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New
Delhi, 23 June 2002
HMS
INVINCIBLE
Here in London the news is that the British will put up the
aircraft carrier HMS Invincible for sale in 2006. Since the Indian
Navy's plans include three aircraft carriers and may take time to
acquire –– even the announcement for purchase of Gorshkov has
not been made clearly and official confirmation of the 37,500 ton
Air Defence Ship being built at Cochin Shipyard is still to come
–– it makes great sense in the rumour going round London that
the Indian Navy will bid for the Invincible and its old Harriers.
The Brits are clever salesmen and will sell it cheap, like the
Hermes now INS Viraat, but will take their pound of flesh in spares
etc. as in the past, but it is still worth it as Indian construction
costs are rising.
The Indian Navy is good at maintaining old ships economically
–– unlike the IAF which wants everything brand new –– so
there is support and confidence in the move. IDC supports it whole
heartedly as the Indian Navy has quality and can contribute to
India's progress in the Maritime field and in the economy.
The recent utterances of George Fernandes and General
Padmanabhan indicate that Pakistan is reducing support to militants.
This is music to defence suppliers’ ears even if the ground
position is not showing it, as the EU rule is that no weapons should
be sold to nations that are engaged in war like moves.
Scaling
Down
Both India and Pakistan appear to be scaling down readiness.
IDC feels the Government has finally understood what WAR CRIES mean
and though shelling is continuing in Kashmir it looks like war is
unlikely. IDC always said so, and hope the Rules of Engagement and
the WAR BOOK are updated as War may be an option when the present
Government is unable to get hold of Kashmir in its grip. The Army
and the paramilitary forces seem more confused than ever before, as
no one seems to know how to solve the Kashmir tangle and Al Queda is
getting no weaker.
Now what IDC had recommended all along is coming to life.
India wants military leaders to talk despite the fact that when
President Musharraf came to Agra no service chief attended the
banquet and the Air Chief failed to salute the Army Chief of
Pakistan. India has to force a SOLUTION as world opinion is on
our side. The Americans are in a bind and as reported in our International
Media Watch, we must read Bush's lips. He is now talking of
readiness for ‘PRE EMPTIVE ACTION’ and Europe is saying the same
thing but calls it ‘LITTORAL WARFARE’.
Cooperation
With Israel and France
News here in London is that the India–Israel defence
cooperation and purchases are being further cemented as the Green
Pine radar, Arrow missiles and Phalcon radar are cleared for India.
IDC gets the feeling Indian defence hardware is improving by the day
with acquisitions but the software i.e. structures, organisation and
systems are not keeping pace despite the new half baked CIDS system
which is in place.
The India–France relations are also improving and the
methodology of doing business is now settled. Yet it is the
bureaucracy that still controls all defence matters and the recent
war cries showed the naïveté of our politicians.
Civil Aviation
The Aviation Minister Shah Nawaz Hussian was here in London
and learned how badly India needs to open more civil air slots. In
the meantime with LTTE behaving itself in Sri Lanka, their planes
are flying to Jaffna, Pirabhakaran's parents want to return from
India and Sri Lanka announced OPEN SKIES and may steal a march on
us. In India we must see the trends. In France Socialists have
failed and Jaques Chirac is in with a mild right majority, while
India still dallies to look for the middle path and even when TIME
makes a categoric statement on the PM's health, India does not want
to face the truth or say it is untrue and sue TIME with his medical
reports. It was Martin Luther King who said ‘suppressing the Truth
is a crime greater than any other’. This is what confuses the
foreigners about India.
However, they loved the 'BOMBAY DREAMS' glamour laden opening
Press night, which was a total treat and must be shared but some
thoughts before that.
The Eight Es For Progress
To progress India and Indians need to pay attention to the
‘EIGHT Es’, which one can perceive in the West, because the views
of the average person is the best feedback the world can
provide and their success abroad is the example.
EDUCATION. This is first and most essential E, which
our politicians have evaded nay deliberately avoided, to educate the
masses just to retain power. Literacy levels are poorest in India.
ECONOMY. In today's world this is to be built up at
any cost. Economy is also security and China is leaping ahead. FM
Sinha and his team hold the keys supported by Arun Shourie, but for
some reason cooperation and cohesion is a debility in India for
personal agrandisement.
ETHICS. There has to be trust and in this matter India
is lacking due to poor education and poor example by the Leaders.
Maybe president-elect Kalam will contribute differently.
EFFICIENCY. There has to be less philosophy, more hard
work and Government servants have to show the way. Government
offices are lined with people who have no time for work but all time
to idle. Privatisation is the answer in more ways than one.
EXIT POLICY. The labour force have to deliver and such
a policy has to be enforced.
ENFORCEMENT of the law strictly without favour,
without delays and pass overs and postponements, is the call of the
day.
ENTHUSIASM. The Leaders have to exuberate confidence
and learn their jobs. The Mayawatis and Rabri Devis have little to
contribute.
EXPOSURE. We Indians lack exposure and that can only
come by opening up tourism and the economy.
Indian
Summer
Please treat this piece with the thought that it is penned
from London where half of the 150 upmarket Grosvenvor Hotel
Apartments have been booked by cash rich Indians led by an airline
owner and an industrialist, hoteliers, jewellers and such visitors
with their families, just when the play 'Bombay Dreams' opened with
Sharukh Khan gracing the show and is the rage here. Thousands of
Indians have escaped the Indian summer and PM's war cries to
celebrate the Queen's Golden Jubiliee, England's progress in the
World Cup with Royal Ascot and Wimbledon to follow. London now has
digital interactive TV and the viewer can watch any match he chooses
and most of the the cost of the sojourn by Indians is invariably
billed to the companies they control, so the holiday for them and
Ministers that visit on Government expense with their entourages are
labelled "The Indian Freebooters", since no business is
transacted per se.
The Lure of 'Bombay Dreams'
The airlines serving India are chock a block full and those
escaping the Indian summer are daily seen shopping down nearby
Oxford Street, dressed in the latest trendy clothes. The fashion in
vogue is to show one's cleavage, and expose a small measure of one's
midriff. Flared trousers are in fashion once again except they are
body hugging till the knees with slits and so even the most pious
Hindu can get aroused as most apparel in summer in London tends to
be see through, like the ones we ogle at on the Fashion TV Channel
back home. Sushma Swaraj objected to the channel. She wishes to
protect the Indian health and libido, but the report here in London
thanks to the latest Time magazine, is that PM Vajpayee, Sushma's
boss is not in the pink of health and that does not bode well at a
time when Indian culture is invading London with the multimillion
pound musical 'Bombay Dreams' doing the rounds to rave reviews. The
40 British Indians cast in the show are seen hip swinging, cavorting
sensuously and kissing away on stage depicting a new culture, giving
the impression that Indians are avantgarde, despite all the
poverty also depicted.
The story scripted by British Indian writer Meera Sayal
revolves around Akash a Mumbai slum dweller who dreams of becoming a
star and achieves it and falls in love with the Director's daughter
Priya, despite the odds because he can sing and dance like Sharukh
Khan but in an English soprano voice and uses the odd Hindi word
with an accent. The eunuch Sweetie who also acts, sings and dances
brilliantly loves Akash and wants the Mumbai land grabbers and dons
sorted out, but fails. The sum is a grand colourfull potpourri of
underworld dons, murders and Indian hip shaking dancers with sexy
dresses and movements like only West End directors can conjure up on
stage. Set to the music of A H Rahman (with a new version of Chhayya
Chhayya) and Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber adding to the style as his
company has already spent Rs 20 crores on the show.
Indian Cuisine
Indians here also make their way to Harrods where Indian
cuisine at the Food hall is a big hit, leading with Chicken Tikka
Masala, Britian's national dish now, whatever it means, from a curry
to tender pieces of marinated chicken heated in the microwave and
served with rice or nans for a price no more than Rupees seven
hundred! The same dish at a Southall eatery would cost half as much
but would be better prepared than at Moti Mahal deluxe in Delhi, but
the surroundings would be like Delhi, with British Punjabi behenjis
dressed in Salwar Kurtas and their daughters dressed with skimpy
tops and boobs showing unabashedly. No wonder the budget movie
" Bend it like Beckham" made on a budget by an Indian
British Punjabi girl is doing so well. The movie honestly and
brutally depicts Indian customs and ways, and highlights arranged
marriages being forced down the Punjabi heroine's throat when all
she desires is to play professional football and bed her white
football coach whom she has fallen in love with. This enrages her
white British teammate who wants to have a relationship with
the Coach, which is the done thing now before marriage. In the West
today relationships and pre marital cohabitation –– as a trial
live in period –– are accepted in society in preference to an
early marriage. Virginity is no longer valued and unless the
Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis migrating to the West
amalgamate and adapt their ways, there is going to be more
resentment here, but the news is that Indian culture by way of dance
and food, is invading Britain faster than we can export them.
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