Elections 2009 - Technology & Youth Make It a Turning Point In India's History

The election scene for 2009 is slowly unfolding and though i was unusually aloof in the beginning, the excitement is catching up and i now find myself scanning news and even volunteering for a new political party. A significant development this time has been that people instead of shrugging their shoulders at the dirty political landscape, are actually wanting to do something. Baby steps abound, examples include:

• Leveraging the Net to share information on criminal backgrounds of politicians (http://www.nocriminals.org/)
• Professionals like Meera Sanyal (a banker in South Mumbai) contesting the elections
• Professionals across cities launching the Pledge to Vote campaign (http://letsvote.in), the Hyderabad event just happened today morning near the Hussain Sagar lake with thousands participating
• The Jaagore campaign titled One Billion Votes India, which has been running for several months now and supported by leaders like NRN of Infosys
• Eminent entrepreneurs like Rajesh Jain forming support groups such as Friends of BJP (that can also act as pressure groups) with leading political parties. 
• Hectic usage of Orkut for canvassing which is perhaps the Social Network with the largest penetration in India.

But the most impressive of all developments is the launch of Lok Satta Party as a political movement. Launched by a former IAS office, Jayaprakhas Narayan this is the only party with clear cut plans on removing poverty rapidly in 5 years, building infrastructure etc. Obviously they are not promising dole outs that make beggars out of voters. Loksatta has picked up momentum with several professionals joining them and supporting them as volunteers. You can check their web site and Twitter site to know more about what they are doing.

Other events that have fanned these embers include Obama's election in the US last year, demonstrating that nothing is impossible in politics. The 26/11 attacks in Mumbai too have stirred people into taking some action. 

These steps will only pick up momentum and I clearly see a strong working alternative emerge that will capture 8 to 10% of the popular vote next time around. Our politicians, smart as they are will soon start to appeal to this voter base which will mean a true change in politics. The virtual circle will progress leading to a more mature polity in 10-15 years from now.

Liberated from Windows

I always had a fascination for Linux and Open Software and last month finally push came to shove and i made the move on my home laptop. The trigger was a 'yahoo lover' worm that wriggled into my Windows XP laptop somehow and started creating huge problems. So i ditched Windows lock stock and barrel and installed Ubuntu Linux. The installation was not a very simple affair but i persevered and am enjoying the benefits now. The system boots well, i have most of the software i need and the performance is pretty good. Firefox ran well until i realized it had issues with Flash movies which means no YouTube. Opera came to the rescue and i am already loving this browser compared to Firefox (almost as much as Linux over Windows).

The only pending issue is getting iTunes to work on Linux; Apple is never going to release a version for Linux and i am trying alternatives. Most can do basic iTunes stuff but i need something that syncs podcasts well. I am not that worried about the Nike+ runs which i will sync manually or write a small script if i am upto it.

My Vipassana Retreat

The new year started on an excellent personal note - i finally managed to make time (ten days) for Vipassana meditation retreat; something that i was mulling on for almost a year. The break finally came on January 1, actually i had to break away from the usual busy schedule to create space for this.

What got me there was my initial curiosity about meditation, something i had never done in even a half-serious manner. The closest was some Pranayama, which it turns out is somewhat a mechanical exercise, compared to serious meditation. And what i discovered during those ten days was immensely beneficial - several a-ha moments, the biggest being that this technique opens up an entire new world to you, one in which everything from the breath to the body, thought, feelings are all facets of a single reality. Digging deeper into this reality will take you to THE ultimate (whatever it is). I feel like a new born in this path, and am no where qualified to even contemplate what that later stages are. The key as they often say during the course is to take it easy (be 'Equanmious and Aware'), whatever may happen.

Of course it was not easy staying away, being cut off for those ten days - no telephone, no blackberry, no reading, no writing, no television, no newspaper/magazines, no internet, no going out etc. Oddly enough it was also liberating in a way though the pain of staying away from the family and being incommunicado was pinching. But having made it through, one feels one is ready for anything!

Ushering in Obama

It so happened that after two and a half years I made a trip to the United States of America, the night before Obama's swearing in as the US President. What a momentous occasion - though none of the post election frenzy was evident, one could clearly feel the after effects and the optimism with which this nation is looking forward to his rule. When checking into a Manhattan hotel near Times Square at midnight, the hotel receptionisits both Afro-American were unusually kind and saying that in Obama's rule all good things can happen. 

Kerala again, a year later!

Thanks to the Hydventura team at Hyderabad, i signed up for a trip to Wayanad during the Christmas long weekend. And it so happened that i was in Mumbai the day before this started and hence went straight to Kozhikode the night before. Staying on the beach at Kozhikode that Christmas eve and savouring the sights/smells of the beach was a bonus! Watching the waves come and go, I felt an inkling of what the first half of January would hold for me!

The next day I enjoyed a 6k run along the beach and after a Kerala style breakfast, left for the hills in a red colored KSRTC bus. On the way i stopped at the Pookode Lake - the water was clear and fresh and the boating serene. By the evening I reached the rendezvous point where the rest of the team led by the charismatic Srikanth Spiky Perinkulam landed.

The next morning we geared up to climb Chembra, the tallest peak in Kerala. The climb showed me just how underdeveloped my quads and hamstrings were! We spent the next day at Edakkal caves, yet another place that highlights the disaster that Indian Tourism is. There was a very scary climb to the top there, one that triggered a mini-vertigo at each turn. Felt relieved after I hit terra firma. That day we also hit the Soochipara Falls where the water was cold but refreshing. The night ended with a late camp fire.

The last day of the trip was a straight drive back to Bangalore via Ganpathivattom (Sulthan Bathery), Bandipur Wild Life Sanctuary and Mysore. We sighted a wild elephant on the way and had exceptionally delicious tender coconut water at a village named Khagradondi. I also sighted two Colnago bicycles mounted on an SUV, that was part of the Tour of Nilgiris contingent (still agonising on my bike decision :-) Finally after lunch at Kamats, we stopped at the Ranganathittu Bird Santcuary (a familiar place) on the way. At Bangalore Sharmas Travel provided a comfortable Volvo bus that took us to Hyderabad on time the next day.

See Spiky's blog for more on the trip.

Post Mumbai Thoughts

Here are some thoughts post Mumbai:

• Un-Partition of India?
• Re-Partition of Pakistan?
• The idea of Pakistan and its unwinding
• Anti-feudalistic undercurrents in Pakistan donning mask of religion
• The Infinite Patience of India
• 'The Thing' - source in Wahabbi fundamentalism, 
• The New Great Game - Afghanishtan & FATA

Each bullet above could be a whole post in itself, but just letting these thoughts linger

Hyderabad Runs For Mumbai, My First Half Marathon

Hyderabad ran today in support of Mumbai! The Hyderabad 10k and Half Marathon event that had over 25000 registrations this time had a large turn out inspite of a drizzle, with people chanting slogans in support of Mumbaikars, 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Vandemataram'. What really scares terrorists is people not getting cowered down and not leaving hope! India has shown that in ample measure, if today's run at Hyderabad is anything to go by. On the political side too things are changing with a usually thick-skinned political leadership rolling heads and sacking bureaucrats.

For me personally too, the day was significant with me logging my first half marathon. All of 21 kilometers in about two hours and thirty six minutes. The pace was slow but steady and though i went too slow in the first half, wanted to play it safe to avoid injury (the course was all asphalt, as opposed to my training on dirt trails and grass). 

ps: I watched the movie 'Wednesday' today which tells the story of a Mumbai citizen fed up with the spineless politicians and engineers the termination of four dreaded terrorists all by himself. The movie is highly topical in the backdrop of Mumbai.

Mumbai Attacks: A Diehard Optimist's View

Much has been broadcast, blogged, twittered about the dastardly acts in Mumbai. And much has this been depressing, i am trying to see the silver lining in the dark clouds that hand over us. Heroism: by the army, NSG in particular and the valiant Tatas and their dignified staff in the Taj who demonstrated professionalism of the highest order. There is more than a faint hope that Indian political establishment will wake up. If not a deeply concerned Obama who is focusing on the Afghan-Pakistan situation will surely help. These attacks are surely a spill over.

The terrorists (AlQaeda, LeT, JeM etc) are deeply concerned that their cup of hate will get empty if India and Pakistan continue to get friendly (leading to a potential Kashmir solution). They are scared by the elections this month which have had a big turn out in Kashmir. If things get normal on Kashmir, who will get recruited? And if the benefits of India's growing economy get to all its people, then who is left to get alienated? Hence the carnage. 

Interested neighbours that seek strategic depth in India for their own reasons have fueled such carnage (read China, Saudi Arabia). Pakistan was assertive in fanning fires before but has hollowed out now as its Frankenstein monsters are now fully unleashed. Most big attacks in India have always been in the backdrop of an improving peace situation. We now have to hope that our venal and geriatric politicians do not play into the terrorists' hands by fanning violence or blaming the Pakistani people. Though the perpetrators originated in Pakistan, the situation is delicate in Pakistan which itself has violence on a daily basis.

Hopefully smarter people in Indian establishment will emerge to handle this. No wonder Home Minister Shivraj Patil is seen nowhere! Absolutely nowhere! Instead we have the old Pranab Mukherjee addressing the press, mouthing nonsense. We need to create a department of Homeland Security. Station more commandos in all major cities. Young people like us have to get into politics and get rid of this geriatric muck that rules our country - not a single leader under 50!