EXPORTING TERROR

Relations between India and Pakistan have a tendency to move on twin tracks. One is fuelled by Islamabad’s Kashmir obsession and its commitment to cross-border terrorism. The other involves periodic peace offers by Pakistan to ease international pressure on itself. It’s a double game that has been played with some success in the past but Islamabad bow finds itself hoist with its own petard.

That is why the question of whether the ceasefire along the Line of Control is an attempt to appease the global gallery or a genuine desire for peace remains an open one.

LIVING WITH TERROR

India has lived with the spectre of terrorism for close to two decades: the rest of the world is only just discovering both its uncertainty and the certainty. The uncertainty revolves around not knowing when or where the next attack could come from. The certainty is knowing that even without a direct attack, the threat of terrorism will disrupt life as we know it.

After 9/11, there have been 10 terror attacks in our country in the past 6 years –not counting incidents in Jammu & Kashmir. The most recent of these was in Heydrabad and the lack of a significant breakthrough in that case is not encouraging. We need to understand whether levels of threat around us.

The modern terrorist has access to the latest technology and is not short of innovation-who knows what he will think up tomorrow?

The world itself is under attack. The war on terror can only be won with a global pooling together of information and expertise. Today more than ever, the words of English poet John Donne are prophetic: no man is an island.

TACKLING PAKISTAN

Each time there is a major terrorist strike in India, the needle of suspicion points towards Islamabad, as it has done once again in the wake of the serial blasts in Hyderabad. The sophisticated nature of the explosive and timers, apart from the target, Andhra Pradesh’s capital, clearly points to a larger strategy orchestrated from outside. Pakistan’s double game, of peace talks and Confidence Building Measures on the one hand, and covert support to terrorist groups operating against India on the other is well documented.

The Indo-Pakistan peace process is now on hold and in South Block there is serious debate on what India’s strategy for dealing with Pakistan should be. There is also the realization that the UPA government’s conciliatory approach to Islamabad has not worked. Following Musharraf’s pledge on January 6, 2004 that he will not let Pakistan territory be used for terrorism against India, the opposition has become the norm. While Jammu & Kashmir bore the brunt, across India there have been five major terrorist strikes apart from the Hyderabad blasts.

The Indo-Pakistan peace process has had limited success like the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus link and a liberalized visa regime. The slow pace of the dialogue was largely because Delhi was never really sure about President Musharraf, whether to trust him or not. His government’s covert support to terrorist groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba has continued unchecked in a dangerous double game that Islamabad has been playing.

OBC: WHO ARE THEY?

Last year, HRD Minister Arjun Singh dropped a bombshell when he announced 27 percent reservations for OBCS in all institutes of higher learning. It is seen as a precursor to reservations in private jobs to already existing quotas in government jobs. No wonder, this triggered nation-wide protest, for and against the policy. It also revived the volatile debate regarding merit versus equity. The issue was taken to the Supreme Court which asked the Government pertinent questions. What was the basis of the norms for fixing it? Finally, if the proposed reservation is implemented, what are the modalities and the basis for these modalities? These questions struck at the core of the reservation issue.

The truth is that reservation has become a victim of politics of competitive populism. Not only are there variations from state to state regarding who is entitled to reservations, the statistical basis of the latest policy is suspect. There is little credible data on what percentage of the population constitutes the Other Backward Classes, a polite metaphor for caste. At the time of Independence, 2,399 castes were recognized by the Kalekar Commission as OBCS. The Mandal Commission recognized 2,052 castes but today that figure is 3,743. Mandal estimated that the population of OBCS was 52 percent based on the last castebased census in 1931. The Census continues to record SCS and STS but not OBCS which remains a conjectural figure. The National Sample Survey estimated that OBCS constitute about 36 percent of the population and not 52 percent as the latest reservation policy would have the country believe.

Moreover, there are serious questions regarding the impact the reservation policy will have on the quality of education. There is also confusion about whether the creamy will be part of the new policy.

HEALTH: UNHEALTHY TEENS

There is an old adage repeated in many Indian homes, especially by the older generation: health is wealth. Well, the Indian middle class has got the wealth but is fast losing its health. The middle-class in India has never had it so good. Affluence and globalization has made a given them a wider range of cuisine, not necessarily the healthiest. Yet, as is often said, there is no such thing as a free lunch, or it could be a case of too many lunches.

Paradoxically, a nation with 20 percent of the poor of the world is facing an obesity crisis. The middle class is increasingly sporting a middle spread that poses a serious health risk for millions. Obesity, till recently, was seen as a disease of developed countries. Yet, 35 percent or approximately 120 million urban Indians are seriously obese, as are one in 10 urban Indian children. Delhi is India’s obesity capital with alarming 45 percent males and 55 percent women suffering from high levels of obesity.

Obesity is more than a cosmetic concern. Being seriously overweight puts you at greater risk of developing high blood pressure, cardiac disease, diabetes, some cancers and other health risks. Ultimately, obesity can be life-threatening. In the US, more than three lakh deaths are linked to obesity annually. According to the World Health Organization, the obesity epidemic is increasing faster in developing countries than in the developed world.

The prime cause revolves around changes in lifestyles as a result of affluence and a sedentary lifestyle. Basically, we are eating too much high calorie food and not burning enough of it with exercise. It always amazes me to see how a country, used to eating fresh home cooked meals, has taken to pizza parlors and McDonald’s each year. These have aggravated the obesity problem. Longer work hours mean longer hours behind a desk. At home, it’s sitting at a computer or the TV. As lives become busier, there is less time to cook healthy meals; instead, more people are opting for high calorie, pre-cooked meals popped into the microwave.

In Indian health care circles, the battle against the bulge has begun. Last year, the first Asia Pacific Obesity Conclave took place in Delhi and health experts are gearing up to tackle obesity on a war footing. The antidote is simple: eat healthier, exercise more and change lifestyle patterns.

I think that the challenge lies in creating awareness. We all know that fat is ugly, but many people are unaware that it is dangerous as well.

Affluence may have given middle class India many gifts but they are in danger of losing the greatest gift of all: good health.

THE RAPE NIGHTMARE

I have always believed that the status of children and women is a very accurate indicator of how civilized a country is. If the children are healthy and educated, you know the country is progressive. In a place where women are not treated with equality, you know that country is bedeviled by problems.

In the past decade, one of the key features of India’s liberalizations has been the influx of women into a variety of professions and their contribution to a growing economy. However, as we read about the horrific attacks on young women in India’s two biggest cities, this seems a veneer. A teenager was raped in Mumbai by a taxi driver. Then Delhi was shaken when a young call-centre worker was picked up off the street and raped. The capital has a reputation of being dangerous but the incident in Mumbai, which often boasted of being safe for women, points to a darker trend. That women, now facing more dangers during the course of a work day, have a reason to feel unsafe in urban India. According to the latest figures, the rate of crime against women in 35 big cities is higher than the national average.

What is as disturbing as these statistics is a medieval mindset which continues to dominate our society. There is little empathy for the victims of violence, little understanding of the gravity of the problem. Even political parties like the Shiva Sena, whose basic commitment should be towards protecting women’s rights, make reactionary statements like “women invite rape by wearing provocative clothes”. Women today are no longer confined to their homes and their jobs require them to be working at odd hours. It falls on India’s civil society to safeguard women even more but we have not adjusted to this fact. The courts need to become more sympathetic towards rape victims, increase the rate of convictions and mete out justice swiftly. None of this has happened.

Indians take pride in the visible symbols of the progress of their cities-whether it is urban growth rate or the mushrooming of malls. But economic growth means little if the same cities become zones of social anxiety where half of its citizens feel unsafe.

THE NEW AMBASSADORS

Government figures say there are 20 million people Indian origin living in 110 million countries. Somehow you don’t need statistics to tell you that. You can find Indians in the most unlikely places.

The migration of Indians has been quiet, gradual but relentless. I like to think of it as a reverse colonization. During the Raj, Indians were sent as indentured labour to Africa, the West Indies, even Fiji. Today, their children are presidents, prime ministers, senators, tycoons and Nobel Prize winners.

Persons of Indians origin (PIOS) are impossible to typecast. Like those at home, they come in all shapes and sizes, fit all descriptions. What links the astronaut on our cover with the Punjabi sheep farmers in New Zealand? What connects whit collar techies in Silicon Valley to the Indians who seem to have a monopoly on 24-hour stores in Britain-or the Patels who so dominate the US motel industry that motels are often referred to as “Potels”? It is the will to succeed. Many migrant communities continue to live on the margins of their host society. Indians are rarely among them. We must introspect as to why these people had to go abroad to be so successful. Obviously the conditions in India were too stifling to allow this energy, enterprise and talent to thrive.

The global Indian, wherever he may live or work, whatever passport he may hold, is forever Indians. As is often said, you can take an Indian out of India but you can’t take India out of an Indian.

INDIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM

Examinations test aptitude and help students make career choices. That is what they are supposed to do. In India, exams have become something else altogether. Every time the exams come around, a collective paranoia settles over India’s 30 million higher secondary students. Scholastic aptitude becomes a matter of life and death. When children begin to take their lives over exams then something is very seriously wrong. Stressed over the intense competition and high cut-off percentages, students a year as they prepare for the boards. Instead of being confident and creative young people, our teenagers believe that their entire futures depend on exam results.

The irony is that the reforms needed in education are not radical but commonplace. They revolve around the modernization of textbooks, broadening the ambit of what students are tested on and how they are taught. The tragedy though is that education is one of the most contentious and slowest-moving areas of governance. We pay for too heavy a price for government sloth through the precious lives of our children. This can’t go on.

THE FEEL GOOD FACTOR

India’s economic indices reveal that we have achieved record levels of growth. In the past few years, it was difficult to ignore the couple of clouds despite the silver linings. Around 2004, it was feared that the growth in India would be jobless and manufacturing would languish. Those fears have proved to be baseless. This economic surge has a heart. Every sector has expanded its employment numbers and there are new investments across the board. What is more encouraging is that the growth is not restricted to IT and other services sectors but has spread to traditional industries like textiles, steel, even readymade garments.

When celebrating any economic progress, all Indians wonder how our great rival China compares by the same standards. An increasing number of economists are beginning to bet on India. The reason is that unlike China’s investment-driven economy, India’s is consumption-led. Today, for the middle-class Indian affordability is no longer a function of price. The Indian consumer’s spending has moved from worrying about the MRP to quickly calculating the EMI. His urge to splurge has been accelerated by flexibility in pricing, the availability of easy loans, and product innovation, such as a PC for less than Rs 10,000 or a RS 10 phone recharge.

GLOBAL CHAMPS

In the past five years, 307 overseas companies have been acquired by Indian corporates, the worth of the mergers totalling $ 20 billion (over Rs 90,000 crore). The rate of Indian acquisitions has been growing exponentially over the past five years, the last two witnessing more than half of the 307 takeovers. The acquisitions reflect the growing confidence of Indian business because they believe they can do a better job than the foreign players. It also indicates the cash surpluses accumulated by companies in an economy consistently growing at 8 per cent. Indian businesses have emerged from fairly retrogressive economic conditions to embrace the global markets so much so that our business section calls these Indians the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The open economy of the past 15 years has forced Indian companies to become globally competitive. They have realised there is no reason why they should confine themselves to the domestic market. For many, the only way to go is global. The smartest of firms know that building assets in India takes far too long and comes with too many strings attached and therefore have begun to shop abroad.

The story of the Indian software companies’ overseas thrust is well documented but the international forays of companies in the manufacturing sector are relatively new. The audacity and aggression is truly breathtaking. Bharat Forge is the second largest forging company in the world; Ranbaxy is among the top eight generic drug manufacturers in the world. Asian Paints is one of the top five paint companies in the world. M&M is emerging as one of the world’s largest farm equipment companies.

INDIAN FASHION INDUSTRY

Today, India is in vogue again as a result of the work of many talented people in the fashion industry.
Unlike before, the Indian motif is one of luxury and confidence. Designers in the West are using it to make a statement- whether it is Cavalli who put Goddesses on bikinis or Prada whose latest collection uses the peacock feather. The transformation that has already taken place in other sectors like business and economy is now finding expression in fashion in a significant way. It is a reflection of India’s larger engagement with the world.
Behind the arc lights of the recent India Fashion Week, real business was being conducted. Buyers from major western retail chains came looking for genuine local talent. Be it Selfridges, Harrods or Browns, mainstream stores in the West now retail the collections of some of our best designers. More than a generic Indian “look”, the label of the Indian designer is also being sought after.

CRICKET MONEY WINS

It’s said only films and cricket unite India. In terms of pan-Indian recognition and affection, even Bollywood stands second to the country’s national obsession, cricket. Cricket cuts through barriers of region and language that this cultural behemoth can’t scale. It’s why in a recent survey Sachin Tendulkar scored over Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan both on visibility and a “quality” index that ranked celebrities for reflecting virtues like trustworthiness and honesty. India is probably the only country where cricket is played on every street corner.

The popularity of the sport in India has translated into the fact that the business of international cricket is dependent on Indian Cricket. Some estimates reckon Indian cricket economy to be worth Rs 1,000 crore a year, driving between 60 and 70 per cent of the world’s cricket business.

Cricket’s boom in the 1990s was closely linked to commerce. It is now a child of satellite television and free market, not only a popular and profitable sport but a brand; a financial force that supports an entire industry made up of players, officials, sponsors, television executives, event promoters, agent and finally the consumer, who can’t get enough of this product.

THE SONIA FACTOR

Sonia Gandhi has always been a mystery and somewhat of an oddity in Indian politics.
Until her husband died, she was just an Italian-born housewife who had a well-known loathing for Indian politics and politicians. She was thrust into the Congress presidency after Sitaram Kesri retired in 1998. Her first steps in politics were unsure. Uncomfortable speaking in public, she marked her first major moment in national politics-staking her party’s claim to form the government in 1999-with a blunder and the immortal words, “We have 272 and we hope to get more.”

But today, it seems Sonia walks on firmer ground and is a more self-assured political personality. There has been a perceptible change in her demeanor and in the way she is regarded by her party men. When she took over the Congress, her party was ruling in only three states. Today, it is a cohesive force controlling Central government and 10+ state governments. She is the supreme leader of the Congress and no one dare contradict her.

This is in total contrast to the ruling BJP which seems in disarray.

Sonia’s emerging confidence has an uncanny parallel with her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi-she too was expected to be a goongi gudiya (dumb doll).

YOUTH POWER

In a country and a culture where inordinate respect is given to the elderly, the Indian youth have largely been sidelined. Led by our political class, we have been governed and influenced by an army of greybeards. Consider this, of the 543 elected members in the current Lok Sabha, barely 12 were born after 1970. Politics, unfortunately, does not reflect the reality on the ground. Demographics and economic opportunities have combined to dramatically change India’s social equations. The figures tell the story. The number of Indians below the age of 15 is currently 336 million; another 121 million are between the ages of 15 and 19 and those in the age group of 20-34 add up to 271 million. In short, the number of Indians below the age of 34 is an unprecedented 728 million, almost 70 percent of the population.

Never in our history have the youth constituted such a large and powerful demographic entity. It can be accurately said that in their hands lies the future of India. In the context, what is the future they see for themselves and for the country as a whole?

It is often said that youth is wasted on the young. But a survey shows quite the country. The youth are a unique hybrid of global attitudes but quintessentially Indian in almost everything else. Culturally, they reveal a surprisingly strong core of conservatism, quite contrary to the images we see in our films, TV and music videos. They convey a powerful sense of India and aggressive nationalism.

The overriding message: it is cool to be a conformist

SLEEP DEFICIENCY

“To sleep, perchance to dream.” That most famous of Shakespearean quotations is becoming increasingly irrelevant in today’s age. The truth is modern 24*7 lifestyles and pressures of work mean we are sleeping less than ever before. Without us quite realizing it, Indians have undergone some dramatic changes in their sleep patterns.

Sleep is the only natural elixir that repairs the body. But in today’s fast-paced world, sleep is the one aspect that is compromised the most. At work, the manic race against time means we are working longer hours. At home, our lives are no less hectic. The incessant ringing of mobile phones, the clamor of multiple TV sets, late night are all par for the course in average urban households. Sleep and upward mobility make for incompatible bedfellows.

Medical studies have established the benefits of sleep: it improves memory, thoughts and concentration. Getting too little sleep accumulates what is called “sleep debt”. Eventually, the body will demand payment. A sleep-deriving schedule means our judgment; reaction time and other functions are impaired. Research shows that those who have accumulated a large amount of sleep debt function at only 80 per cent of their capability. Constant sleep deprivation also weakens the immune system and has linkages with heart disease, apart from cardio-respiratory problems.

Then there are behavioral consequences, making people irritable, prone to had dictions-making ad memory loss. In a recent survey, 25 per cent of couples reported that their sexual relationship suffered because they were just too tired. Burning the candle at both ends has created so much sleep deprivation that what is abnormal is now the norm. Reason enough for those on the fast track to wake up to the other side of midnight.

Today’s lifestyles condition people to do with very little sleep. They don’t realize the damage it does to their health. It’s like being overdrawn at the bank. The interest piles up.

9/11

9/11 is not just another date and Nine Eleven are not merely numbers. They have become shorthand for a series of cataclysmic events that took place in the US but whose after-effects continue to reverberate in our neighborhood.

It has brought the Americans to our doorstep and changed the way the US sees the world;
Fortunately for India, it has put the fight against terrorism on top of the world agenda and also put our not-so-friendly neighbourhood General in a tight spot. It has changed air travel all over the world and made everyone feel vulnerable. Above all, it has changed the way we view the future. Above all, it has changed the way we view the future. It is for all these reasons and more why the anniversary of September 11 matters to all of us.

There are some momentous events in history that continue to shape the future long after they take place. In that sense September 11 is history still in the making.

THE RETURN OF TERRORISM

There is no such thing as being prepared for or getting used to terrorism, India has lived with the scourge longer than most democracies, but every attack is like the first. The shock and grief over the loss of innocent lives and the devastation it visits upon the families are always deeply felt.

The serial blasts in Hyderabad, in which more than 40 people killed, caused damage not just to life and property but also to public sentiment. With Rakhsabandan, the markets were bound to be soft targets.

Today, we are dealing with a different kind of beast. Even though its roots and concerns are regional or national, terrorism is a global industry. India’s problem might be Kashmir-centric terrorism, but terrorists could come from anywhere, choose any target and strike at any time. The means available for spreading terror are difficult to detect, more sophisticated and for more lethal now.

Today we have to learn to live with terrorism; the terrorists may eventually learn that while they can take human lives, the human spirit is not as easily destructible.

RULLING THE SKIES

If there is any one defining symbol that shows India is on the move, it is in the aviation sector. After decades of socialist pampering where national carriers enjoyed a monopoly, the current scenario is a revolution.

Today, millions of Indians can pick their flight, time of departure, even the choice of fares. Competition, thanks to the entry of private operators, has been a huge bonus for those traveling on business or pleasure. The advent of budget carries has brought air travel within the grasp of the middle class. Tickets on low –coast carries or the range of special fares offered by major players are almost at par with upper-class rail fares. With more private airlines waiting to launch, flights could become even cheaper. The aviation boom is supersonic. Domestic airlines sold 16 million seats last year and are operating 6oo flights a day. Air traffic is growing at 20 percent annually and is set to grow even faster.

That is great news for the sector and consumers but as always, there is a downside, Poor planning and short-sightedness have ensured that infrastructure has not kept pace with growth. Most Indian airports are not equipped to handle the expansion. Singapore’s Changi airport handles 3,200 flights a day compared to 600 across India. The turn-around time at Indian airports is 1.4 hours as opposed to international average of 0.75 hours. The entry of new airlines has led to a critical shortage of pilots, engineers and parking slot while there are other infrastructural bottlenecks urgently in need of long –term solutions.

On a positive note, the current aviation minister, a businessman himself, is aware of the handicaps and plans are in place to upgrade facilities and airport services. Right now, however, India’s aviation boom is definitely a boon.
Indians are enjoying the triple treat of affordability, availability and connectivity. Despite the hurdles, the aviation sector, like IT and telecom is poised to change the face of India. A better connected and more mobile one means a healthier economy.

GENERATION ME

There are 250 million young people in India between the age of 18 and 35. Never before has India been a country of so many choices. Whether it is vocation or education, leisure or lifestyle, today's young Indians can go anywhere and become anything.

This growing and very visible demographic profile also contributes to the buoyancy of the economy and the general sense of feel-good we find around us. But India is not a homogenous whole and a decade ago, there were many Indians to contend with- urban,rural, small town, big city, metropolis and boondocks. But thanks to the expansion of mass media, those differences have got blurred. Not in real terms like opportunities or infrastructure but certainly in ideas and aspirations. Every young Indian, whether in Jamshedpur or Jammu, with access to TV and the Internet, believes he or she is an equal stakeholder in the prosperity that the country seems to promise today. when they travel to big cities to fulfill their dreams, they travel with more confidence and less trepidation.

HOT JOBS

I am not an economist. But I don't have to be one to know to be one to know that there is something horribly skewed with the Indian economy. About 60 percent of the country's labour force works in agriculture to produce just 21 percent of national income- GDP. Conversely, survives sector that generates over 50 per cent of the GDP employs only 27 percent of working Indians. The missing link that I am hinting at is the industry. Unlike the services sector, industry can create jobs of the kind that can absorb unemployed and underemployed from agriculture. Industry today has only 17 percent of the labour force on its rolls.

India is either rewriting the laws of economic growth - that say an economy transits from an agricultural one to being industrial before becoming services-driven-or it is doing something fundamentally wrong. In China, 70 per cent of the workforce is employed in agriculture and only 30 per cent is with industry and services.

That's tragic because it's India, and not china, which claims to be an emerging knowledge superpower. In a knowledge economy, it's the people and the people's skills, what experts call employability, that determine success. For companies in such an economy, their talent pool becomes the most valuable asset, more valuable than capital, land or machines. We all knew India has the world's largest pool of 'skilled' manpower.Ironically we were wrong. It took two years of sustained job growth to blow this myth. India's workforce is large but not skilled. In a McKinsey surveys, 81 per cent of the executives polled said the biggest challenge to growth was not infrastructure or poor governance but scarcity of talent. That's a dubious distinction for the world's second most populous and the youngest country. Obviously, we desperately need to fix our education system.

That's bad news for companies and the country. But for today's job seekers it's the most heartening news. Today companies using innovative ways to overcome the shortage of skills and going beyond the metros to hunt for talent. I always felt much of India's economic progress has been despite the government. It seems much of employment growth will also take place without any significant help from the government.

UNLIKELY BEGGAR

He looked like a beggar. When he stretched out his hand to me, the melancholic look he gave me melted my heart. I fished in my pocket and came up with a five-rupee coin which I promptly handed over. Happy that I had done my good deed for the day, I went to the bus stop to wait for the bus that would take me home. Suddenly, a sleek limousine drew up and came to a halt near the guy who had just been the recipient of my munificence. A driver leapt out of the vehicle and saluted the beggar who, looking around surreptitiously to see whether anyone was watching him, rushed into the vehicle. I stood flummoxed wondering whether the per capita income of beggars in the country had risen so sharply that they could afford chauffeur-driven cars.

I had caught sight of the chauffeur before the car sped off and he turned out to be an old buddy of mine. It was he who let the cat out of the bag. "That was indeed my boss you saw the other day in the guise of a beggar", he began. "My boss is a millionaire but his father had lived and died a beggar. The boss had longed to give a better deal to his father but the old bloke died before our man could make his money. So, as a mark of respect to his father and his profession, our friend goes out begging every second Wednesday. Usually he manages to escape detection. But I would like to sound a warning to you. If you value your well being just keep this to yourself and if at all you see him again and it is most likely that you will, drop a coin on his plate and be done with it. My boss is like Mogambo in real life." A shiver ran down my spine. These days when I spot a beggar and that too a beggar who can be a chooser like the one above, I take to my heels without a second thought.

BEASTLY TALES

Works of painter Nonja are a rage in Viennese art circles today. This is despite the fact that her boyfriend, Vladimir, eats her paintings if he is not locked away in his cage. By the way, Nonja is an orangutan in the Schoenbrunn zoo. She inherited her paints from Johnny the chimpanzee. Let's hold our horses for a moment. When did art venture out of the domain of humans into the paws of animals? For all we know, dinosaurs sketched in the sand, but animal art has certainly come of age now that Leonardo DiCaprio has bought the work of a Thai elephant for $2,ooo. In fact, there are several academies in Thailand that teach elephants to paint. The big name amongst these talented trunks is Ramona, whose works sell for an easy $200. The San Franciscan gorillas, Koko and Michael, use painting as an emotional outlet. They splash red paint when asked in sign language to express anger. Michael's even created a black and white mosaic to portray Apple his pet dog. Usually, however, paintings by animals are abstract expressionist.

So, is there nothing to distinguish Jackson Pollock from mere brutes anymore? The Greeks believed the ability to reason held humans above other species, but chimpanzees solve puzzles with great ease these days. The gift of language is not unique to humans either. Michael may not have the biological equipment to talk but he can certainly communicate through sings. Even creativity is not an exclusive homo sapien prerogative. We knew that when porpoises started improvising with cartwheels and backflips to impress observers. Asian elephants play harmonicas, xylophones and drums. Their music, though considered soothing, does not compare to that of the blue-throated hummingbird. This creature practises its music and develops complex songs. We may have to swallow our arrogance. Nothing differentiates us from animals and we don't even have their impeccable taste and sophistication. Why else would dairy cows in Georgia produce 1,000 pounds more milk while listening to classical music than to rock? Is it time to accept animal connoisseurs too? All I know is that my cocker spaniel is indifferent to Neil Diamond but lies down under my piano and sighs with satisfaction every time I play Mozart.

POTTER PILGRIMS

Pope Benedict XVI has made it quite clear to the Christian world that the Vatican does not approve of Harry Potter. In March 2003, he wrote a letter to Gabriele Kuby, a German critic, where he expressed concern about the 'subtle seductions' caused by the book, which distort Christianity in the soul before it can grow properly. One of the many reactions to the boy wizard, the fear that these books corrupt children, was born almost at the same time as Pottermania. Unlike previous fantasy literature, like that of J R R Tolkein and C S Lewis, the Potter books are accused of not presenting the ideal of good versus evil. instead, they make statements like 'death is but the next great adventure', which alarm pious souls as a certain call to Satanism. The books make occult practises seem attractive and fun. Does this mean that Rowling's novels are actually cleverly packaged enticements to the Antichrist?

Divisions have arisen within the Church at several points in history. after all, protestantism was born when Martin Luther led a group of dissenters to a new church, an alternative to Catholicism. If a deacon of the Presbyterian Church can teach a 'Gospel according to Star Wars', why not institute a Church of Harry Potter? The number of followers will be astounding. A quick look at the sales figures of these books will confirm this. The boy wizard is a hero, fighting the forces of evil for the salvation of his fellow-people. And the potter books do play out a battle between good and evil; Harry, under the guidance of Albus Dumbledore, the lead 'good guy', versus Voldemort, the personification of all evil. Voldemort may have told Harry that there is no such thing as good and evil, that there is only power, but Harry rejects this idea. Where is the relativistic morality? He may break school rules or defy authority, but this makes him a realistic hero. If, according to some, the all-too-human wizard is a threat to their God, they should accept this Potterite Church, which gives its people not only a philosophy but also a whole new world to believe in.

IN TUNE: SEVENTH TRUTH

I was in college when I heard Aziza Mustafa Zadeh's album Seventh Truth. An introspective track, which swings between being fiercely emotional, joyful and sad, it touched me immensely.

There was the charming Ay dilber, the subdued I am sad, Wild Beauty, etc. But the song that affected me the most was Fly with me. This beautiful singer from Azerbaijan(once part of the USSR) sang the English and Azeri lyrics about the adventure to free one's spirits, to the sound of the western classical piano, supported by percussion and the sound of drums. All incorporated to the strains of traditional Arabic melody! There was no boundary to her style, but a beautiful fusion of diverse lyrics, vocals and instruments. It was the most melodious attempt at bridging the gap between world music. I went into raptures every time I heard it.

Not only was the song pleasing to the ears, it made me open-minded about various forms of music. It also taught me not to be limited by favourites and to keep an open mind and listen.

THE POWER OF ONE

It is not everyday that one hears about someone marring himself in a wedding ceremony. But Kevin Nadal, a New Yorker, did just last year. He invited 32 of his close friends and got married to himself in a loft (which incidentally has been used as the location for one of the characters apartment in the well-known TV series, Sex and the City). What was Nadal thinking when he decided to publicly marry himself? The point the 27-year-old was trying to make is simple. He has been quoted as saying,"We always celebrate married life, why not single life? Single people are marginalised in our culture. People think you don't have the commitment to be in a relationship or you're too picky. Women have it tough. Heterosexual men, they get a free pass and are congratulated for being a 'player'. But for gay men and single women, there's a stigma because we don't have a partner." Singles across the world would agree wholeheartedly with Nadal. Infact, the success of Bridget Jones's Diary and its sequel and the spawning of the entire chick-lit genre in publishing comes from the fact that this "marginalised" section of modern society had found a 'voice'.

In a country like India, where getting married is de rigeur irrespective of gender, class, caste or religion, being single is considered to be a deadly malady, not to be contracted at any cost. Maybe a couple of Nadal-style weddings in India could help change a bit of that outdated mindset. After all we as a country have worshipped Ardhnarishwar, the half-man, half-woman avatar of Shiva for centuries now. There are other hidden and not so hidden benefits of this catching on as a trend. Apart from highlighting how singletons are being ignored as 'non-people' by the 'smug-marrieds', marrying oneself may solve a number of other issues like divorce, prewedding jitters, cheating spouses, interfering in-laws, dowry, forgotten birth and wedding anniversaries and such like. The world will also be able to get rid of complaining and nagging spouses forever, which can only be a good thing. Next time you are insensitive or boorish as spouses can often be to each other, remember that you will only have yourself to blame.

COLOUR MY WORLD

Spiderman needn't worry about birthday presents. His lifelong costume, comprising blue tights and a torsohugging blue and red jumper, could have betrayed his birth date to excited fans the world over. The only hitch is that these may be his favourite colours, but they aren't his birth colour. A wardrobe overhaul with a generous splash of the right colour may shield villains from getting too close to his skin. This time it's chic colour therapists to the rescue. The procedure is based on a combination of star signs, numerological vibrations of one's birth date and earth or element signs, an ingenious method that takes forward the quest for the ideal personality and inclinations. A birth colour is a personal colour, corresponding to the real you, to recognise, celebrate and honour the same. Everyone's been taught to recognise colours, but the knowledge of a particularly favourable colour needs tweaking. Along with reading toes, knuckles, thumbs, wearing coloured stones and armlets, this method seems equally scientific. When you're blue, don't you need a fiery orange to charge up or a peachy pink to soothe those nerves?Colour is vital to moods. Only now, you may have to suffice with revolting baked clay. The Green Goblin, Spiderman's arch enemy, has an underhand agreement with colour therapists. His colour corresponds to personality traits that are unassertive, prosperous and kind. Didn't he almost kill Spidey?

Broadly, everyone born on the same day shares a birth colour. I share my birthday with Sonu Nigam. Our birth colour is canyon rose. He is sexy, musical and grand, bang on target as per the description. I quit singing class after two months when I heard my voice filling the room. Birth colour indicates where there may be imbalances of colour, which point to a potential problem; whether emotional, physical, mental or spiritual and even personality issues, which need to be addressed. So whatever is missing from one's personality and lifestyle can be filled by the description in one's birth colour chart. Is it, therefore, time to give Spidey some new spicy orange tights?

VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY

Space probes Voyager 1 and 2 which were launched in 1977 to study the four giant outer planets during a five-year-long mission were not only spectacularly successful in their undertaking but are still functioning perfectly well in what is their 30th continuous year in space. Between them they've studied Jupiter's Great Red Spot and its many moons, returned photographs and information about Saturn's rings and provided the first close-up look at Uranus and Neptune. Subsequently, both probes managed to cross the orbit of the outermost planet Pluto and Voyager 1 has now reached the final frontier of our solar system after having traversed through a region known as termination shock, some 14 billion kilometres from the sun. Outside it lies the vastness of interstellar space. Once the spacecraft crosses this boundary, it will truly have gone where no spacecraft has gone before and its faint signals travelling even at the speed of light will take more than 11 hours to reach earth. Scientists say both Voyagers are capable of returning scientific data from a full range of instruments, with adequate electrical power and attitude control propellant to keep operating until 2020.

After that, of course, Voyager 1, followed by Voyager 2 a little later, will become more of drifter cruising through the emptiness of the space between the stars which is much vaster in scale than that found between the planets of our solar system. For instance, according to some calculations it could be 40,ooo years before either of them comes anywhere near another star's planetary system again. Their drifting, however, will not be altogether purposeless, for wherever they go, each of the Voyagers carries a golden phonograph record bearing messages from earth which include natural sounds of surf, wind, thunder and animals. There are also musical selections, spoken greetings in 55 languages, along with instructions and equipment on how to play the record. Interestingly, the probes also carry a kind of galactic route map describing their point of origin in the Milky Way galaxy. If these ever fall into intelligent alien hands and are deciphered by sentient entities it would mean they would know where to find us. Is that a good thing? Depends entirely on ET's intentions.

THE TICKET: MUSSOORIE MUSINGS

There are two Mussoories. One is the quickie Mussoorie, with the the usual suspects-the Mall, Gun Hill, the mandatory trolley ride in the cable car, the overcrowded and overrated Kempty Falls.... I take the road less travelled.

My first stop at the end of the picturesque climb from Dehradun is the Surya Hotel in Mussoorie. A 10-minute drive from the Mall, it nevertheless seems a world away, affording spectacular views in Landour and of the Mall. The sunset point is ideal for romance. At Captain Young's bar, named after town's founder, regulars include Tom Alter and Ruskin Bond.

Settled in, i decide to give Kempty Falls a miss, and drive instead to the quaintly-named Jharipani Falls. The denselywooded path the leads to the falls makes for an easy 1.8 km trek. Only bird calls break the soothing sounds of silence, till you hear the roar of the water. The best time to trek is morning to noon; this is leopard country after dusk!

In the late afternoon sun, i drove down a gravel road to Everest House, home of Sir George Everest, the first surveyor general of India, after whom the mountain is named. Although the house has been in ruins for many a year, it was here that great mountains like the Everest and rivers like the Brahmaputra were mapped out for the world. On the way to Everest House, i stop at what the locals call a wishing well, frequented by local newlyweds and politicians.I too, toss in a couple of coins and advance a wish list of my own. The well's location, amidst teak and deodar trees, makes it a must-visit.

As evening falls, i decide to make a concession to the mundane and stroll down to the Mall. What the Mall in Mussoorie lacks in style as compared with say, the Shimla Mall, it more than makes up for in simplicity. piping hot coffee is available at the Garhwal Terrace Restaurant, which offers a great view of the pine forests and hills. If you must shop, the Tibetan Bazaar offers smuggled goods, perfumes and clothing.

One Day Two, i visit picturesque, quiet Landour, the first residence in Mussoorie of the East India Company when Captain Young set it up in the early 1830s. A half-hour taxi ride (at Rs 100) takes you deep into the deodars. Ruskin Bond has penned many a story against this background. A 30-minute walk to Lal Tibba affords you a great view of the snowcapped Trishul range of the Himalayas on a clear day. Deodar Woods, a 75-year-old English cottage, is a great vantage point for the snow peaks and boasts an incredible bakery, where the pizza chef Raju is known all over Mussoorie for his cheese sausage pizzas.

Then on to Mussoorie's most exquisite destination-Clouds End. A little lower than Landour, and built in 1838, clouds End is one of Mussoorie's four original buildings which is still standing. The wooden main hall is imposing and has some of the oldest photographs of the Mall and surroundings areas, the establishment also boasts trophy heads of local game and an 80-year-old tiger skin inside. Clouds End is located on a hill top and offers a great bonus for visitor-Echo Point-in its compound.

AUNTY INTERRUPTED

We were all having tea when Myra came up with the idea of going for a movie. "Today! But....It's Valentine's Day", I said. "What is the problem in going for movie today?"asked Myra. Tina, who was a quiet spectator to this debate, replied sternly, "You boys are useless. When we girls don't have a problem, why the hell are you scared". "But, it's risky today. No matter what it may be, a boy and a girl together are branded as a couple", replied Anil. "Forget it, if they don't want to come it's their wish",replied a dejected Tina. Her words made us change our minds. We reached the theatre just in time. Myra and I sat in one row while Anil and Tina were in the row behind us. As we surveyed the hall, Myra whispered to me, "My aunt is sitting in the row behind us". This was the only aunt to her's we knew well. She was nicknamed Khadoos by Tina as we found her to be orthodox and narrow-minded. Girls talking to boys or befriending them was a big no-no for her.

I strained my neck slowly to get a glimpse of the aunt but couldn't. I grabbed a tissue from Myra and scribbled on it that Myra's Khadoos aunt was sitting in the same row as them and passed it to Anil and Tina. "A Valentine Day's experience" was Anil's reply. During the course of the movie I had a good look at the aunt. Myra sat comfortably in the confines of the dark hall but was swift to lean forward whenever the screen brightened. During intermission, we had to sit stiffly like statues with our palms partially covering our faces. Anil tapped Myra on her shoulder. He was offering us popcorn. I said in a stern whisper,"Can't you sit quietly? If I turn around aunty will see us". "You can turn. It's aunty who has sponsored the popcorn. The ice-cream is on its way". We turned around in tandem and saw Myra's khadoos aunt waving at us with a bright smile.

NET DEFICITS

The Internet no doubt challenges ignorance, but it is also a purvey0r of false information. It is decentralised and anarchic, since nobody controls or owns it. To borrow a phrase from al Biruni, it is a mixture of pearls, pebbles and dung. Yet, many people utterly believe what is posted on the Net. Newspapers tap the Net for background information. Hence, noted astronomer-mathematician Brahmagupta is placed in 628 BCE instead of CE 628. The Jantar Mantar observatory is said to have been employed for predicting eclipses. Not true. Predictions require mathematics not instruments. A newspaper described Aryabhata as "a scholar at the Nalanda university" and credited him with authoring the so-called "heliocentric theory of gravitation". We know very little about ancient astronomers, our only source being stray comments in tersely worded scientific shlokas by them or in those of their commentators. Some speculate that Aryabhata was head of Nalanda university. Even if this were true, it does not necessarily mean that he was a student there. A website even displays a picture of Aryabhata standing in front of his university! As for the heliocentric theory, this is illiteracy of the highest order. A mathematical theory is constructed so that it can have wide application. It can't be centred on the sun or anything else.

The Internet has 11,800 entries on Aryabhata. How does one decide which ones to reject? The Net also throws up problems of rigour. M.K. Gandhi is widely quoted as saying the earth has enough for everyone's need but not greed. Many versions of this statement are doing the rounds. Which are correct? Some Hindus in North America were the first Indians to use the Net. They have constructed an Indian past that would help them cope with their real or imagined problems in an alien setting. With dependence on the Net as a primary source of information growing, it is necessary to create an authentic web resource from an Indian perspective. Indian newspapers should form a consortium to set up an online Indipaedia or encyclopaedia Inica. A committed band of editors and contributors should prepare entries. This might seem like an ambitious and lone-drawn affair but may be worth the effort.

STAYING ALIVE

They say with advancement and development in society, life expectancy is getting longer. Even so, in this day and age it is rare to come across a centenarian, and rarer still is a super-centenarian who has crossed 110. Unlike the time when my elder brother grew up, there were many among them Garhwali who could then boast of more than one member in the family who had crossed a hundred. Documented in history are around 800 super-centenarians, doubtless a fraction of the number who have really lived, but the majority of claims to this age do not normally have sufficient documentary support to be regarded as valid. Three different types of documentation are used to verify age-birth or baptismal certificate, marriage certificate and census data.

Even though there may have been many more who lived beyond, it is widely believed that Jeanne-Louise Calment was the oldest human being having lived till the age of 122 years and 164 days and died in 1997. The oldest living man recognised by the Guinness Book is Shigechiyo Izumi who lived between 1865 to 1986. And the oldest human alive today is Hendrikie Van Andel of Netherlands who was born on June 29, 1890. A social visit to Sterling, Scotland for my friend Peter has assumed special significance on learning that his great-grand-aunt Lucy D' Abreu lives there. She just happens to be the oldest living human being today in the UK, who turned 113 on May 24. Of ethnic Indian origin and a Dehradun born in India in 1892, I know of her in the family as the widow of Abundius. And Peter's maternal grandmother Joyce who lives in Morpeth, Northemberland is Lucy's niece, her late mother Josephine being Lucy's first cousin. Lucy's age has been authenticated by the Guinness Book of World Records. There are only 11 other people around the world older to her, as per the records maintained by the Gerontology Group, affiliated with the UCLA School of Medicine, of the oldest people alive.

ROAD LESS TRAVELLED

Imagine a road dedicated to walkers. Imagine no blaring horns, runaway buses or trucks, no speeding cars, no cycles even. Further imagine this avenue linked with gnarled old tamarind and neem trees and the occasional flowering gulmohar or flaming dhak. Imagine charming little giraffe and elephant faces holding aloft dustbins at every few hundred metres. Imagine gentle, soulful piped music playing from speakers along the stretch of the road- morning ragas, classical symphonies, instrumental beats. Imagine the road measured and marked for the dedicated jogger or walker to keep track of how much she has done, imagine pretty roadside shelters with benches for the tired ones to rest and chat a bit or do a spot of pranayam. Imagine all this in the heart of Uttar Pradesh.

Impossible to imagine yet it exists. Lucknow, erstwhile city of nawabs and now better known for its dirty politics and dead poetesses, is home to just such a road. About four or so years ago the cantonment board in Lucknow put in place this unique experiment, and each year it only grows better. A 2.5 km stretch of the Kasturba road in Lucknow Cantt is simply shut to all vehicular traffic for two-three hours every morning and evening, and reserved for the pleasure of walkers. To me, this road is poetry in concrete, an ode to the fine pursuit of walking. It is equally an ode to democracy, for walking is a form of exercise all can avail.

The Waling Plaza, as the stretch is known, is a simple and great idea, and it would be simply wonderful if more cities were to emulate it. For only a fraction of the cost of creating new parks, our bustling, overcrowded cities can have green lungs for citizens to breathe fresh air in.

INSPIRING RIDE

It was a sweltering hot day and there was not a rickshaw in sight. Then from nowhere a ricksha-puller, wearing kutra-pajama, came and asked, "Were you looking for a rickshaw?" With a definite nod I hopped on. I have become accustomed to bumpy and rash rides-a trademark of rickshaw-pullers. But this ride was turning out to be as smooth as silk. I was impressed with his skill of driving the rickshaw and could not hold back my questions: Where was he originally from? How come he pulled the rickshaw so differently from others? He told me he was from Bihar but did not answer any more questions. It was then that I noticed that the left pedal was empty and that he kept pulling the pajama up from the left side. My heart was suddenly full of gratitude for the man.

I decided to ask more questions. This time I got some answers. A farmer by profession, he had met with an accident in Bihar. He had been left with a stump in place of his left leg. Not wishing to be a burden on his family, he had decided to move to Dehradun along with his wife. While his wife started working as a housemaid he did not want to sit idle. He managed to convince a rickshaw owner to loan him one on a nominal monthly charge. "I wanted to learn carpentry. Until I can find a good teacher, I might as well do this", he said. "My wife is pregnant. I want to be able to earn enough for my child to study and become a responsible human being." He had an opinion on many issues including begging. He was sad that people, despite being physically fit, took to begging. "If you are willing to pull out your hand for money why not find a way to be self-reliant?" My journey was enriched with his pearls of wisdom which he shared right through the ride. He insisted on dropping me right outside my friend's house even though the last stretch was cobbled. I let him and smiled at his sense of fulfilment and achievement.

BRAND BADSHAH

First it was Chote Miyan Govinda who drew our attention to it, now it's Bade Miyan Amitabh Bachchan's turn to extol the soothing effects of Navratna hair oil. In the ad, the superstar is shown in various situations of stress from his famous films all of which we are told can be banished by the wonder oil. This is but one of the megastar's endorsements. Amitabh's track record gives an altogether new meaning to multitasking. Witness the ease with which he sells a plethora of brands and convincingly at that. If electronics is your passion, buy BPL,says Amitabh, and never be caught in anything less than Reid &Taylor suits. The famous Amitabh autograph is always signed using Parker pens, he moves around in a Maruti Versa derives his boundless energy from Dabur Chyavanprash, would live in a Sahara city home if he didn't have to be located in the heart of Mumbai to fulfill his shooting and endorsement commitments. Among them are Emami Boroplus, Hajomla digestives, Nerolac paint and Tide detergent.

To be fair to him, Amitabh does his share for the greater public good, pitching in for Pulse Polio, Unicef and people for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Is the Badshah of Brands stretching himself too thin? Sure, Amitabh can still draw them in. But, today he is in danger of diluting his brand equity. Amitabh has always been known for being credible and infinitely charming. Do we really want to see him prancing about peddling an unknown oil brand or do a cover-up job for chocolates which came under a cloud for possible contamination? Or a detergent a la Surf's famous Lalitaji? No, Amitabh is all about exclusivity, class and comportment. That is what he was best known for and admired all these years. Unlike other kiss-and-tell stars, he stayed away from media speculation. Whenever he did speak to the media, he rarely gave anything away. This is precisely what kept the public fascinated by his persona. He is the biggest brand Bollywood has ever produced. Don't lend it indiscriminately to the highest bidder. The Shahenshah can't behave like any old Amar, Akbar or Anthony.

PRESENT EVERYWHERE

In the first original Star Wars film, princess Leia famously appealed for help to Obiwan Kenobi by appearing in front of the Jedi Knight as a small, see-through projected form of her physical self. Meanwhile, elsewhere, R2D2 and Chewbacca were shown playing chess with artificially imaged pieces floating in front of them. In the last Episode III movie too, absent members take part in meetings by having their facsimiles broadcast directly among the real people in attendance, much like an enhanced version of present-day videoconferencing. Even though it's tacitly assumed all these are three-dimensional holographic representations of reality, such stuff is still way in the future- in a galaxy far, far away-because right now all we have is a method of producing a partial 3D image of an object which, in any case, needs a solid backing medium to be expressed on such as paper, plastic or metal. Producing lifelike holograms which could be free floated into mid-air to form a hovering image visible from all sides remains for the time being at least in the realm of science fiction. But perhaps not for long.

A technique for projecting holographic images to make both still and moving three-dimensional displays is currently undergoing development in the United States at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This technique, unlike older ones based on stereoscopy, would not involve the use of polarising goggles, specialised eyewear or other visual aids. Also, unlike in holographic displays as practised until now, visibility of the image would not be restricted to a narrow range of directions;instead, it would be observable from any side. In other words, the display could be viewed as though it were an ordinary three-dimensional object. The technique has obvious potential value for the entertainment industry as in video games and home theatre, and for military uses like displaying battlefield scenes overlaid on terrain maps. It could also be used as store displays, for exhibiting rare museum artefacts and in operating theatres where a patient's vital signs could hover above the chest during open heart surgery. As for princess Leia, she could be projected straight to our living rooms in future.

REALITY CHECK TIME

Last month was truly a cracker season for the economy. Almost everyone who had something to sell had boom stories to tell. Two-wheeler makers, for instance, sold over eight lakh motorbikes with market leader Hero Honda accounting for more than half of it. Companies are reporting healthy profits for the fifth consecutive year. Exports are growing at over 20 per cent this year. The RBI expects that GDP growth would be between 7 and 7.5 per cent. What's more, the Singh parivar at the core of the country's economic management-Manmohan Singh, Montek Singh Ahluwalia and P. Chidambaram-believes that the good crop is yet to deliver dividends.

Such is the force of good news that you could understandably be blown off your rational two feet and wonder if the Government matters. After all, this 20-party coalition has made more news for the wrong reasons than right ones. It is, however, critical to remember that the momentum for progress is coming from exogenous drivers like global growth and the impact of endogenous factors, including tax reforms and a huge liquidity overhang that makes borrowing affordable. Very simply, people are taking loans and buying homes, using credit to furnish their homes and borrowing money to buy cars and mobikes to get to work and back.

Any student of physics would tell you that momentum is mass into velocity and unless there is a next wave of reforms, the economy could well be stalled at the next traffic light-rather the next red light as they say in Delhi. Also, given the buoyant picture, this coalition's non-contractual beneficiary-the left brigade-could come up with yet another populist freebie to spend hard-earned monies on. So it is essential for those popping the bubbly lo pause before they say cheers. The pro-reforms brigade needs to seize the moment and force the issue on reforms-from opening up retail and unlocking the potential of agriculture to reforming the sinking public sector, pushing investment in infrastructure and fixing the tax-GDP ratio. Boom time optics might suggest that the Government doesn't matter but the reality is that it can definitely mar the next Holi. Unless it is forced to act on reforms. Now.

BLOOD ON OUR HANDS-II

I have been to Sariska National Park at least couple of times but have never seen a tiger in the wild. I thought it was just my bad luck. Unfortunately, it appears that this was not the case. I read, much to my dismay, that the tigers in Sariska have actually vanished.

According to experts, 750 tiger skins have been seized in the past 10 years. If we assume that for every skin seized, at least one poacher got away this means India's forests have lost at least 1,500 tigers in the past decade. Even official figures reflect a drop from a peak population of 4,300 in 1989 to 3,500. Meanwhile, the demand for products made from the body parts of the tiger has only risen. The market value of a tiger is reckoned to be Rs 60 lakh.

As tiger numbers have fallen elsewhere in the past 10 years, poachers have turned to India, which has the world's largest tiger population. After initial success with Project Tiger, negligence has set in. Recruitment of guards has fallen, the forest service is badly equipped, there is little political initiative and industrialisation has fragmented the buffer areas around the Zones meant for tigers. In contrast, the poacher is now better equipped and well connected.

A survey reveals how one-third of the Project Tigers reserves have kept losing their tigers. In Manas National Park, for example, the numbers have fallen from 125 tigers in 1997 to 65. This brings the credibility of the annual tiger census and the efficiency of the Indian Forest Service into question.

A friend of mine told me that no one ever forgets his first sight of a tiger in the wild. If we don't turn back the tide that threatens this magnificent animal, future generations will never even get that chance. Letting a species lapse into extinction is not just a conservationist's nightmare. It is a national shame.

POWER GODDESSS

Today we find more and more women in familiar and surprising places. As heads of giant conglomerates and in police stations, in Parliament and in the trenches. By tradition and through history, Indian women were expected to fulfill roles that defined them only in relation to others-their parents, their spouse, their children. But increasingly women around us now define independent identities beyond those of daughter, mother and wife.

The reason they have changed is because we all have. The dynamics of economic reform begun in the last decade has transformed India and its women.

The new Indian women has much to celebrate. For more than two decades, the women's movement in our country has a long and a distinguished history, bringing to national notice issues like dowry, female foeticide, infanticide and illiteracy, violence against women and gender discrimination. Not that all these ills have vanished but I believe that one of the most positive developments in the past two decades of our national life have been the growing power and status of women. I also believe that the coming decade will see an even swifter change in the role Indian women play in all spheres and this will transform the face of our country.

SEX CRIMES

The World Health Organisation says that a woman is raped in India every 54 minutes. It is a horrifying and depressing statistic because it tells an uncomfortable truth: that no matter how we measure progress, India remains medieval in the way it treats its women.

In villages, the threat of rape is a constant; the act is used to settle scores in caste and power tussles. Women have, therefore, generally felt safer in the anonymity of our towns and cities.

This seems to be changing. Around Holy festival, three rape cases were reported-two in the capital and other in Mumbai. If this could happen in the most cosmopolitan and westernised of Indian cities, the feudal north or the conservative south could hardly be any safer for women.

They aren't. Women are increasingly vulnerable in our cities. They are being picked off the street and raped inside moving cars, assaults are more common inside campuses, date rape is on the increase and merely travelling alone leaves a woman open to risk.

In the last decade, the growing number of women in the workforce has given them greater economic and personal freedom. With it has come greater vulnerability and greater risk. While women have adjusted to the demands of working in male spaces, the reverse adjustment has not been as smooth. Women may have changed the way they see themselves but men, it is clear, have not.

Today the battle being fought is against the male psyche which seeks to exercise control over women through abuse.

ABHISHEK BACHCHAN: Bollywood's PRINCE

This is a story of a remarkable turnaround of Abhishek Bachchan who after five years with 17 flops has become the new darling of the Bollywood box office and one of the hottest male stars around.

The success of Bunty Aur Babli, Sarkar, Dus, Dhoom and Guru has pushed him to the front of Bollywood's Generation Next and showed, finally, that he has the acting and dancing skills to sustain his elevation as a vehicle for box-office success.

Despite being Amitabh Bachchan's son, it has not been easy for him to find his place in the Bollywood sun. The true master in this business is the box office. In some ways, it was more of a handicap than an advantage because of the weight of expectation. The failures got to a point where he began to question whether he had chosen the right profession. There were no real reference points either. In India, dynasties exist not only in politics and business. The movie industry has seen the Kapoors, the Khans, the Roshans, the Deol. They launched their progeny into films, some made it, some flopped, while others are limping along.

What sets Abhishek apart is his blend of western sophistication and home-grown values. He is the first hip hop Hindi film star.

ABOLISH AGE

The story of an 88 year-old Indian fathering twins is revealing. As is a 67-year-old Romanian who became the oldest mother when she gave birth to a girl. Then there is Madona who at 48 is dancing and singing live with the energy levels of a 20-year-old. And she doesn't look a day over 25. The point is that there isn't any place for obsessively keeping tab on chronological age.Old paradigm and landmarks no longer hold. For instance, 40 is no longer middle age. Notice a 40-year-old Janet Jackson who matter-of-factly poses nude on the cover of a magazine. And her body looks no different in terms of fitness and youthfulness than Britney Spears who is about half of Jackson's age and who also recently posed nude for a magazine cover. French president Chirac's possible successor Segolene Royal was snapped by a photographer in a bikini while on holiday at a sea resort. And Royal, though 53-year-old, could give Hollywood stars a run for their money as far as having a trim and cellulite-free body is concerned. People are dressing, feeling and doing things that have no correlation to their stated age. That's why an 88-year-old can dream of having more children without taking a hard look at his so-called advancing years.

Those on the cusp of retirement feel that they have the ability to work for at least another 10 to 15 years without a problem. Those having children in their 30s and 40s think nothing of it. Keeping a rigid timetable of age may have served a purpose in a different era. Now the word young can be used as easily for a 20-year-old as for a 40-year-old. Marketers have cottoned on to this change and talk about targeting those with youthful spirit rather than those who strictly fall within the golden demographic of 18 to 34. People's age now should be judged by how young they look and feel and their achievements. Madona would be hard-pressed to fit into a bunch of 48-year-olds as she has nothing in common with them. And neither does the 67-year-old new mother who probably has more in common with other new parents rather than with geriatrics. Age then should finally be no bar to the way we live, work and play.

LAWLESS INDIANS

Let's face it we are an undisciplined nation and this is manifest in all walks of life, on our roads, in public buildings, in parks, everywhere. Go anywhere in the world, to the smallest country in the Far East, they may be poor, underdeveloped but they are spotlessly clean. You don't have to be a high-tech wizard to realise that litter has no place on roads, that ancient monuments, which we are so lucky to have are to be cherished and preserved.

A foreigner is a guest, and in true Indian tradition a guest is the equivalent of God: Atithi Devo Bhavah goes the adage. But how do we treat our guests? From the moment they land to the bedlam that we call airports, with endless queues at customs and emigration, to the pushing and shoving that is needed to obtain a trolley, the very first experience in our country is a big turn-off. Then there is the dishonest cabbie who takes his guest all over town, on a tampered meter. When halting at traffic lights, they are harangued by beggars, maimed and disfigured, little infants, bare-bodied mewling in an emaciated woman's arms. Is this the Amazing India that our tourism industry tom-toms about? Where is the glorious civilisation, dating back to Harappa and Mohenjodaro, the visitors had come to experience? Is this the capital of an India, emerging from the shackles of imperialism, riding on the brave back of the IT, ITES industry, all ready to take its place as a colossus of the emerging decade? Of course, the glistening glass facade buildings, housing the new knowledge industry, swanky malls, world-class hotels, are also a side of our Janus-headed city. But till the mismatch between the two faces remains as stark, the sobriquet of a world-class city will remain a chimera.

GROWING WITH SCOOBY

My wonder years were made extra special by cartoons, as with most kids. Flinstones, Jetsons, The Addams Family, Popeye The Sailor and others filled my hours with magic. None, however, compared with the inimitable Great Dane, Scooby-Doo.

For the half hour every day that Scooby was on air, I promptly left the job on hand and made a dash for the remote. I always had to fight to get control of it, what with my entire family pouncing on it at the same time. I would simply raise the give-me-the-remote-or-I'll-tear-the-place-down shrill and voila,'Scooby-Doobey-Doo, Where Are You?' would waft through. My family would leave the room, cursing its fate but finding consolation in the silence that enveloped the house while I was away on some super Scooby adventure. There are so many little things in the show that one comes to love. For one, the Scooby Snack always gave Popeye's spinach a run for its money. I also came to correlate Velmas spectacles with intelligence and longed to have a similar pair for myself.

Scooby taught me some valuable lessons while growing up. He remained the eternal chicken, even though every episode ended with the ghost myth being busted. Before Scooby entered my life, I suffered from cynophobia, a persistent fear of dogs. I would be exaggerating if I claim to be cured of it now, but I am far better off. If dogs themselves get scarred, they're not so scary, are they? Calvin and Hobbes, Asterix and Obelix, Scooby and Shaggy make for some of the best tales of friendship.

With Scooby, I found mine. I could never make my parents watch the zany dog for more than a minute. I was more successful with my sister, who would join Scooby and the gang occasionally. Whether she did it to humour me or because she liked it herself, I can't say. It was 'bonding time' for us, and in this we agree.

Harry Potter came, Pokemon and Bablade are here, but none can create the magic Scooby did so seemingly effortlessly. But there is hope. I caught my two-year-old cousin watching Scooby the other day, thoroughly enjoying himself. The magic will continue after all.

BOOYWOOD: Reel, Real Jodhabai

Historians are more or less unanimous that Jodhabai, the so-called Hindu queen of Akbar and Jehangir's mother, is nothing more than a yarn spun by scriptwriters of Bollywood. Director Ashuthosh Gowarikar is, therefore, only restating an historical fiction in his next film. But one sees no harm in tweaking history to make a flick so long as it is interesting and the movie-maker keeps the records straight. As did Ketan Mehta when he made The Rising. After all, one does not watch a movie to learn history. This, of course, is not to deny that the Kachhwaha Rajputs of Amber, who were ancestors of the later rulers of Jaipur, had given a daughter to the Mughals. She was the daughter of Bhagwandas, ruler of Amber, who was uncle and predecessor of Man Singh. Her name is lost in obscurity but she was married to prince Saleem and was the mother of Khusro. Was there a real Jodhabai? And if yes, what role did she play in the Mughul court? Noted historian James Tod provided the answers in his magnum opus Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, first published as Annals of Rajputana in 1832.

The author mentions that there indeed was a Jodhabai, daughter of Raj Singh. She was married to Jehangir. And yes, she called the shots in the Mughal court. To give just one instance, she used her influence with Jehangir to secure the throne of Amber for Jey Singh, the grandson of Jagat Singh. It was no small feat. For, it was achieved against the wishes, and much to the dismay of the all-powerful Noor Jehan. This Jodhabai must have been a remarkable woman. It is said that when Jehangir asked Jey Singh (who was later conferred with the title of Mirza), to make a salaam to the queen as a token of gratitude to her, he refused saying it was against the tradition of the Rajputs. This was no small effrontery to a Mughal queen. But Jodhabai not only made light of this by laughing but also bade the new prince of Amber well.

Perhaps it's time the film-makers of Bollywood gave up their obsession with the fictional Jodhabai and planned a film on the real one. It would make a far more interesting movie.

THE TICKET: A French Kiss in India- PONDICHERRY

How I Went:- Jumped into a bus at Chennai's Mofussil Bus Depot for a three-hour ride with blaring Tamil music accompanying me down the magnificent beach-lined East Coast Road. Taxis and luxury buses are available, but this is the best way to savour the local flavour.

What I Did:- Checked into an extremely basic and incredibly sanitary room labelled 'Freedom' at the Park Guest House, which is affiliated to the Aurobindo Asharam. Peace, Cheer, Friendship, Serenity.....and many other delightful names offer a balcony with an untrammelled view of a tranquil garden and the Bay of Bengal. I spent a glorious week exploring the symmetrical French quarter of this exquisite town that was under the control of the French government till 1954. There's a whole other side to this city(regular Indian messopolis), but i preferred to keep to the tree-lined boulevards with ornate names.

What I Saw:- All the Pondyessentials.... I strolled down Avenue Goubert(Beach Road) every evening. Lingered over the French War Memorial and Mahatma Gandhi's statue. Watched the gendarmes in their red French caps patrol. Whispered in awe by the samadhi of Sri Aurobindo and the mother at the Aurobindo Ashram. Saw the memorials to poets Subramanita Bharathi and Bharathidasan and all the museums, popped in at the Alliance Francaise and scouted for rare French books at the Romain Rolland Library. Checked out the firangs baking themselves red on Auro Beach. Gasped at the Technicolour beauty of the temples (some date back to the Chola era). Dined on superb continental fare at Le Club and rather iffish Chinese along the beachfront. Found peace as well as the world's largest crystal in the white-on-white environs of the Matri Mandir meditation dome at Auroville(14kms away).

What I Learnt- That Pondicherry plays host to an annual International Yoga Festival in early January-an other reason to go back!

What I Liked:- The stately colonial buildings and vast white and yellow villas with scarlet bougainvillae spilling over artistic gates looked like they belonged in another era of another country. The people were friendly, talkative and very contemporary.

What I Recommend:- With its air of sparkling purity, Pondicherry's great for a holiday that eases jangled nerves. Don't go if you're looking for water sports, discotheques or lavish spas. But if you seek a relaxed sojourn that doesn't cost the earth, yet gives you a taste of the good life with a bit of culture and spirituality thrown in, this is the right place for you.