NFU:THE BANE OF ARMED FORCES

 

NFU sounds almost like an expletive, and the Armed Forces of India have been led to believe that the second and third letters signify what is being doled out to them. The attitude of  Govt of India, represented by the babus has been very negative all along towards this great institution, for no fault of theirs. They have pulled every trick in their hat to deny the clueless faujis their dues over the nearly eight odd decades since independence. 

So what exactly is this NFU, well it stands for ‘Non Functional Upgradation’, i.e. since promotional avenues were limited for the government bureaucracy due to the supposed stagnation in higher ranks, their cadre is promised this boost in their emoluments equivalent to their contemporaries. To illustrate if the first person from the batch of 2009 is promoted to the level of Joint Secretary in May 2026, then all persons belonging to this batch get the emoluments and are placed in the same grade pay 14 of the Joint Secretary in May 2028. This way, the hierarchy ensures there is no heartburn for missed out promotions, as irrespective of your performance, your pay and perks stay protected. This is ostensibly to compensate them, the concept though flawed, as there are literally no performance based incentives, but it does serve the purpose of keeping them happy. 

The reason behind the denial of NFU to Indian Armed Forces lies probably in the nomenclature itself. Since it is ‘Non Functional’ in nature, so the only functional organisation can’t obviously be a beneficiary. Either we change it to ‘functional upgradation’, but then the ‘non-functional’ organs can’t be included in that. This Catch 22 situation is what is keeping the Forces at bay. In other words, the incentive for us is to convert our organisation also into a non functional one, then and only then will we be eligible for the award.

Armed Forces have steepest pyramid, even at the cost of sounding cliched, I must reiterate, but the fact is, the promotional avenues in the Armed Forces are severely restricted owing to the structure of the organisation itself. There can be only one General, Air Chief Marshal or Admiral, you can’t possibly have a General for Logistics, General for Intelligence, General for Operations, General for Procurements and so on, as their brethren in the civil hierarchy; I believe they have DG Police Fire, DGP Anti-Corruption Bureau, DGP Rescue Work, DGP Housing and so on. They have no qualms in sanctioning additional posts which they create not because there is a genuine need, but to adjust their bloating hierarchy.

Be that as it may, the tug of war will continue, while the Armed Forces face functional challenges in their day to day operational duty, merely because of this oneupmanship. Post independence to clip the wings of the Armed Forces, the govt turned a blind eye to the blatant usurping of the rank insignia, i.e. stars, flags and epaulette badges of the officer cadre, thereby establishing a parity merely by donning of these rank badges and flying these flags. Then as their organisations grew, the officer cadres expanded and the equivalence of ranks kept getting diluted. Army wasn’t concerned, happy in their own cocoon, till the curse of militancy hit us, when civil military interactions and cooperation became a necessity. 

The enhanced grade pay structure which too kept inching up almost surreptitiously, as when we were commissioned, our pay scale was 2300- 5000, running from 2Lt to Brigadier, while all Group A services started at 2200. But in subsequent pay commissions, today, with 7th pay commission, it stands at 56000 for all at the same starting block and with much faster promotion, they climb to the grade pay of 14 in just 17 years of service, when  only about 25% of their armed forces compatriots are in grade pay 13, the rest are in grade pay 12. The balance 75% will attain grade pay 13 with 26 years of service and retire from there itself. Only about 10% of them will reach grade pay 14 by about 27 years of service, when their civilian counterparts have already been there for about 10 years. The complete civilian cadre  is at grade pay 14 with NFU for eight years. 

Operationally there have been a number of occasions when much junior civilians officials who by virtue of enjoying a better grade pay (curtesy NFU) have thumbed their noses at the Army Officers of the rank of Colonel/Brigadier and above. The issue thus is not just finances but also of status and that is evident in the recent occurrences, where serving Army officers have been ill treated by the police officials with impunity. Unless the status is restored, this malaise which runs deep will create deep fault lines in the country as also end up demoralising the last bastion of this nation.

MAKE AMERICA REGRET AGAIN

 TACO, Trump always chickens out. Chickens have taken umbrage at this insult, since the advent of English language, people have been chickening out and chickens have continued to cross the road without as much as a ‘buck buck bagawk’. But now they have started to squawk and are raising quite a shindy, their concerns are why is it always them, when it comes to a ‘no show’. Well boxers duck against their adversaries in the ring, so do politicians when faced with uncomfortable questions, but when it comes to cowardice, poor chickens have to face the brunt, they can’t even chicken out, you see. Donald should probably ‘quack’ out, after his namesake Disney toon, though to be sure Donald Ducky has disowned Donald Trump a long time ago.

Chickens have represented, why not ‘Trump always beefs out’ or ‘porks’ out may even be better taking a cue from George Orwell’s classic Animal Farm . To be honest, he has demonstrated his ‘pig headedness’ on many an occasions earlier, especially with the tariff business. He has a ‘monkey mind’ and is always up to his ‘monkey tricks’ too, so may be ‘monkeyed’ out may fit the bill. Orang-utan also comes to mind, after all there is a striking resemblance to the ‘orange’ coloured hairs.

Beefing out though thankfully has been spared, else Indian sensibilities would be hurt, so also ‘pork out’ with the Islamic world, but there are plenty of animals out there, they could pick any which takes their fancy, but spare the chickens the blushes. As it is, this time around Trump has been accused of ‘counting his chickens’ before they were even hatched, especially the Iranian nuclear capability ones. After all he has opened a ‘can of worms’ and has got the goat of the whole world. He has never been the one to ‘hold his horses’, so his incessant blabbering on social media have even put the babblers (the seven sisters) to shame. He has been behaving like a bull in the china shop and there is no one who can take this bull by the Hor-muz. 

Trump’s quest for a regime change in Iran is turning out to be a ‘wild goose chase’, the Yanks have sort of perfected this art, looking for those non-existent weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and Taliban in Afghanistan. Chickens have heaved a huge sigh of relief that they are domesticated, else Trump would have probably gone on that wild chicken chase too. He presumed the Iranians would be strutting around like ‘headless chickens’ after the strikes, well they seem to have trumped Trump and instead now, Chickens will definitely come home to roost soon. November mid terms are round the corner, when the ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ of MAGA will reveal his true colours and turn into MARA, Make America Regret Again. Well you literally killed it guys!

 

IT'S TACO TIME

 We are in the eighth week of this highly avoidable US-Israel offensive against Iran and despite some efforts towards a negotiated peace deal, there doesn’t seem to be any light at the end of this tunnel yet. As predicted by this author, “President Trump will declare victory and seek cessation of hostilities on his own terms at the beginning of this conflict” in my column “Iran Imbroglio”, he is playing to the script. Thereafter, his threat of wiping out the civilisation was a veiled threat of resorting  to go nuclear was essentially to nudge Iran towards signing the deal on American terms. To be fair to US and Trump, they have had Iran on their crosshairs and have been trying to eliminate the threat of a nuclear Iran since 1979. But before commencing this conflict they had not counted on the resilience of Iranians and hence the current logjam.

This disastrous conflict is wreaking havoc not only on Iran and the West Asia in particular, but the world as a whole for obvious reasons, i.e. global energy dependence on this geographical entity. So far Iran has played his cards deftly, having caused turbulence in the GCC nations with their selective targeting of the US bases in the region, as also controlling the maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. US-Israel duo needed a quick conflict termination, which has been succesfully averted and the stage is set for what could turn into a prolonged war. US record of all such conflicts has been very poor, be it Vietnam or Afghanistan. They have finally turned their tails and withdrawn without even a face saver. Iranians are counting on that, but this time they are demanding their pound of flesh, before they let the Yanks off. 

The million dollar question is will the two finally tango or will it be yet another case of TACO (Trump always Chickens out). Let us understand as to why Iranians will not throw in the towel, they have suffered enormous damage to their armed forces, as also to their civilian infrastructure but their clergy led regime is very much in tact and so are the institutions such as IRGC. The American terms demand a total surrender, whereby Iran sacrifices its enriched Uranium and freezes its nuclear ambition for 20 years and in return gets precious little. Negotiations are based on ‘give and take’ but Trump’s art of cutting a deal is to make unreasonable demands right at the outset,  so that the rival party is prepared to accept terms which are favourable to Trump, as was evident in his Tariff diplomacy. Iran though is a different kettle of fish, for them it is a battle of survival and a surrender on American terms will be the end of this regime. So Iranians are currently placed in a ‘do or die’ scenario, where, they are disrupting the maritime traffic through Strait of Hormuz, thus forcing the global powers to push the Americans to bring this war to a closure at the earliest as world economy is on a downward spiral hurtling towards its doom if this situation prevails for long.  A prolonged conflict will be disastrous for US taxpayer also, apart form the highly avoidable bodybags which  is surely a recipe for disaster for the Republicans in the coming Mid Term elections in November.

Why does a nation surrender? We saw that Pakistan surrendered in 1971, when they were defeated in the minds not just on the battlefield. They could have held on for another couple of weeks, but the air strike on the East Pakistan Governor’s house in Dhaka drove them to immediate capitulation. Here in Iran, despite the loss of their top political and military hierarchy, they have not only survived but have waged an effective strategic battle forcing the adversary to shelve their stated aim of regime change and negotiate. In this war, it appears that at the time of conflict termination Americans may not be successful in their stated aims, then despite the damage inflicted on Iran, the battle of perception would be won by Iran. The sole global superpower and the regional power in West Asia would have been forced to eat a humble pie, thus increasing the stature of Iran in the geo-strategic affairs in West Asia. Israel would face the heat as Hezbollah would not just be surviving but would  still be a force to reckon with, so would the Houthis. So this conflict per se, may not end with any negotiated peace deal in the near future, but the intensity of strikes may reduce considerably, the Strait may continue to be policed by both US and Iran, before finally it is  TACO time.

 

MARD KO DARD NAHI HOTA (MEN DON'T FEEL ANY PAIN)

 As we get older, the sins of our youth come to haunt us, goes the saying, I don’t know about the sins, but the bones broken and ligaments/tendons injuries sustained in our youthful exuberance whether on the sports field or the battlefield do serve us reminders of our misdemeanours daily. Then there are people who have led a sedentary lifestyle, having spent their life without subjecting their bodies to any kind of exercise, moving around with nary a pain. That sight itself is quite painful but with the aching and creaking joints we are forced seek solace with the physiotherapists, who have just been upgraded to the status of a doctor. They are naturally in demand these days, funny part is, we go there to suffer the ordeal which we undergo and even pay them for it. 

With my shoulder giving me a cold shoulder since last couple of months, I too have been doing the rounds of orthopaedics, sports medicine specialists and physiotherapists. Incidentally I am a classic Orthopaedic patient having broken bones or torn those ligaments/tendons at regular intervals over the last nearly six odd decades. You name a part of the body and I have a history of injury, right from the head to the toe. Suffice to say that I am a moving encyclopaedia of injuries and ailments, so much so that doctors sometimes are shocked when I start belting out the medical jargon myself, which they often resort to confuse the hapless patients.

My latest encounter with the physios is currently on, surprisingly many of them are young lasses, who have set up their own clinics, where they treat people like us and in the bargain inflict unbearable pain on our unsuspecting bodies in order to provide us some relief. I am not sure of their line of treatment, may be with these administered pains, we tend to forget the original ones which brought us to their doorstep in the first place. If it was the shoulder, which was the culprit, it is the back, the neck and the fast disappearing biceps which are at the receiving end, and they end up suffering the trials and tribulations.  The worst part is we, being a Veteran, can’t even wince in pain, you know, “मर्द को दर्द नहीं होता ” (men don’t feel any pain) types, so just grin and bear it, else your masculinity itself at stake.

I have been wondering as to why aren’t this clan of physios put to use in the torture chambers, I mean, with the knack that they have, they can reduce even the strongest of hulks to tears. The third degree methods are passé, and in any case the criminals have already got used to them, these are novel ones, together with the dentists I think they will make quite a formidable pair. As dentists just have to ensure that the mouth is kept open for couple of hours, the poor sod will spill the beans, the moment he gets to close it lest he be forced to open it again. Anyway getting back to the physios, their clinics these days are full of gizmos, the Laser, the Chinese Suction Cups, Ultrasound, something called the Tense, and then the mother of all, Shockers. I wonder whether these people have had any training in the “shock and awe” of the cavaliers, as they not only shock the hell out of you, but also leave you awestruck with the rest of the paraphernalia  at their disposal. The body finally is forced to succumb to the onslaught and all the hidden knots and stressed muscles come to the fore seeking solace, which I am hoping will come about gradually. As of now since they have just managed to make their presence felt, my complete body seems to have gone off on a strike, with none of the limbs obeying my command, having got their own version of AI working for them. Well I have no option but to grin and bear it, as sore shoulders one with supraspinatus tendon tear (this one is just to impress my friends!) does not leave me with much choice in terms of physical activity. My Tennis, Squash rackets along with Golf clubs are languishing in their bags respectively waiting desperately for this ordeal to be over so that they are put to some good use again. So here is hoping that, the physios are successful in sending me back to the courts and the course that I belong to, rather than doing the rounds of these clinics.

PS: No offence to the practitioners of this intricate medical science called physiotherapy, they are doing a yeoman’s service to the oldies and sportspersons. After all we are still at their mercy!

DON THE TRUMPETER & HIS ORCHESTRA

 

Don the Trumpeter is at a loss now, he inherited an orchestra, a full ensemble  with all the accompanying instrumentalists, the percussionists, the guitarist, the pianist, the drums, the clarinets and he was elevated to be the conductor to play a new symphony which was to be timeless and would make the Americans go gaga over his MAGA . But Don was not interested in doing the just the MAGA, he believed that greatness began at home, he had faith in his creative genius and felt he could create his own masterpiece and leave a lasting legacy behind. First he started to play the ‘tariff’ tune, keeping the scales unpredictable, the audience had to join in, thus making it a unique kind of fusion. Simultaneously he was tuning into the ‘Nobel’ song of peace, which did not find any response barring the odd Paki courtier, who had been out of favour for long, desperately trying to wriggle into the chorus group. 

Then came the ‘Venezuela theme’ song, executed to perfection, leaving the audience gasping, wondering where is the crescendo headed? In between Don fumed and fretted, swinging his wand, left, right and centre and blowing his trumpet all this while. A conductor with his baton, blowing his trumpet was a new one for the music world. Normally the trumpeter was kept outside the ensemble and played occasionally when the rich repertoire needed to be given a boost. This conductor just refused to part with his trumpet, blowing it away to glory without a care if the audience was interested or not. People were amused at first, then irritated but were forced to suffer, as the conductor could not be offended, lest he start his tariff tunes again.

Cacofonix, the Gaul bard was not amused, as he had the sole rights on ‘out of tune’ music and rendering cacophony in the world, but here Don the Trumpeter, had usurped his place. The audience was left shuddering and remembering the good old days of plain and simple cacophony. The musical crests and troughs had taken on a life of their own, making it not just resemble an electro cardio graph, but actually leaving the audience on life support itself.  The other orchestras were at a loss as no one dared to play when the Yankees played, the Chinese were watching it with interest smelling a chance to be the conductor in the near future themselves, provided this cacophony continued. The Russians too had their skin in the rendition, as they were playing a different tune elsewhere, but wouldn’t mind throwing their hat in too. Israel emerged as the one controlling and directing the show remotely. Indians were more into their own classical ragas, the Western versions were no longer music to them, unlike some time earlier, when they were happy tangoing rather than attempt playing their own signature tunes. 

Don having commenced the latest symphony with all the percussionists at hand was at a loss as to how to get the strings to mellow it down, while continuing to blow his own trumpet. He got stuck on ‘Mi’; the rest of the notes from the “do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti” solfege were left sulking, as ‘Mi’ was his favourite note. Meanwhile Iranians has taken the wind out of Don’s instruments, they consider music to be anathema and don’t take kindly to it at all. Iranians of late believe in just ‘droning’ which they have perfected in such a manner that their whistling sounds is definitely music to the Mullahs. Don appears to be modern day Nero, content playing his fiddle while the world itself is in flames. The only hope being the ‘TACO’, the world is desperately waiting for him to finally render it and may be sanity may soon prevail in the music world as well.

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

 

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) sounds impressive, officialese, bureaucracy at its best, generally signed between the high and mighty, governments, corporates, honchos from the industry and so on. But frankly the only understanding that this piece of paper has is, that it must remain on paper only. If it was to be implemented in all earnestness then the purpose of the memo is defeated. It is a ‘memo’ which is ‘random’ in nature and creates only ‘misunderstanding’. Those of us who have either been in bureaucracy or have suffered at their hands will understand, how any memo is composed and drafted with a single minded devotion and dedication to obfuscate and confuse the issue at hand. If in our youthful exuberance, we as much as even attempted to clear the air, then a sound rap on the knuckles was served by the seniors and were reminded to watch ‘Yes Prime Minister’, the famous British sitcom of the eighties. The banter between Jim Hacker, the PM and Sir Humphrey, his Principal Secretary was not just hilarious but also ironical as it showed the bureaucracy in the government a mirror. Having inherited  their legacy, our babus have not just mastered the art but have become even better than them.

Anyway, these days, it seems to be not just fashionable to sign MOUs with anyone and everyone, but it also appears to be a reflection of hard work and dedication to the organisation. So IITs, our premier educational institutes go ahead and sign one with captains of  the industry, industry in its turn signs one with the ‘sarkari’ scientists the DRDO, who sign up with bankers for the finances and so on. The Armed Forces have also caught the bug of late and one hears of only MoUs being signed left right and centre. There are supposed to be milestones which become more of millstones around the neck, guidelines  which are sidelined and benchmarks which are just benched and no marks for guessing the end result. Most of these MoUs remain just that, a memo which has only little understanding of what actually needs to be done.

But MoUs are not just a national pastime, but international too, as is evident each year at Davos, when our leaders are off on the annual jamboree, where they ink these MoUs  by the dozen or may be in scores, with promises of investments worth millions of dollars worth.  Frankly, we have yet to witness even some pennies and shillings forget about the millions of greenbacks.  The mandatory handshake provides a good photo opportunity and together with the impressive looking folders, make for a wonderful prop for such an occasion. The signature style of sitting down for signatures on the dotted line is customary and one sticks to traditions in such matters, as the leaders are right behind them to applaud the monumental occasion. The bigger the organisation, more the MoUs, wonder what do they do with all the paper which they consume in these deeds, obviously they can’t be sold in ‘raddi’ as that would let the cat out of the bag. These days we have heavy duty shredders to do exactly the same thing, which too would have been procured after some MoU would have been signed, but for a change would have fructified, to prove exceptions is the rule.

IRANIAN IMBROGLIO

 Why did US and Israel go to war in Iran, when the negotiations were in advanced stage and it is reliably learnt that they were pretty close to a deal? Ever since Trump returned to power, the war was imminent and the early indications were evident all along. Since 1979, Iran has been the nemesis of the US, when Shah of Iran, a stooge of the Americans, was overthrown in the Islamic Revolution. Iranian  resilience is legendary, having survived the eight years long Iran-Iraq war, despite the overt and covert support of the West. It is the inheritor of the rich Persian civilisation. But the story actually began sometime in 1953  when US indulged in now quite infamous ‘regime change’ operation, orchestrated a coup and deposed the democratically elected popular Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddegh, because of his decision to nationalise their British controlled oil industry and installed Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi on the throne.

US was made to eat a humble pie after the Tehran hostage crisis of 1979, which lasted 444 days and cost Jimmy Carter his presidency. Iran has been at the receiving end of US led sanctions since then. It has not only survived all that, but has been waging a proxy war through Hezbollah, Hamas and Houthis targeting the US and Western interests in the Middle East.  Israel has been a thorn in the flesh for the Mullahs of Iran and they have vowed to destroy the Zionist state in totality. The rest of the Arab world has been brought around by the Americans to accept some sort of adjustment with Israel, except the Iranians and hence the concern about the Iranian nuclear programme. A nuclear powered Iran spells disaster for Israel and in the bargain for the Western hegemony in the region. Israel has been itching to neutralise this threat once and for all, however  US has been reticent and cautious all this while, because the administration was aware of the mess it may end up in. 

This time around Bibi and the powerful Jewish lobby in US administration  seem to have convinced Trump that all that was needed was the elimination of the top leadership of Iran and the cookie will crumble, as the masses are themselves fed up with this brutal dictatorial regime. The leadership was eliminated, but the regime has survived so far, and there are no indications that it anywhere near a total collapse. It turned out to be a grave miscalculation, as the war is now in its third week and there are no signs of any fatigue visible in the Iranian response. Iran obviously has not been surprised by the turn of events, as their neighbourhood has been targeted in the last two decades or so with Egypt, Libya, Iraq, Syria meeting the same fate of regime change and ensuing anarchy. Having been a witness to these happenings, they have been quietly preparing for this eventuality. So they systematically targeted the US bases in the region along with Israel in the first phase, then they decided to choke the Strait of Hormuz, thereby sending ripples around the rest of the world as well. If the war drags on longer, these ripples can turn into tsunamis, which may end up drowning many of the smaller economies of the world. 

In today’s era where economies of the world are globalised and intertwined, this blocking of Strait of Hormuz has implications way beyond just oil. With oil prices shooting through the roof and supply of LPG severely affected, which will end up in hyperinflation in smaller economies. The other major sectors likely to be effected in the near term are agriculture, as nitrogen based fertilisers need gas, semiconductor industry, which needs helium, another byproduct of petrochemicals industry, plastic, resins and packaging material.

India is also being affected by the shortage of LPG in the short term, if the war continues for a considerably longer period, our economy will also face headwinds. Global supply chain disruption will cause mayhem in almost all the sectors. 

What is the end state of this current imbroglio, as it is evident that Iran is not exactly suing for peace, Trump’s call for support to ease the blockage of Strait of Hormuz has not been heeded to by NATO countries, nor China. Signs are ominous, an off ramp is required for US to call off the offensive, which doesn’t seem to be available as of now. Knowing the unpredictable nature of Trump, it may just happen as suddenly as it began, with him announcing that they have achieved their aims of denuclearising Iran, as he did last time around having bombed Iranian nuclear facilities and claiming to have decimated them. That may end the war as of now, but peace will still remain elusive.

 

STRAI(GH)T OF HORMUZ

 ‘Strait’ of Hormuz is in the eye of the storm these days, frankly it is hardly ‘straight’ so to say, and is actually quite ‘crooked’, both in the physical domain as also in its characteristics. In fact the whole world is running around in ‘circles’ as the ‘strait’ in question has put the world leaders at large in ‘dire straits’. Geographically ‘Straits’ are narrow stretches of sea, separating two land masses, thus enabling a chokehold by the dominant power restricting its usage. These ‘straits’ require a ‘straitjacketed’ approach to ensure unhindered flow of maritime traffic but that would be a ‘straight’ forward way of addressing the issue. Trump is known to be a ‘straight’ person when it comes to his sexual orientations, but here his approach is as crooked as the ‘strait’ in question itself. 

‘Straight’ lines are drab, boring, curves make it interesting, Trump himself is known for his preference for the undulating features of human anatomy, so his having taken a fancy to this Strait of Hormuz is no surprise. He has decided that he is the only one who can have any kind of rights on such a prized possession, Iranians had to be shown their place, that is as ‘straight’ and simple as it can be. To set the record ‘straight’, he has even been indulging in some ‘straight’ talking, asking for the Iranian Mullahs to shun their obduracy and their flowing robes, instead they ought to adhere to the straight dress regulations, the lesson which he imparted Zelensky too some time back. But unfortunately the Mullahs are not interested in raising their hands ‘straight’ and have taken to shooting ‘straight’ at all and sundry. Keeping a ‘straight’ face may be quite a task, when one has it ‘straight’ from the horse’s mouth about Trump’s ‘straight’ from the heart desire for propagating peace all along while bombing poor Iranians.

Well, one can’t blame him, after all it is difficult to think ‘straight’ when one is tempted by the prize of going down in history as the President who sorted out the Mullahs once and for all and even avenged the Tehran hostage crisis of 1979. The Americans have been very ‘straight’ in their ‘strat’-egy when it comes to oil, they are prepared to bend all rules and not get stuck in ‘straight’ kind of morality, that is the crux of their ‘strat’-agem.  They have strat-etegised and decided they will use the strat-osphere for their missiles, even if it leads to disastrous outcomes for the ‘strata’ of the mother Earth. 

Getting back to the geographical aspects of the strait, the other famous straits in the world are Sunda, Palk,  Malacca and so on, they all are relatively ‘straight’ in their alignment, where as this Hormuz doesn’t seem to follow this simple requirement. Obviously this needed to be ‘straight’ened, and then the name itself Hormuz, why can’t they keep it simple and ‘straight’, why such tongue twisters. Trump wants it to be named after him, as straight, as it can be, ‘Trump Strait’, guess the Iranians might as well name it that and let the world get back to business straight away.

 

VIVA RIMC

 We are back where we belong, every brook, every pebble, every tree seem to beckon to us, the roads which brought us into the Rajwada Camp and the very same roads bid us adieu five years later, much richer not just in terms of academic knowledge, but in experience, having nurtured us, prepared us with those blows on our very own anvils ready to take on the world. That is the story of every Rimcollians who stepped into the haloed portals of the Thimayya Gate, in the past century plus, thousands of us been converted into believers in a unique identity, which is defined by impeccable integrity, loyalty and camaraderie, casting aside our region, religion, caste, language and becoming just a “Rimcollian”. This moniker which we earn after spending five formative years here, just about sums up our whole persona and the world especially the uniformed fraternity in India knows, what to expect from this individual. After all which other institution can boast of six Indian Service Chiefs, the first Victoria Cross and the first Param Vir Chakra apart from hundreds of other gallantry awardees and several Army/Navy/Air Force Commanders  in Chief who have blazed a trail of unmatched glory. So it is natural for us to get highly nostalgic when we come here year after year, trying to relive our days through the antics and achievements of the bright young cadets whose scintillating and dazzling performances leave speechless, wondering whether we were ever good enough to do that.

This year again, luck smiled on me and I was able to make it for this annual pilgrimage of sorts. Last two years, I had to give it a miss due to pressing and unavoidable commitments. Although to be frank I was here in Jan this year and savoured the moments spent, with my better half, Preeti, daughter Ananya and son in law , Dr Amit in tow, but that was more of a family thing. Hailing from an Army background, he was aware about RIMC and then he fell in love with a Rimcollians daughter, who wouldn’t stop talking about her Dad’s school. So we initiated him into this ‘cult’ of Rimcollians extended families. More about that some other time. This year Rimcollians reunion felt different from the previous ones for one very obvious reason, the presence of girl cadets in every activity, at times even overshadowing the young lads. The lasses, I believe are 47 in numbers in a total strength of 282, barely 16 % but have started to just about spreading their wings before they take flight. Whether it was Boxing, where diminutive Arnika landing punches on her hapless opponent or little Simran displaying perfect poise and control during her round of show jumping, but the piece-de-resistance was the evening Cultural programme where they literally floored us with their confident stage presence, flawless rendition of poetry describing their journey so far in this male bastion, which they have literally stormed or their petite dance moves displaying that they have not shed their feminine side but have simply added to it, which I dare say only this gender is capable of. 

As we finally say ‘Au Revoir’, I would like to compliment the Commandant and Team RIMC for the way in which you are shaping these cubs into tigers/ tigresses of the future. The nation will owe its gratitude to you as well, some day, when these Rimcollians will tread a similar path like most of us did, in the past hundred plus years of RIMC.  To the young lads/lasses, welcome to the fraternity of three feathers, today they are Peacocks’ (RIMC Crest)tomorrow they shall be Ostrich’s (Rimcollian Old Boys Association Crest)…Viva RIMC! Ich Dien! (I Serve!)

RACE FOR AI LEADERSHIP

 

Artificial Intelligence is the buzz word these days and the world in general is not sure where this race is heading, is it to eventual doom, the Terminator nightmare coming alive or is it for the greater good. No one has the answer actually, even Sam Altman will be at a loss to indulge in crystal gazing. But this gorilla called AI is very much in the room and cannot be ignored any longer. We have to court it, befriend it and actually tame it to perform tricks as per our commands. A layman looks at this new animal with apprehension, as he is a little scared at the turbulence it is expected to cause in his normal life, as he has lived since ages. Imagine, if all the low level workforce was laid off, how will they sustain themselves? Will they be living off the doles dished out by the government alone or will they be able to reinvent new roles for themselves to be able to be useful to the society in general and in the bargain earn their own livelihood comfortably? The recently concluded AI Summit has made this abundantly clear that this AI is not mere hype nor a bubble waiting to be burst. 

Once we realise that AI is part of our life now on, as ubiquitous as the internet, in our palms through the gadgets, we will learn to exploit it gradually. More importantly, the scientists and innovators have their job cut out, they have to be leading the pack, rather than be reduced to do menial work. Although we start with a handicap as US and China are way ahead in the race for the Digital infra which is already in place, but we as a nation have started to take some baby steps towards that direction. The major requirement for creating this infra is Finance, then the humongous quantity of power supply, qualified human resource and finally the will of the govt and the people.  We have an edge in terms of the technical acumen, in other fields govt has to take the lead in giving it the necessary push by providing all kinds of incentives. We need to channelise this in the right direction, that is what this summit has provided us with.

While we all are gushing over the capabilities of AI, the concern about AI sovereignty raised by the PM Modi ji should be heeded to by the Digital Tzars, as also by all the nation states, as in the wrong hands, it is extremely dangerous. AI, it must be remembered does not distinguish between good and evil, it just executes the command, something akin to Aladin’s Djinn. In the wrong hands, terrorists and adversaries will have a field day, as technological secrets such as chemical or biological weapons will be spilled out at a click.  Every coin has two sides, so naturally AI also provides the law enforcement agencies with the wherewithal to track, trace and keep in check the rogue elements. In fact AI has provided the developing countries with the opportunity to take a leap of faith and join the developed countries by exploiting the tremendous potential of AI in health, education, agriculture and even industry.

India has to start investing heavily in education and R&D, as currently both these areas are not really on the radar of the hierarchy.  Students will of course exploit AI as part of their curriculum, but if we aspire for leadership roles, we have to be ahead of the curve.  Similarly investment in R&D, not only from the government but also from the industry is mandatory. The TCS, Wipro, Infosys, HCL etc have to get out of their comfort zone and should be investing in Data Centres of their own rather than depend on offshore ones. Indigenising the infra is the first step towards AI sovereignty. Moreover with captive capabilities, they themselves will be steering this highly competitive field. We missed the industrial revolution, played catch up in the information age but in the AI era, we have the ability to lead from the front and owe it to our future generations, that is what our natural intelligence conjures.

A TRIBUTE TO DEAR WEGU

 It feels like someone in the family is due to depart on her final journey to the scrap yard, the ‘her’ here refers to our beloved hatchback Wagon R LXI, purchased twenty years ago in Feb 2006. This association has been a cherished one, as she covered the length and breadth of the country in these past twenty years, moving along with us. It was lucky, no doubt, with its registration number being ‘7867’.Life of our (fauji fraternity) cars are like that, for most of us, especially the ones who are newly minted veterans or the seasoned ones, the current generation is of course a little different where use and throw model is more prevalent and such long associations may not even last with their respective spouses.

Be that as it may, this one is highly nostalgic, after all she saw our kids grow up, when Ananya, my daughter would plonk herself right behind the driver’s seat and sing her nursery rhymes into my ears to driving the car herself as a doctor while in Delhi. My son, Abhijat, took his first driving lessons on this in Secunderabad managing to crash it into a tree, its first of the many brushes with minor and major accidents. Memories of our pet Labrador ‘Buddy’, who was brought home in Wellington and finally took his final journey too while in Delhi in our dear ‘Wegu’, as my children lovingly called her. She is widely travelled, from Chandigarh to Patiala, thereafter to Simla, Kasauli a number of times and then it braved the arduous route to Badrinath, Kedarnath via Dehradun, Rishikesh. When it was time to move to Wellington, she enjoyed the curves, as much as we did. In Secunderabad, she successfully managed to keep herself safe from the two wheeler borne fidayeens, who emerged from any and every angle. While in Delhi she suffered the traffic jams, as my better half Preeti moved from tutoring the inder privileged kids to training the budding Air Hostesses in Frankfinn, but except for minor brushes here and there, she survived without any major blemish. Soon we moved to Ranchi, her stint in Dipatoli Cantt was quite relaxed, as being in a small town, she enjoyed the well deserved retreat, after a hectic Delhi stint. It was back to Delhi soon and once again she was on the road crisscrossing the length and breadth of NCR, generally attending to social dos, weddings etc, as official travel was now in the Staff Car. It was time to move to Udhampur, once again, she was back in the hills and enjoyed our drive to Katra, at the feet of Mata Vasihno Devi, as also the not so frequent jaunts to Jammu, Patni Top etc. Although she was getting on in age, nearing 15 years, when she could have opted for a VRS, we chose to stick with her, getting her registration extended for another five years.

 When we moved back to Delhi, she participated in the fight against Covid, as Dr Ananya was required to report for duty in the Base Hospital. But then Delhi cops are not the ones to indulge in any nostalgia, so one fine day, when we were taking a trip to Manesar, they caught up with us, despite my pleas of being an army officer, a DIG in NSG, which fell on deaf ears, I was asked to return to my residence and not drive the vehicle in Delhi. I had written about this vehicle discard policy earlier, (https://thesuyashsharma.com/kar-bekar/#comments). So, a decision was taken to bring the car to Indore, my hometown, leave it with my parents. We drove down this 17 years old convertible (in human years about 70 plus) and not once did she create any problem en route. She was the mainstay in both the weddings at home of my son Abhijat and Ananya, in fact both of them chose to be driven in their ‘Wegu’ after the rituals, wanting to make their spouses also part of this family tradition. 

She has braved the Indore-Mhow road which of late has more potholes than flat pieces of ground, which in fact helped us decide in favour of settling down at Indore rather then Mhow. Now with more than 100000 kms on the road, I think it is time to give it much needed rest. Incidentally, she has a younger sibling too now, though she is much bigger in size, a Kia Seltos, who joined the family in Jun 2023. Although in hindsight a newer model of dear old reliable Wagon R may have been a better choice, given the condition of traffic in the city and unlikelihood of any major road travels in the foreseeable future. Hopefully she will see us through for the next twenty years. Adios Wegu, RIP.

LADAKH:A STORM IN THE TEACUP

 

The storm in the tea cup in Ladakh raised allegedly  by the unpublished book by Gen Narawane, whose excerpts appeared in a magazine some time ago, refuses to die down. This time it was Rahul Gandhi who raised the issue in the parliament, seeking clarification from the govt. As per parliamentary procedure and traditions, the President’s address is not the appropriate occasion to raise this issue, as the responses have to be restricted to the matters included in the address per se. But notwithstanding that, the issue having been raised in public on earlier occasion as well, the treasury benches should have responded in a befitting manner rather than brusquely obfuscate it blatantly. Obviously the opposition parties will draw political mileage out of any such developments. Government on its part should have assured the LOP that the issue will be responded to in the parliament after the President’s address and the responses thereto have been gone through.

While politicking may continue, the more pertinent issue is the veracity of the claims published in the Caravan magazine. If, as claimed in the article, these are excerpts  from the unpublished memoirs of Gen Narawane, former COAS, then it is a matter of concern. Firstly, a COAS knows that any incident on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China is a sensitive one and falls in the category of classified subjects. He is also aware that he has to seek permission from the govt before publishing anything which may be detrimental to India’s security concerns. For the record, Henderson-Bhagat report on 1962 Sino-Indian conflict is still kept under wraps, so any outstanding issue, in the current scenario, ‘the stand off’, which is yet to be resolved in its entirety, will obviously not be declassified so early. If the COAS was aware, then how could he permit the publisher to release the excerpts for publication? If he did not permit it, then why hasn’t he come forward to castigate the publisher and sued him for breach of trust and contract? So was there a tacit understanding, that such a revelation would ignite a controversy which will help the sale of the book and will work as a teaser for the potential buyers? The only person who can clarify these issues is the author himself and he should come forward to clear the air once and for all.

The issue of lack of any directive from the govt for a considerable period of time, on the reported movement of the Chinese tanks in the disputed area, puzzles me. There are explicit instructions on any such violations with the formations and the commanders at the appropriate level address them as per the protocol, keeping the higher HQ in picture. When a senior commander feels that a different set of actions are to be taken, he issues orders accordingly, again keeping his hierarchy informed.  The commanders looking over their shoulders for instructions at such critical junctures is a sure recipe for disaster. The Corps Commander in this case would have had near four decades of experience and  was thus entrusted with such a crucial assignment of safeguarding the LAC. The predicament faced by the commander is essentially whether he should play safe, seek directions or take command decisions. In my opinion, these are the moments when the Tiger in him must awaken to give clear directions to the subordinates rather than await orders. Similarly, up the chain, commanders were passing the buck rather than tackling the bull by the horns. One understands that matters with China are not the same as they are with Pakistan, but this pusillanimity puts a question mark on their professionalism itself. We have had instances when Generals have disobeyed orders, Lt Gen Harbaksh in 1965 Indo-Pak war and Maj Gen (later Lt Gen) Sagat Singh in 1967 NathuLa. In both the cases their stand was vindicated. As the adage goes, ‘no risk no gain’, commanders ought to trust their own judgement as they are in situ and have a much better understanding of the tactical picture.

Government on its part has also not covered itself with glory, as in the first instance itself, the response should have been the same which appeared after what reportedly took almost three hours plus, “Jo Uchit Samjho Wo Karo!”  giving the commander a free hand in dealing with the situation. Commanders thus must rise to the occasion and be prepared to face the consequences, that is the essence of military leadership.

DEFENCE BUDGET:AN ANALYSIS

 

It is that time of the year once again, when the projected and planned income expenditure statement for the country is presented in the parliament, referred to as annual budget exercise eagerly looked forward to by all and sundry. Budgetary allocation for different sectors is  an indication of government’s priorities. For a developing nation like ours given our security paradigm, it is a delicate balance and the debate on guns versus butter has to be tackled in a nuanced manner to ensure that the defence gets adequate boost while economic upliftment of the masses is not compromised either.

Defence budget outlay over the last few years has been steadily rising, with almost 40% increase over the last five years in nominal terms, with this year allocation touching a record ₹7.85 lakh, up 15.2% from last year’s   budgeted ₹6.81 lakh crore. Last year, when the budgetary provisions for capability development and modernisation was pegged at  ₹1.86 lakh crore at the RE stage, this year it has been enhanced to ₹2.19 lakh crore, a substantial increase of 21.84%. In view of OP SINDOOR last year and in the current geo-strategic uncertainty, a fillip to the defence expenditure was expected. ₹63,733 crore for aircraft and aero-engines, ₹25,023 crore has been allocated for the naval fleet, while ₹3.65 lakh crore has been allotted under the Revenue Head for operational needs, including daily running expenses like ammunition, fuel, salaries and repairs. ₹1.71 lakh crore has been set aside for defence pensions, about 21% of the total budgetary provision. As is evident, the Revenue expenditure continues at almost 62.5% of the overall financial allocation, which leaves just about 37.5% for modernisation needs. In this hi tech era, where warfare itself has been revolutionised, in the form of Cyber, Space, Drones, AI, Missiles and Rockets, India desperately needs to invest in indigenisation of its armaments as also in  Research & Development, as our principal adversary to the North is miles ahead of us and has much deeper pockets. 

We have made a little progress in the last couple of years, with domestic defence productions touching around ₹1.51 lakh crore in FY 24-25, an 18% increase over the previous year. We have also taken some measures to boost our defence exports, which have risen to almost ₹23000 crore, primarily radars, torpedoes, electronic warfare systems, patrol boats, helicopters and missile components. India though continues to be the second largest arms importer, after Ukraine in the world as per Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).We are still largely dependent for aircrafts, as Tejas is still a couple of years away from assuming the mantle of our mainstay in the skies. Similarly the  missile air defence systems, the likes of S-400 are all ex-import. The latest budgetary provision of exemption in Basic Customs Duty (BCD) caters to full duty exemption on components and parts as also the raw materials imported for the manufacture of parts used for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) civilian, training and other aircrafts, should provide a boost to the fledgling domestic aerospace industry.

While all the measures taken are welcome, all these amount to incremental changes, rather than any bold steps towards providing impetus to private defence industry towards their expenditure in research and development. The DRDO and PSUs receive the lion’s share of almost 77% and the private sector getting the rest. The former have a very poor track record of deliverance and hence strong checks and measures are imperative, with active involvement of defence services themselves. Private sector has benefitted as they have been banking on the defence veterans providing them the necessary technical expertise. The other major reform which has been pending is the long over due de-linking of pensionary benefits with the defence budget, as it shows an inflated figure, while the actual availability of funds stays around 1.9 -2% of GDP, as against US 3.4%, of $850 billion, of  which 35-40% is for capital expenditure and Chinese1.7% (actual figures may be much higher) of $ 290 billion, of which 30-35% is capital expenditure, as against ours which is pegged at 25-27% of $82 billion ( figures are from 24-25 defence budgets). Agniveer system was resorted to primarily to address this aspect, but the Defence Civilians (who serve till 60 years of age, as against the uniformed personnel who retire at 35 on an average) continue to form almost 45% of the pensionary expenditure, who could be transferred to another suitable head, making the picture more realistic. Nevertheless, it is a budget which is on the right lines.

GREENLAND: LA LA LAND

 Is Greenland the latest toy which has got the fancy of this kid Don, after having caught Maduro in his favourite game of ‘I spy’? It appears so, the brat knows it can bully, throw tantrums and get anything that he wants. EU has almost succumbed, only China has had the guts to look him in the eye and no surprises, it has been spared the blushes. India too has been defiant, but since we do not have the heft, we have been at the receiving end. Although, he has been professing his friendship with PM Modi all the while when he has been burdening us with additional tariffs thrown our way.

So why Greenland, that is the question, when it will definitely wreck the NATO and that would in a way be playing into the hands of arch rivals Russia? US interests In Greenland is not something which Trump has suddenly dreamt about, way back in 1946 President Truman had intended to buy it from Kingdom of Denmark for  $100 million, having realised its geo-strategic significance in the Arctic. During the Second World War too Greenland was occupied by US troops and acted as a major Submarine choke point along with Iceland and UK. Since 1951 US has had its military bases in Greenland as part of NATO.

Greenland is rich in resources with a sparse population of just about 58000, with its per capita GDP also around $58000. The resources include Rare Earth Minerals like Lithium, estimated Oil and Gas reserves worth 31 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE, the amount of energy contained in one barrel of oil), fresh water and fisheries. With the rise in global temperatures the sea routes in Arctic will also be more navigable, thus making Greenland a critical asset. It is being sought by Trump, not as a trophy but primarily for extending his reach and control in the Arctic. But can he not do this under the current arrangements rather than infringe on their sovereignty and jeopardise NATO itself? He can but then Trump’s offer of outright financial transaction  for the island is not a novel one either with acquisition of Alaska from Russia in 1867 and Woodrow Wilson’s purchase in 1917 of US Virgin Islands from Denmark itself as precedences.

How are the global powers effected by this turn of events, well obviously there is widespread criticism by all, but the reactions are so far muted and even those  by Denmark and European NATO nations have been purely notional in the form of increasing their military presence, which can hardly be described as show of force. India is keenly watching the developments, as although, it has not evinced any interests in the Arctic, being Indo-Pacific centric primarily, but such an acquisition may embolden China into initiating similar actions in island territories in the Atlantic or the Indian Ocean as well, is the major cause of worry. Moreover the global order which is facing turbulence at the moment may end up in a free for all, a situation akin to pre World War 1 when the colonial powers were busy acquiring new colonies. The multi-polarity in the world which is actively being pursued by India and other major nations will be given a quiet burial with pronounced US hegemony making it a unipolar one again.

What are the options with Greenland Denmark or the NATO? Firstly Greenland may offer US more bases and freedom to explore minerals still maintaining a semblance of its sovereignty, failing which it will be at the mercy of the US. Denmark may not get much of a say despite being the controlling nation, as  Greenland enjoys autonomy and may choose its own path. NATO itself may have to finally acquiesce as it is neither in a position to confront the US militarily nor diplomatically. They may resort to some face saving gestures though, getting Greenland to pass the resolution in favour, thereby accepting people’s mandate.

Will US actually benefit in the short term by this action, highly unlikely, long term may be, but the major gain is signalling to China as also NATO as to who calls the shots in the global arena. China still has at least a decade before it can pose any kind of challenge to US, so this is the moment which Trump is keen to seize, which may end up delaying China’s rise as well. So Greenland is no La la land for Trump, the pursuit is serious.

KAI PO CHE

 “Kai Po Che…”, “Katta Hai…”, “Wo Katta…”could be heard emanating from the rooftops, sounding almost like war cries, it was like I had taken the time machine and travelled back to my childhood days. This year on the occasion of Makar Sankranti I spotted some kites flying gloriously in the sky unchallenged and I was reminded of the times when kite flying was not just a hobby but a passion  with the residents in the Hindi heartland, especially on the occasion of Sankranti 14 Jan and Independence day in and around Delhi. Alas in today’s gadget dominated world, these simple pleasures are losing out.

Flying kites is an art as also a science, you can’t just pick up one and tie the thread to it and expect kites to take to the sky by just wishing it to do so. No sir, firstly you have to identify a good kite, whose support sticks (called ‘kaman’ in local parlance)  are not too rigid, just flexible enough for it to gently flow in the wind. Then the way the thread is tied to the kite has to be perfectly balanced, with two pin holes on the  top cross of the support sticks and two pin holes somewhere at the three-fourth length, where knots are tied and then a triangular thread (called ‘Jota‘ here) connects these two ends. Now your kite is ready to do your bidding, provided you have done some preliminary recce, as to the wind direction and clearance, lest it get stuck in a tree or a wire immediately on soaring from the ground level. 

Growing up in Dhar, a small town in MP, kite flying during the winters specially around Sankranti was something which we kids keenly looked forward to. The passionate ones would prepare the thread (Manja) weeks in advance, with glue and glass pieces (obtained from fused bulbs and tube-lights generally), to sharpen the threads so that they can vanquish the opponent’s kites in the sky followed by ‘Katta Hai’, the victorious war cry with unmatched pride. Kite flying was fun, but looting them was even more fun, as the kites which lost the duel (pench ladana), would be floating in the sky free, without any mooring and were free for picking, ‘finders-keepers’ was the accepted norm. There were groups of boys who would be armed with big bamboo sticks to catch these kites in the air and grab them. 

Kite flying probably originated in China and travelled to India, although it is also mentioned in the ancient Hindu religious texts Ramayana at places. In one incident Hanuman is supposed to have recovered Bhagwan Ram’s kite from the Indralok (heaven where Indra and the Devtas reside). During the Mughal period kite flying was pursued as a sport by the rich and nobility. The most famous kite flying incident in the scientific domain, of course, was in USA when Benjamin Franklin’s experimented in 1752, when he flew a silk kite with a metal key in the rains to demonstrate that lightning was electricity.

In the modern era, there are International festivals organised in Gujarat and Telangana, where aficionados from all over the world come and participate displaying their unique kites and skills. Although I am not much of a kite flyer myself, but I have enjoyed doing it once in a while. Once when we were at Secunderabad, I actually flew one to demonstrate it to the kids, who have not been exposed to it at all.  

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We may draw our own lessons from this experience, given the right environment, a simple piece of paper  also flies mighty high but it stays there only as long as it does the bidding of the flyer, as he controls its ascent, descent and height as also the way it performs in the duels, where sometimes it is given enough leeway, so that the opponent loses patience and the kite both, or sometimes going on the offensive right from the word go and taking the adversary by surprise thereby emerging a winner. While we may wax eloquent about all these life lessons about life, finally all this comes to a nought when we are asked to go ‘fly a kite’ by the boss at work as also at home. But seriously find time and enjoy this activity once in a while, re-live your childhood.

Vigilantism in Venezuela

 

‘Discretion is better part of valour’, that is one lesson which friend Nicolas Maduro would probably have learnt a little late though. Venezuela is a sovereign nation and has its rights, but then it also has world’s largest oil reserves and apparently even huge deposits of silver. While it may be a blessing, but the boon has actually turned into a bane as when you antagonise the Global super bully and hob-knob with its rivals, or start planning to trade in any currency other than US$, you know you are living dangerously, especially if you don’t have the muscle to protect yourself. 

Venezuela was a relatively stable country known as the global capital of beauty pageants, as their lithesome lasses trumped the other contestants 23 times in the last seven odd decades. Then Hugo Chavez came to power with his Marxist socialist ideology and spate of nationalisations followed, resulting in the American companies being forced to extricate. Having seen something similar at close quarters in Cote d’Ivoire in the first decade of this century, when Ivorians decided to cast their lot with anti-French politicians (their colonial masters), the country plunged into a civil war. Finally the UN Peacekeepers stepped in but it was the French who brokered peace and  the French companies returned to take over from where they left and the country is peaceful. The same script will be replayed here, American businesses will flock to this resource rich nation and all will be well.

Americans are known to have effected regime changes whenever it suits them, the excuses could be weapons of mass destruction to drugs but the actual reason is the threat posed to the hegemony of Petro$. As is well known, after Kissinger convinced the Saudis that oil trade would be in American$ only in return for addressing their security concerns, dollar became the fiat currency and rest of the world had to tow the line. Whenever there was an attempt to get out of this Dollar stranglehold by any country, the ruler was toppled and anarchy followed, be it Iraq, Saddam Hussein or Libya – Gaddafi. Maduro too was toying with the idea of joining BRICS and trading oil in Chinese Yuan, that was the sin he committed for which he has been abducted and brought to the US for standing trial for some supposed drug related offences.

The American actions are in blatant violations of international norms and has invited criticism from the UN as also from China and Russia, but that is mere tokenism as there are no actions which are envisaged by any of them individually or collectively. May be both China and Russia are in a way looking forward to exploiting this precedence in their respective backyards themselves in times to come. There are major lessons for smaller countries here, firstly avoid getting into a confrontationist mode with a bigger power and secondly before aligning with any rival powers weigh the pros and cons. Flirting with Russia and China, knowing fully well that they are not in any way capable for standing up for Venezuela in case of any eventuality should have acted as a deterrent. 

There are lessons for India as well, although we are a much bigger and more powerful nation, the first one being standing up for its own principles. India has always followed the righteous path and weathered many a storm in its nearly eight odd decades of independent existence. Sovereign nations have rights to choose their systems of governance, their allies, their economic model and so on, but more importantly they need to be able to safeguard their interests. If that fails then the sovereignty itself is questionable. India has managed to weather the tariff tantrum by skilful diplomacy so far, addressed the currency issue also by resorting to trades in rupee, rial, rouble or yuan as the case may be. Diplomacy requires deftness and hence we have consciously chosen not to rebut or provoke even some unfounded claims during OPERATION SINDOOR. We need to be on our guard as the global situation is rather volatile and global institutions and watchdogs have more or less become defunct, in an eerie similarity to events pre second world war, when League of Nations collapsed.  

To SIR with Love

 The old timers would recall, a movie starring Sydney Poitier and Lulu based on the life of the  autobiography of  ER Braithwaite, Lulu’s iconic song in the climax “To Sir with love…” is simply legendary. In fact, the movie itself still remains etched in my memory, as though I saw it yesterday, even after more than four decades. This one may come as a surprise to most of you but this SIR, is not your teacher as you know them, but it ends up teaching you a number of lessons alright. The SIR, I am referring to, is the Special Intensive Revision of the Voter List, currently in progress in a number of states in India.

Having led a nomadic existence in the last five decades , since I joined RIMC as an eleven year old, this rolling stone gathered no moss nor a Voter ID. A mandatory requirement to participate in the democratic process in the country. But then someone has to guard the borders, so while the election festival is celebrated with much fanfare in the rest of the country, we faujis have to watch the fun from the sidelines. Earlier, we never received the postal ballots, then when we started registering where we were posted, we landed up in Jammu & Kashmir, where we were again denied our fundamental right. But all that was part of life that we had signed up for, so no cribs. Now having superannuated and back in the civil world, it was time for us to be counted so we registered ourselves as Voters in Mhow last year and duly cast our votes in the Assembly Elections. 

Then this SIR hit us, requiring us to link our names with the 2003 Voter List. That was a tall order, as in 2003 we were in Ladakh and obviously did not figure in any list anywhere in the country. I was told that all that was needed was my parents names in the 2003 list, so in all earnestness I set out to get the missing link. I am quite sure mankind was not so earnest in finding the elusive missing link in evolution of Homo sapiens as I was, after all it was my citizenship which was at stake. The threat of being labelled a Bangladeshi or a Rohingya in disguise was enough to send me scurrying to the Booth Level Officer (BLO). The BLOs are actually teachers who have landed up with this millstone around their neck, who have the highly unenviable task of tracing the voters in the booths assigned to them and then getting the necessary documentation done. The task given to them actually is one fit for ghosts (Bhoot), because only a bhoot can find the missing people in the voter list. As it is, it is reported that quite a few of these listed voters themselves have kicked the bucket and may themselves be ghosts watching the fun from some of the old Peepul Trees or from the graveyards.

Anyway, having been served a notice that we were the unmapped types, we were required to present ourselves to the BLO, who directed us to the Tehsil Office for submitting  the required documents to prove that we were bonafide citizens of Bharat. Being conscientious and sincere, I meticulously  collected almost all the documents listed, a Govt issued identity card, my veteran card, my  Pension Payment Order (PPO), my Passport, copy of registry of property, High School Certificate and so on. The officer, despite being on leave, was kind enough to entertain us and accepted our claim with the documents presented. I am hoping that with this presentation of documents To SIR with Love, the saga would come to a happy end. I just hope that the name is entered correctly, as I was told by my friend Akash, that his father’s name in the list was entered as Bigdey (बिगड़े) Bhanot instead of Brigadier Bhanot. So keeping my fingers crossed….