Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai?

The world will keenly watch when the "world's factory" and the "world's back-office" come together. This would bring into reality the much cherished dream of Deng Xiaoping—that of an "Asian century".

—Xi Jinping, the current President of China (before his 2014 visit to India)

The above words underline the importance of cooperation between, while mentioning their respective strengths, the two largest countries of Asia in the current world-order when the world is moving away from the unipolarity induced by the US hegemony towards multi-polarity having BRICS as an important pole. The UN Human Development Report's (UNHDR 2013) title had clearly stated this—the rise of the Global South.

India and China shared cordial relations during what most historians refer to as ancient history. Chinese travellers Fa-Hien (4th century AD) and Hiuen Tsang (7th century AD) visited India to know about the various facets of Indian culture and education, especially Buddhism. In the modern historical period, India and China shared a colonial past. They were part of the triangular opium trade that the British merchants carried on to enrich their land from the resources sucked out of these two regions. Thereafter, India and China became 'independent' at nearly the same time—India gained dominion status from the British in 1947; the Chinese Communists under Mao Zedong overthrew the rule of Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang in 1949.

1954 marked an important year when India's Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the Chinese Premier Chou Enlai adopted the 'Panchsheel'—the five principles of peaceful co-existence—as a foreign policy basis. Post 1959 (when Dalai Lama and his other Tibetan followers took a refuge in India), the feedback given to Nehru by his sister Vijaylakshmi Pandit and his close aide V.K. Krishna Menon about the soft and cordial nature of Mao Zedong led Nehru (who also held the external affairs portfolio) to have the nation go his idealistic way and underestimate the ground situation. This came to picture in the 1962 Sino-Indian war which exposed the Indian foreign policy loopholes and forced Nehru to make his friend Krishna Menon resign from the post of the defence minister.

A look from that year to the present year shows that Sino-Indian relations have come a long way from the mere rhetoric of "Hindi-Chini Bhai-Bhai" (the Indians and the Chinese are brothers). The remarkably close cooperation between the two nations clearly brings out the fact that different domestic political systems do not stand as a barrier in the relations between the two countries. Of course—the changing world-order post-Cold War (post 1991), the changing geo-politics of the Asia-Pacific region, increased globalization and liberalization of the two economies, increased environmental concerns, the nuclear status of the two countries—all have their share in the present state of relations.

Common Economic Interests

China took on the route to liberalization much before India did so—Deng Xiaoping was instrumental in bringing that transition for his country in 1979; that for India was ushered in by P.V. Narasimha Rao (Indian PM) and Manmohan Singh (Indian Finance Minister) in 1991. China worked upon its strongest area, i.e., manufacturing sector, and that has led to it being called the "world's factory" now. Meanwhile, Indians worked upon their strength in the service sector, especially the Information Technology/Information Technology enabled Services (IT/ITeS) sector. This has helped India win the phrase "world's back office" for itself. In the current scenario, both countries will immensely benefit from a symbiotic association. Or, they could benefit from free trade principles using the concept of comparative advantage. However, India needs to take adequate steps in one aspect—the free trade can at times be detrimental to certain sectors of its domestic industry. Take the case of Chinese electronics equipments and Chinese solar panels. Given that these equipment manufacturers are heavily subsidized in China, the reduced cost of such items can be prohibitive to the fair growth of Indian industry. India and China have pledged to take the bilateral trade to USD 100 Billion by the year 2015. A cause of concern in this regard is that the Balance of Trade is skewed heavily in favour of China. This has been brought to the notice of the Chinese President in his current visit.

Another area of cooperation between the largest economy of Asia and its third largest economy is on the investment front. President Jinping has pledged an investment of USD 20 Billion in India in the coming 5 years. This is a big achievement. Perhaps the predicted reviving economic growth rates for India (by the International Monetary Fund and the World Economic Forum) coupled with the investor-friendly government fuelled by the new popularly-elected stable government  in India is to be credited for this.

Multilateral Cooperation

The BRICS grouping and the decision to establish a New Development Bank with a corpus of USD 100 Billion taken at the 2014 BRICS summit, the Contingency Reserve Arrangement to help the BRICS countries facing economic hassles—all seem to be developing countries' response to the Bretton Woods institutions, whose conditionality is perceived to be way too intrusive in the domestic sphere of the developing countries.

Climate Change talks have been an area of India-China solidarity via the BASIC grouping. The principle of "Common But Differentiated Responsibility" (CBDR) is a thread that binds the two countries on the pedestal of equitable development opportunities.

Further, India's membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) may pave the way for forming a strong bonding with the Central Asian countries in a grouping which is free of western intervention. Right now, India, Iran and Pakistan are observers in SCO.

Land Boundary Dispute

This conundrum seems to be the hardest nut to crack. The recurrence of media reports about "Chinese intrusions" in the Ladakh area of Jammu & Kashmir is due to the different perceptions about the land boundary by India and China. Similarly, China's issuance of stapled visas to the residents of Arunachal Pradesh of India has been stridently condemned by the Indian government. India respects China's claims to the Tibet Autonomous Region and in no way officially supports any "government-in-exile" of Tibet formed in Dharamshala region of Himachal Pradesh (the current place of residence of the Dalai Lama) in India. Likewise, it expects a reciprocity from China with regard to Arunachal Pradesh. A ray of light is that a Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) has been signed between China and India. At the same time, India has learnt from the 1962 debacle and has started to increase its military capabilities in the mountainous terrain. India has taken a decision to raise and train a mountain strike corps of the army in the Arunachal Pradesh region. Similarly, it displayed its air capabilities when a C-130J Super Hercules aircraft made a successful landing at a high-altitude airfield in Ladakh region.

Cultural Cooperation

India and China traditionally shared links of Buddhism. Presently, the bonhomie between the Chinese President and the Indian PM at Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat was symbolic of Rabindranath Tagore's dreams of cosmopolitanism. This goes in line with the saying in one of the Indian Upanishads—"Ayam nijah paroveti ganana laghuchetasaam, udaarcharitaanaamtu vasudhaiva kutumbakam" (i.e., demarcating things as mine and thine denotes a narrow mentality; for those with a magnanimous personality, the world is a family). The Chinese first lady too seemed to enjoy the cultural programmes put forward for her by a school in Delhi. Chinese martial art form Tai-chi and India's Yoga have crossed borders to inspire the citizens of the other country. Then, the Chinese government decision to open up a new route to Kailash Mansarovar via Nathu-La in Sikkim will cement the ties of the two countries further.

According to analysts, India needs to improve the Chinese language education in its universities. Further, increased people-to-people contacts through visa liberalization regimes (e.g., a visa-on-arrival scheme) would go a long way in establishing Track 2 diplomatic dialogue between the two countries.

Speaking of people-to-people contacts makes me deviate slightly from the ongoing essay. I had an opportunity to meet two Chinese citizens and one South African citizen in 2012. In a way, we were informal representatives of three of the BRICS countries (it is sad that my general awareness was quite unsatisfactory back then). Though I had a limited interaction with them, I found all of them quite hard-working. As I reminisce those moments, I feel that people of two countries may be separated by artificial 'national boundaries', yet the feeling of humanity is natural and a very strong connecting thread.

Other Areas of Cooperation

China has also agreed to help in the establishment of a railway university in India. This is quite understandable given the Chinese engineering supremacy in bringing high-speed trains to the Xinjiang province and at the doorstep of the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Shashi Tharoor has marvelled at the Chinese engineering feats in his book Pax Indica. India also needs to be proactive in getting water flow data in the Brahmaputra river from China, given the problems causes in Assam by the annual floods in this river. Talks have also taken place to achieve some deal on the civil-nuclear front. The Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) corridor needs to be negotiated fast as that would open immense trade opportunities for India with the other countries of the ASEAN region.

India and China are the two most populous countries of the world. To overcome the Malthusian and/or climate change-induced concerns about the food security and to meet the energy security needs, cooperation needs to be present in sharing the agricultural best practices as well as in research and development of renewable energy. Joint oil exploration by the two countries can also be undertaken in Latin America, in Africa and in Myanmar.

India-China need to prevent the smuggling of rhinoceros horns in Chinese markets for Chinese traditional medicine systems as that leads to poaching of rhinoceroses in Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam, thereby reducing the mammal's population. Similarly, China and India need to cooperate to keep a check on the smuggling of Cordyceps sinensis ('caterpillar grass') in Chinese markets which (alongwith global warming) is a threat to its survival.

Terrorism and extremism is also a cause of concern for the two countries—Islamic fundamentalism in India (by Indian Mujahideen, Al-Qaeda, etc.) and Uighur extremism in Xinjiang province of China.

India and China are stakeholders in the democratization of internet governance (especially after the Edward Snowden revelations about the US National Security Agency's PRISM programme).

India also needs to learn from the way the Chinese athletes win Olympic medals with a militaristic zeal, whereas India stands behind even small countries such as Jamaica in this aspect.

Balancing Acts

Much has been said about the "string of pearls" theory by various foreign policy and defence analysts. It asserts that China has been developing ports along the South Asian countries (Kyaukpyu in Myanmar, Sonadia in Bangladesh, Hambantota in Sri Lanka and Gwadar in Pakistan), which might even serve as military bases, to encircle India. It is also a Chinese response to the US "pivot-to-Asia" policy—a move by the US to re-position its defence and maritime forces in the Asia-Pacific region—which China perceives to be aimed at 'China containment'. The Chinese have also proposed to start the Maritime Silk Road (MSR) project to increase trade along the Indian Ocean which, again, is being watched apprehensively by realists. India is also having concerns about media reports that China is going to help build two nuclear reactors in Pakistan.

If China has been the land of Sun-Tzu, India too has been home to Chanakya. To be on the safer side (should there be merit in these theories), India has gone for establishing cordial relations with Japan (with which China has a dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea, where China has set-up an Air Defence Identification Zone) and with Vietnam and Philippines (with which China has disputes over Paracel Islands, Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea). Indian President, in his visit to Vietnam (concluded just before the Chinese President visited India) maintained that India stands for freedom of navigation in the seas. Then, India is slated to go for development of Chabahar port in Iran (which is a mere 76 km away from the Gwadar port). India also undertakes bilateral naval exercises with Singapore and Japan, bilateral army exercises with the US as well as with China and is soon going for India-Japan-US trilateral talks.

In this era of "complex interdependence" (conflict and cooperation), it is pertinent that India take pragmatic measures to ensure that the "Asian century" may indeed come while bringing equitable development to the developing countries. There shouldn't be a rise of new hegemons to usher in another round of global power politics.

Who is going to keep a watch over the Watchdog of Democracy?

Why did the Prime Minister of India frown?...Because his camera presence was hindered by his Special Protection Group commando.

What is the similarity between Rakhi Sawant and Arvind Kejriwal?

Do aliens drink milk?

These and many other similar statements are not the excerpts of informal conversations among friends, but are 'news clippings' and special reports of mainstream television news channels in the current scenario.

Media is known as the fourth pillar of democracy. It is known as the watchdog, which keeps the people informed about the social, political and economic progress of the country. Thus, an essential feature of a legitimately democratic polity is the freedom of the press.

Let us have a brief look at the historic role, starting from the 19th century, played by the media in India. Rammohan Roy, the eminent social reformer, was a prolific writer as well. He started/edited the newspapers Samvad Kaumudi (Bengali) and Mirat-ul-akhbar (Persian) to convey his message to the people. Similarly, Dadabhai Naoroji propagated his 'Drain Theory'—the drain of wealth from India to England—through the print media. Even draconian measures such as the Vernacular Press Act (1978) during the viceroyalty of Lord Lytton could not deter the fervour of the Indian vernacular language newspapers, some of which used innovation (such as turning themselves to English newspapers overnight) to keep going on with their publication without breaking the law. The persistent criticism of that legislation led to its repeal in 1881. In 1885, about one-third of the persons who attended the Bombay Session (first session) of the Indian National Congress were journalists or writers in some measure. The extremist Congress leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak used his newspapers Kesari and Mahratta to spread patriotism among the people. Gandhi, too, used his journal Harijan for appealing to the masses to curb the abhorrent practice of untouchability. The newspapers The Times of India and Hindu have been in publication since more than a century now.

Post independence, government directives to put a check on the freedom of the press during the internal emergency period (1975-1976) was severely criticized by the print media, sections of which left blank spaces in place of their editorial columns in protest; the others just closed down for some time rather than submitting to the dictates of the autocratic government. The post-independence period also saw the rising popularity of the radio (Akashvani) as a mass-medium. The 'Rajiv Gandhi era' and the Rajiv Gandhi-Sam Pitroda duo brought the communication revolution to India. The television brought into existence the Doordarshan as another mass-medium. Prasar Bharati has been established as a statutory body to oversee the functioning of the Doordarshan and the Akashvani (or All India Radio). Liberalization and privatization had its effects on the media too. The 'market forces' and the 'invisible hands' of the free-market economy brought increased competition, better coverage and effective check on the functioning of the government. Meanwhile, the movie industry had made its strong presence among the masses. Movies such as Garam Hawa, Mother India, Sangharsh, Swades, Taare Zameen Par have tried to bring various social issues to the attention of the people.

In the present scenario, the media can be divided into print media, electronic media, movies, and social media. Various debates, discussions, special coverage and articles about economic policies, social issues, politics and its various dimensions alongwith their impact on the society have played a laudable role of informing the people about the happenings around them. There are, however, certain issues that warrant a debate regarding the rights as well as the duties of the media.

Control over Media:

The State control and censorship over the press has always been a matter of debate. There is no provision in the Constitution of India that deals exclusively with the rights of media—the Article 19 provides the freedom of speech and expression as a fundamental right to citizens, which includes the media. That, of course, is subject to reasonable restrictions. But what constitutes 'reasonable' is debatable. Thus, prohibition of movie screenings (such as that of Dam 999, Vishwaroopam) in certain states on the basis of perceived hurt to the sentiments of certain communities, which may result in a law-and-order problem, continually becomes a matter of discussion. To decrease control of the government over the functioning of the Prasar Bharati, the Sam Pitroda committee has recommended the replacement of the deputationist Indian Administrative Service officers (controlled by the Department of Personnel and Training) by expert personnel through lateral recruitment. Similarly, the Prasar Bharati should be privatized to a certain limit to increase its financial autonomy. This will ensure that the motto of Akashvani—"Bahujanhitaaya Bahujansukhaaya" (for the benefit and the joy of the multitude)—holds true to its words.

Another issue under the same heading is the corporate control of media and whether big 'media houses' must be allowed to have their stake in multiple formats of the media, i.e., in print media, electronic media. The proponents of the corporate control call this as inevitable due to the requirement of capital. The opponents, on the other hand, call it a retrograde step that has the risk of the content presented to the people being controlled and filtered to suit the palate and the interests of the media house owner. Paranjoy Guha Thakurta had written an article for the Economic & Political WEEKLY outlining this aspect. Such a control would, certainly, be detrimental to the substantive aspect of the democracy; the consent for a particular viewpoint would be passively generated in the form of a Gramscian common sense, wherein no space would be allotted to the opposing viewpoint.

The corporate control of the media has one more spin-off—the quality of the news presented to the audience. This can be seen in the sensationalization of news items—a feature typical of the TV news channels these days. This can be clearly observed in the case of Hindi news channels on TV. Rahul Pandita, in an article in The Hindu, had recently written a satire on the role of the anchors of these channels. Further, since the supply of a good provided by the corporate sector is determined by the demand for that good (and thus the incentive for producing that good), which is measured by the Television Rating Points (TRP) in this case, the news that will benefit the country is many-a-time compromised for the attention-grabbing 'Breaking News' and features such as 'Saas, Bahu aur Saazish', 'Saas, Bahu aur Betiyan'. These features only cater to the needs of the section of the middle-class and the rich that vies for entertainment and not serious news items, but nonetheless, has a large power to purchase goods. Another by-product of this is the pro-urban bias of the media and a neglect of the rural issues.

Responsible Journalism, Journalistic Bias and Media Trials:

The role of a journalist is to present a news 'as it is' and not 'as what (s)he perceives it ought to be'. Thus, the reportage should be free from journalistic bias. This had been explained in detail in an article 'The Adjective Filter' written by the reader's editor of The Hindu in 2013. According to him, the journalist should refrain from using adjectives as much as possible because that would run the news item into the risk of getting coloured in a certain manner. The job of forming an opinion, on the other hand, must always be left to the reader.

Closely related to the issue of journalistic bias is the issue of 'media trials'. Since the judiciary is the whole and sole authority to pronounce the innocence or the guilt of a person, the media [to increase their TRP or newspaper sales] must not sensationalize any news item for its viewers in a manner which may project the innocence or guilt of a person on the basis of predilection.

Paid News, Opinion Polls and Exit Polls:

Another cause of concern is the phenomenon of paid news, which shows the negative role played by certain sections of the media in projecting the image of a certain candidate in the elections as conducive for development and well-being of the people.

Then, the opinion polls and exit polls need to be regulated to a certain extent as they can have the deleterious effect of compromising the substantive aspect of the democracy by shaping people perceptions about a political party or a candidate. In this case, the argument that there needs to be freedom of speech and expression for the media does not hold valid because ultimately, free and fair elections are the precursor of a democracy which will in turn ensure that the freedom of the press is not compromised in the future.

Social Media:

While the use of the social media (a by-product of the mobile telecommunication revolution) has been certified by the presence of the Prime Minister, various union ministries and police establishments on websites such as Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, there are certain issues that need to be taken care of. Social media stands the benefit of absence of editorial censorship and space constraints, and the proponents of it claim that the censorship is ascertained by 'peer review' and 'report abuse' mechanisms. Nevertheless, the speed with which unverified content can travel to a large number of places has the potential to create large mass congregation capable of disrupting the law and order and of fomenting social unrest (e.g., triggering the 'Jasmine Revolution' in Tunisia, the congregations in Tahrir Square in Egypt and in Shahbag Square in Dhaka in 2013, the murder of a techie in Pune in 2014). Thus, people must themselves ensure that what they are uploading on the social media is verified and harmless content. Further, the addiction to social media through technological appliances can cause psychosomatic disorders, mental depression, obesity, early ageing, decreased 'real world' contact, etc.

Despite this, care should be taken by the state not to misuse the Section 66A of the Information Technology Act (2000) to put unintentional acts under the ambit of criminal laws (as in the case of two girls in Maharashtra in 2013).

As I come to the end of this essay, I ask a question—who is going to keep a watch over the watchdog of democracy? Clearly, press censorship should be resorted to in the rarest of rare cases as otherwise that amounts to keeping the sentinel under the custody of the guarded. However, if the healthy role of the media is applaudable, the irresponsible role played by the media at certain times is equally deplorable. The media-persons need to stick to the ethics of journalism so that the media gets the same credit as is enjoyed by the Election Commission and the Supreme Court among the people of India.

Golden Mean is the Golden Rule

It is opined that "old is gold", atleast for those who honour the old ways. Seasoning is something that is synonymous with experience. Perhaps that is the reason why most of the jobs still have seniority as the most important attribute for promotions. Further, vintage articles have an inherent value attributed to them. This is more so when these articles become rare and, speaking colloquially, get coated with the patina of a bygone era.

Nevertheless, the present generation—our "demographic dividend"—tends to treat atleast some aspects of the old generation with an indifferent attitude at best or with a mild form of contempt in the worst. This is partly because of the friction that happens when the old traditions come to clash with the new ones. What, however, should be kept in mind is that the seasoned individuals have gone through many phases in life in an entirely different scenario, and sailed successfully through turbulent weathers. For them too, adjustment to the new customs is a big hurdle given that their methods of work had proved reasonably well for them in their times.

Change is the law of nature. In the words of a character in an Anita Desai novel, "the wheel [of time] turns and turns and turns. It never stops and stands still". Adaptation is the only [Darwinian] mechanism for survival; the other choice is to perish. It can be seen that this mechanism has been adopted by not just living beings, but institutions too, which behave as organic entities to ensure their survival. Most of my article will focus on the advertising industry and its effects on our minds. Thereafter, I'll try to present my case of why there should be a balance between the views of various age-groups of the population.

I had, long back during my school days, read a Hindi essay titled "Vigyapan Yug" (the age of advertisements). The author had commented, quite satirically, on the omnipresence of advertisement jingles in our times. The traditional methods of promotion through newspapers magazines and pamphlets were supplemented by the information and broadcasting revolutions (read radio and television). Since the 1980s, all thanks to the Information and Communication Technology revolution ushered in by Rajiv Gandhi-Sam Pitroda duo, advertisements have started travelling at a lightning pace. This has been bolstered by the social media, which has now been bestowed with government sanction as valid mass media.

Apart from the means of communication employed for advertising, the methods employed for selling products have been revised. There was a change in the nature of the television commercials to bring innovativeness in the field of marketing. The services of professional animation experts, lyricists, singers with a "different" voice, movie actors, sports persons, etc., have been employed by the "marketing experts", or "ad-gurus". The "kya aap Close-up karte hain" (do you use Close-up toothpaste?) jingle, Vodafone Zoo-zoos, "Ullu banao-ing" campaign of Idea Cellular, "milawat ke khilaaf jung" (war against adulteration) of Sahara Q-Shop are all examples of this. This "marketing" became the mantra because in the age of cut-throat competition brought by the trinity of globalisation-liberalization-privatization and the "free market economy", market forces necessitated that not only do the products need to be of uncompromising quality but the consumers also need to be made aware of the presence of these products (sometimes even at the expense of the quality because the overall selling price of the product could be kept low only if the quality was compromised, given the escalating marketing costs). It seems regrettable that news channels too have been smitten by this bug. Media as an industry (media houses being owned by corporate players) seems solely motivated by betterment of Television Rating Points (TRPs), increasing the sales of magazines/newspapers, etc. Adding to this is the "brand culture" associated with products. Big multinational corporations (MNCs), after establishing their firm hold in the market by capturing a sizeable market share among a particular segment of customers, escalate the selling price of their goods because of their supposedly superior quality and technology. The use of technological jargons as a rhetoric has the purpose of luring the consumers into believing that the product being marketed is the best in its league. Then, there is the pressure of continuously updating the products, even with trivial features, so that there is no perceived stagnation in the product among the consumers.

While criticizing the price revisions done by the MNCs, I do not say that everything is unfairly done. Some revisions have to be done due to the rising costs of inputs that go into the production. However, if the profit margins of the MNCs are scrutinized, one can very well conclude that such a burden on the consumers is unwarranted. What else can explain the fact that the showrooms sell their products during "off-season sale" at 40-50 per cent discount on the marked prices? This is done to clear the inventories. Still, it just isn't possible that these products are being sold at a loss to the company—no company/enterprise is such a philanthropist as to distribute freebies. I've even seen some of the shops place donation boxes at their counters for philanthropic/humanitarian initiatives. Since I've not researched into the veracity of their claims, I will not comment on this front.

Another aspect of this maze is the "managerial class". Most of the better brains of the nation, after passing out from top-notch engineering colleges, are lured by the private sector and the money being offered by MNCs. Thus, they go for a post-graduate diploma from a reputed "B-school". Thereafter, this managerial class acts as a link between the lower level workers and the entrepreneurs in the private sector. This very class is also the one that mans the marketing units of private sector companies. The class composition of B-school students outlines that management education is difficult to afford for lower-middle class people and those from the poor strata of society. Outliers from these B-schools are people such as Chhavi Rajawat, who use their management education to efficiently administer the Panchayati Raj Institutions in villages, thus contributing largely to the Indian society (real India still lives in the villages).

The consumers (I refer to an average middle-class consumer) do not seem to mind most of the price rises—a large fraction of these consumers themselves are accustomed to working in such MNCs, and thus, have a good purchasing power. Thus, the whole money seems to get circulated in a closed loop. The only beneficiaries of redistribution of income are the lower level workers who render their services to the people through these MNCs and the agriculturists who sell their goods as inputs to such MNCs. On the other hand, the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail sector hasn't seemed to favourably affect the interests of small and medium traders, as of now.

A positive step by the Parliament—the Companies Act, 2013—has mandated the companies (which are above a certain threshold level in terms of their annual turnover/profits/net worth) to use 2 per cent of the average profits made by them in the preceding three years under Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. Another positive step was to mandate the insurance companies to broadcast and telecast the disclaimer clauses in their policies at a slow pace on the radio and television respectively, and to publish them in large font size on the policy documents.

It is not that the advertising industry is always used to make huge monetary gains. Sometimes, social sector initiatives of the government, of NGOs reach a large spectrum of people through this very industry.

Now, I'll revert to the content of my first two paragraphs. We can learn a lot from the older generation. Any decision-maker is able to make a wise decision only after examining an issue from multiple dimensions. The previous generations have given us very good tools of analysis. Antonio Gramsci's theory of hegemony feels particularly relevant in analyzing the methods employed by the advertising industry. The intelligent amalgamation of technological jargons, marketing offers and the artificially created demand for material consumer products clearly points towards a post-modern propaganda of superstition (superstition earlier used to be mostly associated with religion). The industry has worked in such a manner as to make the consumers feel that buying "more", buying "latest" equipments are not a fad but common sense. This strategy is esoteric, confined mostly to the coterie of individuals who artificially create demand for material things in the name of better products.

It is often said that the best things in life are free [monetarily, that is; else they are priceless]. Happiness is not achieved through material comforts, given that the desire for material pleasures is otherwise insatiable. This can be seen from the examples of great men, who lived a very simple and austere life. A prominent example is of India's former President Dr Avul Pakir Jainulabdin Abdul Kalam. Another one, from an age long gone by, is of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. The tools (Gramscian) given by the older generation are very helpful in the analysis of an event, the motives behind people's behaviour, the positives and negatives of any action that we undertake, etc. The energy of the youth and the experiences of the senior generation can symbiotically work towards achieving the benefit of all. In this, the Aristotlean maxim of golden mean being the golden rule (corroborated in fiction by the imaginary place Shangri-La in James Hilton's "The Lost Horizon") comes in very handy. Thus, a mean must be taken between the two generations' views.

Beware the Shenanigans of today!

Considering the chicanery prevalent in our times, I think it is worthwhile for everyone to be a Machiavellian "fox" or a vixen. One's trust on an individual or a group should not be so irrational as to assume the proportions of blind faith. That doesn't, however, mean that the world is full of tricksters who are motivated solely by their own benefit. The world is not so simple as to fit under the binary classification of good and bad, or black and white. It involves shades of grey. A thing beneficial for someone may prove to be detrimental to some other person's interests, as is figuratively phrased in the saying—one man's food can be another man's poison. Nevertheless, it is pertinent that one follow a "scientific", i.e. rational, approach while going about in accomplishing any task. This approach involves an empirical outlook complemented by the eagerness to learn about the various dimensions that an issue can possibly have.

In the following paragraphs I'll narrate, through exemplification, why I've put forward the above views. Let us consider a number of examples (which I've cited in context of India):

• Politicians bickering (or so it may seem) over petty issues
• A beggar asking for alms
• Religious persons seeking alms in the name of God
• Youth seemingly enjoying the consumption of junk food

What is common to all the above events is the use of ideology and propaganda to create a myth about an issue.

In the first case, while some people may get tricked into the view that most of the political leaders represent the legitimate interests of their followers, what they fail to realize is that politics is also a profession. Political leaders are not motivated solely by pangs of philanthropy, but they too have their personal aspirations and ambitions. Take the case of Mohamed Ali Jinnah. A man, who entered the erstwhile British Indian political scenario as a devout secular person, put forth the two-nation theory to fulfill his personal ambitions. In his personal life, the London-educated barrister Jinnah wasn't even a practising Muslim—he had a taste for whisky and ham. What more? Having created Pakistan, he wanted to establish a secular polity in that country.

A recent example that can be cited is the controversy over the educational qualification of the Union Minister for Human Resource Development. What seems to be ridiculous is that Rabindranath Thakur (he was called Tagore by the British), who did not have a formal education, went on to win the Nobel Prize and established the Shanti Niketan—a novel innovative experiment in the field of education imparted amongst pristine natural surroundings. Though a doctorate, a masters degree or a bachelorette may be an asset, it cannot be held to be a prerequisite to appointment to the post of the education minister. Many other examples can easily be thought of.

It should also be noted that most of the people have the media as their source of information and the media itself is not free from any bias. Owing to corporate ownership of private media houses, many of them can have a decisive role in colouring an issue as per certain vested interests. Further, it should also be seen that many political leaders who may be bitter political opponents, polarized by ideological divides, seem to share good personal equations amongst themselves when it comes to matters outside politics.

I'll now consider the second example. While a human being cannot be completely devoid of emotions (because emotions are the very basis of humanity), one should try to be as objective as possible while taking decisions. A beggar asking for alms may arouse feelings of sympathy among certain people, which in turn might compel them to 'donate' alms. While these donors may be happy with a sense of achievement—alleviation of the suffering (atleast to a small extent) of the 'beggar'—it is more important to think about the underlying causes of this seemingly trivial occurrence. While the root causes are poverty and inequality in the society, this event may also point towards organized rackets of human trafficking who force abducted people (especially children) into begging. These illegal groups even resort to maiming children to force them to eke out a living for these trafficking-lords. One does not become a beggar by virtue of his/her socio-economic condition, one becomes a beggar by the way he/she acts (is sometimes taught to act) in front of the spectators. This farcical pretense is a strategy to arouse emotions in the donors.

Then comes the problem of seeking of alms by able-bodied people. Karl Marx had referred to religion as the "opium of the masses". These able-bodies religious beggars seek alms in the name of God, in the name of various auspicious occasions. Thereby, simple-minded people are carried away (courtesy the superstitious beliefs in India) by the astrological and numerological jargons that are fed to them by these beggars. The unsuspecting fellows feel a sense of satisfaction in having contributed to a noble cause. Consider this—the number 370 has recently been in the news, although for two completely unconnected issues. These issues are: the mysterious disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines aircraft MH370 in the Indian Ocean and the debate over the Article 370 of the Constitution of India. The psychological trait of the human mind is that it is adept at recognizing and relating patterns. Thus, examples based upon purely co-incidental events can be presented to unsuspecting people as omens having a deeper meaning. Thereafter, an ideology is created on the basis of a certain logic, and this ideology is used for promoting vested interests. The donors must understand that giving 'alms' to such people doesn't solve the problem, but aggravates the issue by incentivizing beggary. Charity to an institution is not a bad thing. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi had also advocated the use of capitalists' wealth as a trusteeship for the poor. However, it should be ascertained that the donated resources are utilized (with full transparency and accountability) for attaining social justice through educational institutions, hospitals, etc. Derrida's method of "deconstruction" and Gramscian theory of "hegemony" are particularly useful tools for obtaining the complete picture of an event.

My fourth illustration has its roots in the hegemony (courtesy Antonio Gramsci) of fast-food multinational corporations, which is promoted by the advertising industry and supplemented by intense lobbying (at the national level) in the name of free-trade and investment. While it is true that such multinational corporations create opportunities of employment for some people of India, the effects of the produce of such firms on consumers is deplorable to an unequivocal extent. This is because such a transaction involves a trade-off between the money accrued to a handful of workers and the sound health (which cannot have a monetary equivalent) of a much larger number of people—prominently the youth (who are the "demographic dividend" of the country). The dopamine-induced sense of pleasure of junk food (a very apt term to describe such foods as are high in salt and/or sugar content, low in nutrients) has long-term side-effects. These include (but are not limited to) lethargy, obesity, infertility, hypertension, diabetes, retardation of mental growth, chronic kidney disease and (in several cases) kidney failure. A cause of concern is the promotion of junk food by movie actors. Movie actors, who most probably do not themselves consume such products and consider the commercial as just-another assignment, are given hefty amounts of money by multinational corporations for the promotion of their products.

In the current scenario, the use of rationality is a matter of Darwinian survival by being among the fittest. The absence of the traits of the Machiavellian "lion" can be compensated by having the traits of the Machiavellian "fox". When primacy is given to self-interest, it is important that one acquires knowledge (which Michel Foucault related to power) so that one is not entangled in the complex web of propaganda. Thereafter, this knowledge should be used scientifically.

Questionnaire on Capital Punishment

On 23 May 2014, the Law Commission of India has released a Consultation Paper on Capital Punishment. At the end of the paper, there is a questionnaire seeking views of the citizens of India on whether capital punishment should be retained or abolished in India. The Law Commission has given a window of 30 days (from the date of release of the above-mentioned paper) to the citizens to send their responses. The relevant information can be gathered from their website <http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/>.

Here's what I have sent as my response (the skipping of response numbers 2 and 3 is due to the nature of the questionnaire):

1.  I am not in favour of retention of capital punishment.

4.  Reasons for the abolition of capital punishment:

a. There is no conclusive proof that capital punishment acts as a deterrent for future crimes

b.  Capital punishment confuses the idea of retribution with justice and  society must move away from the conception of "an eye for an eye"

c.   Capital Punishment deprives people of the opportunity to reform

d.  Economically and socially backward groups will always have greater  chance of being subjected to capital punishment than the rich

e.   Capital Punishment is a form of state sponsored violence

f.   The State that has criminalized euthanasia as a form of suicide and hasn't permitted an individual to take his/her own life doesn't have any moral sanction (under the facade of bringing deterrence and imposition of law and order) to snatch away a criminal's right to life. If fake-encounter killings (State-action) are abhorred by human rights activists as well as sections of the media, the "perceived consent of the society" to permit homicide of a criminal (death penalty) is equally deplorable.  The Supreme Court has, time and again, re-interpreted Article 21 of the Constitution of India to mean a right to live with human dignity. It is unfathomable why the right to bodily life should be snatched away even if by the procedure established under law.

As has been said above, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot" can only create a disabled society. While the emotional appeals of the victim's/victims' families has to be listened to, it doesn't make sense to say that hanging a person by the neck/execution using poison/killing by a firing squad would bring any relief to the kith and kin of the victim(s). India doesn't hold its foreign policy—in inviting Pakistan's Prime Minister (PM) to the swearing-in ceremony of the Indian PM designate—captive to the emotional displeasure of the wife of a soldier allegedly beheaded by the Pakistan Army along the Line of Control. In the same manner, the Indian State should not get moved by jingoistic calls of capital punishment based on retribution.

Furthermore, what sanction the society has to determine whether or not a person has a scope for reformation is beyond my comprehension.

Another criticism that can be leveled against the abolition of death penalty is that it may cause an economic strain to the country to keep criminals within prisons for the rest of their life. It may be noted that when there's enough money in the country for a few individuals to pay 70 lakh rupees monthly electricity bills and for governments to provide subsidies to several unintended beneficiaries, there's certainly enough money to maintain the human capital in the country. Further, as experiments of vocational educational and work in Tihar Jail suggest, prisons are not just a source of disciplining. They can be a source of creativity and can add to the material well-being of the society as well. Hannah Arendt's concept of banality of evil has to be considered while any trial is being conducted by a court of law.

5.  As such, there is no evidence of capital punishment acting as a deterrent for crimes. The Shakti Mills gang-rape (counted as "rarest of rare" by a judge) incident of Mumbai was perpetrated long after the 16 December 2012 Delhi gang-rape case (again, a "rarest of rare" case) trial had begun. In addition, many incidents of gang-rape against dalit victims have been reported after capital punishment was awarded to the convicts of these "rarest of rare" cases. Given the extensive reach of the print media, it seems improbable that the news about these two (the 16 December case and the Shakti Mills case) verdicts would not have reached the ears of the perpetrators of crimes that were committed post the 16 December case verdict date. The presence of heinous crimes against women as well as terrorist acts point towards deeper problems in the society, e.g., poor socio-economic conditions, inequality, disillusioned youth, alienation by the State. Thus, imprisonment for full life can attain the very same objectives of deterrence as are envisaged by the society.

6.  The Criminal Law Amendment Act was made a victim to the populist stance adopted by the government as well as various political parties after a great deal of jingoism took on the streets. While awareness in the civil society is essential, the absence of such awareness in incidents of gang-rape being perpetrated against lower-caste victims in backward regions of the country clearly outline an urban bias present in the society as well as the media. The (late) Justice J.S. Verma Committee had recommended the abolition of the death penalty and that is the stand I personally subscribe to.

7.  In my opinion, homicide may be incidental or may even be the outcome of an act of self-defence. When such cases are not counted by the judiciary as "rarest of rare" and sometimes the accused are even set free in such cases, it is clear that murder cannot be equated with acts of terrorism.

8.  In my opinion, it isn't possible to categorize murders in such manner as to warrant the award of capital punishment to the convicts.

9.  I do not subscribe to the view that under normal circumstances the punishment of life imprisonment is adequate for murder but under aggravating circumstances, the Court may award death penalty.

10. Although a country may devise certain parameters to categorize offences into terror offences and non-terror offences, such a category may not be free of subjectivity and bias. In my opinion, capital punishment should be abolished for both the cases. Instead, systemic failures that give rise to heinous crimes should be curbed. While the supporters of retention of capital punishment may give the examples of Islamic countries of the Middle East in that heinous crimes are minimized if strict physical punishment is meted out, India doesn't necessarily need to follow such examples because such countries mostly don't have democratic political systems, which the Union of India swears by.

11. I think that the existing framework of police investigation and collection of evidence requires reforms to substantially reduce erroneous convictions. The use of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) is one of the positive steps that have been taken in this direction.

12. My opinion is based on the ideological opposition to capital punishment. Hence, there is no scope for talking about more proof or less proof for different categories of crimes.

13. Yes, the award of capital punishment does have the risk of being judge-centric. Given that the conduct of judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court is not to be discussed and debated upon in any legislative body and given that these legislative bodies are themselves prone to populist bent, there is a risk (howsoever small it may be) of judges getting influenced by pressure from society or of judges getting carried away by their inherent bias.

14. There should be a provision for rehabilitation of families of criminals sentenced to death until now provided that the convict was the lone breadwinner of the family and the family belongs to the lower rung of the socio-economic ladder.

15. There have been reports that in the US, there were delays in the execution even by poisonous injection. Such delays caused an inhuman treatment to the convict. Capital punishment itself should be abolished, leave aside the question of any other mode of imposing the death penalty.

16. No, there should not be any guidelines laid down for the President and the Governor to exercise their powers of granting mercy under the Constitution of India in death penalty cases. This is because such guidelines would again be vulnerable to subjectivity. Further, there should not be any time-limit for the President to decide on the cases of mercy petition being submitted to him. If status quo were to be maintained, this pocket veto would leave a scope for the President to not give his/her consent for the execution.

Narrative of a sojourn to Chandigarh

For those who have the honour of having a supportive financial background for a while, unemployment can be a boon as well as a bane. The (most obvious) downsides of it are the lack of financial autonomy and security. The positive associated with it is the vast amount of time that it places at one's disposal. If used constructively, this time can be helpful in personal development as well as for developing a keen power of analysis. Also, it teaches one to be an efficient financial manager. This can be explained in the following three ways:

• nececessity is the mother of invention; or
• one tends to ascribe greater value to those things which one possesses in scarcity; or
• the lesser the supply of a commodity is (or the rarer a commodity is), the more costly/valuable it is.

Recently, I had a sojourn to Chandigarh. The journey was an enriching experience for me because I observed many things throughout the trip. Also, it was a welcome relief for me since it was a break from the monotony of my usual routine. I nowhere claim that the data presented by me is statistically expansive, given that my sample space was very small. Notwithstanding the preceding caveat, the data presented by me is worthy to be contemplated upon.

My current job status—"unemployed"—confers upon me the honour of being a deliberative spender. I undertook my journey in a state transport corporation ordinary bus, which gave me some insights into functioning of the society. It's not that I haven't done this before; it's just that I've thought of writing about these things now. The very first thing that one notices is the almost ubiquitous dilapidated and many-a-time unclean condition of ordinary buses—of course, shouldn't that be so? After all, they are ordinary! Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) funding clearly doesn't seem to have been sufficient to curb this occurrence.

The next thing that I witnessed was a road accident on the NH (National Highway) 72 and the mangled front end of a car. What caught my attention was the reaction of most of the people sitting inside the bus which I was travelling in—an interesting field for a psychologist or a behaviouralist to research upon. Most of the people rose in their respective seats (as if in reverence) and tried to assimilate the view from the closest quarter that their erstwhile position permitted. Our  bus wasn't going to stop and the passengers weren't going to offer help. Anyway, that wasn't required either as an ambulance was already present to carry the victims to the hospital. However, the sight of an accident—a break from the normal surroundings and a potential topic of discussion—seemed too good to be resisted by the people. It is noteworthy how the topics of discussion of the people change on seeing such a sight. Most of the passengers, who are otherwise engrossed in casual conversations, shift the topic of their talks to vehicular accidents. Many people even start drawing conclusions based on stereotypical assumptions. Or perhaps I feel so, given that I don't have "adequate knowledge" to pass such dicta.

When Robert Frost wrote in one of his poems—"We dance around in a ring and suppose, But the secret sits in the middle and knows"—he perhaps had in mind that the solutions to our problems, the rays of hope for despairing hearts are all situated amongst ourselves. It is only that most of us fail to notice and acknowledge their presence. Many of the road accidents occur at night due to the drivers' using their vehicular headlight at high beam. In Chandigarh, I saw the solution to this problem. Within the city, vehicles are not permitted to use their headlights at high beam. I did not get to observe whether a significant number of people were following this rule or not. Nevertheless, the presence of a progressive rule was a cause of relief. The high beam causes a nuisance to the vehicles approaching from the opposite direction as well as to the pedestrians. Besides this, though there was a rule prohibiting honking by vehicles at many places, quite a lot of the people seemed oblivious of this.

Chandigarh city has been maintained quite beautifully. There was the usual presence of overcharging autorickshaw drivers. I stayed in a building which was substantially financed by the Government of Punjab to provide accommodation to farmers from far-flung areas visiting the city as also to the general public. The accommodation was very well-maintained and hygienic. Perhaps this facility was the result of the very influential and rich farmer lobby that has been created in Punjab and some other parts of North India by the Green Revolution of the 1970s. This became evident when I saw that though the accommodation was subsidized, the food in the food court wasn't.

On my way back from Chandigarh, two ladies (presumably from the same family) accompanied by a small child boarded the bus. One of them was quite older and the younger one seemed not to possess the gift of speech. The child seemed to be her son. Their woes were that they were carrying a lot of luggage. What irritated—I couldn't keep myself from using this strong word here—me was the apathy of one of the fellow passengers (a woman) in continually cribbing about these two ladies' luggage blocking her way. This was when that woman looked quite able in all aspects. It is disheartening to see some of the individuals from our society exhibiting such a behaviour towards persons with disabilities.

The midway halt of the bus gave me another insight—this time into the rights of consumers. The bus drivers seem to halt the bus at pre-decided locations, where they get a cheaper meal and other amenities. My bus stopped at a place where I couldn't think about having a meal as the place seemed to be festered with flies. Further, the person seemed to be selling packed goods at a 25 to 33 per cent sale price above the Maximum Retail Price (MRP). And this is usually done for accommodating the "cost of chilling" (beverages) and "for the place being on a highway or a bus station". One of the retailers was even selling water bottles, which were meant to be sold only at railway stations (as the text on the bottle neck clearly stated), at an elevated price. The union ministry of consumer affairs clearly specifies that a retailer cannot charge a customer a price greater than the MRP. The illiterate or unaware or unsuspecting people are duped by these retailers in the name of such excuses. Michel Foucault had stated that knowledge is directly related to power. The need of the hour is for the people to be vigilant and the government to be swift in meting out penalties to the erring retailers. It is not that the retailers are always the ones to be blamed as people hungry for profits. Many-a-time, these retailers have to overcharge because they in turn have to bribe policemen who otherwise harass them because these retailers are not authorized vendors or do not possess a license. A positive legislation in this direction is the Street Vendors Bill.

Another observation during the return journey was the loss of wildlife that happens due to vehicular accidents. Clearly, a step needs to be taken in this direction. Although vehicles are prohibited from speeding too much while passing through areas abounding in wildlife, the observed outcomes don't seem to be much convincing. The eroded hills at many-a-place presented a dismal sight and compelled me to think about climate change and its effects. I earnestly hope that we are not going to make anthropogenic factors the cause of extinction of species.

Lastly, I picked up a few excerpts from the conversation of a lady talking to someone else over her cellphone. Apparently, the lady had visited a few bugyals (a Garhwali term for high-altitude grasslands) and other adventure tourist spots in Uttarakhand in the preceding days. This greatly allured the adventurist in me, who has otherwise been kept subdued since a long time for want of time and funds. The lady was also narrating about a "Modi-wave" in context of the 16th Lok Sabha elections and about children from far-flung areas in Uttarakhand mentioning to her about their elders' going to cast votes "lest Modi would lose". So much was the effect of bad governance by the previous government combined with a splendid advertisement campaign by the (now) winning political party.

A political leader has claimed about a glass half-filled with water to be half-filled with water and half-filled with air. When it comes to matters in general about India, I'm not a doubter, a skeptic or a cynic. I believe that doubters do not achieve, skeptics do not contribute and cynics do not create. Notwithstanding this, I also believe that bringing improvement in the ecology is as much a responsibility of the citizens as it is of the government. On my part, I try to write and propagate awareness about the issues. If people are able to make a difference in any way after reading my articles, I will consider that my efforts have borne fruits.

Representative Democracy in India

Winston Churchill had once commented about democracy being the worst form of government, except for those that have been tried so far. This view has been reiterated by Amartya Sen, according to whom democracy remains the only form of government that commands global respect.

The forms of State and its institutions can be traced back to ancient Greece with city-states as the fundamental political units. Plato had advocated the rule of a single philosopher ruler with almost unlimited powers (subject only to a restriction by the 'law of the land' or the constitution). Aristotle (Plato's disciple) found this idea impracticable as too much power vested in the hands of a single man can cause the decay of a polity, howsoever wise the man might be ('man' has been italicized because Greece was a strongly patriarchal society and only adult able-bodied males fulfilling the criteria laid down in Plato's education system were thought fit to become philosopher rulers). This is because of the vulnerability of human nature/the corrupting influence of power. Aristotle proposed democracy as an alternative form of government. The word democracy has its origins in demos (people) and -cracy (rule), i.e., rule by the people. Later on, when the medieval period of Church-supremacy in Europe was about to end, Niccolo Machiavelli (in his book Prince) suggested democracy as the desirable form of government if people are virtuous (however, his assumption about human nature was that most people aren't virtuous, and thus,  authoritarian rule is the best one). The first democratic nation-state in the world emerged (the USA) after the American Revolution. Abraham Lincoln described democracy as the government of the people, by the people, for the people. Thereafter, other countries followed suit and by-and-by, democracy came to be recognized as a better form of government. According to Samuel P. Huntington, democracy visited the countries of the world in waves interspersed with reverse waves. Democracy came to symbolize the general will of the people (a term, which had been proposed earlier by Jean-Jacques Rousseau).

The Preamble to the Constitution of India describes India as a democratic republic (a country where the Head of the State—e.g., the President in India—is not a hereditary one/monarch but is an elected one; alternatively, where the government has representatives from the public). Thus, the Indian democracy is not a direct democracy (which is ruled almost directly by the people) but a representative democracy—people elect their representatives to the legislatures and the executive (the government) is formed from amongst those very legislators (in this, India has adopted the Westminster model or the Cabinet Model of government, borrowed from Britain).

In India, elections are held using the majoritarian system or First Past The Post (FPTP) system in each of the parliamentary as well as state legislative constituencies (now single-member constituencies). The candidate who secures the largest number of votes in a constituency is declared as the winner for a seat in the respective legislature. According to the first Chief Election Commissioner of India (Sukumar Sen) the FPTP system was suited to the needs of India after independence. Less than a quarter of the Indians were literate and the FPTP system was simple to explain to the first-time or illiterate voters.

The electoral defeat of the Congress and the victory of the loose Janata Party coalition after the national emergency period (1975-77) showed that the Indian voters are well-aware of the values associated with a democracy (e.g., freedom of speech and expression, freedom of the press). Nevertheless, the comeback of the Congress party at the central government in 1979 elections showed that the Indian electorate equally deplores unstable or temporary governments at the centre. 1989 onwards, successive governments at the centre have been coalition governments, and no single political party has been able to secure an absolute (50 per cent seats plus one) majority required for forming the government on its own.

The present state of politics in India is a mixed-lot. Whereas the procedural (theoretical) aspect of the democracy (i.e., free and fair elections) has largely been successful, the substantive (practical) aspect has been a cause of concern. The problems in the substantive aspect somehow leads one to question the democratic character of polity in India—whether India is still a democracy or a "deformed polyarchy". Deformed polyarchy signifies that the country has many persons or groups as power-centres. However, decision-making power for the most important tasks in the country still lies with a few elite persons or groups out of all these power-centres. Over the years, it has been observed that while the rural and poor voters have been more assertive in exercising their political franchise, the middle-class voter participation has been somewhat declining. This lackadaisical attitude of the middle-class seems to point towards an electoral fatigue or despair as to the nature of representative politics in India. Furthermore, political parties try to amass the votes of the poor people, illiterate sections among the rural people by announcing populist measures just before the elections. This particular section of the voters, which a scholar has described as "political society", has got very limited bargaining power with the government once the election-fever is over.

Compounding these problems is the use of black money for election campaigning. Critics point out that the lack of a election campaign-related expenditure limit for political parties is somewhere linked to the use of such money. Also, one of the uses of movie-actors' campaigning for political parties is to gather votes through appealing to the popular-sentiment. It is not a taboo for movie actors or famous personalities to contest elections and/or campaign for candidates—after all, democracy implies equality in political affairs. Still, questions can be raised as to their previous experience of social work.

A look at the statistics related to the MPs of the 15th Lok Sabha (given by Association for Democratic Reforms) revealed that over half of them owned assets worth crores of rupees. If one goes by the statistics of Institute of Applied Manpower Research, then the bottom 60 per cent of the Indian households own a mere 13 per cent of the country's assets, whereas a substantial fraction of the country's assets are owned by the country's elite. If these two facts are taken together, one doesn't need to be a genius to understand the level of representation of the aam aadmis (common people) in the representative politics in India. There are exceptions to this—but then they are exceptions.

In 2013, the Central Information Commission (CIC) had opined that a few political parties in India are substantially funded by the public. Thus, they should also be under the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005. This opinion elicited strong disapproval by these aggrieved parties and now the bill seeking to reverse this dictum by the CIC is lying before a parliamentary standing committee. The political parties have their own concerns regarding this—according to them, this would severely interfere with their independent functioning, which does require secrecy. What is remarkable, though, is the consensus which was achieved among the parties—in a short span of time—whereas the institution of Lokpal (the national ombudsman) took so long to be given a statutory recognition. At present, political parties need not disclose the details of donations received by them that are below 20,000 rupees. There has been a demand for the parties to proactively disclose all the donation amounts, even if they are seemingly meager. This would ensure a complete transparency in funding. Further, more than one-third of the newly-elected MPs of the 16th Lok Sabha have criminal charges pending against them.

The Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and the Urban Local Bodies (covered respectively under the 73rd and the 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts)—the third-tier of government in India—have a mandate of reserving 33 per cent of the seats in their various sub-levels for women. It is usually seen that the women in these positions are just dummy candidates behind whom the real candidate is their husband or one of their close male relatives. Further, the women in these institutions seem to come only from an elite family background or a part of "dynastic politics". The representation of women in the Parliament and in the State Legislatures has been dismal till date. This issue manifests itself in the low ranking of India in terms of the Gender Inequality Index (GII) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Report (HDR). Then, there is to be an adequate representation of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community in the legislative bodies to ensure that their problems in the society are listened to and that curative action is taken on them.

Even though the polity of South Korea and that of India may be substantially different, at least at the surface level (disregarding the domestic politics of South Korea) the Prime Minister of South Korea has shown a great level of professionalism by resigning from his post after the recent ferry mishap. Could this be expected of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister in reaction to the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots (for which even the Supreme Court has expressed strong disapproval regarding the conduct of the state government)?

Many political leaders in India seem to have mastered the art of rhetoric—which becomes evident by the incomplete representation of the economic and/or historical facts by the leaders in their campaign speeches. Adding to the woes is the phenomenon of hate speeches and seditious statements by leaders. The ECI's Model Code of Conduct doesn't have a legislative backing and therefore, harsh actions cannot be taken by the commission. Furthermore, electoral reforms take a long time to be implemented. Thus, there are some steps that can ensure that political parties field better candidates in constituencies. The critics of FPTP system have contended (rightly) that such a system can make a candidate win a Lok Sabha or a State Legislative Assembly seat even when a majority (more than 50 per cent) of the voters from that constituency have not voted in favour of that candidate. This becomes possible due to the candidate's securing the largest absolute number of votes.

•      A Proportional Representation system would be a much better alternative  (compounded by an open-list system—a system where the list of candidates to be fielded by a political party is itself chosen by the people). In this system, political parties get seats in legislature in proportion to the fraction of votes that they have secured. Critics of this system opine that this will lead to unstable coalition governments at the centre. However, considering the history of electoral politics since 1989 (an era of coalition governments), the system seems to be a feasible  one. The only loophole seems to be whether this system can be swiftly accepted by the illiterate fraction of the electorate (26 per cent of Indians, as per Census 2011, are still illiterate) or not.

•      Another possible option can be to follow the methods of Referendum and Recall (used in Switzerland, which is considered as the polity closest to direct democracy). In this, the people decide important issues through referendum (voting by the people themselves). They also have the option to call back their representative from a legislature (recall) if he/she is not upto their standards. This, however, can be economically unviable, considering the large geographical extent of India and the large population of India's constituencies as compared to Switzerland.

•      A third approach would be to keep following the present FPTP system, but to bring changes in it. The Supreme Court had issued directions to the ECI to introduce a None Of The Above (NOTA) button in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). There has been very less use of this provision, though, in the 2014 general elections. However, such an option does not give the voters to express disapproval at individual candidates fielded by the political parties. Adjacent to the standard voting button present against the name of a candidate on the EVMs, the ECI can get placed red-coloured buttons for the voters to censure a candidate. The voters may be given an option to cast their vote in favour of a single candidate (positive-vote) or hit the NOTA and express as many censure-votes as they like. Further, the censure votes against a candidate's name may be counted to get an idea about the candidate's image. If the censure votes against a candidate exceed the number of votes secured by him/her, then action can be taken (e.g., cancellation of candidature, or the censure-votes can be assigned a fraction of a negative-vote). The benefit of this approach is that the political parties will be compelled to field honest and hard-working candidates for a constituency. This approach, however, can face two shortcomings. First, there can be groups of people who can falsely press the censure button to taint the image of a candidate. Second, though introduction of this button on the EVMs may be economically viable, the whole election process will be more time-consuming and so, expensive. The illiterate voters may take a long time to adapt themselves to this method. Further, the delays and expenses will be compounded for the polling booths where electoral malpractices are reported and subsequently re-polls are ordered by the ECI.

It remains to be seen how much the people are willing to get the representatives chosen on the basis of merit and not on money-power & muscle-power.

Till now, the ECI has played a commendable role in the conduct of the procedural democracy. Its innovations, such as the introduction of Booth Level Officers, Vulnerability Mapping of constituencies, Elector Photo Identity Card, EVMs and Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) have been successes. This can be seen from the increased voter turnouts (especially of the youth and the rural people) in the 2014 general elections, as well as from the popular fame (based on various surveys) that the ECI enjoys among the citizens of India. Nevertheless, the civil society too has to be vigilant to keep the shortcomings of the elected representatives in check. An efficient and clean government (leading to good governance) stresses on the education of the people and their increased awareness, which in turn sets up a positive feedback to reinforce the process of election of a good government. Indians have to remember that we the people have to be proactive (keeping in mind our fundamental duties) in the electoral process to ensure that the dance of democracy or the biggest festival of the largest democracy doesn't turn out to be a mere bonanza of vote-grabbing and power-seeking. The indelible ink marked finger isn't just an eye-catcher to be flashed around through selfies. The symbol is a reminder of the power of a citizen to decide how he/she wants to be ruled by his/her government.