Rooting for Failure, Astrological Prediction

Met Mr Bhaumik, a well regarded Kolkata based, astrologer in New York on Nov 24, 2019. According to him on December 26, 2019, seven planets are going to be aligned. Astrologically speaking it is an ominous development. So the world in general can expect a great deal of turmoil, starting from one week before December 26 and then lasting for sometime. Unrest will grip several parts of the world and there may be natural calamities.
He also says that world economy will not do well for next 3 years.
He also spoke of a 30 year cycle. Similar turmoil was present in 1989. Well 1989 wasn't a very good year.
How much I wish this prediction fails.
Has anyone else heard anything similar?

The Best Thing About Anupam Kher is Anupam Kher

Lessons Life Taught Me, Unknowingly: An Autobiography by Anupam Kher, A Review.

At best of times, reviewing a book is a challenge. There are several aspects to a book: literary style, story, language, choice of words and idiom, personal likes and dislikes of the reader among others. I remember years ago I was moved by the book 'Bridges of Madison County' by Robert James Waller. I thought to myself "what a nice little romantic story". I shared the book with a poet and writer colleague and encouraged him to read it. After reading he demolished it on technical grounds that it lacked the basic elements of a good story. It is too far removed in the past for me to remember what exactly those elements are, except that it lacked the characteristics of a good story. The challenge is more daunting when one attempts to review an autobiography, that too of a person whom one knows and respects. The challenge intensifies when the author himself has been rather candid and frank about his origins, struggles and failures of life and not pulled punches on many individuals who have crossed his path. 

I read Prathyush Parasuraman’s review of the book  in the Indian media. Personally I think Parasuraman has been harsh in judging the book on its literary merit. Kher doesn't have literary pretensions. He is candid throughout his narration that he was rather weak in studies, failed some of his exams and barely managed to pass the others with 38% marks. His lack of educational skills is more than compensated by his talent as an actor and his passion for living life, connecting to people, making friends and taking on new challenges. What is most impressive is his almost photographic memory which enables him to record his life's events. Also for a person who studied in Hindi medium to bring out a 432 page volume in English itself is very creditable. And LLTMU comes after the best selling "The Best Thing About You is You", Kher's first motivational book. He can be criticized for giving long names to his books (LLTMU & TBTAYY) but not for writing them. Also a balding, if not bald, wiry framed man without any pedigree in films, making it big in Indian cinema, is in itself a story worth telling and reading.  

Before we go ahead, a disclosure is in order. Since the last year or so, Kher has made New York his home. He has settled in comfortably into the professional and social milieu of this city and is now a frequent and inclusive part of New York's Indian-American social life. Consequently, I have interacted with him and learnt about him and his life. Reading his book now gives me an advantage in our future conversations. Also having spent five years of my youth in the Mandi House area, the cultural capital of Delhi, a place whose vicissitudes Kher describes vividly in his book, brings another area of coincidence in our lives, kindling my interest in reading LLTMU.

LLTMU to me is inspirational. It makes one believe in  'kuch bhi ho sakta hai! or 'anything can happen' as the author reminds us time and again. Belonging to a middle class background myself and with modest academic accomplishments, I am able to immediately and intrinsically connect to the protagonist and root for his success. The leitmotif of the book, that failures make a person and they are stepping stones to success is resounding and convincing. This message strings and ties the tales of the book. The author is often down but never out. He sustains and reinvents himself and this is his mantra for success which will inspire any reader. No wonder the book is dedicated to “those who dare to dream. And succeed!”

Kher has been through much in life. Coming from an extremely humble background with a joint family, he wasn't academically talented in the classical sense. Yet he had the innate theatrical talent of being able to act, mimic and sing. This sustained him in his childhood and he somehow seemed to know that if he had to make it in life, it had to be in the arts, dramatic arts. LLTMU therefore is a  compilation of a litany of failures faced by Kher but overcome by grit, determination and perseverance. 

The book is an extraordinary compendium of Kher's memories. He remembers every minute detail from his childhood and later in life. As he himself says, he has a photographic memory. It's not that he has maintained a daily diary but has captured every event in his memory.  Kher remembers Garcia Marquez who said "life is not what one lived, but what one remembers and how one remembers to recount it.'' There aren't many like Kher who can recount life so vividly, every detail, every vicissitude. As he says himself in the beginning "I had a joyful childhood mainly because many of my relatives were an unusual lot- comical characters.....for me, not only my family members, but also my neighbours, my friends and my teachers, were all akin to comic book characters". He has wonderfully captured these characters in LLTMU.

Truly, the book is about persons and personalities. To put it upfront straight and simple, and I told the author so, the most enjoyable part of the book is the description of the tales of the persons who has touched his life in the formative years, his family and friends who have sculpted his personality and value system. Standing tall here is Kher's grandfather Amar Nath Kher who has had transcendental  impact on his personality, value system and moral compass. His pithy yet telling advice to Kher "bhiga hua aadmi baarish se nahin darta" distills the advice of many self-help motivational books into just one simple phrase. One easily likes this part as one relates to them and one roots for the young, poor but ambitious Kher to succeed. This extends from his childhood days in Shimla, to his days at theater school in  Chandigarh, drama school in Delhi, and the relentlessly difficult days in Mumbai till Saaransh happens. And Indian cinema is all the more richer that Saaransh happened. It needed to happen for Kher to emerge and it needed to happen for Indian cinema and for Mahesh Bhatt to make it. Saaransh so wonderfully transcended the space between commercial films and art films. For obvious reasons Saaransh made Kher what he is. And for his part, Kher gave everything he had to the character of B.V. Pradhan, one of the most unforgettable characters in Indian cinema. It doesn't seem to be an exaggeration that Kher rates the scene where Pradhan goes to collect the mortal remains of his son to the Customs office, as perhaps one of the ten best scenes of Indian cinema. 

One can easily to divide the book into three parts of Kher’s life, pre Saraansh, his success post Saraansh and life after success. The pre Saraansh stage is middle class, disappointments, failures, fun, humour, escapades, crushes, love, idiosyncrasies in his immediate families among other earthy tales. When Kher describes his family members, friends, lovers, and  teachers, they come to life in an incredible yet natural way. Kher owes a lot to his family and friends and says very clearly that his stable childhood taught him above all that it is family that he treasures the most. He has inseparable bonds with many including his mother Dulari, brother Raju and friends. Friends stand out in the book, be it Nav Prakash Parihar who shared his school lunch with him or Vijay Sehgal his best friend over half century whose only solution to all the problems of the world is eating food, and Anil Kapoor and Satish Kaushik in the Mumbai part of his life. The romantic interludes in school also come out in a heartwarming way particularly the author’s disastrous first kiss which landed in the girl’s ear. 
Kher's relationship with his wife Kirron and her son Sikander also stands out. There is great deal of affection and respect in the relationship. The author succinctly describes the relationship when he says "we are the epitome of the modern family, each pursuing his or her own dreams-connected by our relationship but free to blossom and flourish". Perhaps even here there is a message for modern professional ambitious couples on how to make their marriages successful.

It’s quite unbelievable how despite having a flair for theater, Kher couldn’t land the job of an announcer in All India Radio due to stammering and stuttering with his first announcement. Luckily for all he failed there. Similar meltdown is seen later when he auditioned for the role of Nehru in front of Richard Attenborough. One wonders what seized him then? He doesn't explain. 

One can also easily relate to familial characters Kher describes as such people exist in our own lives as well. Rarely have I laughed out loud reading a book or re-read a piece aloud for the benefit of my family members. Yes! LLTMU is quite a gag bag. I can even sniff a film or a mini series script lurking somewhere in this part. Some of the characters such as Kakaji who was worried about losing hair so “he  resorted to a curious fix for fighting nature's way: every night, Kakaji used to sleep with a comb, mirror and hair spray under his pillow and in the middle of the night, he'd get up, adjust his hair, and sleep peacefully thinking this was doing him a service for his scalp!”. The author's father Pushkar Nath Kher and his superstitious nature brings many a smile to the reader. The anecdote about the 'Bread & Bun Man' is truly hilarious and one can visualize the father with his eyes closed stepping on people’s hands and toes and opening the door so that he can see the lucky face of the bread seller. Yet even Kher's father whom he describes as a 'simple man of simple wisdom' gave him profound lessons, lessons I believe every father should give their children.  Treating the son to a hearty meal when the son had failed the matriculation examination is a rare display of fine character in a man. That evening Kher learnt his most precious lesson from father Pushkar Nath Kher that "failure is an event, not a person". This has kept Kher in good stead. Even his mother Dulari, whom we see and know from Kher's videos, is an archetype of an Indian mother, strict yet loving and a bundle of fun. That she'd escape to a temple when angry with the family members and then need the coaxing of Kher's brother Raju to come back home is cute and funny. Dulari’s strictness with Anupam Kher is with reason, she did not want her son to become just like the others in her big family. She wanted him to rise and be different and make it in life.  

Interestingly, Anupam Kher is not the only person who had a tryst with failures in the family. His uncle Dwarka Nath Kher who lived under the same roof  failed seven times in the eight grade and was promoted to ninth grade on 'compassionate' grounds as his classmates had started calling him Uncle. 

The book has an underlying emphasis on values. One is touched by Kher’s respect and affection for his Gurus- be it Balwant Gargi in Chandigarh, or Alkazi Saab in NSD and then of course Mahesh Bhatt in Mumbai. They have had a lasting impact on his life and made him yearn and strive for bigger scenarios in life and on the stage. His belief that if we keep making space for everyone else, on stage and in life, we will never make space for ourselves, comes through again and again and is perhaps a good mantra to emulate for all aspirants. 

Cutting the act to Mumbai, Kher’s real Karmabhoomi, the personalities or the characters appear distant. They are stars in the real sense of the term. Good from afar. One is not able to visualize them in flesh and blood. Nonetheless one gets to know them in vivid detail as not much is written about our larger than life film personalities. One only gets to read gossip about them, some of which is self generated to create a buzz about them or their films. In LLTMU one gets a ring side view, knowing how they are in real life, how they behave and how they relate to their colleagues. Reading about Dilip Kumar and Raj Kumar and their idiosyncrasies is fascinating. One wonders which other profession can be so accommodating? While Kher describes the world of cinema in Mumbai to be cruel and merciless, yet he owes his success to the kindness and generosity of several persons starting from Mahesh Bhatt, Yash Chopra to Sooraj Barjatya among others. As this is the nature of life everywhere, Mumbai and its film world is no exception, yet one childishly yearns the world of make of believe to be different. 

It is sad to learn that his relationship with Mahesh Bhatt, whom Kher quite unabashedly calls his guru, mentor and person who made him in Mumbai, has soured and is today at best cool. Kher blames the estrangement on ideological differences but remains unflinching in his admiration of this mentor. Here again one can glimpse a very admirable character of Kher. He owes his success to several persons and gurus and is unselfish in his praise of others be it Balwant Gargi at the Chandigarh acting school, Amal Allana and his many teachers at NSD. Ibrahim Alkazi whom he calls as the emperor of theater and then Mahesh Bhatt in Mumbai. Kher is unabashed in heaping praise whether it is on David Dhawan, Subhash Ghai or Sooraj Barjatya or his Hollywood idols starting with Robert de Niro. He is even sentimental about Datta Sawant or Datto as we know him, the little boy who started first with Suresh Oberoi and has been a steadfast companion of Kher since then. 

I believe that more than the anecdotes the book is about lessons. How to keep going when the odds are against you. How not to be deterred by failure. The way Kher embraces failure time and again and picks up the threads is the greatest takeaway of reading the book.  One can pick up several lessons for live and internalize them. The book is truly all about Anupam Kher and that’s the best part of it.

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Hostage Rescue: Operation Chavin de Huantar

Lessons in resolving a hostage situation.

http://thewire.in/33124/lessons-in-resolving-hostage-crises-from-perus-operation-chavin-de-huantar/

Gandhiji & Climate Action: The Ecological Mahatma

“The Ecological Mahatma”

"The only tyrant I accept in this world is the ‘still small voice’ within me. And even though I have to face the prospect of being a minority of one, I humbly believe that I have the courage to be in such a hopeless minority" - Mahatma Gandhi

    Gandhi Ji was an Indian but he was not only for India. To many Gandhiji was a mass leader, a political leader and champion of the rights of the downtrodden. To others he represented a way of life, a method of tolerance, harmony and simplicity. I regard him as the World’s first environmentalist. He was an apostle of peace, offering to the world and humans a vision of being at peace with oneself and at peace with the world. His philosophy was one of  cutting out violence in every form, whether it was within oneself, in one's thoughts, interactions, words, language, writings, deeds and actions.

    In present times, there is a great deal of concern about the climate crisis, pollution caused by plastics, our dying rivers and oceans which have become dumping grounds for all kinds of waste, extinction of our wild habitats and wildlife. Climate Change, Sustainability and Sustainable Development have become buzzwords, ringing out in classrooms to boardrooms and in the summits of world leaders. Underlying this concern is the recognition of a deep-seated and pervasive conflict between modern human lifestyle and Mother Nature. This conflict is the root cause of most crises, whether it is environmental degradation, climate change / global warming, lack of water, food insecurity, conflict, migration and rootlessness or anxiety, depression, suicide, addiction, gun violence, broken relationships or general all-pervasive despair and ennui.

    Our day to day disconnect with nature is near complete. In earlier days, we used to drink from the river, stream or pond or pluck a fruit from a tree. We produced and consumed only what we needed to sustain life. Most ailments were treated from medicines sourced from herbs and minerals and through necessary dietary and lifestyle modifications – an approach that addressed the underlying causes of illnesses.

    Today water is conveyed by pipes to the home. We drink the water unmindful of its origin and therefore have the propensity to abuse it, little realizing that the water is depleting and that rivers are being polluted. These days, many children believe that water is made in the supermarket in bottles! I tried to contact a bottle water company which makes and sells plastic bottles containing water as I wanted to see and understand the pristine watersheds that they advertise. Despite several attempts I failed to find a single person who could guide me. So my only connection to the pristine watershed are the beautiful advertisements or the plastic bottle of water.

    A Washington Post story said that many children believe that Chocolate comes out of brown cows. Similarly, we consume food without knowing where it is produced or who has produced it and at what cost. We have no awareness of the complex and increasingly fragile food chain we are a part of. The medical and pharmaceutical industry is primarily about treatment of symptoms using synthetic chemicals that often have harmful side effects. Human greed and exploitation of natural resources have skyrocketed to the extent that chronic and acute under nutrition in many parts of the world is matched by profligacy, waste, over consumption, over nutrition, obesity and lifestyle illnesses in other parts. 

    It is not that we haven’t collectively realized the severity of the degradation of our planet, the rapid depletion of resources and the looming threat it poses on human safety, security and survival. But have we fully understood the underlying cause and what we need to do to find a holistic, lasting and transformative solution that focuses on the human being, the singular agent of change? I posit that we haven’t, and having said that, I propose that the Gandhian construct is a different way to approach this unprecedented challenge humans face today.

    There have been meetings at very high levels for addressing Climate Change. The Paris Agreement has been agreed to by many countries. The central aim of the Agreement is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change. The goal is to keep the global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Additionally, it aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change.

    To reach these ambitious goals, appropriate financial flows, a new technology framework and an enhanced capacity building framework are to be put in place, thus supporting action by developing countries and the most vulnerable countries, in line with their own national objectives. It implores nations to invest in technology to arrest carbon emissions, alternative fuels, emissions trading.

    All this is fine, but do these measures address the issue at a fundamental level? I dare to say they don't, because under the spell and hubris of technology and investment, the agreement totally fails to focus on the principal and central actor, i.e. we humans.

    Countries and their agreements and treaties are myths. Human beings, rivers, mountains, forests are real. Nation states don’t pollute, humans do. The impact of pollution is not restricted to national boundaries; these potentially impact humans across political boundaries of nation states. Yet, there isn’t a single mention of the human, how he or she behaves and how he or she will contribute to arresting climate change. The Paris Agreement mentions Internationally Determined Actions and Nationally Determined Actions but what about Individually Determined Actions?

    In fact, does any international communique talk of the human being, how he must change, how he must be austere, frugal and only consume what he needs? Does anyone talk of changing the march of consumerism, of reducing demand? Many if not most things made in the world today are thrown, many without being used even once such as food? Is it because such a view could be viewed as contra-economic theory. It will be contra-growth and contra-market economy. Are austerity and frugality bad words in the market economy? Prof Cortright of Notre Dame University says that the current global effort to stem carbon emissions focuses on the supply side: produce more efficiently with less energy; use renewal materials and resources. In my opinion, this is grossly insufficient. We must also look at the demand side and explore ways to produce less and to consume less. Curbing our demand for products does not mean that we abandon the struggle against poverty. We must continue and accelerate the work of fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals. But surely we can find a way to continue lifting people out of poverty without further ruining the environment or undermining the life support systems that are necessary to sustain human dignity into the future. This can happen only with inner transformation.

    The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, proclaims ‘aham brahmasmi’ – I am all-encompassing existence, the universal consciousness; and the Chandogya Upanishad proclaims ‘tat twam asi’ – you are that. Both were written between 600 and 700 BCE, and both accorded supremacy to human consciousness and the oneness of that consciousness with entire creation and the creator, or the creative force if you like.

    Swami Vivekananda said, “Nature is homogeneous. Differentiation is in manifestation. The Sanskrit word for nature is Prakriti which literally means differentiation. All is one substance, but it is manifested variously.” So all the five elements – earth, fire, water, air and ether (or space) are as much us, as are the mountains, forests, rivers, plants and animals. These are mere differentiated manifestations of a homogenous substance. And mind you, this is not mere metaphysical speculation. Modern science is leading us to this conclusion as well.

    In Albert Einstein’s profound words - “A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty”.

    Our oneness with creation is therefore not just a spiritual and metaphysical speculation.  Climate Change and Environmental concerns therefore cannot be divorced from our inner lives; the problem, and my implication, the solutions are not outside us; these are verily a part of us – environmental issues are a consequence of what we think and how we act. Although we may not be conscious of it, we are experiencing and living it every moment; it is an organic part of how and where we live.

    This essential oneness of humans with creation has been articulated over the ages in unequivocal terms. Many of us genuinely want minimal damage to the environment, and in our own way we try different methods – from our individual behaviors that include  reducing consumption of products, reusing them, up cycling them, recycling to environmental activism. Many also think of converting their entire lifestyles into sustainable ways of living. And this is a need of the hour but is it enough?

    Also, it is a fallacy to assume that appropriate technology and money will clean the mess because technology and investment, useful as they are, cannot be the panacea for all the problems. Neither will be fully up to speed with increasing need, and we will forever be in a mode of mitigation, as against being in a mode of primary prevention.

    It is clear that trying to understand nature and creation, and approaching environmental protection, conservation and issues of climate change by looking at life and the world around us in a fragmented piecemeal way will not work. We have to see it comprehensively in all its possible dimensions, and holistically in terms of a connectedness between various elements.

    The question is - how do we approach the problem in a holistic, harmonious and sustainable way? What will be our approach to finding sustainable and transformative solutions? Where and how do we begin? What are the underlying cultural and paradigmatic shifts that we need to bring about for a true transformation, as against making incremental changes that are constantly trying to catch up with increasing unmet needs?

    The paradigm for transformation from within comes from the Gandhian principles: It is fairly easy to understand interconnectedness and interdependence of life - within and without - from an intellectual dimension, but then, intellectual understanding does not necessarily ensure transformation. We know that smoking is harmful, but why do we still smoke? Why is this deep conflict between knowledge and action? In the Mahabharata, a poignant line spoken by Duryodhana captures this human dilemma: “Janami dharma, na cha pravritti; janami adharma na cha nivritti”. I know what is right but I have no inclination for it; I know what is wrong, but I can’t desist. Gandhiji also nicely captured these perversions that everyone should be aware of. These are:
-Wealth Without Work
-Pleasure Without Conscience
-Knowledge Without Character
-Business Without Ethics
-Science Without Humanity
-Religion Without Sacrifice
-Politics Without Principle

    These principles of Gandhi ji act as a guide to protect humanity and to tackle climate change or a selfish social life which has brought the earth to the brink of environmental disaster. It is only when we connect to our inner consciousness and resolve our inner contradictions and conflicts between our knowledge, thoughts, emotions and actions that we will embrace, as a fundamental truth of existence, the essential interconnectedness and oneness of life.  How do we resolve this contradiction, this conflict? How do we awaken our inner consciousness about our environment and then realize it in our conscious actions? Once we become conscious that we are a part of the whole, of a continuum, then how can we pollute the water that we drink, contaminate the air that we breathe or poison the river and destroy the life giving forest?

    Mahatma Gandhi said there is enough in this world for everyone’s need but not enough for even one’s greed. The inspiration for combating climate change has to come from within. Every action we perform contributes toward some aspect of the world. Just being conscious of that will keep us inspired. Inspired souls are those who will change the world.

    The operative word is inner. If we are convinced in our innermost selves that we have to stop the abuse of the environment, we will do so. It comes naturally. If, for example, you are convinced from within that vegetarianism is good for yourself and for the world, it won’t take a second to stop eating meat. If you are convinced from within that plastics in the oceans are destroying all marine life, it doesn’t take a second to stop using plastics. We don’t really need a straw to sip our coffee or drink or use plastic shopping bags.

    Professor David Cortright spoke at the UN on Gandhi and Climate Action on October 2, 2019 and analysed how Gandhian principles measure up with the need for Climate action. 

    Gandhian Simplicity, selflessness and humble service to others and non-possession, revealed a profound truth about the roots of our current crisis, and he was pointing toward the pathway to a more sustainable future. If India were to follow the industrialism and economic imperialism of the West, he warned, it would “strip the world bare like locusts.” Gandhi’s critique of excessive materialism calls into question our constant striving and demand for more goods. In calling for fewer wants and less consumption, we needn’t go about in loincloth or live in an ashram. But we can commit ourselves to living more simply and modestly. Those of us who have achieved middle class status must demand less for ourselves and share more with others, especially the less advantaged.

    Equity : In his famous Talisman, he said we should ask ourselves how our actions will affect the poorest and the weakest. We know that the harmful effects of pollution and climate chaos fall disproportionately upon the poor and powerless. The rich and mighty can move to higher ground or cooler climes, but the impoverished do not have that option.

    Nonviolence : Gandhi’s most important contribution to the world, is his philosophy and method of nonviolence. He was greatly influenced in this line of thinking by Thoreau and Emerson He rejected violence because it is based on domination and coercion. Peace on the other hand is rooted in cooperation and freedom. Peace and nonviolence are indivisible. Life is sacred, and all living beings are interrelated.
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    As we strive to live peacefully with our fellow human beings, we must also be at peace with the earth. With all of our energy and strength, we must take up the responsibility to protect and preserve this precious, vulnerable envelope of air, water and soil that sustains all life and that is increasingly in peril due to our own actions.

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Our Tech Futures: Digital Diplomacy, A Practitoner's View

Digital Diplomacy: A Practitioner's View

Diplomacy has two essential dimensions, each feeding into and complimenting the other. The first is to achieve the Foreign Policy goals of a country. In India’s case it is to facilitate the internal transformation of India by leveraging the external environment. The vehicles of India's transformation are the people and resources within India, India’s foreign partners and the Indian diaspora. We as Indian diplomats have to link and connect the last two to the first and vice versa. The second dimension is Public Diplomacy which basically means reacting and responding substantively with the operating environment, both within the country and outside the country and also obtaining feedback from it. It needs to operate in an incessant and virtuous loop.

Diplomacy has changed in the 20th century and even more so in the 21st century. In a conventional sense, diplomacy comprised of communication between governments, not direct communication between a foreign government and population of another. It could have been regarded as a breach of sovereignty. Between the invention of the radio and social media, the meaning has totally changed with a strong element of Public Diplomacy, a term first heard in the 1920-30s featuring in the diplomatic tool box. If we refer to the radio age then BBC, VOA were and still are tools of Public Diplomacy of these powers. 

When we talk about Digital Diplomacy, there are various aspects that need to be considered. Does it only affect Public Diplomacy or does it also make and influence the craft and practice of Diplomacy. There seem to be two schools of thought regarding Digital Diplomacy. The first claims that it is a new tool in the conduct of Public Diplomacy. The second maintains that it increases the ability to interact with both domestic and foreign public and actively engage with them thereby enabling the transition from monologue to dialogue and thereby influences diplomacy as a whole. So perhaps the best definition of Digital Diplomacy would incorporate both perspectives and state that: Digital Diplomacy is the growing use of ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) and social media platforms by a country in order to achieve its Foreign Policy goals and practice Public Diplomacy.

Digital Diplomacy is thus the use of ICTs to help achieve diplomatic objectives. I would not restrict digital diplomacy to only Public Diplomacy. I would like to posit that it is the use of digital technologies in and by the Foreign offices, be it for internal management, consular work or reaching out to people. 

Prime Minister Modi has placed "Digital India” at the heart of India’s development strategy. The objective is to create a digitally empowered society and infuse technology into government, healthcare and education. The Ministry of External Affairs (Indian Foreign Office) have taken a lead in implementing the Prime Minister’s vision of Digital India. 

Digital technologies have changed the way how we work within the Indian Foreign Office. And here one is not referring to computerisation, data storage and use of email and the internet. We are increasingly using several next generation digital technologies to change the way we work and communicate. Notable among them is eSamikhsa, an online application for data collection and analysis and very recently launched online dashboard of MEA which allows to communicate to people on a real time basis what we are doing. Here are some ways in which we are using digital technologies: 

A: Digital tools have helped in improving internal management and communications:
(i) Better internal management, MEA dashboard, Online Collaboration Sheets (OCS) sheets, Intranet, eSamiksha; 
(ii) Grievance redress- Twitter has emerged as an important tool for this. With no intermediaries, even a common citizen can reach out to the senior most functionaries. The use of digital tools has strengthened democracy; 
(iii) New opportunities for external engagement: in these times it is impossible to convey what we do and what we think without the use of the new tools. Emails are dinosaurs. They come in waves and if you miss checking your mails one day, you are drowned. So dashboard based monitoring and responding is the only sure way of communicating. At the Consulate level we have developed Pramit or Pravasi Mitra. Pramit is a dashboard based web application/response management system which assures 100% response within one business day. No query is missed, no one is left behind; 
(iv) Consular emergencies, both at personal level and at a national/international level, we are just a tweet away. One just tweets tagging us with a personal inconvenience and we respond within minutes and 
(v) Use of Twitter and Facebook during the evacuations that we did, most recently in Yemen. These help in sharing information and bringing people together by mobilizing people for common action. 

B. Public Diplomacy: Use of Social Media gives us enormous power in communication. Countries such as India who do not have a BBC or VOA or Russia Today have these social media tools available to us and we also have been able to develop enormous outreach similar to other leading powers of the world. Digital Diplomacy through Social Media has made dialogue possible replacing monologue of the earlier avatar of Public Diplomacy. Such two way communication offers more opportunities for engagement with foreign public and domestic stakeholders. 

But Public Diplomacy is more than just having Social Media tools at one’s disposal. A modern diplomat has to be well versed in writing both telegrams and tweets. In some ways the luxuries of the past i.e. the telegram and the diplomatic bag have all but disappeared. Now it is instant communication. We have to show nimbleness in communication, reading and digesting social media and making sense of it is a continuous task. In Digital Diplomacy Content is the key. Also staying on the message, positive messaging and never to get involved in spats, negativity and criticism of others is the hallmark of the Indian digital diplomacy.  Our Foreign Office has been very fortunate as it has been led from the top. Our leaders have shown us the path. 

However, one cannot afford being carried away in Social Media interactions. We are not soldiers in a trolling army. We cannot always be reactive to the environment. As diplomats we have to find time and space for contemplation and analysis. We are not only reporters. We are also creators of news. Just retweeting tweets doesn’t make one a digital diplomat. Just having a Twitter or  a Facebook account doesn’t mean that an organization is digitally savvy or is digital in its outreach and approach. 

There are also many challenges and limitations to Digital Diplomacy as well: Getting the digital code in the DNA of foreign office is the key. The fear, resistance, apprehension has to mitigate. Also at the end of it all Digital Public Diplomacy can only be practiced with members of the digital society. Are those who are not digitally literate beyond the purview of the Digital Diplomacy? That is the question that all practitioners of Digital Diplomacy have to deal with.  

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Moving from the general to the specific, I here narrate some personal experiences of being a 'digital diplomat', both using it for internal management and for Public Diplomacy. I must confess that I have transformed from being wary of Tweeter to now being tweeple. In the late 2000s I was wary as my former boss, was a pioneer in the use of Twitter for political messaging but was always getting into trouble with his bosses because of his tweets. So I’d advise him to refrain from tweeting. But he was certainly ahead of his times and was confident that people would get used to his tweets. I understand now what he had meant.

Presently, in the Consulate , we are active on a frequently updated Website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and LinkedIn. We have brought about uniformity in our addresses: all our platforms have the same handle, simple and easy to remember, use and communicate- @indiainnewyork.  A confession is also in order. In a bid to reach out to young people, we tried to be on Snapchat. But we haven't been able keep pace with it as it is just too fast and ephemeral for us. Another advice that we have been getting from media consultants worth sharing is that Facebook is a more reliable Social Media platform than Twitter. This is because it is much more difficult to open a Facebook account than a Twitter account. So the genuineness of the person interacting with us is better established on Facebook. On Twitter we frequently encounter nameless and faceless persons who troll us or are abusive and make unreasonable demands. 

Our Website is the most visited platform. Since we revamped it in June 2018, it has registered almost 1.7 million hits, more than 100,000 hits a month. Hosting of our web application Pramit on the website encourages people to visit our website. This makes our web application serve a dual purpose- it forces a behavioral change in the applicant as he/she use the app to reach out to us. As the app is located on our website, the applicant is obliged to visit the website and then see for himself/herself what is happening at the Consulate. 

Being posted to New York where we use Social Media extensively in our daily diplomatic duties, I can cite several cases of timely and effective use of Social Media to help to contain and manage tricky and difficult situations. In October 2017 there was a terror attack in Manhattan. The news spread like wildfire in India. From the very beginning the question on our mind was about Indian victims. We reached out to our NYPD friends and were able to find out that there were no victims of Indian origin. This news was promptly put out on Twitter and helped in calming anxiety. Another case of effective use of Twitter which comes readily to mind is the attack on an Indian Swamiji (monk) in Queens, New York. I immediately reached out to him, met him and tweeted a picture with him conveying that he was well and police had arrested the assailant. This was picked up by the Indian media and effectively dealt with rising concerns in India. Another example was the murder of members of a Sikh family in Ohio. I immediately spoke to the Police and family members and could determine that it was not a hate crime. This view was promptly tweeted and once again we were able to deal with a potentially explosive situation. 

Another example of constructive use of Social Media comes to mind. After the Pulwana terror attack, Viveik Patel, a young man from Virginia, started a drive on Facebook to collect funds for the victims. I was one of the first to endorse him and many people reached out to me about the authenticity of the person. I asked him and some of the persons who had doubts to come and see me in the Consulate. They all came and we had a meeting where Viveik explained his model and said that there was no way he could misuse the funds. We agreed to send the money to the Bharat ke Veer account operated by the Ministry of Home Affairs. We took a picture and posted on Facebook and Twitter which was shared widely. Our endorsement removed doubts and this fund on Facebook went on to raise more than a million dollars. Later on we worked with the American India Foundation to transfer the money to Bharat ke Veer. A proactive role by us on Social Media allowed for raising funds for a worthwhile cause in India. These cases highlight the power of Social Media tools and the need to use them quickly and effectively when the situation arises. Today;s diplomats have to be Social Media Savvy.  Diplomats need to shun the stock phrase - I’m not Social Media or Tech savvy. If you are not Tech or Social Media savvy can you be savvy Diplomat? 

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The Revenge of the Vegetarian, #HumorinDesiLife

Growing up in a Bengali family, being a so called non vegetarian has been second nature to me. Bengalis are as non-vegetarian as can be. My father earned a government doctor's pittance of a salary which would run out well before the month was over. He was an avid fish lover and as a result he had a running credit account with the fishmongers of Delhi's INA market. I recollect my mother always asking us when we returned home after attending wedding receptions whether the food was vegetarian or non-vegetarian. If the answer was vegetarian, she had little interest in going any further. Only if our hosts had passed the non-vegetarian test would my mother venture to ask about the bride and her jewelry. By growing up in such an environment, I had little understanding of vegetarians and had never taken them seriously. I was a kind of a non-vegetarian fundamentalist, experimenting and trying to convince people to eat meat, almost disrespectful of people who didn't enjoy it. I remember this episode from first year in management school (IIFM, Bhopal) when as mess secretary I asked the mess boy to reheat the left over lunch and serve it as dinner for the vegetarians while the non-vegetarians had fresh chicken curry to feast on. Not unexpectedly I was unceremoniously dumped from the post of the mess secretary the very next day. Since then life has tried to make me understand vegetarians and vegetarianism in greater detail and I have begun to appreciate why people are vegetarian and become vegetarian. Vegetarianism is an evolved concept involving great deal of self-control and perhaps is the solution to many of our global challenges including climate change and violence. And my own personal world has also evolved and changed.

One may think that being vegetarian is plain and simple. Or food is a simple and binary choice- either you meat or not. It is not. It is not only a choice between being shakahari or niramish (vegetarian) and masahari or amish (meat eater or non-vegetarian). Perhaps we are all more mishrahari (omnitarians, if such a word exists). 

In the West people may be mostly vegans or meat eaters, although even in the West and particularly in the US, there are many complications in food habits as people are eating less meat as eating meat is becoming less trendy. Americans eat about a third less beef than they did in the 1970s, even though an average American consumes almost 215 pounds of meat per person per year as per OECD data of 2016. Traditional meat eaters are moving away from it and alternatives such as 'beyond meat plant based burgers' are booming. Some change is due to health reasons and some due to impact meat production has on carbon emissions. The New York Mayor has introduced 'Meatless Mondays' in schools and something impossible to even visualize in the past i.e. the 'impossible burger' a meatless patty burger is now a new rage. One now often runs into Americans who say that they do not eat meat, are vegetarians and eat only fish. Some others are vegetarian on some days, by choice, and not on others. Veganism is also growing and thanks to it, these days it is easy for Indian vegetarians to find food in American restaurants. Early immigrants tell horror stories of having to survive on bread, butter, milk and bananas only. Even vegetarian soup had meat broth. 

In India, we are used to being vegetarian or non-vegetarian. In airlines and railways, the constant, irritating if not annoying query of stewards is always: "Sir veg or non-veg?". Unmindful of foreigners, whether they understand or not. But dig deep and it isn't so simple. The vegetarian pantheon has many gods. Even the orthodox 'Hindu Vegetarian Meal' can be quite varied.  Our food also has a philosophical underpinnngs  (from the Ayurveda)  in terms of being Sattwic (originates from the word for true or truth), Rajasic (root is raj meaning royal) and Tamasic (root is tamas meaning darkness). Tamasic food is supposed to arouse basic instincts while Sattwic food has a calming effect on the body. Rajasic food is balanced. Sattwic food is recommended, tamasic food is best avoided and rajasic food is acceptable. So many foods classified as tamasic are not used in preparation of devabhog (food offered to Gods in temples). Onions and Garlic are clearly tamasic and never used in preparation of devabhog. Even among lentils, moong is the most sattwic while masoor is considered tamasik.  Traditionally, for many, vegetarianism is not a matter of choice but a question of birth and rites of passage. Hindu widows, traditionally, are supposed to live very austere lives and only consume sattvic foods. If you are born Jain, you are likely to be vegetarian. If you are a Hindu from Gujarat your food choice is destined to be restricted to vegetarian fare. If from Bengal, then it is most likely that you are non-vegetarian or at least a fish eater. Bengalis are synonymous with fish and that too river fish. A Kashmiri, whether Pandit or Muslim, is a compulsive meat eater and consumes mostly goat meat. It is no longer only a question of where you are born or born veg or non-veg, but also choices and circumstances.  Food choices are layered and textured and needs probing. Far from being binary, it is actually quite impossible to classify food habits of people, even vegetarians. 

Westerners reporting on Indian vegetarianism is lop-sided and agenda driven. Recent reports border on proclaiming loudly that India is actually a non-vegetarian country, many even eat beef and number of vegetarians in India may actually may be quite small. This is done mostly by foreigners, even of Indian origin, who are not willing to understand the deep seated psyche of Indian vegetarianism. Even the most compulsive meat eater in India also eats at the same time, if not simultaneously, then consecutively, lot of vegetarian food. Meat and fish is not cheap and even compulsive non vegetarians have days when they do not eat meat such as during festivals, shraddh, in case of death in the family and on many other occasions. Vegetarianism all over the world is a complex phenomenon and means different things to different people.

Speaking to people and media reporting in recent times and of course out of my own life experience, I try to bring some method in the madness by attempting a classification  of how being vegetarian may mean different things to different people. It is a spectrum ranging from being very strict due to religious ordain to being flexible depending on the environment and conditions. I have been able to find 10 types of vegetarianism. It is a classification of diets and not people, and exceptions are there. One can always find a Jain eating meat and a Bengali detesting fish and also Muslims who do not enjoy meat. Here I am tempted to narrate this tale shared by my colleague,Vipul Mesariya, whose college mate was once waxing eloquent on how tasty the chicken curry he had that evening was. When his friends pointed out that he was a Jain, he replied quite nonchalantly that the chicken had been prepared in the Jain style- without onions and garlic.

1. Vegan: mostly Western concept. Avoid everything of animal origin. So milk, cheese, yogurt and even honey are out. Of course no types of meat, fish or eggs can be included in the diet. Extreme vegans also exclude contact with leather and are PETA supporters, and have rebellious, environmental, progressive undertones. It is revolutionizing the culinary scene in the US, although tofu based veggie meat mimicry can challenge one's taste buds. 

2. Jain Vegetarian: all meats, fish and eggs are out. Onion and garlic are not allowed and neither are root vegetables such as potato, radish, carrots, yam and cassava. In the strict sense even ginger is off the table. In the relaxed Jain diet however, potatoes and ginger are in. Some may extend it to include onions and garlic even. But eggs and all meat are forbidden. Significantly, due to the efforts of Jain monks, Palitana in Bhavnagar, Gujarat has become the first vegetarian city in India where sale of eggs and meat has been banned since 2014.

3. Vaishnav Vegetarian: mostly practiced by Goswamis of Brindavan, ISKCONites and other communities. For them all meats and fish are out. But milk is in. But onion and garlic is a big no no, although ginger is kosher. They are very strict with their diet and go the extent of seeing ingredients in food packaging and know which ingredient has animal origin and which do not. Many carry small lists with them and can be found cross checking while purchasing  bread or cookies. In this category we could also find food that is prepared in temples (devabhog) such as the delicious Khichri  offered to Lord Jagannath in Puri. 

4. Normal Vegetarian: this is the classic category. No meat or fish. Not even eggs. But eat all foods of plant origin and milk products. Not fussy with onion or garlic. This is the most prevalent type of vegetarianism in India. The only catch could be individual preferences, some can't withstand the taste of Tofu, others don't like some particular vegetables. Most South Indians can't figure out the taste of paneer (cottage cheese) and wonder why north Indians are so excited about it.  Notable vegetables detested by people are eggplant (variously called as brinjals or aubergines), bitter gourd (karela) and some others. I personally don't understand why people buy and cook the vegetable known as Kundru in India. 

5. Vegetarian Egg Eaters: They are more like normal vegetarians as mentioned in 4 above but also eat and enjoy eggs, in all preparations i.e. hidden in cakes or presented as omelettes or hard boiled. A variant of this category is those who eat eggs only when unseen or concealed away as part of cakes or cookies or ice cream. An egg omelette is off putting for them but they can't detect the smell or taste of eggs once it is baked or cooked.  Their love for cakes or ice cream over rides their distaste for eggs. It is noteworthy that among egg eaters one finds the maximum fuss as well. Many detest the strong smell of hard boiled eggs and others run away from runny eggs. Some like sunny side up while others prefer to make it dark by frying their eggs twice over. I personally can't figure out how some, particularly wrestlers, drink raw eggs mixed in their milk. Still more curious is the latest fad of eating egg white omelettes and frittatas. How is egg even egg without the yolk? 

6. Vegetarian but enjoy non-veg curries: a small but discernible group.  They are normal vegetarians, may or may not eat eggs but they enjoy the taste of meat or fish curry but cannot tolerate the pieces.  They are found mostly enjoying the curry in parties or outside their homes. At home any non vegetarian cooking is sacrilegious.

7. Vegetarian but OK with boneless meat: bones are testimony of carnage and animal origin. So as long as it is boneless or kababs they cannot distinguish between animal protein and milk protein such as cheese or paneer. You may think I am making this category up, but I have a friend from Udhampur who enjoys kababs and tikkas but cannot eat chicken leg pieces or lamb chops. Seeing the bones makes him feel queasy. This culinary adventure of course happens outside their homes mostly at weddings or parties.

8. Vegetarian, Yes Sir, but at home only: Due to cultural factors, for some, pure normal vegetarianism is only followed at home, but outside, (mostly a friend's place or at parties) they cannot wait to feast on meats. At weddings they are almost attached to the pots from where meat is being served and they become exclusively non-vegetarian. There are several variants of this and the reverse works as well. I have seen  Kashmiris eat meat only in Kashmir (as they are assured of its halal source) but moment they come to Delhi or go elsewhere they eat only vegetarian food and no meat. 

9.  Normal vegetarian but becomes  a non-vegetarian when drinking: this category is the most unique. Alcohol has an over whelming influence in deciding one's eating habits. So accompaniment of kababs and tikkas are a must for a merry evening.

10. Day-to-day Vegetarian: Basically they are non-vegetarians but become vegetarian on particular days of the week, mostly on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursday and Saturdays. They create the most confusion because if you serve them vegetarian on the day they are non-vegetarian they get most offended. Also no non-veg food during religious festivals such as Navaratri or during the month of Shravan (rainy season) complete the characterization of this group.

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Today, although I remain non-vegetarian, my life and work involves dealing with vegetarians. At the professional level, one of the first public invites I received in New York was to address the convention of "Vegan Vision". I said no to H.K.Shah, Chairman of Vegan Vision USA on the grounds that I didn't have the conviction to speak to his congregation. To him, "being vegan is a way of expressing love for the environment, no cruelty to animals and health". Shah is vegetarian by birth and has turned vegan in the US. At 88, he is full of energy and is championing the case of vegetarianism and veganism as a matter of choice.  I subscribe to his ideals but have to change fundamentally before I can address his flock. 


All over the world vegetarianism/veganism is getting popular.  As climate change becomes a major concern for young people, plant based diets are seen as way of reducing our carbon imprints. Also the modern methods and manners in which meat and milk is produced is very upsetting to many.  They cannot just get around to consuming meat. So there are more vegetarians among us then one can guess. The best way is to clearly state one's choices- what is acceptable and what is not. Most do not understand what pure vegetarians or day-to-day vegetarians are all about. 

At home, my wife turned vegetarian about 5 years back because "she answered the call of her body" and says that for her being vegetarian means "being humane'. She, however, eats eggs in all preparations and also milk products. Her definition of vegetarian doesn't include fish much to the dismay of her Bengali in-laws. My daughter turned vegetarian a year ago, overnight, influenced by a Netflix movie 'Okja' and a documentary 'Food, Inc.', basically on where your food comes from, showing the inhuman way meat is produced. After that she just couldn't eat any meat or fish. Her determination is noteworthy as she turned from being an avid lover of fish and meats to being totally vegetarian although she includes eggs in her diet. Her twin sister on the other hand is a picky non-vegetarian restricting herself to the meats we normally eat in India. Then she made a deal. Yes! what a deal!!! If she gets into her favorite college without sweat, then she'll become a vegetarian. So in the immediate family of four, from having two and a half vegetarians, very soon I will be the only one. Sweet revenge for the fundamentalist.

I conclude with some Desi Humor, yes a vegetarian joke. A vegetarian Indian Union Cabinet Minister was visiting Shanghai in 2005. We had advised the hosts that he was a pure vegetarian. True to their word, they served vegetarian food at the State banquet. But all the courses had food shaped as animals such as chicken, cow or lamb depending on the non-vegetarian menu. This was revolting to the Minister who couldn't get around to eating animals even if they were made of potatoes or cheese. So he remained hungry. Even the dessert was bird shaped.  In desperation he asked the steward what the others were having for dessert. The answer was ice-cream. So the Minister asked for ice-cream. The Chinese hosts would hear none of it as the ice-cream, they insisted, contained egg and they were under strict instructions that the Indian Minister was a pure vegetarian. I had to face a hungry (angry) Minister in the hotel lobby when he returned from the banquet. He regaled us with this story when thereafter we went to an Indian restaurant looking for normal vegetarian food. 



Picture courtesy & title inspiration: The Revenge of the non-vegetarian by Upamanyu Chatterjee.
Article inspiration: anonymous video on tic toc.
                                      

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Changing the Narrative, Seizing the Initiative

Changing the Narrative

For the past almost 100 years those behind the idea of Pakistan have been seizing the narrative and forcing us to be reactive. They have always provoked conflict and then pretended to be victim. Through this strategy they have got away with murder and genocide, exterminating their own people and hardly facing any consequences. We have always been on the defensive. Two illuminating examples are: i) the efforts that it took India to explain to the world that genocide was happening in erstwhile East Pakistan and ii) that India is a victim of cross-border terrorism, which was fomenting the separatist movement in Kashmir.

Since before it's creation, proponents of the Pakistan ideology have bred and cultivated hatred against India. Their raison-de-etre is contra-India. While the list of what they have been doing is endless here is an attempt to enumerate a few instances:

- Formation of Muslim League and demand for Pakistan;

- Collaboration with the British during the World War II;

- Forcing the decision on the formation of Pakistan by perpetrating the Great Calcutta killings;

- Massacre of innocents during the partition;

- Making India the sole target & focus of its foreign policy and diplomacy, always attempting to humiliate India in international forums; while parroting the demand for implementation of UNSC resolutions, conveniently ignoring to implement their own obligations;

- the calculated nexus with China, which is clearly anti-India;

- joined international alliances during the Cold War such as SEATO and CENTO to obtain military advantage against India;

- genocide in Bangladesh & no trials of the war criminals;

- systematic elimination of religious and ethnic minorities- Hindus, Christians, Shias, Ahmediyas, Pashtuns, Mohajirs, amongst others - they have either been forced to convert or fled the country and those who remain there are in perpetual fear as second class citizens;

- propping up a medieval ideology in terms of the Taliban and thereby;

- blatantly undermined the Western/US military in Afghanistan resulting in the failure of their efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan;

- mercilessly destroyed the culture and identity of its constituent provinces- Sindh, Balochistan and NWFP;

- in the name of fighting terrorism, perpetrated genocide on the Pashtuns in FATA; bombed and strafed civilians using bombers, helicopter gunships and fighter aircraft;

- develop a military state, constantly at war with India;

- started (and lost) 4 wars with India- 1948, 1965, 1971 & 1999, bringing misery to mostly to their own people;

- have ceaselessly tried to change the balance of power in the region by inducting advanced weapon systems such as F-16, developed a clandestine nuclear and missile programme with the help of proliferators;

- support terrorism in Punjab;

- blatantly support Kashmiri separatists and perpetrate terrorism in India resulting in killing of more than 40,000 people in Kashmir itself;

- being behind the violence against the Kashmiri Pandits resulting in their flight from the valley;

- openly support hijacking of civilian aircraft and give sanctuary to hijackers

(the Kandahar case among others);

- give shelter to terrorists and criminals, be it Masood Azhar or Dawood or Osama Bin Laden;

- while claiming to be the saviour of Kashmir, deviously ceded part of the Pakistan occupied territory of Kashmir to China;
- separated Gilgit Baltistan from so called Azad Kashmir and almost made it into what is euphemistically called as 'Northern Areas', the country's fifth province;

- changing the demography in Occupied Kashmir. So much so that the President of the so called Azad Kashmir is a non-Kashmiri;

- systematically destroying Kashmiri culture in occupied Kashmir;

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Today, August 5, 2019, with the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, India has changed the narrative and seized the momentum. It is a momentous day for India. It will take time to see and realize the implications of today's decision. The struggle is generational, what has been done will benefit future generations of Indians. It has an important collateral of taking out the wind of Pakistan's sails. Pakistan has always tried to change the status quo with respect to its neighbours be it India (through aggression and cross-border terrorism) or Afghanistan (it's strategic depth policy). In recent times, they had once again demanded of world powers (notably US) to bring pressure on India to negotiate on Kashmir in return for helping in Afghanistan. Now that India has changed the status quo by actions entirely internal and domestic, it is crying wolf. This move by India has deprived Pakistan of their blackmailing strategy vis-a-vis Afghanistan. They will now scramble to find another narrative to play victim hood. Another false narrative that has been peddled for too long and not been countered is the so called "right to self determination" of the people of Kashmir. It is totally absurd, baseless and illegal as is the right of say the people of Kosi Kalan or Kolkata to self determination. The aspirations of the people of India for self determination have been met through the "India Independence Act 1947". Period. No other peoples of India have that right. The Indian union is now permanent and indestructible. For eternity.

A new era has dawned today for India and the people of Kashmir. The idea of India has been strengthened. We will be the story tellers now on and we will tell our story.