TATA NANO-Darling to a Societal problem

It is always a pleasure and heartening to know that yet another product which is truly Indian in every sense has been launched and the whole world is going gaga about it. It’s a real achievement for a country that has been lagging behind in every other parameter is beginning to set the pace by creating newer segments and venturing into areas unknown for the rest. In that sense it’s a marvelous one.

It all started in 1991 post liberalization and the country has come a long way since then. The urban middle class population has been on the rise and the shape of the urban income pyramid has changed from a triangle with a large number of people at the bottom with the numbers decreasing moving to the top to more of a diamond shaped one with a significant number of people in the middle region and lesser number of people at the top and bottom. Rural India is not faring badly either as it is changing from a largely agriculture dependent economy to a one dominated by small enterprises. Though the change is slow it is beginning to happen. As a result we are witnessing a shift in the income levels of rural masses as well with reduced levels of poverty (in percentage terms and not in real terms). In other words one can say that industry led economy has begun to play spoil sport with agriculture. It may look exciting with higher returns now but it is not a sustainable one in the long run. This will make us dependent on other countries to meet our food requirements and that is like committing hara kiri.

With that background let us see how TATA NANO has emerged as a threat rather than a supposed boon to India and its masses. When Singur bid adieu to NANO thanks to Mamta and a few others there was a huge hue and cry across all sections of the people about the missed opportunity to generate jobs, generate revenue to the state economy and to change the face of the Bengal economy from a communist led socialist one to an investor friendly destination. Few bothered to look at the positives. It is actually a blessing in disguise for Singur. Singur is one of the most fertile regions in the country where three crops can be grown per year with high levels of underground water, decent rainfall pattern and good source of irrigation. All this means that it is a farmer friendly one blessed for agriculture. Giving it to NANO is like cutting the golden egg laying goose. Momentary madness it was.

Same is the case with Sanand near Ahmedabad in Gujarat. The area is as fertile as Singur if not more and the long term benefits are manifold. But it is not meant to be that way. With a lot of freebies including water, electricity for a number of years to loans at the rate of 0 to 0.5% per annum, the Gujarat Government gave it all to the TATAs and rolled a red carpet to signal the death knell of agriculture in the region.

Apart from the fact that NANO kind of projects is being established in fertile parts of the country, there are more social problems than benefits that the society can derive out of them. For instance imagine close to 70000 NANOs on Indian roads by January 2010 and another 200000 by January 2011. Do we have the infrastructure to support such ventures? We are already facing heavy traffic problems in cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, etc. making commutation a nightmare for the people. With that NANO and other small cars, two wheelers where are we heading to?

Our economy is a robust one but the growth can be sustainable and meaningful only if we get our basics right like protecting agriculture. It is time for people who are interested to give a thought over these issues and voice their concern. Let us hope we live in a better place.

ARUN

PS: The details given about TATA Motors’ deal with Gujarat Government was released by the Gujarat Government in response to an RTI application but was withdrawn a day after as the TATAs do not want it to be publicized.

FYI: RTI cannot be used to obtain details about a public-private venture. The government can release the details only if the concerned private party agrees to the release of the details of the deal.

You Aussies should be ashamed of yourselves

When the 19 year old lanky medium pacer called Ishant Sharma from Delhi nicked Michael Clarke's chinaman to the centurion Michael Hussey at first slip, Ricky Ponting's so called "invincibles" created history by equalling Steve Waugh's real invincibles' record of 16 Test wins in a row. What a remarkable achievement??? Kudos to Punter and his men for their magnificent achievement. It takes real commitment to win matches day in and day out like the Aussies and they have shown just the same to the whole World by winning against the Indians at the SCG. They are a class apart from the rest of the World. They displayed versatile skills, energy in the field, drive to win and nothing less than that. This was evident from the way Andrew Symonds batted on day 1 of the just concluded test at the SCG, one of Sachin's favourite grounds in the World. Their attitude was made further clear by Brett Lee's five-for, Mathew Hayden's and Michael Hussey's centuries in their second dig and Michael Clarke's splendid penultimate over of a nerve wracking Test match. Wow What a performance??? Simply unimaginable for a non Aussie cricketer let alone the billion poor spectators. Hats off once again Aussies.

What else can a poor die hard Cricket fan sitting in the TV room of a well known B-School do other than showering praises on the Aussies for their victory with hands on my head, heart beating hard, oh God! Sachin's yet another masterful knock in vain, Laxman's poetic ton in vain, Kumble's determination in vain and everything else that the Indians did over the last few days went in vain. All these went in vain not because Indians did not have the Skills. Not because we did not have the commitment to win. Not because we did not have the pride and passion towards the game. But because of the lack of Sportsmanship displayed by the Aussies and a string of poor umpiring decisions. Sport is something that asks for skills coupled with high set of values. But Aussies have the former in plenty but near to negligible as far as the latter is concerned. This was clear right from the start of this Test match when Andrew Symonds refused to walk after getting out twice. He was not sporty and lacked values but went on to play one of the socalled great innings and saved Australia the blushes. Then the Skipper Ponting refused to walk after being caught behind off Ganguly. But fate showed him the door as we all know. Skipper lead from the front in asking his guys to shed their values if they have any. Then it was the turn of Michael Hussey, the cricketer with a 'Bradmanesque average'. He refused to walk after being caught behind off Ishant Sharma and in the process scored his 8th ton in Australia. Good effort Mr.Hussey but you should be sporty. He lacked values as well. Then it’s the turn of the new Captain of the Australian T20 team to follow suit. He refused to walk after being caught cleanly by Dravid off Kumble. Only God and Clarke himself knows why he did not walk???The Aussies might have won 16 Tests in a row but failed to show Sportsmenesque values. Perhaps some might argue that decisions should be left to the umpires. I agree but one has to understand that Sport is more than that. It’s all about displaying values with skills. Australians have a perfect example of Adam Gilchrist. He is an epitome in setting standards as far as values are concerned and at the same time displays scintillating skills. What an Irony???

So how can a team that is not sporty and a team that lacks values can be called as Champions. Sorry Aussies You might have a won 16 Tests in a row but you are not Champions any more. You can be a Champion only when your skills are complemented by the set of values that you possess. Try to learn from Sachin, Kumble, Dravid, Gilchrist and many others. It’s not about winning but it’s all about winning in the right way. You have denied Indians their right to compete. You have denied Ishant sharma his first wicket on foreign soil. You have denied Dravid to come into form. You have denied Ganguly a century at the SCG. You have denied Kumble, his first test win abroad and the list goes on. You did not deny all these things through your 'sportsmanesque deeds' but by your ugly lack of values. So You Aussies should be ashamed of yourself. Coming to the Indians now. After that lacklustre show at the MCG, what a comeback!!! Sachin's was a perfect Test inning one could witness and it’s true that his bat hitting ball is not music to his ears alone but ours as well. Laxman was at his artistic best. So does Ganguly. Kumble and Harbhajan were determined. Oh God we deserved to save the test if not win at the SCG. Hope we witness a similar performance from the Indians in the upcoming matches.

Aussies you dont deserve to be called as 'Champions' any more...

PS: Do write in your comments and inform me if there are any grammatical and semantic errors.

Reflections of my Fieldwork

Life is full of joy, fun, glory, ecstasy, satisfaction and happiness. It's also about sorrow, misery, agony, frustration and a whole lot of other things. One has to learn to live with all these things and should find appropriate avenues to express them. In that sense I feel blogging will give me the right platform to express my feelings about various things in life and thereby get satisfaction and happiness. With a lot of hope here comes my debut knock...

Reflections of my Fieldwork

As part of the field work segment of my PRM course in IRMA, I was allotted the fishing village of Koadiakkarai in the east coast district of Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu. The excitement of visiting a fishing village for the first time in my life was there even before I reached the village. Whatever I thought about a typical fishing village was there in Kodiakkarai and there were many things that kodiakkarai offered me which I never thought would be there in the village.
To start with, the most fascinating part of my stay in Kodiakkarai was its beach. The beach there was different from that of the other places. It was not blue in colour rather it was brown in colour and the sea was shallow. This was a treat to my eyes and that used to be my companion on all the evenings that I stayed there in the village. The next best thing was the food that I got there. Since I hail from Tamil Nadu I simply love the food in that part of the World and Kodiakkarai food was no different. I used to get idlis for breakfast, rice with poriyal, rasam and thayir for lunch and typical mydha paranthas for dinner. That kind of delicious food made my life in Kodiakkarai a fruitful one. The next best thing about Kodiakkarai was the chats that I witnessed in the hotels. I have seen such heated discussions in my home town but here it was more enjoyable and they used to be anything from cinema to politics to sports and people discussed with a kind of passion that was unique to that place alone. The next best thing according to me in Kodiakkarai was the wild life sanctuary and the birds’ sanctuary. I know Kodiakkarai was a tourist spot due to the presence of a picturesque beach but only when I went there I came to know that the village was not only famous for its beach but also for its birds’ and wild life sanctuary. Also the fact that it was the only village that had a beach, a wild life sanctuary, a birds’ sanctuary and an MPCA (Medicinal Plants Conservatory Area) gave me a great feeling to be there. The next best part of that village and the most noteworthy one was the warmth with which the people treated us in the village. They provided us with all the basic amenities that we wanted and treated us not like guests but like kings. The next best part of that village that attracted me during my stay was the youth of the village. Most of them were SSLC passed guys and they did everything one would expect out of the youth and also did things which one would never expect out of them. They played cricket and may be that was the reason why I liked them, may also be because they watched cricket and discussed it day in and day out as I used to do, may also be because they spent hours together on their mobile phones, may be because they gave more importance to these things than anything else in life and more because they treated me like one among them and not like an alien.
It’s always difficult for anybody to love something so much and to hate the same thing as much as you loved it. But I have to say that kodiakkarai gave me a lot of joy but at the same time gave me as much pain as well. This was something which I never expected it to be this strong and it was nothing other than the caste difference. Caste was something that was omnipresent in Tamil Nadu irrespective of whether it’s a city or a town or a village but people live in harmony. But the scene in Kodiakkarai was that the people of the BC community did not like the people of SC community and vice versa. When one speaks to them he/she can make out that nothing other than a blame game was going on between the two communities. People from the Soliya Vellala community who constituted the majority of the BC population were saying that it was they who brought the SC people into the village and they have no reason to oppress them. SC people were saying that the BC people simply did not want them to come up in life and hence they were creating all kinds of constraints for them. Though there were no clashes between the two communities, the caste feeling was so strong that even the Children were playing the blame game. This was something that made me to hate the village as much as I loved it. Having said that I sincerely pray that this caste segregation gets eradicated in the years to come. Hope this happens sooner than later. The next thing that made me to hate this village was the drinking habit of the fishermen. Yes they work hard but that cannot be the reason why they drink. But interestingly this was the reason they gave me when asked about their drinking habit. It’s not that only they suffer because of this habit of theirs but their families including children suffer to the core. They spend more than 50% of their daily earnings on this, leaving their families under poverty. Hope this habit of the fishermen gets evaporated. Yes, sooner than later.
All the experiences that I had in Kodiakkarai during the 50 days stay including the best and worst experiences gave me something to learn and enjoy in life. The first and the most important of that learning was how to treat your fellow human beings. Then I learnt how a person can be happy even when he has nothing with him and how this was possible. The learning perhaps was that a person can seldom be happy without anything in life. Each one of us is happy because of something in life and the argument holds true in the context of Kodiakkarai also. The Soliya Vellala community barring a few families was leading a happy life in the village because they had everything in life and the all important money. On the other hand the dalit community barring a few was leading a miserable life as they had nothing in their lives other than poverty. Learning here was that do not bring caste into the picture any more. It’s time we move on in life towards development. Development of the individual followed by the basic social unit called the family, then the society at large. Hope this happens too. Yes, sooner perhaps than later.
Thus my experiences in Kodiakkarai were a mixture of good and bad things in my point of view but certainly there was something to be learnt and understood in each one of them. In that sense my village experience was a beautiful one.

PS: Please do write your comments, which I think will be of immense help to me in my future postings.