Book review: Chanakya's New Manifesto

Chanakya's New Manifesto
Author: Pavan K Verma
Number of pages: 248
Price: Rs. 295

I love the way the author has placed his facts and figures that make up the way the succesive governments have treated this country since Independence and the rebuttal he has put forth as his new manifesto.

The author has been significantly inspired by the Arthashastra, though he belongs to the new world and writes for it. He has given a new manifesto that could transform the nation if followed.

The nation is in a crisis. "Between the hopes of 1947 and the challanges of the twenty-first century", claims the author, lies a story of stagnation and growth. He has laid emphasis on a few aspects that concern the nation and bringing about a change in those could mean a change towards a healthier nation.

Governance, Democracy, Security, Corruption and the creation of an inclusive society are the pivots that Chanakya's New Manifesto balances on. The New manifesto is nothing short of a constitution on those issues and if in an idealistic world, these would have led to the country top-notching in all fields. A lot of us know these things would be good, but are they practical?

Take for example:

"4.13 Our Defence sector needs a better command-and-decision making structure. It is axiomatic that our defence forces must remain under civilian control. But this does not mean that the leadership of our armed forces is systemically marginalised in vital strategic decisions.

Any educated and politically aware citizen will know that its too idealistic to be true. Our politicians would die before letting the defence sector off their hands. That's where the moolah is, after all. And you are generally not accountable to the common man as it pertains to national security.

The chapter on Creation of an Inclusive society has a lot going for it. The author spells out most of the stuff that we need to do brilliantly. However, just eliminating illiteracy, poverty and malnourishment is like applying a pain balm on an aching muscle. You are trying to treat the symptom without getting to the root cause. I have always maintained that the overpopulation of this country is the single largest cause of most of its, maybe all of its, greatest troubles. The author has not really gone on to say it directly - that the same needs to be tackled, and how. This I feel is the single biggest drawback in the New Manifesto. Failure to highlight one of the major hindrances in our progress.

When what talks about what needs to be done, things can go subjective, hence what I feel may not be the same that the author does. Still, I feel, that the author has skimmed a few things in his new manifesto.

Pavan K Varma has surprisingly written it in a text book style, and that may not derive the interest of the youngster from the university. It is more in the line of a research scholar or a journalist or a political science student. Or the Uncle who keeps badgeoning the government listening to Arnab Goswami.

And the problems of this nation are much more than what Chanakya's new manifesto aims to solve. Somewhere down the line, one gets the feeling that we have read the stuff someplace. And the feeling that the author has left us without reaching a conclusion. Enjoyable read nonetheless.

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Book Review: Accidental India

Accidental India: A History of the Nation's Passage Through Crisis and Change
Author: Shankkar Aiyar
Number of pages: 352
Price: Rs. 695

An engaging narrative of how the country came about its most interesting transitional policies or agendas if one can call them so, this book is a must read for those who look towards a better future for India.

Although set in the past, this book is a glorious salute to the men and the policies that made India a name to reckon with in the world of International economics, and is an effective pointer to what best we can do to make the country prosper in the future times.

From being an agrarian economy to the technology behemoth, transitioning across the decades with slow but succinct growth patterns, the book follows the path taken by this country in a gripping manner.

The author knows his facts well. Figures even better. Although I may not be in a position to ratify their correctness, as an observer, they appear pretty accurate. And being a seasoned journo, I'm sure, he won't fib facts and numbers. And the fact that he has placed his facts in very well depicted chapters of Indian history makes the reading all the more pleasureable. 

I personally loved the Soup Kitchen for the Soul and the Da Vinci code chapters which talk about the Mid-day Meal scheme and the Right to Information Act, to mention only a couple of them. Given a random topics and asked to pick out a few that moulded the nation's growth, I'm sure not many would have zeroed in on simple yet far reaching topics like Dr Verghese Kurien's Amul White revolution which is depicted as The Milky way or the rather contentious nationalization of banks pioneered by the Indira Gandhi regime or even the genial Lal Bahadur Shastri giving a push to fill India's grain godowns.

And it is good to note that the author has not taken up topics like the Bofors or Mandal Commission or the Babri Masjid demolition and harped on more positive growth aspects of this country. The author has also looked into the future to talk about what lies ahead of us. However, what the author has elaborated upon were the disturbing circumstances, the crises under which the reforms took place. The Indians act bold only with their back to the walls was well known in cricketing parlance - Eden Gardens 2001 a fine example - but the same is actually true of the nation and some of the glorious revolutions that took place in the country. While Steve Waugh's Aussies were on a ride steamrolling everyone in their path, two brave men showed them the finger salute and turned it all around. The author was well placed to unearth the pledging of our gold reserves to the Brits to repay our debts. We were at a pawn-broker selling our family jewellery. And then decided to fight against the odds, open up reforms under the guidance of a pouting premier and a turbaned financier. Such are the logs that the author has put on paper.

I thought of cataloging this book to a single genre and failed miserably. History, tick. Facts, tick, Politics, tick. Industry, tick, Governance, tick. Ideals, tick. Research, tick. Hell, it even will tick if I classify it as a post-doctoral thesis!

I would surely recommend this book to everyone. Especially to most of the socially unaware, educated, working, earning female population of this country. 

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Silk at 158

Its been more than 10 days that its been away from me, and the most recurrent memory I have of it is the silky smooth handling at 158. Yes, 158kmph is the top speed of the soon-to-be-released Tata Indica Vista D90. And it felt smooth as silk at that speed.

I did a constant 150kmph for over 10 minutes and there were hardly any speed variations. The inbuilt computer does a fantastic job of guaging the terrain changes and applies adequate power to overcome those to help maintain a near constant speed. The accelerator was also extremely comfortable and responsive. So, here is a short burst about the car:

External Features:

It maintains the same trim of the Indica Vista which derived from the Indica V2. The premium black top is the only additional feature. I'm not sure if its the best colour to put on a car top in a hot country like ours. But it does add some zing to the appearance of the car. The triple barrel headlight also has its design sourced straight from the earlier version, which is not a bad thing after all. A bit of chrome here and there adds to the cool look of the car.

Internal Features:

First thing that strikes you before entering is the rehashed colour scheme giving a slightly upmarket look. But the moment I felt the same, the feeling vanished. It was not the best quality plastic used and on closer look, did give me a cheaper feel. My Santro which sells at half the rate of this car has a better quality plastic.

The seats were very well designed and placed and the backlit dashboard was good. The cool feature was the Driver Information system with time, temperature, speed, fuel left in tank, mileage readings. These were not accurate, but gave a decent estimate.

The A/C was quite powerful and cooled the car quite efficiently. The stereo system was a double din system equipped with full bluetooth, USB and Aux inputs. I could connect my mobile to the system using the bluetooth. I also could do the same using the Aux cable that I had. A charger input was also present in the console.

There was some thought given to driver and passenger comfort and two cup holders were present. The fully automatic power windows were controllable from the individual doors as well as the master control at the drivers'. The driver's door console also had remote adjustment for side view mirrors which was a great feature.

There was adequate leg room for both the front and back seats. Another cool feature was that the foldable back seats were in 40-60 config which allowed one to fold a part of the seat only. Many manufacturers put in a 50-50 config which allows seating for only one person. In this 40-60 config, two people could comfortably sit when the shorter part was folded. The boot was quite spacious too.

Driving:

Driving the VistaD90 was superfun. The seating height, controls and other parameters were very nice.

The start was not too noisy. Gear shifts were a bit harsh, but thats probably due to the new gearbox and should smoothen out with use. The car was a bit sluggish on the lower speed lower gear movements, and that might not earn it most points in heavy bumper-to-bumper traffic, but when given the go above 30-40kmph, even on city roads, it performed beautifully in the 3rd and 4th gears.

To test the car's handling and speed runs, I took it to the Nehru Outer Ring Road of Hyderabad and floored it. The 5th gear is a pleasure. Its extremely smooth to drive on and very responsive even at speeds of 140+. The company advertises its max speed as 158 and it did not go any faster than that. There was absolutely no vibration and the handling at that speed was awesome. The braking too was good and smooth and there were no jerks. I took it off road for a mile and the suspension was found a little wanting in that field, but hey, its not what the car is meant for.

Overall, the driver would have a good time on roads with sparse traffic, but would not be very happy in city traffic.

Ratings:

External Look: 7
Internal Feel: 7
Comfort: 8
Driver Comfort: 8
City Drive: 5
Long Drive: 8
Fuel efficiency: 7
Value for money: 6

This is a review as part of the Sponsored Reviews program of Blogadda.com

Governmental Mahabharat !

A hilarious account of what happens in this country!

A Team comprising of a Writer, a Producer, a Director, etc applied to the Government of India for financial assistance with the script to produce a Movie on Mahabharata.

All of them committed suicide later and the reason will be very obvious once you have read the reply from Govt.

Dated ............ .........

Subject: Mahabharata

To: The Writer, Film Director & Film Producer, Mumbai

Ref: Film story submitted by you, regarding financing of films by Government of India , Your letter dt. ............ . ......... .

The undersigned is directed to refer the above letter and state that the Government has examined your proposal for financing a film called ''Mahabharat' . The Very High Level Committee constituted for this purpose has been in consultation with the Human Rights Commission, National Commission for Women and Labour Commission, in addition to various Ministries and State Governments and have formed definitive opinions about the script. Their observations are as below:

1. In the script submitted by you it is shown that there were two sets of cousins, namely, the Kauravas, numbering one hundred, and the Pandavas, numbering five. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has pointed out that these numbers are high, well above the norm prescribed for families by them It is brought to your kind attention that when the Government is spending huge amounts for promoting family planning, this will send wrong signals to the public. Therefore, it is recommended that there may be only three Kauravas and one Pandava.

2. The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has raised an issue whether it is suitable to depict kings and emperors in this democratic age. Therefore, it is suggested that the Kauravas may be depicted as Honourable Members of Parliament (Lok Sabha) and the Pandava maybe depicted as Honourable Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha). The ending of the film shows the victory of the said Pandavas over the said Kauravas. The ending may be suitably modified so that neither of the Honourable Members of Parliament are shown as being inferior to the other.

3. The Ministry of Science and Technology has observed that the manner of birth of Kauravas is suggestive of human cloning, a technology banned in India . This may be changed to normal birth.

4. The National Commission for Women has objected that the father of Pandavas, one Sri Pandu is depicted as bigamous, and also there is only one wife for the Pandavas in common. Therefore suitable changes maybe made in the said script so that the said Sri Pandu is not depicted as bigamous. However, with the reduction in number of Pandavas as suggested above, the issue of polyandry can be addressed without further trouble.

5. The Commission for the Physically Challenged has observed that the portrayal of the visually impaired character 'Dhritharastra' is derogatory. Therefore the said character may not be shown as visually impaired.

6. The Department of Women and Child Development have highlighted that the public disrobing of one female character called 'Draupadi' is objectionable and derogatory to women in general. Further the Home Ministry anticipates that depiction of such scenes may create law and order problem and at the same time invite strong protests from the different women forums. Such scenes may also invite penal action under SITA (Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act), therefore they may be avoided and deleted from the film.

7. It is felt that showing the Pandava and the Kauravas as gamblers will be anti-social and counter-productive as it might encourage gambling. Therefore, the said Pandava and Kauravas may be shown to have engaged in horse racing. (Hon. Supreme Court has held horse racing not to be gambling)

8. The Pandavas are shown as working in the King Virat's employment without receiving any salary. According to the Human Rights Commission, this amounts to bonded labour and may attract provisions of The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. This may be corrected at once.

9. In the ensuing war, one character by name Sri Abhimanyu has been shown as fighting. The National Labour Commission has observed that, war being a hazardous industry, and the said character being 16 years old, this depiction will be construed as a case of child labour. Also there is no record of his being paid any compensation. This may also be deemed to be violatory of the provisions of The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 and Minimum Wages Act, 1948. Such references in the film may be removed.

10. The character 'Sri Krishna' has been depicted as wearing a peacock feather. The peacock is our National Bird and wearing dresses made from peacock feather is an offence under the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972. This may not be depicted.

11. Smt Maneka Gandhi has raised very serious objection for using any elephants or horses in war scenes, since there is every scope for mistreatment and injury to the said animals. The provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1890 and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Amendment) Act, 1960 would be applicable in the instant case. Suitable changes may be made in the script to address the objections raised.

12. In pursuance of the Memorandum of Ministry of Finance regarding austerity measures, it is informed that in the battle field sequences, only ten soldiers may be allowed for each side. Also, all the characters may be shown to have obtained a valid licence under the Arms Act, 1959 as well as the Indian Arms Act, 1878.You are therefore requested to modify the script along the lines indicated above and resubmit it to the undersigned at the earliest for reconsideration.

Sd/-

Under Secretary

This was received as an email forward. Original writer unknown! Read, Enjoy, Share!

The ''Just Married, Please Excuse'' Contest

Yashodhara, whose blogs I often read silently, is out with a book with the above quoted title and she's now up with a contest for we bloggers. And since I've been itching to pen something on this blog for quite sometime, I guess rejigging some old memories would result in no harm!

This was just a week after our wedding after all the requisite customs were done with. We finally got the green signal for our honeymoon. I was pretty much sure I did not want to go abroad for one, as there were so many places to discover in this magnificient country of ours. And well - on a honeymoon - sight-seeing is best done indoors! So Simla it was. And being December, it would be lovely cozying up in the chill!

Being a railway fanatic, I wanted to book up a First AC coupe on a Rajdhani, but the idea of a 24 hour journey on train was vehemently and unceremoniously vetoed and so I think we flew Indigo from Hyderabad to Delhi. The better half was in a good mood, having gotten over the million rituals and away from the maddening crowd. The fact that I consciously prevented my eyes from darting towards the air-hostesses helped. The two hour flight was spent in whispering sweet nothings and getting her toe-ring jewelry off the feet and into the hand bag!

Wifey never was nor is a fan of road journeys. And that helped the railfan in me. She agreed to travel from Delhi to Kalka by a regular train and of course she easily agreed to do the scenic Kalka-Simla Narrow guage train run by the Shivalik Deluxe!

When I entered the Old Delhi railway station for the first time, I pinched myself and confirmed that I was still on earth and not yet in hell. I could just imagine what wifey was going through. Anways, we waded past the fish-market that the station had become and finally reached the spot where our train was supposed to land up! Now, we were booked up on the overnight run of the Kalka Mail that would its way from Howrah to Delhi. This train is a treat for a railfan what with its multiple change-of-configurations and loco changes. It arrived with a dirty red Howrah WAP-4 loco and I was disappointed. I was expecting the state-of-art brand new white monster WAP-7 loco that had been recently added to the Indian Railway's fleet. The loco was allotted to sheds in North and East India initially and I'd never ever seen one with my eyes down south. I took the disappointment of not having that loco with a positive view of getting to have more of wifey in my thoughts than the loco and boarded the train with a smile. Wifey had strictly instructed me not to leave her for a minute and since I did not want to disappoint her, I made myself forget that I was a railway enthusiast.

We chatted till late in the night and then dozed off. We were a little late when we reached Kalka, but there was more than half an hour left for Shivalik's departure. Just when we had disembarked from the Mail, came the melodious tones of the loco. It was not a sound I was familiar with. It was a new loco. And there I spot it.. a white loco at the head of the rake. Wifey, wait a minute; and off I ran with my camera and immersed myself in the pleasure of having seen my first WAP-7 loco when there was another short tweet from across the platforms! Ah, the puny little sky blue ZDM-4 which was to haul our Shivalik to Simla!

I returned to the wife to find a different woman there. Smile on face and twinkle in the eye replaced by frown on face and anger in the eye! The love was left on the broad guage track and the sulk had joined us on our journey up the narrow!

Lips sealed, smoke bellowing from the ears, killer looks from the eyes was what wifey threw at me. I must have said a thousand sorrys as the Shivalik wound its way through the pine covered hills and dark tunnels. The night lamps were going off as the day broke and the sun shone ever so lightly onto the large windows of the D4 coach of the Shivalik.

The Shivalik has only one halt on its entire run and that is at Barog, a wonderful station! The weather was brilliantly bright and it was extremely cold. Then they served hot breakfast on the train. That did the trick and the frown returned to her bag and the smile came out!  Simla provided us another great treat. It received its first snowfall of the season the day we reached!

Wifey still freaks out when reminded of this incident! She says that I left a newly wed wife for an hour and went away somewhere! A lil exaggeration is fine I guess, if it brings a smile on her face.

Please excuse, I was just married. But been a railfan since years!

I. Ill.

I. Ill.

Cold. Cough. Body pain. Fever.