Category Archives: india
Modi Sarkar: Time to Stand Up and Speak!
Modi campaigning in April 2014
May 2014 – During my last trip to India, Modi had swept through the country like a tsunami emerging as the strong, new leader for the country. Optimism and excitement infused the country, virtually everywhere you looked. Dominating the landscape were supporters saying, I told you so combined with euphoric celebrations and cheering against a silenced, worried and depressed minority.
“Modi Sarkar”* was clearly the new buzz. The country’s problems, major and minor, were all but resolved.
Three months later, I expected that things would not have changed much. Three months is after all no time at all!
I was wrong.
August 2104 – The occasion was a round table of a few high-level executives, luminaries and industry leaders from across India. Prior to a formal meeting, we were sitting at lunch when I asked what I thought was a fairly innocent question – “So, how do you think Modi is doing?”
To a person, all the people around the table were Modi supporters, some of them fervent ones. When I asked the question, I did not really expect anything contentious, just a solid update from intelligent people with informed opinions.
Here are some of the responses I received in the active debate and discussion that ensued:
“Some people are calling Modi another Manmohan Singh. He doesn’t say anything!”
“He’s just not talking, people are losing faith.”
“He needs to have monthly or at least bi-monthly meetings to update everyone”
“Yet, he’s such a good orater, a strong speaker”.
“I think he’s a bit uncomfortable with his English”
…….
“The media is completely left out of the loop; they have nothing to report so the people hear nothing”
“Oh no, but he will making some BIG announcements on August 15th.”
“Yes, he will.”
“He has to!”
…….
“Do you know that just like in Gujarat he has no Press Secretary? That’s not good. He is not ruling one state now.”
“He has made two international trips so far and the Press Corps was not allowed to accompany him. That has never happened before in any government.”
“The Press is how people get information. If they don’t get anything, they will start making up stuff in the name of opinion and it won’t be good.”
…….
“His own Cabinet is too afraid to say anything. Even a trusted adviser like Rajnath Singh!”
“They have been warned not to speak by Modi.”
…….
“Well, I think this is part of his overall strategy and it’s a good one. He’s just biding his time. You just watch, he will make some BIG announcements on August 15**”
“That’s fine, but he can’t keep silent for so long. People need to hear about plans and progress.”
“He needs to give regular briefings – like State of the Nation addresses.”
…….
“Remember, to the common man, the government has changed but in his life, nothing has changed.”
“Modi needs to set (or reset) expectations. People need to know…”
…….
Wow. I was stunned. Remember, it’s been a mere three months! Yet what I heard this time was so different from the euphoria of the last trip.
Isn’t it incredible how impatient people are? And these words were not coming from your everyday “common man” either but from executive level Modi supporters.
At the end of the day, this is all about expectations. There was such optimism and so many huge game-changing, almost God-like expectations from Modi Sarkar. Three months later, people think, hope and feel that “good things” are coming. But they don’t know. They know nothing.
Modi “won” arguably one of the most difficult jobs in the world – to govern a highly complex nation with its own set of unique and massive challenges. He won on the strength of his promises for change, and people’s hope for progress. Hopefully, he will do all that people have expected from him.
But he could sure set a lot of minds at ease with something so small yet completely (deliberately?) overlooked. A little thing called communication.
Ah well, perhaps on August 15, 2014 – just around the corner now (a few hours!) – everything will be A-okay.
Ache din ane wale hai .***
*Modi Sarkar – Modi’s Government, the common moniker in India for this ruling government.
**August 15th is India’s Independence Day and Modi is indeed planning a major speech.
*** Ache din ane wale hai is Hindi for “good days are ahead”, one of Modi’s most popular campaign slogans.
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Photo Credit: By Narendra Modi [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
Accidental Encounters of the Best Kind
I continue to make my quarterly business pilgrimages to Bombay. They give me a great opportunity to make quarterly family pilgrimages to Bangalore. For a couple of days on either side of the business trip I get to spend time with mom and other close family.
Sleepy Bangalore (especially compared to Bombay) is the place to take a break, chill and relax.
I needed this, especially now and even for just a few days, after my rough couple of months of work and travel. And the TLC you can get from mom…why, that’s just priceless!
This morning, I had a visit to my dentist here [“Dentist in Bangalore, Why?” – title of a future post 🙂 ]. Mine was the first appointment and I was in the waiting room waiting for the doc to get set up. A lady walked in and went to the magazine stand. Another patient. She looked very familiar but I just couldn’t place her.
As I was sitting/reclining in the dentist’s chair with my mouth hanging open, it came to me. Ooooh! During the next break when I could use my mouth to talk, I asked the doc, is that lady waiting there Mrs. J? He said, yes, do you know her?
Do I know her? She, who introduced me to the best of English Literature in middle and high school. I remember A Midsummer Night’s Dream and especially Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. How well she conveyed all the nuances of its characters and plot. I never forgot it.
Most of all, how she made us love English prose and poetry.
So, of course, I had to go meet her, speak with her and catch up on many, many years of life in a few, short minutes. In the dentist’s office. 🙂
How lovely it was!
Interestingly, this was two in a row for me. During my last trip to Bangalore, as I walked out of the airport, one of the first people I noticed was the chic and elegant Ms. K, my teacher from school who was such a role model for so many of us girls, not to mention our fashion icon. We were her adoring fans, that was for sure. What a great chance encounter and so fabulous seeing her in person after years and years.
These ladies were such important figures in our school lives. But that was not all. Like all great examples of this noble profession, they left indelible marks on our lucky lives. Forever and ever.
Now, on to next time. I wonder who I will get to meet in November?
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The following picture is one I found by accident on a site about our school that I did not know existed. It’s way before my time, but there are some very young teachers I recognize who stuck around for our batch. Aah, the memories!
The Yin and Yang of Life Anywhere 