Bollywood is not about movies

I will make a case below but let me lay out my conclusion first - Bollywood is not the Hindi film industry. Films are simply ancillary to it. Bollywood is a brand, a brand that helps corporations sell products using a small clique of new aristocrats. It is really about manufacturing artificial demand, by a tie-up of big media, consumer goods producers and film corporations. The movies and their release are at best ancillary to their purpose. The original Hindi movie industry has been taken over and supplanted by these corporations.

A Voyage of Discovery
I remember watching the Hindi movie "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" in Devi theater, Chennai, back in 1999. This was Karan Johar's first directorial venture. The movie release was preceded by the usual promotions. One of these was an article in the magazine India Today. The magazine had a photograph of a college lobby with lockers for students and Sharukh Khan walking bouncing a basketball. The article said Hindi films were going through a resurgence in costumes, artwork and stories (I guess in that order). When I watched the movie I could feel it. The college in that movie seemed "like in America". The students had individual lockers (while my college barely had a bathroom). Kids went to a giant summer camp and the actors went from country to country. You would be forgiven for thinking that colleges in Bombay actually looked like the newer ones in the United States.
Later I learnt that the movie was a big hit in the United States and UK. Nothing critical came to my mind while watching the movie.
A few months later India Today again published a "puff piece" (as journalists call it) on the Hindi film world. It said that the movie industry was attracting the interest of corporations, both in India and abroad. The article mentioned that story discussions were now done using powerpoint presentations! There was talk of bound scripts and market analysis and such. The article thought it was a great thing. What could go wrong with that?
This corporatisation of that industry was more and more associated with professionalism. There was excitement that our movies would now be as "good" as Hollywood movies - after all Hollywood movies were made by corporations and now, so are ours! People talked of "genre" movies and much was made of Ram Gopal Verma's "Factory" production house.
Ten years later, there is not much to show for that corporate revolution. The powerpoint presentations seem to have made the situation worse. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Soon I was in the United States and the flood of promotions even there was astonishing. The movie Devdas was on the (desi) airwaves, television and online all the time. The movie did not do well in India, but it did well abroad. Suddenly we were in Cannes, for no good reason. Our movies were still bad, but Aishwarya Rai was on the red carpet...you know, the carpet reserved for white people! Who designed Aishwarya's wardrobe? and so on.
Initially this was amusing but me and many of my friends were annoyed that Hindi movies were so "westernized". A standard movie started like "A guy and a girl are sitting in the Waterloo station, London, talking..". Most Hindi movies that we came to know about (that is, that were promoted) were very weird, to say the least. Almost all the movies were set abroad. Even if they were set in India, it was an India that most of us had not seen - it had palatial buildings in which NRIs landed in helicopters, for one. You would not see a normal road or tea shop.
Even "Dil Chahtha Hai" which was a great story, showed a "global" Indian - a person who flew to Australia and went to operas.
It would be fine if there were a couple of movies like this, but every movie was this way. It was as if the stars will not act in "local" settings.
It revolted me and many of my friends so much that most of gave up watching Hindi movies.
To make fun of this trend, I wrote a blog post four years back - here. That post is still one of the most popular posts in this blog. But I believe I got it fundamentally wrong.

Post 2006
In the last few years, the Hindi movie industry increased in its weirdness - which they now called escapism. Watching a movie like "Black" or "Saawariya" or "Jaane tu ya Jaane Naa" or "Kabhi Alvidha Naa Kehna" was excruciatingly painful. They all acted like they were born and brought up in the West, while talking perfect Hindi. The colleges, costumes and everything seemed..incongruent. It did not make any sense.

Please note that in the last ten years, Bollywood, in spite of its insistent rebranding and propaganda (that is what it is), is still a loss making industry. They mostly depend now on a nostalgic NRI community. Most Hindi movies flop.
You have to wonder, then, what is going on. I had noticed these trends:
1. That the national film awards committee now gave more awards to Bollywood movies and presented more of those movies in foreign award shows.
2. That the actors and actresses were generally drawn from a small pool of models, celebrities or star children. There were rarely any "normal" actor who was promoted. This is unlike, for example, the Tamil of Malayalam movie industries (although the trend is noticeable now in Tamil).
3. That the movies rarely addressed any "real" issues or social issues. They showed, at best, relationship problems. There were no comments on caste, or women's issues or even traffic.
4. That the stars rarely seem to suffer from a flop - they simply act in another flop movie and then another and so on.

Realization sets in
I decided early last year that I would look for economic reasons for people acting a certain way, instead of blaming individuals or culture. I wrote a long post on this here.
What are the incentives for Bollywood? That was the question I wanted to answer. In my post making fun of Hindi movies, I had assumed that their "imitation" of the West (that makes movies look like fancy dress competitions) was born out of foolishness. I thought they were simply like the idiots who wore flowing gowns to coffee shops.
But what if they were not? What if we are the real idiots?
In other words, what are the incentives that makes Bollywood run the way it does? How can they make so many flop movies and survive on the same cycle of incongruent stories, huge promotions and finally bad letdowns?
The answer came from a close friend. She asked me to look up the term "brand ambassador" and a few actors' names.
For example, if you search for Abhishek Bachchan and brand ambassador, you see that he is promoting Videocon DTH, Motorola, BIG 92.7 FM, Idea! and so on.
Hrithik Roshan, who has been giving out flops for a long time, is the brand ambassador of Acer, Provogue, ITCis John Players, Reliance Mobile and so on.
Well they are established actors, after all.. how about new comer Ranbir Kapoor? He has only acted in three movies of which two were flops, right?
He is the brand ambassador for Pepsi, Nissan and Panasonic India!
Where am I going with this?
The "actors" are not really actors. They are really fronts for an elaborate corporate game.
What has happened is this:
1. Corporations move into making movies
2. They realize, quickly, that instead of going the hard route of actually making good movies, they can make a lot of money for themselves and the stars by USING the movie as a way to sell merchandise, music and consumer products.
3. The actors now can make more money by making advertisements than in movies (By the way, in spite of all the talk about Hollywood, Hollywood stars do not act in many advertisements). Indian movie actors have become, basically, advertising models.
4. The actors tie up with products, the movie corporations tie up with products - and so people make money whether the movie is a flop or not.
5. Then they sell the movie for television viewership and make a lot of money there too.
Shyam Benegal described this in a recent CineBlitz interview - the focus is on becoming a star, because as a star you can make money sheerly out of a "brand" name. All that you need is name recognition. You do NOT need to have acted in any successful movie.
In other words, the movies are actually "events" which help companies launch product prmotions. They do not signify ANYTHING more than that. What we look for, story, screenplay, acting, camera - all of these are really irrelevant for the ECONOMICS of the Bollywood industry.

Hence, I present you the retard looking Ranbir Kapoor, the unibrow Imran Khan and the building of a brand.

In a giant tie up between corporate media,corporate production houses, consumer goods sellers and corporate PR firms handling each and every aspect of an actor as a brand - the Hindi film industry is now taken over by a bunch of carpetbaggers.

You know this - look at the amount of propaganda unleashed on us by the media houses prior to the release of, say, Gajini or recently, Kites. There is such a network of product tie-ups that is difficlut to untangle.
The sole purpose, now, of a Bollywood movie is to launch advertising campaigns. It has NOTHING to do with a movie.

This explains some of trends I commented on earlier.
1. It explains why the star pool is open to a small clique - because the members of the new aristocracy have better connections and better name recognition. If all that you cared about was branding, why would you use a nameless actor from Bikaner?

2. Very importantly, it explains the SUBJECT matter of these movies - if your whole goal is to increase consumption and promote a lifestyle that "looks" rich, then you can see why Bollywood movies focus on relationship issues in New York or action sequences in the Bahamas. Why would they ever show actual issues? Why would they ever show caste or communal issues? Most movies look like an American teenager's (a particularly stupid one at that) fantasy. This is not escapism - they have simply called it escapism to justify their path.

3. Also, it is pointless, given this, to accuse movie makers of copying other movies. If your core problem is that your movie industry is about selling products rather than movies, then who cares if those movies are copied?

The corporations have taken over the mantle of all those who came before them, in an actual movie industry and then replaced them with Public Relations images. And they have sold those images to us.

Who is the loser in this? The Hindi movie audience has been had for suckers.
Ten years after the much-hyped corporate entries, this is the result.


PS: There is a possibility that someone would read this whole piece and decide that the issue is really that I am culturally backward or anti-Western or even anti-Corporations. I will just point out a couple of things for such people:
There are many movie industries around the world that are run by corporations. Although they do have issues sometimes in quality and some bias in favor of corporatism, none seem to have reached the low-point of our industry. The Hindi movie industry was not at a very high standard even during the 90's. There was already nepotism in the industry. But the corporations took all that and made it the current monster (The only consolation seems to be that the movies still suck but at least they show London around). Reflexively cheering corporations was wrong.
The incentives now are set up to ignore good movie making. They think that is INCIDENTAL to the "product" success.
When I say good movies I do not mean "Pather Panchali" type. I know people jump at that. I mean commercial movies like Munnabhai, at least. Do not pass of Krish as some kind of great movie so that we all feel happy that "our" India made a super hero movie. That is all I am saying.
Finally, before you accuse me of being anti-Western, anti-progress (people think both are the same) and all that, hold on. I just don't think there are ANY colleges in India where the kids look, dress or dance like in the movie "Jaane Tu Ya...". I would love such colleges, believe me, I would hang out there all the time. It is just that the movie looks like it is a fancy dress competition where you say, "let all of us pretend that we are all in an all-Indian Ivy League college somewhere in the UK and that we are all born and brought up there and talk in Hindi and our parents are all Indian but let us just say we have English customs...and so on".
That is not escapism, it is pathetic. As I explained, that movie was really about launching another set of product promotions and making Imran Khan a brand so that he can become another brand ambassador.

My post in DailyKos on Israel and the USA

The below post was originally written for dailykos.com. The article and comments on it can be found here.

After watching the coverage of the flotilla incident and the Israeli attack, in the blogosphere and on television, I could not understand initially why there seemed to be so much complexity in the debates in the United States. Here is my shot at an explanation. (I am an East Indian, and I could be wrong about some American history here).
The history of 20th century and the lessons that we should learn from it are a big part driving the flotilla and the blockade narrative in people's minds. And the media, government and intellectuals in the USA are UNIQUELY incapable of learning certain of those lessons.
Why?

Because the USA (as far as I know) has never been an Imperial country that maintained colonies and faced broad enough anti-colonial forces against it.
So, we have a) Britain, France, Italy etc who were colonizers and who faced very successful anti-colonial struggles on the one hand.
We have b) China, India, countries in Africa and West Asia, colonized countries that fought against such colonizers.
And then we have c) the USA, the current global power.
Countries in sets a and b know this to be true: that the twentieth century had SEVERAL great struggles - NOT just the one against fascism.
Thus as an Indian I know that the big fight that our country faced was not our small but significant participation in WWII. It was the fight against colonialism that really determines the lessons we learnt.
I think the British or the French also see the 20th century as fights against fascism (on which they were on the right side) AS WELL AS fights against colonialism (on which they were in the wrong).
This means that we both consider the lessons and history of colonialism to be important.
But this is not the case with the United States. Intellectuals in the USA seem to give singular importance to the fight against fascism and totalitarianism, while completely being ignorant of the behavior and lessons of colonialism. The American people I talk to are certainly ignorant that there is a point of view on issues held by the formerly colonized peoples around the world, and that point of view is VERY, VERY significant.
What has this got to do with Israel?
Simply that the tactics and rhetoric used by Israel "smell" very similar to a colonizer to an Indian, while the Palestinians come across similar to ourselves and our predicament hardly 60 years back. We "get" Palestine - while intellectuals in the USA (even those who support Paestinian statehood) seem to be engaged in a rhetorical quagmire.

The actions of the Israeli government or the Gaza blockade are not at all that subtle or complex to explore - collective punishment, extreme responses to individual incidents and ritual humiliation have ALWAYS been tactics used by colonizers. To explore this further, I have chosen the incident of Jalianwala Bagh massacre or the Amritsar massacre on April 13, 1919 in Amritsar, Punjab, British India.

You can read a summary of the incident here.
The restive city of Amritsar was under martial law in April 1919 because of an attack against an English woman by a mob earlier. A group of peaceful unarmed civilians gathered in the grounds of Jalianwala Bagh on the day of Baisakhi, the spring festival.
General Dyer commanded a group of fifty soldiers who opened fire on the crowd for 10 minutes.
The casualties estimates range from 379 by the government to 1800 by the Civil Surgeon.
Now, given that incident what tactics of colonizers can we learn?
1. The propaganda that the Palestinians only understand force
All the below are based on this article in wikipedia on the Jalianwala Bagh massacre and Reginald Dyer:
General Dyer, perpetrator of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar, Punjab 1919 wrote an article in the Globe of 21 January 1921, titled, "The Peril to the Empire." It commenced with "India does not want self-government. She does not understand it." He went on to write
* It is only to an enlightened people that free speech and a free press can be extended. The Indian people want no such enlightenment.
* There should be an eleventh commandment in India, "Thou shalt not agitate."
* The time will come to India when a strong hand will be exerted against malice and 'perversion' of good order.
* Gandhi will not lead India to capable self-government. The British Raj must continue, firm and unshaken in its administration of justice to all men.

2. Extreme responses to certain incidents:
Brigadier Dyer designated the spot where Miss Marcella Sherwood was assaulted sacred and daytime pickets were placed at either end of the street. Anyone wishing to proceed in the street between 6am and 8pm was made to crawl the 150 yards (140 m) on all fours, lying flat on their bellies. The order was not required at night due to a curfew. The humiliation of the order struck the Indians deeply. Most importantly, the order effectively closed the street. The houses had no back doors and the inhabitants could not go out without climbing down from their roofs. This order was in effect from 19 April until 25 April 1919. No doctor or supplier was allowed in, resulting in the sick being untended.

3. The disputing of certain facts:
After the firing was over, hundreds of people had been killed and thousands had been injured. Official estimates put the figures at 379 killed (337 men, 41 boys and a six week old baby) and 200 injured, though the actual figure was almost certainly much higher; the wounded could not be moved from where they had fallen, as a curfew had been declared. Debate about the actual figures continues to this day.
....
In 1997, the Duke of Edinburgh, participating in an already controversial British visit to the Amritsar monument, provoked considerable outrage in India and in the UK with an offhand comment. Having observed a plaque claiming 2,000 casualties, Prince Philip observed, "That's not right. The number is less."

4. The support of the democractic people of Israel:
On his return to Britain, Brigadier Dyer was presented with a purse of 26,000 pounds sterling, a huge sum in those days, which emerged from a collection on his behalf by the Morning Post, a conservative, pro-Imperialistic newspaper, which later merged with the Daily Telegraph. A Thirteen Women Committee was constituted to present "the Saviour of the Punjab with sword of honour and a purse."

and so on.

I am not comparing Jallianwala Bagh to the flotilla incident. I am comparing it with the blockade and such ritual humiliations and violence perpetrated on the people of Gaza.

Now, if the USA had actually maintained a set of colonies the way Britain did and then faced stiff anti-colonialism, then it is likely that some of the above defenses and actions of Israel would be seen for what they are - after all the history of the last two centuries is mainly about colonialism (for the majority of the people on the planet).
It is not hard for most people to recognise it for what it is.
Instead there is an exclusive focus among American intelligentsia on the struggle against fascism.
It is natural, if you use that struggle ALONE as a guide to view 20th century politics, to swear to defend Israel in any way you can.
But unfortunately that is not the actual case. There were many actors in the 20th century world and the world was not so simply split between fascist dictators and democracies as American intelligentsia seem to represent.

This is why I have thought of the "defense" that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East curious. What does that statement mean? Democracies have been known to colonize and punish colonised people, and otherwise engage in severe inhumanity. Why do American media think that a democracy somehow is incapable of such behavior?
The answer is clear - if you look at the world solely through the prism of a struggle against fascism (because you happened to be on the right side of it), then of course, a democracy can do no wrong.
It is just that this is a very narrow view of world history (and, shall I say, very convenient for the United States and Western Europe).

தாடகா வனத்தில் ஒரு நாள் - Tamil Short Story

தாடகா வனத்தில் ஒரு நாள்
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இராமையா அரியா

நானும், ராமனும், ரிஷியும் அடர்ந்த வனத்துக்குள் புகுந்த ஓரிரு நாட்களிலேயே சற்றே பயமுறுத்தும் காட்சிகளைக் கண்டோம்.
பாழடைந்த ஒரு பிரதேசம். பாறைகள் அங்குமிங்கும் உருண்டிருந்தன. செம்மண்ணில் வெயில் தகித்தது. அங்கங்கே பெரிய மரங்கள். சில இடங்களில் முள் காடுகள்.
இரண்டு மூன்று இடங்களில் சில மண்டை ஓடுகள் கிடந்தன. ரிஷி சுற்றுமுற்றும் பார்த்தவாறே நடந்தார். நான் ஆவலுடன், "ஏதோ யுத்தம் நடந்த மாதிரி இருக்கிறது?" என்றேன்.
"இலக்குவா, தாடகை என்னும் அரக்கியின் உறைவிடம் இது",என்றார் ரிஷி. அந்த மண்டை ஓடுகளைச் சுட்டிக் காட்டி, "அவளுடைய இரை ", என்றார்.
என் உடம்பு நடுங்கியது. "மிதிலைக்கு இந்த வழியாகத் தான் சென்றாக வேண்டுமா?" என்றேன்.
சற்றுத் தள்ளி கோணல் மாணலாக ஒரு எலும்புக் கூடு கிடந்தது. அதைக் காட்டி, "என் சிஷ்யன் பிங்கலன்", என்றார் ரிஷி.
அன்று இரவு ஒரு பெரிய மரத்தின் மேல் ஏறி படுத்துத் தூங்கினோம்.

மரத்தின் கடினமான கிளையில் படுத்தவாறே நான் வாழ்க்கையைப் பற்றி யோசித்தேன். பல நாட்களுக்கு முன்னால் அயோத்தியில் வில்லையும், அம்பையும் வைத்துக் கொண்டு மாங்காய் அடித்துத் தின்று கொண்டிருந்தோம். இந்த ரிஷி வந்து அழைத்துப் போனார். எனக்கு என் தந்தை தசரத மன்னர் என்னை அனுப்பி வைத்ததில் ஆச்சரியமில்லை. அவருக்குப் பாதி நேரம் எனக்கும் என் இரட்டைச் சகோதரன் சத்ருக்னனுக்கும் வித்தியாசமே தெரியாது. இன்னும் யாரை அனுப்பினோம் என்று அவருக்குத் தெரிந்திருக்காது.
ஆனால் ராமனை, பட்டத்து இளவரசனை எப்படி இந்த தாடி மீசை முனிவருடன் காட்டுக்கு அனுப்பி வைத்தார்? ராமன் மேல் அவருக்கு அடங்காத பாசம். மிகவும் நல்லவன் என்று ஒரு நினைப்பு.
லேசாக நான் கண்ணயரத் தொடங்கிய நேரம். வானத்தில் கொக்கு போலிருக்கும் நட்சத்திரக் கூட்டம் நேர் மேலே மிதந்தது. சில நேரமாக உயிரே போவது போலக் கத்திக் கொண்டிருந்த கோட்டான் கூட அடங்கி விட்டது.
'கரக்' என்று ஒரு மெலிதான சத்தம், ஒரு கல் நகர்வது போலக் கேட்டது. நான் தூக்கக் கலக்கத்தினூடே உற்றுக் கேட்டேன். மறுபடி அந்தச் சத்தம் கேட்கவில்லை.

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ரிஷி பொதுவாக அதிகாலையில் தானும் எழும்பி, மற்றவர்களையும் எழுப்பி உயிரை வாங்குவார். 'பிரம்ம முகூர்த்தம்' என்பார். தேவையே இல்லாமல் இருட்டில் குளிர்ந்த நீரில் இறங்கிக் குளிக்க வேண்டும். பிறகு அவர் சொல்லும் மந்திரங்களைத் திருப்பிச் சொல்ல வேண்டும்.

மரத்தில் நாங்கள் படுத்துத் தூங்கிய மறு நாள் வெகு நேரத்திற்கு யாரும் மரத்தில் இருந்து இறங்கவில்லை. காலைத் தொங்கப் போட்டுக் கொண்டு கீழே பார்த்தவாறு இருந்தோம். எந்த நேரத்திலும் தாடகை பாய்ந்து வந்து காலைக் கடிப்பாள் என்று பயம்.

விஸ்வாமித்திரர் கடைசியில், "ஹூம்.. இந்நேரம் தூங்கியிருப்பாள். இலக்குவா, நீ முதலில் இறங்கு", என்றார்.

"அண்ணா, நீ தான் பெரியவன். நீ முதலில் இறங்கு", என்றேன் ராமனிடம், பயபக்தியுடன்.

ராமன் பயப்படுவான். ஆனால் முகத்தில் காட்ட மாட்டான். அவன் முகம் எப்போதும் ஒரே மாதிரி இருக்கும். எனவே சிரித்தவாறே என்னைப் பிடித்துக் கீழே தள்ளி விட்டான்.

மூன்று பேரும் காலைக் கடன்களைக் கழித்து விட்டு வில்லை இறுக்கிப் பிடித்தவாறே நடந்தோம். ரிஷி சற்று முன்னால் போன பொழுது ராமன் என்னைப் பிடித்து நிறுத்தினான். நாங்கள் தூங்கிய மரத்தின் அடிப் பகுதியைக் காட்டினான். அந்தக் கடினமான அடிமரத்தில் நான்கு கோடுகள், ஆழமான கிழிசல்கள் தெரிந்தன.
"கரடியா ?" என்றேன்.
"தாடகை", என்றான் ராமன்.
நாங்கள் ரிஷியைத் தொடர்ந்தோம்.
நான் சற்றுத் தைரியத்துடன்,"ரிஷியே, இவள் யார்? இவள் ஏன் இப்படிச் சாதுக்களைத் துன்புறுத்துகிறாள்?" என்று கேட்டேன்.
ரிஷி தொண்டையைக் கனைத்துக் கொண்டார். பிரமாதமாகக் கதை சொல்லுவார். "ஹூம்.." என்றார். "உங்கள் குரு வசிஷ்டன் இருக்கிறானே" என்று தொடங்கிச் சற்று நேரம் வசிஷ்டரைத் திட்டினார்.
தாடகை உண்மையில் மனிதப் பெண் (பூர்வ ஜன்மத்தில்). பயங்கர புத்திசாலி (இதுவும் பூர்வ ஜன்மத்தில்). வசிஷ்டரிடம் வேதம் பயிலச் சென்றிருக்கிறாள். வசிஷ்டர் தத்துப்பித்தென்று ஏதோ சொல்லித் தர, அவள், "மந்திரம் தப்பு" என்று வாதிட்டாள். பிடி சாபம். பார்த்தால் அடுத்த ஜன்மத்தில் ராக்ஷசி.
ராமன், "பூர்வ ஜன்மம் என்று ஒன்றே கிடையாது என்று ஜாபாலி சொல்கிறார்", என்றான்.
"அவன் ஒரு மடையன்", என்றார் ரிஷி.
"கார்கியும் அப்படியே சொல்கிறார்".
"அவள் ஒரு மடச்சி. பூர்வ ஜன்மம் என்று ஒன்று இல்லா விட்டால் இந்தத் தாடகை ஏன் இப்படி அரக்கியாக, மகாபாவியாக வந்து பிறக்க வேண்டும்?"
நான் ஆச்சரியத்துடன், "உங்களுக்கு எல்லோருடைய பூர்வ ஜன்மமும் தெரியுமா?" என்று கேட்டேன்.
"வந்தது, வரப் போவது எல்லாம் தெரியும்."
எனக்குப் பல நாட்களாக இருக்கும் சந்தேகத்தை இவரிடம் கேட்டால் என்ன?
இந்த நேரத்தில் மரங்களின் அடர்த்தி மிகவும் குறைந்து விட்டது. இன்னும் பல பாறைகள் உருண்டு கிடந்தன. நாங்கள் மேட்டுப் பாதையில் போய்க் கொண்டு இருந்தோம். ராமன் சுற்றிப் பார்த்தவாறே முன்னால் சென்றான்.
நான் ஆர்வமாக, "நான் எப்போதாவது, ஒரு நாளேனும், ஒரு நாட்டுக்கு அரசனாகும் வாய்ப்பு உண்டா?" என்று கேட்டேன்.
ராமன் சிரித்தான். "நீ எல்லா ஜன்மத்திலும் என் தம்பி தான்", என்றான்.
"ரிஷியே, சொல்லும்" என்றேன் நான்.
ரிஷி, "இங்கிருந்து தெற்கே வெகு தூரத்தில் குரங்குகளின் மஹா சாம்ராச்சியம் ஒன்று உள்ளதாம். கேள்விப்பட்டிருக்கிறேன்", என்றார்.
ராமன் மறுபடி சிரித்தான். "இலக்குவா, நீ கட்டாயம் குரங்கு மன்னனாவாய்" என்றான்.
திடீரென்று அவன் சிரிப்பு மறைந்தது. வில்லைத் தரையில் ஊன்றிச் சுற்றிப் பார்த்தான். "அது என்ன சத்தம்", என்றான்.
நான் திகிலுடன் உற்றுக் கேட்டேன்.
மெலிதாக மரத்தை அரம் அறுப்பது போல ஒரு ஒலி கேட்டது.
ரிஷி, "சிறிது நேரத்தில் நீங்களே பார்ப்பீர்கள்", என்றார்.
நாங்கள் நடக்க நடக்க மேட்டின் உச்சி தெரிந்தது. சத்தமும் பலப்பட்டது. உச்சியில் இருந்த ஒரு பெரிய பாறை அருகே ரிஷி நின்றார். கீழே சுட்டிக் காட்டினார்.
நாங்கள் பாறைக்கு பின்னாலிருந்து மெதுவாக எட்டிப் பார்த்தோம். கீழே கிடுகிடுவென்று இறக்கம். அதன் முடிவில் பல பாறைகள் அரண் போல நின்றன.
அதில் ஒரு பாறை ஏறி ஏறி இறங்கியது.
நான் உற்றுப் பார்த்தேன். அது பாறையே அல்ல. ஒரு மனித உருவம் தான். அங்கே படுத்து நல்ல வெயிலில் குறட்டை விட்டுத் தூங்கிக் கொண்டிருந்தது.
நான் ரிஷியிடம் திரும்பி, "தெரிந்தவர்களா?" என்றேன்.
"தாடகை", என்றார் ரிஷி.
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மூன்று பேரும் பாறைக்கு பின்னால் பதுங்கி உட்கார்ந்து கொண்டோம். ரிஷி அவசரத்துடன், "ராமா , உச்சி வேளை. நல்ல நேரம். அவளைக் கொல்", என்றார்.
ராமன் சந்தேகத்துடன், "நாம் ஏன் இவள் இருப்பிடத்திற்கு வந்தோம்? காட்டைத் தாண்டி மிதிலைக்கு அல்லவா போகிறோம்?" என்றான்.
ரிஷி பெருமூச்சு விட்டார். சற்று யோசித்தார். பிறகு, "ராமா, உன்னிடம் உண்மையைச் சொல்ல வேண்டிய நேரம் வந்து விட்டது", என்றார்.
குருகுலத்தில் இப்படி யாராவது சொன்னால் பொய் சொல்லப் போகிறார்கள் என்று அர்த்தம் என்று சொல்லி கொடுத்திருந்தார்கள்.
"ராமா, இவளுக்குச் சாபம் என்று சொன்னேன் இல்லையா? அதற்கு விமோசனம் உண்டு. உன் கையால், தசரத புத்திரன் ராமன் கையால் இறந்தால் இவளுக்கு உடனடி மோட்சம்", என்றார்.
ராமன், "நீர் சொல்வது நம்புகிற மாதிரி இல்லையே", என்றான்.
"சத்தியமாக", என்றார் விஸ்வாமித்திரர்.
ராமன், "இவள் ராக்ஷசியாக இருந்தாலும் பெண். என்னை எந்தத் தொந்திரவும் செய்யவில்லை. எனவே நான் அவளைக் கொல்ல முடியாது", என்றான்.
"நீ சொல்வது தர்ம நியாயம். அது ராட்சதர்களுக்குப் பொருந்தாது. அவளுக்கு நீ வெறும் இரை. காட்டு மிருகத்தை, புலியை இப்படிக் கண்டால் விட்டுப் போவாயா?"
நான், "ராமா, ரிஷியே...", என்று தொடங்கினேன்.
"நீ சும்மா இரு" என்றார் ரிஷி.
"இல்லை...குறட்டைச் சத்தம் கேட்கவில்லை..அது தான்..", என்றேன்.
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மூவரும் காட்டு வழியாகத் தலை தெறிக்க ஓடினோம். நான் தான் முதலில் ஓடிக் கொண்டிருந்தேன். சிறிது நேரம் கழித்து ஒரு இடத்தில் இளைக்க இளைக்க நின்றோம்.
ராமன், "கவுசிகரே, நான் அவளைக் கொல்ல மாட்டேன். இது அவளுடைய நிலம். இங்கிருந்து எம்மை வெளியே அழைத்துச் செல்லும்" என்றான்.
"சரி. உன் இஷ்டம்" என்றார் ரிஷி.
"ஓடிக் கொண்டே பேசலாமே", என்றேன் நான்.
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அன்று கிட்டத்தட்ட ஒரு காத தூரம் ஓடியிருப்போம். விஸ்வாமித்திரர் முன்னால் வழி காட்டிக் கொண்டு போனார். அந்தி சாயும் பொழுது ஒரு சிறு கானகத்தருகே வந்து சேர்ந்தோம்.
ரிஷி தரையைச் சுத்தம் செய்தார். இரவு தங்குவதற்குத் தயாரானோம். அரணிக் கட்டையைக் கடைந்து தீயைப் பெருக்கினார் ரிஷி. நானும் ராமனும் பார்த்துக் கொண்டு உட்கார்ந்திருந்தோம். கால்கள் வலித்தன.
"தாடகை கட்டாயம் இங்கே வர மாட்டாளே? பேசாமல் மரத்தின் மேலேயே தூங்கி விடலாமே?" என்றேன் நான்.
"சூரர்களே! நாம் அவள் எல்லையைத் தாண்டி வெகு தூரம் வந்தாகி விட்டது. எப்பொழுதும் மரத்தில் தூங்கிப் பழக வேண்டாம்", என்றார் ரிஷி.
சாப்பிட்டு விட்டு கால்களை நீட்டிக் கொண்டு தீயைப் பார்த்துக் கொண்டிருந்தோம்.
"இந்த ராட்சதர்கள் இப்படிப் போகிற வருகிறவர்களை எல்லாம் பிடித்துத் தின்கிறார்கள் என்று தெரியும். வேறு வழி இல்லையா?" என்றேன் நான்.
"ஆஹா! அருமையான கேள்வி! நீ கேட்ட கேள்வி எனக்குப் புரிகிறது."
"அப்படியா?"
"சாதுக்கள் வாழும் இந்த உலகத்தில் ராட்சதர்களைக் கொன்று சாதுக்களை யார் காப்பது? நல்ல கேள்வி."
"அப்படி அல்ல. காட்டைச் சுற்றிப் போக வேறு வழி இல்லையா?"
ரிஷி என்னைப் பொருட்படுத்தாமல்," சாதுக்களைக் காக்கத் தான் காக்கும் கடவுள் விஷ்ணு இந்த உலகத்தில் அவதரிக்கிறான். அசுரர்களைக் கொல்வது அவன் கடமை", என்றார் ராமனைப் பார்த்து.
"நான் கடவுள் அல்ல", என்றான் ராமன்.
"ராமா, நீ விஷ்ணுவின் அம்சம்."
நான் ஆத்திரத்துடன், "நான்? நான் யாருடைய அம்சம்?", என்றேன்.
யாருமே பதில் சொல்லவில்லை. ரிஷியும் ராமனும் முறைத்துக் கொண்டே தூங்கச் சென்றார்கள்.
நான் மரவுரியை விரித்துப் படுத்தேன். வானத்தைப் பார்த்தவாறே தூங்க முயற்சி செய்தேன். வானத்தில் கொக்கி போன்ற அந்த நட்சத்திரக் கூட்டம் தெரிந்தது.
கண்ணயரும் போது அந்தக் கோட்டான் அலறியது.
"க்க்க்ரீச்"
நான் திடுக்கிட்டுக் கண் விழித்தேன்.
காலையில் தென்மேற்காகச் சென்றோம். பிறகு தாடகையின் உறைவிடத்தில் இருந்து விரைந்து சென்ற பொழுது எந்தத் திசையில் போனோம்?
நன்றாக யோசித்துப் பார்த்தேன். எனக்கென்னவோ மறுபடி வடகிழக்கில் வந்திருக்கிறோம் என்று தோன்றியது.
காலையில் கிளம்பிய இடத்திற்கு மறுபடியும் வந்திருக்கிறோமோ?
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ராமன் தூங்கி கொண்டிருந்தான். தூங்கும் போதும் அவன் முகம் அப்படியே இருந்தது. நான் அவனைத் தட்டி எழுப்பினேன்.
தூக்கக் கலக்கத்துடன் எழுந்து உட்கார்ந்தான்.
"என்ன?"
"என்னுடன் வா", என்றேன்.
அவன் கேள்வி கேட்காமல் வந்தான். எரியும் தீக்கம்பு ஒன்றை எடுத்துக் கொண்டேன்.
ரிஷி இன்னும் தூங்கவில்லை போலும். "எங்கே போகிறீர்கள்?" என்றார்.
"எனக்குக் கழிக்க வேண்டும்", என்றேன்.
"துணைக்கு அண்ணனா?" என்று சிரித்தார்.
"காக்கும் கடவுளாயிற்றே", என்றேன் நான் நடந்து கொண்டே.
கானகத்தின் உள்ளே புகுந்தோம். ராமனுக்குத் தூக்கம் போய் விட்டது. "என்ன விஷயம்", என்றான்.
நான் பக்கத்தில் இருந்த மரங்களைச் சுற்றிப் பார்த்தேன். ஒரு பெரிய மராமரம் ஒன்றின் அடியில் சென்று பந்தத்தை உயர்த்திப் பிடித்தேன்.
அந்த மரத்தின் அடியில் நாங்கள் காலையில் பார்த்தது போலவே நான்கு நகங்கள் அழுத்தமாகக் கீறியிருந்தன .
"ரிஷி நம்மைத் தாடகையின் எல்லைக்குள் சுற்றி அழைத்து வந்திருக்கிறார்", என்றேன்.
ராமனின் கைகள் உடை வாளை நாடின.
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நாங்கள் திரும்பி வரும் போது ரிஷி எங்களைப் பார்த்துப் படுத்திருந்தார். ஆனால் அவர் விழித்திருப்பார் என்பதில் சந்தேகமில்லை. தாடகையின் காட்டில் எந்த மனிதனுக்குத் தூக்கம் வரும்?
"ரிஷியே, எழுந்திரும்", என்றான் ராமன்.
அவர் கண் விழித்துப் பார்த்தார்.
"ஏன் இப்படிச் செய்தீர்?" என்றேன் நான்.
ரிஷி பெருமூச்சுடன் எழுந்து அமர்ந்தார்.
"ராமா, இலக்குவா, நீங்கள் சத்திரியர்கள். உங்களுக்குப் புரியும் என்று நினைத்தேன்", என்றார்.
"ஏன் தாடகையைக் கொல்ல இப்படி ஒரு அவசியம்?" என்று கேட்டான் ராமன்.

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தாடகா வனத்தில் இருந்து ஒரு யட்சனைப் போல வானில் எழுந்து, இரண்டு யோசனை உயரச் சென்று நின்றால் கீழே என்ன தெரியும்?
வட கிழக்கில் வெகு தூரத்தில் மலை அரசனாம் இமவானின் ராச்சியம். பிறகு பெரும் காடுகள். அவற்றின் முடிவில் முதல் நகரம் அயோத்தி. அந்த நகரத்தினூடே ஓடும் சரயு நதி அயோத்திக்கு அருகே சிறிது தூரத்தில் கங்கையில் கலக்கிறது. கங்கை தென்மேற்காக வளைந்து சென்று ஒரு சிறு மலைத் தொடரைத் தாண்டி மிதிலையை அடைகிறாள். மிதிலை, விஷாலம், ராஜகிருஹம், பொன்னால் கூரையிட்ட அரண்மனைகளைக் கொண்ட பாடலிபுத்திரம் - பெரு நகரங்களும், ஜனசங்கங்களும் பரந்து விரிந்த ஆரியவர்த்தம் மிதிலையில் இருந்து தொடங்குகிறது.
இவை யாவும் ஒரு காலத்தில் யட்சர்களும், நாகர்களும், ராட்சதர்களும் வாழ்ந்த காடுகள். நாகர்கள் கிழக்கே ஓடி விட்டார்கள். கடைசியாக மிஞ்சிய யட்சர்களின் நாடு அயோத்திக்கும் மிதிலைக்கும் இடையே இருந்த - மாலடம் என்று ரிஷிகளால் அழைக்கப்பட்ட - தாடகா வனம்.
இரண்டு யோசனை உயரத்தில் இருந்து உற்றுப் பார்த்தால் அயோத்தியில் இருந்து ஒரு பெரும் சாலை ஒன்று கிளம்புகிறது. தசரதனின் பாட்டன் ரகு பாவிய அந்தச் சாலை கங்கைக் கரையில் வந்து நிற்கிறது.
தென் மேற்கே, அது போலவே மிதிலையில் இருந்து ஒரு சாலை ஒன்று கிளம்புகிறது. அதுவும் தாடகா வனத்தின் மரங்களிடையே மறைந்து விடுகிறது.
யாருமே பயன்படுத்த முடியாத அந்தச் சாலைகளின் நடுவே, மலையும், முள்ளும், பாறைகளும் அடர்ந்த அந்த வனத்தில் யட்சர்கள் தம் கடைசி யுத்தத்தை நடத்துகிறார்கள்.
யட்சர்களின் தலைவன் சுகேதுவும் அவனுடைய மருமகன் சுனந்தனும் திரும்பத் திரும்ப மிதிலையில் இருந்தும், அயோத்தியில் இருந்தும் வரும் ரிஷிகளையும், அவர்கள் பின்னால் வரும் படைகளையும் தடுத்து நிறுத்துகிறார்கள்.
தாடகை சுகேதுவின் பெண். குகைகளில் தன கணவனுக்காகவும் தந்தைக்காகவும் காத்திருக்கிறாள்.
யட்சர்களின் அந்தப் போர் நல்லபடியாக முடிய வழியே இல்லை. தாடகை பயந்தது நடந்து விட்டது. ஒரு நாள் சுகேது கொல்லபட்டான். சுனந்தனின் தலை அயோத்தி கோட்டை வாசலில் ஏற்றி வைக்கப்பட்டது.
சுற்றி அயோத்தி மக்கள் கொண்டாடினார்கள். மிதிலைக்குப் போகும் சாலை, ரகு வம்சத்தின் பல தலைமுறைக் கனவு நிறைவேறும் என்று நம்பினார்கள்.
அவர்கள் தாடகையை, கணவனை இழந்த அந்த யட்சியின் கோபத்தை எதிர்பார்க்கவில்லை.
யுத்தம் அவள் தலைமையில் தொடர்ந்தது. இருபது வருடங்களாகத் தசரதனின் சாலை தூங்கிக் கிடக்கிறது. பல யட்சர்கள் இடை விடாத யுத்தத்தால் தளர்ந்தார்கள். ஆனால் தாடகை அயரவில்லை. இன்னும் கங்கையின் கரையை அவள் கண்கள் பார்த்தபடி இருக்கின்றன.
பெரும் படையுடன் யட்சர்களை மோதிப் புண்ணியமில்லை என்பதைத் தசரதன் கண்டான். அயோத்தியில் ரிஷிகள் தசரதனுக்கு யோசனை சொன்னார்கள். தாடகைக்கு வயதாகி விட்டது. சிங்கக்குட்டி போல, வில் வித்தையில் கை தேர்ந்த ராமன் இருக்கிறான். அவன் விஷ்ணு அம்சம். சப்தவேதி - ஒலியைக் கொண்டே குறி பார்த்துக் கொல்லும் வித்தையைக் கற்றவன். அவன் நம்மைக் காப்பான்.
துஷ்டர்களை அழிப்பது காக்கும் கடவுளின் பொறுப்பு.
எனவே, யட்சர்களின் கடைசி ராணியைக் கொன்று போடத் தாடகா வனத்தில் இரு இளைஞர்களை அழைத்து வந்தார் ரிஷி விஸ்வாமித்திரர்.
வந்த வேலையை முடிக்காமல் எப்படி மிதிலைக்குப் போவது?

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ராமன் ரிஷியை அருவருப்புடன் பார்த்தான். "யட்சர்களை விரட்டிச் சாலை கட்டுவதற்காக நான் ஒருக்காலும் ஒரு அப்பாவியைக் கொல்ல மாட்டேன். அவள் பக்கம் நியாயம் இருக்கிறது. இலக்குவா, வா போகலாம்", என்றான்.
ரிஷி, "ராமா, நில்", என்றார்.
அந்த நேரத்தில், காட்டு வழியே, தூரத்தில், அந்தகாரத்தைக் கிழித்துக் கொண்டு ஒரு பயங்கர உறுமல் கேட்டது.
எனக்குப் புல்லரித்தது. மூவரும் காட்டில் உறுமல் வந்த திசையை உற்றுப் பார்த்தோம்.
"அவள் வருகிறாள்", என்றார் ரிஷி.

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ராமன் கீழே கிடந்த வில்லை எடுத்துத் தரையில் நிறுத்தினான். நாணை நன்றாக இழுத்துப் பூட்டினான். காட்டில் மரங்கள் சலசலவென்று ஆடின. என்னுடைய நண்பனாகி விட்ட அந்தக் கோட்டான் காள்...காள் என்று கத்தியபடியே பறந்து சென்று விட்டது.
என்னுடைய முதல் யுத்தம் எப்படி இருக்கும் என்று சிறு வயதில் பெரும் கற்பனை செய்து வைத்திருந்தேன். குதிரைகள் என்ன, யானைகள் என்ன...சதுரங்க சேனைகளும் அணிவகுத்து நிற்கும் என்றும் , நான் ஒரு யானை மேல் அமர்ந்து பலப்பல வியூகங்கள் வகுப்பேன் என்றும் எண்ணியிருந்தேன். இப்படி நடுக்காட்டில் எவளோ ஒரு காட்டுமிராண்டிப் பெண்ணால் பிறாண்டப்பட்டு இறக்கும் நிலையை எதிர்பார்க்கவில்லை. ராமன் விஷ்ணு அம்சம்...எப்படியாவது தப்பி விடுவான். நான் ஏன் இந்தக் காட்டில் வந்து மாட்டிக் கொள்ள வேண்டும்?
காட்டுக்குள் பல பேர் ஓடி வருவது போலிருந்தது. நான், "யட்சர் படையே வருகிறதோ?" என்றேன்.
ராமன் உற்றுக் கேட்டு விட்டு, "இல்லை. அவள் மட்டும் தான். இது ஒரு அசுர தந்திரம்", என்றான்.
திடீரென்று ஒரு பெரும் மரக் கிளை எங்களை நோக்கிப் பறந்து வந்தது. ராமனின் நாண் ஒலித்தது. அம்பு பறந்து கிளையை அடித்து வீழ்த்தியது.
"பலே", என்றார் ரிஷி.
இப்பொழுது சட சடவென்று கற்கள் பல பறந்து வந்தன. நாங்கள் மூவரும் அவற்றில் இருந்து தப்ப அங்குமிங்கும் ஓடினோம். சில கற்கள் எங்கள் மேலே வந்து அடித்தன. வந்த வேகத்திலேயே கல் வீச்சு நின்றது.
நான், "ஏதாவது மரத்தில் ஏறித் தப்பலாமே?" என்றேன்.
"வீரர்களுக்கு அது அழகல்ல", என்றான் ராமன்.
சற்று நேரம் முன்னால் அவன் குனிந்து ஓடியதை மறந்து விட்டான் போலும்.
அதற்குள் சில மரங்கள் வந்து விழுந்தன. மிகவும் குறி வைத்து எறியப்பட்டது போலத் தோன்றவில்லை. ராமனின் அம்புகள் அவற்றை எளிதாகப் புறம் தள்ளின.
காட்டில் இருந்து பெரும் உறுமல் ஒன்று மறுபடி கிளம்பியது. நாங்கள் சலிப்புடன் ஆயத்தமானோம்.
ஒரு உரத்த அலறலுடன் தாடகை மரங்களின் உள்ளிருந்து வெளிப்பட்டாள். தீயின் மங்கிய வெளிச்சத்தில் அவள் உருவம் பல மடங்கு பெரிதாகத் தெரிந்தது. அவள் கையில் இருந்த ஒரு கூரிய கம்பத்தை எங்களை நோக்கி எறிந்தாள். வேகத்துடன் வந்த கம்பை ராமனின் அம்பு சந்தித்து அப்பால் விலக்கியது. அவள் காட்டுக்குள் சென்று மறைந்தாள்.
ராமன், "நம்மிடம் அம்புகள் குறைவு", என்றான்.
நான் வியப்புடன், "திட்டமிட்டுத் தான் இப்படிச் செய்கிறாளோ?" என்றேன்.
"அப்படித் தான் தோன்றுகிறது. எல்லா அம்புகளும் தீர்ந்த பின் நாம் வெறும் வில் குச்சிகளுடன் சண்டையிட வேண்டியது தான்", என்றான் ராமன்.
தாடகையின் உருவத்தை முதன்முதல் பார்த்தது என் மனதில் பதிந்து விட்டது. மிகவும் உயரமாய், பனைமர நீளக் கை கால்களுடன், அரை அடி நீளக் கோரைப் பற்களுடன் கனவுகளில் வரும் பேயைப் போல இருந்தாள். அவளை எங்களால் நிச்சயம் சமாளிக்க முடியாது. அகோர மரணம் எனக்குக் காத்திருக்கிறது.

மீண்டும் பயங்கரக் கூச்சல்...மீண்டும் கல்லெறிப் போர்...மீண்டும் ஓட்டம். ராமன் மேல் ஒரு கூரிய கல் பட்டு ரத்தம் ஒழுகியது.
நான் களைப்புடன், "நாமும் பதிலுக்குக் கற்களை எறிவோமா?" என்றேன்.
அவளுடைய மரக்கிளைத் தாக்குதலில் ராமனின் அம்புகள் முக்கால்வாசி தீர்ந்து விட்டன. எங்களால் நடக்கவே முடியவில்லை.
இன்னும் சிறிது நேரத்தில் களைப்பில் விழுந்து விடுவோம். எதிரி மேல் எங்கள் அம்புகள் ஒன்று கூடப் பாயவில்லை. தாடகை வென்று விடுவாள். ஆனால் எவ்வளவு நாட்களுக்கு? இன்னும் பெரிய படைகள் வரும். இளவரசர்களின் மரணத்தை அயோத்தி மக்கள் மன்னிக்க மாட்டார்கள். இரு அனுபவமற்ற இளைஞர்களை இப்படி எதிரியுடன் மோத அனுப்பிய தசரத மன்னரை யாரும் குற்றம் சொல்ல மாட்டார்கள்.
காட்டுமிராண்டி தாடகை இரு பச்சிளம் பாலகர்களைக் கொன்று விட்டதாகக் கதையைத் திரித்து விடுவார்கள். சிறிது சிறிதாக யட்சர்களையும் ஒழித்து, தாடகையும் கொல்லப்படுவாள்.
முடிவில் அந்தச் சாலை நிறைவு பெறும். மிதிலைக்கும் அயோத்திக்கும் இடையே வணிகர்களும் வண்டிகளும் போய் வரும் ராஜபாட்டையின் ஒரு திருப்பத்தில் எங்களுடைய சமாதிகள் சிறு வீரக்கல்லுடன் கவனிப்பாரற்றுக் கிடக்கும். நாளடைவில் அதுவும் அழிந்து போகும்.
எனக்குக் கண்களில் நீர் துளிர்த்தது. ராமனின் கடைசி இரண்டு அம்புகள் மிச்சமிருந்தன. எங்களைச் சுற்றி எதிரிகளின் தலைகளுக்குப் பதிலாக வெட்டப்பட்ட மரக் கிளைகளும் பல வகைக் கற்களும் கிடந்தன.
தாடகையின் உறுமல் சத்தம் அதிகரித்தது. ராமன் வில்லின் மேல் சற்றுச் சாய்ந்து நின்றான். ரிஷி, அவனிடம், "ராமா, நீ சப்தவேதி அல்லவா? ஏன் தயங்குகிறாய்?" என்றார்.
ராமன் அவரைத் திரும்பிப் பார்த்தான். பிறகு ஒரு அம்பை எடுத்து வில்லில் பூட்டினான்.
"அவளைக் கொல்லாமல் நீ இந்த இடத்தில் இருந்து தப்பிச் செல்ல இயலாது", என்றார் ரிஷி.
அவன் மெளனமாக இருந்தான். வில் வளைந்து குறி பார்த்தது. தாடகை மறுபடி உறுமினாள். அம்பு பறந்தது.
"ஓ" என்று ஒரு அலறல். தாடகையின் பெருத்த உடல் தரையில் "தொம்" என்று விழும் சத்தம் கேட்டது.
மூவரும் காட்டைப் பார்த்தபடி நின்றோம்.
"செத்தாள்", என்றார் ரிஷி.
"இல்லை...நான் அவளைக் கொல்லவில்லை", என்றான் ராமன்.
காட்டில் இருந்து எந்த அசைவும் இல்லை. பிறகு யாரோ, ஒரு சாதாரண மனிதப் பெண், தீனமாக முனகும் சத்தம் கேட்டது.
"போய்த் தலையில் ஒரு கல்லைப் போட்டு மோட்சம் கொடுக்கலாம்", என்றார் ரிஷி.
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காட்டுக்குள் நாங்கள் நுழைந்தோம் - நான், நடுங்கிக் கொண்டே ஒரு தீப்பந்தத்துடன் முதலில் சென்றேன். எனக்குப் பின்னால் ரிஷி. கடைசியில் விஷ்ணு அம்சம். என்ன நியாயமோ.
எந்த நேரத்திலும் அவள் என் மேல் பாய்வாள் என்று முதலில் எண்ணினேன். ஆனால் அந்த மெலிதானப் புலம்பல் சத்தம் நெஞ்சை உருக்கியது.
ஒரு மரத்தின் மேல் சாய்ந்து தாடகை அமர்ந்திருந்தாள். அவள் காலில் அம்பு பாய்ந்து நின்றது. கீழே ரத்தம் குளம் போலத் தேங்கியிருந்தது.
அவள் எங்களைப் பார்த்து பயப்படவில்லை. முறைத்தபடி இருந்தாள்.
"ராமா, இன்னும் ஒரு அம்பு இருக்கிறது", என்று நினைவுபடுத்தினார் ரிஷி.
ராமன் கோபத்துடன் அந்த அம்பை எடுத்து முறித்துத் தரையில் போட்டான். "ரிஷியே, அவளை நன்றாகப் பாரும். என் தாய் கௌசல்யாதேவியைப் போல அல்லவா இருக்கிறாள்?" என்றான்.
நான் பந்தத்தைத் தூக்கிப் பிடித்தேன். உண்மையிலேயே தாடகை ஒரு மானுடப் பெண்ணைப் போலத் தான் இருந்தாள். மிகப் பலசாலி. ஆனால் மானுடப் பெண் தான். அவள் முகம் அயோத்தியில் உள்ள பல பெண்களைப் போலத் தான் இருந்தது.
ரிஷி மெளனமாக இருந்தார்.
ராமன், "உமக்கு யட்சர்களின் மொழி தெரியும் அல்லவா?" என்று கேட்டான்.
"ஆம்", என்றார் ரிஷி.
"நான் சொல்வதை அவளிடம் திருப்பிச் சொல்லும்", என்று என் கையில் இருந்த தீப்பந்தத்தை வாங்கிக் கொண்டான்.
"என் கையில் உள்ள அக்கினி சாட்சியாக, இந்த மாலடம் என்னும் தாடகா வனம் இனி யட்சர்களுக்குச் சொந்தம். அயோத்யாபுரிக்கு இந்த நிலத்தில் எந்த உரிமையும் கிடையாது. இது பட்டத்து இளவரசனான என் மேல் ஆணை. என் தாயின் மேல் ஆணை", என்றான்

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தாடகையின் காயத்திற்கு மருந்திட்டுக் கட்டுப் போட்டோம். பிறகு அவளிடம் பிரியாவிடை பெற்றுக் கிளம்ப வேண்டி இருந்தது. எங்களுடைய மூட்டைகளைப் போர்க்களத்தில் இருந்து எடுத்துக் கொண்டு நடந்த பொழுது லேசாக விடியத் தொடங்கியது.
விஸ்வாமித்திரர்,"ராமா, என்னை மன்னித்து விடு", என்றார்.
"இப்பொழுது மிதிலைக்குத் தானே அழைத்துச் செல்கிறீர்?" என்றான் ராமன்.
"ஆம். கவலைப்படாதே. இருந்தாலும் எனக்கு உன்னைப் பார்த்தால் வியப்பாக இருக்கிறது. உன் பாட்டனார் காலத்தில் இருந்து போர் புரிந்து வரும் நிலத்தை எப்படித் தியாகம் செய்ய உனக்கு மனது வந்தது?"
நான், " நமக்குச் சொந்தமே இல்லாத ஒன்றைத் தியாகம் செய்வதில் நம்மைப் போல வராது", என்றேன்.
தூரத்தில் யட்சர்களின் சிரிப்பொலி கேட்டது.

*********************************************************

Update I:
Thaadaka's story as described in the Valmiki Raamyana is in the links below:

http://valmikiramayan.net/bala/sarga24/bala_24_prose.htm

http://www.valmikiramayan.net/bala/sarga25/bala_25_prose.htm

http://www.valmikiramayan.net/bala/sarga26/bala_26_prose.htm

The country that gave these songs cannot fail

I got an exposure to Pakistani songs in the USA, and through the Indian music talent shows. Recently I came across a few songs in Youtube that I wanted to share:

The below, "Aaj Jaane Ki Zid Na Karo" is by Farida Khanum. The song has very beautiful lyrics (which I will post in the end). It has many versions including one by Asha Bhosle. The original is a Pakistani movie song sung by Habib Wali Mohammad (which is also posted below).
Notice in Farida's singing that she simply renders the song with minimum embellishment and lets the lyrics stand by themselves. This is such a minimalist rendering and her voice and expression are very subtle. That must be the mark of a true artist. I wish I can write stories or blogs with such minimalism.



Next, below is the original movie song, by Habib Wali Mohammad. I loved this too. Note how "Indian" the background music sounds.



Next is this very weird Punjabi song, sung by a singer named Humera Arshad. You can find a lot of her songs in the internet. She is very good singing live. This is a love song and has good lyrics.



The country that produces such great artists will survive their current crisis - they should for all of our sakes.

Translation for "Aaj Jaane Ki Zid Na Karo" (source):

Don't insist on leaving today
Keep sitting beside me.
Don't insist on leaving today
else I shall die, I shall be looted.
Please don't talk like this.
Don't insist on leaving today.

Give it a thought,
why shouldn't I stop you?
When you leave,
life goes out of me.
For your own sake, beloved
Just listen to this one plea,
don't insist on leaving today,
keep sitting beside me.
Don't insist on leaving today.

My life is trapped in time's bars,
just a few solitary moments are free.
And if you lose them too, my beloved,
you shall keep craving forever.
Don't insist on leaving today,
keep sitting beside me.
Don't insist on leaving today.

What an innocent colorful meeting this is
of beauty and love, they rule today.
Who knows what lies tomorrow,
Let's make this night stand still.
Don't insist on leaving today,
keep sitting beside me.
Don't insist on leaving today.

A few interviews

I interviewed more than 500 people when I was at Photon. The below stayed in mind. At the end I am providing one of my own stupidity.

The Microsoft Connection

1. I generally interviewed people on the Microsoft stack. I have noticed that only Microsoft stack developers provide the following answer:

Q: Have you worked with .NET 2.0?
A: I downloaded the Beta.

I don't know why downloading a particular software is a great skill, but I regularly get that answer, and only from developers in MS technologies. The only explanation I have is that they think it shows their initiative. It does not. It only shows their ability to click on a link.

2. It is my practice to ask developers in MS techs what they thought of open source technologies. The reason I ask that is to find out if they are too opinionated (more on this later). Usually they say they have not worked with them. But here was the classic (this interview took place in 2008):

Q: What do you think of open source technologies?
A; Two things. First, I don't think they will work out. Developers spread across the world working together to create software that is free - that is just stupid.
Secondly, I don't know anything about open source technologies.

I thought the second answer should be the only one given.

3. I was interviewing a particularly angry candidate. He said he worked with Microsoft on developing a framework. Since he was inexperienced, I was impressed. I kept digging until it turned out what really happened was:
2005 - Microsoft consulting had developed a framework for a shipping client in Norway.
2008 - Candidate had worked in Chennai for a company whose client was same shipping client in Norway. There he had used the framework.
Therefore, by candidate's logic, he had worked with Microsoft on developing a framework.

The Opinionated Candidate

There seems to be an impression among developers and architects out there that the more extremely frustrated and opinionated you seem, the more likely that you will be hired.
I saw this repeatedly:

Me: Have you worked with Microsoft ASP.NET Ajax?
(Candidate sighs. Throws up his hands. Shakes his head.)
Candidate: I don't know why Microsoft does this every time, you know, why it is just Microsoft...I have tried repeatedly explaining to them...why? (sighs again)
Me: (confused) You have not answered my question...How about Sharepoint? Have you used sharepoint?
(Candidate starts moaning)

This opinion virus has spread so much that you never get a straight answer to anything from senior people.

Slightly Above

We interviewed a candidate who had driven all the way from Pondicherry. French guy, he was extremely concerned about his golf appointment than the interview. Three of us sat down to interview him and the following exchange took place:

Q: So are you interested in mentoring developers? Building a team?
A: Sure, I can do that. But I am slightly above that level. That kind of work would be slightly below me.
Q: Oh, ok. How about design, architecture. Do you write technical specs?
A: Slightly above that level, I am afraid.
Q: Managing a vertical?
A: Still above.

It went on like that till he had to leave for golf. Till the end we could not find anything at his level - we were always slightly below and he was above.

My Interview 13 years back

I was interviewing for a C++ developer position. The interview was in Taj Coromandel, Chennai. I went in supremely determined to appear confident and gung-ho.
The first question in the interview was how I would rate myself in a scale of 1 to 10 on C++.
My answer? 11. It seemed like a very intelligent thing to say.
The next question was if I knew what virtual destructors were for in C++.
I closed my eyes and thought for a long time. Nothing popped up.
They asked me four different questions on C++ - medium level, and I had no clue. I was utterly unprepared.
At the end of the interview they told me to come back when I really reached 11 on the C++ scale.

Anti-Outsourcing ad - is this racist?

I found this youtube video of an ad against Bill Halter, candidate in the Arkansas Senate race. Tha ad says Bill Halter, who was in the board of directors of WebMethods (he left in 2006). In that time WebMethods opened an office in Bangalore. The ad criticises that Halter caused Bangaloreans to say thank you, while ignoring Arkansans.



I did not feel offended by it. It was... interesting. But it was called racist in DailyKos here.

Interview with a Lawyer on Labor law and IT employees

I interviewed a corporate lawyer a few weeks back. In a free-ranging discussion pertaining to labor law; rights of employees; long notice periods;bond documents; exit clauses; court procedure and so on. I will summarize my impressions in the end. I have been writing about corporations and employees for some time - this interview was an eye-opener for me. It pointed to the limits of the legal system to solve certain issues. It also led me to think an IT employee's union is more important than ever.

Note: The interview was not recorded. I am mostly paraphrasing below. But the lawyer has reviewed the transcript below and approved of it. All emphasis (capital letters) are mine.

Interview Transcript

RA: Layoffs and firings – what is the difference in labor law? I have seen companies such as TCS, IBM call layoffs as firings in public. Can an association of employees sue them?

Lawyer: Layoffs mean failure, refusal or inability of employer to give employment to a worker/employee on muster roll, on account of cancellation of a project contract, shortage of power or raw materials or accumulation of stock or lack of finance to run the business or natural calamity; An employer has to intimate the labor dept before laying off its employees as per the industrial disputes act. The obligation of the employer upon laying off its employees would be to compensate the employee so laid off.

Management Of Cholamandalam Software Ltd. vs Presiding Officer, I Addl. Labour Court, Madras And Ors. is a classic case wherein the applicability of I.D.Act to IT Companies has been discussed.

Unfortunately the judgment of the courts on whether IT Companies fall within the definition of an “industry” has not come to a finality..

Whileso the IT Companies make the most out of the situation and go ahead firing/discharging employees, which may not be that easy in any other industry. IT Companies during recession or even at will fire their employees rather than lay off their employees. Since the employees themselves are ready to swap jobs instead of being laid off, move out of an organisation without any protest. The irony is that such a situation gives the IT Companies a wide option in targeting an employee of its choice i.e an employee under probation could either be the target or maybe an employee drawing a fat salary.

In the case of freshers they are retrenched not because they underperform - but because freshers are usually in their probationary period and according to law, employees in probationary period can be fired at will .

In fact, in India IT companies fire employees in a very decent manner. They simply ask the concerned employee to sign his/her own resignation letter, requesting the management to relieve him/her “at the earliest”. When employees do this, the Company is in a WIN-WIN situation. The Company succeeds in retrenching the employee and they are not liable to pay in lieu of notice period. Under such circumstances, the employee loses his/her right to initiate legal proceedings on the company later.

A third party stranger, who is not aggrieved by such firing cannot sue TCS or IBM for such firings - only the affected employees can do that. [Ed. Note: This is a recurring theme in my discussion. You cannot sue a company "on behalf of" someone - only the affected parties themselves can do that. This is an important part of legal theory everywhere, and I could see the reason for it.]

RA: Notice periods in the IT industry keep lengthening and now stand at 3 months. Is this legal?

Lawyer: As long as the employee signed the Employee agreement with the notice period, yes, it is legally enforceable. Usually notice periods have exit clauses , where you can buy off the remaining period by compensating the employer for the shortfall in notice period.
When an employee resigns from a company, the company has to accept it. If they do NOT accept it, you can walk off at the end of your notice period.But an employee who has put in his/her resignation cannot unilaterally force the employer to concede to his/her wish in buying off the remaining months (shortfall in notice period) and cut short his/her employment. However an employee who has put in his/her resignation has all the right to negotiate with the employer for relieving –him/her even before the completion of the notice period. However the discretion to relieve the employee sooner is that of the Company.
Unfair notice periods ARE NOT enforceable - but it depends on the industry. For example, a few years back Indian Airlines pilots walked off to private airlines in droves. They had six months notice period, but they violated it. Indian Airlines sued to have them not take up alternate jobs. The court REFUSED to provide an injunction against the pilots. This is because the court thought six months was a very long notice period.
Now, the same has not been decided for the IT industry. No one has sued to make the matter decided by courts. Therefore in the IT industry, three months notice periods are legal.
I would also like to point out that this should be discussed by HR managers within the IT industry - if everyone sets notice periods at 3 months, then companies cannot pick up employees in a short duration for projects. Thus the industry's decision backfires on itself - if you recruit for a project, employee will not be available for the next 3 months. It seems industry itself should move away from this course.

RA:What is the legal status of employee agreements? Are notice periods enforceable? I mean in terms of precedent

Lawyer: Yes, employee agreements (terms and conditions of employment spelt out in the Appointment Letter/ Offer of Appointment) that have been accepted by the employee concerned are enforceable by courts.

RA: Can companies ask for very long bonds and enforce by holding original certificates? What is the nature of “one-sided” bonds?

Lawyer: First of all we have to understand what really a bond is and the reason behind employers seeking it from their employees. A bond is sought by an employer to retain an employee with the organisation for a longer period of time.

A bond is an extension arising out of an employment agreement/appointment letter. If only a candidate accepts the offer, a bone can be executed. Hence for executing a bond, the candidate should first be an employee of the organisation. An appointment letter shall contain a clause informing the employee on a bond that has to be signed by the employee. appointment letter should also necessarily have on exit clause for both the parties. Whileso the bond is an agreement within an agreement. The terms and conditions of the bond shall be in consonance with the terms and conditions of the appointment letter/employee agreement. Breach of such bond shall have to be compensated by the employee and such compensation shall be quantified in monetary terms. Breach of a bond shall arise if the employee wants to leave the organisation even before the accepted period. Under such circumstances the employer cannot unduly reject the resignation tendered by the employee. The option available with the employer is to get compensated as agreed. Violating a bond is NOT illegal - it simply means that you shift to the exit clause mentioned in the employment agreement/appointment letter .
An arbitrary bond that simply asks you to serve a certain number of years, without an exit clause is not valid. There should be an exit clause. An aggrieved employee can always go to the court if he/she fall in asituation discussed above. Whether you are willing to go to court is another question.
Even if a bond has a certain sum mentioned, it should actually link that sum to the money that the company has paid for your training etc. [Ed Note: I have seen such bonds; they mention the breakdown of sum in detail].Instead if the bond simply asks for money, without indicating any cost the company incurred for you, then that bond will likely be rejected by a court of law.
A company CAN ask for your original certificates as part of a bond. Itis a contractual arrangement between the employer and employee.
One of my friends was recruited as a Probationary officer for a Bank, to be confirmed and placed a Law Officer. They had his certificates. After his confirmation he was placed like any other officer and was asked to do all jobs. My friend simply went to the court, got an order saying he was offered a job that had nothing to do with the actual job; he got back his original certificates and moved over to another company.
If you know the law, yes, you can get back your certificates, if your reason is just.

RA: Can companies withhold relieving orders at all? How about providing wrong information on background checks?

Lawyer: If you complied with your side of the agreement, then they cannot withhold relieving orders or provide wrong information on background checks, legally. If they did, you can sue them.

RA:What circumstances will make a bond null and void? If you get cursed or abused by your boss, does that automatically release you from bonds?

Lawyer: How are you going to prove abuse? For example, you cannot record such conversations. Indian law does not consider audio recordings as material evidence. Practically it is difficult to prove such abuse.

RA:Practically, do all cases go through a court for labor disputes or is there any other redress such as arbitration?

Lawyer: Labour disputes are settled by initiating conciliation proceedings and then if the conciliation fails the matter is referred to the labour court.
There needs to be a specific term in the apploinment letter stating that the dispute between the employeer and the employee may be settled through arbitration. If so a neutral person will decide the issue on merits.
Since there are no trade unions in IT industry, matter affecting the employees do not reach the labour court. Rather the aggrieved employee if he/she wants to persue the matter takes it to the civil court.
Settlement of such disputes may take time say one year to even ten years.

RA: How long do such cases take to settle? Doesn’t it seem like companies have an unfair advantage in this regard? That they can depute subordinates and keep asking for postponements?

Lawyer: True and there is nothing to really do about it.

RA: Are Indian courts, in general, receptive to employees? Or do they enforce unfair agreements strictly?

Lawyer: Indian courts are very receptive to employees. They do form a check against employer abuse. For example, there is the case of a travel agent. He left the agency where he worked and joined another agency. The original employer sued asking that the agent not be allowed to work in the same industry (for non-compete purposes). The court decided in favor of the agent - it said that the agent's only known profession is to be a travel agent. So, they said it is unfair to ask him to not work in the same industry and deprive him of livelihood.

RA:What would be the typical cost of such a litigation? How long would it take? Are there law firms or lawyers that specialize in such disputes and can help out employees?

Lawyer: The cost can be high - actually the lawyers gain a lot. They go through multiple rounds and as the case drags on, they make a lot of money. It is in their interest to prolong the case. This is why most people are afraid of going to court. There are labor lawyers, but they vary in quality.

RA: Do we have punitive damages in Indian law? Will that help stop some abuse by corporations?

Lawyer: You can claim costs from the opposing party. But it is the discretion of the court to allow costs claimed by you. You can also file a suit for damages. The problem here is that you may have to pay court fees based on your claim. You will forebear such litigation because depositing court fees is a dead lock investment, the returns of which is not guaranteed. There is no such thing as punitive damages in Indian labor law.

RA:Some companies file false cases of property theft etc on employees. What are our rights under such conditions?

Lawyer: Practically companies do get away with such false complaints. For example, when someone files a complaint, the police will come to your home and take you to the station for a statement. At that time, it is better to have a lawyer with you - but it is unlikely that you are prepared with a lawyer for just such an occasion.
The police are supposed to produce you before a magistrate before 24 hours. If they wanted to harass you, they can keep you in jail for that time. They can potentially also take you in Fridays and keep you in for two days. ALl of this does happen in India.
Even if you had a senior lawyer, say, in the High Court, that lawyer cannot directly appear before (for example) the magistrate in Saidapet and argue your case. The lawyers in Saidapet will not allow it. [Ed Note: almost like a union]
The magistrate also knows the local lawyers better and therefore will be sympathetic to them. This is the current situation.
So, a company filing a false complaint can sometimes harass you more than enough. You can hit back by filing another complaint against the owner if you are inclined that way. [Ed Note: It seems the lack of punitive damages helps companies]

RA:Can employees publicly blow a whistle on companies’ internal policies? Let us say someone publishes such behavior and names the company, (assuming what they are saying is true), can they be punished by law?

Lawyer: You cannot make judgments about a company in a blog post or something. You can say that a company engages in some behavior - but you cannot criticize it publicly. You can be served a legal notice for that.

RA:Specifically, if someone was to start a fund for helping employees in such labor disputes, is that feasible? Is it possible to find lawyers who can capably help with such pro-labor suits? Are there such organisations right now?

Lawyer: Think about it - such an independent organisation will face flak from both sides - from the employee who may think you are losing the case (losing happens sometimes). And also the lawyers who may not want to complete the case because they are getting paid by you on each hearing.

RA: How do you think, then, that we can fight such abuses by companies?

Lawyer: Employees have to organize themselves and fight for their rights.

The interview ended there.

My Impressions of the Legal Recourse

When I went into this interview I thought the law will actually help stem abuses by employers. That is, I thought filing of enough suits will improve the situation. But it seems that we have the following issues:

1. The legal system is slow to act; time is on the side of employers.
2. It is tough for independent organizations to get involved.
3. Most importantly, the law sees employment as a contractual free agreement of two parties. Thus it impartially puts the two parties in the same level.
But, practically, we all know that a fresher from college has no means of negotiating with a company. In India there are fewer jobs and more people. Asking employees to INDEPENDENTLY negotiate, alone, with employers is like "asking the sheep to negotiate with the wolf". In many ways this is not unlike the situation you face with hospitals or schools - the common man in India seeking these services has no negotiating power.
This fact ALONE points the way at collective bargaining (in other words, organizing into trade unions).

4. I also wish punitive damages (damages that can effectively bring a company to its knees for wrongdoing) are awarded by Indian courts for abusing employees, such as filing false complaints.

To me it seems like filing suits will help, but not without a powerful IT Employee's Union. That alone will make sure that abuses such as wrong background checks, holding on to relieving orders, and keeping original certificates are brought to a stop.


References
Wikpedia Article on Layoffs

Indian Contract Act Explanation

Manupatra - website with legal opinions, judgements and so on for research (requires a subscription)

A Handbook of Labor Laws in India

Nano - I told you so

A couple of Nano cars have caught fire and I just feel like I have to pint out this long article by me an year back. The article argues that by taking the success or failure of Nano as a product AWAY from Tata or the market; and instead subsidizng the product heavily with taxpayer money as Gujarat does - is actually a violation of sound economic policy.
Let me quote from my article:

There are people who argue that job creation is primary goal. Some guy even calculated that in 10 years the government of Gujarat would get money back from the Nano plant because of tax payments by employees. But there is a vital flaw in such arguments:
What if the Nano is a failure?
Let us say that some design flaws make Nano a failure. Can the Gujarat government assure that the Nano will be a success? They can't - the factory is not even in their control. They have not studied the market or discussed the quality procedures or the thousand other things that can go wrong with a product. By tying themselves to a single businessman's product, the government has committed taxpayer money for something it has no capability to ensure or manage.
Instead sound economic theory requires that the Gujarat government create conditions for manufacturers in general and then wait for business to flourish.

I am not saying that the Nano WILL be a failure. Given the amount of propaganda surrounding it, Tata has ensured its sales. But, for Gujarat to have tied itself with that car and committing taxpayer money to a product that they have no control over is WRONG.
It means individual profits and socialized risk. That is what it is.

Perceptions of Indian developers in the West

I landed in the USA in late 1999. We were to take over maintenance and further development of a travel website. Me and a couple of colleagues were excited and awestruck by the skyline of Boston.
One day were discussing finding an apartment at work when one of the American consultants said, "You guys are going back - don't bother looking for apartments".
We actually became crucial for taking over the website and two years later the same person told me that he had never believed that offshoring or bringing in Indian consultants would work. He said he had no idea if we would even speak English. And he said he had been proved wrong (not just about the English).
Cut to the present - I was talking with one of my friends (a swedish guy) who is used to complaining about "the Indian way" of doing anything. He said he was discussing with a department head of a Fortune 500 company about offshoring when the head guy started complaining about not being able to understand Indians or whatever.

Twenty years after the software outsourcing boom started, it is obvious that the Indian developer, whether onsite or offshore generates a lot of hostility in the West. Just for a sample, read this article and its comment thread.

The question is why does this happen? We call this hostility "racism" but I dont believe in using imprecise, general terms. There are other issues at play here. The both sides of the offshoring game have to understand certain undercurrents:

1. For Indians - Offshore outsourcing is not a preference of middle managers in the USA - middle managers want control. The directives come from executive management and middle managers are meant to cede control and make it work and show results by cutting costs.

Digression:In many cases outsourcing is about more than cutting costs. The truth is that Indian companies present a very attractive package to enterprise customers in the developed countries. The degree of expertise that even medium-sized companies in India offer to such customers is high (this is from my experience for 11 years in the services industry). Even in terms of sheer process methodology Indian companies offer a lot more as compared to Western equivalents.
There are systemic reasons why this is the case: it is just that a considerable portion of the Indian economy is invested in the success of IT and therefore has spent a lot more time specializing in the services industry.I have worked in American services companies as a consultant - they are excellent, but they are simply rolled by bigger Indian companies.

The middle managers are actually led kicking and screaming to offshore work. They, therefore, are resentful and not much hopeful of success.
The resident developers, of course, have their jobs threatened.
Therefore much of the "racism" is not racism at all - it is simply hostility and fear of change.

2. For the Client - One frequent issue is the power that some clients feel about offshoring. This took several forms including making fun of Indian names in India itself. The idea seems to be that you can generally get away with saying anything at Indian managers or developers.
Let me give an example:
A developer in my old company had a normal Indian name. The clients were in a room meeting and asked him to come over. One of them (he thought he was funny), tried to pronounce the developer's name but could not. He then announced that he would call the developer "Sam". Everyone had a good laughover it - but they actually implemented it by calling him Sam every time.
A variation of the above scenario occurs in some offshore companies - the main reason it occurs is twofold:
- The degree of power a western client has over a small offshore company is enormous. He can cut off the spigot at any time. This level of power exists even if you outsource to a different company within the US or UK - but socially there is a taboo to exercising power in those societies. Thus the average American client would be very loathe to make such comments publicly about other people in their social setting.
When these people land in India, they basically feel free from such taboo. They do not think that appearing like a jerk before other humans matters. They let this liberation get to their heads and end up sounding like jerks. Not all of them, mind you, just a small minority.
- when a western client makes a comment like this or exercises power in such unusual ways, we do not know how to respond. Is it just normal humor in their countries? Or is this specific guy being an idiot? This is not surprising - after all the fault is not ours if a client behaves like an idiot. This non-response enables the client and leads him to try more such idiocy.
My advice to Western clients is to not be stupid and say something you won't dare say in your own home country. In short, don't be a dumbass.

3. For the West
The biggest issue, I feel, that lets Western technical people comment about the competence of Indian developers is this - they romanticise coding too much.
I have noticed that American developers, working even in the IT departments of crappy companies, have a very romanticised image of coding. I can understand the developers at IBM or Microsoft feeling this way.
Mind you, this is just an image - these develpers are not particularly competent. They just have a self-image of Ninja coders toiling away at solving the Turing Test.
They are convinced that only the superior education offered by their system prepares people for the tough challenge of building an Access based inventory list.
Again, this has nothing to do with racism. It is merely what they have been told from childhood.
The contradiction between this self-image and the discovery that their jobs could be taken away by a $5 worker shocks them. That, I believe, is the reason for much of
the animosity at Indian developers.

"Does offshore outsourcing work?" - this question has been answered in the affirmative for some time now. The particular experience for different companies may vary - as it should - but in the aggregate, it is like any other work outsourcing. There is nothing system specific that prevents it from working when Indian developers are involved.

By the way, there ARE specific examples of generalization and racism; I will close with a last episode that I faced:
A developer at my employer was onsite. There was some dispute between him and my employer, but he was well liked by the client. The employer decided to bring him back. They lied to the client saying the dev's father was sick.
The client came to know about the lie through rumors. At that time on of them was at Chennai. I was talking to him generally, when he narrates this lie and says: "Is it a cultural thing to lie like this?"
Get that? The evil brown people lie as a cultural trait. Pure white culture does not lie.

Disclaimer:
I hope I have managed to avoid writing some generalizations myself. I do not, of course, believe that most Western clients are prone to exercising their power in unprofessional ways. Some do. The vast majority are pretty decent. My goal was simply to point out that there are specific reasons why some may face hostility and that the hostility has little to do with racism.
And I do sympathize with the social cost of outsourcing - but I always think restrictions on immigration should be done away with. A lot of our problems will go away if we do not restrict human beings from travelling anywhere they want to.

The Nithyananda Affair

(updated below)
I had a facebook conversation on this and I wanted to summarise my thoughts here:
1. The dumbest argument I have seen about this is that Nithyanada "cheated" people by engaging in false propaganda. I watched Sun TV for a half hour yesterday and I saw several advertisements for fairness creams, nutrition products that make your kids grow taller and claims about how Coca Cola makes you cool. ALL of that is false propaganda. Should we prosecute all of those companies and Sun TV for engaging in false propaganda?
We should realize that there is a religious industry out there; there is a market for their products. You may disagree with that - but the people who are gurus, devotees and followers have RIGHTS. You may think them delusional, but I think all "followers" and "devotees" of Jayalalitha or Karunanidhi are delusional.
Should we then arrest Jayalalitha or Karunanidhi, because they are engaged in "false propaganda"?
Whatever individuals think about other people's beliefs has no relevance to the law. Most people do not like other people in India. That does not mean we should go about prosecuting each other.
2. So, Sun TV telecast this video; and then police is obviously struggling to justify the completely unreasonable "popular" anger. If we had to prosecute people for their private affairs, most of us will be in jail. There is NO law by which a self-proclaimed holy man cannot have sex in private.
So we see the utterly ridiculous spectacle of a set of charges filed that make no sense. For example, Nithyananda has been charged with offending religious sensibilities! That law (more on section 295-A here) is so overly broad that anyone can be charged and noone can be convicted in a sane court.
The idea that holy men now better not have sex or otherwise they will be LEGALLY prosecuted is just hilarious. This is a moral issue, not for courts. The case will be thrown out of court and rightly so.

3. Let us consider the following cases:
- a politician declares in a party meeting that he/she will go in a bicycle to work every day. After he/she comes to power, can they be sued if they take a car to work? Can the police file charges? No
- a product says that consuming it makes people strong. Can the people who consume it then sue the product for not making them strong? No.
- a holy man says he is celibate. People follow him. Can the police sue him if he is proved to be not celibate? No (apart from the impossibility of proving whether someone violated celibacy. Masturbation violates celibacy - so I bet Sun TV is going to have a video of this guy's bathroom coming out soon)

4. I have not touched upon Sun TV's utter arrogance in telecasting this in prime time. In a sane country, their license will be revoked. I do not know if the newsroom guys consulted with their lawyers.
We are now entering a new age of "proto-fascism" in Tamil Nadu.
Sun TV and the Karunanidhi family now control television, cable distribution, movie production, FM radio, and newspapers. I think this is their first demonstration that they are not answerable to anyone and can manipulate Tamil people as they want to.
We have a long fight ahead to rid ourselves of this family's control.

5. One of the factors that surprises me is the contempt that people express for followers of such "godmen" as the media calls them. I have seen a bunch of people shaking their heads (on television) and talking about the followers as if they are sheep.
In the modern era, we are ALL sheep. We either worship digital products, celebrities, businessmen, politicians or godmen. I don't know why we pretend that followers of religious gurus are uniquely dumb. The average DMK, ADMK or Congress worker worships at politicians' altar. Why are they better than devotees?

6. More than anything I want to highlight a subtle problem in Tamil politics. For a long time the Kazhagams (DK, DMK, PMK and ADMK) have been calling themselves rationalist. The truth is these guys are far removed from any rationality or scientific approach to anything. A rational movement will not have made such a nasty issue of Kushboo's statement about women a few years back.
But this guise of a rational base has twisted popular culture in Tamil Nadu and taken it towards such unreasonable response to the Nithyananda scandal. I have seen NO public or media figure come out and call this affair for what it is - a violation of privacy by Sun TV is the core issue here. That a corporation can telecast the private affairs of an individual is shocking. This means that you and I are not protected from such violations either. Sun TV is not just the press - it is a media corporation that has stepped in forcefully into a citizen's privacy.
THAT is the chilling aspect of this "scandal". yet, I don't see ANY media or public figure come out and call a spade a spade.
The reason is that lynching Nithyananda (a religious figure) gives people the impression that it is a very rational thing to do.
That is, the narrative has become:
A public person was cheating people. The brave Sun TV folks exposed his true face. they performed the role of a true press.

The above story is appealing, but is FALSE. I am all for Sun TV exposing public corruption such as by the political parties. But I have never seen such coverage by Sun TV. Instead here they have violated the law and broken the privacy of a private citizen. As I explained above, I can be a god man, say anything and people are free to believe or disbelieve me. That does not violate the law. IF THAT violates the law, then every politician, banker, and most businessmen will be in jail.
The function of society is a balance between private rights, freedom of speech, government powers and press freedom. In this particular case the violator of this balance is Sun TV NOT Nithyananda.
But (I may be wrong), most people are unaware of such distinctions in India. They confuse morality and legality.
Sun TV has now moved one step more in getting into our lives. Being the most powerful network, the above perspective will not even make it into any media coverage.
No one is going to talk about the absurdity of prosecuting a person under section 295-A for having sex.

Update:
I missed another aspect of this issue. One of the reasons why everyone sounds enraged about this issue (but secretly enjoys it) is the sexual starvation in this country. This is a state in which women cannot travel freely in buses because of the constant groping by sex-starved men. Slowly the TV media have been ratcheting up the levels of sex and violence in reality shows, television serials, movies and advertisements. The public has been told that we are "modernising"; but no modern society tolerates this level of objectification of women in their media. I know that the US media constantly gets pushback from parents and consumer organizations. Their society is not as sex-starved as we are.
The Nithyananda affair is probably less about any exposure of wrong-doing; it seems to be more about pushing the boundaries of such sexual exposure. Anyone in advertising knows that the cheapest and easiest way to be "creative" is to go directly to sex appeal.
By showing such sick voyeuristic images, Sun TV has reserved the option to push the sex envelope to the extreme. They now know they have their audience captured and unable to fight back. Now, our kids and family will be sitting and watching news when they will be shown naked images of Sun TV's choice. We will all be told that these are features of a modern society. Every other media house will follow through.
Kalanidhi Maran owns us.

I am proud of Indian Software Services

I am generally proud of the Indian software services industry - there was a business model that the pioneers caught on and developed into a mega money-making, and value delivering exercise. I have been in services since 1999 and I do NOT believe that:
- the services industry does not serve Indian society
- the services business itself is non-innovative compared to creating products
- the work that services companies do is uniteresting or boiler-plate.

I believe that all of the above are myths; many of these opinions - including calling IT employees as coolies - arise out of plain resentment than any substantive reason.
For example, one claim is that cost differences beween India and the USA have been the sole reason for the dominance of Indian services industry. People who say this seem to think cost differences are somehow not the right reason for doing business. That is absurd, of course. The whole idea of competition is the ability to gain an advantage by showing better value - and lower cost is a HUGE value.
I also see nothing wrong with "body-shopping". It is pure propaganda that selling labor is "low" compared to selling products. The reason why we think that way is simple - that way leads us to accept free trade in products and not free trade in labor.
Let me explain better - for the past 50 years since the founding of the GATT and later WTO, developed countries have gone around preaching free trade and in many cases succeeding in opening up borders so that their products can compete with local products (and many times decimate them). They have justified this pointing to consumer choice and lower prices.
How can business in a country like India compete with this? We found our own competitive advantage - we have plenty of cheaper labor and we have managed to turn that into a business model.
I don't see how this makes Indian services industry "lower" in the hierarchy.
In fact, logically, we should have free movement of labor across borders (just as we have for products). That is the logical and fair conclusion of free trade. But guess what? Politicians in the West (who preached free trade to everybody all these years), have suddenly discovered the virtues of tight immigration policies. So you find the Democrats in the USA threatening to abolish the H1B work visa (while simultaneously calling for legalizing illegal immigrants).
Trading labor is equally valid as trading products. The only reason we think otherwise is because the West benefits one way and not the other.

The IT Industry is Built by IT Workers
The truth is also that this industry has been built not just by business founders - but by the individual employees all across India. Since the business model is built using labor, the model's success is a vindication of the quality of this labor.
This is why I always thought it weird that the average IT worker is never congratulated or appreciated in the media. They celebrate Ramalinga Raju or Subrato Bagchi or Narayana Murthy. Actually most of the credit in IT organizations should go to the IT workers, developers, leads, architects. managers - all of them.

I have only heard complaints about IT workers - that they push up rents; that they are all showing off; that they are working and creating value for foreigners, not India. Then within the industry itself people blame them for job hopping; fake certificates; asking for too much salary and so on.

The average IT guy in this industry comes from a rural or urban poor/middle class background. He/she does not know much English. He/she has a family dependent on their paycheck almost entirely. He/she has to work insane hours and weekends. Most of these men and women did not learn about the industry-specific skills until college or after leaving college.
I recently met a fresher who passed out in 2009. He is from a lower middle-class family. He was offered a job in campus by an IT company. Then they got wind of the recession and so just suspended him from joining indefinitely (I am not blaming them for this; just that if the employee had done that kind of thing, he will be accused of disloyalty). His degree in computer engineering only gave him skills in C and C++.
So he learnt Oracle and cleared Oracle certification. He learnt Java and cleared certification in that too.
He has got job offers from every interview he attended. But, they all have caveats:
Company A wanted him to sign a 3 year bond.
Company B wanted him to sign a 2 year bond and give a check for Rs. 2,00,000 at the time of joining. If he left in between, they would take that money.
Company C asked for a 2 year bond and all his original certificates.

All of the above is against labor law and would be overturned in court - but who is going to approach courts?
This fresher and many hunderds of thousands like him join this industry every year. They work hard. They learn the technologies at stake even though those can change from project to project. I have seen 21-23 year old programmers learn the Facebook API in 2 weeks and create excellent applications. I have seen these guys struggle balancing work pressure and family requirements and deliver again and again.

If they had NOT delivered, we would not be holding 60% of the world's offshore outsourcing market share in software.

The idea that, instead, these guys have to be blamed for not "innovating" or not taking risks or having bad attitude is absurd.

A Criticism of "3 Idiots"

After hearing that the Hindi movie "3 Idiots" had shed light on the educational system in this country, I was excited. I had read the original book "Five Point Someone" (Chetan Bhagat) and did not see anything regarding the educational system in the book - I saw that book's marketing potential being people's fascination for IITians more than anything else. The book was mediocre.

I watched the movie yesterday. Frankly it was entertaining, but it seemed to have a lot of climactic scenes and needless symbolism which made it dragging. I counted five climaxes with rousing music and all that. I counted 3 different symbols - the Dean's pen, people pulling their pants down (no idea why) and "All is Well" (used tiresomely over and over). English movies have such symbolism, but usually there is a single one in a movie.

But I have two specific criticisms of the movie:
1. Aamir Khan talks about the system - but nowhere in the movie does he identify ANY element of the system. What is a feature of the system? Rote learning is NOT a feature of the system - students learn by rote because the questions asked of them is in that manner. Saying "Rote learning is an issue" is to start blaming a symptom - it is in NO WAY a criticism of any system.
I have explained this better in the article "Are Indian System-Blind?". Basically, conservative societies (such as India) blame people for issues. They do not look at underlying root causes of people's behavior. Such societies also blame the victims for systemic shortcomings.
When we were in school, we used to be contemptous and (yes) envious of people who learnt by rote. ALL of us did it to a certain degree because you cannot pass Indian board exams without rote learning. The people who learnt by rote and got a lot of marks were not any less smarter than us. They were merely performing what was expected in the examination system better than us.
This movie, instead, casts Chatur Ramalingam as an antagonist at the very beginning because he learns by rote. Instead, if you think back to our own experiences in college, our classmates who learnt by rote were also suffering from the same problems that we were. They merely had better memory.
So, Aamir Khan pays lip service to raising questions about the system - but this is still a movie that does not shed ANY light on what the system is. Instead, true to form, it blames the victims.
You could argue that Chatur Ramalingam is competitive while Rancho (Aamir) is not "chasing" after success. But again, that is not a choice individual actors can make. We have a large number of people with a fewer number of jobs. Competition is a natural corollary of such an economy. It is not as if Chatur has any choice in being non-competitive.
That is supposed to be other message of the movie - follow your career dreams. Be whatever you want to become. Do not chase after engineering. I explained why this may not be as easy as it sounds even in ideal environments (See "Myths on Careers"). But in a society in which high-paying jobs are few and concentrated in a few industries, why is it surprising that people chase after engineering or doctor degrees?

My point is that it is easy to pontificate about people going after lucrative jobs or people being competitive - all that you are doing is blaming the victims, instead of explaining why people behave a certain way.
A lot of people chasing after engineering jobs does NOT mean that there is something wrong with those people - it means something is wrong with the existing economy or educational system.

There are so many actual, strong issues in this area. Instead this movie PRETENDS to talk about the system and then switches to blame-the-victims mode. All that it does is reinforce people's prejudices about other people.
And in order to "prove" that its message is authentic, it uses a implausible plot - in which the rote-learner is a bad guy; there is a convenient wild life photographer waiting to fly Madhavan out of India; Raju gets a job in a impossible to believe interview; and the guy who scoffs at rote learning is actually getting the first rank every time (because he is the hero).
If all of the above happens in real life, yes, you have a valid message. The message of this movie and its plot do not coexist.

And stop with the pop-psychology already. It was good in Munna Bhai - but here it is just tiring to see so many "psychological" insights from Aamir Khan squeezed into every scene.
Plus everyone has to be drunk to express their true feelings or show their acting talents - I don't know why.

2. I also see the same distressing trend continuing - people such as Chatur Ramalingam get punished out of all proportion to their actual "crimes". And we are all supposed to enjoy these punishments. Thanks to incredible acting by the guy who played Chatur, I felt extremely sympathetic to him, throughout the movie. I could not find any reason in the movie itself about why he was such a horrific person to be punished with the public humiliation in the "college speech" - we only accept it because Aamir is the hero, and a hero cannot be wrong.
That is, our movies still want us to accept that a hero, by definition is good - not because he does good acts; but because he is the hero. He can harass a woman, steal, be an alcoholic, humiliate a harmless person publicly, pee on someone's frontyards - whatever. He is still the hero.
The personality cult that these guys promote is disgusting. In the book, by the way, Rancho is not a top scorer. Nor does he get the woman. They changed all that in the movie so that Aamir Khan comes out like some kind of intellectual superman.

My Short Story in Chennai Book Fair book

I was browsing in the Chennai book fair when I noticed a book prominently displayed with an attractive cover. It was called "Vaanavil Koottam" (Group of Rainbows). I had seen this book name earlier (at least an year back) in my email. On a hunch, I picked up the book and turned and the inner cover had my name! It is an anthology of short stories and the second short story is "Garvam" (Pride). By A.R.Ramiah (that is me).
Here are a few pictures of the book and display.













This story was written along with others 5 years back when I was in the US. I had lots of time in my hand and wrote a series.
Then I sent it to Kalki magazine (I had won a short story competition many years back in Kalki and hence liked them). They said it was too long.
So I just kept it for a couple of years. In 2006 I published it in Thinnai, the online magazine.
A couple of months later I got an email from someone who said they wanted to publish it and asked for my address. I was worried for some reason and did not provide my address. It seems they went ahead and published it anyway.
I talked to the publisher. I was actually not upset - it made me happy to see (after such a long time) my story in print. He said they had to get approval from 37 writers (including Sujatha and Jeyamohan). I felt sorry for him.

I somehow feel more motivated now. I have not been able to complete a single good short story since I came back. I have not felt good about the ones I wrote recently. But this is motivating.