WRITTEN ORIGINALLY FOR AND PUBLISHED AT PASSIONFORCINEMA.COM

Aaron Sorkin, disturbed over 9/11 wrote an episode at the start of the second season of West Wing called Isaac and Ishmael, which basically was a 101 on what terrorism is all about and how it came to permeate all through the free world. It was an instant critique of the thoughts as to the reason and rhyme that people in millions who watched in horror the events that shaped the world as we see it 7yrs. But before that matured writing, in season 1 came an episode called A Proportional Response where tempers running high after innocent lives were lost in the Middle East due to fidayeen attack, the American response was to blow the perpetrators “out of the face of the earth”. Or at least that was the initial thought process.

What has unfolded in Mumbai over the last 3 days is nothing short of War. 20 terrorists entering the country from abroad & paralyzing the entire nation cannot be described in any way short of calling it a full blown attack on the sovereignty of the people. And before we get into the oft apathy riddled pseudo high ground of being spirited in regaining the calm and bouncing back with passion into our daily life, before the op-ed’s hail the spirit of Mumbai and of the Indian’s, before the international community hails praise on the swift action to decode the elements responsible but do nothing with it, before the commentators reading this hail the below response and arcane and childish, I will try to play out a few scenes from West Wing and plead for a proportional response, and atleast with regards to now, consequences be dammed.

In a handful of scenes etched in mind through years of watching AV, one of the most thought provoking is when Martin Sheen as President Bartlett argues with General Fitzwallace, the fictional Joint Chief of US Armed Forces, about what constitutes a proportional response. When the chief lays down a plan to take out 2 under-construction building in a nuclear reactor in Syria and bridge in Gaza, to avenge the death of American Civilians, President Bartlett laughs them out of the room saying that the loss of life is minimal and it’s purely symbolic. Let’s contrast this with what India’s proportional response has been from Dec 2001 to Akshardham to Mumbai Train Blasts to Srinagar crisis to Bangalore blasts. A peace process, a hot line between under-secretaries, and international appeals with a list of 20 names that have been identified as high-value targets. This is not a proportional response, the same like what the joint chief proposed. In the intellectually overdosed cocktail served rooms of opinionists and strategic thinkers, a proportional response is coming out with high head in a conference and being lauded as the keepers of balance and peace so as to not derail the investments of short term by economic super-powers. Like in the West Wing, destroying buildings and bridges, hitting power plants and big industries means indirect contracts to the major oil, construction & security companies, for India it is primevally important a to be seen as a peace loving country with not even a shadow of vengefulness on its image.

The news has just come clean from the captured terrorist that the ops was planned in a neighboring nation, with the help of groups who openly and mockingly want us to see the reason, if we are not talking about carpet bombing, about cleansing a region that we know that is causing havoc, about showering the wrath of god’s force on elements that do not believe in humanity or the just world, then I don’t know what bigger motive we need anymore. The visuals being transmitted on the airways day in and day out speak of one story – a story that we have a nation have failed to stop the harboring of sympathetic feelings of a few of our own people to the ideologies of a few fanatics. But that leaves us no choices anymore to ignore what possible could have been a mistake that has ticked to being a time bomb.

Generalizing the middle class of India is easy. We are non-violent, oft principled who believe in punishing our brethren or the good boy to taming the bully or be opportunistic for benefit. In other words, we believe in Moral Absolutes when facing a lesser evil but chicken out when it comes to laying a siege for lives – even if it’s for the better.

The time now is to talk about healing, about calming the populace, about holding hands and remembering the brave and the dead and in praying for a just tomorrow. The time is now to make some sense of everything that is falling about. The time is now to talk about hope, hope for tomorrow to be better and bright. That hope we all will have to make it right and eliminate all hatred. But at this time lets not forget that all this is not going to be achieved by passive resistance. Yes, it worked of us 60yrs back, maybe we as a nation are failing to understand that the time and situation is different. Maybe the time has come for the disproportional response. Maybe the time is here and now to be stronger in our resolve and be ready to take a few more blows but weed out the menace once and for all.

Yes, this is rage. Yes, this is delusional and yes this is wishful thinking as it is so fanciful to be restrained and sound intelligent. But if this is not a call to action, then let us be ready to face these images and sounds over and over again.

The furor over the former foreign minister Mr. Jaswant Singh’s book A Call to Honour continued today with the PM Dr. Manmohan Singh daring him to identify the mole that was present in the former PM Mr. Narshima Rao’s cabinet during the 90’s.

The PM, the statement says, was very forceful when he was attacking Mr. Jaswant Singh and he said that “… only shows that the opposition has no real issues and they are seeking excuses.” The PM was forceful when attacking the opposition but he could not be so when issuing the statement after the blasts. He needed to have a written text to speak to the nation for a couple of mins throwing to wind caution of being politically incorrect and speaking the truth and not worrying about alienating a voting base?

Mr. Jaswant Singh was one amazing foreign minister and he atleast has the guts to speak about what he thinks. As far as I can remember he is the only politician who took on the world press and came out on top esp. after the 1998 nuclear tests when he spoke extempore about the need to strengthen our nation against rouge nations. And bottom line is that he was a man enough to go to Kandahar unarmed to get back our citizens, much better than the present leaders in power who fear to even step out in front of camera’s least they are caught saying anything except singing praises of their “phoren” party chief.

It’s been more than 2 weeks since the attacks now and except for people picking up pieces of their lives and moving on, nothing’s come of it. The parliament was adjourned today for mourning the death of Mr. Mahajan and I am sure from tomorrow, instead of discussing the important national issues, there are going to be allegations traded and walkouts. And all this on national television!

The other day I was reading a quote by an unnamed cabinet minister from the ruling party saying that the present PM is only for a term and that he would not be allowed to take any action because the party had the need to be in power the next term and that was all that mattered. So as long as this ideology continues, what will we ever achieve?

The PMO is prompt and forceful to issue statements as to how the opposition is responsible for everything that’s going bad with our nation but will any action be taken against the perpetrators’ of actual crimes in out nation? A dear friend and a fellow blogger articulates as to why we won’t go the Israel way but is it a solution that we must seek now? Has the time come for us to drop the wail of goodness and that of being pacifists and take up arms?

They will like us when we win – is something that is so right. Is the time here for us to push for a victory at any costs upon us now?

For all the stuff that’s been bothering me for the last couple of months or so, one common thing I found was that I was always opposed to everything that is going on and which is acceptable to most of the people around me. I tend to mostly take a track which is on the contrary most perceived practical solutions that are implemented and I have been having a problem with that. But having had a chance to look more deeply into it for the last week mainly due to the traveling and my own space, I guess plurality is a concept that might work for me if I accept it in wholeness.

Pluralism can be taken for duality but the later does not satisfy a lot of criteria’s. Pluralism in itself is an extension of the path or the space constraint to accommodate the remaining solutions to a particular problem. Just as in the case of truth having many connotations in various situations where the truth if reveled in its completeness may cause damage to the present state of equilibrium, so if plurality kicks in, the solution’s completeness remains without shifting the state.

Pluralism comes handy when you believe your take on an issue or a solution is usually not heeded to or even considered and when you feel common sense is just an aberration. But in a pluralistic framework even if the majority were to be wrong, the consensus is never forthright and there is always room of the minority to kick ass. In the same way if applied to one’s life, all the aberrations can be dissolved and harmony can be given an opportunity.

The reason for me exploring this concept which may die out like the millions before is because these days I am disagreeing with almost everybody on everything. I just can’t seem to find a middle ground to accept the general consensus that is in place for most problems and that’s bugging me a lot.

Even when in the company of relatives and elder’s, I am going off at a tangent to disagree on almost everything. It’s taking a while for me to be consistent and even accept pluralism as a way to keep a handle on me. But am glad I came upon this concept that’s for now sounding logical to accommodate a lot of stuff surrounding me and not get hassled by them all the time.

I guess its ultimately about accepting other ideas that exist even if most of them are downright crazy.

A thing that irritates me abt behavior of acquaintances is the way in which they treat you once their job’s done. Most of the times I tend to be this “need of the hour guy”, someone who is remembered when there is an urgent work. And when I go out of my way to get things done and coolly hand over stuff or report its completion and brush away the thanks, I am considered arrogant and head strong.

Most of the times, I am called at the moment when things are on the downward spiral. A deadline or when stuff’s not going anywhere. And I being the person I am, I just believe to get things done and not mull over it. But I have come to understand that there is a lot more to it. Its not getting the work done that’s important, its how much mileage you can get out of doing it and how much credit you give it to the other parties hardly involved.

Take the case of driving for example. I have been the “car-driver” for almost all the groups of my friends for the last 5yrs now and I believe I am good at it. But what pisses me off is time and again some-one or the other who has hardly logged a thousand kms on any form of motor vehicle or has crashed half a dozen times keeps telling me when to brake, how I brake and where to horn. I mean, I have around 60,000 kms under my belt and no notable accident so far, so what gives em the right? Time and again I am told how this “guy” drives well or how to find my way through traffic on highways, when I have criss-crossed half of South-India in days when I had no license.

There are instances when people I know suddenly have a burst of energy to do something, let’s say work for a cause or issue, as if they have discovered the problem today. And they keep harping about how to go about doing the work and getting things accomplished, call meetings and bounce of mails at sub-atomic speeds when I have been involved with it for some time now. And when I show no interest in these activities, skip a couple of these vanity meetings, am labeled as a selfish bastard who does work when I want to. I mean, after working on issues for a while, experience does teach a person when to press on the gas. I can’t work cos of some idiots special exuberance to save the world. And when the project falls flat or an event fails, it’s me again whose blamed for not being there or not showing direction.

And the worst of it is not just acquaintances but close friends whom I have know for ages now. How does one ever get a right to take another person for granted? Agreed I ain’t a person important enough to be treated as a royal highness but am alive and have dignity.

Another aspect is the weight age given to the opinions of people. Does an IIT and IIM degree qualify a person’s judgment to be far-superior to a mortal Engg grad doing financial services the hard way? And the worst again is when the immortal’s judgment is proven wrong time and again by this mortal, its still fluke or luck but never sound judgment!

I guess a worthy friend of mine after reading this would say none have the time or the inclination to treat, judge or even think about you. True, but the point still remains for me that how does waxing a person’s ego after failing on a job make him any better the next time or why should the cosmetic benefits of a job well done out do the job itself?

Why is licking some-one’s ass and being in-touch or cordial or saying the right things to people make the person better compared to a “get the work done and get out” kind-of person? Am being accused these days for not taking phone-calls, not keeping in touch with people, not replying to messages on orkut, shunning people and not being socially correct. I say, why does it matter? I say if you need help, want to meet up, have a trouble, and just wanna say “Hi”, am there, but not to take directions from ppl or allow them to judge my work and actions.

Can one not be social yet live happily. Can one not be in the company of people yet remaining accessible when the need-arises?

P.S: Just rant, no reference intended.

My cousin completed her Xth recently with a decent percentage and after a couple of entrance exams got admitted to two of the best colleges in town. The first was Little Flower Jr. College, a college which is a part of the same fraternity that I am an alumnus of and the second one, FIITJEE, a coaching centre that is now into imparting fulltime education with focus on IIT.

As someone who discourages people from taking up engineering anymore, I told my sister to forget FIITJEE and these other coaching center’s and join a perfect college setting complete with large playgrounds and extra-curricular activities. Not joining Little Flower was one mistake that I always wanted to forget so I tried all the tricks in the book to entice her to join there. Also, it’s probably the only college in Hyderabad that has such large classrooms, playgrounds, basket-ball courts and cafeteria, a pleasant change from cramped classrooms in residential apartments.

Another reason for pushing LF was due to the fact that she still had to learn a lot about India. My Cousin was born in the US and she hardly spent anytime in India before they moved here for good about two years back. For someone who never had public exams, school uniforms and 7hrs of monotonous subject classes, schools here were a shock and for days she refused to go. Finally we found one school that suited her, Vidyaranya, as it had relaxed rules when it came to dress code and social activities.

So for a long time her father and I had been contemplating a way to get her to understand Indian Psyche and accustom her to Indian ways and means and for which I felt LF was the best place. It was a little away from downtown Hyd, had a college bus, had extra-curricular activities that most students picked up and most of all there would be plenty of like-minded simple middle-class kids out there from whom she could learn a lot of things. From the day she came to India, a kind of protective cover was around her all the time, things like a dedicated car and driver, always mineral water and never ever going out to crowded places where she could get rid of her phobia of common people.

But the moment she stepped into FIITJEE, everything changed. The place reminded her of her school in the US as it had air-conditioned classrooms, plush seats, convenient timings (12pm-6pm???) and most of all, it was just beside her school which guaranteed that she would never have to take public transport or meet loads of new people. With just 20 super-rich kids in her class, all of whom came from affluent families and almost all them having chauffeurs waiting to pick them up, she felt at home. But for my uncle and I, it was a totally different horror story.

My family comes from a back-ground of eminent academicians who more or less call the shots everywhere they go. My father, himself a professor, has never ever been under guidelines as to how to handle a class let alone how to present himself before students and all the lecturers I ever cared about more or less belonged to the same mould. But FIITJEE was something else. For the first time I saw lecturers here in ties and dog-tags from whom a student has to take a prior appointment to clear his doubts. For the first time I saw a lecturer refusing to speak to the parents as any inquiry has to handled by an HR professional hired by FIITJEE. And for the first ever time I saw a college where a student to forbidden to run or speak louder than a whisper in the premises.

Now it’s been more than six years since my Xth but I was actually aghast by the way education has been corporatised. The course fee that FITJEE charges for two years of intensive coaching for JEE, SAT and AIEEE is a whopping Rs. 140,000 and all of that has to be paid before the student steps into the college. And incase the student does not cope up with the intensive coaching not a single penny is refunded.

The fee part is still all right but what pissed me of the most was the attitude of those HR guys at the reception area. We wanted a sit down with the faculty to explain that my sis’s CBSC background is not enough to cope up with the rigors of the State Syllabus but the condescending way in which the HR guy spoke to us was horrible. The expression he had all the while was “You have come to the most glamorous and expensive place in the world of education, why the fuck are you even asking me these questions? Pay the money and lick our feet”. All the while that chap was more interested in showing us the plush classrooms and hit-tech gadgets used while teaching.

The worst was still to come when the admission form was like a legal deed where every second statement read “… and FIITJEE is not responsible and no refund can be requested”. The above statement was repeated atleast a dozen times in the form. Also for the first time I saw the guardian’s photo being requested in the form and when my uncle failed to reproduce the same, the cashier simple rejected the form and said either come back with the photo NOW!, Or just deposit the cash and take a receipt for the same whenever we give the photograph. Imagine it’s not the student’s photo they want but the cash payer’s???

At one stage the whole process looked like a gigantic exercise where we just pay up the exorbitant fee to be jailed without questions. The uniform for FIITJEE can be bought only at one Raymond’s outlet in the whole city and the cost is fixed by the institution. Also, the student can come to the classroom only when he/she has the uniform and in our case, my sis got admitted on a Saturday and the classes were beginning on Monday. Just goes to show how horrible these corporate colleges can be.

When we finally managed to get hold of a couple of Sr. year student’s there quick response to our queries was that all of them had to fend for themselves when it come to college education using model papers and guides and only the high-level IIT coaching is imparted in the classroom. And also if one were to under perform in the IIT classes, the lectures apparently mock the students as being unfit for education.

This is the state of Intermediate education in a city that produces the maximum number of engineers in world. A city that has the highest number of IITians treats its kids in away that are devoid of any human touch and interest. All these are just money making machines with the sole aim to cash in on the parents desires of seeing the kids in the countries top premier institutions.

Now here’s what baffles me. FIITJEE claims to have secured 2900 out of the 4000 seats in IIT-JEE this year. If that’s true that the cost of getting into such a college is a cool 1.5 lakhs for two years! Can all the people in our country afford such amounts? So is quality education only restricted only to the super-rich who can shell out such vast sums? How the hell is a normal poor kid supposed to bear such expenses? A dear friend and a fellow blogger who is aiming for his civils also asked me the same question once. He is spending more than a couple of lakhs an year for IAS exams! Is all this money for coaching institutes justified? Even if it is, is it not the basic responsibility to provide an environment of education rather than training kids as corporate citizen’s right from schooling?

My sis chose FIITJEE because she is at home in such a world. But one question that nags my uncle and me is, are we doing a greater mistake by allowing her to join in such an atmosphere at such a young age? Will she be able to adjust to any other situation ever again?