Will DEMOCRACY survive in India?

Ever since India got its independence in 1947, several statesmen wrote obituary for Indian Democracy. There were common apprehensions that India would ever be able to survive as a country.  

Winston Churchill, for example, predicted that after the British left the subcontinent, "India will fall back quite rapidly through the centuries into the barbarism and privations of the Middle Ages". J. E. Welldon, the Bishop of Calcutta in 1915 quoted, “As soon as the last British Soldier sailed from Bombay or Karachi, India would soon become a battlefield for antagonist racial and religious forces .The peaceful and progressive civilisation setup by Great Britain  would shrivel up in a night”.

Seventy One years after independence, India somehow survives but it remains an unnatural nation and for few people, an unlikely democracy.  We opted for democracy as our political system. But many people keep wondering – how democratic is Indian polity?

Democratic theory mentions that poverty, widespread illiteracy, and a deeply hierarchical social structure are inhospitable conditions for the functioning of democracy. Yet except for those 18 months in 1975-77, India has maintained its democratic institutions ever since it became independent. When Prime Minister Indira Gandhi suspended democracy in June 1975 and declared a state of emergency, it seemed that India was finally starting down the path that most of the world's poorer democracies had already traveled. Yet democracy returned 18 months later, and emergency rule proved to be an abnormality rather than an emerging structural trend.  

Last year, I was travelling from Bangalore to Pavagada in Karnataka, a 3 hours long journey. Early on, my car was held up by a level crossing. A goods train passed by leisurely, and I read the signs on the wagons - SR, NR, SCR, SER, WR - the ‘R’ standing for ‘Railway’, the other letters for the different regional branches of India's greatest and most genuinely public-service organization. In the course of their wanderings over the years, the wagons had got all mixed up, so that one which rightfully belonged to the Northern Railway was placed next to one that was the property of the South Central Railway, and so on. It was typical that the wagons belonging to different regional branches of Indian Railways had got so messed up; but that there was an Indian Railways to which all those branches owed allegiance signalled a unity amidst the diversity.

I feel there are 4 critical reason (in no particular order) for democracy for India to survive. The first is the game of cricket - an Indian sport accidentally invented by the west which keeps the people united. The second is the bollywood industry, another great popular passion that unites Indians of different languages, faiths and social classes together. Third, there are some vital unifying legacies of the Britishers, such as Civil Services, Defense Services (Army, Air force and Navy) and the English language, which allow goods and people to move more or less peaceably across India, and to traffic with one another. The fourth, and in my view most crucial, reason why a united and democratic India survives is the constitution.

That unity and pluralism are inseparable in India and in wonderfully expressed in the Indian currency graphically, which has a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi on one side of all banknotes, with the denomination of the note printed in bold in Hindi and English and, in smaller type, in 15 other scripts.

A decade back, it was difficult to find solution to the common man’s problems. If a government teacher did not teach properly, could the parents do anything about it? Or if a doctor in a government hospital did not treat properly or did not give medicines? What could a poor person do if the ration shop keeper openly sold off the ration somewhere else? Or what could any one of us do if the policeman refused to register any FIR?

Today, the situation the different. Social Media has played a critical role in reliving the democracy. Who would have imagined that a person travelling on a train would tweet to a railway minister and seek help to arrange milk for his child and railway minister would get it arranged for this person who tweeted. 

Right to Information was also another concrete step towards making our polity democratic. The system will become more democratic when a common person will have more direct involvement in government decision making and when government would start co-creating policies 

Digitalization and HR

Its been a while now that we have been hearing the buzz words like Big Data, Machine Learning, Internet of Things (IoT), etc. These are terms which relates to Digitalization process that we are experiences in our day to day transactions whether at office or at a market place. As per KPMG’s Digital Transformation Report 2017, 79% of organizations worldwide believed that ‘advance technologies’ are a must have within the next 5 years.  

After the fall of Kodak and Nokia, all organizations are focusing on how to adopt to changing technologies and practices in order to remain relevant and sustainable. This is the reason why many organizations are looking at digitalizing their systems, their products or simply ensuring that they have the right skills for the future or how can the organizations develop more agile ways of working.

As per Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trend Report 2017, in the digital age there will be a dual challenging role for HR – One is to transform HR Operations and second is to transform the workforce and the way work is done.

HR’s impact in the digital world will be critical and will be in three spaces:

·       Digital Workforce – Designing talent practices, hiring digitally savvy employees and creating a culture of innovation.

·       Digital Workplace - Enabling productivity through modern communication tools and softwares.

·       Digital HR – Developing and implementing digital tools and apps to deliver HR solutions and innovations.

It will be imperative to have special (customized) human resources software that will help us effectively manage talent as well as optimize our plans and strategies based on data.

There are four pillars for digital transformation:

• Mindset – The willingness and enthusiasm to adopt digitalization
• People – The skills and competencies among the workforce to adopt digitalization
• Processes – The strategies for communicating and effective change
• Technology – The actual software tools

The weightage of Technology impacting the digital transformation will not be more than 10%. It’s the people, mindset and processes that will account for rest 90% where HR will have a value to add.

A major set of employees in the organizations (specially in India and developing countries) have a fear that machines or softwares will take away their jobs. HR would have a critical role in counselling these set of employees through soft skills and skill enhancement which would enable them to make them better and look at all growth possibilities lying ahead of them. It will be important for HR professionals to have an integration plan, starting with transparency and communicating the advantages of the transformation to the employees.

In most countries like India where the legal compliance is so complex and ever-changing that employee administration still accounts for most of the HR function’s daily work. Hence, HR processes should be among the first to be digitized and outsourced. In North America and Western Europe today, at least 30% of companies already outsource their payroll management and the trend is growing. In Belgium outsourcing reaches 90%.

Hence, it will not be incorrect in saying that HR will be one of the key buttons to activate in the digital transformation process.

How I Plan To Make You Happy Every Day Of Your Life

Dear My (Future) Wife,

The first time I thought I would fall in love and get married was when I was 8 years old. I envisioned a life where I would meet you by the time I turn 27.

The reason I am writing this today is because I can’t stop thinking about you and I can’t stop myself from imagining how happy we will be in the days to come with our togetherness. Let this letter be a promise to you that I will do my best to be the man I want to be for you:

• I promise to make your smile my priority
• I promise I will always look at you with the same adoration as I did the moment I realized I loved you.
• I promise to try to ignite the same sparkle in your eyes I see when you’re surprised, inspired, motivated
• I promise to hold your hand when we’re 80 years old with the same liveliness that I did when I crossed that line to hold yours for the first time.
• I promise to do my best always to interest you.
• I promise to keep reinventing myself, gaining new hobbies, new knowledge and new interests to keep you and myself - Entertained.
• I promise to have new stories to share with you, and maybe I’ll retell the best ones again if you insist.
• I promise to keep our friendship growing over the years
• Even in grief and darkness, I promise to show you the different shades of the dark, and to help you find the tiny rays of light that are always there if you seek them.
• I promise to play the games you like to play.
• I promise to love your family as you love them and to be by their side as much as I am by yours.
• I promise to always listen to you when you simply just want to be heard; when you want someone to vent to about something or when you want advice regarding the new dress that you would order on Amazon or Flipkart.
• I promise to cook and clean for us (sometimes).
• I promise to create family traditions and to make sure that your legacy lives forever through our child.
• I have pictured my life with the person I am committed to – YOU.

Sincerely, 

Your (Future) Husband

RED

As a child, I loved Red Cherries, Red Balloons, Red ketchup with hot samosa’s, Red Toys. Red was the colour of my mother’s bindi. Red – the cross on doctor’s car. Red Mehendi, Red Frocks, Red Roses, Red Candy Bars, Red Crayons. Red was beauty, was love, was passion, was energy, was dreams...  

And then I grew up... And something changed. Goodness of Red escaped from a crack and it became the colour of shame and the colour of pain. I was around 12 years old when I saw a red river flowing between my thighs. I was frightened, I was confused. I thought I had blood cancer.

I never imagined that this blood would become my life-long adversary. That Red would become my vengeance.   My life would be full of ‘DON’Ts’.  Don’t walk like that. Don’t talk to boys. Don’t dress like that. Don’t think like that. Ssshhhh... Don’t speak about those things. Don’t go out late. Don’t go to the kitchen. STOP..!! Don’t Pray.

Five long days – the days of impurity. Living life like an untouchable. [PS: We got independence in 1947 but we still make the female in our society untouchable every 5 days a month]. Living life like I didn’t exist. Five long days that I had to bear of my own. Uncertain, Uncomfortable, Painful, Ignored. Five long days that even God wiped me off his list. Can you imagine the horror of a 12 year old child? 

She suddenly discovers that she has become a woman? It’s nothing beautiful? Isn’t she beautiful anymore? She feels tainted, she feels ashamed. And I was not the only one. There were and there are many like me who step into puberty not knowing that their bodies are the most beautiful vessels. Vessels with the power to bring forth human-beings.  

Surrounded by myth and burdened by a taboo, they consider themselves a curse. They learn no hygiene. Rags, Ashes, Leaves - they use any means to remove all traces of shame. The drop out of schools. They withdraw into themselves. They wonder why their body limits them? Who clipped their wings? For humanity to live, they bleed.  

They have thousands of questions but yet they are scared to raise a voice. Too ashamed to think. But they need to be told that they are children like any other. Womanhood is not witch. Puberty means life. Menstruation is not a disease. With care, understanding and knowledge, give her the strength to untangle the chains to break the societal taboo. Talk to her, discuss it. Tell her that she has a magic within her. Tell her that the RED blood which comes from her will one day help another heart, beat.

Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care.

The state of our environment is critical to human health and survival. Human beings depend on the environment for food, clean air, and water. Our diet includes plants and animals whose survival and safety depend on the state of the environment. Environmental pollution destroys ecosystems that are important to human health and part of our food chain. In additional, the environment is the source of natural resources that nations require for economic growth. Nations create wealth by trading their natural resources and products of such resources with other nations.

The Theme for World Environment Day for 2012 was ‘Think, Eat and Save’.  Think, Eat and Save was an anti-food waste and food loss campaign which was launched to encourage everybody to reduce their food print. The impact of food waste is not just financial. Environmentally, food waste leads to wasteful use of chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides; more fuel used for transportation; and more rotting  food, creating more methane – one of the most harmful greenhouse gases that contributes to climate change.

Retailers’ strict cosmetic standards result in rejection of food items not perfect in shape or appearance. Consumers’ waste food through excess purchase and careless eating behaviors’. If food is wasted; it means that all the resources and inputs used in the production of all the food are also lost.

A recent study by the Indian Institute of Public Administration on the wastage of food during social gatherings in national capital region Delhi, shows that rising economic prosperity makes people indulge in extravagance and ostentatious behavior during social events and people do not mind throwing away food, but the menu has to be extensive as any shortage would affect their so-called honor and respect in society. Also, celebrations of plethora of festivals in Indian societies waste food on such occasions as it is prepared on a large scale.

Given this enormous imbalance in lifestyles and the resultant devastating effects on the environment, it is expected out of us to become more aware of the environmental impact of the food choices that we all make and empowers all of us to make informed decisions. The objective rallies us to take action from our homes and then witness the power of collective decisions which we and others have made to reduce food waste, save money, minimize the environmental impact of food production and force food production processes to become more efficient.

Although governments bear the responsibility of protecting the environment, all citizens have a role to play in keeping the environment clean and safe.

I would urge you to look for wastages happening around in your vicinity, in canteens, at office get together, at guest houses, in your own house or when you go out to eat in a restaurant. Think of innovative ways to reduce food wastages and you would be doing your bit to save the world

Towards a Digital India

Date: 19^th April 2016

To,
Shri Narendra Modi,
Hon’ble Prime Minister of India,

New Delhi

Dear Sir,

Greetings.

I hope that this letter finds you in best of health and spirit.

First of all, a hearty congratulations to you and your entire team for doing a wonderful work for the country. I follow each of your agenda and I feel proud in sharing that your actions and efforts inspire me every day.

I am writing this email to share a suggestion with you. I am highly ambitious about the fact that you have shown us a dream of ‘Digital India’. With the action plans and strategies which you have planned, I am certain that in future, Digitization will become an integral part of our lives. The drive for automation and other advancements such as artificial intelligence in each sector will transform the country and at the same time drive our economy to a greater level.

I would like to bring to your notice that Companies Act 2013 and SEBI regulations state that any Company shall maintain all records as per the Companies Act, 2013 and SEBI Regulations for not less than 8 (Eight) Years and all these documents to be preserved at the Registered Office of the Organization. While in the age of Digitization, I believe that preserving these documents in physical form should not be a mandatory clause as per the Companies Act and SEBI guidelines. I would request you and your team to propose an amendment in the Companies Act 2013 and SEBI Guidelines by passing an amendment in the upcoming session of Parliament or through Cabinet approval that these documents can be acceptable in digital form (soft copy stored on company server/cloud) as well.

Sir, you will agree with me that as a digitized country, it will be very heartening to see that no matter which whichever branch or office of any company that you visit, you will be able to access these documents and audit as per government guidelines if we store those documents in soft form rather than maintaining it at physical form. 

I hope my suggestion will be looked upon and implemented.

Jai Hind..!

Cc:       

1. Mr. Ravishankar Prasad, Hon'ble Minister Department of Telecom

2. Mr. Arun Jaitley, Hon’ble Finance Minister, Minister of Corporate Affairs and Minister of Information and Broadcasting

3. Mr. Jayant Sinha, Hon’ble Minister of State for Finance

4. Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman, Hon’ble Minister of Commerce and Industry

Regards,

Varinder Singh

A proud citizen of India

Mumbai

Book Review: Beyond the Last Blue Mountain by R.M.Lala

Russi M. Lala, the author of the book – Beyond the last blue mountain who was also known for his books on the house of Tata also happened to be a good friend of an aviator, an entrepreneur, an industrialist, a visionary, a reformer, a leader and a patriot – Shri J R D Tata. Beyond the Last Blue Mountain is a biography of J R D which is divided into 4 sections,. The first section of the book talks about J R D's family heritage and the circumstances of his birth and his childhood days along with his growth as the assistant to one of the directors at Tata Steel as well as his courtship with Thelma Vicaji.  J R D was born at Paris on 29th July 1904.

The second section shares the stories of rise of Tata Airlines as J R D’s brainchild and then, its nationalization into Air India and subsequently to Air India International. The book also mentions that J R D was the first Indian to have flown from Karachi to Bombay, when he founded the Tata Airlines in 1932, the forerunner of Air India which is today the national airliner. The book also showcases a copy of his driving license which has the No. 1 printed on it.

The third section talks about the how J R D has made a conglomerate grow, which takes a credit of providing the services and products to the world ranging from salt to software. Under his chairmanship, ‘M’ was replaced by ‘B’ (The Tata Group grew from 100 Million dollar company to 5Billion dollar company). J R D started with 14 enterprises under his leadership and half a century later on July 26, 1988, when he left, Tata & Sons was a conglomerate of 95 enterprises which they either started or in which they had controlling interest.

The final section of the book throws light on J R D as a loving patriarch, a bobel citizen and an inspiring leader of men. The book also proves that one need not be a politician or activist or civil servant to serve the nation. J R D lived a life full of inspiring stories for the world and proved to this world as how a business man can serve the nation for which the Government of India conferred him with the highest award of the country – The Bharat Ratna in 1992. The book has also been successful in bringing on the table the details about the industrial, social and political history of 20th century India.

Ever since, he landed at India, he kept on adding new dimensions to this nation. Creating employments for lakhs of people in the world and working with a motive which aimed only at nation development, talks about the magnanimity and the generosity of the spirit named ‘Jehangir Ratanji DadabhoyTata.’ The Indian Air Force conferred the rank of Air Commodore on J R D Tata and later promoted him to the rank of Air Vice-Marshal. 

The book inspires me and makes me feel proud to be a part of his legacy and I pledge to sustain this legacy.