O P I N I O N S

Guest Column
Obama, Romney — who’s the man for India
The Indo-US relationship has now reached a stage that changes in regimes, whether in Washington, DC, or New Delhi, cannot wholly derail its course.
Sumit Ganguly
The US presidential elections are barely three weeks away. All the national polls seem to indicate an extremely tight race and so any firm predictions about the outcome are hazardous. Nevertheless, the result of the election could have significant consequences for Indo-US relations.

Touchstones
Why does the Divali mithai smell like currency?
If I were to exchange homemade sweets with a neighbour today, I would be marked as someone too tight-fisted to spend on a really good mithai-box.
Ira Pande
Each year, as we approach the festive Dasehra-Divali season, I find the spirit of celebration moving further and further away from ‘bhakti’ to ‘bhog’. What this means is that as soon as the ‘inauspicious’ pitrapaksh fortnight is over, my cell phone is choked with messages that urge me to buy, buy, buy. On offer are all manner of delectables: from jewellery and gold to clothes and property.

Nandan Nilekani’s quiet revolution
Aadhaar will do more than just facilitate inclusive growth for India’s teeming millions. It will ensure effective implementation of the numerous welfare programmes and curb corruption
raj chengappa
Nandan Nilekani had rock-star status in the world’s software business when he was CEO of Infosys, which he co-founded. Three years ago he gave up his phenomenally successful career in the private sector to join the Government of India. He took over as Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) with the rank of a Union Cabinet Minister to execute the mammoth task of providing India’s 120-crore populace with unique identity numbers called Aadhaar.

Guest Column
Obama, Romney — who’s the man for India
The Indo-US relationship has now reached a stage that changes in regimes, whether in Washington, DC, or New Delhi, cannot wholly derail its course.
Sumit Ganguly

The US poll outcome will have a bearing on India’s interests.

The US presidential elections are barely three weeks away. All the national polls seem to indicate an extremely tight race and so any firm predictions about the outcome are hazardous. Nevertheless, the result of the election could have significant consequences for Indo-US relations.

President Obama did not get off on the right foot with India. His initial focus was mostly on the relations with China. Worse still, in the early days of his administration, there were efforts to try and link the Afghanistan-Pakistan question with steps toward a settlement of the Kashmir dispute. Between his neglect of India and this awkward attempt to address a persistent Pakistani demand, relations were off to an unsteady start. His apparent lack of interest in India coupled with this clumsy effort to tie Kashmir to progress on the Afghanistan-Pakistan front was juxtaposed with the attention that had been lavished on India under the two George W Bush administrations.

Both the substance and tone of his policies underwent a change after his initial and not wholly pleasant trip to China in 2009. He did not make much headway with his Chinese counterparts on critical issues such as trade imbalances and was perceived at home as kowtowing to the Chinese leadership. Shortly thereafter, his administration sought to repair what was widely perceived in New Delhi as an increasingly fraying relationship.

He chose to visit India in November 2010. The visit, for the most part, was an unalloyed success. President Obama, as well as his wife, Michelle, charmed their Indian audiences with their easy-going manners. The President, in particular, in an address to the Indian Parliament won considerable plaudits from the country’s attentive public when he offered a qualified endorsement of India’s quest to join the Security Council as a permanent member.

Despite the success of his visit, differences remained. India’s passage of a civilian nuclear regulatory Bill made it all but impossible for US commercial firms to invest in the Indian civilian nuclear industry. The two states also found themselves at odds over relations with Iran, India’s decision not to purchase medium multi-role combat aircraft from the US, humanitarian intervention in the wake of the “Arab spring” and the scope of India’s economic reforms.

These differences aside, the relationship, thanks to diplomatic efforts, ensured that it bore no resemblance to the past. A host of other initiatives from educational exchanges to scientific research programmes, though lacking in drama or huge public interest, proceeded apace.

If Obama wins a second term, one can expect a good deal of continuity in policy despite the differences. The administration now has a team of very able career foreign service officers on its South Asia team. They have developed a familiarity with their Indian counterparts and have a realistic view of what can be accomplished with India.

How might a Romney administration affect Indo-US ties? Some of those who are advising Romney on foreign policy have an interest in and knowledge of the Indian political landscape. They are unlikely to make any major missteps as they engage India.

That said, if the campaign rhetoric has any significance after November 6, there will be a congruence of interest in some areas and sharpened differences in others. Among other matters, New Delhi will find much comfort if Romney decides to maintain a robust US military presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014.

Though Romney’s possible Afghanistan policy may be to India’s liking, it is far from clear that his administration will display as much sagacity and skill that the Obama administration has shown when dealing with India on the vexed question of Iran’s possible, clandestine quest for nuclear weapons.

Romney has resorted to confrontational rhetoric during the campaign, his electoral base is more hawkish and his advisers reflect the views of his constituency. Hence, the wisdom of a more combative approach toward Iran aside, there is every possibility that he will carry through with his stated positions. Should he choose to adopt such a stance, it is all but inevitable that he is likely to find himself at odds with New Delhi.

Differences may also emerge on other fronts. India may also not be wholly happy with his emphasis on efforts to speed up global trade negotiations. In his search for new markets and investment, he may also seek to push India harder on the economic reforms front.

Romney has expressed scant interest in the Palestinian question, an issue, despite the emergence of a cordial Indo-Israeli relationship, enjoys a sizeable constituency within India.

Fortunately, the Indo-US relationship has now reached a stage that changes in regimes, whether in Washington, DC or New Delhi, cannot wholly derail its course.

The writer is a Professor of Political Science at Indiana University in Bloomington, US

Touchstones
Why does the Divali mithai smell like currency?
If I were to exchange homemade sweets with a neighbour today, I would be marked as someone too tight-fisted to spend on a really good mithai-box.
Ira Pande

Has economic prosperity ever increased the happiness quotient of a nation?

Each year, as we approach the festive Dasehra-Divali season, I find the spirit of celebration moving further and further away from ‘bhakti’ to ‘bhog’. What this means is that as soon as the ‘inauspicious’ pitrapaksh fortnight is over, my cell phone is choked with messages that urge me to buy, buy, buy. On offer are all manner of delectables: from jewellery and gold to clothes and property. Shops and markets vie with each other to offer discounts and sales to milling crowds of customers. Newspapers bring out special shopping supplements with some really unusual offers. How about special ‘Navratra thalis’ with no onion-garlic polluted vegetarian food offered by restaurants otherwise renowned for their butter-chicken and ‘rara’ meat kind of fare? I am sure that very soon we will have McDonald’s bring out a Mc-Thali to beat all the rest.

Recently, on a journey back from Jaipur, I was seated next to a young man who had downloaded a popular film on to his laptop and played it to all the interested viewers on the row behind us as well. When that was finally over, and I looked forward to some peace, he switched on his mobile and played a chant that repeated ‘Radhe-Radhe-Radhe, Barsanewali Radhe’ non-stop for a good hour or so, while he slept in what I can only presume was some kind of Anand Moorchha (state of blissful repose). I could have cheerfully killed him but dared not ask for relief, for who knows what religious rage can drive people to do to those who do not subscribe to their version of bhakti?

While on the subject of bhakti, whatever we call religious practice now is so far removed from what we were taught that some fundamental tenets need to be recalled. First, that everyone has a right to believe in any religion but that right also includes the right not to believe. However, the right not to believe is not to be confused with immorality. In fact, Hinduism has a very healthy tradition of agnostic atheism and says that whether or not you believe in the Sanatan dharma (the orthodox religion), you remain a Hindu if you are born one because — to repeat that old cliché — Hinduism is a way of life, not a religion. Tolerance is its defining attribute and this is why it has survived through the ages. Today, however, its so-called protectors are Talibanising it in such a dangerous way that until you have fasted, performed all the mumbo-jumbo rituals that are prescribed by your local priest (mostly in order to line his own pocket) or spent copiously on visits to temples and pilgrimages (guess who collects all the offerings there), you have not bought yourself a place in heaven.

Sadly, superstition and meaningless ritual have now come to be mistaken for religious practice. In a memorable phrase, sociologist Ashis Nandy calls this phenomenon ‘laptop Hinduism’. Want to do an Abhishek at Tirupati or make an offering to Vaishno Devi but don’t have the time? Just download the site that offers you your heart’s desire and swipe your credit card against the service. Your conscience salved, go back now to conning and cheating if you so wish for you have ‘bought’ your salvation. What can you call this but bribing the gods? I will keep seven Friday fasts dedicated to Santoshi Mata if I pass this exam or I will give up eating meat if I have a son this time, and so on.

This, essentially, is behind the effulgence of religious fervour that seems to have become a fad with the young. Look around you and see how many young people now wear lucky bracelets and gemstones, keep fasts and go regularly on pilgrimages with red bandannas tied round their heads. That these are often the very people who cheat at exams, break traffic rules, drink and do drugs, behave obnoxiously to aged parents and to women in general is not a mere coincidence. It is a symptom of a decadent society which observes the symbols but forgets the spirit of faith.

I recall the considerably more modest scale of festive celebrations when we were growing up. For days, we would make new clothes for the gods and goddesses that sat in our puja at home. Colourful ‘alpanas’ made by hand were an essential part of the decoration as were handmade garlands and paper lanterns. Sweets were seldom bought from the market but proudly made at home and exchanged with neighbours. We went house to house carrying thalis full of sweets from our home (covered with a handmade crocheted cover) and returned with sweets from their homes. This was the standard level of Divali gifts we shared with friends and families dear to us. I laugh when I look back at those innocent times: if I were to do this today, I would be an object of scorn and marked as someone who was too tight-fisted to spend on a really good mithai-box from a known multinational halwai shop. Peer pressure can be a dreadful affliction indeed.

Economists tell us that such consumption patterns are actually good as they support a vast number of workers and artisans. But let us put aside the economics for a few weeks and look to the philosophy of feasting and fasting for a moment. What we need to reflect on is whether economic prosperity has ever increased the happiness quotient of a nation? Does anyone remember a king called Midas?