O P I N I O N S

EDITORIALS

Tit-for-tat diplomacy
Devyani Khobragade returns, issues remain
The former Deputy Counsel General of India to New York left the city that was once her home to return to her real home, India. At the same time, an American diplomat in India was asked to pack his bags in a retaliatory move. The spotlight on the Devyani Khobragade affair refuses to move away from the issue that has bedevilled Indo-US relations in recent days.

Deemed to doomed varsities
They need more time and guidance to recover
It is an ongoing story in India. High-rise buildings come up, defying all rules. After people move in, the government wakes up to the legal requirement to demolish them. How 44 deemed universities became doomed, affecting over two lakh students, is a tale of a similar systemic confusion that leads to failure.

• Thought for the Day

On this day...100 years ago

lahore, sunday, january 11, 1914
Bureaucratic Government
MR. Bernard Houghton, I.C.S. (retired) has written a book on the Bureaucratic Government in India and has utilised his Indian experiences to show how the system of Government is unsuited to the present conditions of India and how reforms are necessary. After pointing out the virtues and good work done by the bureaucracy he points out its defects, especially in its treatment of the people and their aspirations.

ARTICLE

Leave the tragedy of errors behind
The vital Indian engagement with the US should not suffer
S. Nihal Singh
There are two lessons to be drawn from the Khobragade case that has damaged the important Indo-American relationship. One, there was a total misreading of the Indian mood and cultural sensitivities for the US State Department to believe that the strip-searching and imprisoning, however briefly, of an Indian woman diplomat would not invite outrage across India.

MIDDLE

Dealing with worn-out expressions
Sharda Kaushik
“Words are a lens to focus one’s mind.” Ayn Rand
Words capture our thoughts while grammar gives us the framework to hold them together and create meaningful messages. Through creative use of words, proverbs, idioms, literal expressions and catch phrases enrich these texts. However, with repeated use, these expressions become boring and get labelled as cliches. We come across their generous use in spoken and written English. 

OPED

CINEMA: NEW Releases
One-and-a-half times the fun 
Nonika Singh
It begins with a delightful, even if a trifle irreverent, joke that sets the tone and tenor of Dedh Ishqiya. Delectable and cheeky, funny as well as audacious... the two words amply and aptly describe this sequel to Ishiqya that has much more than its fair share of humour to keep you engaged. No doubt, the dialogues penned by none other than Vishal Bhardwaj, who has produced and co-written but not directed this film, are bang on. Smart and witty one-liners unfailingly tickle your funny bone and grey matter alike. 

Return of the golden oldies
Ervell E Menezes
Hollywood has a knack of reviving old classics and giving those heroes another piece of the same action. And that's precisely what happens when Robert De Niro (who put on 30-odd pounds for his role) of Raging Bull fame and Sylvester Stallone with his Rockys behind him meet again in the twilight of their lives in Grudge Match.

A complete mess
Johnson Thomas
T-series, during its heyday, was known to develop hit music first and then weave a story into it in order to convert it into a film! Remember Lal Dupatta Mal Mal Ka and several others that were known for their music rather than content? Divya Khosla Kumar's well marketed and superbly publicised maiden directorial effort Yaariyan appears no different from that earlier con. The music is terrific; there are no two ways about that but the story is completely lacking in consistency, content or believability.

• TV movies

EDITORIALS

Tit-for-tat diplomacy
Devyani Khobragade returns, issues remain

The former Deputy Counsel General of India to New York left the city that was once her home to return to her real home, India. At the same time, an American diplomat in India was asked to pack his bags in a retaliatory move. The spotlight on the Devyani Khobragade affair refuses to move away from the issue that has bedevilled Indo-US relations in recent days. Khobragade has now moved from the place where she faced charges that she underpaid her maid and thus violated a contract she had signed to get a US visa for the maid. However, it might be premature to believe that her return would remove what had become a major point of friction in Indo-US relations. Some members of Parliament have reacted negatively, with the BJP being particularly hawkish. Now the South Block has responded with tit-for-tat measures that are certainly not going to cool down the situation.

Grandstanding is antithetical to diplomacy. The Khobragade episode was rich in rhetoric and poor in diplomacy. Indo-US ties have taken a major hit and what should have been handled discretely became a public issue. Even after her departure, the case against her still stands in New York, a city in which her husband and children live. She was allowed to leave, but the charges against her still stand, which would be an impediment to her visiting the US again. The American approach was high-handed and the arrest and humiliation of the diplomat was uncalled for. On the other hand, the slew of measures taken against American diplomats by New Delhi lacked grace.

Measures must be taken by the Ministry of External Affairs to safeguard Indian diplomats in the US and in other nations from being exposed in a similar manner. Diplomacy became the causality of the row over the diplomat. India and the US must work at turning down the rhetoric that marked the discourse between the two major trading and strategic partners. Now that the US diplomat has been expelled, saner heads in New Delhi and Washington should ensure that the situation does not spin out of control and this particular episode doesn't damage Indo-US relations further.

Deemed to doomed varsities
They need more time and guidance to recover

It is an ongoing story in India. High-rise buildings come up, defying all rules. After people move in, the government wakes up to the legal requirement to demolish them. How 44 deemed universities became doomed, affecting over two lakh students, is a tale of a similar systemic confusion that leads to failure. Under Section 3 of the UGC Act 1953, respected institutions like the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Delhi, were granted deemed university status with full autonomy. Till 1999, there were only 37 deemed universities, but in the next ten years their number jumped to 127. Merit became a casualty and this did not happen without a green signal from the UGC.

Therefore, the decision of the Supreme Court to ask the UGC to assess the standard of education in 44 derecognised institutions is rather amusing. In 2009 when HRD Minister Kapil Sibal decided to root out the rotten apples from the cart of higher education, a review committee of the UGC gave a clean chit to these 44 deemed universities, which were derecognised by the Tandon Committee, appointed just a month later by Kapil Sibal. The two contradictory reports triggered a comedy of errors.

The UGC claimed to have physically inspected 70 deemed universities, while the accusation of the derecognised universities is they were given 10 minutes to make a presentation by the Tandon committee. Both assessment methodologies are questionable. The suggestion of the Additional Solicitor General that the UGC should give advice on the basis of the available documents will bind the issue in riddles. The fact is government universities do not have innovative courses and some of them have poor academic standards. The 22-member Yash Pal Committee criticised the regulatory mechanism for the deemed universities and recommended that the deficient deemed varsities should be given sufficient time and professional guidance to upgrade themselves. The court should consider the suggestion. 

Thought for the Day

I like my players to be married and in debt. That's the way you motivate them.—Ernie Banks 

On this day...100 years ago

lahore, sunday, january 11, 1914
Bureaucratic Government

MR. Bernard Houghton, I.C.S. (retired) has written a book on the Bureaucratic Government in India and has utilised his Indian experiences to show how the system of Government is unsuited to the present conditions of India and how reforms are necessary. After pointing out the virtues and good work done by the bureaucracy he points out its defects, especially in its treatment of the people and their aspirations. Mr. Houghton writes with remarkable freedom and says: “If you deprive a nation of all shares in its own Government, in the forging of its destiny you emasculate its energies undermine its character and sear, as with a hot iron, its self-respect.” He would no longer recruit Indian civilians from Oxford and Cambridge, which stand for oligarchy.

Punjab Secretariat and Indians

IN our article on the listed posts open to the members of the Provincial Civil Service in the Punjab we pointed out that there was not a single Indian among either the Secretaries or the Under Secretaries. Coming to the ministerial posts which include Superintendentships carrying salaries of Rs. 500 and a Registrarship on a salary of Rs. 700 we regret to find that there is only one Indian employed as a Superintendent. The senior posts in the clerical establishments in the Punjab Secretariat are at present the monopoly of Europeans and Eurasians. The same monopoly appears to have been extended to the clerical establishments attached to the offices of Commissioners and the Financial Commissioners. To a very large extent the same may be said to be the case in the districts and in the various departments of the administration.

ARTICLE

Leave the tragedy of errors behind
The vital Indian engagement with the US should not suffer
S. Nihal Singh

There are two lessons to be drawn from the Khobragade case that has damaged the important Indo-American relationship. One, there was a total misreading of the Indian mood and cultural sensitivities for the US State Department to believe that the strip-searching and imprisoning, however briefly, of an Indian woman diplomat would not invite outrage across India.

There was a total misreading of the Indian mood by the US over the mistreatment of Divyani Khobragade. Now how she treats her domestic problem of having a husband, an American citizen, employed in the US is her problem unconnected with her employment.

Second, since Ms Devyani Khobragade's brush with the American system was not the first of its kind - in fact two incidents involving the Indian consulate-general in New York are on record - it is high time New Delhi sorted out the disparities in paying help from India outside the structure of American norms. Obviously, Indian diplomats' salaries and allowances cannot cope with American wages for their help.

One salutary result of an otherwise ugly story is that the Indian External Affairs Ministry has woken up to the disproportionate privileges US consular and diplomatic officials enjoy in India. Remember, Ms Khobragade was treated as she was because the US said she was not entitled to full diplomatic immunity as a consular official, except in the discharge of her official duties.

Compare how American consular officials and their families are pampered with full diplomatic privileges and special access to Indian airports. India has recently given notice to consular officials and diplomats on their contraventions of diplomatic norms. Now that the Khobragade case has been resolved after a fashion, India should not have second thoughts on treating US diplomats differently from how their Indian counterparts are treated. It would not be in terms of vindictiveness but as a measure of full reciprocity.

It is equally important that the vital Indian engagement with the United States does not suffer. Two official visits by American officials - of the new person in charge of South Asia and the Energy Secretary - have fallen victim to the acrimony resulting from the Khobragade case. Surely, Washington on its part must reflect on its conduct in strip-searching a woman diplomat while quibbling over the provisions of the Vienna convention on consular privileges.

To resolve the recurring problem of American insistence on enforcing their rules on foreign domestic help of diplomats from around the world, New Delhi should raise the allowances of its diplomats posted in the US while giving them and their families incentives to pitch in with housework and employ local help for parties. India is not the only country in the developing world that has suffered from the handicap of meeting what in their local context are astronomical costs of paying domestic help according to American rates.

Above all, the need is to resolve a nagging problem while moving on. Obviously, New Delhi has to place one particular case in perspective in the overall conduct of its foreign policy. Although no longer the master of all it surveys, the United States remains the most powerful country in the world. It has not quite succeeded in moving its "pivot" to Asia, given the continuing problems of the Middle East. Indeed, Washington's unwillingness to intervene militarily in the region's new trouble spots is plain for all to see.

However, as the sole super power in a world of emerging China, the US remains the essential balancer in Asia and the world. India's destiny is tied up with its trajectory in Asia because New Delhi faces two problematic neighbours in China and Pakistan, one aspiring to super power status and the other beset with serious crises domestically while asserting its perceived rights in Afghanistan, with the looming withdrawal of the US and other NATO troops. India has a number of other serious engagements with the United States. The Indian diaspora in the US is some three million strong and the growing trade between the two countries is significant, apart from the size of American investment in India. There are also a great number of other affinities and interests, whether in the defence field or in other areas of technology. India's first jet fighter, for instance, has an American engine.

The US administration has already initiated an inquiry into how the State Department goofed up on authorising legal proceedings against Ms Khobragade without realising the repercussions of strip-searching and imprisoning her would have on the Indian psyche.

The National Security Adviser, Shiv Shankar Menon, spoke for the country when he described what the Indian consular official was subjected to as "despicable and barbaric". The ultimate solution found was to grant Ms Khobragade full diplomatic immunity while charging her with falsely applying for her help's visa and underpaying her. These charges she denies. She was, however, free to leave the US in view of India's expected refusal to lift her immunity. How she treats her domestic problem of having a husband, an American citizen, employed in the US is her problem unconnected with her employment.

It is time now for India and the United States to put their heads together to plan a significant new area of cooperation that would consign the bad blood that has been created by the tragedy of errors over one Indian diplomat to the proverbial back burner. One area of such cooperation would be in the field of atomic energy, recently commended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the proudest moment during his two terms in office. It is ironical that the US being the chief instrument in giving New Delhi a privileged pass in the severe restrictions it was suffering by exploding a nuclear device and declining to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has not benefited from its act of statesmanship.

Clearly, there are problems US manufacturers face on the liability clause for the supplier of equipment enshrined in the Indian act. It is surely not beyond the ingenuity of the two countries' negotiators to surmount American manufacturers' reservations. The American "pivot" to Asia, whenever it takes place, has a special place for India not only in seeking to balance an assertive China but also in buttressing the self-confidence of South-East Asian countries in resisting an unreasonable China.

In short, Indo-American relations are too important to be sacrificed at the altar of one incident, however tragic it is.

MIDDLE

Dealing with worn-out expressions
Sharda Kaushik

“Words are a lens to focus one’s mind.” Ayn Rand

Words capture our thoughts while grammar gives us the framework to hold them together and create meaningful messages. Through creative use of words, proverbs, idioms, literal expressions and catch phrases enrich these texts. However, with repeated use, these expressions become boring and get labelled as cliches. We come across their generous use in spoken and written English. Most of these worn-out expressions seem irrelevant where they appear, as seen below:

1. Since it was raining cats and dogs, the Football League match was called off.

The idiom “raining cats and dogs”, a figurative expression, can be safely called a cliche. Much of its original meaning has been lost to time. It is believed that in medieval Europe cats and dogs took shelter in the thatched roofs of peasant houses to stay warm. However, during heavy rains, the roofs gave way bringing down the animals. Jonathan Swift’s lines “Drowned puppies, stinking sprats, all drenched in mud,/Dead cats and turnip-tops come tumbling down the flood.” in the poem “A Description of a City Shower” confirm its lineage. What users experience by leaning on cliches is just notional fluency. Such idioms should be replaced with fresh use of language.

2. Last but not least, it is important to stop the burning of wood to check temperature rise.

The cliche “last but not least” is a literal expression, as it conveys the exact sense the words stand for. Banal expressions like “agree to disagree” and “one and only” should be excluded from academic writing and creative writing, as they mean practically nothing. If the writer is giving some technical information and creativity is not a valued factor, the phrases may be allowed entry.

3. I asked Bob to fix the computer immediately because a stitch in time saves nine.

Proverbs usually work well when advising somebody. Many among them have survived through generations for the wisdom they carry. For instance, “a stitch in time saves nine” was a popular expression in the British society, known for valuing time. Despite conveying relevant messages, many of them sound out of place now due to the context. As in this case, how many of us mend torn clothing any longer?

4. “No one else but Sonny is the apple of my eye,” said the doting grandma.

Scriptures, literary works, popular fiction and media generate catchy phrases which creep into everyday use of language. Expressions like “a fool’s paradise, catch 22” and “Big Brother is watching you” are samples of catch phrases. “The apple of my eye” has been quoted in Old English and much later in Shakespeare’s play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. It continues to define human relationships while betraying lazy writing.

Essentially, cliches exemplify good use of words, being short, pithy and vivid. In fact, they have become hackneyed due to these very factors. Their strategic use alone can justify their existence, else they are best avoided. As someone said: to be avoided like the plague.

Director, Regional Institute of English, Chandigarh 

OPED REVIEW

CINEMA: NEW Releases

One-and-a-half times the fun 
Nonika Singh

It begins with a delightful, even if a trifle irreverent, joke that sets the tone and tenor of Dedh Ishqiya. Delectable and cheeky, funny as well as audacious... the two words amply and aptly describe this sequel to Ishiqya that has much more than its fair share of humour to keep you engaged. No doubt, the dialogues penned by none other than Vishal Bhardwaj, who has produced and co-written but not directed this film, are bang on. Smart and witty one-liners unfailingly tickle your funny bone and grey matter alike. But of course the movie is not just a compilation of wisecracks delivered with perfect timing by its consummate cast led by gifted actor Naseeruddin Shah.

regal touch: Naseeruddin Shah and Madhuri Dixit

It has an interesting storyline, even if a bit twisted, and above all able direction that weaves its many twists and turns (some predictable and some surprising), bends and curves to offer a thrilling ride into a world we don't often see either in cinema or real life for that matter.

So it takes off from the khaalu nephew (Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi) combination of thieves. However, as it moves on to Mehmoodabad where lives this ageing Nawab's wife Begum Paara Jaan (Madhuri Dixit) holding a swamvyar of sorts by way of a mushaira, there are no unnecessary jerks. Most of it, even the long climax, gels into a seamless narrative. Somewhere within is the subtext of decaying royalty, its duplicity, its hollowness behind the razzle dazzle. Layered within also is (though not obvious) a lament for the great tradition of mushaira (the backbone of Urdu poetry) that now exists in its synthetic form. Here of course, peppering the lyrical feel of the film is some shero shayari though never hanging heavy over the film that holds your attention for most parts.

Sure part of the magic and the credit has to go to its actors. Perhaps by choosing the right actors for its spirited, complex as well as impudent characters, half of director's job was done. Naseer is well Naseer —impeccable and faultless. As for the dhak dhak girl who has now transformed into a gorgeous woman... sure as Paara she is scintillating. A few scenes also introduce you to the fine actress that she is when she lets the hidden insecurities of her character out of the bag.

But matching the legendary actors all the way, step-to-step are Arshad Warsi and Huma Qureshi underlining that the old order may not change completely but new will find its place and rightly and deservedly so. Arshad proves once again what a brilliant actor he is in the hands of a good director. Huma too fits the role of Begum Para's confidante Munira to a T. Vijay Raaz as Jaan Mohammad aspiring to join the blue blooded club is effective too.

And if you are wondering why we are not talking of the chemistry between Naseer and Madhuri, actually it's the chemistry between Naseer and Arshad that is more striking and infectious. Especially notable is the sequence where Naseer describes the seven stages of love with panache and tongue-in-cheek humour, and how Arshad relates sex to most of them. Compared to their bonhomie, perhaps the bonding between Madhuri and Huma pales.

Finally the movie may not take you into the seven stages of Ishq, but it does take you through many stages of the art of storytelling through this beautiful visual medium.

Farah Khan, who by the way has nothing to do with this film, might have issues with critics liking particular kind of films. With due apologies to her... it's this cinema with a difference, not necessarily highbrow thought-provoking one, that makes movie viewing worth its while.

Return of the golden oldies
Ervell E Menezes

Hollywood has a knack of reviving old classics and giving those heroes another piece of the same action. And that's precisely what happens when Robert De Niro (who put on 30-odd pounds for his role) of Raging Bull fame and Sylvester Stallone with his Rockys behind him meet again in the twilight of their lives in Grudge Match. So be prepared for the old wine in new bottles with Billy 'the Kid' McDonnen (De Niro) and Henry 'Razor' Sharp (Stallone) measure up thanks to the efforts of black promoter Dante Slate Jr (Kevin Hart) even though he has a chip on his shoulder for 'Jews and White People's shit'. The locale will be Pittsburg.

Fighting spirit: Sylvester Stallone and Robert de Niro

In a film of this nature the buildup is more important than the event. And here a sparkling script takes over. When BJ (Jon Benthal) introduces himself as "my name is BJ. I am your son", it nearly knocks the Kid over. And when BJ's son, the Kid's grandson says "it's the best dinner conversation I've ever heard, it only makes a case for "the child is father of the man."

But there are more such lines which fly like sparks on a new moon night. And as if two dinosaurs getting ready for a bout isn't bad enough, Sally Rose (Kim Bassinger) is also the bone of contention moving from Razor to the Kid to make the plot even more curious.

Lightning (Alan Arkin) is Razor's coach with whom there's a love-hate relationship but the old war-horse. Arkin reels off some of the best lines in his best deadpan way to very nearly steal the show. With so much to work on, director Peter Segal has a field but he rightly refrains from making a meal of it. In fact, the middle is a tad weak and somewhat stagnant but the action picks up in the latter half to end sumptuously.

With an abundance of talent the performances are good with De Niro and Stallone sharing the honours and Alan Arkin whose deaf-mute role in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is still fresh in memory while Kim Bassinger, after a long break, still has enough oomph to remind one of Jane Fonda in her heyday. All in all Grudge Match is well worth going to.

A complete mess
Johnson Thomas

party time: Serah Singh and Himansh Kohli

T-series, during its heyday, was known to develop hit music first and then weave a story into it in order to convert it into a film! Remember Lal Dupatta Mal Mal Ka and several others that were known for their music rather than content? Divya Khosla Kumar's well marketed and superbly publicised maiden directorial effort Yaariyan appears no different from that earlier con. The music is terrific; there are no two ways about that but the story is completely lacking in consistency, content or believability.

A hotch-potch of genres and cross-cinema-references, this romantic-comedy-adventure-drama-musical borrows ideas from several hit films, both Bollywood and Hollywood, to fashion its patchwork quilt narrative.

The only good thing about this film is its terrific music, especially the Honey Singh composed and sung peppy youth anthem that plays twice in the film and Baarish composed by Mithoon. The ABCD pyjama party number is also quite interesting. Also the cinematography by Sameer Arya, with its picture postcard bent, is befitting of a romantic adventure. Unfortunately Divya Khosla Kumar's story and direction, co-scripting with Sanjeev Dutta and editing by Arief Sheikh lack fine-tuning.

TV movies

Saturday January 11 9:00aM star gold

8:30PM Mohabbat

Sunday January 12
8:00pm movie ok

9:00PM Shootout at Wadala