On Gandhi & Godse

Gandhiji has been attacked by extremists from so many directions - the RSS, the Communists, the Liberals, the Ambedkarites, the Feminists.
Divided and fighting like dogs amongst one another, in their hatred for Gandhiji however, they are as one. Extremism is a venom which is poisoning society, and one is deeply concerned today.
Both Kamal Hassan and Pragya Thakur can say or announce who they admire, and who they detest. For me, that is not the issue. But they do this from exclusive extremist positions. You don't have to hold a gun to be an extremist, it is a state of mind. To me, Kamal Hassan and Pragya Thakur are both extremists. As are the finger-pointing passionates from other areas. Hatred is not the prerogative of extremists of the so-called Right. The extremists of the Left, the Dalits, the Feminists, are also their companions.

On Digital Money and Urban Shit

    First there was the swachchata concept which put pressure on the poor to build cement-walled toilets. Thousands of poor families living on city streets and slums, and in ramshackle village huts, actually smiled at the irony of this. No roof over the head, no land to call one’s own, and we have to build a toilet with walls,  plumbing and drainage!

    Following this has come the cashless concept which is putting pressure on the poor to perform electronic transfer of funds. And the poor are shaking their heads with despair because ‘cashless’ just about sums up their state of being. With daily-wage dependence and hand-to-mouth existence, they barely have money to meet their needs, let alone save and spend through digital transfers.

On Obama, Education and Slavery

For a person who normally critiques globalization and the undue influence of the west over the rest, I should not be adding more attention to Barack Obama’s end of presidency than to what is already a sycophantic prostration being offered by global media.

But yet, I feel that one must not let this moment pass, without a due test of western democracy, which the USA represents; of the notion of equality, which Obama being a black president represents; and of modern liberal education, which is being touted as the means to that equality, but which to my mind is the blight of modernity.

Please allow me to explain.

Anthems as Means and Ends

    Respected Supreme Court Judges,

    I use the word ‘respected’ in earnest. No one has ordered me to respect you, at the threat of arrest or punishment; yet I feel respect for you, even though I am seated and not standing or saluting. As judges, you are educated intellectuals who have accepted an important responsibility in society, and I value that. But sirs, please note this: you have earned my respect by simply being human beings, that is sufficient. Your being in important positions only strengthens my expectations from you, of responsible guidance and wise counsel. And when there is a shortage in the fulfillment of those expectations, there will naturally be letters addressed to you, and this is one such.

Black Money and Blackness of Money

    More than the quantity of Black Money, it is an understanding of the quality, or the blackness of money, which may help us to finally surmount our social-economic problems.

     Black Money refers to undeclared income, on which no taxes have been paid. By using the phrase ‘blackness of money’, I refer to the source, legitimacy and relevance of that income. Black Money can be unearthed, while Blackness of Money has to be understood. Unearthing Black Money is a mechanical exercise, and it can modify the accounting system; while understanding Blackness of Money is an exercise in comprehension, and it can help us move towards a lasting solution.

     I present here a gradient of blackness depending on the quality of the economic activity:

Black Money, White Economics

    I sometimes wonder about the colour coding of currency: why legitimate money is ‘white’ money and illegitimately acquired money is ‘black’ money, even though we Indians are legitimately brown and black, and the colonizing chaps who came here as thieves and robbers were ‘white’!

But this blog is not about racial language. What I would like to ask readers is that while there is so much noise about Black money, how come so little has been said about White economics? Because Black money is not so much our problem, fundamentally, as is White economics.

    By White economics, I am referring to the ways of business as it has evolved among European colonisers, which is now being globalised. The basics of White economics are that it is: debt-driven, profit-driven, free-trade-driven, consumption-driven, and competition-driven. Since 1991, we in India too have followed and practiced White economics, and what is the result after 25 years of this experiment?