The Jet Story

Well Mr. Goyal lived up to the image he is carrying in the minds of many employees, especially ones who are with the organization since the beginning. I have seen this image, his aura amongst these people. On personal level, as an individual, I would buy his story only with a spoon of salt.
It is impossible to believe that such a major decision would have been taken without his knowledge, as he claimed during the press conference; And, he has all the reason to do a rethink on the ways his business is being run. May be he would like to review the decision making process or the effectiveness of his so-called trusted management team. In my view, he should review a few more issues.

• What is his role in running the business? And, who all are there in other roles?
• What is the capability of the management team? Is it agile enough to meet growing challenges of the business environment? Does his team have all characteristics of an effective and capable team? Is it really professional?
• Where is the corporate strategy of this company? If it is there, how come it was caught unaware and landed in this messy situation? I’m sure the company did not take this decision based on just a few days’ developments.
• Is he aware of his organization structure? How does it look like in terms of nos.? Is it a pyramid or an inverted pyramid? What is his cost-wise organization structure? Does it compare with any other organization anywhere?
• If the decision was just to go about retrenching trainees and probationers, how come his organization has more than 15% employees are in that grade? Doesn’t it indicate that his firm, particularly his strategy dept., was either oblivious of the emerging business environment? What could be the case, incompetency or complacency or just laxity?
• He may like to review some of the statistics published in news papers:

1. App. 2000 employees, i.e. app. 17% of workforce, are paid more than Rs. 1 lac monthly. I assume, most of them would be pilots, engineers and experienced cabin crew members. If not, he may like to find out who they are?
2. More than 200 employees, i.e. app. 2% of the workforce, are paid more than Rs. 10 Lacs monthly or more than US$ 22000 per month. What level would they be working at? He may wish to look at this no. too.
3. He may like to look at the increase in the salary cost over the years and seek some justification in its variance.
4. Recruitment of fresh foreign pilots is still going on?
   Adverse business conditions, be it fuel price or infrastructure or anything else, would always be there. Challenges in different forms remain there in every business. A professional management is supposed to do precisely this function.

He was correct that he is no stranger to issues and he has handled all such issues decisively. I am sure Mr. Goyal knows what to do and how, in this scenario. And, also that he could do it in the best way.
His is, no doubt, a “rags to riches” story. It is to be seen if his too would end up as one who could not manage the growth and become example of why promoter should be different from manager case-study. One may argue that he is so but it needs to be adhered in strict sense. And, this lesson is required to be learnt by many in years to come.
Jet Airways has been the face of emerging and vibrant India. All wishes to it to keep flying high.

Cheers! The worst is yet to come..:)

It was like “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” or in more contemporary terms, it was Indian version of “A case of exploding Mangoes”.

I had known it the day Mamtadi got involved in it. It was just a matter of time. Unfortunately, it happened a little too late and at a little too high cost to Tatas. A little surprising for them to get into this mess. They have been around, doing business for almost a century now. They should have known it earlier than me. (Shall write more on her and Bengal in some subsequent note)

It is a good luck for us that our democracy is strong and guided that we have got leaders like Mamtas, Mayas, Lallooes, Mulayams, Karunanidhis, Devigowdas, Choutalas etc to choose from. And, there had been even bigger leaders like Jagannath Mishra, Bindeshwari Dubey, Devilal, etc in the past, who serve the icons of this breed.  

I am sure in a weak democracy and poorly designed systems, these people would have been filtered out before reaching up to this level and would not have been able to influence India’s course. Unfortunately, some visionary had identified their origin “People get the leader they deserve”. However, he was not able to identify or did not choose to spell the vicious cycle that goes behind this, especially for this breed of leaders. “Lead people to the place where only you can lead”. Bihar can be the greatest example. Fifteen years of un-interrupted rule and a loss only to the person, who played the same game more aptly. Now, these old-timers are annoyed that they have been denied their share in the annual flood lottery festival, especially when the prize is “n” times larger this year.

It is no surprise that wherever these leaders are strong, the region/state is doing wonders. Riding on self-servicing social causes, this breed is making case-studies in economic performance under their respective rules. But that is obvious for leaders with such great capabilities. Somebody should look at their credentials, educational, social, police history sheet, past life. There would not be any surprise. What is their fault if they do not understand economics when they were forced to move out of their educational life? They were sincere enough to complete respective courses even after 5-6 years of study but, alas, they were forced to vacate hostels, forced to appear in exams and forcefully awarded marks to pass and leave colleges. Some simply got bored that nobody cared for their education after a few more years and, hence, decided to move-on from college life. Not surprisingly, they are literate, they are farsighted, etc etc. They have all quality of great leadership. In fact, looking at them, National Literacy Mission should revise their curriculum. They may be breeding a nation of leaders.

In fact this breed has given a new classification of present generation of leaders. Today’s leaders either belong to this class or they do not belong to this class. There are common traits though. Traits, which are the basic characteristics of any leader such as

• ·         Ability to convince some people of anything under the sun
  
• ·         A few court cases (mostly named as politically motivated) with a few trips to jail/lock-ups
  
• ·         A family history (of leaders or of history-sheeters or of both)
  
• ·         Ability to charm the media, print/electronic/anything, especially anchors, who are mostly of opposite sex (Somebody should examine, who charms whom)
  

So, my dear friends don’t be surprised. Tata at Singur is just one case, whicn happens to be the most recent one. Remember stories of Charwaha Vidyalaya (Schools where you can take your cows and buffaloes and goats and sheep. They learn. You sleep and somebody gets legal ownership of the land), or the great Fodder tales (where buffaloes travelled 800Kms overnight on scooters to get quality fodder) or Taj corridor (Whie you see Taj Mahal somebody gets land around it) or Greater NOIDA airport or Meham (do you still remember this word). Anyway, all these leaders are alive & kicking. Many such stories would be made in time to come. Just don’t take pain now. Enjoy. Remember - Picture abhi baki hai mere dost….

परती परिकथा .....

Now they are covering it. Now they are realizing the magnitude of the problem. Perhaps, even not yet.
How stupid it is to say that just 5people have died due to this tragedy. Analyze this, 2.5 million people surrounded by water from all around for last 7 days and only 55 fatalities? More than this would be the no. of people who would have been dying every day in this region due to natural causes. What happened to them? Perhaps they have stopped dying seeing realizing that it might be more painful to die in these conditions. Or, they would die sooner? These journalists! I wonder if the dumbest of the population join this profession or the most casual ones? Not to say that many great brains too are there in this industry.
I am trying to visualize the situation of these people. One morning, they wake to find surrounded by water or, might be they were woken up during the night itself by increasing water level. And, they assume they are facing another of regular annual flash flood from the nearby stream. They take normal precautions, go to usual high grounds. And, to their surprise, they realize water level is increasing and current is rather too fast than any of instances they remember or have ever heard from any of their elders. And, this is when there is no rain. They reach their tipping point. And, suddenly, they come to know that they are amidst the main course of a river. The river they have always dreaded. The river, which has become part of the regional folklores due to great devastations it had caused in the past. Now what do they do?
Just yesterday I finished reading a classic having this region as the background, Parti Parikatha by Phanishwar Nath Renu. A must read for anybody having genuine interest in literature. The novel ends with implementation of Multi-purpose project at Kosi River. Part of the project was to divert the main course of river to the river to a channel, which the river had abandoned many years, may be centuries ago. I have no idea if that actually was the case. Unfortunately, Renu did not write any follow-up otherwise it would have come out that the project did not get completed in the form it was envisaged. The actual dam, which was supposed to come upstream, somewhere in Nepal, was never built. Only a barrage was built to control the flow of river into the plains. And see, the barrage is still intact. Now the river has breached its banks and enforcements a few kilometers upstream. And, the river has changed its course from there. Notably, 85% of the water is flowing through this breach. I am not sure what corrective action can be taken now and how successful that would be. Perhaps, we’ll have to live with the changed course of this river. Geography and maps would change now. For a few decades or centuries, that is to be observed.
I have no idea whether the change of course actually happened then and it is reversal of that or it is the actual inaction of the story. But, then, the population was prepared for the change of course. Now, they are not.
By the Kosi is a very interesting river. It has the distinction of having Mt. Everest and Mt. Kanchenjuga in its catchment area. It carries the largest volume of debris during its course of flow, from the Himalayas to the Ganges. It creates the largest of alluvial cones by any river. And, much more.

A different world

Just now I have switched channel to watch a movie. I has already started. I don't know its name. I don't care. It would be better than the tirade they are showing on all news channels. I am not surprised though, I am ashamed. How can somebody ignore the plight of such a huge population. Even animals care. We, humans, don't. We are commercial animal. We care for things, which pay. Hence, we show only those news, which, we think, will sell. After all who would be interested in watching plights of people of Bihar. They do not belong to this world. Through out the day, I was following all, so called, news sites and other general information sites. No update. Perhaps they don't care. That's journalism for us. The new age journalism, covering news, which sell. Commercial news. I'm convinced that these people are dumb, of the highest order. If you treat a part of population like this, what can you expect them to treat you in turn. 2 Million people, drowning, many doomed to die. Die slowly. Die seeing others die before them. And, they are not on our radar. What are all these innovation in connectivity for if we can't connect to our own people? Or, perhaps, we don't want to connect to them. The sense of commercialization is too strong to care for we, the people.
Anyways, it has happened that river Kosi, the age old sorrow of Bihar, has changed its course. It has changes its course by almost 92Kms. Within a few couple of days. I hope many of us would understand the gravity of this. The river is now flowing through a channel, though which it used to flow at least 120 years ago. Flooding, rather severe flooding, is not new to this part of the world. But a river, that too Kosi, changing its course back to where it was more than a century ago, is something, which is not just flood. I am trying to visualize how one would have reacted after realizing this. I am sure many of the suffering people would not have seen this river in their life time, rather may not be in generations. After all, how many people of Purnia would travel to Saharsa and see this river. This happened and that is how we have reacted.
I am sure that after a few days, all these phony news channels would line-up there to show heart-breaking stories of suffering, challenging each other supremacy in covering in depth. Showing some obscene graphics and comparing this with some out of the world examples.
Anyway, my condolences to all who are suffering. I don't know how can I be of any help to them. Long back we tried to help one those kids, Prakash, who was left without parents. He stayed with us for a a couple of years. We arranged for his education and he used to help our mother, who was suffering from strange disease, in taking care of household. He went to visit some of his relatives and did not come back. There was another guy too. He had lost his mother. He stayed with us for a almost a year before his father turned up and took him back, promising that he would take his complete care. Both these kids left so deep impression on us, especially on my mother, that we decided no to drain us emotionally any more. These guys told us about the horror of flood and plight of life after the flood in that area. We would never be able to comprehend. And, these news channels would ensure that we never would.
We hope these guys would be doing well. I am hoping that one of these knowledge channels, NGT or Discovery or History, would show the significance and extant of the tragedy in this year's flood. I wonder if these flood would ever be controlled. Or, Kosi would remain the angry old lady, firm on destroying everybody where she was not treated well in her youth.

Growing old....

I am 32 years old. And, I am growing old. Old, not just that my age is increasing everyday but I have started missing those good old days, our times,....
I recently met a few of my classmates, from my school and from my colleges, in last few days. I was seeing them at least after a decade. In fact, I met my school friend after 15 years. And, as expected, we were recollecting our good old days. Nothing different. Perhaps every such meeting will have these moments. But there was a big difference. We were discussing those days as we were discussing a different era...a different civilization. It was difficult to connect to those days. Days without cable TV channels, days without mobile phones and internet, days with at least 3 hours everyday in cricket field, days with cycling to school and back without ever hearing a horn. We discussed those long hours at STD booth, once in a week, for those who were regulars, trying to speak to our parents for few minutes, or about the cricket tournament we used to organize and participated in colleges and yes, a few old-filmy style crushes...that, indeed, was a different era..or a different civilization. And, all these used to happen just a few years ago...12-15 years ago.
I am growing old. I am repeating lines, often repeated by old men and women when we were young. And, seems I would grow quiet old in next few decades...

Pay peanuts, get monkeys...

...precisely, that is the phrase to explain my situation right now. Another phrase would be "the zero sum game".
Recently, I moved from Mumbai to Bangalore on a new assignment. My relocation charges were "reimbursed" by the new employer, means I pay first and they would pay me later subject to std clause of the least of three quotes. I called a few nos. I had noticed here and there. Agarwal quoted Rs. 34K. Another party "SKY HOME PACKERS and MOVERS" (SHPM) quoted just Rs 26K. Then came the 3rd party, Sai Packers and Mover, and quoted 24K. That was great. After a few days, SHKM called to enquire abt the plan. When we told that we have got a lower quote, they matched, means they were ready to take a little less than Rs. 24K. We called up Agarwal and told them about the quotes from these guys and they reverted with a fresh quote, Rs. 44K. Funny...right. We had three quotes and we went for the least one, i.e. SKY HOME PACKERS and MOVERS. And, see what have they delivered to me in Bangalore....

1. My Sony flat screen TV with its mother-board in multiple pieces. Great. I thought a TV has got only one mother board. Surprisingly, even with 3-4 motherboards, the TV refused to switch-on.
2. All my furniture are delivered as they were packed. However, now I have no excuse to delay their polishing. In the process, I may choose to replace sun mica of my double bed, TV table and shoe-rack, which, I distinctly remember, were quite shining in Mumbai at the time of packing.
3. My wooden Almira was delivered in two pieces. Its lower portion, i.e. log assembly, could not withstand the torment of a travel from Mumbai to Bangalore.
4. Thankfully, my fridge has got a bend in the bottom. Nobody would be able to see it and I need not worry about its repair. And, in case it is still cooling things.
5. And, after watching the great job they had done, I was extremely disappointed that they delivered my car without any noticeable damage. The premium I had paid for its insurance last year would be a waste now. I thought may be I would get a free denting/painting done. So sad. And, it was not the fault of the delivery boy that he called me to a place 25Km out of Bangalore to take my vehicle by paying the balance amount of Rs. 3k, which I was supposed to pay after delivery of these goods. They thought I may refuse to pay after seeing the good work they have done. I think I made right choice by paying them 3k to get, at least, my car back.

Later, I called them to appreciate the good work they had done. The guy Anil, who was the relationship manager for me, was addressed to be in Rajasthan (I was told so). I thought I should convey my appreciation to his boss, Mr. Rajesh. The only problem is that he is very generous. He has got 2 mobiles and he has got 3-4 supporting staff. Hence, he has decided that his staffs would carry these mobile in turn and he would stay without any mobile. Anyway, after repeated failed attempt to contact him, I though I should convey the good words to his staffs at the least. And, to my utter surprise, I was told by them that whatever happens I should not bother about police, courts etc. I should not waste my time in conveying appreciations for things, which is fairly common. In fact his boss, Mr. Rajesh, was so tired of hearing appreciations that he has decided to handover his mobiles to his drivers and watchmen. And, there was another piece of advise that I should check with the insurance firm. After all such movement of goods are insured. I called up the insurance firm. Ms. Cholamandalam, no response. I sent a e-mail. Surprise, I got a call within an hour. After exchanges of few calls, by the evening, I was made clear that another guy from Hyderabad had already made a claim on the same policy and that the coverage was of basic nature, i.e. against any loss due to flood, fire, accident et al. That was surprise. All the while I was under the impression that transit insurance must cover any loss or damage due to mishandling, improper packing etc. At least, I would not subscribe to such policy and I am sure most of us are sane that way. Anyways, how does it matter to Ms Cholamandalam. They have got agents like Ms. Pacific Insurance Consultants to sell these absurd policies, so what if it is through cheating. So, here I am budgeting for the next move. A Sony TV would cost me app. Rs. 15K and policing of furniture with repairs would cost me at least Rs. 5-10K. I thought I would save Rs. 20k by using SKY HOME PACKERS and MOVERS. And, I am paying at least the same amount plus the tension to get the work done on ASAP basis. It was great learning experience....the zero-sum game or may be -ive sum game....Its your turn now...

To dear Rajdeep, who started as an option to Pranav

Dear Rajdeep,

This article of you is no different from the kind of reporting you and your fellow teammates resort to through CNN-IBN or IBN7.
Coming to the matter, I doubt if you'ld find any educated or I would rather say thinking, as you too are educated, man would say that MM is dishonest or his integrity is doubtful. You'ld not find such person from opposition party too. That's creditable.
However, the point remains, who is more important? MM as PM or MM as a person? Let's accept the fact that he is the weakest and non-performing of all PMs (please do not count Chandashekhar and Devegowda as PMs. They were bad accidents happened to Indian democracy. I hope this would not happen again as Lallu or Bahanji.). I am unable to recall any single project, which could have changed the life or people (I mean positively. He did change lives and I would come to that shortly). Now, help in naming a single project initiated by the previous government, whom I regard quiet productive, which MM has been able to complete. As far as I remember, that govt. started ambitious projects on highway developments, upgrade of ports, privatization of monolith PSUs, etc. Even this nuclear power initiative was taken by that govt. And, what did MM’s contribution on them? Highways are still under construction (check NHAI’s website. They have not been updating progress on highway projects. Perhaps they do not have update to showcase). Nothing is ever heard of on port-sector in last 3-4 years (except sometimes in PC’s budget speeches). Privatization is stopped. Nuclear deal is diluted (it seems). Then what did he do? Repealed POTA and led the nation to multiple serial attacks? I would not hold him responsible for inflation but the pointers were there since many months. Couldn’t he, as an economist, and his trusted PC, another economist, learn and take any counter measure? Sure, we are better off right now. But for how long? After all we have not done, neither doing anything to bell this cat, except our leadership coming up with age-old and shameful reasons like profit-seeking behavior of private sector and hoarding of food items by traders, and above all high pay-package of some set of people, who constitute some less than 0.01% of our population. I am failing to understand that who had stopped and has been stopping MM’s men to act if they knew of these reasons?
I would rate MM as a worse PM than PVNR. At least that fellow has a clear-cut agenda that he would be there as a PM for one full-term and he had no qualms about that. He never pretended anything else. He did not act any many things because he need not, to fulfill his agenda. Our economy did recover under his leadership and under MM’s guidance. But, in those circumstances, I unable to guess what any other FM would have done, or if anybody else were made FM, if he/she would have acted differently? Though he had his shares of stupidities, he did not do something as stupid as waiving of farm loans worth Rs 60000Cr. See what has happened as an effect of that? So called farmers have stopped paying. So call gainers are still committing suicide. And, banks have officially declared stopping fresh loans to farmers. Great. That’s the greatest achievement of MM. If not for anything else, he would be known for this great act. Some intelligent people, you too are counted in them, say that his hands are tied. Come on. That’s another stupid reason. If your hands are tied, you do stupidities? Only fools and weak people do that. And, that is what MM is. He is weak. A strong man would never stoop to accept these stupidities and would stand up to the consequences. MM cannot. He is too weak to act so, to SG/RG first, and then to Commies. Btw, did you report how and why new Hyderabad International Airport got its name?
So Mr. Rajdeep your analysis is all wrong, or all made up. Do justice to your profession. I hope you know of consequences of something called “Yellow journalism”.
Let’s see if you respond to this.

Olympics, Tibet, China and India

Observe this.
Olympic torch relay was disrupted in London. It was put off, twice, in France. It is slatted to face strong protests in USA. And, how did China react? It showed displeasure. It's mouthpiece came out with a few articles, doctored articles. That's it. Nothing else. It did not call their envoy in the middle of the night for anything. It did not call their minsters even once.
However, here in India, the story is different. Indian envoy was called at 2 AM, a few weeks earlier to the scheduled Olympic torch relay run in India, to note Chinese concerns. Indian foreign minister is already called on the phone, twice, to note Chinese concerns. Why? Because, some people, of Tibet origin or who share concerns on situation in Tibet, had protested outside Chinese embassy here, in New Delhi.
So, why this double standard? Who is responsible for this double standard? China and its policies or us, India and its government?
There are vehement calls in other countries, from every quarter of their society, political, academic, military, masses, about Chinese atrocities in Tibet, about Chinese occupation of Tibet, about Chinese malicious plans on Tibet. Any body would understand the Chinese game plan and that is to destroy identity of Tibet by erasing its cultural existence. They are changing its demography. They are populating the entire Tibet region with Muslims, another troublesome quarter of Chinese population and who are known to inflict the kind of results, Chinese desire in Tibet. Everywhere, except in India, people are freely voicing these concerns.
But not in India. Successive governments in India have officially endorsed that official Chinese stand on the issue that Tibet is Chinese territory and it is free to do whatever it wants to do there, that political unrest in Tibet is China's internal matter. And, they have done it against the majority will. Most of the Indians think otherwise. Tibet is revered for them.
By all indications, especially by its stand on Tibet, India is justifying what rest of the world thinks India to be, i.e. a country which China dominates, a country, which can't deal with Chinese might, or rather perception of might. Political leadership of India is, I am sorry to use this word but not hesitant, afraid of China. Chinese double standard in dealing the situation arising during the Olympic torch relay only reinforces the above.

साठ और सत्तर के दशक...

मन की किताब से तुम मेरा नाम ही मिटा देना
गुण तो न था कोई भी, अवगुण मेरे भुला देना.....
चलचित्र: बंदिनी, १९६०

कोई दीवाना गलियों में फिरता रहा
कोई आवाज़ आती रही रात भर
आपकी याद आती रही रात भर॥
चलचित्र: गमन, १९७५

कुछ खटक सी हुई क्या आपके जेहन में इन पंक्तियों को पढ़ कर?
मेरा हमेशा से यह मानना रहा है की सभी कलाओं के शीर्ष का दौर था १९६० और १९७० के दशक। यह बात सिर्फ़ भारतीय परिपेक्ष्य में हीं नहीं बल्कि पूरे विश्व के लिए सही है। आप मेरी बात से असहमत हो सकते हैं। आप शायद मुझे पुरातनपंथी भी कह सकते हैं। लेकिन मैं अपनी राय नहीं परिवर्तित कर रहा ।
हिन्दी चलचित्रों और उनके संगीत के लिए भी यहीं सही है। क्या दशक था वो...शंकर-जय किशन, नौशाद, सचिन देव बर्मन, नैय्यर साहब जैसे लोकप्रिय संगीतकार...जब दूसरी पंक्ति, या यूँ कहें की लोकप्रियता की दूसरी पंक्तियों में कल्याणजी-आनंदजी, उभरते हुए से लक्ष्मीकांत-प्यारेलाल, दत्ताराम, खेमचंद प्रकाश, खैय्याम, रवि, रोशन, जैसे संगीतकार....गीतकारों में शैलेंद्रजी, साहीर साहब, मजरूह साहब, शकील साहब...सही कहते हैं पापा और उनके दोस्त...स्वर्णिम दिन रहे होंगे वो...
लेकिन इनमे से भी मेरी एक खास पसंद है...सचिन साहब...सचिन देव बर्मन। जब से गानों मी दिलचस्पी जगी, कई गाने गुनगुनाने की आदत सी हुई। फिर एहसास हुआ की सब में एक बात थी...सभी सचिन दा के गीत निकले। मुझे उनके द्वारा निर्देशित गानों से अधिक उनके गाए हुए गाने में उत्सुकता जागी। इसे पढिये...

कोई भी तेरी
राह न देखे
नैन ना बिछाए कोई
दुःख में तेरे कोई ना तड़पा
आँख ना किसी की रोई
कहे किसे तू अपना,
मुसाफिर, तू जाएगा कहाँ...
चलचित्र: गाइड, १९६५

और इसे भी...
होता जो पीपल तू मैं होती अमर-लता तेरी
तेरे गले की माला बन कर पड़ी इतराती...
सुन मेरे साथी...
होता जो सागर तू मैं होती तेरी नदिया
ठुमक ठुमक (?) कर पिया को मिलाने जाती....
चलचित्र: सुजाता, १९६३

कुछ अलग सा नहीं है...कुछ ऐसा जोकि शायद अंग्रेजी में "Melancholy" और "Haunting" शब्दों से अधिक अच्छे से परिभाषित और बोधित होता है....

Death...of a different kind..

"I will respond to these things at a later stage. We do not have an instant coffee machine that you can get results instantly. It takes time to regain your position. We have put the process in place and the results will take some time." This is what Mr. Gill, Chief of IHF has to say on Indian teams’ failure to qualify for Beijing Olympics.

It has been more ten years since Mr. Gill has taken over as the chief of IHF. We used to qualify for major tournaments then, say Olympics for sure and to Champions Trophy intermittently, but not any more. All the while we were under the impression that 10 years is long enough time. I am sure Mr. Gill is talking about the days when we would fail to qualify to participate in SAAF games.

Ten years, I guess, in a field sports mean a generation. Perhaps Mr. Gill follows some other measurement of time. I wonder, by this definition, whether he’ll be around to actually see the difference he wants us to believe. I have doubts. If that change actually happens, whether Mr. Gill would be remembered to facilitate the change or for letting the change happen after he is gone. After all, Indian has already stopped qualifying for Champions Trophy and I do not see Indian team qualifying for next many Olympics to come.

However, Mr. Gill would indeed be remembered as the person responsible for annihilating terrorism from Punjab. My fear is that he would also be remembered for annihilating Hockey from India or at least Indian hockey from the world scene. I don’t know whether he would like this dubious distinction.

But why point fingers only to Mr. Gill. Which other sports in India is not suffering that way. Just see the list: a few of the sports’ bodies are headed by current ministers, some others are headed by few ex-ministers and a few have ex-bureaucrats ruling the roost. And, none of these sports bodies can be called a professionally managed organization by any stretch of imagination, not to me at least. And, I won’t be surprised to see similar fate of all other sports in India in next few years. Sadly, I do not see any change in their fate thereafter either.

Our systems would let them remain in the rotten state. Most of us would agree that we require an over-haul of the entire system and of all systems, if we actually want to move forward, in sports or in any other aspect of our life, as a community and as a fellow countrymen.

मुम्बई ......

मुम्बई बीमार है। मेरे नजरिये से तो यह काफी बीमार है। अगर समय रहते इसके उपचार नहीं हुआ तो ये दम तोड़ देगी। शायद एक और कलकत्ता बन जाए यह...या कुछ और वैसा हीं... शायद अभी भी याद हुआ लोगों को करीब ३० साल पहले तक, कलकत्ता भारत का सबसे बड़ा शहर हुआ करता था और नौकरी की तलाश में लोग मुम्बई या दिल्ली नहीं, बल्कि कलकत्ता जाया करते थे। भारत की पहली मेट्रो ट्रेन परियोजना भी कलकत्ता में कार्यान्वित की गई थी।
मैं मुम्बई में पिछले छः वर्षों से रह रहा हूँ और इसे पिछले दस वर्षों से अनुपालन कर रहा हूँ। स्तिथि तो बाद से बदतर हीं हुए जा रही है मुम्बई की। मैंने मुछ विचार किया इस पर। आख़िर मुम्बई की ऐसी दुर्दशा क्यों हो रही है? कौन जिम्मेदार है इसके लिए? मैंने कोशिश तो यहीं किया कि निष्पक्ष रहूँ अपने आंकलन में। देखे क्या निकलता है इस परीक्षण का परिणाम।
जब मैंने पहली बार मुम्बई में कदम रखा था तो काफी घबराया हुआ सा था। लगता था की इतनी भीड़ में क्या हाल होगा मेरा। पता नहीं लोग सहायता के लिए भी आगे आयेंगे या नहीं इस नवागंतुक के। लेकिन डर सहीं नहीं साबित हुआ। मैं भीड़ में खोया नहीं। लोगों ने भी सहायता की जहाँ भी जरूरत पड़ी। यह १९९८-९९ की बात है। लोगों में उम्मीदें थीं। सांत्वना देते थे कि मुम्बई सुधर रही है। कई परियोजनाएं चल रहीं थीं, मूलभूत सुविधाओं को सुधरने की। पुरानी सडकों को विस्तारिक किया जा रहा था। नयी सड़कें बन रहीं थीं। कई उद्दन-पूलों पर काम हो रहा था। लोगों में भविष्य के लिए उत्साह सा लगा। खैर मैं एक कार्य के सिलसिले में आया था। २-३ दिनों में लौट गया, इस उम्मीद के साथ कि शायद मैं भी कभी यहाँ रहूँ।
दिन बीते मैं आया यहाँ। सन् २०००-२००१ कि बात है। नौकरी के लिए। १ साल रहा। कई परियोजनाएं जो पिछले दौरे के दौरान अधूरी सुनी थीं, तब तक पूरी हो चुकी थीं। कईयों पर काम चल रहा था। लेकिन ऐसा लग रहा था कि शायद और कदम उठाने की जरूरत है। यह भी समझ आया कि अगर ये नयी योजनाएं कार्यान्वित नहीं हुईं होती तो हालत कितने बुरे होते। मेरी पिछले दौरे और इस बार के दिनों के बीच में मुम्बई का काफी विस्तार हो चुका था। और मुम्बई कि जनसंख्या भी करीब २०% से बढ़ चुकी थी। खैर, दिन बीते मैं मुम्बई से वापस चला गया।
२ साल बाद वापस लौटा। मुम्बई बदल चुकी थी। आबादी २५-३०% और बढ़ चुकी थी। और लगभग सारी परियोजनाएं जिनके बारे में सुना था पीचाली बार, वो पूरी हो चुकी थी। यह २००३ कि बात है। और, जैसा कि अनुमान था, इतनी परोयोजनाओं के कार्यान्वन के बाद भी मूल-भुत संरचयों पर दबाव बढ़ हीं रहा था। कुछ दिनों में यह भी अहसास हुआ कि मुम्बई के मूलभूत संरचनाओं में जीतनी भी बढोतरी की गई है, वो सिर्फ़ इसके विस्तार की पूर्ति करने लिए हीं पर्याप्त सिद्ध हुई हैं। हालत को सुधरने और जीवन को बेहतर बनाने या सिर्फ़ पुराने दर्जे तक लाने के लिए भी अभी और बहुत कुछ करने कि जरूरत है।
अब इस बात को पाँच साल बीत गए हैं। सिर्फ़ अहसास हीं आगे बढ़ा है। मेरे सामने तो मुम्बई की मूल-भुत संरचानों को बढ़ने के लिए कोई नई परियोजना का कार्यान्वन नहीं हुआ है। जीवन दिनों-दिन मुश्किल होता गया है।
अब मुझे हीं देखिये। इस विषय पर पिछले छः महीने से लिखने कि सोच रहा हूँ। लेकिन कभी समय नहीं है। पहले बारिश में कार्यालय जाने के लिए अधिक समय लगता था। बारिश बंद भी हो गई लेकिन अब समय उतना हीं लगता है। मुझे याद है कि २००३ में मुझे कार्यालय जाने में करीब १ घंटे लगते थे और वापस आने में १'१५ घंटे। अभी यह समय १.५ और २.५ हुआ चुका है। और मुझे पूरी उम्मीद है कि यह जल्द हीं सम्मिलित रूप से ५ घंटे का अवरोध भी तोड़ देगा। (और हमारे वित्त मंत्री जी का कहना है कि दैनिक कार्यकाल ८ से १२ घंटे कर देना चाहिए। भाई साहब पहले मूल-भुत सुविधाओं का हाल तो सुधारिए।॥:)) किसानों और दूसरों के कर्जे माफ करके उतना फायदा नहीं होगा जितना की कार्यकुशलता बढ़ने से। और कार्यकुशलता बढ़ने में मूलभूत सुविधाओं का बहुत हीं बड़ा योगदान होता है। आप तो वित्त मंत्री हैं। वित्त हमेशा से आपका कार्य-क्षेत्र रहा है। आपको भी बताना पड़ेगा ये सब???)
वैसे मुम्बई के इस हालत के मूल कारण क्या है?
- क्या यह कि यहाँ मुम्बई का कोई अपना नहीं है। यहाँ की जन संख्या में ३०- ३५% महाराष्ट्रियन, ३०-३५% गुजराती, और बाकी देश के विभिन्न प्रदेशों से आए लोगों का है। इन सभी लागों के लिए मुम्बई कार्य स्थल तो है पर अपना स्थल, या यूँ कहिये की अपनी जगह, नहीं? यह बात सिर्फ़ उत्तर या दक्षिण भारतीयों के लिए हीं नहीं बल्कि महाराष्ट्र के दूसरे हिस्से से आए लोगों के लिए भी लागू होती है। शायद इनमें से अधिकांश लोगों को यह परवाह हीं नहीं कि उन्हें भी मुम्बई को व्यवस्थित रखने के लिए कुछ जिम्मेदारी लेनी चाहिए। सिर्फ़ ऊँची आवाज़ में शिकायत करने से कुछ नहीं होगा।
- क्या यहाँ की कार्य-प्रणाली , जोकि बाहर से आए लोगों को जल्दी अपने में सम्मिलित नहीं होने नहीं देती, भी जिम्मेवार है? मेरे जैसे कई लोग हैं यहाँ जो कि वर्षों से मुम्बई के तो हैं पर उनके पास ऐसा कोई सरकारी दस्तावेज नहीं है जो उन्हें मुम्बई-वासी होने की मान्यता प्रदान करता हो। मेरेसाथ कुछ ऐसा हीं हुआ है। मेरे पास मुम्बई-निवासी होने का कोई प्रमाण-पत्र नहीं है। प्रमाण के रूप में मेरे पास या तो राशन कार्ड, या चुनाव पहचान पत्र, या ड्राइविंग लाइसेंस होना चाहिए। मेरे पास इनमे से कुछ भी नहीं है। और मैं अगर चाहूँ तो भी मुझे यहाँ का राशन कार्ड नहीं मिल सकता क्यों कि मेरे पास मुम्बई या महाराष्ट्र का कोई स्थायी पता नहीं है। मुझे यहाँ का चुनाव पहचान पत्र नहीं मिल सकता क्योंकि मेरे पास राशन कार्ड या कोई ऐसा सरकारी दस्तावेज नहीं है जो कि मुझे मुम्बई-वासी होने की मान्यता प्रदान करता हो। और हालत तो यहाँ तक पहुँच गई थी कि मेरे शादी का पंजीकरण नहीं हुआ मुम्बई में, क्योंकि मेरे पास मुम्बई-वासी होने का कोई सरकारों प्रमाण नहीं था। वैसे यह भी बताया गया की मैं यह सब खरीद सकता हूँ। लेकिन विधिक तरीके से मुझे ये सब नहीं मिल सकता है। कार्य-प्रणाली बदलना बहुत बड़ी बात है। बड़े बड़े रूस्तम प्रणाली को बदलने के चक्कर में प्रणाली में शामिल हो कर प्रणाली में हीं खो गए। :)
- क्या यह सच्चाई कि महाराष्ट्र की सरकार में मुम्बई का कोई प्रभावशाली प्रतिनिधित्व नहीं है, मुम्बई के बुरे हाल के लिए जिम्मेदार हो सकती है? जरा ध्यान से याद कीजिये। शिवसेना कि सरकार में मुम्बई से चुने कितने हीं मंत्री थे? आख़िर मुम्बई शिव सेना-भाजपा का गढ़ हुआ करती थी। शायद यहीं कारण रहा हुआ कि मैंने जो भी परियोजनाओं कि बात की है ऊपर, वो मुम्बई में कार्यान्वित हुईं। अभी की सरकार, जोकि कांग्रेस की है, में मुम्बई की प्रतिनिधित्व शायद नाम मात्र की हीं है। शायद यहीं कारण हुआ कि पिछले दस वर्षों में मुम्बई में कोई बड़ी मूलभूत संरचानों के छेत्र में कोई बड़ी परियोजना नहीं आयीं है और नहीं कार्यान्वित हुई है? क्या यह बड़ा कारण नहीं हुआ सकता पिछले दस वर्षों में मुम्बई के पिछड़ने में? क्या मुम्बई के "भगवन" लोग कभी इस बात बार ध्यान भी देते हैं? या वह बस मुम्बई में मराठी-अमराठी की आग में झोंक कर सिर्फ़ अपनी रोटी हीं सकने में लगे रहेंगे? क्या कभी उन्होंने यह सोचा है कि मुम्बई के आज और अभी के स्वरूप में उनका कितने योगदान रहा है अराजनैतिक कारणों से? क्या उन्होंने कभी मुम्बई को कुछ दिया भी है या सिर्फ़ मुम्बई से लेते रहे हैं? और आगे भी ऐसे हीं मुम्बई की हाथ मरोड़ कर और भी हथियाने में लगे रहेंगे?
बेचारी मुम्बई। क्यों न इसे एक अलग राज्य बना गिया जाता है? आख़िर दिल्ली के नसीब भी तो तभी जगे। मुम्बई को क्यों पीछे रखा जाए? क्या इसका विरोध करने में महाराष्ट्र और मुम्बई के "भगवानों" का कुछ निजी हित है? अगर नहीं तो वो इसे भावनात्मक मुद्दा क्यों बनते हैं? क्यों नहीं इसे एक अलग राज्य बनने देते? आख़िर मुम्बई की हित तो इसी में है।
मुझे दुःख है इसके आज के हाल पर। मैं सिर्फ़ सहानुभूति नहीं जाताना चाहता हूँ। पर मैं शायद कुछ कर भी न पाऊं इसके लिए। सलाम मुम्बई। बाय मुम्बई। भगवान् तुम्हारा भला करे।