Cricket fever and national loyalties

The India-Australia cricket series was expected to be the end of an era of Australian cricket at the end of which former Australian captain Ricky Ponting would retire and present captain Michael Clarke would be faced with rising competition for his post. Instead in three test matches a host of Indian cricketers may well be facing the axe and the challenges to their places on the team. The Indian captain has already hinted at an early retirement from the game to concentrate on the shorter version of the game. The Indian press is at the throat of the IPL for the dismal performance of the Indian team.

Is it fair to go beyond the likes of the so called greatest player in the world, Sachin, the great wall, Dravid and the very, very special Laxman? Are we over reacting? I can’t help but think what it would be like for people similar to them in other fields. In the church the trio would be granted halos and venerated as saints, with the church excommunicating anyone who would dare to raise their voice against them. Then why are we reacting in such a way to the thus far 3-0 verdict?

The BCCI is a profit making body with no attachment to the government of India and no binding to contribute to the field of sport in India. Why are we expecting good things from this body then? They are in the entertainment and money making business and they are being true to their calling. Has the BCCI marketed cricket as a national game which should be seen as a part of one’s national commitments and loyalties? Are we non-Indian if we don’t follow cricket and are interested in what cricketers do? If the BCCI has enticed us into this path they are at fault and should be held accountable for misleading an entire nation.

Sport has been misused for creating national loyalties. But will those who do not have any interest in contributing to the coffers of the BCCI be accused as being un-loyal to the republic? As others sportspersons clean stadium seats, carry bags and do manual labour to chase their dreams, the BCCI chooses where to dine! Can such things be allowed in a country like India? This indeed calls for doing something un-loyal in the interests of the country.

From the municipality with love: A few loads of waste for new year

The town of Thiruvalla is sandwiched between the important towns of Chengannur and Changanachery. Its importance can be attributed to a high NRI population and a railway station which caters to small villages outside the railway corridor. The past two decades have seen enormous activity in terms of big apartments and new shopping malls. The mad rush was kick started by the gulf war and the fleeing workers of the oil rich state of Kuwait. Now people see Thiruvalla as a town which has all basic facilities and is conveniently placed.

The speedy construction and new buildings has also given rise to a serious problem which no one knows how to solve. The town is producing huge amounts of waste and the municipality does not know what to do with the piles coming up each day. The public stadium was seen in the eighties as the pride of the people, leading to the hosting of state level football matches and inter-state level cricket matches. But that image of the stadium changed with huge piles of waste being disposed all around the stadium. Early morning walkers and sports lovers were forced to retreat because of the unbearable stench of the waste.

This forced the authorities to shift the waste disposal to a private plot near the stadium and then to the area next to the private bus stand. All the while people have been protesting this haphazard outlook of the municipality whereby people are not able to wait for buses without covering their nose and getting nauseated. Every time some event comes up near the stadium the authorities shift gears to transport the waste to other areas. One such area is the vacant municipal plot next to the temporary KSRTC bus stand on the railway station YMCA road. Residents of the area were woken out of their sleep by the unbearable stench of the waste.

A similar attempt was prevented by the public a couple of years ago which may be the reason of the night attempt this time. The health official present had a few things to say. One, that this waste is produced by the people and therefore there is nothing wrong in disposing it in a residential/town area, two, don’t stop the authorities from doing their work (The official even took photos of the people present in a overt attempt to scare off those assembled.), three, disposing waste and putting mud on top is scientific and the municipality usually fills land with waste and this can then be made use of for the public. The public on the other hand had their version. One, the huge amount of waste is produced by hotels and other institutions. They then pay money for this to be disposed by the municipal workers. Two, mud is not put properly on top of the waste and this leads to crows and dogs scavenging the remains and spreading it all over. The sparsely covered waste will then start smelling and people start falling sick and the water table is polluted by the authorities themselves. Three, money changes hands over mud filling and dispensing of waste and there is an unholy alliance between the authorities and private players. Four, history has shown that the authorities have failed big time in waste managements and all they do is to pollute the soil and the air.

The options in front of the public are two. One, file a complaint with the municipal authorities and two, file a writ in the honourable High Court seeking stopping of the waste disposal in areas where people live. The municipal chairperson has already assured that the waste will not smell and that this is a one time affair. For some reason the public refuse to believe this.

As I sit writing New Year wishes to people, my mind simply won’t function the way I want it to. I can’t help drawing parallels with the municipal authorities and church authorities. Both are called to serve and both end up serving themselves and threatening the people of dire consequences if they show the courage to speak out. What is the common woman/man supposed to do? Approach the political leaders, approach the court or take to violence? As I think about my local experience I realise that this is what happens in my country as well. Why should 2012 be any different? All statistics show that corruption has increased, high handedness is the norm and the public are the least everywhere. The words public servant and service are a joke. Is something going to change? Will the people get what is rightfully theirs? Will we still bend our backs and tie our towels around our waste and say ‘yes, yes’ to our authorities or will we demand service? As a servant myself, will I be able to serve others rather than rule and boss over them in 2012? Let the small expectant sparks (if any) be the fireworks of 2012. Happy new year.

Those who give freely, receive freely

Christian discipleship is important in understanding how to conduct oneself as an adherer to Christian faith. The essence of an act can only be understood in how it impacts others. Christian discipleship similarly can be only understood based on how it impacts others.

In John 13: 1-16 (“For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.”) Jesus sets an example for his disciples to follow. By washing their feet he calls for servitude and humility as essential to Christian faith.

Washing feet is profound in the symbolism it offers. Feet can only be submerged as much as it does not remain too long in water and lose colour. But by washing feet we are also becoming close with those who are away. What could for some be humiliation, in this case becomes the point of breaking forth all that holds us back. Washing feet thus becomes very important.

The states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in India are engaged in a conflict over a dam and the water it contains. The fear of one state is of being submerged if the dam breaks and the need of the other state is of water, to bring life and offer food to its people. In a single country we are divided into various regions and each region then addresses to the needs of the region. That leads to walls being constructed and boundaries being defined.

The imagery of washing the feet, the dam and the water with people on two sides brings about much to think about. How is one to make sense of it? Will anyone seriously think about washing away an entire people just to save themselves? I don't think so. The water in the dam then becomes too holy to touch. The fight for the water and the dam smells of religious overtones of holiness which the other is not supposed to touch and meddle with.

Religions cannot be so narrow in their outlook. The existence of religion is for conflict resolution and not conflict arousal. Jesus' call for washing of the feet should resonate amidst this conflict over water. The neighbours should wash each others feet with the Mullaperiyar water and not turn this into a holy turf war. Our religiousness should make us give and not take.

Christians also have an important role to play. It cannot just be naive support for anti-regional feelings but should be a resolve to serve those who are in need. A believer of Jesus should sense the feeling of déjà vu wherein Jesus’ act of washing the feet of his disciples should come alive again.

Why this kolaveri di?

The stand off between Kerala and Tamil Nadu over the Mulaperiyar dam issue is continuing unabated. Both sides are not willing to stand down. Kerala is concerned over the safety of the dam and the risk it poses to thousands of the people inhabiting the area close to the dam and those who could come under the impact of the water in the event of something happening to the dam. On the other side we have Tamil Nadu which gets water for its farmers from this dam and therefore gets its food security taken care of to a great extend by the dam holding the water. It is also interesting that Kerala gets vegetables and other food items from Tamil Nadu!

The issue has been getting headlines on and off with both sides not willing to budge an inch. Tamil Nadu has made sure that it is well represented and that its concerns are taken up in the appropriate tribunals. The allegation that the politicians in Kerala are soft pedalling on this issue could be public emotion more than actual facts.

The release of a movie Dam 999 has also provided lots of fodder for controversy. The images of what could happen if such a dam broke are likely to affect the minds of people to great lengths. A specific documentary on Mullaperiyar has also been doing the rounds.

Youngsters in Kerala are circulating and posting different versions of Armageddon (read Mullaperiyar) and what could happen if a new dam is not constructed. Some of it is fact and some jumping the gun for Indian standards. All religious communities are also joining the protest because this is going violent in its own terms and there is no scope for the sanity of sitting and talking about what this really is.

Classic examples of protests and struggles don’t just involve bringing a lot of people together but brings to the fore the timing of such struggles. Could this not be a way of deflecting interest from real issues and bring all the people together in the name of a dam? The same goes with Tamil Nadu. Water politics can never fail. Could it then be possible to sit at the table and discuss this important issue rather than staging a protest which is funded and motivated by a few?

The other problem lies with the need for a Union (National) government. If we have to decide things based on our local divisions and pay taxes in each and every state and fight each other based on our local identities, what is the need for a national identity? Is it only for the purpose of showing a passport stating that “I am an Indian” while travelling to another country? If we are going to be in constant conflict with one another, why should we call ourselves Indians? The Mullaperiyar standoff is already creating problems on the road. People will be attacked when any sign to identify them will be on show. Vehicles on the road will come under attack based on the registration number and regional identification in terms of language will also be asked for.

Kerala and Tamil Nadu have several similarities in language, culture and food. But I will be damned if a dam is going to make us fight on the roads. Why this Kolaveri di is a song sung by Tamil star Dhanush and is a Tanglish version of the conversation between a boy and a girl, the boy heart broken at being left in the cold. The “why did you do this to me, why you dumped me?” could be translated in the dam context as “why did you dam(n) me?” Why this kolaveri di(a)?

The games we play: The musical chair rhapsody

James and John to the amazement of the other disciples go for the permission to sit at the right hand and left hand of Jesus (Mark 10:35-45). What was till then a silent competition for the ‘seat’ becomes an open secret. Before the scene gets messy, Jesus intervenes and says that these things are not his to decide and he does not even know whether such a chair exists. The absence of a chair makes the others chide the brother duo for their eye on power. Jesus explains further and says that the one who wants to be master must serve and that the son of man has come to serve and not to be served.

The society we live in is full of open and veiled attempts made at getting the chair. Once the chair is occupied the occupant never lets go. Children at a young age are taught the intricacies of power (chair) grabbing. As the music is played they are supposed to be interested in only one thing…the chair. In the quest for the chair, those on the right and the left are pushed away, to land spot on into the chair that matters. The symbolism looks like Jesus pushing away James and John to land in the chair. But this is far from what actually happened.

Everyone is after the chair. It could be the Prime Minister’s chair, the Chief Minister’s chair and even the bishop’s chair. The fight for the chair dominated all others even during the assembly elections in Kerala. Achuthanandan on the one hand refusing to give up his chair and Oommen Chandy on the other hand trying everything to gain the chair. It is interesting that Achuthanandan found opposition from within and Oommen Chandy found that he cannot leave his chair unattended even for a few minutes.

Sitting on the chair will make one very comfortable with the chair and it is interesting that Jesus never sat in a chair in that sense. His death is also in a standing position and serving others is a clear message that comes out of it. It is difficult to serve others while we are seated in the comfort of our powerful chairs. Maybe it is time to re-invent the musical chair game and draw new lessons from it.

Fuelling dissent

The past year has seen several fuel hikes in India because of the deregulation of fuel prices, especially of petrol. This has brought about unprecedented fuel prices in the country. As people try to cope with food inflation and burgeoning expenses, the recent hike should obviously make us think as to where we are headed.

Fuel prices have traditionally been subsidized in India and diesel and LPG continue to be subsidized by the government. The reasoning behind this is that diesel is used to transport food and other essential products and LPG is the common persons cooking option. So any increase in this would bring about mass protest and unrest in the country. By increasing petrol prices, the government hopes it will not be faced by violent protest.

UPA II has been disappointing by all standards. A silent Prime Minister, quarrelling ministers, lack of a defined leadership, corruption charges, Lokpal agitation, and a haphazard running of affairs has brought down public confidence to an all time low.

The oil companies have been hasty to increase prices whenever there has been a slight change in international crude prices but have not shown the same eagerness to reduce prices when prices have fallen in the international market. In the name of subsidy, rich SUV owners and profit oriented businesses have grown and bled the very meaning of subsidy. Car companies have joined the trend by manufacturing diesel cars to fit the price schedules prevalent. Every car company worth their name now manufactures diesel car units, many of them made specifically for the Indian market.

But such a skewed system of pricing will only lead to a skewed diesel based economy. What the government could think of could be de-regulating diesel prices for domestic consumers and profit oriented organizations. There is a plan in the pipeline to introducing a new tax for new diesel vehicle purchase. But this will not solve the problem. When other countries have a much more equal pricing with regard to fuel we have these anomalies which divide fuel and play fuel politics.

Who does the lower price in diesel benefit? The actual benefit sadly is not for the ordinary in the country but for those who thrive out of the ordinary. One would expect the government to bring about cleaner energy options and subsidize such options so that they benefit the ordinary people by giving them a cleaner, cheaper fuel and also a cleaner environment to stay in.

Such fuel politics will eventually lead to fuel protests. The Kerala High Court passed an interesting observation by saying that people should protest fuel hikes by the government. The lack of transparency by the government when it comes to openly discussing the fuel policy will bring about an anti-government, transparent drive for making natural resources more affordable for the common person in the country.

Send-click-like

The need for communication in theological education can be strongly felt when we look at the bible passages from the perspective of our media rich lives today. The real does not only exist in person but in the virtual as well. Words used speak differently today.

The healing of the centurion’s servant (Luke 7:1-10) is a very popular gospel story. The narrative of the centurion sending people to ask Jesus to visit his house and heal his servant then shifts to the power of the word and the twist in the tale offered by the centurion by his words go, come and do. Jesus is very impressed by this immense faith which was rare in those times.

The knowledge and power that belonged to Jesus usually was asked to be transferred in person by people who found him special. But in the centurion’s case a virtual miracle is what he asks for. Do not trouble yourself with this, but just say the word. The go, come and do mentioned by him are the send, click and like of today. In essence this is a dissemination of information horizontally.

Jesus was informed about the centurion by certain elders and they recommend the centurion to Jesus. But the message from the centurion does away with this peculiar mediation and puts the message in the public domain for everyone to see and comment on. This is the need of the hour now. Words captured in books and publications should then become free to share and distributed online. Send-click-like.

(Excerpt from the meditation preached for the BTESSC-UTC programme for librarians)

The politicizing of protest

Protest has always been associated with those in the margins, those who have no one to speak for them and those who have no one who cares. So much that the word itself has been an anathema for those in power. The simple usage of the word brings about a feeling of enmity and dissociation with what is constructed to be true and right. The word protest has not been in the media dictionary for a number of years simply because it would bring about uneasy and uncomfortable questions for those associated with power, including the various media. The revolution in the Arab world changed all that. The protest there was seen as beneficial to all involved in the quelling of protest till then. From then on the Indian media has also been fascinated with the word protest.

India’s revolution came in the form of Anna Hazare and his media savvy team. Protest in India is clubbed with fasting and non-violence. Both though have attained new meanings. What does fasting mean? No food, no liquids, no non-veg? What does non-violence mean? No manhandling, no physical touch, no destruction to public property? Even as fasting and non-violent protest has gained new meaning, there also has been a change in those who are associated with it. While till yesterday, the powerless protested and where beaten into submission, today the powerful protest and are treated as state guests and fed with public money. Protest has been taken over by the rich and the powerful and Narendra Modi’s fast is another example of that. He maintains that he fasted for the bright future of Gujarat and the good of India. There is no doubt that Modi is a good orator and his speech yesterday would even put seasoned orators and film actors to shame. But does that absolve him of the significant acts of omission and commission that happened during his tenure as chief minister of the state where communal violence led to the killing of many people and brought about a culture of fear in the minds of people?

Will protest and fasting wash away the sins of the powerful? Can these token protests change the skewed system and society that we are a part of? The Jesus of the gospels appears to be a simple man with a simple band of followers, who travelled and traversed, met people, offered them respect, dialogued with them, gave them hope and remained a simple man till his death on the cross. But hasn’t the church and the so called band of followers now hijacked Jesus and put on his clothes of protest and fasting? But does this make us Jesus? The grounding for Jesus to lead mass protest during his time was not that he was a powerful man but that he associated himself with the ordinary people and that gave him the mandate to protest. Protest is not for the powerful. Protest is for the ordinary people. It is their right. A few protests here and there which are held by those who have immense power at their disposal, cannot and will not be considered as true protest because it lacks the main ingredient of protest and that is the helplessness of the people who see protest as their only cross of hope. But we will have to identify true and false protest and make out the sheep in wolves skin. Till then this new found mass (media) hysteria for powerful instead of powerless protest will continue.

St. Mary and the mystery of the people friendly lent

The church through its decision making and teaching brings out a policy which its members should adhere to. The following of these written and un-written rules is important for one to be accepted amongst the church hierarchy and those associated with it. One of the rules among many to be followed in some cases is the lent and fasts during various times and for various reasons. This becomes a requirement which has to be completed, as otherwise the concerned person will be held accountable by the church.

Among the various lents and fasts that the church requires and asks for are also the ‘nothing official about it’ L&F’s. The eight days lent ending in the celebration of the birthday of St. Mary is perhaps the best example of this. Even though it is not an official lent of the church, people in Kerala and elsewhere find a sense of achievement and attachment in going through the lent. When otherwise people will fast to fulfil their requirements to the church, in this case the fasting is out of one’s own free will.

In an age of Anna Hazare, Jayalalitha, Mamata, Sonia, Katrina, Aishwarya, et all, there is this one woman who time and again manages to make people cry, mend, fast and transform. When we attach ourselves to people who are strong, powerful, educated, and glamorous here is a woman who is none of these in one glance and yet commands the respect and the adherence of millions of people. It may be true that women in the church identify more with St. Mary but that does not mean that men are far away.

Would Mary get so much attention by virtue of being the mother of Jesus? There must be something else which is much more than being the selected womb. Her life in a way suggests the anti thesis of what is right and correct. She was born to her parents in their old age, she starting serving the church in a tender young age, she was betrothed to Joseph who was much older than her, she became pregnant before she was married and had any relationship with Joseph, she saw the future with an older cousin Elizabeth, and she identified the special Jesus at the wedding in Cana. Truly, whatever she did, she did different.

When was the last time we ever followed someone as different as this? Or is it that we don’t know that Mary is so different and radical because she has been dressed up by the church? In the midst of the official, the dressed up, and the hierarchical there lies somewhere the non-official, free and people friendly Mary who the people have accepted as their saint and for whom they are willing to starve and mend their ways. Somewhere lying hidden in the need for personal gains is also the concern for the unseen and the unheard. This is the true people’s St. Mary, offering something new every year.

What is the programme Anna?

The national capital is brimming with large crowds and police personel. Lots of people from several parts of the country are congregating to Delhi to be part of the anti-corruption movement. A Jan Lokpal bill is still being sought even though the government has promised that this will be discussed in parliament. The crowd post April is still there but there are also voices of cynicism about what is happening.

What on earth is attracting people, even if it is only a cross section of people in India? Is it only the anti-corruption drive and the call asking for people to spill on to the streets that is bringing out people or is it that this has become an event and a programme which needs to be attended for several reasons? Why do people attend television talk shows and debates? Some will genuinely be interested to talk on the issues on offer, others will be there for the media exposure (part of the 15 minutes of fame) and a big number will be there for the event or the programme! Is the anti-corruption protest also something like this with thousands of people actually there to be a part of the programme?

Those who are there for the programme need not know the entire sequence of events and what are the deep rooted things which surround it. They are there for the atmosphere, the feeling and the identification with people who have something in common with them. The middle class and upper middle class will definitely be comfortable to be together and corruption is such a common affecting factor that it will in all regards bring in the numbers. This could be the reason why India has seen several protests over the years but they never had the numbers. Every state has had tribal protests, dalit protests, and women’s group’s protests which would hardly even get a passing glance from passers by. Does this mean that their concerns were not concerns and did not warrant even a glance? It rather means that the people did not identify with their problems because they did not see it as a problem. In many cases these passers by would have been the perpetrators of the problem. But corruption is different. The same people who did not bother to look when genuine protests were held have suddenly become very active protestors.

This is a programme which has the likelihood to succeed not because it is a ‘just’ protest but because it is a well staged protest. In countries like India it is strange that true protests are never taken seriously, whereas well directed, managed and staged protests will mostly succeed. In this way, this is not a protest but this is a celebration of how people can be mobilized using the media, social networking sites and other traditional media forms.

A well directed programme is like a well produced movie. One has to follow the crowd. No one will have the courage to say that the movie is not well made when those others we are in contact with will say it is excellent. The anti-corruption movement I fear is also such. We can either say that it is a super duper hit or we can risk being made out into un-patriotic, submissive, stupid and slavish people. Now who would want that? I always like off beat movies and in this case too I feel this is too mainline Bollywood style and therefore likely to be lapped up by the affordable masses.

Having a referendum for protest

Anna Hazare and his team, as the media term them, have been arrested. The government represented by a few ministers are into damage control mode to make sure that the situation does not go out of control. Anna is obviously much needed as an instrument for the media to keep things going. One man surrounded by dedicated followers is a time tested formula for success. The government cites rules and security as why this protest cannot take place in the capital of the country.

Country after country has gone back to the people to earn the right for change. Change from the top cannot be a representation of the mood and feelings of the people, be it the government position or the movement of a certain section of civil society. Many referendums have given the mandate to people representatives to go ahead with ground breaking reforms and changes.

Why not ask the people of India on what they feel about corruption in the country and what they would like to be done? This could include a variety of issues, including salaries of parliamentarians, the work they should do, how government offices should function, what action should be taken against corruption and so on. Elections should not just be to elect candidates but should also be for charting the future course of the country. Who should decide that? Some politician from the top exclusively or the people of this country for whom these policies are being charted out?

The present protest is confusing. How many are in favour and how many not? Is this what the people of this country want or is protest being imposed upon them, making it a word which the government detests and treats negatively? A referendum should of course involve seeking the opinion of each and every citizen and person in this country. The media which are quick to do opinion polls and exit polls come election time are not seeking to know the public mood in the country at this time. The public does not only include the affluent middle class, middle class and those who have access and the opportunity to travel to the national capital.

One should appreciate to an extend what is happening in Delhi. People are coming together for something. Is this right or wrong and are people practising selective protest needs to be looked at again? Is it too difficult to do a sampling of the opinions of the people across the country? If we are serious about democracy this should not be too difficult an exercise. 64 years after independence this is indeed a good thing to happen in India. But it is also something which should happen more often and for all community concerns and not just as part of small conspiracies and political equations

India in the grip of 3G: What an idea?!!

The Idea 3G advertisement sums up the way technology has gripped the Indian middle class. People to people contact is a thing of the past and the coming together of phone, mobile, internet and wireless technology is seen as the power of the finger. So much that technology is seen as the answer to problems that plague society in India. But 2G or 3G, can this be true?

Many people in India know 2G because of the Raja spectrum scam and the 1.76 lakh crore apparently being lost in the haphazard sale of the spectrum space during the 2G spectrum space allotment to companies. On the other hand the 3G sale brought in huge amounts of money to the government. As 4G waits to come in, companies are trying their best to sell 3G in big volumes to make up the amount they have invested in this technology. As part of this, 3G is being made into the common human’s core accessory without which nothing is possible. The integration of internet into our lives is fast and furious.

Idea mobile has become famous for its advertisements which are seen to evoke serious thoughts of nature conservation and public good. The latest in a series of advertisements is the “Ab biwi se 3G” (Now, from wife to 3G) advertisement doing the rounds in a variety of TV channels. The plot involves Abhishek Bachchan (a Bollywood actor and son of Amitabh Bachchan) and a friend, watching city life and wondering why we have such a large population in India. Their conclusion is that when electricity fails, couples get into the act of child making! As a solution to this, the actor offers Idea 3G. Now whenever electricity fails, the wife and husband in each house can still watch TV through the 3G enabled mobile which gives strong video streaming for uninterrupted watching of cricket matches and serials, chatting with parents and playing games. This in his opinion will solve the problem of population explosion in India. It is shown with the image of a dusty closed down vasectomy clinic.

As in many previous Idea ads this one is also naïve in its presentation of facts in a different way. The other day I heard two groups debating whether technology could do away with physical classrooms and buildings and make online learning stronger. The same argument of how technology would save resources came up. But the resources needed to keep technology up and going is relegated to the background. The same takes place in the Idea ad which seems to suggest that when electricity fails, technology will save the day. But 3G obviously does not run on solar or wind power. This means that more electricity is drained to keep the show running!

The Idea ad can be debated in the church while we rue the fact of lesser people to people contact, lesser numbers in church, lack of interest in public programmes and such. It also leads us to think how technology is changing and will change us further in the future. The culture of fun and frolic will replace serious discussions which should take place in church and society. TV viewing which was a family ritual in itself will be replaced by individual bed viewing which will challenge our ability to think and act in a responsible and sane manner. We will place technology between relationships and facebook each other instead of sitting and talking over the table. Technology and companies that make use of it will be seen as the new saviour in our lives and in the future of our country. Guess this is where the church can help by formulating a policy on technology and the church and how people should use technology in their lives.

Willful blindness: The lies of the empire

Empires are built on the lives of an unsuspecting public. People are spied on, privacy is intruded upon and reputations are battered. Every once in a while, however rare that may be, the empire gets to taste its own concoction. It will taste so bitter that the very empire that manufactured it will wonder at the ruthless content of the mixture. Rupert Murdoch and his media empire are facing the heat. The hacking of phones and the subsequent investigations has led to the closing down of one of U.K.’s oldest newspapers, the News of the World. On July 19 in a rigorous exercise by the Parliamentary Committee in the House of Commons in the U.K., the father and son duo were made to answer some hard questions. One interesting thing which came out of the much publicized affair was the term “willful blindness.” As through the entire questioning, the media baron sought to hide behind the term itself.

Margaret Heffernan in her upcoming book “Why we ignore the obvious at our peril” tries to explore this term. She explains “examining examples of willful blindness in the Catholic Church, the SEC, Nazi Germany, Bernard Madoff's investors, BP's safety record, the military in Afghanistan and the dog-eat-dog world of subprime mortgage lenders” how we fail to see and admit certain things. In an article on Rupert Murdoch himself she identifies some characteristics of willful blindness which come out of the News of the World episode. They include “ideology, obedience, conformity, money, power and affirmation”.

Rupert Murdoch’s net worth is $7.6 billion. Yet with all this money he still had to undergo the unsettling questions of the parliamentary committee in the U.K. For the first time the media baron was made to answer questions which he looked like evading most of the time. The event, broadcast live even in India brought out his importance and the fact that other media houses for once could get back at the person who threatened to take away readers and viewers from them. In India it also brought forward a debate on whether it would be possible to bring powerful media owners to task in this country and have a parliamentary committee asking them uncomfortable questions. The predominant argument that came out was that this would not be possible as Indian politicians are themselves so corrupt that they cannot question the corrupt practices of the media here.

What this debate has done is to bring out the importance of the usage willful blindness. This is an important point of discussion for the church as the church may also fall into the same wrong of willful blindness saying that ‘ we did not know.’ But the question of ‘did we not seek to know or want to know’ is also pertinent. Whenever the church is faced with allegations of wrong doing it could be that the church leaders may feign ignorance and say we were blind to the happenings. Wrong doing could include not only the now popular topic of corruption but also the centuries old wrong doing of gender and caste related atrocities and wrongs. Discussing this more openly could bring more responsibility, accountability and the addressing of wrong doing in the church and society at large.

Religion and mobile number portability (MNP)

India introduced the mobile number portability (MNP) option for mobile phone consumers in January, 2011. Ever since, 8.54 million customers have made use of this service till April, 2011. The convenience of changing one's network provider with an SMS and continuing with one's existing number is the attraction of MNP.

Till now many people have opted out of changing their network provider because they didn't want to change their numbers as that would mean informing their numerous contacts of the change and maybe even losing friends and associates in the process. Faced with a highly competitive environment, the government has still managed to bring about this landmark change in policy with the recommendations of TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India).

Even as several service providers are sulking against the move, it has led to better services and an effort to please the consumer and prevent her/him from shifting loyalties.

One has to wonder whether religions can do the same? Many don't shift loyalties because they fear they could lose what they have and this includes family and friends. But if they could indeed shift, it could lead to a change in the percentage divisions of religions in India. This would maybe also bring about more sincerity, service and transperancy in the administration of various religions leading to satisfied followers.

A drastic change in society has seen technology leading to more egalitarian perspectives, whereas religion is leading to more authoritarian perspectives. It would thus help for us to think and practise that a religious conviction is based on the strong foundation of freedom and the freedom to choose.

My vote is losing its sting

The beauty of a democracy is the power of the finger and ability of the mind to cast a vote in favour of what is deemed good. Protest movements in several Arab states have come about as a result of the absence of democratic practices and governance. The protests which have been helped by online mobilization have spread from one country to the other bringing fear to the minds of autocratic leaders from relative unknowns carrying their laptops through the country. The protests hit India in April in a different way with the Anna Hazare led movement against corruption in the country. Now Baba Ramdev is using the same mechanism in the name of bringing back illegally stashed away (black) money back to India. The difference in the protest movements is that India prides itself as a country which has a working democratic set up and a way for its citizens to show their displeasure with the political party in power. Are these two incidents stray happenings and do they mean nothing in the larger picture, has the media given undue importance to two individuals and the groups that support them, or has the citizen of India lost her/his most significant power of casting the all important vote in this jamboree of anti-corruption stake outs?

The various news channels are discussing whether a spiritual guru should indulge in politics, whether political parties are all corrupt and therefore not trust worthy, and whether Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev are representatives of the people of India? But this can be left to the channels and the panellists. What worries me rather is that the ordinary citizen of India has been robbed of her/his importance in the scheme of things in this country. The ordinary citizens of this country have been given the all important power to vote every five years and determine the course that the country and the various states have to take. Every election shows that the voter is knowledgeable, determined and will vote out anyone who takes them and this country for granted.

But what do we see now? Our voted representatives are hurrying to the airport to see spiritual gurus and political parties are pledging their support to anyone who comes forward with an anti-corruption formula. What on earth is their job then? With fatter pay cheques (courtesy themselves), wide ranging facilities, interns researching facts and a parliament building to debate the best course of action, all they can do is run from airport to airport. One should not be swayed by my argument here. I am not saying that the government should not listen to its people. But what is obvious is that the government is now listening to a few people who may not represent the diversity of this country, and the democratic process which is supposed to be running like a well oiled machine is now in limbo.

Why do I then need my state assembly representative and my member of parliament to talk for me if Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev are the ones who are calling the shots? Why did I have to go through the enormous exercise of voting and having my finger inked when those I voted for won’t represent me (us)? If we don’t trust our elected representatives, why are we wasting crores of rupees on this farce of an election? I do not wish to go deep into the intentions of Hazare and Ramdev but they are playing with the simple faith of the people of India just like other religious leaders. My vote is definitely losing its sting and I wonder what I can do about it.