Banker to every Indian.

Over 16000 branches. $127 billion in assets. The only Indian bank to feature in the Fortune 500 list. A banking behemoth. And as a recent public relation activity suggests, the banker to every Indian. Yes, you guessed it right, I’m talking about State Bank of India.

The sweet pleasure of ‘feel good’ was sensed by the great Indian middle class. After all it is satisfying to know that even fishmongers can operate a bank account in our country, save their menial earnings and ultimately progress. ‘Jai Ho’. The government of India that owns a sixty percent stake in the bank couldn’t complain at a time when it has to play with a double-edged sword of ‘recession’ and ‘election’. Two words that send a chill down the spine of any government in power.

This blithe was shattered, at least on a personal level as I set forward on a tax saving mission just before the March end deadline. A well-wisher suggested opening a PPF (public provident fund) account with a public sector bank. And what better than State Bank of India, the best and largest of Indian public sector banks.

I set about on opening an account equipped with the addresses of most of the State Bank of India branches in the eastern satellite township of Delhi. Apparently an easy pursuit, I faced my first roadblock when I couldn’t trace where to ask about opening a PPF account. But my apprehensions were soon put to rest as I saw a small plastic board dangling on corner of the ceiling of the branch declaring ‘PPF/Senior Citizens’. Happy to see the board, I marched forward to know how I can become the ‘proverbial’ State Bank of India customer like they show in the advertisements. After negotiating a queue and spending some time near the counter, a young and smart officer, probably a direct recruitment from the bank exams, curtly asked my residential address. I was not expecting an oral revelation of my residential address and quite bewildered, I answered. I was further surprised to know that I cannot open a PPF account in this branch because there are State Bank of India branches nearer to my residential address. I never knew that bankers also had a ‘cable guy’ mentality of diving areas.

Imagine Swiss banks declining deposits from around the globe! The officer was however courteous enough to tell me which branch I should get in touch with. I rather reached the next branch with an air of high place as a much larger branch’s officer has confidently sent me here. Now no one could stop me from opening a PPF account. After all I was in the right place. I mentioned my purpose of being there to another officer, much older, probably pushing retirement. He brought out a printed paper with lot of things outlined. One set of points were documents admissible as identity proof and another set as address proof. I found I had almost all documents that pass as an identity proof like Voter ID, Driving License, Passport and, PAN card.

Now came the tricky part, address proof. One look made me feel I have them. Credit card bills, telephone bills, letter from an employer seemed quite familiar. But my world came crashing down when the officer with an acidic smile explained that these documents should be of a state-owned service provider or employer. I had none. Like most of urban Indians, I use credit cards of private banks, a private telephone company’s broadband and landline and work for a private limited company. For State Bank of India, I do not have a valid physical address. I do not exist!

I suddenly recalled the picture of the fishmonger on State Bank of India’s advertisement. I wondered does she have these address proof documents. I was also trying to think what I can say to this officer so that he agrees to open an account. I, like most Indians who have some experience of dealing with public sector banks, had asked for references or ‘introduction’ in State Bank of India within the people I know. An ‘introduction’ is an existing customer who will vouch for me being a nice person. And fortunately I had one.

When I suggested this, the officer slyly told me that this system has been discontinued. I had nothing more to say but was firm in my belief that such cannot be the system in a free democratic country’s state owned bank. So, I reached another branch that is near my place of work. I was left aghast when the guard stopped me at the gate saying I can’t get inside because lunch is underway. When did they start closing bank branches for lunch!

It was too much of repudiation for me to bear in a day. Lost all faith in Indian public sector banks all over again and State Bank of India’s public relation ‘gimmick’ and ‘Jai Ho’. When I discussed my affliction with friends, I was suggested correctives. Some also recommended good branches of State Bank of India with eager to help people.

Connection matters in our country where success is measured on a scale of number of ‘right people’ you know. I being reasonably connected for my age might end with a PPF account with State Bank of India. But the bargain is not at all conducive for a progressive nation and slumdogs turning millionaires remains a fairy tale. Or worse still a mirage following which people might get hurt.

Thats so sexy!!!

As a kid I remember a song from a Govinda-Karishma starrer being in the middle of a social degradation controversy. There was an intense imbroglio regarding the amount of harm that such morally, and by all Indian definitions, politically incorrect songs can do to our culture and children. May be even the future and economy of the country was in jeopardy.

If it still did not click, it was the song ‘sexy, sexy, sexy, mujhe log bolein’ from ‘Khuddar’. So, the media, which is quite bold today, blew the trumpets along with the moral police back then. Channels and newspapers were full of ghost stories about the future moral downfall of the society. Though some championed the cause of change like always.

Well. Honestly for most of us, it was a new word. And given the scale of the controversy, curiosity was at its crux. Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries came to rescue. Though I remember people, especially guys, across the teens' range referring to that ‘S’ word with erotic excitement for few months on.

Move over the ‘S’ word. Enter the ‘F’ word. Today we live in a society where ‘sexy’ is as good as ‘nice’. From food to drinks, advertisements to cars, even work and evenings can be ‘sexy’. But of course, men and women can also be that. That is not all. We happily curse situations, friends, enemies, ourselves, co-commuters, ex-lovers or worse still, present lovers and a host of other people and things with a wide array of versions of the ‘F’ word. We happily show our middle fingers to people, mostly when we are assured that the feedback will not be physical. Or maybe we are on an automobile and the receiver of our gesture is not.

Okay. Whatever be the reason or method. We are fine with this. I am not encouraging its use. We have to agree that we have been foul-mouthing our fellow countrymen for centuries now. I am only pointing out that we have embraced an Americanized way of swearing on people, while an Americanized way of appreciating beauty was scandalous not very long ago. Imagine the transition in less than one and a half decades. (Khuddar was released in 1994) So, the message is loud and clear. Proved again by the wheels of time. Everything changes. For better or worse, who knows? We as individuals, or even as a group of individuals cannot stop change. If the group is strong, the change can be slowed but definitely not stopped. Even ‘glasnost’ could not hide the benefits of capitalism led industrialization from the commoners of communist Russia.

And why do moral policing? Who decides right or wrong? Good or bad? All these are too subjective and should be left alone to the discretion of the individual. What tickles my funny bone is why people will not bother for obviously wrong doings in public? Leave eve teasing. Or a road rage fight. Indian males take pride in ‘pissing’ in public! And no one worries. One can ‘piss’ in public but forget that sweet ‘kiss’. Most people with whom I had the good fortune to discuss this issue have said that they will not like to kiss their beloved or be cozy simply because of the weird stares that might attract. And talking about policing, we will be doing a great job if we can achieve cent percent legal policing!

Whatsoever be the reason. Or the issue. I can feel the winds of change. Our metropolises are yet to reach western openness. Our hinterland is further away. We might not fill their footsteps at all. Our culture having a distinct identity might come up with a fresh cultural potpourri paradigm. In every walk of life, be it food, clothes, language or the social thread. And I think it will be fuckin’ sexy!

Sanjay's Sojourn

There had been a huge public outburst over the past week across the country. We have come out openly, in unison against the judicial system, despite our profession and the social strata we belong to. If one thinks it is against the delayed justice to any one of the scores of rape victims who are minors (or even majors), she is wrong. It is also not against the unexceptional murders and killings that are extending the nation with the killers getting protection under strong political clout. We are much less perturbed about the recent spate of robberies in Gurgaon and Noida and the perfect inability of the law enforcement agencies to contain the issue.

Our contention is much different and largely revolves around incarceration of our very own Sanjay Dutt aka Sanju Baba. Well, since he was found with real guns, some punishment was just. That also fits our all-accosting macho image of Sanjay Dutt. But six years? How can the judicial system be so unfair? Media who wanted to churn most butter out of the Dutt imprisonment milk interviewed scores of celebrities. Almost all came out vocally against Judge Kode’s decision. Six years in prison was too much. Honestly, it will be difficult for anyone, even hit men and serial killers.

But who cares about them? Sanjay Dutt is our star; the charismatic character of Munnabhai MBBS and its sequel are still animate in the memory. How can we let such a horrible thing happen to someone who can cure problems with a ‘Jaadu ki Jhappi’ (bear hug)?

We totally overlooked our ignorance of law and knowledge of which crime calls for a prison sentence of what duration. Notwithstanding our naïveté on Indian Penal Code, we matter-of-factly declared that Judge Pramod Dattatreya Kode who has been practicing law under various capacities for 25 years now, has proclaimed a wrong and uncalled-for sentence. The 1993 Mumbai blasts are over a decade old and lost in our (read public) memory. And after all these years, it really does not make a big difference what type of gun the ‘reel-life’ star of Vaastav was arrested with. We have all forgotten that and are lost in the magic of filmdom where Sanju Baba has been so successful.

While arguing with a well-informed friend on the humanity of the judgment, I was confronted with a assertion that Sanjay Dutt has already suffered so much in the thirteen year trial that another six years of imprisonment was simply too much. Well, for one, being out on bail and carrying out one’s life normally cannot be called suffering. Also, we are not sure whether the trial lasted so long only because of Mr. Dutt’s high profile connections. But the mental torment of the legal sword dangling over is duly accepted. But should not people think about it before being caught with deadly firearms? Two, a question comes irrevocably challenges us. Would our stance had been same if the personage involved had been of respective anonymity?

A logical thinking process and an ethical perspective of the judicial system, even for celebrities, will help us appreciate the decision. Judge Kode’s sentence will not be hard to accept even as distinguished jurist Soli Sorabjee commented that it would pertain to illegality if it had been less than five years.

Amidst the public angst and incessant media activity, one man is carrying out his ordeal of life gracefully, Mr. Sanjay Dutt. In tears (anyone will do that, isn’t it?) while leaving for prison, he has taken the sentence in stride. It will be really imperative for us, as fans and responsible citizens to let law have its course and the man his dignity. He will be surely a less morally burdened man after the completion of his sentence. And the media will do well by leaving him alone and not inflicting more humiliation by comparing him to Gandhi or brainstorming such ridiculous propositions.

One aspect this debate clearly brought out is the depth of friends that Sanjay Dutt has. Lets hope things remain status quo six years hence and we as fans accept him again as a bollywood super hero once he has ended his sentence. With the same zeal we are contesting the viability of the six-year jail term today.

Life in a Metro: A review

A film that breaks away from the bromidic plots of the current spate of bollywood flicks, ‘Life in a Metro’ is a welcome break in meaningful commercial cinema. The story revolves around various characters who are loosely knit together. But the common thread that binds them and makes the movie course through their lives effortlessly is the fact that all these characters dwell in a metropolis. That quite explains the name ‘Life in a Metro’.

The movie has successfully and that too pretty boldly, been able to take up a burning issue that India is facing. The country is undergoing a sea change in its culture, societal norms and the value system. All generations, particularly the youth is becoming more open to western ways on all facets of life. The transformation is more evident and staggering in the metropolises.

In the backdrop of all this metamorphosis, we see the movie appreciating various complex relationships elegantly. We see a young protagonist, Rahul working in a call center with big dreams (played meticulously by Sharman Joshi) in love with a colleague Neha played by Kangana Ranaut. Neha in turn is in love and a physical relationship with her boss Ranjeet. The toughest of the characters, Kay Kay Menon again proves is mettle as an actor of pedigree by brining out the feeling of hatred towards Ranjeet through out the movie. Ranjeet is a typical Indian male without any stand in life. Immediate gratification is all that he is looking for. Ranjeet is married to Shilpa Shetty, Shikha in the movie. Ranjeet’s infidelity leads to distancing him from Shikha and all family affairs. Shikha finds solace in the company of artistically endowed and a born rebel Akash, a brilliant performance again by Shiney Ahuja.

Konkona Sen Sharma plays the role of Shruti, younger sister of Shikha and Neha’s roommate. She is eager to get married but is disenchanted with the men she meets and weary of making a mistake in her life, something that she observed in her elder sister Shikha’s married life. She meets Irfan Khan in the character of Monty through a matrimonial site and instantly grows a hatred for him, fallout of Monty’s roving eyes. Her boss later hooks her up with the radio jockey in her programme. But eventually she discovers that the RJ to hide his sexual orientation from his family has used her. Her boss and the RJ are gay partners.

The buildup between Rahul, Neha and Ranjeet is a nice reproduction of the 1960 hollywood movie, The Apartment. There is also a beautiful tryst that introduces Shivani, Shikha’s music teacher in school enacted by Nafisa Ali. Her lover from youth, Amol (played by Dharmendra) realizes the mistake of leaving her 40 years ago and wants to come back to her to spend his last days of life together. He is suffering from a fatal ailment. The moments they share together and their conversations are a treat to the mind and an outlook for people on the subject of relationships beyond time.

An excellent drama, director Anurag Basu is able to hold the attention and fill up a viewer with apprehension, hatred and liking for various characters in the film. A master storyteller Anurag Basu has been wonderfully able to blend all characters with the movie progressing along the lives of these people unbroken. Another point where the movie scores is mindfully thought symbolization. When Shruti’s gay boss is trying to manipulate her to hook up with the RJ, a poster of Brokeback Mountain in the backdrop sends subtle signals. The music is refreshingly different, rock, at times loud and yet fitting in all sequences. The perpetual rain throughout the movie is a strong pointer to the turbulence that all relationships are going through.

The movie comes to a happy ending, in ‘compliance’ with the trend in Indian cinema. Neha and Rahul are together and Shruti finds love with Monty. Though Shivani dies leaving Amol alone, death of one of partners was always eminent. The movie had been successful in highlighting the turmoil in lives of people, living in metros in particular. Nevertheless, the story has a few fantastic scenes like the one when Rahul tries to fix up a rendezvous for one of his seniors at his apartment. What seems like the whole world is cheating on his / her partner. Though extra-ordinary in nature, such extravagances can be taken in positive light when movies become a medium to drive a point home.

With all goodies strewn in the film with emphatic characterization by the cast, the film was a spoilsport on one aspect. Though this view is inherently personal, Shikha’s fate of knuckling to family’s bonds is an antithesis to the overall perspective of the movie. This happens after her husband cheats on her, further insulting her and doubting her chastity when she tells about her almost innocent affair with Akash. Shikha calmly settles with her family after biding a ‘goodbye’ to Akash who is moving to Dubai and eager to take on the responsibility of Shikha’s daughter. The movie sadly reinstates the sacrosanct view of an Indian marriage, even if the partner (most of the times the woman) is suffocating in the relationship.

With so many radical thoughts and ideas introduced in the movie, Mr. Basu would have done better to portray an emancipated, married Indian woman, at least as a prototype to follow.

A must watch for anyone with a heart and mind, or any of the two.

P.S. Few insights are credited to my well-informed and diligent friend Mr. Abhishek Das. An avid blogger himself, you can read him up at http://www.baghorchhagi.blogspot.com

My city, My Delhi

I came to Delhi one hot April morning back in 2003, to pursue my post graduation with a dream of a high paying job, a smart and sure channel to high life. Delhi was the Eldorado, a city with an ever growing number of educational institutions, corporate & head offices of multinationals, the local economy thriving, all resulting in a huge job market. A market from where I contemplated my honest share. Life has not been a cakewalk, but Delhi has been a home ever since.

And suddenly a few weeks back I read headlines quoting Mrs. Sheila Dixit that immigrants from neighboring states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are creating infrastructural bottlenecks for the city. Even though she started her political career as a member of parliament from the Kannauj parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh in 1984. Wonder did she migrate back and forth to Delhi! In the following days, this brought out huge public outcry by various sections of the society and political parties, eventually making Mrs. Dixit to backtrack on her indiscretion.

But the debate does not end here. The issue is more serious than what it seems on the face of it. This is a xenophobic hangover that the average Indian, moreover an average Delhiite suffers from. Appalling though that the much respected Chief Minister of Delhi jumped the bandwagon. “Pata nahin kahan-kahan se aa jate hain”. ‘God knows from where these people come from’. I have heard such comments on the slightest altercations with auto-wallahs, while bargaining on the fare (did you say meter?) or a request to take an extra mile that was not clarified beforehand.

But why this xenophobia? Have not we, the people of India solemnly resolved to constitute India into a sovereign, socialist, democratic, republic, with justice, liberty, equality and fraternity as our guiding principles. People who were not privileged enough to attend a school can be condoned for the time being. What about all those who surely read the preamble to the Indian constitution, that is, if they have passed school!

An explanation to such mindset is a struggle to get hold of the few jobs and business prospects that a particular geographical area offers. Dereliction creates hatred in a contest to chase the constrained resources. But this is incorrect by a huge margin in the context of Delhi. It is one of the most prosperous and opulent cities in India. There is profuseness of almost everything except for road space, water and electricity. Problems that can be tackled with careful and dedicated planning.

These thoughts have brought out another compelling and bewildering question. Who is a Delhiite anyway? The walled city was built and inhabited by Mughals who came from Asia Minor. New Delhi was built by the imperial British. Both these empires attracted common people from various adjoining and far away areas who immersed themselves in trade and the plentitude of employment generated by the flourishing dominions. Who is a native then? Someone whose family has outstayed the newcomers? The Punjabi and Bengali migrants from West and East Pakistan who made Delhi their home in 1947? Or the huge Kashmiri pandits expatriate population who settled here after the onset of militancy in Kashmir? Or the gargantuan bureaucracy that lives in the city to carry on the colossal government machinery, both central and state? A officialdom that found its way into the ranks of the civil service from diverse geographical regions in India. I am confused and believe that even a reader is.

But on second thoughts, why ponder on this issue at all? Delhi has reached the pinnacle of its glory where it is today due to its sheer pragmatism. A city that was just the capital of the country with a few institutions of pride couple of decades back, it has transformed into a metropolis with global imprints. The city is a major center for education, trade & commerce, industry and any other standpoint. This has been achieved by not clinging on its past and embracing change as it came. Something that other metros like Kolkata markedly failed to. Delhi, as a city is better off underpinning its dynamism that is not reflected in any type of xenophobic attitude.

So, we are all citizens of this country and cosmopolitan Delhi. Hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, etc., we live in this city, work here, spend here and dream here. Antecedents should not come in the way of cementing a social framework that is vying to be global. Let us unite in this endeavor to make it a reality, make Delhi a global cosmopolitan. Pose a competition to New York, which has prospered by espousing emigrants from a multitude of European, African and Asian, races. And even outshine it by doing away with wantons like Harlem.

I am all for this view and am not going anywhere. This is my city, my Delhi!

The Gujjar debate: A distinct perspective

All’s quiet on the Western front! After a weeklong agitation in the western state of Rajasthan, Gujjar leaders have settled for peace. Though the calm is temporary on promises by the Government of Rajasthan that a commission will look into the demands of Gujjars, to be included in the schedules tribes category.

The week that went by saw huge destruction of public and private property by angry mobs, in addition to numerous valuable human lives lost in the clashes. Gujjars fought pitched battles with the police to make them heard and the Meenas joined in the fray, fighting Gujjars so that their interests are not undermined. So much for emancipation of backward classes of the society! Highways were blocked, trains halted & destroyed, buses burnt, private vehicles broken, an undesirable pledge to bring everything to a standstill. Even a ‘bandh’ was called in the National Capital Region that paralyzed large sections of the metropolis. I was left wondering that whether a community that commands such firepower and clout needs to be added to the scheduled tribes category?

My sudden curiosity in Gujjars ensuing this chain of violent events led me to some basic research into their background and history. Gujjars have been “kshatriyas” traditionally and some even “brahmins” under the primeval Indian caste system. It is a matter of intense anthropological and sociological study to verify these sources. Even though the Indian states of Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand have already added Gujjars in their respective scheduled tribe lists.

There is another aspect to the argument. The foremost leader in the Gujjar campaign, Colonel (Retd.) Kirori Singh Bhainsala is believed to be a descendant of Bhonsles. Bhonsles were Maratha rulers and warriors with famous kings like Sivaji in their dynasty. Well, I guess castes and such absurd classifications do not change with time!

You must have jumped to the conclusion by now that I am trying to invalidate Gujjars’ claims for the scheduled tribes status. Well, no! I was intrigued and bewildered when I learnt these facts. Though, I do not have the resources to verify these pieces of information. More importantly, my concern is considerably deviated from the question whether Gujjars or not? Individually I have great respect for Gujjars. They are a brave warrior clan who have contributed to the nation’s cause repeatedly. They have fought invaders and plunderers from central and west Asia. They rose against the British in the first war of Indian independence. Generations of Gujjars have been serving in the Indian army, fighting our enemies valiantly and preserving our sovereignty.

My distress is drastically different. The anxiety is not whom to put in the scheduled tribe or the scheduled caste lists. It is why? Why should we carry on development in modern India on lines of a system that is ancient at best? A system that is illogical, unholy and inhuman. A system that differentiates man from man on basis of his profession, antecedents and such irrational factors. I believe the constitution, embodied in various laws wants to eliminate these social barriers. Are we not keeping them alive by doing so?

A boy born today will not think twice before playing with a dalit peer. They will happily go to school together, eat, study and grow up to become responsible citizens of India. Now, you suddenly tell him that his forefathers (whom he does not know!) oppressed his friend’s ancestors, being the members of a higher caste. This is the reason he will be harassed today and will have to compete fiercely at every stage in his career. Whereas his friend who got a similar upbringing will enjoy preferences in educational institutions and jobs because his predecessors were persecuted. And hatred is born again. Caste and creed that did not matter till this point in time have raised their ugly heads.

I strongly believe that economic emancipation of the downtrodden can be more scientifically and successfully achieved by basing the classification on firm economic indicators. A tribal or dalit may be socio-economically well off. For example, Colonel Baisala though belongs to the supposedly afflicted Gujjar community, but is not in any case an oppressed man. He served in the Indian army with dignity and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. Two of his sons are serving in the army as colonels with another son and a daughter being a telecom executive and income tax official respectively. Surely, he is one Gujjar who does not want any quota benefits!

Trust me there will be more. Not only of Gujjars but even Meenas and all scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and other backward classes. So, why to waste taxpayers money to subsidize education and other amenities for people who do not need it? Why to block vacancies for people who do not need a backdoor entry to rise in the social stratum? Had the gradation been made on stronger and flawless grounds like monthly family income, education level of parents or access to basic amenities like safe drinking water, food, electricity, etc., this miscalculation would never have happened. I agree that there are millions of people who belong to the aforesaid communities who are in serious need of government support for social justice. But they certainly will find their way into any socio-economic assortment founded on more convincing economic grounds, leaving out the privileged sections of these communities.

If this sounds logical why not act accordingly? Such measures will also ease out the tensions between communities who are vying for social division on primitive rationale. Is the government facing inadequacy of relevant data? Or a lack of political will?

The government has all the means and methods in place to class and help people on the basis of solid economics. And while the government is playing politics, I am rummaging through my family tree to find out whether any of my great-great-great grandfathers was socially oppressed or not. If not me, I need to think about my coming generations. What say?