Regional Poetry in India - Sparkling

The regional poetry In India is sparkling with talent and some of the sharpest voices are from women.They are breaking barriers. They speak with irony,insight and courage. Here are samples from two of them – both young and original.

Salma/Tamil
When I pull him close
And fondly nuzzle his hair,
He flinches from the touch Of my breasts and moves away
Forgetting that they had once
Processed my blood to feed his hunger
When I reach with my hand
To run my fingers through his hair —Tendrils upright like reeds on a riverbank —He pushes it away, and moves on.

Sunanda Das/Orissa/Oriya
How is it possible ?
Everything smells of your body.
Detergents have no use.
However so much as I scrub,
The odour remains.
What do I do?
How do I escape ?
I am not able to lift
My little finger.
I can do nothing
Except lie down with eyes closed
And long for that fragrance.

Organised Retail Is Getting Back

Organised retail is getting its bearings back. The astronomical rentals are down. The frenetic increases in wages are a thing of the past. The supply chain and its evils/blessings are the focus of many retailers.

Many new entrants are close to store breakeven. The mall operators are more careful in planning and design. Most important of all, the customers have slowly and imperceptibly started realizing the value of modern retail – clean dealings, convenience and a good environment to shop. The problems of the store staff apathy remain but like in evolution, the customers have begun adapting to this.

Arvind Singhal published an interesting article two weeks back in Business Standard. The malls in Saket in South Delhi have taken away customers from South Ex and GK1-just last year amongst the priciest markets in the world. The productivity in these south Delhi traditional markets is down by close to fifty per cent. It was virtually impossible to imagine this and no retailer in his senses would have dared to predict that it will happen so soon. The malls have managed to do it with the right value proposition and delivery.

Even if things are still perceived as bad, I think twenty to thirty per cent growth for more two years in a row have also made things dramatically different.

Billions of Stars and Us

There are an estimated 140 billions of galaxies, many of them bigger than the Milky way. Each galaxy has probably hundred to four hundred billion stars. The Earth happens to be one planet in one ordinary star. The earth has millions of creatures. And the universe has been in existence for about 13.7 billion years.

Yet we think we are important. We think we have been specially created by an omniscient and omnipotent God who has sent us to this world with a special sense of purpose. He also keeps an eye on all our actions and thoughts and more interestingly he has a special interest in our kitchens and what we eat on specific days. He cares if we violate the customs defined in some old text. He cares if do not bathe and enter his abode: the temple. He loves fruits and sweets and is indifferent to vegetables.

Organised religion is curious to say the least.

Biases

Like most other races, Indians have plenty of biases. We have biases against people from other religions – it is very rare to meet a Hindu who is completely open and does not see Muslims with some bit of suspicion. Many of us treat people from North East as strangers. The white-skinned have always tended to see the dark complexioned as inferior. In many parts of the country, there are caste discriminations. There are stereotypes about communities, gender and age.

That is why it is so silly to see cases filed against Emran Hashmi for saying that he has been refused houses because he is a Muslim. It is completely hypocritical to profess otherwise. He has just stated the truth he has experienced. Many of us know that such instances are common.

We need to confront the ugly realities of our society and eliminate them rather than hide behind legal and political obfuscation.

Leadership Lessons From Obama

The ascent of Barrack Obama has entranced millions across the world. We find people in urban India bewitched by the rise of a black man in another country. This is true of many individuals around the world. From Kenya, through Berlin and Russia to Malaysia, we are all awash with hope and a sense of optimism through this splendid leader.

Reams have been written about him, his mixed lineage, his transcendence of race and his stupendously efficient organization of the election machinery. There have also been endless discussions about the fundamental transformation of the American society which has enabled his rise.

But the Obama phenomenon powerfully demonstrates the classic principles of leadership. These are the basics, many have chosen to forget or ignore, in the daily battle for survival and growth and some out of short-sightedness. True leadership stands on the pillars of self-awareness, managing paradoxes, authenticity, vision, and ability to fight against odds in pursuit of a dream. These have defined the paradigm of timeless and effective, long-term leadership through out history from Christ to Gandhi and Churchill.


Self-awareness: The Oracle at Delphi said Know thyself and the Indian scriptures espouse the idea of self-knowledge as being the highest form of knowledge. Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Obama’s first book’ Dreams of my father’, he wrote at 33, is full of extraordinary self-reflections and insight into his complex years in different countries and in the fractured American society. It is an emotional odyssey that delves into his inner life, his variegated upbringing through intense reflections. It is a voyage of self-discovery as powerful and poignant as any other.

Self-awareness is the profound and deep understanding about your strengths, your desires and your sources of energy, your wings of inspiration and your place in the world. Self-awareness enables one to resolve your paradoxes, to transcend conflicts and to become the masters of our own lives rather than slaves. As Warren Bennis puts it,” You make your life your own by understanding it.” A self-aware individual has also the courage of his convictions. This is the stepping stone to leadership.

Managing Paradoxes: We live in a complex world. The leader is tested everyday by conflicts, contrasting positions and mindsets and it is his job to manage those paradoxes and contradictions. Barrack is a true master in managing paradoxes. He is a black from working class roots who studied in the best schools. He is a Harvard lawyer who chose to be a community organizer. He is a community organizer who decided to fight for presidency without any significant experience. His grandfather was a Muslim, his father an atheist and he is a practicing Christian. He diets on asparagus and salads and has complete empathy with his repressed black brethren. He fought hard against McCain and Clinton with grace and candour. He does not compromise and yet drives his point. He manages the contradictions between black and white, democrats and republicans, and change and American founding ideals with remarkable élan.

A leader has the ability to engage with diverse viewpoints, probe the ideas sincerely and then arrive at a rational solution embracing the contrasting positions.



Authenticity: A true leader is completely authentic. Authenticity inspires trust. It is about developing your personality free of falsehoods and illusions. Obama has never flinched from confronting realities about himself and his own inner contradictions. He has gone through moments of self-doubt about his race and his choices. He has always maintained with African –Americans that he is black but has never been keen on using the color of his skin to get votes. He has not withdrawn from taking on the most difficult facts about his life like his association with Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright and openly talking about them to the public. He is what you see and that authenticity has led to the extraordinary trust reposed in him by people across age, race and class.

Authenticity is associated with sincerity, honesty and integrity. It is a reflection of a leader’s own self and leaders have to adapt to multiple situations without losing their identity and that is why authenticity is so important and together with the ability to manage paradoxes , enables a leader to handle complex situations and uncertainty.

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Vision: Barrack has always communicated and remained steadfast to his vision. It is a vision of hope, unity and working together. It is free of rancour and negativity. It is remarkable in its scope of appealing to the best in us. It is a brave new world without any distinctions of race, creed or origins.

This vision is forged in the reality of today, is interpreted through the existing strands of culture and is an indistinct but credible version of tomorrow. The leaders need to develop a vision and communicate it continuously.



Fighting against odds: Last, Obama stands out for being able to fight against odds in every situation. His entire life is a story of overcoming odds stacked against him by his origins, his circumstances and then in the presidential battle by the formidable Clinton machine. Along the way he fights mental demons, prejudices of his closest friends and family and battles on for a brave, new world without harbouring any self-doubt.

The media and bookshelves are full of material and literature on leadership. They emphasise communication, false significance of heritage, confidence and various other attributes. They are important but they do not make a true leader. They are the secondary characteristics of a leader. The principal pillars are these timeless principles.

Forecasts for 2009 Elections

In less than an hour, the results of the 2009 elections will start flowing in. This is turning out to be one of the most exciting elections ever with no holds barred campaigns, shifting of course by many parties and the undercurrents of socio-economic change driving preferences.

The opinion poll forecasts went horribly wrong in 2004. The forecasts started off by giving 335 plus seats to the NDA and then towards the elections came down to 272 odd. But the seats finally were much lower and the Congress came back to power in a really unexpected comeback. The media was even more confident of the NDA victory.

The media tends to hype up the parties like BJP more ,because ideological parties tend to be more passionate in articulation of their views and in their fervor. This over a period of time before any election ,starts giving a slightly higher degree of false hope and momentum to these parties. Secondly, the silent voter, most likely of a mainstream non-ideological party, keeps a low profile and so does not go to rallies and this leads the other parties to underestimate the potential of their opposition.

The media is more circumspect this time. The psephologists are also more careful. The undercurrents suggest that the forecasts of NDTV and CNN-IBN seem to make the most sense. TN, AP, Maharashtra are going the way these exit polls have predicted and not the way the media read. This means the Congress will win about 160 plus seats and the BJP marginally lesser than 140. The UPA will be comfortably ahead.

2009 Elections

With seven hundred million voters (possibly, two hundred million of them illiterate) and a colorful cast of leading characters, Indian elections are one of the most fascinating events of our times.

Sonia Gandhi: Sixty something Italian, widow of a Prime Minister, cannot speak Hindi clearly, represents the heart of the Hindi belt, reticent and operates by consensus.

Mayawati: Dalit woman, unsophisticated and aggressive, unmarried, narcissist and uses the administrative machinery to build huge statues for herself, weighs herself in gifts of gold on her birthdays and accumulator of wealth.

Advani: Refugee from Pakistan, erstwhile RSS member, loves Hindi movies, chief claim to fame being that he rode a truck decorated as a chariot to demolish Babri Masjid, 81 years old and using the full power of the net to promote himself.

Manmohan Singh: Ph.D. from Cambridge, economist, brilliant and honest, has had three heart surgeries, lost the only election he fought, bureaucrat extraordinaire.

Jayalalitha: Ex-film star,voluptuous, rumoured to be a special friend of the earlier Chief Minister of the state, capricious, intelligent and charismatic.

Naveen Pattnaik: Sixty year old Doon school educated son of an earlier Chief Minister, friend of Jackie Kennedy and assorted New York socialites, unmarried and honest, author of a book on Indian plants,cannot speak the language of the state he is the Chief Minister of.

Narendra Modi: Risen from RSS, Chief Minister of Gujarat during the worst communal carnage in Indian post-independence history and accused of hatred towards Muslims, demagogue and strong administrator, poster boy of Hinduvta.

Prakash Karat: Marxist ideologue , never fought an election, opposes anything American.

Mulayam Singh Yadav: Ruled the largest state in the country, wrestler and rustic, promotes film stars and socialites in the party, wears dhoti himself and master of caste politics.

Lalu Prasad Yadav: Had the gumption to make his primary school educated wife the Chief Minister of a large state, supposedly turned Indian Railways around, extraordinary talent in using humour to strengthen his position, breeds cows in his official quarters and father of nine children.

Rahul Gandhi: Son, grandson and great grandson of Prime Ministers, shy and soft-spoken, still learning the art of politics , loves bikes and dimpled, thirty-eight years old and bachelor.

Tough Times for Indian Retail

The retail industry operates on extreme efficiencies. The net margins are thin and each cost element is typically tracked closely and working capital is tightly controlled. The Indian retail is going through its baptism by fire and discovering the impact of extra costs in the system. The regulatory issues, infrastructural bottlenecks, supply chain constraints, sourcing problems and lack of economies of scale are creating inefficiencies and hence additional costs. These costs have hobbled the industry and thus have led to the turmoil the industry is in.

The infrastructure in the country is generally deplorable. The supply of power is erratic and inadequate in most places forcing the retailers to invest in extra capital equipment for power and extra costs. The roads are in a decrepit condition leading to delays and wastages during transit. This also means that within the country , the best produce cannot be transported and so large retail is not able to offer the advantages that it can in price and quality.

The supply chain infrastructure is outdated and cannot , through a system of transportation and warehousing ,offer the necessary support for large scale movement.

The regulatory framework, unlike in most countries, works against the organized retail with a plethora of antiquated rules and greedy inspectors. The industry badly needs the incentives that a fledgling sector hopes for.

There are also the costs related to real estate which continues to be expensive and scanty partly also due to opaque regulations and profusion of black money.

So the industry has stumbled even before it could walk and now the challenges need to be tackled forthwith with regulatory support, restructuring of business models and some real out-of –box thinking.

Fashion in New India

Fashion, as we know it today, had its origins in the French empire of Louis XIV. In Paris of the seventeenth century, the ladies of Versailles outdid one another in creating and being seen in extraordinary and exclusive clothes and ‘La Mode’ and ‘Couture’ were born. To many it seems frivolous in a developing country, but fashion gives a unique peek into the social trends and the follies or the tastes of the rich.

The Indian fashion scene has changed dramatically. The fashion shows give a good glimpse into what the business is going through and what the trends are. I went to the Delhi fashion week recently and found very interesting contrasts with the fashion events five to ten years back.
The big change is that fashion is more accessible. Earlier, the shows were populated by a westernized audience in their twenties or thirties. Today, the shows attract all age groups reflecting the romance of fashion even with mature age groups.

The second change is in the models. The models earlier were all clones of their western counter parts, white, high cheek boned and skinny. Today, many of them have distinctly Indian facial profiles and dark skin.

The clothes reflect a broader change in the Indian society. The clothes are no more again poor imitation of the dresses by Armani or Gaultier or of the opulent Indian variety (the type worn by Indian royalty). They are a very clever and practical mix of both Indian and international sensibilities. They could be worn on the streets of Manhattan or Colaba. The colours are bright and bold. There are clothes in purple, burgundy and yellow as much as in black and mauve. There is also a courageous experimentation in the fabrics with jute, silk, Lycra, cotton and Nylon aiding a spirit of playfulness and dreaming.

All these changes reflect the increasing maturing and confidence of the Indians. The lack of self-esteem and a certain rootlessness are definitely disappearing. The new young designers are confident in their skin and have settled in a place for themselves and the new India in comfort and in style.

Rian, A Song for My Son

I was so elated when my son was born and this is what I wrote when he was nine months old. What is interesting is that , I still feel the same after so many years.

Rian

Into the flickering lamp of my existence,
You glided in gently,
You created a wavering in the fabric of light and darkness,
And everything changed.

In your unquenchable thirst for life,
You seem like the energy of the Brahmaputra flowing into the sea,
You are my explosive desire to embrace the sky of hope.

And you pluck my hair like it is a bunch of flowers from divinity,
When you touch my face with your tiny, innocent fingers;
You bring the rivulets of pure water,
Of immortality and sunshine, into my life;
Nothing remains the same anymore.

And I want to fight for clean water and fresh air,
I want to jump at joy.

Who said, you are an infant, weak and dependent;
Who said, you will grow up and be like a star in the firmament of life;
To me, you already are the lone star: Rian, my son.

A Poem Dug Out

A diary is an interesting tool to rediscover your past. If you are lucky, you might even understand it a little better. Rummaging through my old diary, I came upon this poem I had written eight years back.

Holy and Grey Ganga

On the road, virgins and the rest look alike,
Sometimes the virgins weep and the others are smiling.
Sometimes the others clutch at their sad and used breasts,
And the virgins dream of riding galloping horses.
It is the strangeness of a magenta and black.

The orange of the horizon is the blood of the Aztecs,
The spires of the Kandariya Mahadev echo the cries of a tortured artisan,
And the inseparable story of joy and tragedy continues.

And in the frontier of light and darkness,
Where Gods and demons dance and caress each other,
Where the wrath of a Rama and the fury of a Ravana,
Coalesce into a tragic stab on my heart,
I look for the purple prose of your blood.

And in the forest of emotions of the earth,
In the holy and grey Ganga,
I look for my dream amid the corpses. (10th July 2001)