THE VANDE BHARAT PARADOX

 

THE  VANDE  BHARAT  PARADOX

The Vande Bharat stable of trains is the pride of the Indian railways, and deservedly so. Their coaches are state of the art, comprising the best in the world in technology and comfort, rivalling the airlines at a fraction of the cost. Each set of 16 coaches costs about Rs. 130 crores, ten times the cost of an average train; the railways run 75 pairs of these trains currently, but plan to raise it to 4500 by 2047 . But the Vande Bharat has an Achilles heel-designed to run at 200 kms/hour, its average speed is only 76/hour, no better than the Rajdhani or the Shatabdi of much more ancient vintage, negating its very purpose and expenditure.                                                                                                                        Outdated track and signals technology have simply not kept pace with the more modern rolling stock, poor maintenance and anti-collision systems, overloaded train schedules bedevil the railway system. Proof of this lies in the statistics: in the eleven years ending 2023 there were 678 train crashes, resulting in 1061 deaths (ref National Crime Records Bureau). If one were to quantify all accidents such as people falling off trains or walking on the tracks or mishaps at railway crossings etc. the figure for just 2023 is a mind boggling 24678 accidents and 21835 deaths. This is the Vande Bharat Paradox- the attempt to impose a modern superstructure on a crumbling infrastructure without proper preparation or 360* planning, driven by misplaced priorities and a publicity-seeking paranoia. And this is not peculiar to the railways alone but pervades all our development parameters and sectors.

Take our highways. At 146,204 kms India has one of the largest networks of National Highways in the world, and this is expanding at 45 kms per day, having increased by 60% since 2015. Mr. Gadkari boasts that by 2030 we will rival the USA. In length maybe, but not in quality, for the Vande Bharat paradox is at play here too. The groundwork for such a rapid expansion has not been done: the roads are of poor quality, the cars and drivers not suited for high-speed expressways, and enforcement is wanting. The proof, again, lies in the statistics.                                                                                                              There were 172000 deaths in accidents in 2024-25, with an astonishing AGR of 9.8%. We record 2247 deaths per million vehicles, as against 814 for China and 141 for the USA: our highways are corridors of death, not just transportation. The reason? Development of associated but essential hard and soft infrastructure has not kept pace with the physical construction of roads- we are grossly deficient in road designs and engineering, timely maintenance, enforcement of road discipline, international level road and traffic signages, efficient highway patrol systems, availability of medical and trauma centers to provide the golden hour treatment for accident victims, the licensing regimes are riddled with corruption. As in the case of the railways, we have  put the cart before the horse here too.

Next, consider our education eco-system. Here again the statistics are impressive- a superstructure of 18000 colleges and 800 universities, churning out  15 million graduates every year, including 1.50 million engineers and 180000 doctors. Enough, one would think, to power us strongly to developed nation status. But look closely and one finds the Vande Bharat paradox playing out here too. For barely 40% of these youngsters are employable, such is the quality of our primary and higher education, thanks to poor regulation, corruption in the selection of teachers, persistent paper leaks, governments abdicating their responsibility and out-sourcing education to profiteering corporates. The proof is not far away here either: the global QS World University Rankings (2026) saw all but one of India's Top Ten educational institutes slide sharply in their ranks; IIT Bombay from 48 to 71, IIT Delhi from 44 to 59.

And worse is to come, for the BJP govt. at the center has an antediluvion concept of education, and is sparing no effort at hollowing out the very foundations of our education system. It is turning our Universities from being centers of inquiry to centers of strait-jacketed conformism, repression and ideological brain-washing.  Vice Chancellors and Directors (of IIMs and IITs) are chosen on the basis of loyalty and ideological compatibility, not scholarship or administrative experience, and their primary task is to crush the spirit of inquiry; in JNU alone, more than 500 cases have been filed in the Delhi High Court by students and faculty against such high-handedness.

Even worse is the manner in which the UGC and NCERT are mutilating syllabi for colleges and schools and embedding in them an unscientific and backward-looking political ideology. So the Mughals are largely deleted from history books, secularism and federalism as subjects from text books, Darwin's Theory of Evolution and the Periodic Tables are  expunged from Class 10 textbooks. This is an institutionalizing of scientific illiteracy. A generation of "qualified quacks" is being created by integrating modern, science based medicine with traditional systems and allowing homeopaths to practice modern pharmacology. In short, the very scientific temper which ensures real development is being eroded from under our educational institutions. The gleaming buildings are being hollowed out from within and the damage will be felt years down the line.

The Vande Bharat paradox pervades other areas of "development too, where all is not what it seems and contradictions are all too apparent: the fourth largest economy in the world but with 300 million in poverty and free rations for 800 million , glitzy metros that have the highest pollution levels in the world, the Umar Khalid paradox where a young scholar is neither tried nor convicted but continues to languish in jail for 5 years, the GDP paradox where, though the Govt. says we are growing at 7% or 8%, the IMF cautions that the figures are doctored, the Crime and Reward paradox where the crime is proved but the criminal is allowed to retain the proceeds of the crime. The list is endless We are living in an imaginary world where paradoxes reign supreme. To put it in the words of my late English teacher, Prof. P.Lal: We are what we think, having become what we thought. The institutionalization of delusion.

THE GANG OF 272 (G-272) MAY BE A SIGN OF CONTINUING (REVERSE) EVOLUTION

 

THE GANG OF 272 (G-272) MAY BE A SIGN OF (REVERSE) EVOLUTION

Mutations in any species is part of natural evolution and essential to its survival, according to the accepted Darwinian theory. Recent research has revealed that the Neanderthals did not go extinct 30000 years ago (as was assumed) but assimilated into homo sapiens by inter-breeding. In other words, we still have the Neanderthalensis among us, most probably in the civil services and the uniformed forces. Which is not a bad thing in itself, for they were the ultimate survivors and ruled the planet for 350000 years. But a recent event last week in India shows that they are evolving again, into a sub-species of homo sapiens called homo supines, to further their chances of survival.

So far this mutation has been noticed in 272 retired officers of the civil services, higher judiciary and armed forces, and has manifested itself in a letter they have written to the LOP ( Leader of the Opposition), Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of being an anti-national, supporter of illegal migrants and destroyer of the nation's Constitution. They have castigated him for asking questions of the Election Commission, forgetting that the LOP's job (and indeed of the Opposition's) is to interrogate the government of the day. They also appear to have missed the fact that at least three past Chief Election Commissioners/ Commissioner have expressed similar doubts about the EC's functioning and have demanded that the CEC inquire into the charges made by the LOP and reveal the truth to the public. They have also publicly shared their reservations about the opaque manner in which the SIR is being carried out, and its timing. The language of the letter too is uncivil, uncouth at times, abusive and most improper.                                                                                                      This distinct group of hominids has been given the name of G-272 (Gang of 272) by scientists and have become an object of intense study because it has been revealed that, in a first for vertebrates, they have lost ALL their vertebras within the short span of just 70-80 years! Paleontologists have concluded that this may ensure their longer survival in a hostile environment because it enables them to bend backward, grovel, crawl and tie themselves into knots without feeling any embarrassment.

On the merits of the letter itself, however, I find the number 272 interesting, for this is the precise number which constitutes a majority in the Lok Sabha! Was this just a coincidence or indicative of the fact that, apart from their vertebrae, homo supines is also losing its cognitive ability? Did they think that this number would also constitute a majority in their sub-species, entitling them to speak for their colleagues and would thus carry the day, as it were? In which case they were wrong, as subsequent events have proved.

For not one other member of the sub-species has come out in their support, not homo militaris, homo judiciaris, or even homo bureaucratis. Instead, a  closer examination of the G-272 under a microscope (a standard procedure for all dangerous bacteria and microbes) has revealed some interesting details about these pathogens, which must be shared in the larger interest of providing immunity to the parent species.

Why have these worthy gentlemen/ladies crawled out of the woodwork now? They have been conspicuously silent all these years on visceral issues that pose to the nation a far greater threat than Rahul Gandhi's questions to the Election Commission do- mob lynchings, bulldozer injustice, the judicial distortion of the Places of Worship Act, subservience of the Election Commission, sudden changes in rules relating to appointment of Election Commissioners and release of CCTV footage of polling, Pegasus, the dismantling of environmental protection laws and rules, the regular failures of intelligence agencies, weakening of the federal structure, misuse of Governors, India's international isolation, stagnating growth rates, the burning of Manipur, to mention just a few. Why are they  baying in chorus now, in choreographed unison? The whole sacerdotal act looks suspiciously like a command performance to me, and it's not difficult to figure out where the command came from.

But they have made a big mistake for they have exposed themselves badly. Like bacteria on a petri-dish under a microscope, they are now open to public glare and scrutiny. Social media and various Youtube channels are now revealing their antecedents and not- so- glorious past, and it's a veritable rogues' gallery. A large number of the signatories, as per these reports, have in the past been accused of corruption and amassing disproportionate assets during their service period, and cases are still on-going against a few of them. Some channels have reported that one Ambassador has acquired notoriety for posting lewd and obscene comments about young girls on his X account. Dozens of them are reportedly members of the BJP, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, RSS and ideologically allied organisations like the India Foundation and the Vivekananda Foundation, quite a few have been given post retirement sinecures by the present regime. Many of them are regular invitees to the "panel discussions" on the godi TV channels, invited simply to project the ruling party's views. Not surprisingly, therefore, like maggots exposed to the disinfectant of sunlight, many of them have now curled up and have shut down their social media accounts to escape further scrutiny.

What should be of particular concern to the saner elements of civil society, however, is the large number of defence services officers among the signatories, about 130 of them. For, unlike the bureaucracy and even the judiciary, the armed forces have always maintained a respectful but well defined distance from the politics and politicians of this country, showing neither favour nor animosity to any individual and group. That tradition now appears to be fraying under the onslaught of the communal, ultra-nationalist and triumphal forces that rule these days. But it is significant that no other defence persona of any note has come out in support of this letter; we can take heart from it and believe that the rot has not spread too far. For if it does, it will be a sad day for an institution that had stood tall, non-sectarian and steadfast even when this country was being partitioned.

These "un"civil society specimens have no credibility, are self declared sycophants with no collective conscience or principles, and are clearly trying to ingratiate themselves with the ruling dispensation for their own purposes. Their letter should be allowed to sink like a stone to the bottom of the cesspool. 

THIS OPPOSITION IS ALREADY DEAD, IT JUST DOESN'T KNOW IT YET.

 The results of the just concluded Bihar elections establish that if we have an unscrupulous ruling party at the center, we have an  incompetent, lazy and self serving Opposition in Delhi and the states. For both of them the country is just a notional concept, a legal fiction, a medium to exercise power, make money and live the VIP life- the damage to it's citizenry, institutions, environment and dreams of those who fought for its independence are mere collateral damage in the noble pursuit of power. Election after election, this is being proved time and again by both sides.

The writing has been on the wall in letters big enough for even a Class I student from Bihar to read- viz. that the BJP will never allow any other party to win any election of any consequence. But the Opposition either cannot read or has developed selective amnesia, especially the Congress : it remembers a Karnataka and a Himachal but forgets the  81 of the last 93 elections it has lost since 2014, according to one researcher. Those who can read, like Nitish Kumar, Mayawati, Shinde, Ajit Pawar and Paneer Selvam in Tamil Nadu have sensibly decided to join the school bully. The others, it appears to me, are playing a double game- otherwise why do they keep repeating their mistakes election after election and further legitimising the BJP's hijacking of democracy? They bring to mind Einstein's dire warning: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

As Yogendra Yadav has pointed out, the BJP contests elections at two levels- the legitimate and the illegitimate. In the first, its ruthless efficiency, planning, tactical moves and indefatigable persistence cannot but be admired by any objective observer: it knows when to bend and when to push, when to cajole and when to coerce, when to assert and when to compromise; it starts preparing years in advance, it works according to a master blueprint, and it selects the people to execute it with a ruthlessness that spares no one and rewards merit alone. Everything is planned for, it leaves nothing to chance. This has made it perhaps the most formidable election machine in the world.

The major Opposition parties and their leaders, by contrast, are either vacationing abroad, doing padyatras which peter out like a stream in a desert, or prove that they are still alive by the occasional tweet on X, Facebook or Instagram. They have no sense of urgency, they wake up only before an election, sycophancy is preferred to merit, the same old jaded playbook is dusted off each time, they spend more time fighting each other than fighting the BJP, instead of standing up for true secularism they espouse a hypocritical and incomprehensible soft Hindutva, their focus is on wearing the crown rather than on winning the throne. Their egos are far bigger than their capabilities and they have much to learn from the BJP about alliance making. For example, what was the logic (other than hypocrisy and ego) in spurning Owaisi when he offered to join the Maha Gathbandan if he was given six seats? He is a force in Seemanchal and had won six seats there in 2025. He was imperiously rejected and went on to win 5 seats and dent the MGB's chances in another 7-8 seats. Compare this with the BJP which is happy to ally with even a party which can deliver one seat!

Consider now the second level at which the BJP operates- the illegitimate. It would probably win even without this overkill, but as I said earlier, it leaves nothing to chance. In the last ten years it has subjugated and captured every lever of power and source of funding. It is also a master at conducting political inquests: the disappointing results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections made it realise that it was not enough to manipulate the voter, what was imperative was a way to manipulate the vote instead. And so, after successful trials in Haryana, Delhi and Maharashtra, it rolled out the brahmashastra- the SIR (Special Intensive Revision) in Bihar. It has worked, and so it has now been launched in 12 other states, even as the Supreme Court keeps waffling over the challenge to its constitutionality. I have no doubt at all that the novel legal principle of "fait accompli" will ensure its eventual roll-out throughout this broken country.                                            Our higher judiciary, of course, is missing in action when it matters most, whether it be keeping scholars in jail for years without trial or conviction, letting the criminal retain the proceeds of crime as in the Electoral Bonds case, watching mutely as its own orders are violated with impunity as in the demolitions of houses of "suspects" and minorities. The Election Commission has become the BJP's facilitator and go-to agency for winning elections, and it even draws red lines which the courts are advised not to cross! Not content with simply manipulating the polling process through EVMs, it has now delivered the ultimate insurance policy for the BJP- the SIR  which will curate the nation's voter lists to suit its mentor for all times. 

In such an eco-system the Bihar result was, as Anant Teltumbde writes in a piece in THE Wire, eminently predictable, though the cockiness of the BJP in awarding itself a 90% strike rate caught even sceptics like me by surprise; such rates are usually seen in countries like Ghana and Rwanda, not in mature democracies. This shows not only the party's thoroughness in micro-planning, its manipulative skills but also its "I don't give a damn what you think" attitude. The result was inevitable also because the BJP has changed the nature and architecture of politics, while the Congress and its "allies" are still stuck in a time warp. The structure of politics has been corporatised by the BJP- the finances, the HR policies, the ideating, the delegation of tasks, the PR, the emphasis on market share and I.T- while the Opposition still functions like the traditional Mom-and-Pop store, like a family business, and is doomed to be wiped out.

The Opposition should have known how the result in Bihar would pan out, and probably did, which is why Rahul Gandhi was on vacation instead of fighting in the trenches and why no significant "leader" of the INDIA alliance campaigned in Bihar: the power point presentations, the various "bombs", the press conferences, the sporadic tweets were all window dressing. Like a mouse transfixed by the hypnotic glare of a snake, it couldn't move even as it was devoured whole. 

The triad of Modi-Shah-Gyanesh Kumar (who is now being defended by a "labharti" coterie of retired judges, defense officers and bureaucrats) delivered the coup-de-grace to the Opposition with the implementation of SIR. This was the real nuclear bomb, which leaves no survivors. And this was the moment, following the revelations of the electoral homicide in Bihar, Delhi and Maharashtra, when the Opposition should have said "Enough is enough" and called for a total boycott of all elections (including Bihar). Not just a boycott by the opposition parties but by the citizens, the voters, the civil society of the nation. It could have taken a leaf out of Jaiprakash Narayan's book of Total Revolution. But this required too much hard work, moving out of their comfort zone of govt. allotted bungalows, risking their sources of funding and hefty allowances. Instead it chose to opt for more power point presentations, tweets and petitions in the Supreme Court whose constitutional commitment is becoming harder to discern with each judgment. As expected, the MGB then had its nose rubbed in the soil of Bihar, by now thoroughly sprinkled with bribes, fake and deleted voters and a compromised govt. machinery. It got what it richly deserved, but the real victim is the idea of democracy and fair elections.

The Congress is perhaps contemplating a boycott now, and planning to hold a massive "Vote Chori" rally in Delhi's Ram Leela grounds in December. It should have done this mass mobilisation two months ago, when SIR was announced. Their belated attempts  will fail, for the moment has passed- a tide, as Shakespeare said, has to be taken at the flood and not when at the ebb. A boycott has to come from a position of strength, both physical and moral, and not from a position of weakness. The Congress and the opposition are now on weak ground, having been destroyed in Bihar, their Supreme Court petitions headed nowhere, every party plowing its own opportunistic furrow. They have lost credibility with the masses who no longer believe that these so-called leaders can bring about any change. They have let the nation down, for the Age of Modi has just begun. The sun will not set on the BJP empire for many more years. 

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.