Sunday Posts

Sometimes, fairy tales are possible. One is unfolding right now in Delhi. Just as I was contemplating writing a post on the decline of democracy, Indian voters demonstrated what is really possible. It is a return of hope with a vengeance. This one is for the world, worthy of celebration more than Indian Mars Mission and stock markets. So, I must recount the details even of this famous event, lest someone has missed. In Delhi, the Capital city of India which is also a State, an assembly election was held at the fag end of 2013. Despite everyone thinking that Indian politics is a two-horse game - and the choice is really between heir apparent Rahul Gandhi and business-backed Hindu supremacist Narendra Modi - a new party gets the most seats. Started by a former taxman, the diminutive Arvind Kejriwal, the Aam Admi Party ran on an anti-corruption manifesto, and almost won a majority.  Since the two big parties can not form a coalition among themselves, eventually Mr Ke...

As I wrote about a tipping point may be coming to Indian Education ( see here ), when a rollback of regulation may open up the space for experimentation and innovation, and allow the Indian institutions to take advantage of the domestic demand, something was playing out in Delhi indicating just the opposite was happening. A friend and correspondent was quick to point out that my optimistic musings may be off the mark, particularly on a day when an ugly example of political interference on academic decisions was playing out. This is about Delhi University (DU) wanting to introduce the Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) instead of the usual three years. There was nothing in the University Statutes that disallows the university from doing it, and the university laid out the explanations for changing the system. Initially, the regulators, University Grants Commission (UGC) was backing the decision, so much so that the university admissions started as usual. This was an unpo...

There are many remarkable things about the Indian Elections 2014. Many in the country believe that this will mark an end and a beginning: Which end and which beginning are being contested, though. It may be the end of the unipolar politics of Congress versus the others, but then only to be replaced by Hindu Nationalists versus the other politics. It may be the decline of India's most prominent political family, the Gandhis, which is drawing most attention: The family scion, Rahul Gandhi, has been comprehensively rejected by the Indian voters. This may also be the end of the Indian Republic as conceived by its founding fathers, and what comes next can be reasonably called the Second Republic.  That may mark a new beginning. Indian Second Republic may not have any of the indecisiveness of the French. Duke of Wellington mused during the Second Republic "France needs a Napoleon and I can't yet see him", but India has its Bonaparte now.  This election marks a firm ch...

In a few months, India will hold a General Election which may change the country. Rather, it would be appropriate to assert that it will change the country. The Indian Republic, founded 67 years ago, has finally run its course, and this time, its citizens will have to choose a path which is different from what has been for the last 67 years. This change may be frightening, chaotic and even disastrous, but this time around, there is little choice but change. The competing ideas are firmly pitted against one another. It is no longer about one party against another, as it has always been, but two clear ideas of governance, two clear ideas of India. And, there is no middle ground. The mythical middle ground may be the holy grail of democratic polity, but at the time of change, this may not present an option. Everyone must choose - and everyone must resist, because compromise and staying silent may veer the country to a course which will shape everyone's future. The most talke...

Arvind Kejriwal asks for ten days to solve the problems of Delhi!  He is a novice in politics: One never says when one will do something one does not intend to do. But what if he really wants to solve the problems? Problems such as corruption, VIPs cornering everything, police standing by as women are harassed, rising water and electricity charges while convenient arrangements ensure unlimited and free provisions for rich men's farmhouses.  But we have always been told that these problems can not be solved. We just have too many people. And, it is people who don't want to follow the rules. It is their fault: What can the government do? We have been told, for last sixty years and more, that it is best to have democracy for a day. You vote and you go home. You leave governance to those who can. You vote again in five years. We have got used to being governed: We are too messy, too incompetent, too poor - besides, we are just too many! The only way out is a ...

Post by Karnika Kahen . The Indian Politics has reached a fever pitch, the final stretch leading up to the General Election in May 2014, an election, I believe and hope, that will mark a point of departure in India's history, perhaps the most significant since its Independence in 1947. The outcome of this election is far from certain, but whatever the outcome is, a break from the past is clearly foretold. And, while many things can go wrong, Indians like me must remain optimistic and keep their faith in the resilience of the Indian electorate.  It does seem that the Indian politics have finally reached the twilight zone of Gandhi family politics. The regal show that dominated Indian political agenda throughout its post-independence period, first by leadership and then by reflected glory, appears to be a spent force, out of step with the young, ambitious country. The traditional mechanisation of vote bank politics, populism and wilful policy ambivalence that marked I...