Fast Cricket and a Fast Life

I still can vividly recall the time of the launch of World T20 championship. I wondered, how many of us who believe in classical cricket will accept the format that is faster than a 3 hour movie. But it went on to be a cracking success. More so because of India's unexpected win at the inaugural world cup. Amidst total confusion, Dhoni's men went on to lift the cup that left the punters gaping.

Anyways, The huge success of the format had to be translated into big bucks. There was bidding. Many people made huge amounts of money. We went back in time, when men were auctioned. The only difference is that this is more glamorised. Suddenly, cricket no longer remained cricket. It was coined as a new entertainment avenue. "Family viewing". I wondered how. At least in my family we have never watched T20 together. But then , may be we are an old fashioned family. The New types of families do not talk to each other. Electronic gadgets are their new friends and family. Gone were the days, when families would sit together to have dinner or lunch. We also do not do it as often, but at least we make an attempt to do it. Today's generation is wired up all the time. Be it to your laptop or your cellphone or your landline or to the internet or the I-Pods. I find it surprising, when articles suggest meeting people as a way of fighting stress. For us it is the other way round. Most of us get distressed if we find ourselves in an area which does not have a "network". There is total panic. May be they are very insecure about themselves? or May be they just have a reason to be annoyed with life. Sometimes my views on family and culture are rubbished. They say that I am not staying with the times. Sexuality is no longer a taboo. Virginity is. You must not long for intimacy with anybody. It is optional and used with discretion. There are no close/ best friends. There are just companions. It seems people have taken the adage "We-are-just-travellers-on the-planet-earth" very seriously. Every person has a utility. Like a rechargeable battery. I am not sure but hope that there are people who will not concur with the new perspective. I just heard somebody say, "Off, what a bore??"

The Little cost of Liberalization

The other day during "googling", I happen to bump into a site by Rajshri Productions, which had kept an online library of the episodes of "Malgudi Days". I watched all of them at one go & did not feel bored a single second. That prompted me then to search for other serials of the bygone era - Hum Log, Nukkad, Wagle ki Duniya, Fauji, Buniyaad...I found some but generally found my searches futile. Today when I look at the current television programs I find them too negative and repetitive.

Till 1992, we used to live in a place called Timarpur. More famous these days for the failed Timarpur Waste Mangement Project. Anyways, this time I will not discuss any serious topic but prefer to confine myself to some of my childhood memories which I am sure alot of us have in common. We were not an affluent family but always had sufficient. Like most working men, my father was employed in a "prestigious government job". I used to derive immense pride in telling my friends and people who used to ask my father's occupation that he was a government servant with the Delhi Government. I still take immense pride in telling it, however the reasons are different. Earlier it was a matter of pride, today it is a matter of sacrifice. He would leave for office by 8:40 & return latest by 6:30 pm. If he was delayed beyond that time, All of us would parade endlessly till he returned home.

Infact if I had to go bak in time I would say I would like my life to start afresh from 1988......When I was 6...When the only bread in the market was Modern bread....when the only cola drink was Campa.....When only congress came to power whoever fought elections......When there were only DTC buses on the road.....when the preferred mode of transportation was Rail, whatever be the distance....When the only time you could watch TV was between 8 to 10...when the only time you could watch movie was either to rent a cassette or on sundays on DD....when the only friends you had were anybody who could play with you....when you never questioned the logic of your parents......when you never had to take any decisions.....when people observed behavior than appearance....When Governemnt jobs were looked at with respect.....When I didnt know that there were B-school in the country.....when I thought that there were just 6 countries in the world - UK,US,China,Japan,Russia and Pakistan.......When Spiderman was the only superhero I knew.........When students were still afraid of not doing their homework........When Madhuri was the only hot woman in the world........When there was no Page 3........When I used to sleep at 9 in the night......when the latest I would ever wake up in the morning would be 8 am........When my professional life would end with the school's closing time at 2 pm......when I used to wait for Tuesdays to visit the temple....when the only time I had insecurity was if I would be able to save some prasad for myself after distributing to beggars.......when I thought enid blyton were the only children books on earth........when we used to have dinner at sharp 7:30 pm with all the family sitting on ground & my mum serving......when I knew that the only time one should fear is night.....when I thought that the universe ended with pluto...when I thought foreign goods were better than Indian.......when eating out was only for celebration.......When the maximum courage I ever had was to go alone till the colony gate......When I thought that all those who smoke & drink are anti-social elelments......When the roads searched for drivers to drive on them......when I thought that Nehru & Gandhi were the greatest leaders India ever produced.......When I sang only to please myself........When the only incentive to study was my mother's scolding.......when I used to eagerly await a marriage party to hog on the food.........

I am sure we all have endless experiences which now stand corrupted by the onslought of liberalization. Often I wonder if all that was worth it? May be in the long run and for the greater good. But I do not know who benefitted? At least I didnt.....

Public sector behavior

Coffee break sessions are generally very enriching. You talk gossip. Inside the company & outside it. But sometimes there are boring discussions on business as well. I don't enjoy the former too much. It creates unnecessary negative energies which can be more fruitfully utilized in work. During one of the discussions some intelligent people broached the topic of micro-financing for rickshaw pullers. Basically the idea was that of investment in an investment/ saving vehicle for these poor chaps. I was told that these days, Insurance companies were making a killing with this kind of concept. I did not believe it. My argument was that somebody pulling a rickshaw had too many obligations to begin with - a rent to be paid to the rickshaw owner, some borrowed money to be paid back, rent, daily food & more importantly some remittance back home. It is unlikely that after so many liabilities, the man would have sufficient money to save.

My assumptions have often been steam rolled whenever questioned. I guess that is the way with most assumptions. So, When I talked to a few rickshaw pullers, there was in fact some saving tendency in them despite all the compulsions that engulfed them. I was stumped as usual.

So, I happen to visit one of the top Public Sector Banks. No, it was not that I was on a leisurely stroll, but wanted to collect the statement of my education loan, which I unfortunately had taken from them. The office opened at 10:30 am. I happened to reach the place at 10:00 am, only to find a few people enjoying the morning tea. When I told them that I was in a hurry & had to rush to office after doing the needful. I was answered, " Arey Bhai, whats the hurry? chai to aane do, phir pakode...statement mil jaaegi, jaldi kya hai??.." I wish I could record the conversation & play it before their maverick CMD. But technology often fails when most needed. So, I had no option, but to wait. An urgent assignment required my immediate attention, but here was I waiting for just a simple statement with their rubber stamp. It seemed so archaic. I got a taste of how the erstwhile culture of most government entities used to be. It was accomodative & was fast to the speed of those days. We did not know what a speedy service was, so we never complained. We were fine with the pace of our lives & the pace at which they were being run by the public behemoths. But, then our lives had been deliberately put on a fast track owing to the complusions of 1991. Before we realised, we found ourselves surrounded by private enterprises harping on "Service Quality" and the "Speed of Execution". Indians have this habit of embracing to any new development (be it political or otheriwse) with open arms. We never question its arrival, but welcome it like a guest with open arms. I guess thats what caused our oppression till 1947.

Public Sector entities which had a decent lead in this dash, found the gap between them and their newly mushroomed private counterparts closing too fast. They remodelled themselves and presented themselves as savior to those suffered at the apathetic attitude of private entities who focussed themselves only on quantity of service than quality of attitude. But that was it. People like me preferred a delayed service than a conniving intent. And so I was caught up with this esteemed Bank. By the time I completed my mission, I was brimming with frustration and all the ideas on an organizational restructuring bounced in my mind like protons clashing with each other in a "Fission Reactor".

I reached home and narrated my harrowing experience to my mother. She had her own stories to tell. And I began thinking. When we decided that state entities were supposed to carry out economic activities, the premise was that their primary objective was to serve people, profit was a secondary motive. But, the reality was a far cry. Its a confllicting perspective. Those serving in Public Sector Eentities were meant to serve people not themselves. But a country subjugated to a considerable period of recent history leaves an insecurity deeply entrenched in its citizens, where survival and freedom of mind is of primary importance. Some people might want to term the attitude as selfish, but I will not. Where growth is not the agenda, service will never be of importance.

Nationalism like love is innate in nature. Most of us are yet to fall in love till then we have to live with the "Public Sector" behavior.

My little donation

Last night I was searching for an auto in Gwalior to visit one of my clients who happened to be a civil servant. This time winter had been really cold. As far as my memory goes, I can recall such bitter winter in the late 1990's. Most of 2000 has been pretty mild. As I shivered under two sweaters & a coat, the search for a conveyance became an absolute must. Just as I was about to lose hope, I saw this auto pass by me. I waved a hand at it only after it had passed. He saw me from his rear view. Retracing his steps, He asked me, " Where to?"..I said, " Race course road. I want you to wait there till my meeting ends & then drop me back to hotel". Bargaining is a very interesting phenomenon. Neither party knows the real value of the deal. As the two unreasonable quotes meet each other, the clash results in the determination of the true value of the deal. I had Rs. 100 in mind. Before he could reply, I knew he would quote a figure which blow me up like a grenade. He said, "Rs. 60 saahab". I said, "Deal!!". It was one of the very rare occasions, when the figure in mind was MORE than what such people quoted. ( For once I was not livid at an autorickshaw driver given my horrid experiences with these guys in Delhi, Chennai & Bangalore ).Honesty it seems is still prevalent. May be like an endangered species, but its there. Post that as we chugged along the narrow lanes of Gwalior. He asked me the address. I told him. For quite some time, he went in one direction. Then he suddenly stopped, "Saahab, Is you client an IAS or a PCS?"..I was stumped for a second. Then recovering I said, "PCS, why?" He replied," Oho Saahab, PCS live on another lane. Dont worry I will take you there". Normally you expect these guys to be street smart & know the inside out of the city. But differentiating between an IAS & a PCS??There are many MBAs, who will still scratch their head wondering what I am talking about. I even in my wildest dreams did not expect a rickshaw driver to distinguish between state & central civil servant. Then out of curiosity, I asked the usual question, "Babu, You seem very smart.." Before I could complete the sentence, he replied,"Saahab, this is not my real job. My daughter is studying for medical. I am working extra hard to finance her studies..." My question to him was like an arrow to a pot filled with water to the brim. It was heartening to see female education being alive & kicking at one of the smaller cities of the country. Our country is full of paradoxes, where on one side the country is grappling with the problem of an abysmally low sex ratio owing to the blaspheming acts of female foeticide, on the other here was a person with a white collar job driving an autorickshaw in biting cold. For a second I had tears in my eyes....soon to be replaced by frustration......At the end of journey, I handed him a Rs. 100 note. As he searched his pocket for change, I walked away.....

1 million chulhas

Well, the last week was marred by the "Racist" row between the Indians & the Aussies. The newspapers, websites and the audio visual media just added fuel to the fire. There was of course an issue to be made for that. We are not a nation that takes such allegations lightly given that we ourselves have had to face the situation in the past. Nobody knows what happened. But its not that it doesnt happen in our country. Ask any North Indian who visits South India and he will tell you horriffic tales of the way the South Indians treated them which will put any Southie in North to shame. Not to say that our brothers from the Northern hinterland are any better. I, myself, have had to face them on numerous occassions. But then, you have to look at the larger issue at hand. Some of my cousins didnt take it too well & could only recoup when they found familiar faces (though with slightly idiosynchratic ideas about life). We can never escape it. We must accept that certain segments will always try to make you realise that you are different from them, but the intent must not be demeaning in any manner. Again, given that most of us are insane & insecure such thoughtful event would be a rare occurance.

Last week, one of my crazy searches landed me with a company called "Hi-tech Agro". The promoter happens to be one person called Mr. A K Khater. Upon meeting him, I realised that he was a stalwart of "briquetting and pilleting of Bio-waste". For some of our less aware friends, Bio-waste is not human waste, but rather the residue from farming harvest. In some cases it also includes household waste, waste wood material & other bio-degradable waste. Now briquetting as the name sounds relates to compacting of bio waste and making it in the form of bricks. Pilleting means making small bullet like structures out of Bio waste. To me it was as exciting as a teenager missing a heart beat on meeting a prospective sweet heart. And more so, I was intrigued by his enthusiasm on making it reach the remotest villages of India. He wanted to give something back to them. Whats the use of the 9% rate of growth, when the riches continue to throng the city dwellers, who are just making life difficult for themselves in their pursuit of quenching the thirst for luxury? So, what was the concept? Well, here it goes. In villages, the dwellers use the bio waste for household purposes like you know burning them for cooking food and heating purposes. Now these villagers do not use any efficient chulhas. They just burn the waste & over them place the vessel to be heated. Now, there are many hazards associated with such an exercise. One, this bio waste is not processed which means burning them leads to more smoke than real heat. This poses a health hazard to the user, but also consumes a lot of time. In some cases, wood from nearby forests are cut to burn the chulhas. Also, the bio-waste isn't basically a product that is of much economic significance to them. So, the better way is to use them to burn them to make food.

Mr. Khater, the pioneer in briquetting & pilleting of bio-waste, has hence thought of installing one million chulhas (on a pilot basis) that will allow villagers to use bio waste in a more efficient manner for more or less the same purpose. Now, here is the deal on offer. Firstly, a "Group operator" will be appointed for each zone/ state. Each of these zonal/ state level operators can appoint one operator who will be taking care of say 80 - 100 villages. Each of these smaller operators will own a briquetting & pilleting machine for treating the bio-waste. The villagers will give their bio waste to these operators. The operators will return one-third (by weight) of the bio waste submitted by the villagers back to them in the form of a briquet or pillet. The remaining pilletted bio waste is then sold in open market where there are ready buyers for them. These buyers in some cases own their own captive power generating capacities for which they badly need the raw material. Now, as far as the villagers are concerned, they also get a chulha from the village level operator. These chulhas are much easier to operate. More importantly these chulhas burn the bio waste more efficiently ( am no science geek, but they say it can burn the fuel inclusive of coal & wood efficiently by over 45% - 50% as compared to your traditional chulha) causing less environmental pollution and less health hazard.

Who will bell the cat? This was the question I asked Mr. Khater. To which he invited me to a brain storming session at "Batkal Lake" in Faridabad. I had been there earlier. Flanked by mountains, it used to be a scenic lake with a hovercraft facility. I am talking of at least 13 years to 14 years in the flashback of my life. Depreciation is another fact of life which is hard to ignore. "Batkal lake" wore a sad look. Thoroughly molested by apathy of local authorities and raped by human inhabitants around it, I was disheartened. Given that it is maintained by Haryana Tourism just underlines the importance we give to tourism in our country. Much to my excitement, I reached the venue much before my host. Whenever, I reach early for an appointment or am waiting for a person for a meeting, I am reminded of a very interesting definition of "Punctuality" - Punctuality is the art of waiting for those who are unpunctual.

We were a gathering of about 15-16 people. Most were from the same field as Mr. Khater, but were more or less leaders in their regions. So, when the discussion started it hit a road block on the financing part & more importantly the ownership part of it. For a long time I listened to the gyaan being imparted on environmental conservation & the inherent strengths of the project etc. etc. etc.But when I took it no more, I stamped my hand on my table ( not exactly, I just interrupted one of the speaker who was repeating the same point), and said, "Excuse me gentlemen, in the absence of funding from Government, how are we going to make this a viable project?" Thats when everybody agreed that they were missing a crucial point. I mentioned that debt in no option for them . Given that returns are still uncertain & there could be a substantial gestation period, till the project becomes viable taking upon a fixed liability will spell doom from Day 1. The project must be self-sustaining & must have an equity partner as far as the funding is concerned. I told them that they must float an SPV for this purpose. In this SPV, each "Group Operator" will necessarily be an equity partner. What can then be done is that based on demand from each of their regions, they could set up manufacturing facilities and could seek funding from the SPV. The SPV could then assist in either direct contribution to the project or can access Banks. Incase of a substantial equity contribution, debt might come cheap (I was also given to believe that certain Banks had shown interest in funding the project at a subsidised rate). Another point was that since, the chulhas were efficient burners they could also invite funding by way of Carbon Credits. Personally, I am vehemently against the concept of Carbon Trading. But then for a noble cause, what the heck??

One thing that yet remained unaddressed, was the ownership of the briquetting machines at the village level. Will that be owned by the goup operator or the village level opertaor or the village head or a SHG? But then the group Operator wont be able to benefit from the sale of the two-thirds of the bio-waste. Whoever is owning it will also have to bear the cost. Under the scenario of inadequate revenue streams of villagers, the role of micro-financing agencies will be pivotal. My suggestion was to de-couple the ownership of such machines & sell them to village based operators. Our SPV makes money by selling these machines to village level operators who are financed by micro-financing agencies. These village level operators make money by selling the pilletted Bio waste. Our SPV also makes money by selling the more efficient chulhas to the villagers. We can distribute them for free as well, because the more operating chulhas there are, the more carbon credits you earn and the more faster your project becomes viable. The villagers get a more effcient chulha that uses less fuel & causes less smoke.Voila!!!!

Towards the end of the meeting, Mr Khater told me, "Deepak, I pray to God that this project must be successful. We will need all the help from you". I replied, "Khater saahab, it seems your God has gone on a Long Holiday & he seems to have misplaced his cellphone as well. I guess, we are to help ourselves and more importantly the villagers will be our gods if there is going to be any involvement of divinity at all."

Nehru and the funda of Mixed Economy

Wishing all a very happy & prosperous New Year!!! A cliched line that will go on for at least the next couple of days. I was starting to wonder this time that the time is passing so fast, that expression of every regars over every occassion sounds so repetitive. With friends, colleagues, bosses, clients and with every second person that you meet on the street. I felt it was losing its relevance. This time I hence went on a "Satyagrah". No wishes to anybody. It really didnt make much difference anyways. Some friends did call up, but most didnt react clearly highlighting the boredom behind this entire concept.

I guess, one of the most beautifully written books on Indian history has come from none other than Free India's first prime minister, Mr. Jawahar Lal Nehru. Books like "Glimpses of World History" or "The Discovery of India" are a joy to read if you relish history. These days I am reading a book called, "As Nehru saw the World". For a long time I believed that we were led the wrong way in terms of economic development. And that, we wuld have done more justice to ourselves by opting for a "Market Economy". Ex- CEO of HLL, Mr. Gurcharan Das calls it, "When humans err, it is sad. When leaders err, its haunts a generation".A close reading of Nehru's ideas kind of broke the mental shackles.


Many of us still recall the Indian Independence from the famous speech of Nehru called, "A Tryst with the destiny". And some of us from the black & white footage of Nehru unfurling the tricolor. Its a wonderful feeling isnt? But the background to Indendence was rather traumatic. There were numerous areas which were pulling the nation seeking their attention. National security, Food security, formation of consitution, uniting the divergent culture and more importantly ensuring that the identity "Indian" remains firmly entrenched in the psychology of the members of the Union. You know today we take it for granted, the fact that outside India a Tamilian, a Punjabi, a Bengali, a Garwali, an Assamese, a Kannadiga, a Malyali, a Gujarati would always be known as an Indian. The concept of India & Indian have come to us from our fathers & grandfathers who saw the dream of Nehru of a Unified nation that had an identity which overshadowed the other regional disparities. We must thank Mr. Nehru for it. At the time of independence we were short of leaders & intellectuals who could have driven the country on a fast track. With his limitations, Nehru thought that given the limited resources an optimum allocation of them is the best idea. He wanted to build a nation for the future. Then came the concept of Planning & the Planning Commission. The Five Year plan extensively criticised, then & today, remained a formidable driver of economic growth for India for many post-independence years. Today, though we are entering the eleventh Five year Plan, its role is limited to allocation of resources with a societal focus. In those days, in the absence of economic activity, Nehru saw creation of wealth as part of the Government's responsibility. Interestingly, he says, " India is a poor country. A poor country cannot afford concentration of wealth with a few individials. The idea of development in a country like ours is to ensure equitable distribution of wealth." His idea was not to kill Private sector, but more liberal role for Public sector. He also goes on to say, "Socialism as it is catching up today will not fit in well in a poor country like ours. Socialism is concept which is more suited to countries who are already wealthy & developed. Socialism seeks to ensure equity of prosperity, but in the absence of prosperity, distribution of it is a mere Myth." ( Both the lines are not direct quotes of Nehru, but rather the version as I interpret it). Unfortunately, the concept fell on its face. He was also more concerned about concentration of wealth. It is not that he was averse to a vibrant market economy. Being a political leader, his thoughts were more directed towards a just society. In his address to the Indian Merchant Chambers in 1950, he says, "Planning is a crucial element to India's growth. For its execution, we need the support from all quarters" (Again my interpretation). He saw Planning as a major tool to implement projects whose benefits would accrue to our future generation. There was then the fear of "Imperialism" in its new form. Multinational Agencies highjacking the growth of the country & making it dependent on the MNCs whims & fancies. Nehru feared it & more than that despised it. His vision was that of self generated and indigenous growth (we came to realise it only 50 years hence as today we are the second fastest growing economy driven by internal demand). His insecurity was echoed across all sectors. Hence, we saw extensive governmental control & Public sector domination over all economic activities. For him, America & Soviet were more or less the same entities. He wanted to distinguish India as a country with its own disntict identity & voice. Thanks to that belief instilled in our system, today our views over geo-political scenario are construed as filled with individuality and non-prejudice. But I guess today we lament over the fact that the growth engine could have run faster had we done this or that. And that Nehru was a total failure. Today we look at what we lost out & not what we have achieved. History will always remind you more of lost opportunities & less of achievements. He did what he thought was best for our country. If there was any view point contrarion to him, then surely with a logically strong basis would have ensured a growth pattern different from what it is now. Since, there was none then we must applaud the efforts of Mr. Nehru. He had a dynamic vision that if people work for other people, Growth will will happen at a fatser pace & will far more evenly distributed. But the vision was not shared by everybody in India. As it has been rightly said, "Leaders are remembered because of their followers"...Seldom the fally is ever that of the leader....Mr. Jawahar Lal Nehru you did a great job...

Chak De India!

I must begin by expressing deep shock on the death of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mrs. Benazir Bhutto. Totally expected though. What do you expect from a country that feels anarchy is a state of stability. Its rather intriguing that she fought to get back to Pakistan. There were media reports of some arbid deal with the General. But you really have nothing to back such claims (Unless you send people from "Aaj Tak" or "Tehelka" to unearth the truth, but it is more risky. Here in India you can escape with a suit filed against you, but there you are unlikely to come out unscathed). Some people call me a fool when I say one must believe in providence. I dont know, but may be she was destined to die in her own country. Imagine 2 months back she was nowhere near Pakistan, but she came all the way down. Was it the lust for power or the love for her country & people or was it just her death...drawing her towards the inevitable. I guess, we should be the one who should be scratching our heads with Pakistani's possession of Nukes with them. Some crazy people still say to me, "Lets finish them" or "Lets take over Pakistan". I mean why? They are a different country & we must be candid enough to accept their existence in the way they have evolved over the years. While we have focussed our energies on areas that affect on the global scene. They have just aped us in our military strengths and more importantly driven their resources (both tangible & intangible) towards destabilizing us. Anyways, I guess there are smarter people right now having more brilliant ideas on managing the crisis across the border.

Offf..I am so predictable with my use of words. I get these bouts of inferiority complexes when I read those profound articles by unknown writers. Then I think that as far as the communication gets across, my purpose is served. Then I also think, when will I be as eloquent as a Karan Thapar or a Shekhar Gupta. I am not reading enough I guess. Well, these days I am very excited. India is in Australia bhai. I am a great fan of cricket. Its not only the Tendulkars or the Dravids or the Gangullys or the Kumbles who are going old. An entire generation which is still in such awe of these great sportspersons is growing old. I dont recall when were we really a force in cricket. We have been great underdogs. Australia & South Africa are like one of those really old fashioned Hindi Movies. A very good Hero & very bad Villian. A ghareloo heroine and a predictable end which is "And they lived happily ever after". Indian cricket is different. Its the new genre of movies that we see these days. Grey shades. Hero is half villian. Villian is half hero. There are no hero or villian or heroines.All characters. You dont necessarily know the end. We have that unpredictable flavor. Our cricket is filled with emotions. We cry, we laugh, we punch fists in the air, we fly like a bird and we get a feeling called "India". But the point is that the entire flow of emotions ends as soon as we move out of movie theatres or when the match ends. Having travelled wide and far (in comparison to my parents) across the length & breadth of India, it is intriguing how different but yet so similar our country is. Apart from the apparent differences across geographies, languages, traditions, customs and face countours, what we share in common is a total apathy towards governance and the lax administrative set ups. One of my resource mobilization proposals has been stuck in the Maharashtra Urban Development department for ages now. My seniors first rebuked me, but now it has become one big joke in my company. But this is no different from one of the more progressive states like Tamilnadu, which has again taken no initiative whatsoever in getting a Tax Free proposal of one of their state entities which apparently is with the Central Government since the last 6 months. I mean,we do understand that every decision must be adequately debated but not to the extent that you manage to kill the issue altogether. The pain is agonizing. I will not deny that we ourselves feel frustrated on having to wait for ages for a deal to fructify. Interestingly the Urban Development initiative of JNNURM will face major impediments in terms of funding mega projects if this continues to be the approach. An initiative must be backed by an intent which must be uniform across all the participants to the issue. Consultants who have to make Detailed project reports are sitting merry after doing the needful without bothering that by the time project takes off, there would have been a serious impact on the costing of the project. The underlying idea behind the scheme is "Democracy". You know freedom is a very romantic concept. So is Communism. But in this segment I want to discuss democracy. Democracy by definition means - "By the people, for the people & of the people". Please watch the movie "V-for vendetta". Its really an awesome movie. My apologies for digressing. Coming back, most democracies are in the first stage i.e. they are "by the people", but all have failed to comply with the other two -"for the people" and "of the people". Most governments have their own agenda to pursue and hence conveniently forget that they are meant to serve the interests of the citizens of the country. The faith in the government is maintained by a constant dosage of insecurity like terrorism, epidemics, laxity in providing draught relief or lack of employment opportunities. All theses are the direct fallouts of having failed to achieve the other two aspects of the definition of democracy. India is not in question here. This is because we are too nascent a nation as compared to other western nations who have been fairly sucessful in the implementation of the so-called "Democracy". In our case I guess we delivered a very premature baby called "freedom" and on top of that we have donated it to an orphanage. Since liberalization, we have got economic freedom. Prominent economists call it our second freedom. Post that we have made truck loads of money which was pumped into purchase of fixed assets like vehicles & property. What we did not anticipate was that the effective use of these assets was still in control of the Government and the local authorities. Providing Water Supply and sanitation facilities, regular electricity supply, sewage treatment and reasonable roads to drive on. We never had enough of that in the pre-liberalization era. We didnt make an issue of that, 'cause we were told to be content. Rationing is the right word. But now we are demanding. We want what we deserve. We pay our taxes for a comfortable living. We demand sufficient infrastructure for us & for our coming generations. At least in case of Urban Development and infrastructure we can ask the government to have absolute democracy - "By the people, for the people & of the people". Of course the last one is possible only with citizen participation. But our efforts and consistent pleas to the authorities will take care of that. But only partial. The bigger challenge is to ensure that the machine keeps rolling with little or no intervention. Why not make our country a world laboratory to carry out this novel experiment. Lets do it..."Chak De India!"