 50000 trekkers visit Kullu valley alone every year. It is mostly an unregulated industry, with the government exercising little control over either the trekkers or the organisers. Friends of mine in the trade tell me that most of this activity/business is channelised through online/internet companies located outside the state advertising on Instagram, Facebook and similar platforms. They have no experience,  expertise or knowledge of  trekking in such conditions, they do not employ qualified guides or supervisors, they have no back-ups for medical or rescue contingencies. They simply make the online bookings, pocket 80% of the money and outsource the arrangements to local operators, washing their hands of any subsequent developments. It is this kind of laissez faire attitude and business plan that is responsible of the Saharsta type tragedy and for what happened at Hampta Pass. Trekking has become an irresponsible commercial operation, posing a danger to the environment as also to the trekkers themselves. This outside monopoly is hurting the business and employment opportunities for local people, unlike in the rafting and para-gliding sectors where it is local companies who organise these sports and provide the manpower and equipments. The government should realise that it makes no sense for its natural advantages, features and environment to be exploited by outsiders who have pushed the native operators to the fringes.

This has to change, especially if Himachal has to promote and position itself as an adventure sport destination. Trekking enthusiasts cannot be left to the mercy of these solely-for-profit operators who have no stakes in the state. A similar situation used to prevail a couple of decades ago with the other two popular adventure sports- rafting and para-gliding. It took many accidents, deaths and the intervention of the courts before the state government stepped in to regulate these activities. Now, there are comprehensive rules and SOPs which govern these sports, and the Tourism department exercises strict oversight over them. It is time to do the same for trekking, with the additional involvement (if not primacy) of the Forest department since all the trekking happens in forest areas.

The government should develop a comprehensive trekking policy and rules to address all the issues involved (mentioned in para 4 above). In particular, every company/organiser engaged in this business should be compulsorily registered in the state; only local managers, guides, cooks, porters should be employed; the Forest department should levy a charge/fee for every trekker; prior permission should be obtained for all treks; client to guide ratios should be fixed, the tour companies should be required to carry out proper medical screening of all applicants before accepting them for any arduous trek, organisers should be required to make full back-up arrangements (including rescue insurance) for medical and rescue situations for the more difficult treks. According to a Times Of India report dated !7th December, 2022, as many as 150 trekkers have died between 2017 and 2022 in the Himalayas, and many are still missing; most of these incidents have happened in Himachal and Uttarakhand.

The Forest and Tourism departments also need to do some self regulation; they have to be pro-active in promoting this sport and ensuring its safety rather than merely reacting (most times not even that!) to events. I shall address this aspect in the second part of this blog next week.