E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

EDITORIALS

Costly power
PUBLIC reaction to the Haryana decision to increase electricity charges will be keenly watched because this is the first time that a fuel surcharge has been imposed on farmers as well. Non-agriculture sectors did have to pay the surcharge earlier also and will be bearing the burden this time too. 

OPINION

DISINVESTMENT OR DISTRESS SALE?
A case for restructuring PSUs
by Balram Dogra
“DISINVESTMENT” of public sector units or their “outright sale” is being advocated by the politico-bureaucratic elite on the plea that they have proved to be “inefficient” and “ineffective” and a drain on the scarce resources of the country. But have they been allowed to function independently on sound commercial principles? 

A commission’s manual 

FINANCE Commissions review and rework the framework of fiscal relations between the Centre and the states. That is what tradition ordains. But the Eleventh Finance Commission (EFC), whose report the government tabled in Parliament late last week, has sharply departed from this and has produced a manual for the states to run their affairs. Since transfer of funds is the core of Centre-state relations, successive commissions have tilted slightly in favour of the states through the strategem of new procedures. The EFC ought to have particularly followed this route since the economic structure has radically changed following liberalisation, and the states face an acute funds crunch. First, in its final report it has marginally reduced the grant to the states, recommended in its interim report and included in the Union budget. And that is just the starting point. The overall share of the states in the central pool of taxes and duties has come down to 28 per cent from 29 per cent under a technical procedure. However, another 1.5 per cent will be collectively due to those states which do not levy sales tax on sugar, tobacco and textiles or where the rate is only 3 per cent. It has asked the Centre to directly hand out funds to panchayats and municipalities shortcircuiting the state governments. Tax efforts by the states will merit 5 per cent (down from 10 per cent) but fiscal discipline gets for the first time a higher 7.5 per cent. (The percentages determine how the share of each state is arrived at.) There should be an agricultural tax, the report says, encroaching on a purely state subject. More, a tariff commission will fix the user charges of electricity and water and it may become mandatory for the states to enforce the new rates. An expert once said that Finance Commissions bark at the Centre and bite the states. Never was this more true than now.

It promises a golden tomorrow when there will be no revenue deficit, if the states make “bold adjustments”. And the EFC goes on to list the “bold” steps. One, increase taxes, impose an agriculture tax, end subsidies, retrench unnecessary employees, link their pay to revenue collection, and stop the practice of increasing their salaries by appointing pay commissions every 10 years. Interestingly, these are what the EFC has prescribed exclusively for the states. Then there are tonnes of statistical projections on the growth rate of the economy, tax collection and its percentage in the gross domestic product, revenue deficit (1 per cent at the Centre and none in the states) and the whole economic works. This is as it should be. For the first time, the Finance Commission was headed by an eminent economist who has his own ideas of reforms and the policies needed to stimulate growth. So he has used the opportunity as the EFC chairman to draw up a road map of not only the Centre-state fiscal balance but also the entire gamut of economic activities. The EFC’s is an out and out New Delhi-centric perception and in the days to come the response of the states will fill the air.

Costly power

PUBLIC reaction to the Haryana decision to increase electricity charges will be keenly watched because this is the first time that a fuel surcharge has been imposed on farmers as well. Non-agriculture sectors did have to pay the surcharge earlier also and will be bearing the burden this time too. In fact, while the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) had proposed a surcharge of only three paise per unit for power consumers using lift irrigation, the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) has allowed the state power utilities to effect an increase of as much as 11 paise per unit. The lowest surcharge (three paise per unit) of course, applies to farmers, which increases the farm sector tariff to 53 paise per unit. There is a sort of inevitability about the tariff hike considering that there has been an increase in the cost of power purchased from various sources. But the common man will find the hike easier to swallow if it is linked with rationalisation of the price structure and also reforms in the HVPN. The organisation suffers from various ailments like overstaffing, corruption and mismanagement. Unless these are removed, every price increase can be misconstrued as a case of punishing the consumers for the misdeeds of an organisation. It has been admitted that the actual level of transmission and distribution losses last year was higher than the losses approved by the HERC.

It is not as if there is any lack of managerial skill in the organisation. Its undoing has been political interference. Various leaders have always used electricity boards to be a convenient employment avenue for their near and dear ones. It is common knowledge that the exceptionally high transmission and distribution losses are actually the result of power theft with the active connivance of certain Nigam staff. It has also been noticed that most of the employees indulging in unfair practices happen to have political support, because of which they manage to escape punishment. The problem is compounded by the shortsighted policies of the government which as promises free or subsidised electricity and water as a vote-catching bait. The populace used to receiving supplies at a price much below the actual economic cost feels highly agitated whenever there is an attempt to increase the price in keeping with a rise in the prices of various inputs. In this regard, Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala is in a particularly unenviable position. He had been promising farmers that he would ensure free electricity to them if he was voted to power. Not only that, he had been exhorting them not to pay their power arrears when he was in the Opposition. All such utterings are coming to haunt him now. The Bharatiya Kisan Union has threatened to launch an agitation if farmers are forced to do so. The election is far away but Mr Chautala may still not like to annoy his vote bank. It is not clear from which date the fuel surcharge would be levied. All that the HVPN has said is that it would examine the approved hike before enforcing it.

DISINVESTMENT OR DISTRESS SALE?
A case for restructuring PSUs
by Balram Dogra

“DISINVESTMENT” of public sector units or their “outright sale” is being advocated by the politico-bureaucratic elite on the plea that they have proved to be “inefficient” and “ineffective” and a drain on the scarce resources of the country. But have they been allowed to function independently on sound commercial principles? The irony is that the same “politico-bureaucratic” culture which did not allow them to function professionally and treated them as appendages of the “respective ministries” have started building a systematic campaign against all types of PSUs leading to their all-round condemnation as “unproductive” and “inefficient” and hence undesirable.

The basic question is if these PSUs have failed to deliver the desired results, who should be held responsible for it? Their employees or the general public or the “top management” consisting of bureaucrats and the political leadership? Moreover, what action, if any, has been taken against this so-called “top management” for ruining these public institutions and betraying the nation? To put the facts straight, more than the employees and middle-level managers, the accusing finger will have to be raised towards the bureaucrats and politicians concerned who created a “sycophancy” culture rather than “work and result-oriented” philosophy and treated these organisations as their personal empires for distributing favours to their “own” people. Therefore, it is felt that before crucifying these PSUs and their employees for their generally perceived inefficiency, they should be given a free hand to manage these units on professional and commercial lines.

As we all know, the public sector came to control “commanding heights” of the economy after Parliament in 1956 adopted the resolution of achieving a “socialistic pattern of society” as a national goal. In pursuance to this goal, a large number of PSUs in different sectors of the economy were set up. Many of these units in the core key sectors like space science, atomic energy, telecommunications, banking, insurance, technology and education have played a critical role in the modernisation and technological upgradation of the Indian economy. They have been the basic pillars of the Nehruvian model of development of the country and played a significant role in putting our nation among the front-runners in the world. They laid the basic foundations of industrialisation as well as ushered in the Green Revolution, making India a vibrant self-reliant economy. But while doing so they were not allowed to adequately price their products/services, and now all of them are being condemned as inefficient and undesirable under the conspiracy to sell out these units to the private sector on one or the other pretext and facilitate the powers-that-be to make easy money.

The national consensus on the “public sector” is being sought to be disturbed without adequately developing the alternative model of development and building a consensus on it. Moreover, now no one even talks about utilising the proceeds from disinvestment/sales of PSUs for the social sector, which originally was propounded and advocated by people like, Dr Manmohan Singh, the architect of the reforms launched in India.

It is understandable if one advocates that the government should not be in the business of selling tea and samosas or arranging the stay of tourists/visitors in the hotels. But should the government in a developing country like India not continue to ensure that the downtrodden and poor people have access to the basic facilities of life? We need to keep it in mind that backward people in the hinterlands of the country have been brought to the national mainstream by the state-owned public education, transport and communication systems only. Poor people could travel in the buses because of the transport subsidy. They could go to schools and institutions of higher learning because of the widest possible network of government schools and colleges. They could have more life expectancy because of the healthcare provided by the state-owned hospitals. They could see the light of electricity in their homes because of the power subsidy. Who would say that all this was undesirable? Also, we need to remember that all the Indian software and management experts who are now wanted in the entire world are the proud products of various state-owned IITs and IIMs.

The successful PSUs — and they are many —have not only created properties of thousands of crores but have also earned world-wide goodwill and reputation, and it will be national betrayal if they are sold as peanuts on the basis of the worth of their “equity” rather than the market value of their actual assets as has been done in the case of Modern Foods. These institutions need to be groomed and nurtured properly by creating proper “work culture” so that they are developed into world-class institutions/corporations. Rather than piecemeal disinvestment looking like “distress sale”, we need to formulate a comprehensive national policy on all PSUs wherein we go for an indepth analytical study of each PSU, and do not fall prey to the motivated propaganda against them by vested interests. The broad contours of such a policy are outlined below.

A major exercise for “restructuring” various PSUs should be carried so that each unit is properly studied and suitable measures are suggested by hired professional consultants. Such measures should be implemented in a true spirit so that PSUs are properly restructured and professionally managed. The help of the state-owned IITs and IIMs may be enlisted in this national endeavour. If products of these institutions can turnaround the private sector and MNCs, why cannot they perform their national duty towards the PSUs? Steps need also to be initiated to ensure that the services of these best-trained professionals are equally available to the PSUs on a long-term basis as they are available to the private sector. During the process of restructuring, we need to identify better performers among the PSUs and initiate steps to develop them into top-class corporations of world standards.

It is felt that if proper management and leadership are provided, some of them like VSNL, Oil India, ONGC, UTI, ICICI, SBI, BHEL, NTPC, NHPC and IDBI have the potential to become MNCs. So, why create impediments in their development? Make the environment congenial for their growth by providing them a professionally trained and responsive leadership and a level-playing field on a par with the private sector or foreign entrants. The “babus” of their ministries should not be allowed to fiddle with them and instead they should be left to be totally managed by professionals. The government should be involved in just setting ROI targets for them and they should be allowed to have complete autonomy in their functioning. They need to be further allowed to take merger or acquisition decisions on their own. Even forging “strategic alliances” among PSUs themselves or collaborations with foreign players should be allowed so that they may upgrade their technologies/skills and become world-class institutions in the true sense of the term.

To improve the functioning of the PSUs and allow them to compete with the private sector, all the PSUs should be allowed to price their products/services appropriately on commercial lines. Whenever subsidy is required to be provided, like on fertilisers, cooking gas, transport and electricity the corporations concerned or the State Electricity Boards should be compensated by the government by transferring money from the National Renewal Fund/Social Safety Fund. The SEBs need also to be allowed to determine their tariff structure as the private sector does on its own. All these PSUs need to be taken out of the clutches of bureaucratic controls and should be headed by professionals. Similarly, politicians should not be allowed to interfere with their day-to-day functioning. These units need to be encouraged to compete with the private sector so that they can improve their functioning. They need to have the “efficiency” of the private sector and “social accountability” of the public sector.

Another grey area of the functioning of the PSUs is the “material procurement”. Most of the times these PSUs have to carry heavy stocks of inventories for political/administrative reasons rather than the economic logic. So, they need to properly manage their inventories and have to be allowed autonomy in taking their decisions for the procurement of different types of materials as per their requirements. They need to be allowed to determine their own timings and requirements for procuring different types of materials from the best possible sources. The quantum of material to be procured should also be left to be decided by their professional management rather than the officials in the ministries.

It is felt that professional consultants should be hired to suggest “turn-around” strategies for the sick PSUs and, wherever possible, the suggested measures be implemented so that these units start earning profits. If still some units are thought to be fit for disinvestment or sale, first preference should be given to workers’ cooperatives. Wherever the workers of the unit form a cooperative to purchase the stock of a PSU or the outright purchase of their unit, they should be given the first preference and allowed to do so because their problem of unemployment is also to be solved. Further, while selling these units, the price should be based on the total market value of their properties rather than the worth of their “equity” only. This way, the government may be able to fetch a better price for its assets.

This entire gamut of restructuring or sale or disinvestment must be sanctioned/supported by the top. It is felt that an all-India council on PSUs headed by the Prime Minister should be constituted so as to properly supervise the national effort for their restructuring/disinvestment. This council should include the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the representatives of the selected PSUs, the representatives of trade unions, management experts, professional managers and academicians in the field. Similarly, to take such decisions on the PSUs of the state governments, a council headed by the Chief Minister concerned and consisting of representatives of above-mentioned interests be constituted. Such councils will ensure that the public sector is not sold or disinvested in a hurry or at lower prices and the entire exercise is carried in the national interest.

Thus there is a vital need to review the entire policy on disinvestment and wherever required, carry restructuring of PSUs, professionalise their management, free them from bureaucratic and political controls and adopt “turn-around” strategies to develop these PSUs into profitable ventures. The professionals should be brought at the helm of affairs of these units so that they may develop them into institutions/units of quality and excellence. We must keep it in mind that despite all the odds, whenever Indian professionals have been given a free hand, they have succeeded in nurturing institutions like the IITs, the IIMs, the AIIMS, the PGI, ISSRO, BARC and various national laboratories into world-class institutions. So, there is no reason why they cannot do the same in the case of PSUs if they are given top support and proper leadership.

Moreover, this way we can save thousands of crores of national wealth from going to private hands. Otherwise, it will amount to supporting the viewpoint that some people made wealth in the creation of PSUs, enjoyed their benefits and privileges when the going was good and are now waiting to make money by disinvesting or selling these units. So, let us stop listening to the advice of those who owe more than Rs 50,000 crore as debt to the nationalised banks and their supporters, and treat all PSUs as “national assets” owned by the Indian public. They deserve all the care and nurturing so that their performance is improved and they are enabled to discharge their functions effectively and efficiently.

———

The writer is Professor and Director, Institute of Management Studies, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla.

Why does USA cling to Okinawa?
by V. Gangadhar 

AUTHOR Vern Sneider, in his brilliant book, “The Teahouse of the August Moon”, wrote about the hilarious efforts of the American occupation forces in Okinawa at the end of World War II to “Americanise” the region. Under the leadership of Col Wainwright Purdy-III, the US forces introduced chewing gum, a Women’s Club for Democratic Action, (which would discuss, among other things, issue like the theory of democracy, the history of democracy, certain great democrats and the four freedoms), and a school which was shaped like the Pentagon! Yes, Uncle Sam’s army was keen to Americanise Okinawa.

Unfortunately, Colonel Purdy could not be present everywhere. In Tobiki village, the job was left to Captain Jeff Fisby who relied a bit too much on his Japanese assistant, Sakini. The Captain tried his best to follow instructions from headquarters, but found it more convenient to wear a kimono, encourage the activities of a couple of “geisha” and start tea clubs all over. On his periodic visits to the Tobiki village, Colonel Purdy found to his horror that rather than Americanise the Japanese, Fisby was becoming more and more like a local and enjoying it. The Colonel did not like it one bit, but as he experienced the “kobiru” (the leisurely breakfast), the calm and serene surroundings and the locally processed caviar, he realised that Fisby had a point. You cannot change people, you cannot change a culture.

That was Okinawa in 1949. Mind you, the region had witnessed some of the fiercest fightings of World War II. The last great battle of the War was fought here over 80 days and claimed a toll of more than 2.50 lakh soldiers from the USA, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Thousands of Japanese in the region jumped from cliff tops into the sea and died while trying to escape capture by the Americans. Hundreds of them hid in the forests and caves and came out several years later, not even aware of the fact that the War had ended and Japan had become a staunch US ally.

Yes, Okinawa had witnessed so much drama during the War and thereafter that it came to symbolise a permanent link in US-Japan relations. One of the most remarkable developments of World War II was the kind of relationship which developed between the past enemies. Britain found it difficult to forget and forgive the Japanese atrocities on its troops during the War. The US took a more pragmatic attitude, and won the friendship and trust of Japan. The occupation forces did not behave like one and their efforts to instill the American way of life in Japan were quite successful. Why, the Japanese, who admired success, took to such American traditions like chewing gum, jeans and T-shirt and baseball with tremendous enthusiasm. The horrible memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the mushroom clouds over the cities were quickly forgotten in Japanese efforts to become the America of the East.

Switching over to the system of free enterprise and working with great energy and enthusiasm, the Japanese, in less than 30 years, began to rival the USA in industrial production and commerce. Such was the Japanese growth that even traditionally strong US industries like car making, pharmaceuticals and electronics came under the Japanese threat. Their exports zoomed and Japanese industrial houses were able to penetrate and make their mark all over the world, including the USA. Well, the losers in World War II turned out to be the winners of the post-War economic battles and even managed to buy sacred American institutions like the movie studio, MGM!

“Make Trade, Avoid War” was the motto of the Japanese to the rest of the world, including the USA. Japan was careful not to get involved too deeply in the Cold War and arms races all over the world. It kept aloof from regional disputes and did not focus too much on arms manufacture. But having become one of the world’s strongest economic powers, Japan could not be ignored in the world’s political scenario.

The friction between the USA and Japan was mainly over trade barriers and the reluctance of Japan to open up its import fronts. But there was one area which continued to be sensitive, the presence of 26,000 American troops in Okinawa. In fact, the region was entirely under US control which had installed sensitive and modern military equipment in its efforts to police the region. The US spent billions of dollars over the years, maintaining its military presence in the island.

During the earlier post-War years, as Japan concentrated on its economic development, the presence of US troops in occupied Okinawa did not cause much heartburn. American occupation had been good for Japan; it had helped the country to stand on its own and rebuild its industry and infrastructure. There was genuine admiration and friendship towards the USA. Successive Japanese governments, in their political campaigns, chose to ignore the Okinawa issue. It was felt that in view of regional politics and the US hostility towards China, America had the right to station troops in Okinawa. In fact, the American presence was a major factor in the economy of the region.

But today things have changed. China is no longer a hostile power and the USA is keen to trade with it. Another sensitive spot is the Korean peninsula where North Korea has been identified as a “rogue” state. But today, it is clear, that conditions are changing in North Korea. The recent visit of the South Korean President to Pyongyang and the warm welcome he received from its President were clear indications that the North was coming out of its self-imposed isolation. The Americans have enough forces stationed in South Korea to take care of any possible trouble in that region. Why then do they continue to occupy Okinawa?

This is the question the Japanese are now asking themselves. Their feelings of wounded pride are not assuaged by certain unsavoury happenings in the region. Over the years, American soldiers have been found guilty of raping and molesting local women and pass racial comments on the local population. There was public outrage when US Marines were found guilty of molesting school girls. The situation was aggravated because the guilty American soldiers could not be tied under local law and got away with light sentences. Despite long years of American presence, the cultural gap remained wide.

Now the American presence in Okinawa has become a major political issue and can disturb relations between the two nations. When US President Bill Clinton visited Okinawa island the other day he said that the USA was “committed to reducing our footprint on this island”. Admitted the President, “I know the people of Okinawa did not ask to play this role, hosting more than 50 per cent of American forces in Japan on less than 1 per cent of its land mass.”

But the President did not make any promises about when the US forces would finally quit the Japanese island. He could not do so because he has only five more months in power and would not like to take any controversial decisions. But he could not ignore the fact that today such a heavy American military presence was not welcome in Okinawa. Local elections are won by those who have come out strongly against the American presence, but they can go beyond a certain point because the final decision to ask the Americans leave rest with the Central government.

The young Japanese are more resentful on this issue. They have no memories of the American occupation and the benefits which their country derived from it. They see America as the major trade competitor to Japan and find no reason why it should be allowed to have such a large military presence on their soil. In the days to come Okinawa is certain to be a major issue in US-Japan relations. 

Roots of Jethmalani’s outburst
by Anupam Gupta

“I HAVE always regarded,” said Mr Ram Jethmalani on July 27, releasing his 17-page fusillade against the Attorney General and the Chief Justice of India, “humility, and recognition that humans make mistakes, as attributes of a cultured person.”

Of all the pronouncements that the incorrigibly irrepressible former Union Law Minister has ever made, this one surely takes the cake. Throughout his public and professional career, humility and Ram Jethmalani have been as close to each other as sworn enemies.

There is one observation, however, in that 17-page text, originally meant to be his statement on the floor of Parliament, that is not only correct but absolutely correct. “Let me not pretend (said Ram) that I just resigned. I was sacked.”

It was, in the circumstances of the case and taking a total view of the matter which has left no one unscathed, one of the most eminently deserved sacks in the history of the Union government.

Mr Jethmalani’s competence as a lawyer, especially as a criminal lawyer, is beyond dispute. His courage of conviction, no less than the flexibility of many of his convictions, is equally unassailable. The stamina, the perseverance and the doggedness with which he pursues his beliefs, whatever they might be, compel admiration. Even fear.

But a Law Minister who can never keep quiet, who can never take “no” for an answer and who can never be wrong in law or in fact becomes, in due course of time, as insufferable as (I beg your pardon) a Judge who betrays these qualities.

I hold no brief for the Chief Justice of India. And I have my views, clear views of my own on the litigation involving his wife and mother-in-law. More than that, and unlike (to the best of my knowledge) any other commentator, I believe that his outburst in the Supreme Court on July 21, thrashing the Government of India for breach of “collective responsibility” in the Srikrishna Commission matter, was, despite all provocation, a wholly avoidable exercise.

It was, after all, not the first time that members of the NDA-government had violated the principle of collective responsibility.

The habit of passing oral strictures in court, a habit that erupted in the Supreme Court in the early 1990s and percolated down to the High Courts, constitutes (I believe) an unnecessary demonstration of judicial independence. In any case, having almost died down at the turn of the century, it is a “tradition” better laid to rest than revived.

But if the CJI’s reaction was avoidably unrestrained, Mr Jethmalani’s counter-reaction that very evening and his widely reported barb that the CJI should have known that he was “making comments about a Minister who knows his law as well as anyone else” was indefensibly vain and presumptuous.

So also was the manner in which he addressed the CJI a day earlier on July 20, importunately pressing him to swear in Justice B.M. Lal as Chairman of the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission.

“Mr Justice Lal is in town,” he wrote, in the second of his two letters despatched the same day and disclosed by The Asian Age on July 27, “and the swearing in can take place in five minutes in your chamber before you leave for London”.

He no longer was addressing the Chief Justice in his capacity as a practising lawyer, said Jethmalani in his first letter, but his attitude was the same as that of a lawyer before a sitting judge. “The tradition of the Bar is never to tell a judge that he is wrong even when he is. A lawyer has to respectfully guide the judge out of error.”

“Now that you tell me (he continued, as revealed by India Today in its latest issue) that I have still not ‘prayed’ for consultation (in respect of Justice Lal’s appointment), I formally hereby do so. There is no prescribed proforma, I hope.”

No Chief Justice worth his salt would ever take that from any Law Minister and Justice Anand didn’t.

“The tone of your letter is highly objectionable,” he wrote back on July 21, “its contents distressing. Of course, there is no format for consultation excepting requirement of decorum and dignity which you seem to ignore....In view of the offensive tone of your letter, no useful purpose would be served by any further correspondence on this matter.”

Reading through the 17-page statement prepared by Mr Jethmalani for Parliament, his own and not the CJI’s version of events, it is difficult to resist the conclusion that having failed initially to obtain the CJI’s concurrence to Justice Lal’s appointment, an appointment he was desperate to push through, the Law Minister decided, in a change of tactic, to “confront” the CJI with the allegations relating to his wife and mother-in-law.

More on l’affaire Jethmalani next week.

Boy’s wake-up call on pollution
by Humra Quraishi

IT has taken a 13-year-old Delhi schoolboy, Sahir Raza, to focus on Delhi’s environmental problems (disasters) through his ongoing photo-exhibition at the Press Club of India. And whilst we sit distracted by the latest round of funny and not-so-funny developments on the political front, this boy has managed to divert our attention to some disturbing developments on the environmental front.

As much as 80 per cent of Delhi’s population lives in unauthorised colonies, squatters, slums and urban villages.

The WHO has ranked Delhi as the fourth most polluted city in the world in terms of suspended particulate matter — more than 5000 tonnes of solid waste is generated each day in the Capital.

I could go on and on with these or similar facts and figures, but before space constraints begin to haunt let me quickly fit in that Sahir has captured these images not just for Delhiites but is back after participating at the International Children’s Conference on Environment held in Britain. And he plans to take this exhibition to the various schools so that the children wake up to what awaits them on the environmental scene.

And before moving ahead I must mention here that Sahir comes from a middle-class background. He wouldn’t have been able to put up this exhibition and nor taken it to the International Children’s Conference, if Tata Consultancy Services and Sir Dorabjee Tata Trust hadn’t come forward and helped him out. In fact, at this exhibition opening I couldn’t help asking Tata’s Senior General Manager, Mr Shubhendu Amitabh, why he decided to go ahead and sponsor both these events. This is what he had to say: “Foremost, I saw a spark in this boy and was extremely impressed by the attitude of his parents; usually parents push their children towards academics and rarely encourage talent but here it was the opposite”.

Hopefully other business houses and establishments come forward and help other middle-class children who want to pursue creative hobbies, which could turn into professions and obsessions.

Shankar’s centre for children

This brings me to write that Sir Ratan Tata Trust has come up with a donation of Rs 1.5 crore for the setting up of Shankar’s centre for children. On July 31 President K.R. Narayanan is to lay the foundation of this centre, at Chanakyapuri.

It had been the dream of the renowned cartoonist Shankar Pillai to set up this centre which would house an entire range of activities for the child: facilities for lodging young visitors from India and abroad, a vocational guidance and counselling centre, seminar and conference rooms, multimedia/electronic media facilities, And if you were to ask what was the inspiration, the answer might surprise you — a gift of a rare doll from Hungary inspired Shankar to such an extent that he began to collect dolls from all over the world and set up the International Dolls Museum. And, then, in quick succession he started the On-the-Spot Painting Competition, the Children’s Book Trust, etc.

Monsoon mood in full swing

I did mention in my last week’s column the monsoon dinner hosted by Naresh Kapuria. It seems he has gone and spread the infection. In the coming weekend the Austrian ambassador Herbert Traxl and spouse, Shovana are hosting what is being termed “East Meets West”, in celebration of the monsoon mood. Too premature to comment on what would be in store, but last year they had celebrated the arrival of the monsoon by dedicating the entire evening to classical music both from the East and West.

The parties and receptions hosted by this couple are relaxing and somehow manage to invite the right mix of who’s who. On hind sight, that is back to the dinner hosted by Kapuria, well lucky for him, it was one of those evenings when the rains wouldn’t just stop. And spotted that evening were Satish and Kiran Gujral, Pavan Varma, Anita Singh, Uma and Aruna Vasudev, Bubul Sharma, Indian Express chief Shekhar Gupta, Aman Nath, Ameen Ali Khan, Uma Sharma, Shovana Narayanan, Shanto Datta, Raja and Kaushalya Reddy.

Film on V.P. Singh

I am bypassing all those political tamashas here, otherwise can’t fit in other events/happenings — A film on V.P. Singh — “The Art of the Impossible — A portrait of V.P. Singh” will be screened on August 2, at IIC. Directed by Juliet Reynolds, it concentrates on V.P. Singh’s creative mind and focuses on key events in his life.

Another interesting film — “The Great Indian Yatra” will be screened on August 10, again at IIC. This film concentrates on three popular tourist destinations — Agra, Goa and McLeodganj in Dharamsala.

And I have just received a newsletter from the Ambedkar Foundation. Titled ‘Social Justice’, it does impress — with a very comprehensive reportage on what is happening in sectors which otherwise go unreported. For instance, in the latest newsletter it mentions that a Dalit writers’ conference would be held in UK from July 29, a documentary on the Dalits is being made, also the news that selected speeches and writings of Dr B.R. Ambedkar will be shortly available in Urdu for the first time.

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

It is an eternal law that man cannot be redeemed by a power external to himself. Had this been possible, an angel might long ago have visited the earth, uttered heavenly truths, and, by manifesting the faculties of a spiritual nature, proved a hundred facts to the consciousness of man of which he is ignorant.

—H.P Blavatasky, Practical Occultism: Some Practical Suggestions for Daily life

***

Call upon your Lord humbly and in secret.

Verily, He loves not the transgressors.

— The Quran, 7.54

***

Be with us when we stray afar!

Be with us when our home is nigh!

Protect us with Thy help both near and far away!

Protect us ever with Thy help!

— Rig Veda, 1.129.9

***

Show me Thy ways, O Lord. Teach me Thy paths. Lead me in Thy truth. and teach me. For, Thou art the God of my salvation.

— The Holy Bible: Psalms, 25.4.5

***

Men may roll up the sky like a piece of leather; but there will be no end to sorrow for them without realising the luminous One within.

— Shvetashvatara Upanishad, VI.20

***

The Lord, through His eternal power, created various abodes such as trees, reptiles, beasts, birds, insects and fish, but was not satisfied in His heart with these. Then He made the human body, which is endowed with the desire to realise Brahman and He was delighted.

— Bhagavata, XI.IX.28

***

If a man wants to be the greatest possible value to his fellow creatures, let him begin the long, solitary task of perfecting himself.

— Robertson, Davies, cited in Dialogue and Alliance, Vol 3, No. 4

***

The simplest person who in his integrity worships God, becomes God ...

— Ralph W. Emerson, Essays: The Over-Soul