Desicritics Author: Ledzius

The Mangalore Pub Incident - Is Hindutva Responsible?

Ledzius — Wed, 4 Feb 2009 12:47:36 EST

The recent pub incident in Mangalore had little, if any, to do with Hindutva. What is actually quite evident is that, the clearly illegal and outrageous actions of the thugs actually finds tacit approval from wide swathes of the Indian masses who harbour a deep disdain and envy for the IT-empowered youngsters and their economic and social freedom. This sentiment cuts across all religions and ranks and in many cases underscores divides within families, between parents and children, siblings, etc.

This is one reason why most mainstream politicians (with the exception of very few like Renuka Chowdhury) have been reluctant to condemn the perpetrators of this incident publicly. Pramod Mutalik, free on bail, now has plans to hold a meeting on what kind of "action" needs to be taken to prevent youngsters from celebrating Valentine's Day. Yeddyurappa, the CM of Karnataka, has stated that there is no question of banning the Shiv Ram Sena which was responsible for the Mangalore incident.

Even the Cong CM of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot, as well as Anbumani Ramadoss, Union Minister for Health, who belongs to the PMK (which is quite anti-Hindu), have issued statements condemning pub culture. And Deve Gowda, former Indian PM and JD-S boss, had time and again made no secret of his disdain towards the IT crowd in Bangalore (although one could argue the feeling was mutual). And I am pretty sure, many Muslims too sort of welcome this kind of extreme stance on pubs and Valentine's Day. Their only concern would be that some Hindus seem to have upstaged them in this particular endeavour.

Since we have politicians from parties across the spectrum either openly supporting or passively approving the incident, why blame all this on Hindutva alone?

If the freedom-loving youngsters think not voting for the BJP is going to take care of this, they are going to be sorely disappointed. For these incidents are not because of one political party's action or inaction, but a clash of mindsets within India's social fabric that has very little to do with political affiliations.

Being in an age group which is on the cusp of social transition, I can easily sense the disconnect between the older and younger generations in this country. The electronic media and the blogosphere (which are clearly dominated by the latter) have in no unequivocal terms condemned the incident and been calling any kind of talk of banning pubs an outrage. As I myself am a social drinker who enjoys going to pubs, I can fully understand this viewpoint. Some sections of the print media (notably the Times of India) fully understanding this polarization in urban India, exploit this by taking the side that has more economic clout and holds more future business potential. The Lead India campaign, as well as its supplements which are full of sex tips and Valentine's Day dos and don'ts are also part of this propaganda. If you are a woman who wears sarees and bindis, and don't wear spaghetti straps or drink cocktails, you are backward and don't count - that seems to be the message conveyed.

The same Times of India and the same TV channels are seen by not just the youngsters, but also their parents. In many cases, this has led them to a state of shock and helplessness. They honestly are clueless and don't know what to make of all this. For they themselves had been through arranged marriages, with none of the fanfare of the social life that they are seeing the youngsters experiencing these days. On the one hand, they are worried for their kids, especially their daughters. On the other hand, it probably also has to do with plain jealousy, the feeling that they missed out on all the good things in life, since society had very little to offer them back then. Either way, many of them probably secretly harbour a desire that pubs should be banned in their cities. The same could be said of many youngsters of both sexes coming from more conservative sections of the population who don't subscribe to the yuppie culture and are strict teetotalers. They don't give a rat's behind to the 11:30 deadline for pubs in Bangalore, despite the TOI's valiant attempts at projecting that as the number one concern of youngsters in Bangalore. And keep in mind, this section consists of all possible religious and caste affiliations.

The second factor is the locals versus outsiders divide. Many of the IT folks are from outside Karnataka. So when the locals see these kids have all the fun and economic clout and treat local culture with disdain, there is resentment. This is natural, and again cuts across all party lines.

The third factor concerns alcohol itself. For many professional young women, alcohol means freedom, the ability to have fun sipping daiquiris and hanging out with colleagues of both sexes after a hard day's work.

But for many rural women, alcohol means misery and poison. Many have seen their husbands, fathers or siblings taking to alcohol and ruining their own lives and the lives of others around them. Recently my cook's brother died at the young age of 31 due to liver cirrhosis leaving behind his wife and young daughter with no source of income. It is very unlikely that the urban women who bemoan the loss of freedom of going to pubs would find sympathy in their rural sisters who had been affected by alcohol in tragic ways. And please don't forget, rural women form a massive vote bank which no politician worth his salt can dare to ignore. Tamil Nadu has elected governments in the past on a total prohibition platform since alcoholism was almost an epidemic in many rural parts in the late 70's and the early 80's, and it was almost always the women who bore the brunt of it. And this decision had nothing to do with Hindutva, one way or the other.

And Gujarat's total prohibition at present hadn't lowered the popularity of Narendra Modi in the eyes of its youngsters. In fact, it was the Congress opposition that was firmly against Modi's idea of relaxing prohibition in Gujarat a couple of years ago, citing it as the home of Gandhi. So all claims of Hindutva alone being responsible for prohibition are rubbish.

So what happened in Mangalore was the culmination of several factors. It is easy to blame all of this on just Hindutva, but it is a very multidimensional and complex issue.

And this explains the reluctance of politicians of all hues and stripes to come out openly against the attack. For, even though the attack itself was clearly outrageous and illegal, the premises that led to it strike a chord with the masses, rightly or wrongly.

In other words, we are seeing democracy at work here.

My advice to youngsters is - don't get duped into believing that Hindutva is responsible for this attack. This is more cultural and has to do with the Indian mindset, irrespective of political affiliation. Ask the people around you for their opinion on this issue, and you would be surprised by the answers they give you. And even if the people elect the so-called secular parties, there is no guarantee that incidents like this would not happen.

Instead concentrate on the larger issues facing the country, and base your choice for the central government on those issues. The youngsters of Gujarat have done that, and don't mind having to remain sober through the evenings. The prosperity of the state now speaks for itself.

Hip-Hop and Tamilians

Ledzius — Thu, 6 Mar 2008 13:25:29 EST

The last decade and a half has seen an unprecedented amount of globalisation in India. Thanks to the economic liberalisation of the early 90s, advent of cable TV, and the Internet from the mid 90s, people in India have been force-fed Western culture, and the younger generation in metro areas pretty much seemed to have taken it in its stride.

With economic liberalisation came MNCs, which spawned a new set of cultural norms. Glamorous ads featuring very Caucasian-looking models (both male and female) leading an Italian lifestyle got idealised as what everyone should strive for. Wine-sipping and platinum jewelery became the standards by which one's standing in society would get judged. At least that's what it was going by the ads as well as the popular media.

It so happens that some north Indians hit the sweet spot here as far as looks are concerned. Heck, I don't know what is so great about Italian or Greek looks, but they sell all over the world. And many Indians (especially from the north and the north west) seemed to have cashed in on this phenomenon, since a few of them were lucky enough to come awfully close to this idealisation.

So you've got Saif Ali Khan and Arjun Rampal who could give any average looking Joe a complex. And I mean, not just in India, but anywhere in the world. They seemed to be surrounded by equally fair and sharp-featured pretty women. TV ads started featuring models who came close to this idealisation of this Italian/Greek features, and very soon the lifestyles they portrayed on screen seemed to keep up with this image. So in the ads as well as in Hindi movies, not just the younger generation, but also the parents as well as kids were shown leading Western lifestyles. Shooting in foreign locales became the norm.

In both Mumbai and Delhi, certain segments of the society could actually relate to all this cultural makeover. For Mumbai, home to Bollywood and wealthy industrialists, this doesn't come as a surprise. And similarly, New Delhi, home to Puppies and super-spoilt kids of bureaucrats and politicians, had always indulged in excesses of every kind. And both these metros have many men and women who do come close to the looks idolised by the media.

But other metros in India weren't that fortunate. As a Chennaiite, I could say that there was a feeling of resentment in Chennai as globalisation seemed to idolize the fair, sharp-featured north Indian look. But at the same time, they didn't want to be left out of the globalisation bandwagon. So they started looking out for alternative role models/cultural paradigms. I will limit the rest of the discussion to Tamil Nadu, but I feel this could be applied to other states also in various degrees.

If one takes the Tamil movie industry, till the mid 70's, it had idolized fair, sharp-featured men and women in the lead roles. Stars like MGR, Sivaji, and Gemini Ganesan (father of Rekha) fell into this category. With the advent of Dravidian politics in the 60's, many dark-skinned Tamilians felt it unfair (no pun intended) that their skin colour had to be a handicap. Especially after MGR left DMK and started his own party, many Dravidian sympathizers started looking for alternate icons.

Enter Rajnikanth. Though a Marati who grew up in Karnataka, his dark complexion and catchy mannerisms struck a chord with the Tamil populace. For the first time, he showed that a Tamil superstar didn't have to have the fairness of Raj Kapoor. (I am not sure whether Amitabh's darker than average complexion worked for or against him in the Hindi film industry.) This also led Tamilians to not feel ashamed of their dark skin anymore. In his footsteps followed even darker Tamil heroes like Vijayakanth and Parthiban in the 80s, with some degree of success. Simultaneously darker women too came to be accepted even in highly glamorous lead roles. Examples abound - Gowthami, Ranjani, Nadia, Rekha (different from her more popular namesake), Jayashree, and so on. Indeed, in many movies that came out during this period, the hero was fairer than the heroine.

Rap to the rescue

Fast forward to the mid 90's. The euphoria of the 80's was waning away because of the changes mentioned at the very beginning of this article. The media was mostly controlled by the north at that time, and there was a definitive tilt back towards the fair skinned north Indian look. And a Rajnikanth was no longer going to cut it, in terms of carrying the burden of Tamil self esteem on his shoulders.

At around this time, the world had been observant of a trend in the US. After the disco genre had faded, Michael Jackson had emerged as a pop icon almost overnight in the early 80's. Never mind the fact that he wanted to look white, he was seen as a black who was successful in breaking moulds. While he became popular on that account even in Japan, in Tamil Nadu, he earned a special place at the subconscious level of a number of youngsters in Chennai in the 80's. When the style of dancing known as "breakdance" became popular in the US among urban blacks, it was seen as some kind of cultural assertion of dark-skinned people within the US. It seemed that duplicating this social experiment in far-away TN was waiting to happen one way or the other.

And yes, it did happen. The man responsible for this was a dance choreographer called Prabhudeva. In the mid 90's, he introduced break-dance to TN in many movies. One of his greatest hits is named, not coincidentally, "Pettai Rap". True to the rap image in the US where a black man "conquering" fair-skinned women became a much-repeated theme, Tamil movies started looking north for its heroines. It is no surprise that Aishwarya Rai's film career debuted with a Tamil movie. Others like Sushmita Sen, Shilpa Shetty, and Lara Datta too joined the fray. Because of this, the darker skinned Tamil actresses had to find other jobs. Tamil movies have yet to see the recovery of dark skinned actresses to the levels they were in the 80's.

When the gangsta rap of the early to mid 90's matured to something more mainstream like hip-hop towards the new millenium, it likewise gained greater social acceptance in TN. At around this time, Tamil pop culture (including movies) found its own niche and diffentiated itself from the Italian-based north Indian version of globalisation. Tamil TV programs didn't even attempt to keep up with the changes that happened in the north. However Tamil music video channels like SS seemed to be more sympathetic towards hip-hop on the global scene compared to other genres. Hip-hop seemed to provide a kind of safety net against the resentment brought on by the fair-skin oriented culture of north India. At least for the men.

This influence of Western hip hop on contemporary Tamil culture is a double-edged sword, in my opinion. On the positive side, it had certainly boosted the self esteem of many Tamilians, especially men. This, coupled with the fact that the state of TN has become an economic powerhouse in India has made Tamilians more assertive in all walks of life.

But, I am afraid, there is also a negative side to this. Tamil culture had historically been highly chivalristic compared to the north. The southern states had always treated its women better. And Tamilians had always tried to maintain certain standards of decency in manners of speech. Unlike Hindi and some other north Indian languages, there are no terms equivalent to motherf***** or sisterf***** in Tamil. Using such language even against your worst enemy is taboo in Tamil ethos. And while TN has had its share of caste wars, it has never seen the kind of humiliation rapes against lower caste women that are common in some northern states. To a Tamilian, this is unthinkable.

So what happens when you try to meld this with a culture which treats women as objects and uses the aforementioned swear words in its lyrics unabashedly? I don't know the answer to this.

In Chennai, I have seen this kind of hip hop music being played in many upscale coffee shops. The kids who work in these joints seem to have come out of rural TN which had always been the forebearer of Tamil culture and values. So how would these highly impressionable kids adapt to this culture shock?

Would the Tamilian society see an increase in violence against women? Would north Indian women be targeted more? We will have to wait to see the results of this social experiment which seems to be happening in the metros of TN as of today.

Why Do We Indians Ape The West?

Ledzius — Mon, 3 Mar 2008 13:18:05 EST

Watching the Filmfare awards show last night on TV, I couldn't help comparing them to the Oscars. Everything, from the basic format, to the attire of both male and female celebrities (along with new expressions like "wardrobe malfunction") seemed to be a carbon copy of the American show. The guys were all in suits (close enough to the tuxes in Hollywood), and the women were in outfits that could have been comfortably worn by Halle Berry to the Oscars with no hint of any "Indianness". There was not a single female celebrity who had a bindi on her forehead, and that included yesteryears' stars like Rekha, Dimple, and Neethu. And Saif Ali Khan, one of the presenters, looked more like Andy Garcia doing his Godfather bit with a generous amount of hair gel, than anyone who could be considered native to the subcontinent.

Even if one leaves out this show, in almost all Hindi movies these days, the female protagonist is seldom shown wearing a saree or sporting a bindi, save for special occasions like her wedding ceremony. And most of the glamorous actresses have their hair coloured auburn. Having jet black hair is not something to be proud of anymore.

This phenomenon is not just restricted to Bollywood. In all walks of life, people are considering the saree (and also the salwar kameez) dated. Western wear is supposed to be a sign of confidence and independence for women. If one goes through employment ads of IT companies, the woman in the picture is always in a western outfit (and without the bindi). In TV ads, if a woman is shown wearing a saree (along with a bindi), it is most probably for a detergent or toilet bowl cleaner. Or a life insurance policy taken by the husband to take care of his (economically dependent) wife and kids.

Women in western wear (even casuals) are supposed to be "dressed smartly". The implication here is that those who are dressed in ethnic clothes are not dressed so smartly.

If we go through the Times of India or the TV ads, we are led to believe that all women in India have the exact same aspirations as their Western counterparts, with their emotions and even expectations for Valentines day mirroring those of the US. In fact, many of the articles that appear in the TOI seem to be a cut-and-paste job of what appears in western trash journals like Cosmopolitan. But that is besides the point.

In Indian TV ads, an ideal couple is shown having an Italian lifestyle. And that would mean eveyone looks very Italian, the place looks Italian (be it the kitchen at home or the sidewalk cafes), and the girl (obviously in an expensive Western outfit) gets serenaded by her suitor over a glass of champagne or red wine. The guy then slips on an expensive engagement ring on to her finger which she gladly accepts. I, for one, don't believe 99 percent of Indian couples go through this routine, except for those who have already made up their mind to mindlessly ape the West. (If you have any doubts about the 99 percent figure, remember that 70 percent of our population lives in villages.)

All this is supposed to be considered a fallout of globalisation. We are all supposed to be "one" at the end of the day, and in the long run, there would be a convergence of cultures, and everyone on this planet is supposed to be a carbon copy of one another in a cultural/behavioural sense.

I have two main problems with this idea. The first is with the premise itself, that all ethnically diverse populations, if got rid of cultural trappings, would be the same otherwise, and could be socially re-engineered to conform to uniform standards of culture. This is what Uncle Sam expects out of second generation immigrants onwards.

The second is that, even if the above premise were true, "globalisation" seems to be an euphemism for "Westernisation". Thus a "globalised" Indian woman would junk her sarees and bindis for good, expect gifts for Valentines day (under the implied threat of walking out of the relationship if that expectation is not met), and adopt mannerisms exactly the same as her Manhattan counterpart. There is a snowball's chance in hell that it would be the other way around.

And an Andhraite Indian who loves spice vegetarian food is doing that only because he wasn't globalised enough to be able to savour hamburgers and hot dogs. Once globalised, the whole world (including Tamil Iyengars) would start savouring bland American food, you see. Thus, one of the aims of globalisation would be to set up a McDonalds in every village in India so that the corrupting influence of local cuisines on the taste buds be removed for good. No wonder even the French (who take great pride in their cuisine) are up in arms against this outrageous notion.

If you think the above scenario seems a bit far-fetched, think again. In all the various malls that are not coming up in India, I see a trend towards hot dogs and burgers. And in multiplexes, you don't get popcorn with chili powder anymore. You get only butter popcorn. When I was growing up, this was unheard of. I used to love spicy popcorn. But now, I cannot have it even if I want to. Maybe in a decade or so, you can perhaps kiss samosas and veggie puffs goodbye too. Learn to like hot dogs and pretzels early on, since those might be your only choices in the future.

And at the "high end" stores in these same malls, you are subjected to mindless American pop music (derided even in the US as elevator music). If it happens to be Indian music, it would be some dumb re-mix with a background rhythm shamelessly lifted from a Western tune. Of course the stores won't play something purely Indian, because the management think the stores wouldn't be perceived "high end" anymore. So much for our self esteem. And if they play anything other than pop, there is a good chance that its going to be hip hop, not anything remotely Indian.

There are countries which have already become victims of globalisation. South Korea is a prime example. A nation with a massive sense of collective inferiority complex, it quickly imbibed Western cultural institutions to the detriment of its own culture. (Christianity overtook long-standing Buddhism almost overnight.) Over ninety percent of its young women colour their hair today. And their music is shamelessly close to the pop elevator music coming out of the US.

India, with its stronger cultural heritage, may not succumb so easily, but thanks to the corporates and the media who put their own selfish interests ahead of the perils of globalisation, even it may not be able to hold out for too long.

The Illusion of Freedom of Speech

Ledzius — Tue, 5 Feb 2008 07:02:02 EST

A 23-year old software engineer from Bangalore, Lakshmana Kailash K was picked up from Bangalore last August, taken all the way to Pune, and put behind bars on charges of having posted on Orkut insulting images of Chhatrapati Shivaji. Despite protesting that he did not know anything about it, he was taken to Pune and thrown into jail, where he spent 50 days with over 200 undertrial prisoners for an offence he did not commit. He was charged under Section 295 A of the Indian Penal Code ('deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings'), and Section 67 of the IT Act (publishing 'lascivious material on the Internet'). As it turned out, the IP address was not his, but by the time the police confirmed this and acted on it, he had already spent 50 harrowing days in Yerwada Jail with hardened criminals, lathi beatings, and a bowl which he had to eat out of and use in the toilet as well. Lakshmana, who is currently with his family in Tamil Nadu, says his fight is not over yet. He has slapped a legal notice demanding Rs 20 crore (Rs 200 million) from Bharti Airtel and the Pune police. He said his arrest was based on the Internet Protocol address provided by the telecom service provider Bharti.

Lakshmana says that Bharti Airtel’s CEO in Bangalore, Prem Pradeep, did meet him once after the case was splashed in the media. Pradeep, while empathising with him, insisted that the police were to blame; however, Bharti wished to make amends by offering him a job at Airtel and psychological counselling to help him get over the experience. Lakshmana, turned down both offers and asked if there was any monetary input, to which Pradeep allegedly replied that “financical compensation was a different dimension altogether’’.

If what Lakshmana alleges is true, I have no respect for Airtel's management. Obviously for Airtel honcho, billionaire Sunil Mittal, paying out reparative financial compensation to a customer who had to endure beatings and degrading conditions due to the company's fault is too much of a corporate expense. This only characterizes Mittal as a complete jerk. I sincerely wish Sunil Mittal and Prem Pradeep undergo the same kind of treatment that Lakshmana underwent, if only for a day. And yes, let them be offered some "psychological counselling" at the end of it. But more importantly, I hope Lakshmana receives due compensation for his torment.

But there is a deeper issue here regarding freedom of expression which many people seem to have missed, and not highlighted enough even in many blogs. The whole controversy seemed to revolve around the wrong IP address provided by Airtel and Pune police's negligence in not making sure it was indeed Lakshmana's. In this debate, the nature of the "crime" itself had taken a backseat and hadn't been debated enough.

It seems that the Orkut posting of Chhatrapati Shivaji had caused a minor riot in Pune. So, instead of trying to quell the riot, the Pune police found a scapegoat in some kid in another state and charged him under Section 295A which deals with "deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs". Now, wait a second, how does insulting Chhatrapati Shivaji become "outraging religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs"? Shivaji was a Maratha emperor in recent history. He was a Hindu for sure, but does insulting him then make one guilty of "insulting religious beliefs"? Of course, he was a pride of Marathas and all that, but then doesn't some community or the other hold every king in reverence? If some people over-react to some silly profile on Orkut and start rioting, it is the duty of the police to deal with them and them alone. Even if it means a few deaths in police firing. Those bastards deserve to die anyway, and that would probably teach other goons a lesson that they cannot indiscriminately riot on the slightest pretext of some "hurt sentiments" and get away with it. (Look what's happening now with this Marati versus "North Indian" nonsense going on in Mumbai. Such lawbreakers should be dealt with in the most severe manner, a la Singapore. Instead we have the police harassing innocent people.)

It is plain disappointing that this aspect of the incident got entirely overlooked. Also I haven't heard anything in press reports about what happened to the other three kids who got picked up instead. Were they subjected to the same treatment as Lakshmana? Did they have access to a lawyer? Did they get released on bail? If we ignore these issues, we are party to this sorry state of affairs. Instead of filing PILs over "hurt sentiments", I think someone should file a PIL defending our freedom of speech and sue the Pune police department on behalf of Lakshmana as well as these three kids.

If we let the state get away with this outrage, then be prepared if your own kid gets arrested and gets beaten up in police custody because he had caricatured Shah Rukh Khan wearing a bra, and posted it on some social networking site, and which caused some of his fans to riot in Mumbai. Then you will realise the ramifications of not speaking out against this kind of state coercion today.

Contemporary Tamil Culture and Male Chauvinism

Ledzius — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:06:19 EST

I am quite proud of being a Tamilian. Tamil is perhaps the oldest language in the world still in use, and some of its literary works like Silapathikaram and Thirukkural are without comparison. I myself take pride in these aspects, but there is one which I cannot come to terms with. This is the self-proclaimed superiority of Tamilian women in upholding chastity.

In Tamil culture, this is almost treated with religious fervour. A woman who is devoted to her husband absolutely and unconditionally in spite of his shortcomings is elevated to the status of a goddess with all the powers. Indeed, in the aforementioned Silapathikaram, the protagonist is the wife of a guy who regularly patronises a prostitute. He gets falsely implicated in a theft and gets executed as a result. The wife, besides proving that her husband was innocent, destroys a whole city by some divine power bestowed on her because of her devotion towards her husband, in order to avenge his unfair execution. Kannagi, this heroine, is still considered a role model for a woman by many Tamilians, with many temples built and poems composed in her honour.

True, the evil custom of sati was not prevalent at any time in Tamil Nadu as much as in the northern states. In that respect, probably Tamil culture treated women better than most other parts of India. But stressing too much importance on chastity did lead to a spate of honour killings in many villages in Tamil Nadu.

It is then quite ironical that Ramayana, another treatise on male chauvinism, never caught on in Tamil Nadu. But the reason for this is the perception that it was about the domination of north Indians over Tamilians. In fact, there have been several instances of Ramayana being ridiculed by prominent Tamilians, the latest being the statement made by CM Karunanidhi that Rama never existed.

While the rest of India has certainly moved forward with respect to chastity and virginity before marriage, there are still some prominent public figures in Tamil Nadu who refuse to accept reality and have made it almost impossible to speak about pre- or extra-marital sex in Tamil Nadu. The most famous case that comes to mind is the hounding of actress Khushboo when she gave an interview in a Tamil magazine that pre-marital sex is okay. This raised a hue and cry amongst the Tamil moral brigade which wanted to see her arrested. Only a handful of film artists and other public figures stood by her during that time. (One such person was Sania Mirza, and what she did was a big mistake, considering the community she hails from. She had to quite haplessly retract her statement in face of threats, not from Tamil, but rather, Islamic fundamentalists.)

One of the most prominent personalities of this male-chauvinistic brigade is a Tamil lyricist called Vairamuthu. Although he has penned quite a bit of ribald and lusty lyrics for many Tamil movies, these don't quite hide the fact that he has age-old notions of female morality.

In fact, apart from being an LTTE-sympathiser and a passive Tamil separatist, he once wrote a poem where he cast an actress who feels ashamed at having slept with someone other than her husband before her marriage. This provoked a strong rebuke from many actresses in the Tamil film industry, not least of which was Radhika, another prominent personality in her own right.

In fact, Radhika, who has been married thrice, is now one of the most successful producers of Tamil serials for the small screen, and is acting in many of them as well. And perhaps, to Vairamuthu's chagrin, she is also highly respected by the masses, instead of being denounced as someone with loose morals.

Apart from Radhika, the other famous female personality to have defied stereotypes is the daughter of Karunanidhi himself, Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi. She divorced her first husband to marry the current one, something that would be considered sacrilege and treason by the proponents of Tamil culture. But, for whatever reasons, this fact is never openly spoken about, and she is now seen as a major literary figure and spokesperson for Tamils, and accorded all the due respects.

Unfortunately enough for Jayalalitha, former CM of Tamil Nadu, she never enjoyed the high regard given to the above two women. She was always derided as "MGR's keep" by other politicians, including those in her own party. But this might have something to do with Brahmin-bashing, another favourite pastime of Tamil chauvinists, and it is always easier to pick on people from the Brahmin community.

There was once a time when people in the show biz industry were considered "different" and were subjected to different moral standards. Therefore, celebrities (especially women) were never considered role models, even though they might have a huge fan following. But with the advent of the small screen and several popular Tamil programs where young men and women from all walks of life freely mingle, the line dividing people in showbiz and those not is getting blurred.

Also, with retail chains, coffee shops, and malls that have sprouted in the major cities in Tamil Nadu, one finds many kids hailing from villages dating each other and even accepting those who have had past relationships. Globalisation has definitely caused a shift to occur in the mindsets of young Tamilians regarding female sexual behaviour.

All of which would make cultural dinosaurs like Vairamuthu cringe.

Indian Fast Food Advertisements May Require Warnings

Ledzius — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 11:42:46 EDT

If loudmouthed minister for Women and Child development Renuka Chowdhury has her way, she would require fast food ads shown on television to have statutory warnings about the pitfalls of eating such unhealthy food.

I wouldn't have a problem with that in itself, except for the fact that the term "fast food" or "junk food" in India is viewed in a very distorted manner. In almost every press report (including that of brain-dead Times of India), these terms are synonymous with burgers, fried chicken, and French fries (read MNC fast food). Now, I can understand why in the US this would be the case, since many people do consume these particular items in quantities that lead to obesity and heart disease.

But, seriously, what percentage of the Indian population eats at these MNC outlets on a regular basis for these to pose a significant health risk? Maybe 0.1 percent? And why does Renuka think that having these warnings would improve the health of the Indian population at large (even assuming the people who watch the ads heed the advice)?

If we classify French fries as junk food, we should also do the same for the roadside chili bajis, pav bhaji, or even the humble masala dosa, since they are not any more healthy. Tell me, will she now want all dhabas and Udupis to post warnings on their menus for all their fried items? Of course not. It is far easier just to indulge in MNC-bashing, which is probably her real agenda anyway.

And I hope that is her real agenda. For, if not, there could be only one other rationale behind the whole exercise - the lives of the people that can afford eating at McDonalds matter more. Screw the rest of the people lower down the socio-economic ladder who gorge on their onion pakoras at the roadside stall on a daily basis. Those who really matter would be at the KFC downing chicken nuggets.

Either way, it doesn't sound too noble.

India Should Host an Annual Paganfest

Ledzius — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 10:00:20 EDT

Brazil has Mardi Gras, the US has this as well as the Burning Man festival, and Germany has its Oktoberfest. It is high time we Indians hosted a theme-based international event that is, frankly, a bit whacky.

I have been mulling this for some time and think that one theme which we Indians should celebrate should be paganism. Coming to think of it, Hinduism is itself a bit pagan. And there is a resurgence of paganism in other parts of the world. The ancient pagan religions of Asatru and Druidism, as well as new age Wiccanism are gaining followers from around the world. A lot of Wiccans flock to Hampi every year.

Although there are disparate festivals here and there all over the world concerning these movements, so far there isn't one on a grand scale that celebrates all forms of paganism with international prominence. And before it is too late, India should capitalise on this opportunity and host a yearly Paganfest that attracts pagans of different types from all over the world. And being the home of the largest number of Hindus, pagan by definition, it is all the more fitting for India to host such a festival.

I have come up with some ideas and outlines for such an event. I am warning anyone who is reading this that many of them are intently a bit outrageous. But I believe that those factors would only make it more popular, especially among the pagan crowd.

As far as the venue is concerned, I am thinking of somewhere near Pushkar or Ajmer in Rajasthan. The reasons are many-
a) It is better for this festival to take place in Rajasthan. This way, the foreigners could club the pilgrimage with experiencing the splendors of Rajasthan, including Jaipur and Udaipur.
b) A desert atmosphere is conducive to this kind of event. I have the Burning Man festival that takes place in Nevada in mind.
c) Pushkar already attracts many foreigners because it is a bhang and opium haven. These would be a major part of the event, so it would seem like an ideal venue.

As far as the date is concerned, I think this should take place just around the time of Holi. In fact, it should be 2-3 day and night event with the last day coinciding with the Holi night where people spray each other. Plus the fact that bhang is consumed widely all over India during this period would naturally spill over into this event. And being early March, the weather would also be ideal for such an event.

What about the festival itself? I would model this loosely on Woodstock, with an arena and an amphitheatre. These structures would be constructed with a sandstone theme, in keeping up with the traditional architecture of Rajasthan. And speaking of Woodstock, yes, there would be plenty of sex. There would be "campgrounds", with sandstone rooms and cubicles where couples (or groups) can get some privacy and spend the night. Each cubicle may or may not have an attached toilet depending on the price. But these cubicles will have no roofs, so the desert moon (which would be a full moon during the time of Holi) would shine into them. And there would be no beds or electricity, so people would have to bring their own sleeping bags and flashlights. There would be several camps, for straight Wiccans, lesbian Wiccans, straight Asatru followers, gay ones and so on. These different camps would be permanent structures, used once a year solely for this purpose. And depending on the camp, there would be different motifs on the sandstone walls, with those of Khajuraho, or Gaia, for instance. The number of such cubicles would be quite limited and get sold out, so bookings have to be made months in advance. These camps would be situated a little away from the main amphitheatre, so that it's a ten-minute walk in between.

There would be several stalls near the main venue, some catering food, some catering bhang or ganja, some catering sex toys, condoms and Viagra, and so on. There really would be nothing that is quite taboo. There would also be souvenir stalls run by the different groups to sell their memorabilia and literature.

In the mornings, there would be presentations given by the various pagan groups and their chapters. During the late afternoon, the shows would start in the amphitheatre. Again, like Woodstock, there would be a lot of bands that play music related to Asatru, Wiccanism or any other form of pagan worship. Heck, we Indians can have our own Vedic bands. Who wouldn't want to listen to a good Prakrit punk rock number praising Soma? The shows would go on past midnight, by which time, many of the participants would have already left for their cubicles to cuddle up, but with the faint music still reaching them through the open roofs.

On the last day, where people spray each other, there would be a highlight of the closing. Taking a cue from the Burning Man festival, where a giant effigy gets burned, I want it to be as dramatic. I have in mind three giant walking robots (each about 30 feet high) in the shapes of Asuras walking past the venue at a distance, silhouetted by the moonlight. This, I believe, is now technologically feasible. They would appear out of the darkness, and disappear into it. Where they come from and where they go would remain a mystery. But that would conclude the show, and people would retire back into the campgrounds for the last night of romping.

All in all, this is just an international version of Holi on steroids, with some twists to it. But if you look at the economics of holding such an event, it seems quite profitable. I assume an attendance of 10,000. This is not too optimistic considering the Burning Man festival in the US attracted 47,000 people last year. If we assume the average attendant spends about 200 Euros over the three days (including the accommodation), the net proceeds would be around 11 crores. I would assume the actual expenses of organising and conducting this event to be quite small compared to this amount (the event would rely heavily on volunteers). Plus one can safely assume that there would be an equal amount of money spent on tourism in Rajasthan by many of the participants. It seems to be a win-win situation for everyone.

The only role for the government of Rajasthan as far as this event is concerned is to stay away from it and not try to police it. Law enforcement would be called in only when there is a real need (like when there are fights/scuffles).

I wish there are some creative people who could put this or a similar idea into practice. Any takers out there?

The Bell Curve and Its Relevance to India

Ledzius — Tue, 9 Oct 2007 02:23:14 EDT

I know this is a highly controversial topic, but the authors of The Bell Curve, Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray have argued that intelligence is one, if not the most, important correlative factor in economic, social, and overall success in America.

They maintain that, apart from having lower income, people with lower IQ tend to have lower ethical standards and are prone to committing more crimes than their higher IQ peers.

I don't agree with all of the authors' assertions, but at the same time do believe that a higher IQ of the general population in India would be a significant factor of its economic growth in the coming decades. And working towards that is the most significant investment we Indians can make today, to pave the way for a higher standard of living in our future.

And, no, I am not going to suggest any controversial scheme like eugenics, for instance. What I am going to recommend instead is improving education in rural areas, and taking care of IQ-affecting health issues simultaneously.

Where do we Indians stand?

According to another book, IQ and the Wealth of Nations, the average IQ score for an Indian is 81. To put this in perspective, the corresponding figures for Japan, China, the US, Philippines, and Nigeria are 105, 100, 98, 86, and 67 respectively. According to the same book, differences in national income (in the form of per capita gross domestic product) correlate with differences in average national IQ.

So what does this mean for us? According to some analysts, India is supposed to have the third largest GDP behind the US and China by 2050. From 2007 to 2020, India's per capita GDP in dollars will quadruple. They base these estimates on current trends in the economic growth patterns of these countries.

But I am skeptical about these figures. These financial analysts seem to be oblivious of social factors that could dampen these kind of rosy projections.

Some major factors include corruption, lack of planning or foresight, terrorism, refusal to honour basic social contracts (witness the political drama in Karnataka now), Maoism, goondaism, disregard for the environment, etc.

In all these regards, China is much ahead of India as of now. Right now their main problems seem to be a lack of knowledge of English, and a substantial rural population (with lower productivity). But given China's rapid pace of building new cities and encouraging their children to learn English, these problems would diminish in the next couple of decades. China is poised to become the superpower of the mid-century, easily overtaking the US.

Unfortunately, we Indians don't seem to have any such long-range plans. Our infrastructure projects are haphazard and paved with controversies of one sort of the other. Corruption is rampant at every stage of the bureaucracy and political machinery. Politicians indulge in vote bank politics, and not focus on key issues like primary education and health care for everyone.

This is perhaps the pitfall of being a democracy where the majority of the voting population does not even have a high school education. Since there is a strong correlation between education and IQ levels, I guess one could say the main fault lies with the voting populace itself.

If we go back to the history of developed countries, we will find that the majority of them had fared much worse at some point in time. But they somehow managed to extricate themselves from their miseries and rose up to becoming what they are now.

On the other hand, countries with an average IQ substantially less than that of India (like most in sub-Saharan Africa) degenerated into complete disasters with famine, civil wars, genocides, AIDS epidemics, etc. and are constantly looking towards the rest of the world for assistance of one form or the other.

It is my own belief that, however rotten the current system might be, India can find a way out, and that would be largely due to the efforts of people in the top ten percent of the IQ profile in all levels of the administration and the corporate world.

But at the same time, we have to make sure the remaining ninety percent don't derail this process. This is because, most of the factors which are detrimental to progress, like corruption, religious fundamentalism, crime, Maoism, and just plain incompetence, have to do with the sections of the population that are towards the lower end of the IQ distribution, approaching that of sub-Saharan Africa.

One way to mitigate this is to shift the whole IQ profile up by at least 5-10 points, so that even those on the lower end are out of the range that leads to societal collapse.

Fortunately, I believe, there have already been some social and infrastructural changes that are in favour of higher IQ for future generations of Indians. Let me list them out.

1. General awareness has increased - Thanks to televisions, cell phones, and even the Internet, many Indian youths (even rural ones) have become more knowledgeable on a range of topics compared to those ten years ago. Many now are aware of the opportunities that globalisation has presented them with, and attempt to learn new skills (even brown collar ones). Since job opportunities for these skill sets are limited in the rural sector, there has been unprecedented migration to urban areas. While this does place a burden on the urban infrastructure, at least they are not rotting in villages with nothing to do. However, it seems like communities with less clout like the Scheduled Tribes and the Dalits are not reaping the benefits of this paradigm shift, since they are kept out of the loop by some of the castes higher up in the order. The growing Maoist threat is a direct result of this frustration among these unprivileged sections.

2. Elimination of leaded petrol - More than 100 million people in India (or 10%) battle the debilitating effects of lead poisoning, according to a recent study. Children with high blood lead levels suffer from lower IQ, poor motor coordination, and anti-social behaviour. One of the main sources had been leaded petrol which was prevalent till a few years ago. With its phase-out, we will see less people exposed to high lead levels, and this would cause a positive shift in the IQ. Unfortunately, another major source of lead poisoning, leaded paint, is still being manufactured in this country on a large scale. It is imperative for the government to mandate a gradual phase-out of lead-based paints made here. It is noteworthy that China is precisely doing this now after the controversy surrounding its exports with high lead content.

3. Intercaste marriages - Indians have a diverse gene pool, since we have had migrations/invasions of several ethnic groups for millenia. Unfortunately, most rural people had historically married from the same village or extended family. This leads to IQ-diminishing recessive traits (where both parents have to contribute the defect) in their children. With more people migrating to urban centres, the odds of them getting married to someone from a different caste or region increases, and the likelihood that they share the same recessive traits diminishes, so the chances of their children being affected are much smaller. I have myself seen many cases where the children of intercaste marriages seem to be more successful compared to those from the same castes in question. Another advantage of intercaste marriages is that, the prominence given to castes will in itself diminish over time, since we will see a greater percentage of the population which doesn't have allegiance to any one community, which means fewer caste-based conflicts.

Even though the above factors are in our favour, they are not enough. We need to be more proactive in this regard. These are what I believe are needed-

1. Compulsory education for children - It is really sad that there is no successful government policy in place that ensures all children get the fundamental right to have a decent education. This is true of most of rural India (where the schools are totally dysfunctional), as well as the migrant labour population of urban India. The children have no choice but to help their parents with their work, effectively dooming them to the same standard of living as their parents.

2. Improving prenatal and childhood nutrition - If you observe the employees at your local Food World store, you can make out that most of them have stunted growth, and are not particularly smart either. The average "silly village girl" in India looks nowhere near Priyanka Chopra (who is 5'8), but rather is around 5'2 and weighing 45 kgs.

According to the Nutrition Foundation of India, 90 per cent of adolescent girls, women and children suffer from iron deficiency. In children, anaemia can cause a 5-10 point deficiency in IQ and hamper growth and language development. Fortunately, anaemia can be easily prevented by iron supplements which are really cheap. Two years ago, an `Anaemia-free India' campaign was launched by Lions Clubs International and the Indian Medical Association to address this problem. Let us hope it is successful.

I would also like to see fish oil made available to pregnant women across India (since this has been shown to boost the IQ of the children), but this is not practical given that a) many Indians are vegetarian and b) it is very expensive to produce high quality fish oil without toxins like mercury.

Regarding protein deficiency (which causes stunted physical growth), I speculate that the greater purchasing power of all Indians would automatically lead to a diet richer in protein. And this would be true of vegetarians as well as non-vegetarians.

If we take care of the above aspects, as well as phase out lead from paints, all the factors put together should bump up the average Indian IQ by about 10 points, to about 91. That would place it almost on par with a Western nation like Greece which has a value of 92 currently.

Older Indians and Romance

Ledzius — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 00:18:21 EDT

I have an octogenarian relative who really knows how to live life. Whenever he visits Bangalore, he drags me to a bar to have a drink or two with him. A few years ago, after a couple of glasses of whisky and club soda, he told me earnestly, "Remember, there is no age limit to enjoying good sex".

Well, I had to believe him, even if he had been speaking for himself. Considering the fact that his aging wife who is arthritic could barely walk, I wondered if he was getting it elsewhere. A discussion on this topic with another common relative confirmed my suspicion that he indeed has had a few trysts outside of marriage. And these, I might add, probably in his early seventies or so.

In spite of this, I see him being an exception to the general rule regarding older Indians. Romance is generally given the short shrift among this group. And not just romance, but virtually every other form of entertainment except for the idiot box.

While senior couples in Western countries go on long drives or on vacations or cruises wearing their trademark Hawaiian shirts and enjoying martinis, we don't see any of that happen among older Indians.

The concept of enjoying life for its own sake doesn't exist here. While there might be cultural barriers to holding hands or kissing in public (as many in Western countries do), I would be surprised if senior Indian couples do it even in the privacy of their own bedrooms. The only times they go on vacations together would be to some religious place or the other. And they would consider it "improper" and "morally wrong" to show any form of carnal affection towards one another on these getaways.

Indeed, many older men take vows of celibacy that last months at a stretch. Not that this means a lot of self control since they don't do it anyway. And while senior men in Western countries (and even China) rush to their physicians for prescriptions of Viagra, here we have older men giving up onions and spicy food, lest they provoke carnal desires.

Sex is evil, and the only thing they are supposed to gain pleasure out of is to see their grandchildren before they close their eyes for good.

This kind of negative attitude shows on the face of senior Indian couples. During my stay in the US for more than ten years, I came across parents and in-laws of my Indian friends who would come to stay there for a few months, either during the time of delivery of a child, or to help babysit it.

What I typically have observed is that these Indian parents seemed like fish out of water. They always seemed to have a sombre, deathly look on their faces, and walked around slowly, compared with their contemporaries of other ethnicities. While older Western and Chinese couples were bubbly and brisk, holding hands, cracking jokes and stuff, it would be really hard to try to get an average Indian parent to even smile at you.

And unfortunately, this attitude is not restricted to seniors alone. Even the average Indian couple in their twenties and thirties seem to believe that romance should literally take a backseat with the arrival of a baby. I have, many a time, come across wives who would prefer sitting in the backseat of the car along with the child in the car seat, while their husbands do the driving. This kind of behaviour seemed to be unique among Indian couples. The majority of American wives would sit in the front seats along with their husbands.

And these young couples by default do not expect their parents to have any sex life either. They feel that they have made their parents happy by giving them grandchildren - shouldn't they consider themselves lucky? Thus the young mother would expect her mom to stay back to babysit her child while her dad returns to India. As long as she has a sibling back in India to take care of their dad, everything should be fine. What's the big deal in being separated for a few months at their age anyway? Mom's happy because she gets to babysit her grandchild. And dad should be happy too, because he gets to play with his other older grandson back in India. And as long as both her parents have their BP and blood sugar under control, what more could they possibly ask for at their age?

And any outings or vacations involving the parents of the young couple would invariably cast them in the role of babysitters. And when it comes to ordering in a restaurant, the young couple decides on what the parents eat.

And if one of the parents dies, falling in love and getting remarried is out of the question for the surviving spouse. "Mom, how can you even think of that?" would be the expected reaction from her married daughter.

In India, we see other family members either as crutches, or people who need crutches. Once a couple has their children married off, they are automatically seen as becoming the latter. And the last thing people needing crutches should be having on their mind is romance of any kind.

Know Your Desi English

Ledzius — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 05:47:53 EDT

We Indians owe our English much to the British, but our English is kind of unique, sometimes patently wrong, going by the dictionary or accepted rules of grammar. But then again, who cares?

Some might argue that thanks to Hollywood and the BPO culture, our English is now more in line with the American version, but that isn't true either. The English used by most desis is unique and is called "Hinglish" by some. But this paints an incorrect picture that the desi English is due to the influence of Hindi, which doesn't hold for southern states in general.

There are several words and expressions that are unique to Indians, and cannot be found in a dictionary. I have highlighted them in bold wherever they occur in this post.

For example, flipping through the Times of India, we see page 3 people holding on to their mocktail glasses. In previous generations, socializing would have meant attending the local officers' club where the men played a game of carroms while their wives outdoors played tennikoit.

Inspite of being a popular actor (and whom many women admit having a soft corner for), Shahrukh Khan's item number where he bares his chest seems to have evoked mixed reactions from everyone. It's not about whether he is goodlooking or not, but the perception that he cheapened himself in doing so. It remains to be seen if his fan base will continue to be what it has been uptil now.

The nuclear deal between India and the US had been on the anvil, but it might now go for a toss because of the Left. Surprisingly enough, even the BJP is now crying hoarse over the deal. I wonder what they are really upto.

Also, these days we have many of the IT and BPO types who use expressions that have no relevance to the majority of Indians. Many of these phoren-returned managers use expressions like "They put this project on the back burner", or, "He must step up to the plate and do something about it", and that too with a put-on American accent. C'mon, how many Indian households (other than those of the phoren-returned managers) have stoves with back burners, or how many Indians play baseball?

And the papers talk of Shahrukh's six-pack abs. When was the last time you came across a six-pack of any drink in an Indian store? Seriously.

Other than the managers, another group of professionals that deal with many foreigners is waiters at Indian pubs. When they ask "Would you like a pint of draught beer?", the majority of them cannot get the pronunciation of either "pint" or "draught" right. But a bigger faux pas is when they would go on to ask "Would you like to order for some starters, sir?", in which "for" should not be there.

Perhaps the worst offenders are the elitist crowd (even the convent educated ones) here in Bangalore. The offense I am referring to is the gross abuse of a four letter word - "only". A commonplace conversation will go on as something like "You only told me, no?". Unfortunately, the sentence means something totally different from what the speaker intends to convey. When I grew up in Chennai, I had never come across this usage. The first time I heard this, from a north Indian, I was amused as well as confused. Other examples of the word used wrongly are "Work now only", and "Yesterday only it happened".

Although I did touch upon the pronunciation of a couple of words, there exists a laundry list of words which are commonly misspelled by Indians. But I wish not to deal with them in order to keep this article short. Although one example I like to bring up is "calcium". I have no idea why 99 percent of Indians pronounce this as "calshium". And it seems that the advertisements of MNC toothpaste companies are guilty of the same. Are they aware of this error, and basically following "While in Rome, do as the Romans do"? I don't know.

A nice web page that lists many uniquely Indian English words/expressions is here.