Gandhian Thoughts

I had a chance to attend the Gandhi Colloquium at IIM Bangalore. The theme of the colloquium was “Gandhi, Governance and the Corporation”. I was impressed by some of the thoughts that the eminent speakers (Prof Dwijendra Tripati, Prof N Balasubramanian, Prof Peter DeSouza, Prof Pratap Bhany Mehta) put forth as a part of the introductory session in the morning.

Key takeaways from the lectures:

- Gandhian philosophies have not had a widespread acceptance in the corporate world

- The philosophy of trusteeship is focal point for corporate embracement of Gandhian thought

- Trusteeship involves a sense of debt to society; an organization exists to serve the society and the context of the society in which it exists

- Gandhi believed that an individual or a corporation had to earn just as much as was “reasonably” required and any amount earned in excess of this was expected to be returned to the society, since it was “excess” wealth that was accumulated unduly and it belonged to the society and not the corporation or the individual (Contrast this with socialism, looks like Gandhi’s philosophy was geared towards voluntary actions for equitable distribution of wealth unlike the “socialist” thought of Government enabled distribution of wealth!)

- Gandhi was perhaps the only political figure who was aware of the communal tinderbox that India could evolve into at the time of independence

- Gandhi placed a great emphasis on the aspect of friendship, friendship across groups to which an individual belonged

I find myself resonating with a lot of the thoughts that were put forth. I believe that socialism, an excellent concept, can never be imposed. Voluntary socialism as espoused by the “trusteeship” philosophy is perhaps sustainable. It is perhaps necessary that this philosophy is inculcated as a way of life in Indian society. Is it going to be successful? Gandhi was convinced that it would succeed, yet today 50 years after his death there is still no clear answer. Even I am not fully convinced of the efficacy of “trusteeship”.

To get a wider perspective on trusteeship:

http://www.gandhi-manibhavan.org/gandhiphilosophy/philosophy_trusteeship.htm

Summed up in one paragraph:

“Supposing I have come by a fair amount of wealth—either by way of legacy, or by means of trade and industry—I must know that all that wealth does not belong to me; what belongs to me is the right to an honorable livelihood, no better than that enjoyed by millions of others. The rest of my wealth belongs to the community and must be used for the welfare of the community.”

The Conversion Dilemma: A Possibly Mishandled Situation?

Of late there have been a lot of attacks against Christians in India on the supposed issue of forced conversions. There has been a huge hue and cry raised against the practice of conversion as is supposedly followed by the Christians of our country.

Before going ahead I would like to clarify my stand on the moot point of conversions. I believe in a personal God (whatever is the form that he or she takes, a force, a presence, a higher conscience, nature) and I am of the opinion that religion is just the means to achieve this end. My opinion on conversions derives from this; to me conversion is a change in the way in which an individual seeks to find God. It is an intangible value that aids an individual to perform better on more tangible things like, work output, social interactions, etc.

I have always been an admirer of the Christian mission work in India; missionaries that I have interacted with have been selfless individuals who have truly believed that it is their moral (and not religious!) duty to bring about social development in the backward regions of India through education and primary health care. Mind you, I use the word moral and not the word religious, because that describes the motivation of a true missionary; religion just gives him/her a platform. In the course of a missionary’s work, if those that have benefited from the mission choose to have a conversion in their quest to find God, what moral right does anyone have to stop an individual from pursuing his fundamental right in the secular state of India?

(This does not endorse money induced conversions; rather this defends conversions that are of a different nature. I will always be against money endorsed conversions, and to be honest I believe that money induced conversions will never cause a major demographic shift in the religious break up of India, it is simply not sustainable economically!)

(When I use the word missionary, I think I imply any person who does good for another human in the forgotten rural lands of India, without expecting any tangible benefit in return. Religion, be it Hinduism through ISKON or Christianity through Missions, offers a platform that could also be provided by a non religious organization like the IRC, Medicine Sans Frontiers etc. Atheists too could be missionary except that they lack religiosity ;) …)

This brings me to the events that have transpired in Karnataka and the subsequent handling of the situation by the Chief Minister of Karnataka and the arch Bishop of Bangalore.

Firstly I am angry with the Chief Minister (CM) of Karnataka. The first thing that a man of political wisdom would do in a situation like this (desecration of a church and vandalism) is bring the culprits to book and then make any statements of bravado. The path taken by the CM is one of brazen offense in which the Christian community is made to look like the villain! For crying out loud perhaps he has forgotten that it is a Christian church that has been desecrated by vandals! Given the history of Christians in India, a grave (in terms of religion) event such as this will never be met by violence, why then has the CM issued warnings against the Christian community for making statements that he claims are inflammatory?! Bring the culprits to book Mr. CM, it is only then that you would have the moral high ground to warn the Christian community on anything!

(On a side note, I realize that the statements made by the CM were directed more against a former BJP MP who happens to be Christian!)

Secondly I am confused by the way in which the archbishop of Bangalore reacted to the situation. Giving the CM of a state the cold shoulder in full media glare may have been a good tactic to express the ire and frustration of the Christian community, but it is also a strategic blunder. In a secular country like India, whenever there have been incidents of violence against Christians, the collective conscience of the nation has been pricked by the calm and humble resolve with which Christians have reacted to the situation. By showing open aggression I believe that the Bishop has hurt that perception, a perception that serves the Christian community in India really well (Christians end up holding the moral high ground!).

The PR officer of the arch diocese of Bangalore made a public statement on a TV news channel stating that the state government has failed and called for central intervention in this matter, another strategic blunder! The right way ahead should have been to convey the message that the as much as the Christian community is perceived to be calm it will not tolerate a soft attitude of the state government towards the perpetrators of the crime. The wordings of the public statements that were made should have been chosen very carefully! The threat of central government intervention should have been done at a much later stage; it would have held a lot more credibility. Overall I am disappointed by the public statements and actions of the arch diocese of Bangalore. In the game of political strategy I believe they have lost.

This is a political game, and a game that should be played with calmness and a certain amount of guile, the Christian community needs to understand that. A short term victory will not lead to a long term solution, but could easily turn into a tit-for-tat cycle that could easily spiral out of control. Our (yes I am a part of the Christian community!) tried and tested methods of holding the high moral ground through a calm and dignified reaction is best way in which we can get a lasting solution to the current problem. Play politics the right way, the way in which we know we win with minimal losses!

An EPIC queue

A new initiative is underway in India to provide every single eligible and enlisted voter with photo ID cards. It is quite an ambitious and good move on the part of the election commission.

For those in Bangalore, details on "the hows and whys and whats" of the card can be found at:

http://bangalorevoterid.org/

As much as i believe that the every eligible citizen must exercise his/her right to vote, this post is not about the ills of voting/not voting. This post is to highlight an interesting incident that occurred when i went along to collect my voter ID card.

I had taken the day off (well not technically off, since i was working from home, using a fairly trustworthy and fast VPN connection) and at around four i decided to go and stand in queue for the voter ID card.

The scene was one of organized chaos, there was a queue, and queue looked like it comprised of three to four lines. It took me a while to realize that this was due to the fact that people were standing in line as proxies, as and when a known friend or family member came along, an extra space was created for them in the line!!!!

My sister had left half an hour ahead of me in order to get her photo ID done, by the time i had reached the place, my sis was quite close to the actual issuing counter. It was quite tempting for me to jump ahead and behave like the general crowd by taking up a proxy position in front with my sister. However a very interesting reason (other than my principled approach to such situations!) prevented me from doing so!

If you observe the inserted photograph very carefully there is a gentleman who has been circled in red. The gentleman who is highlighted in this photograph is none other than Mr. H. T. Sangliana, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.T._Sangliana) member of parliament (MP)!

It was heartening to see Mr. Sangliana standing in the queue just like any ordinary citizen and waiting his turn to collect his photo ID card ... very uncharacteristic of an Indian politician!!!! During the last election i had voted for this man inspite of his affiliation with the hindu nationalist party BJP; a party whose religious ideology does not strike a chord with me. It was the sheer stature of this IPS officer who had done so much for Bangalore city that had influenced my choice. Looking at this man, stand in queue just like any other ordinary citizen gave me a sense of satisfaction that i have never experienced before; I voted for the right kind of human being (i am not going to go into the details of his performance as an elected representative, this post is not intended to do that).

Mr. Sangliana (and his family, wife and a nephew) waited patiently for more than an hour in that queue before collecting their id cards.

Side Note: I am proud of Mr. Sangliana's stand in the no-confidence motion against the incumbent national government on the nuclear deal issue. As my elected representative, he did what i would have wanted him to do. Thank you sir!

Carbon Credits - Emission Trading - The individual - The Farce

This post is not to elaborate deep on the issues of carbon credits, emission trading and the deep intricacies of trade in such a contentious industry. You can read about these things by visiting the following links:

Carbon Offset:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_offset

Carbon credit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_credit

Emission Trading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emissions_trading

Carbon Trade Watch (recommended):
http://carbontradewatch.gn.apc.org/


Carbon trade, carbon markets, carbon colonialism, CDM (clean development mechanism), free market trade of pollution etc. are complex issues. I am not going deep into the ethical, moral, and long term risks that this dangerous market poses to mankind, i need a lot of time to complete my assessment of carbon markets. However i can make one comment with certainty, there is no price that can be associated with our environment!

I have an interesting situation in mind in this futuristic world in which carbon emission units (CO2) can be bought and sold as a commodity not just by large corporations but also by individuals. I create a hypothetical future world in which carbon credits have been extended to individuals too, i.e. regular blokes like you and me have all our activities linked to the carbon trade market and we are able to buy/sell carbon credits proportional to our needs and requirements.

Hypothetically it would be right to say that if i own a car, there would be a carbon offset unit (equal to one tonne of CO2 emission) that would be associated with my car. Now i can buy a car and claim that i use the public transport to reduce CO2 emissions (to satisfy the condition of (sic)additionality) though i would have done so anyway in order to save money! Effectively depending on my car make and model i could save up to three carbon credit for every 1000K (assuming my current car emits 300g/Km of CO2). For every 1000K traveled in the public transport system i rake up 3*355 = 1065USD = ~ 45000 Indian Rupees (carbon unit costs can vary between 10 - 700 USD, taking an average i get 355 USD!).The average cost to just make a trip around bangalore's ring roads (~100Kms) on a BMTC bus would be about Rs30. Cost to travel a total of 1000Kms in BMTC buses ~Rs300. Earnings for having traveled in BMTC on the carbon exchange Rs45000. Whoa i make a windfall profit of 44700! In such a hypothetical future i would love to buy the most polluting car, second hand ofcourse, use it once in a while, become a travelling salesman, and use the public transport for my travels! My income over and above my salary would be ~Rs44700!!!!

Well i must say that the situation that i have described is not a practical one; a lot of simplifications, assumptions and exaggerations have been incorporated. However I believe it does serve the purpose to show why a "carbon market" really does not work out as an "economic incentive" based method to reduce CO2 emissions.

There are a number of contradictions, a number of ethical and philosophical implications for us in making the future of our environment a tradable commodity. It may never work!!!!

Two years of owning the Fiat Palio

This is the email i have posted on the PUG forum describing the ownership experience of my Palio 1.6 Sport. On a side note, one of the biggest reasons behind my passion for my my car is the exclusivity that it offers me on Indian roads :) ... i don't think people in general are ready to buy FIAT as yet!

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Posted on the 30th of July 2008
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Two years and 25000 kms later I am glad i never paid heed to the "good" advice of my parents, colleagues and "well wishers" ... My Palio 1.6 rocks!

Car Details:
Model - Palio 1.6 Sport
Color - Formula Red
Date of Purchase - 25 July 2006
ICE - Blaupunkt Muai36 HU + Blaupunkt THx 693 rear ovals + Blaupunkt front
speakers (not really good, but a decent system!).
Odo reading - 25560
Tyres: Michelin XM1+ 185R60 OEM 14inch alloys
Fuel Efficiency -
With AC : Highways - 14-15 City - 8-9
Without AC: Highways - 15-16 City 9-10
Race mode on highway without AC - 11
Max Speed achieved: 160Kmph on 175R65 tyres - Mysore road.

Service Details:
All services done at Concorde Motors Hosur Road Bangalore. The first two services were disastrous, however all the other services and repairs done at Concorde have been good to excellent. The improvement has been close to 100X i would say. The staff is comfortable with FIAT now, the washing and cleaning is almost at par with a Maruti service station and the delivery time punctuality has improved (this service saw me waiting just 30 mins extra compared to the 2.5 hrs on the first service! ;))

Major accident on the 7th of Dec 2006. The front part of the car was severely damaged. After three months of legal wrangles (with the traffic cops) and endless follow-up calls with Mr. Mangesh, got the car out of Concorde Motors fully repaired as good as new (only my beat up old number plate and a slightly misaligned bonnet provide any indication of a major accident). Parts replaced - right panel, bonnet, front bumper, windshield, headlamps, fog lamps, radiator fan, condenser, power steering rod and a host of other parts. Cost of painting
the bumper bonnet and right panel 10,135. Overall costs incurred ~68000. Insurance claimed from TATA AIG covered a major portion and i had to shell out ~10000. Color difference almost none.
Contact persons at Concorde:
Service Lead - Mr. Vijay Kumar
Lead Mechanic - Mr. Adi
Body Shop - Mr. Madhu

Latest service done at Concorde yesterday; spark plugs replaced(OEM), throttle body cleaned, MAP sensor cleaned, wipers replaced (OEM), brakes cleaned and checked.

Car feels and handles as good as new!

Usage and Experience:
The move to buy a 1.6 sport was purely instinctive, on the day i had planned for a XETA test drive i happened to glance at an ad for the 1.6 sport in the papers, twas love at second sight (had fallen in love with the palio at its launch in 2001!). Financial prudence was just thrown to the wind in favour of sheer driving pleasure. I remember the first time i went full throttle against a merc on the inner ring road ... the adrenalin rush, the sense of exhileration and the
thrill of knowing that i kept a merc in my rear view mirror for the entire stretch of the road ...

Have done 4 trips to Udupi, 2 to chikmagalur, 1 to Pondi(with PUG), 1 to ooty and innumerable trips to mysore! Overall i'd say its 50-50 between city and highway driving. The car has never let me down, be it pulling up with ease on the ghats or cruising past bigger vehicles on straight stretches or off-roading on the village "roads" of South Canara! There have been one or two "heart in the mouth" moments thanks to the lack of ABS, but now i have learnt to live with it and drive slower on the highways!

One of the biggest pillars of support in my ownership experience has been PUG! You guys have given me the confidence of knowing that there are people who know the true worth of the FIAT and have not been afraid to make a stand and buy differently to own an exclusive and handsome car on Indian roads. A big THANK YOU to all PUGers with whom i have shared my experiences and had a chance to partake in your experiences albeit via the medium of e-mails!

I guess the car looks good and feels good, good to go for a few more years atleast ... yup, gonna keep this baby with me for a while.

One Helluva happy Palio owner!
Amith Dsouza

Yet another blog - The whys ...

I already have a blog - http://searchingthru.blogspot.com, why the need for another.

Perspectives, Paradigms and Critical Thought is my personal blog. It is something that i update as and when i get a really deep insight into a significant behavioral/attitudinal change in my life. This blog is different, this is where i would like to post my random musings ... usually on work, my academic interests, society in general and my volunteer activities.

What triggered the creation of this blog? I had a message in my inbox from a very dear friend asking me for my opinion on "sting operations" and "carbon colonialism" and i suddenly realized that when i have an opinion i could communicate it to all through the medium of the web! If somebody wants to read the random thoughts and opinions of a "mindless thinker", who am i to stop them :D!

This is not going to be a journal or an open diary, i don't think i would ever put up those everyday thoughts online. I will be updating this blog more often than my personal blog!

Hope my visitors enjoy the content that i put up on this site!

There is a classical dilemma that my boss (hey Srini you are my boss :D !!!) and i were discussing over lunch yesterday ...


The problem: How do we stop Bangaloreans from breaking traffic rules?

Possible solutions discussed:
1) Make the fines really large, increase them by atleast 5 times over current levels. This will dissuade current motorists from breaking the law.
2) Allow policemen to keep 25% of the fines that they collect. This will motivate the policemen enforce the law more strictly.

While both approaches have their tactical merits, in the long run i feel these will prove to be detrimental to the task they wish to achieve!

If the fines are made really large, then there will be more motivation for the public to bribe the policeman to escape payment of such large amounts.
If policemen are allowed to keep 25% of the fines, it would be very difficult to put in place control mechanisms which will ensure that policemen don't misuse their power and harass innocent motorists to make more money for themselves.

For a hard day of thankless work, a traffic policeman is probably paid Rs8000 (USD200) per month along with free departmental housing. The conditions of traffic police station are just short of pathetic.
Contrast this with salaries that are paid in other professions (fresh grads get paid upwards of Rs10000 (USD250) per month) along with benefits and a swanky (mostly) air conditioned environment. It becomes evident that it is this lack of "financial motivation" that could perhaps be the root cause of the whole "corruption-breaking traffic rules" cycle which is the main factor behind such madness on Bangalore roads today.

Our final conclusion at the lunch table, tackle the problem head on, increase the wages that are paid to our policemen, give them better benefits and working conditions. In the long run, this will be more viable than any short run benefits that other solutions bring about.

Disclaimer: Every statement made in this post is debatable and does not represent an absolute unchangeable line of thought! :D ...