16 THE TIMES OF IDEAS THE TIMES OF INDIA, NEW DELHI

FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2011

A Swing Of The Pendulum

■ A T H O U G H T F O R TO DAY ■

The meeting was held against the backdrop of a sporting contact

which epitomises...the spirit of a good and constructive game.
NIRUPAMA RAO, foreign secretary
Post-2008, the state and increasing expectations from it are again in fashion
Seizing The Moment Ajay Shankar less than more and learn to
trust the superior wisdom of the
economy including solar energy,
high-speed trains and electric ve-

S
ince the early 1980s, belief
in the efficacy of the market
Cricket diplomacy at Mohali has mechanism to deliver opti-
mal outcomes has been the
served its purpose driving force in the West. With
the end of the Cold War there
market, melted away..." The Trea- hicles has come as a wake-up call.
sury and central banks worked There is unease as to whether
jointly crafting the bold and ambi- ‘normal’ western capitalism may
tious bailout packages which
actually worked and prevented
be losing out to the more robust
state capitalism, the East Asian
the collapse that was feared and model. The need to regain compet-

S
eizing the opportunity offered by the semifinal clash between India
and Pakistan to set up a meeting with Pakistani premier Yousaf Raza emerged the Washington con- that could have delivered greater itiveness in the real economy in
Gilani, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has given a fillip to dialogue sensus and the ‘end of history’ pain than the Great Depression. the US and UK, where growth
between the two sides, much as Atal Bihari Vajpayee had done in his time. thesis of Francis Fukuyama. Since then the effort has been driven by the financial sector in
It doesn’t hurt that in the lead up to the two leaders meeting in Mohali, the The market was the panacea. to put in place better and tighter the last two decades is seen by
takeaway from the home secretaries of both countries meeting had been History had demonstrated deci- regulation for financial markets. many to have been somewhat illu-
largely positive. They add up to an atmosphere where cooperation isn’t sively the folly of human inter- The argument that market parti- sory, is pushing people to rethink
seen as a dirty word on either side of the border. vention through the state in the cipants see and assess risks the state’s role in fostering com-
We’ve been here several times before, of course, and much of the working of the market. appropriately and act in rational petitiveness in new high technolo-
bonhomie could vanish in case of another terror attack from across the Liberalisation, deregulation, self-interest to prevent undesir- gies through some traditional
border. As insurance against this, it’s necessary to take some tangible privatisation and freer markets able outcomes and, therefore, instruments of state policy. This
steps in anti-terror cooperation. A start could be made by sharing voice became the new mantras. Tax tighter regulation would need- is, of course, more of an Anglo-
tapes of the 26/11 accused. Setting up a hotline between the Indian home rates needed to be continuously lessly hinder innovation and mar- Saxon phenomenon as Germany
secretary and the Pakistani interior secretary for information-sharing lowered. The market could and ket efficiency has suddenly lost its Wall Street: Who says the state’s stock is falling? and France had continued to nur-
with regard to terrorism, as well as Pakis- should take care of the functions ture manufacturing and promote
that the state had, since the 19th of risk mitigation and response to trends of unease with the domi- global champions such as Airbus.
tan allowing 26/11 probe commission from
century, assumed of education,
The effort has been to an unlikely event with terrible nant paradigm of a whole genera- There are influential voices,
India to visit, would be welcome steps. New
Delhi too can do its bit by being forthcoming old age pensions and healthcare. better regulate consequences. The plant was old tion where the role of the state including that of Raghuram
in terms of sharing details of the Samjhauta The state was in retreat and, ironi- financial markets. The but the cost of retiring it or invest- and the expectation from it have Rajan, former chief economist at
blasts investigation with Pakistan. cally, in the Marxian sense ing substantially to add new safe- been diminishing. IMF, who argue that the issue of
"withering away". Even sovereign argument that market ty features naturally appeared too The state and increasing substantial increase in inequality
The instincts that led Singh to extend the
Mohali invitation – that waiting for perfect functions relating to security participants assess risks high for the private utility which expectations from it are again in in the US over the last few decades
conditions to engage Pakistan would be were being outsourced to contrac- owned and operated the plant. fashion. In the latest issue of needs to be reversed if sustained
tors. Where some regulation appropriately and act After the disaster, the utility’s Foreign Affairs, Fukuyama, of growth is to be again achieved.
futile – are correct. Given the internal
turmoil in that country, such conditions are through a central bank was ines- in rational self-interest response capability has been per- the end of history fame, has co- The state would need to step in to
capable, it emerged that the demo- ceived to have been inadequate. authored an aptly titled piece try and alter what the unfettered
likely to remain the realm of the purely has lost its appeal
hypothetical for some time to come. The cratic political process could not Both these cases have raised “The Post-Washington Consen- play of market forces has brought
important factor is that the two engagements over the past few days have be trusted and the complete in concerns about the weakness and sus” in which, among other about. Inequality has always been
created an atmosphere of goodwill. Now there must be efforts to exploit dependence of the regulator, that appeal. It has since been vividly softness of regulation, a core things, the central role of social a political issue but the argument
that goodwill by focussing on other issues that came up during the home is, the central bank in setting demonstrated that market parti- function of the state. The inade- and industrial policies by the coming from mainstream econo-
secretaries’ meeting and in the prime ministers’ box at Mohali – liberalis- monetary policy, became a cardi- cipants on their own can also go quacy of the response of the pri- state in emerging economies is mists that it needs to be addressed
ing visa regimes, economic engagement and resolving the easier of the nal principle of good governance. terribly wrong in assessing risk vate firms in both cases led to the recognised and referred to with a for stable growth is striking.
India-Pakistan disputes such as Siachen. When the financial meltdown in complex technological fields. expectation that the state would tinge of approval. The phrase Is a paradigm shift taking
From the atmosphere of trust that this creates both countries can occurred in 2008 this ideological The BP offshore drilling disas- step in quickly and effectively to “industrial policy” which had dis- place and a greater, more complex
move on to tougher issues such as Kashmir. And an effort must be made to paradigm crashed against the ter in the Gulf of Mexico did re- assist the operators to cope with appeared from policy discourse as and sophisticated role and expec-
engage the full spectrum of interests in Pakistan – ranging from the hard rock of reality and the veal a failure in assessing risk cor- the disasters. The states in these the state could not and, therefore, tation from the state emerging, a
government to civil society to the army. In order to ensure delivery on instinctive need for survival. To rectly. Their ability to respond to two most developed industrial should not attempt to choose win- state with a better understanding
anti-terror promises, the insecurities of the Pakistani military could be quote just one perceptive analyst, leakage was also found to be slow powers appeared somewhat un- ners and losers is making a quiet of markets and better ability to
addressed. The getting together of teams and peoples at Mohali and the Andrew Gamble, "Thirty years of and wanting. The more recent nu- prepared. The disappointment comeback. The success of China affect outcomes?
electric spirit in which the match was played offer only a glimpse of what rhetoric about…how govern- clear plant disaster in Fukushima with the response of the state with its potential acquisition of The writer is former secretary
is possible if the two countries should become friendly neighbours, an ments should always seek to do illustrates more sharply the issue would further strengthen the technical leadership in the green of industries.
event that would transform South Asia and put us on a different track
from sorry 20th century history.

‘Children’s literature is not just entertainment. It’s a vital tool’

On To Mumbai The Nambook festival in South
Korea described Manorama
Jafa as a living treasure of chil-
Raise the bar to repeat 1983 dren’s literature in India. Hav-
ing worked 36 years in the field,
serious research. The aim was to
lay the theoretical foundation for
children’s writing in India. This
stream children’s literature
and make it a key component
of elementary education?
picture of Moshe, the small
Jewish boy orphaned by the hor-
rific Mumbai terror attacks. He
continues to motivate Writer and I’d say very important. was holding a ball. I asked myself
Illustrator, the quarterly journal Through children’s literature a what if he was holding a book in-

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ricket, they say, is a game of glorious uncertainties – and so it proved at
she speaks about the role of on children’s literature I edit. My child learns to use imaginative stead. That got me intrigued
Mohali. India’s much-vaunted batting struggled while its bowling and
children’s literature in shaping book, Writing For Children, is powers to make sense of the about the possibility of using
fielding finally came to the party, delivering a heady cocktail of cricket
society with Rudroneel Ghosh: the only book in South Asia world. Emotional development books as a healing tool, an emo-
before a capacity crowd. India’s batting, thought to be its strong point, proved
that deals with the subject of is another key facet. It’s not just tional balm. Children can suffer
vulnerable with the old problems of over-reliance on Sachin Tendulkar and a
■ What is your opinion about technical writing for children. about learning and passing on different kinds of trauma. It can
brittle middle order. The pitch, which proved tricky as the game progressed,
children’s literature in India ■ What are the differences moral values but also about be as mundane as eating chillis
may have played its part in batsmen’s difficulties – but that is part of cricket’s
and where would you like to in approaches to children’s helping children get in touch for the first time or something as
uncertainties. Tendulkar’s match-winning 85 was a patchy effort, helped
see it go? literature in India and in the with their feelings, making grave as being orphaned due to
along by Pakistani fielders dropping catches from him four times. A
Given our 22 official languag- West? them inquisitive and giving war, as is the case with children in
formidably talented Sri Lankan team awaits the Indians for the final at
es and 1,652 dialects, we have a
Wankhede stadium tomorrow. India will need to raise the bar on batting to
pull off a repeat of 1983. Wankhede will be a high-pressure match too, and
rich oral tradition in story telling Q&A In the West chil-
dren’s literature is
must understand that children’s
literature caters to different age
them the confidence to question
the world. If the 21st century is
Afghanistan, for whom I have pro-
duced books in Dari and Pashto.
as exemplified by the Panchatan- a serious disci- groups. It is important for an about new ideas, children’s The story ‘I am Sona’ is inspired
Indian batsmen cannot afford a display of nerves there.
tra. However, production of chil- pline. The US has the oldest prize author to understand the psy- literature is the spark for the by one of my trips to South Africa
Indian bowling and fielding, by contrast, proved its mettle at Mohali.
dren’s books here leaves a lot to for children’s literature, the chology of children. For exam- process. This is why it is very and deals with the sensitive issue
Perhaps the critical difference between the two sides was the superiority of
be desired. This is primarily Newbery award, and for picture ple, small children want to hold important to fund research in of children with HIV-AIDS. ‘Toru
Indian fielding. In the end the men in blue pulled off a remarkable victory and
because of small profit margins book literature for small chil- big books whereas older children children’s literature and have Nanu and Hipu’ speaks to chil-
booked themselves a ticket to Mumbai. As for the men in green they played
on children’s books. So quality dren they have the Caldecott want to hold small books. Then dedicated study in universities. dren who were orphaned during
their hearts out, a relatively inexperienced squad notwithstanding. Pakis-
suffers. Hardly anybody takes award. The Swedish government the subjects need to be tailored ■ You pioneered ‘book the- the Asian Tsunami of 2004. We
tan’s performance throughout the World Cup may have been, as Imran Khan
children’s literature seriously in sponsors the Astrid Lindgren according to age groups. But rapy’. How did this concept need to understand that chil-
put it, ‘brilliant and disappointing’ – but overall they have added to the lustre
India. I wanted to do research in Memorial Award. We don’t have most authors and publishers come about? And how do you dren’s literature is not just enter-
and competitiveness of the tournament. And Shahid Afridi and his graceful
children’s literature because no- anything like this. Also, there is here don’t have a clue. plan to take it forward? tainment. It’s a vital tool for
men played the semifinal in the true spirit of sport, 60 years of political
body in the country had done any an absence of refinement. We ■ How important is it to main- It all began when I saw a shaping the future of the society.
baggage between the two countries notwithstanding. Over, then, to Mumbai.

Shahid Afridi’s so We communists encourage I tried to put myself in

Taste for India ■ THEY ■ graceful…so dignified. I our comrades to inspire their his (Gates’s) shoes, and i
It is the wonderful diversity of our SAID IT hope one day i could family members to join the concluded that it was just
cuisine that unites us invite him to my humble party and embrace this simple: What’s the
Jug Suraiya home for a cup the ideology most i can get?
The other evening our friend Chitra cooked us some spectacular
Bangla ranna (Bengali cuisine). The menu included all the
of tea
classic dishes: malai chingri, kausha mangsho, shorsho bhaapa
maach; and for the vegetarians there was chorchori, channar
daal and vegetable chaaps. Everyone loved the food. Bunny and – MOHAMMAD SELIM,
– MINISSHA LAMBA, – PAUL ALLEN,
i being hon Bongs – or honorary Bengalis, by virtue of the fact CPM central committee member,
actor, Microsoft co-founder,
that we spent most of our adult years in Calcutta – have what on fielding poll candidates
on Pakistan’s cricket skipper on sharing company
you might call an innate affinity with Bangla ranna. But what i was pleased to who are relatives of party leaders stakes with Bill Gates
discover was that so did the non-Bengali guests, who included Punjabis,
Haryanvis, UP-ites and a couple of people who were descended from migrants
from Sindh, which hasn’t been a part of India since Partition.
The evening once again brought home to me how lucky all of us Indians are
to live in a country so diverse and yet so intermingled, in terms of food, and
language, and customs. Indians from different parts of India are often far more
■ SACRED ■ It’s All About Feeling E D I T PAG E ■
■

MAILBOX
different in linguistic, culinary and cultural terms than Europeans from dif- S PAC E Swami Kriyananda of egoconsciousness, every joy that we expe-
rience emotionally must be balanced in our
ferent parts of Europe are and yet the diverse Indian has much more of a sense
Creation Rejoices MY TIMES MY VOICE
I
of common identity than any member of the European community does. s it possible to increase your happiness or own emotions by an equal and opposite
The perfume of flowers success by pushing your “energypendu- sorrow. Every personal success must be
It’s often said that what holds India together is parliamentary democracy,
Bollywood and cricket, not necessarily in that order. But i think there is a bond- blows not against the lum” in the direction you want it to go – to- balanced by an equally personal failure;
Matter of inquiry
wind, nor does the frag- wards more possessions, greater fame, and every personal fulfilment must be balanced by The report ‘Army Blames 2 Ex-Chiefs
ing factor which predates all others. And that uniting bond is food, literally a
rance of sandalwood, more intense pleasure? Doesn’t the pendulum a corresponding personal disappointment. For Adarsh Scam’ (March 24) by Josy
taste for India. There is no other country, indeed no continent which has the
tagara and jasmine, but always swing back in the opposite direction? The only state in which joy and other posi- Joseph is not entirely based on facts.
amazing variety of food that India does. It is the subversive seduction of this
the fragrance of the There are times in this ceaseless cycle of tive feelings are not balanced by opposites is It was an army inquiry, not a court of
many-flavoured India that in the end will thwart the blinkered parochialism of
virtuous blows against hope and disappointment when we feel in the state of superconsciousness. There, inquiry, which was completed in Decem-
the Bal and Raj Thackerays, and others of their ilk, who’d like to fragment and
the wind; the virtuous repelled by the sheer monotony of it all. the waves of emotion subside in calm, intui- ber 2010. It apportioned culpability on
divide the country along the imaginary barrier lines of regional identity.
man pervades Finding ourselves no longer attracted by the tive feeling. Joy, love and peace are realised, officers, who were posted at HQ MG&G
India is many countries, many cuisines in one. And the supposed borders
every direction. excitement of a meaningless chase, we long then, as absolutes, not as relativities, for they area and Mumbai sub-area and were
between these different countries,
Dhammapada 54 for rest. But only if rest is sought within can are attributes of Pure Consciousness. involved with the Adarsh Housing Society
these different tastes, are not just
JUGULAR VEIN porous but wide open. For instance, ✥ lasting peace be really ours. Any rest we find Calm feeling is intuition. When that calm in their functional capacity. It did not
Pleasant by thy hills, outwardly – in retirement, let us say, to a quiet feeling is disturbed, it becomes emotion. Until comment on anyone else.
is puranpoli – a signature item of
O Earth, thy snow-clad cottage by the sea – is as temporary clarity of feeling is achieved, the one Further, the report conjectures that
Maharashtrian cuisine – a proprietary dish for the exclusive enjoyment of
mountains and as our emotional joys and sorrows. who meditates will be forever vacil- the serving officers found ‘blameworthy’
Marathi manoos alone? The Gujarati manoos, not to mention a Kutchi manoos
thy woods! That “peace” ends when we come to lating in purpose. Without devotion, would face ‘administrative action’, such
like me, would question that assertion in that both Gujaratis and Kutchis also
Atharva Veda experience it as boredom. When this indeed, in the form of deep yearning as loss of seniority. This is incorrect.
lay claim to the invention of the puranpoli. Moreover, manooses from all over
✥ happens, we set out once again on for the truth, you will not feel the It is premature to arrive at such conclu-
the rest of India could justifiably claim that in the unique recipe that is our
May no living creatures, our former quest for excitement. incentive even to try to meditate sions. The court of inquiry in this case
Republic, puranpoli is also their birthright and they shall have it. So much for
not even insects,/ Be And so –interminably – it goes on. deeply. Wisdom without devotion is still not complete.
the Thackerays and their politics of divisiveness. Maj Gen Sanjeev Madhok, ADDITIONAL DIRECTOR
The thing with food of course is that nobody has a copyright or a trademark bound unto samsaric Everything in existence is THE is like knowing that there is a good
GENERAL, PUBLIC INFORMATION INTEGRATED
on it. Like water, or the free market, it finds its own place in the great Indian life; nay, not one of them;/ balanced by its polar opposite. restaurant next door, and even
■ SPEAKING ■ HEADQUARTERS OF MOD (ARMY), VIA EMAIL
bazaar. And wherever it goes, it gets itself assimilated in its new environment But may i be empowered Heat is balanced by cold, light by committing its entire menu to
to save them all. darkness, and positive by nega- memory, but not being hungry
while also retaining the particular savour of its origins.
Milarepa tive. In humankind, duality is
TREE enough to go there and eat. The
Josy Joseph replies: My report
Bhel puri and pau bhaji – wherever they are eaten, in India or abroad – was based on senior sources with
evoke the chat-patti tang of Chowpatti. Hyderabadi biryani conjures the back- ✥ found in the opposites of male and female, joy feeling quality is what makes it possible to responsibility to oversee the Adarsh
drop of the Char Minar, as jhaal moori does of Calcutta’s Maidan, where this Each species is a master- and sorrow, love and hatred. Wherever one commit oneself to the spiritual search. case. The ministry of defence is in
snack made of puffed rice flavoured with mustard oil and lemon juice and gar- piece, a creation quality exists, its complementary opposite When people think of the pure conscious- receipt of a report which blames,
nished with grated coconut probably made its first commercial appearance. assembled with extreme will also be found. ness of God, they usually visualise an among others, two former chiefs for
Proust is said to have rediscovered the lost country of his childhood care and genius. The overall level of an ocean is not abstract mental state. Feeling is absent. Yet the Adarsh scandal. The army move
through the taste of a cake dipped in tea. I often recapture times and places Edward O Wilson altered by the height of the waves at its there is nothing inspiring, surely, about for administrative action against
past through a similar memory trick of flavour. When i eat the Kutchi treat of ✥ surface. The higher the wave, the deeper is such abstractions. For, without love, how can serving officers is on record, and
sambaria – OK, OK, it’s also Gujarati – half-forgotten words of the dialect Flowers spring to blos- its trough. Our essential consciousness, we identify the fog with God? Feeling is as is not conjecture. TOI stands by
spoken in Kutch come back to me in Delhi like the sound of a distant sea. som where she walks/ similarly, remains unaffected by our emo- intrinsic to awareness as heat is to fire. its report.
And thanks to Chitra’s Bangla ranna, the lush landscape of Bengal The careful ways of tional ups and downs. Pleasure and pain, Meditation workshops, April 3, Delhi, Noida,
returned to envelop me in its warm embrace again. Ki chomotkar, i heard the duty;/ Our hard, stiff success and failure, fulfilment and dis- Gurgaon. Call Ananda Sangha at 9899014209, We want your views and comments. Please SMS
hon Bong in me saying: How wonderful is that. It is wonderful indeed, the taste lines of life with her/ Are appointment – these are but waves on the 9989267698 or go to www.anandaindia.org MYVOICE <space> your comments and name to 58888. Or
flowing curves of beauty. surface of calm, intuitive feeling. www.speakingtree.in email mytimesmyvoice@timesgroup.com with
we all have for India. Editor, Delhi in the subject line. Or write to us at My Times,
jug.suraiya@timesgroup.com John G Whittier The Law of Duality is present in our lives, Join the world's first spiritual networking My Voice c/o Edit Page Editor, The Times of India,
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/jugglebandhi/ too. Because our emotions are tied to the post site to interact directly with masters and seekers. 7 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi 110002.