Coaching Classes or Poaching Classes

I was attracted to this rather loud advertisement in my morning newspaper which claimed stupendous success at the CAT / IIM - 2006 by a leading National Tutorial in the business of MBA Entrance training. Very soon I was to realise that I am faced with a bitter truth of today's education business. Results - is what sells in the coaching class markets and so results is what they will show

- come what may. But in this blind race to show results how far will they go. Thsis ad is a burning example:

In the middle of this full page ad were the hindi words “phir se phod diya” (Cracked Again). On the left side was presented an array of photographs of students selected to the IIMs – the reverse headline said – “from Indore to IIMs – grand success story since 13 years”. On the right side another array of photographs which carried the title “Super Stars of PT Indore Centre – Year 2005”

The fine print is interesting and is full of insight on how masses are fooled by the concerned tutorial into believing that it has been a grand success at CAT/IIMs. Here are some observations

The IIM Selections claimed are of 13 years
The photographs on the left side are not IIM selections of this year alone. They are all the selections that has happened over the last 13 (yes Thirteen) years including the current year. The ad is cleverly planned by writing that vague line “Grand success story of last 13 years” to mean that that the following photographs are of all those students who were selected over the last 13 years.
Obviously for the casual reader this would look like a stupendous result for a place like Indore. I took a quick snap poll to confirm my instinct. The result : 10 out of 10 parents (of under graduate students) had to closely look at the ad three times to figure out that – even the ad is claiming just 10 IIM Selections for the current year.

Lots of these students were not even assisted by them
One of the most defaced photograph – of one “Girish Pahadia” dates back to the year 94-95. Check the year written on the photogrph in that red color – it is poorer than that in clarity in the actual print ad.
I am a close friend of Girish. He told me that he had approached this class for help when he had received a GD/PI call way back in 1995. He was offered to start practicing immediately without paying anything. After attending one session he never returned back & has never paid a single paisa to the tutorial in question. His fault – he filled up a form (he swears that he did not give any photograph then).



Girish is not a stand alone case.
From the students selected this year one - Aditya Gupta – attened exactly two GK lectures (paid Rs. 500 for that). That was their contribution to Aditya’s success. Aditya says that their marketing of GK lectures looked attractive and so I went for a couple of seminars – that’s all. "In fact" He says “I was approached by them many times – being offered freebies to get registered with them. In fact after my admission was confirmed – I was again called to ask for my photograph and signatures. I had refused to them on phone and also told them I do not want to talk to any body from their administration.”

Of course aditya was a regular student with another coaching class in the city. Aditya is furious and for a change he is contemplating action against the tutorial in question. However scores of others who are claimed as proud success by them either do not know (as they might not be in town anymore) or they don’t care to look into the fine print.)

And then there is the case of Saurabh Laddha. Another one who made it to all the five IIMs except Ahmedabad this year. He was a student of this tutorial in the year 2002 (yes – 2002 – do notice the registration number quoted by the ad. It starts with 02 – the year in which he joined – It is 05 for Aditya). He did not get a single call in that year. He started working for a company called CSC at Indore and kept taking CAT every year. He had joined a test series with another coaching institute (not PT Education) and then joined a second coaching class (not PT Education) for his Group Discussion and Interview preparation this year.

He says “it is not just misuse but also misinformation. I do not give a single paisa credit to them for what I achieved this year. Of course they did not talk to me before putting my name and photograph in the ad”





Supriya Gupte appears to be another case similar to that of Saurabh’s. She is among current years selections claimed by this ad. Although I do not have a direct contact with her – but her registration number with PT (published in this ad) reveals her to be student of 2003.

Even if we give the benefit of doubt in this case to the tutorial (for want of concrete first hand information) – others are glaring cases of misrepresentation, at best, and simply fraud - practically speaking. Go on to read more such cases.

History of such results
May be this year they have poor results and they might have done such a thing in desperation?? Unlikely, becuase similar cases exist in this ad which dates back to the time of Girish. Here are some more.

Maulshri Rathi –
joined PT in the year 1998. Did not make it to any B-School in that year. Joined another training institute in the next year. Again failed to make it to any B-School. Took up a job with WebDunia - an Indore based software company – appeared for GMAT, applied for the first batch of ISB Hyderabad. When she received a call from ISB for an interview, she went back to the later institute (not PT) for help and made it to ISB. Possibly one of the youngest to join that B-School. Now even PT did not use her name and photographs in earlier communications that it made during her year of selection – but puts her as a proud achievement now.

Pratik Maru -
Was a student of PT in 98. Did not make it to any of the B-Schools. Took up a job and went out of Indore. Appeared for CAT again later – finally got calls for GD-PI and approached another coaching class (not PT Education) in Indore to prepare himself for the final assault. He finally achieved admission in the year 2001. However he is happily claimed as a PT success story now.


Shireen Date -
Joined for a three month elementary course (then called beginners) with PT in 2001. Then she joined a year long course with another institute in the city and was a student of this institute (not PT Education) when she was selected. But as in all other cases she is one of the grand success stories of PT.


The ad is probably full of such cases – I am presenting those for which I have authentic first hand info. All these cases have been confirmed with the persons themselves and the facts are verifiable by anybody.


That’s not all – 3 out of 10 are waitlisted
No, that’s not all. Look closely at that ad. You will then discover that out of the 10 IIM selections claimed for the current year THREE are (by their own admission in the ad) waitlisted. For example the case of Nikhil Paranjape. But wait the admission of that is in the fine print only – the heading at the top happily claims “All final selections after GD-PIs”

In the copy they claim 95% of top B-School selections from Indore – now anybody even on the gut feel will reject such a claim. But who is there to question whatever a copy says.



About the photographs presented to the right side of “Phod Diya” the lesser said the better. Selections to any Tom, Dick and Harry institute has been listed – so that the photographs appear to be as many in number as is possible. Obviously the masses at large do not notice that spending thousands of rupees to seek admission to such institutes is sheer waste of money. However, if these are genuine selections of this year of their own students – they are entitled to make them noticed in the way they deem it fit. The point is only that the ad is hyping up lies and half truths to unacceptably high levels.
Am I reading too much in one ad ?
One can ask a genuine question at this juncture – despite the acts of commission or omission of information in above cases being glaring – is it possible that I am trying to interpret too much in a single communication?

The answer friends, is an emphatic NO. This kind of misrepresentation, half truths, and hyperbole has been a consistent strategy with the tutorial under the scanner – here are a few more campaigns that PT has taken up in the earlier years. Here are past examples

Hype on “Changes in CAT”
Following is a copy of ad that was published by PT in January 2004. The readers would be aware that this was the time when the HRD ministry was working at reducing the number of exams for MBA admissions.



The copy of this reads

“The complete process of MBA entrance will undergo a change soon. All individual institute specific exams are being scrapped and replaced by a central All India test. Syllabus is undergoing a dramatic change. GD-PI may be removed from the selection process.”

It goes on to say
“In such uncertain and turbulent times, you can still sit back and relax. After all, PT is by your side.

PT presents – a completely upgraded pinnacle course ready to support you crack the new challenge of CAT 2004. Created by our large nationwide R & D cell, the all new Pinnacle is the ultimate weapon for you to crack the new CAT. No matter what the pattern finally turns out to be, we will cover it in totality”

This ad was supplemented by seminars and counseling rounds where it was openly said that CAT is changing & PT knows what to do? I am in touch with a student who attended one of those seminars where it was claimed that CAT-2004 will have an essay to write.

All these was publicised whe this discussion was at best a rumor with almost no confirmation either in media or otherwise by authorities that be.

In nut shell a hype was created that CAT is changing and it was blatantly suggested that PT knows about it and has upgraded the course to take care of the changes – much before the changes were even announced by the competent authorities. Of course the ad had a harmless footnote suggesting all information compiled from standard news papers and media sources.

Hype on CAT 2004 Results
Following is a copy of an ad PT indore center published in March 2005 in all leading vernaculars of MP. This is another example of half truths and most probably lies

The fine print here is actually more interesting. Here are some verified observations.

95% of all IIM Calls from Indore?
Below that equation in red (which claims IIMite = PTite) the copy reads – “PT Indore center has 95% of all IIM calls from Indore.”. A blatant lie, because that percentage would be close to 50% in that year and surely nowhere near 95%.

Which Calls?
The headline says “clean sweep of results” . Now the detail - there are 25 photographs with their names. The other information that was provided in the ad was - hold your breath - the name of the course that each student joined with PT. What was cleverly omitted was the information on the institutes from which this students received those calls. Think about it – why was the information on their calls not given when the rest of the ad screams out results and IIM call and what is the logic of putting in the name of the course they joined with the tutorial. Knowing fully well that few people read what is written below the photograph (as long as something is written) and it is assumed that information about their selection is present.

Obviously people were made to believe that there were as many as 25 people with IIM calls in that year alone. All trials to verify that fact failed. My research confirmed about 15 people out of them with genuine IIM calls. Two questions went unanswered till date – Did all these 25 people had GD/PI calls from one or more of the IIMS in that year?? Were all these 25 people from Indore?? The tutorial in question was completely quiet on this account despite pamphlets being distributed in Indore on similar themes by competition.

That’s not all. At least one student – Nitisha Laddha - in this set of photographs was a case of misrepresentation again. She was pursued by PT into attending their GD/PI training free and she attended just one session due to consistent pestering of their counselor. The next day she was in their ad.

The Toppers Campaign
In June 2005 PT came with another campaign both in the news papers and also on the hoardings at Indore. The campaign was named – “Toppers Unlimited”. It claimed that PT had 10 toppers in a row. Toppers meaning their students reaching the first rank of the exam.
Now, a closer look in the ad will reveal 4 CAT toppers for that year (100 percentile), One MAT topper followed by a few names who topped their MBA course or their branch at their respective institute. Examples – There was a photograph of one Neha Taleja – the fine print said she is a topper (a gold medalist) at M.I.C.A. and then there was a Prashant Dinodiya – Topper (gold medalist) for best overall performance at IIM Kozhikhode.

(I will soon post the ad and the hoarding photograph of this campaign too)

When an institute who trains students for MBA entrance claims credit for their success at the respective B-School, isn’t it blatantly stretching things a bit too far. Moreover, clubbing them with successful students of CAT and other MBA entrance exams is a glaring case of misguiding.

Why PT be singled out
In a world full of cut throat competition, why single out PT? Aren’t their more players, brands in the market who might be following similar practices?

The answer to this question is manifolds –
First, I write about PT because I know more about what they do & how in Indore.

Second, because I believe that most other players in the market are not so blatantly unethical. Yes, in a commercial/professional world of business, promoters of most such businesses (including me) might have, in their weak times, resorted to a half truth here or a creative interpretation there. But the consistency and the brazenness of PT is truly unmatched.

Third, Campaigns like those above, tend to brainwash students into believing loudness to be the truth. This post on the blog is just my way of reaching out to a larger mass.

There must be more names in the industry who are involved in such misrepresentation – but I have seen only this one as the most blatant by far. Moreover, there are smaller players who get into such practices more out of desperation to get business but one expects more ethical behaviour from a national player.

I am sure that none would disagree when I say that Mainstream Media would not like to take this issue as that would mean targeting someone who is a big source of ad revenue

The way forward
Education has already attained the status of a booming industry in India. Increasing awareness of merits of education and the high flying lucrative careers being talked about in media has made it an exciting business preposition. Burgeoning numbers of students compete for ridiculously low number of seats. For instance, for a less than 1500 seats at the IIMs more than 1,75,000 people appeared for CAT last year. This numbers are growing faster then ever before and the news. As a result professional/commercial coaching classes have gradually replaced the erstwhile tutors or conventional coaching classes run by teachers. The business is now conducted by managers who play with the psyche of people and are masters in the art of influencing through communication.

Something needs to be done to check all such practices – before it becomes a menace to the society in general. Government, Laws, autonomous regulating agencies – may be yes. A more alert, watchful, unbiased and honest media – surely if that happens half the battle is won. A common association of larger players in the industry who would work towards fair competition – desirable, but I do not think that such a thing will work in the current environment. But something needs to be done pretty soon. Till then “Grand Success Story of PT” continues. This blog-post is my submission to a larger goal.
All images are scanned images of Newspapers (Nai Dunia or Dainik Bhaskar).

1000 and now growing

Just wanted to indulge in some retrospection. Today my blog received its 1000th hit.

I wrote my first post on 15th November. Since then - 31 posts and almost six months later the counter on my blog crosses 1000 mark.

This isn't a great show, if I go by the performances of some veteren bloggers (like rashmi, amit, Gautam Ghosh etc.) whom I have picked up the habit of reading regularly. Of course I also know of bloggers (like madhukar, anuradha) who deserve better readership then they currently get.

However I never started off with the idea of attracting traffic in the first place. Neither did I anticipate that I will reach that count (traffic) so soon specially because I did not circulate my blog even among my friends from the real world. I just wanted to create a space where I say my thing and then I learnt that blogging is really interactive media that can reach out to people everywhere. And then I learnt about tracking traffic to one's blog and then ..........
Today blogging is a part of my routine and it provides me satisfaction, space, immense learning and more importantly connectivity.

Yes!! In this less than six months I connected to a few friends who are now regular visitors (no names here for I do not know whether they want this shared) and they leave a comment off and on. I never thought people can connect in such a productive manner beyond a mail-list which often turned into a chain mail circulation forums. Moreover, these are people whom I have never met or known - they are their becuae they read what I write and interact on what I write. Thats a lovely concept.

So here is to my new hobby .......... Thanks to all who communicated with me. I look forward to more in the days to come........May be I will write a deeper introspective post at the completion of first year of blogging.

Reliance Losing Money - we must lose sleep

Even Reliance can lose money.

Reading this note I wonder - for how long will government be able to hold on to these subsidies specially when private sector companies like Reliance has made aggressive forays into an industry which has been historically in the PSU domain.

Given the abilities of Reliance to influence Government policies - one can expect market parity soon for petrol, Diesel and Cooking Gas. If that happens will we celebrate it as win for the free economy champions or will it be yet another challenge for a belegaured house wife in a typical middle class Indian household trying its best to make ends meet.

Or will this be the start of the end of the dream run of shinning India and its growth story?

Travesty or Social Justice

The HRD ministry has issued a notification mandating 27% additional quota for Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in higher education. This will take the overall reservation to institutes like IITs and IIMs to almost 50%. Now in an increasingly competitive scenario (Typically for 1300+ seats at the IIMs more than 1,75,000 people appear) this is obviously a shock for students from the general categories. On a gut feel a very small percentage of people appearing for CAT would come from the OBCs.

Reservations in Perspective
The fundamental concept of reservation is seemingly to bring the oppressed or exploited communities to the mainstream. For decades, we have reservations varying between 20% and 50% depending on which state one belongs. We need to examine the result of reservations of these decades for a better perspective of the concept.

For want of any organised study on this subject (at least none that I know of) lets make some informed gut feel guesses. I am sure one can feel the all so palpable presence of people belonging to these communities (SC/ST and OBCs) in almost every walk of life. These communities who were once considered to be at the services of the higher castes have learnt to assert their rights and to stand up to upper caste “exploitation”. One may feel their assertion is rather crude, but it is very much present. One can mock at the styles of Laloo Yadavs and Uma bhartis of the world but they can no more be ignored – far less be expoited.

It is to be accepted that reservation has been one of the enablers of this revolution. Reservations created role models to communities from within oneself. It also helped develop confidence in these communities – some might argue that to be over confidence. I am remembered of my college days when some of my fellow students belonging to SC/ST/OBC categories used to sincerely study for days and nights asking for help from fellow students like me and would still find it difficult to pass – but they would try and would eventually make it.

The point is – reservations has made a difference to the lives of these people. Their aspirations and confidence has grown. They have started to stand up to their convictions which is often seen as opposing the other (intellectual high caste perspective).

The Merit Angle
The strongest argument against reservation is that of punishing merit.
On a rational ground this argument is impeccable. A quota system by its definition is unfair. But the logic is we are trying to compensate for another unfair act of society. It is difficult to digest but is the truth. There is really no answer to the question why am I the victim?? Someone always is – these communities have been a victim for decades. We react very strongly to such unfairness in the system – but our system is unfair in many other ways to most people – may be we did not feel that so much because it affected our lives the least. There is increased acceptability of women reservation – why??
And if that’s OK whats wrong with reservations of OBCs.

Now don’t get me wrong – I am not saying these wrongs justify another. The point is this – “Reservations is one of the ways we can and do address the problem of uplifting classes”

There is increasingly a problem of classes not being same as castes any more – that needs to be addressed.

The Extent of Reservation
Another problem with reservations is the extent to which it is offered in our country – thanks to a supreme court directive – it does not cross the half way mark. Yet 50% is incredibly high a figure to be reserved. Sure, no arguments here – we go unnecessarily high on reservations. If the idea is to help the communities we need to provide incentives to the initiated not to provide them crutches. Invariably what is happening is we are unable to find enough deserving candidates to fill the reserved seats. We then make a mockery of the system by relaxing the rules of admissions further for these reserved categories – making the system not just unfair but unjust.

The Political Angle
The problem, as always, lies in the politics of reservations. Vote banks and not rational economic sense governs decision making in Governments across the world. By offering specific castes sops of these kinds politicians aim at the next elections. It’s the same for all parties – check the return of BJP/Advani to the hindutava chant. Politics is also the reason why reservations will stick with us far beyond the time of its need or relevance.

Obviously in our country we do not need caste based reservations any more. We must switch to class based on economic criteria for reservation. Alas that will not happen till the time we as a country will keep voting along caste lines.

We are responsible for the mess?
How can we balance the need for upliftment of socially backward classes and that of fair play. In a democracy the only solution is voting. Till the time the educated, the middle class, the semi urban and urban population and the intelligentsia comes out to vote – reservations in its current form, like other anomalies in our system, is a reality we have to live with. We do not need revolution or a revolt to handle it – we need close to 100% voting percentages in elections.

Make the politicians feel that you will respond to their decision making and they will learn to take care of your thoughts and feelings as well. On a hot summer day, in the convenience of your cosy room if the thought that “how does it matter if I don’t vote” crossed your mind then you are crying over spilt milk – when politicians make such decisions as caste based reservations.

The Way Forward
In the current context, I feel there is no point fighting for a roll back – that can only increase tensions and further division among caste lines. We must work towards achieving clear definitions of deserving candidates under various categories. We must also aim to achieve a firm commitment from the Government that the criteria cannot be relaxed in case the seats are not filled. Further, such seats then can be filled by deserving candidates of general category. This will ensure an effective rate of reservation which is much lesser then the current proposed and also would have enough cushion for the deserving candidates from the backward castes.

What say you??

The power of being a Sonia

Sonia does it once again.

Yes ! Sonia resigns as an MP and as chairperson of NAC. Time for Congress to take the moral high ground and yet again for the opposition to cool its heels as the sonia team take away issues from them one after another.

While this was a case of congress getting cornered in one of its own trap. However Sonia does have the courage and the wisdom to keep her moral image upright, clean and even appealing in the perception of those who matter - the masses. Something that Mulayams, Amar Singhs of the modern political era will have to grudgingly accept and even learn.

One can debate the motives, compulsions and strategies of Sonia, however it must be conceded that she has brought high standrads to public life. No one in India other than the incumbent President and the Prime minister comes close to the clean image she has upheld in her actions as a public figure. She has provided a big challenge to politicians of this country to stand tall like her and then rule.

I am remembered of an earlier debate with my friends in a different forum when Sonia was close to the prime minister's post. One of my friends wrote a mail which made me respond. Here are excerpts from that debate. The current scenerio just firms up the trend that I mentioned at that time (name of my friend deleted from the copy for obvious reasons)

*********** Start of the exchange*****************
Dear friend

I could not stop replying to your mail. Just wanted to share my view on the issue with the group

friend> I'm sure most of us are still in a state of shock and sadness at the results of the recent elections. (refers to the last Lok Sabha election in which UPA won)
me> I don't see what should shock or make us feel sad about the elections result. Please realise that the arithmetic that BJP had used to its advantage in the last election was more effectively used by congress this time.

BJP on its own was not a National party & hence through alliances & pre poll arrangements it cornered a good number of seats. Its spin doctors hyped up the notion that it is in a great position to increase its numbers and that its acceptance cut across communities & regions of India. This notion is what was belied by this election and hence has shocked those who believed the shining India or Feel Good campaigns.

friend> > It is further more disturbing to see Sonia Gandhi being made the PM with support from a bunch of incompetent ( to say the least ) congress allies.

If you do agree with me and many other Indians worldwide I have drafted a petition to Sonia Gandhi asking her not seek the post of PM. Please go to this URL and sign the petition to show your support
me> In fact, if those people were so incompetent - how did a very competent set of people (the NDA campaign managers) failed to ensure victory in an election the fairness of which even the BJP does not doubt and when there chances were really bright.

Here are the three reasons in your petition that forms the basis of claim that Sonia should not be the PM

From petition
1.We believe that a individual who has not been bought up and been through the struggles that a native born citizen of any country goes through but instead only been a naturalized citizen for the past two decades can not truly understand and appreciate what it really means to feel patriotic about one’s nation in the purest of its forms deep within one’s heart. While we all proudly accept you as one among us and will never forget the service and sacrifices made by your family in building India it is very demeaning and shameful for us to see a individual of foreign origin lead a country like ours. It is simply unpatriotic and betraying the sacrifices of our glorious freedom fighters.

ME > Very well worded but think - whats the Logic or rationale here - its an emotion thats being appealed to.
According to a recent survey by NDTV the passed out bunch of MPs in India (the last Lok Sabha) had following features
1. A Majority (I have forgotten the percentage) are stinkingly rich & slowly but surely the Loksabha has lost all representation from classes whose real life is to be felt by those in power.
2. An increasing numbers of them are those who have been educated abroad since childhood and are Graduates of Foreign universities.
3. All most all stalwarts (Cabinet Ministers included) who might be Bhartiya (patriot or not is your take) have lost in this election.

Very soon you will have PMs, the only thing Indian about whom will be their origin. Talk of patriotism then. In her two decades as a Naturalised citizen she has done nothing to shame the country - sadly this cannot be said of a very large number of our "competent, patriotic, Bhartiya" politicians who claim prime ministership & to whom you would have no troubles in offering the seat.

from the petition
2.We also believe that a nation like ours in these times of globalization needs a much more qualified and experienced individual to lead and represent the nation than what you personally bring to the table. While there is no denying the fact that you were part of a family that governed India for decade’s one need a lot more competency and past leadership experience to lead a nation of one billion.

ME > I would want to know from you what is required to lead a nation?

Let me try and define it - to lead a nation no qualification is required - what is required is to have a vision for it & to be able to generate a belief in the nation that the nation can do it, grow and meet great ambitions as a nation.

Like many other leaders - she has painstakingly collected certificates to that effect she has gradually collected the shambles that Congress was in and has been able to revive it in parts. She has handled vilification campaigns, election losses, oppposition within & outside party, in her stride & has gone ahead methodically with her job. She has a very competent team supporting her (I do hope that you do not consider the likes of Manmohan Singh, Jairam Ramesh, Rahul Gandhi & Salman Khurshid as incompetent - all of whom incidentally are also Foreign educated). I do not see her qualification as an impediment as a leader. It is possible that she might fail but so did great knowledgable leaders like V P Singh, Chandrashekhar or the latest of them Atalji at various fronts.

As for Qualification - one of the most qualified in the band wagon - Mr. Murli Manohar Joshi - ended up messing up with the education so much that no educated person would ever vote for him again.

from the petition
3.We should all be proud of being the largest democracy the world has ever seen and probably will ever see. In this context we all have an obligation to respect the mandate of the electorate. While the congress and your allies may have chosen you for the post of Prime Minister it would be much more prudent on your part to decline this opportunity based on the reasons above. This would represent a much bigger service and sacrifice to the nation on your personal behalf besides standing you in high esteem and morality among the huge community of Indians the world over as well as within India.

ME> While I agree that the mandate is not necessarily in favour of Sonia as a PM but it would be foolhardy to interpret it as against her either. No the electorate has not been against her also (If that were true - every one in favour of Atalji & against Sonia - where would Congress be).

There is no basis for asking for a sacrifice from her because none of us (least of all the Hindutava Brigade) has the moral, ethical or technical ground to ask for such a sacrifice. She & her family has sacrificed enough - the latest of which was Sonia's Husband to silent her critics looking for sacrifice as a credential of her authenticity.

While I am equally unhappy about India's state of affairs but I would want all well meaning people of my country to stop making this a war of personal vandetta. If you have to change things in the country - it must happen living within the system. The fact is the system has generated her to be the PM of our country and we must accept it. Your difference of opinion are welcome (thats what makes India a great nation) but lets accept when we are defeated.

******** End of exchange**************

Soon after this exchange Dr. Manmohan singh was made the PM after Sonia declined the PM post with a dignified and proud aura around her.

Yet again by doing what she has done, Sonia has reaffirmed the faith of people like me (not in her family) in the power of dignity. She has just manifested that real power will come from ensuring dignity of action not just blind political manipulation. I hope that politicians of our country including congressmen take lessons from her.

Do we need so many engineering colleges?? Part III

In the final post on this series I present the interactive round between audience, host and the speaker of this talk show that I participated in. For the full context you might want to read part I and part II of this series.

The audience and the host were surprisingly connected to the topic and they seemed to have heard everything that was said by us. The interaction went into hours of engaging stuff sometimes emotional, sometimes heated but never on a tangent. I am trying to present it in a Question Answer mode - for want of a better format.
{I refer myself as me, The editor as s2, The director of the engineering college as s3, and the industrialist as s4}

The Quality Angle
Host: Aks Sir (thats me), you supported more number of engineering colleges - what do you have to say about the quality then? Isn't it important that quality of education improves.
me: Sure, quality is important. However, in a competitive scenario quality takes care of itself. When there will be more engineering colleges they will compete for students and hence will have to work for better quality education. Moreover an institute takes at least a decade to build - its not an overnight job. You will see quality improving over the years. IITs would remain important because of their quality.

Host to S4 : Sir, you have been opposed to the idea of more engineering colleges? How would you respond to this?
S4 : While he provided very good statistics but where is the infrastructure to train all these engineers. There is an absolute lack of teachers. How will that be handled? Someone who is unable to secure jobs after engineering becomes teachers in the same colleges. People with even negative marks in the PET gets admission. Under such circumstaces how can one expect good quality of engineers. What happens when bridges built by these engineers fall? (lots of claps)

Me : May I answer this? I wish to humbly say that these are not strong arguments to keep the number of colleges less.
We do not have good teachers - thats correct. But this is not because of high number of colleges. Thats because, as a society we have not treated teachers well. The salaries that they get are pathetic. The profession carries a demaning position in the eyes of people. Eight years ago, when I decided to forgo my job from the IIM to start an educational institute people used to comment "what? you will become a master taking tutions?" This is going to change now because good teachers are in demand. The increasing demand will result in teachers being paid well and will be treated with far more respect then they currently get. Hence more people will start loking at this as a lucrative as well as fulfilling profession. The transition may have already started.

S4 : But where will these teachers come from? There are not many teachers available. Whatever good teachers are available are getting distributed among increasingly large number of colleges.

me : Let me suggest a way. The term is called poaching. Look at what is happening to aviation industry. Suddenly there are many airlines but not enough people to manage. So what is the industry doing? They are not just attracting professionals from each other but also from other industries. This has turned aviation related jobs into a lucrative careers. Thats the way to go for education also. This is just one of the ways - I am sure there are more solutions possible.

S3: As I pointed out earlier, the question of this discussion is incomplete. The quality of engineering colleges is poor because the management is poor. Now most of the new colleges are not government engineering colleges but are private ones. One of the additional 11 collges slated to come to Indore this year is that of reliance. The college in its brochure says "AICTE approval not required". However students queue up to take admission in this college becuase it is considered good quality. The quality is good becuase the management is good.

S4 : But why not first create good number of teachers and then open so many colleges?
me : This is not practical. This is like saying don't allow Indians to vote till the time they learn how to vote in a matured fashion. That way we will not have democracy. (claps for me this time)
S3: I wish to point out another thing. Which are the best engineering colleges in our state. They are either autonomus or private. Take examples of three colleges in Indore SGSITS is autonomus, IET functions autonomus to the university that it is affiliated to. SVITS is a college affiliated to a well known trust. On the other side lets take government colleges, with due regards, in Ujjain, Jabalpur, Raipur etc. They were never known for their quality.

Me : Great point. I think the message to take from what sir is saying is that we need to actually let these institutes work, independent of controls from monitoring or controlling bodies and from Government. That will improve quality.

S4 : So at least we agree that we need visioaries to create great colleges
me: Sure, In fact thats true of even private businesses. We can not create a Reliance, Infosys or a TATA motors without great vision. However the only difference of opinion is that visionaries cannot be created in a controlled, programmed systematic manner.

More Crossfire
Host to me: You have been noting down a lot of points when other speakers were presenting their points. Would you want to respond to what they said.

Me : Sure. Here I go.
First to the issues raised by s2,
I agree with him that our dream of being the source of human capital cannot be fulfilled if performance is not there. However, our performance can only improve by having more colleges, not less. Secondly lets not get emotional when some of our products are shown the pink slip because they were unable to perform. Thats good. That will bring increased sensitisation in our institutes to become worthy of their fee. In fact the people whom he referred to were top rankers in the best of colleges in our country. For God's sake the solution to this is not to resrict the entry of new colleges. (to be fair s2 was not present to answer this)

Secondly people becoming engineers to get fat dowry - I think the solution is again more engineering colleges. Make them irrelevant by making them available every where.

I have largely answered what I wanted to on issues raised by s4.

Core Engineering Branches in for growth
With S3 I cannot agree more. However I want to share some more data with him on one of the issues that he raised.

He said that core engineering branches are suffering at the hands of IT, Comp Science etc. So I wish to bring to everybody's notice that
In the year 2006 alone - spending on infrastructure is expected to be a whooping 100,000 crores, in automobile sector Rs. 25,000 crores remember FM suggested that India can become a small car hub for the world. The textile and the Garment sector after removal of quotas under WTO is exepected to be 5000 crores in this year alone.

Remember what infrastructure means - it means power, water, electricity, roads. This will require more mechanical, civil, electrical engineers. When I was doing engineering we used to consider computers as a poor branch to engineering from. Those who were compelled to take up Computer sciece in those days are today in the best growing careers.

I call upon young budding engineers here to look at the future and opt for mechanical, electrical, civil, textiles, biotech etc. If you do today - in 10 years time you will come back to me to touch my feet. (another round of claps for me)

Interactive
At this point of time the host opens the show to audience as well to put in their comment and questions to the speakers - I wish to put a few remarkables in this post before closing

Audi-1 : This young guy directed the question to me. He said "You referred to the fact that an institute cannot be created in a year and so we are in a transition process. But till then why should we students suffer. You were talking about demand & supply as if we are commodities. "Kya Ham Bakre hai jo har bhi hame hi kata Jayega (Are we goats. Why are we sacrificed all the time.)" Sir, I do not mean that you personally said something wrong; but think of us who are doing engineering from these colleges and we have to hear that we might not be good quality.

I was a little taken aback by the way his body language transformed during the question. He started in a cool composed manner but by the time he finished his voice and eyes were angry with pain.

S3 (came to my rescue): See don't mind my saying this but tell me if you would not do engineering what else can you do? Please understand that you might not be going through the best education but it is better than what you otherwise will get. At least this education can get you a job where if you perform you can grow.

me (by now recovering from that shock): Because you pointed the question to me - let me answer it. (He was nodding). Agar tum Bakre manego to katoge to sahi. (If you become a goat you will be sacrificed). I did not refer to you as a commodity - in fact in this particular context you are the consumer. So you have to do your bit to protect yourself. Find out which college are you going to? Is it worth going to. Reject it if isn't.
The problem is, if you do not get a good rank in the PET you take admission to any college which offers you admission. Moreover, your parents will push you into it for either of the two reasons : first, they don't want to see you disappointed; second, they are also eyeing that fat dowry that s2 was refrring to.

Unless you become sensitive yourself as a consumer - someone will always make a fool of you.

Audi 2: Sir, isn't it necessary to first ensure that our institutes that we have are good quality and then we increase more institutes?
Me: When Mr. Manmohan singh as Finance Minister started the liberalisation process - at that time also people used to give the same logic. However, remember we have given 50 years to our instututes - if they failed to become world standard, how much more time can they be given. In fact when more engineering colleges come the competition will help our current colleges also to sit up and take notice and hence respond by improving their standards.

Audi 3: But what happens to students like us and who come from small towns and do not understand all this discussion on quality. We are trapped in these colleges and have no where to go.
Me: (Diplomatic quiet)
S4: And they come to know of the fraud only four years later.
Me (finally taking the bait): Please realise this is bitter truth but it is part of our maturing up. Even in a marriage we come to know only in a few years whether you have chosen the right partner.
S4: Thats different - you can seperate and look for another partner as far as marriage is concerned. But it is very difficult for a career.
Me: Its equally difficult in a marriage. (sinister silence for a few seconds, with smiles)

Audi 4: Sir, I have understood that there will be good colleges and bad colleges but there should be some one like the Governement to protect us from this mess.

me: (a little exasparated) I will tell you one thing, the government cannot protect you from frauds. No one, AICTE, UGC or Govt. can not help you. We have witnessed this for decades now. You have to be aware - thats the only solution. In fact government proection works the other way round.

Do you know why competition will bring better colleges. Because tomorrow if I start a new college and do not deliver quality I will be washed out. I will have to deliver quality or otherwise you (my customers) will desert me. This is not true of Government colleges. They cannot die. The solution lies in letting them die.

And Finally
At this point of time the host of the show deftly turned it to the last round - conclusions
S4: We do not need more engineering colleges, we need more quality engineering colleges. We need to look for visionaries to do so.
S3: I completely agree with S4.
S2: Left long ago
me: I also agree with S4 completely however my difference of opinion lies with the process. This cannot be achieved by controls or any controlling body. It can happen in a free, competitive environment. (S3 nods in agreement)

Claps......

Calling all liberals....

Interesting piece of news

The intentions could be good but personally I believe the idea of issuing fatwa by religious clerics is just ridiculous. No person should have the authority to direct communities to what they think is the interpretation of religion, law or morality. Terrorists justify their actions in the same way.

This is the time when liberals should speak out and oppose even this one. Othewise there is no moral authority to oppose a fatwa agaist sania's dress or Rushdie's writings. There will also be increasing inclination to issue them for frivilous reasons to get famous.

Are liberals awake and listening.

Do we need so many Engineering Colleges? part - II

This is continuation of last post which you can read here. This post presents the other side's view on the topic "Do we really need so many engineering colleges". Do wait for the third and final post on this which compiles the interactive audience rounds of the talk show.

Next speaker in the talk show - resident editor of a leading hindi news paper started with a clear statement - "I am extremely opposed to the idea of having so many engineering colleges".

Quality of Engineers
His argument was that more number of colleges has two impacts. First the quality of education and hence that of the engineers reduces. Second people lose the craze for such careers when they are available in such huge numbers.

The quality angle: Large number of colleges means increasingly colleges produce output who are unable to translate learning into action. Thus one might be generating large number of engineers but they do not meet industry standards.
Further, quality faculty are not available to feed such large number of engineering colleges. This leads to further loss in quality of education.

He referred to incidents when he was in the USA in 1998 some people who were recruited from Indian universities including the the IITs and the IIMs were shown the pink slips because they were unable to perform. So referring to my point of India becoming the source of human capital for the world he said "Serving the world is connected to performance & low quality education cannot bring performances. Thus the intention of becoming the source for human capital remains a far dream"

In fact I meet so many people who get their children to do engieering for a curious reason. So that they can get a good match for their child and also a fat dowry.

Engineers or MBAs
Further he was pained at the trend of engineers increasingly queuing up to become MBAs. According to him the government invests in an engineer and when they get into MBAs it is wasted. India still falls short of needed technical talent. Thus he feels that more engineers just means more managers and thats useless.

Lastly the increased focus on jobs has brought about increased career pressure on the students. There have been cases of suicides in IITs and even an IIM because of this stress. He pointed to the need for parallel development in education.

The last speaker himself an erudite engineer - has taught in all reputed engineering colleges of Indore purely out of passion. Because as a profession he is an industrialst who deals in, guess what, engineering equipments of course. His company Printronics Ltd. supplies indigenously designed electronic gadgetery useful in defence and some sports. Here is what he has to say

Dropping Quality
Already engineering colleges are burgeoning and quality is dropping. Students with less than 50% marks in PET are offered admissions. The quality of today's engineers being churned out is highly doubtful. Thus Engineers often take the job of technicians in the industry. The basic concept of an engineer was that he would design but today's engineers typically get into implementation or supervision jobs. We are no more creating engineers, rather we are printing engineers - "Hum Engineers Chaap Rahe hai"

Lack of Good Teachers
The increased numbers of colleges has created a big vaccum of good teachers. Today fresh engineers who fail to secure a job get recruited as teachers in these engineering colleges. The problem thus is compounded as the students who are taught by these teachers are obviously lacking in their technical understanding. He said that he takes a few engineers in his industry every year for some technical training; However out of 11 colleges in Indore he allows engineers from only three (SGSITS, IET and SVITS) for such training. "I simply cannot trust the quality of others."

Making such teachers teach in colleges is like blunting the creative talents in our youth. That is the reason why India is years behind in technology and it has no research and development base to talk of. Both Japan and India started nation building at approximately the same time however Japan has marched all over us through technical superiority.

Whatever good faculty we had in earlier colleges are now deans in one of those colleges and hence even established colleges do not have enough good teachers. He is himself an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and he pointed out that the IIT had to close down a couple of PG courses as the faculty in that area left.

The need is to have lesser colleges which are closely watched and controlled for ensuring quality delivery of education.

Do we need so many engineering colleges? Part I

I was a participant in a live talk show on this topic last week. This event was held as a part of a college festival and I was one of the four speakers. The format was loosely a copy of the big fight - NDTV. It was great fun and it actually turned out to be more interesting and enlightening then I initially expected. I wish to collatet the thoughts from the show in three parts. Part one & two presents the two sides of the opinion. The third compiles the interactive discussions of speakers, host and the audience. Here goes the part one.

This is what I started with

Indore currently has 15 engineering colleges, 61 is the number all over MP. Just Indore accounts for addition of more than 4500 engineers every year. Under such circumstances its timely to ask whether we need more of such colleges.

Demographic Shift
World is under going a demographic shift that has a tremendous opportunity for India.
Average age of India currently is 23 years while that of the rest of the world is 35+years (data from a seminar by noted economist Amanullah Khan) - after some extrapolation and factoring in life expectancy figures and improved medical facilities, by the year 2050 average age of India would be 38 while that of Europe and the USA will be 55+ years.

Now an age of 25 to 55 is considered working age. This means that majority of the population of India in the coming decades would be in the working age while there will be increasingly a shortage of people in the working age in the currently developed world. Here lies a great potential for India to become the source of human capital for the rest of the wold. Even China does not compete with us on this score as it will also be an old country like the rest of the world.

Underemplyment
However the picture is not all that rosy. India suffers from huge underemployment (not unemployment). Picture this - service sector accounts for 52% of Indian GDP while it employs only 26% of our work force. Industry (manufacturing) accounts for 21% of our GDP while it employs 18% of our work force. The worry therefore is that our farm sector (agriculture) which contributes to the extent of 27% of the GDP employs a whooping 56% of our work force. This means that a large numbers of them are under employed (because there are five people in a family of farmers - all of them work on the same farm - although the work requires only two-three. Thus technically they are employed but are doing and hence earning less per person).

More Colleges would help
Thats why, despite so many people in our country, companies find it hard to get trained skilled manpower. The need of the hour thus is to train this vast unskilled manpower. Not just engineering colleges, we need as many colleges as possible in all disciplines. However we definitely need more engineering colleges because thats where we are generating maximum employment in the organised sector.

Some more data : India has 40 million registered unemployed - obviously they are not engineers. Of a total of 400 million workforce a miniscule 27 million only are in the organised sector.

Other Thoughts
There were three other speakers two of them disagreed with me and one agreed. Let me start with the speaker who agreed with me; An eminent academician director of a leading engineering college in my city

Poor Management
He made a simple & interesting point. According to him the question "do we need so many engineering colleges?" is incomplete. On this question he was firmly of the belief that yes more are needed. He however added that what we need are better managements in these colleges.

In his view the argument that large quantity of colleges result into poor quality education misses the point that the quality of education is poor because of poor management. Adding to my statistics he points out that 11 more engineering colleges are about to open in Indore. One of them could be Dhiru Bhai Ambani institute of technology. He comments that going by their reputation they will be a good engineering college, and thats because there is very little to argue against the fact that college will have a far superior management.

Anyways he feels that even with a poor management we are better off with more engineering colleges. He raises a blunt question - if not engineering what will they do? Are they better off doing a B. Com. which would get them a career? In his view at least engineering education develops one's ability to analyse. This comes in very handy later even in a non-engineering career.

Core Engineering Branches Suffering
He lamented one thing however. The larger number has resulted into dilution of the work profile of an engineer. He says that Engineers are not doing an engineer's job anymore. Most of these engineers are getting selectd in call centers which does not require core technical engineering knowledge. Also the boom of jobs are largely from the IT, BPO related industries while core engineering streams (read civil, mechanical, electrical) are suffering.

What happened to collective wisdom ?

In times of crisis the nation should talk one language. Remember when the Parliament was attacked by some dastardly terrorists - the entire polity came out and condemned it. No body thought of taking political mileage out of the situation.

Contrast this with the response to the varanasi blasts and one understands the desperation that BJP as a party and Advani in particular feels.

What else can one say when the president of the party says that the blasts are a result of policy of Indain Government - and the leader of the opposition in the parliament announces that he will go on a yatra across the country in protest to the blasts.

BJP appears dry of ideas and more significantly it appears distanced from people's feelings too. Is the nation in the mood to accept yet another yatra? It might very well fail as his last one did. Economically and even politically most initiatives have been ceased by the Manmohan/Sonia combination (read this post for more on this). Gauarv has this interesting post on the confusion within the BJP.

More disappointing is the response of the Congress on this. In the same article the congress spokesperson is quoted as saying
Describing the Leader of Opposition as ‘Jinnah Krishna Advani’, Congress spokesman Rajeev Shukla said BJP plans were condemnable as the yatras, which he dubbed as danda yatras (procession that would trigger riots), would only divide the society and affect communal amity. “You have exploited Lord Ram fully. Now at least leave alone Lord Hanuman,” he quipped rejecting the saffron party charge that Congress was practicing vote bank politics and said that the cap fits BJP.

Now, think for a moment . This was another opportunity to paint the BJP in the red by responding in a dignified manner. But by becoming the party to the mud slinging they are hardly doing anything good to themselves.

One wonders what happened to our collective wisdom which always worked in times of crisis? Our politicians need to be responsible. They worsen the situation. At least an Advani needs to rise above these petty political considerations - even at the cost of the fact he may never become the PM of this country.

Manmohanics

Here is the BJP's official response to the Nuclear deal that PM Manmohan singh finalised with the USA during the visit of the US president George Bush. One immediately realises that he is unable to find any thing to criticise about the deal. He digs in deep and leverages his skill with the language to come up with criticisms which mean nothing.

Mr. Jaswant singh says that the Govt. surrendered to the US on two specific counts - one of which is
"The separation plan , reportedly drawn up by the government, will result in two-thirds of the nuclear power plants being placed under IAEA safeguards. Clearly, this will result in a gap on the fissile material available for weapons purposes"

According to him the government also 'surrendered' to the US by agreeing for 'perpetual safeguards' on civil nuclear reactors, a condition he claimed did not apply to nuclear-weapons states.

Jaswant saab you are no more a foriegn minister so can you simplify that language and tell us lesser mortals what those sentences mean in concrete terms.

On the other hand in the same breath you claim "BJP welcomed the advance in India's strategic ties with the US and said it was the NDA government that had initiated the process of a strategic cooperation with the world's only superpower"

Let us for once rise up to the occassion cutting above narrow political interests and party lines and applaud our prime minister for what he has been able to achieve. Times are changing and so must parties - I am sure that there are people out there in your country who would love to vote for your party because you had the courage to give the credit where it is due.

At least the world seems to be recognising this fact quite fast that Manmohan singh in his typically low profile non-invasive style is achieving a rare place in History which lot of others only dream of - take a look at these headlines and you know what I mean.
India makes headlines in US media
Blair hails Indo-US nuclear deal
Japan upbeat on the Nuclear Deal
France hails the Indo-US deal
China reacts cautiously
Australia Continues to ban transfer of Nuclear fuel

In fact in recent times Manmohan singh and team seems to have punctured all opposition within and outside party, government and nation. First Laloo comes up with a Railway budget that surprises everybody, pinches nobody and still seem to move ahead and generates more revenues.

Then came the Union budget. In another post here I wrote how P chidambaram disarmed everyone who was ready to target him & his government by presenting a great budget that creates a balance between the demand of the moment and good economic sense.

And now comes the bush visit when the USA suddenly looks like an old time buddy of India and the warmth between Mr. George Bush and Manmohan Singh brought about the nuclear deal on the dotted line. In all these the media management was impeccable. Manmohanics - manmohan at his best.

Budget 2006 - Marvellous for a different reason

Background to Budget 2006-07
GDP growth 8.1%,
Manufacturing sector at 9.4%
Agricultural growth bounced back to 2.3%
Inflation, as on February 11, 2006 4.02%.

Most critics say of P chidambaram that he missed on an opportunity to present another path breaking dream budget when all things were going right for the economy. J Mulraj in DNA money writes
"When the economy is firing on all cylinders, and when there is no significant political danger, he ought to have delivered a speedboat budget, charging ahead on reforms with visionary fervour. Instead, he chose to cruise along with a paddle, on a gondola, serenading taxpayers and investors with soft words."

True - this analysis. We all did expect another dream budget from him given the charged up state that India seems to be in, however the budget is a marvellous one for an entirely different reason. It does not do anything wrong - no wrong signals. If at all any signals they are the right ones although less impactful. Even the social spending that he has increased is either well targetted or more a result of better packaging of existing schemes. There aren't any NEW money guzzling schemes being offered as sops to win elections.

But why such a placid budget?? The answer is clear to everybody - political compulsions. His dream budgets has made him a hero for corporate companies, financial wizards, economists and what have you. But do remember he is a finance minister of a government who won election against a "shining India" campaign. And how did they counter that campaign? With an "aam Aadmi" campaign. Whether he liked by the aam aadmi (the common man) in the same way is a million dollar question to this government.

Now don't get me wrong. His policies, dream budgets, great growth, is surely benefitting the common man. The question is that percieved so by the common man. Our Finance minister faced a situation where the left was eagerly waiting to spew anger and leverage it politically if he takes a few bold steps. Internally within the congress there is discomfort about allowing the initiative for the "aam aadmi" to be ceased by the left. So what does a FM do in such a situation? The best he can do is let a performing economy keep performing on its own by ensuring that he does not derail the process in any way. He has done just that.

Former finance minister yeshwant sinha says in the Times of India 1st March 2006
"The economy is already on autopilot. But the FM has certainly missed a golden opportunity to make a paradigm shift from 8 to 10% annual growth rate. Alas, he has proved to be a God of small things. There is no big piture in this Budget."

So you see there is nothing that opposition has to bang on the Government's head. Suddenly the left has been left speechless. They cannot claim much that they brought to the people through demands in the budget because actually there is nothing that the FM does through this budget. He has just disarmed everybody. He did not give in to any demand that results in any reversing the economic reforms. And he keeps everyone happy by focussing better on Agriculture, Indstry and social infrastructure - exepenses which no one will disagree.

J Mulraj however says in the same piece
"Part of this is because we, the people, are tolerant and accept the excuse of inability to act due to ‘political expediency’. By doing so, we only give politicians more wiggle room for inaction................The government, by cowing to Left pressure, is doing the nation a disservice. We, the people, by accepting the excuse of political compulsion and by not protesting loudly enough, are doing our children a disservice..."

This is passionate and comes from a person whose heart is in the right place - but then let me ask a question wouldn't all of us want the current dream team to govern us for more than this term? Wouldn't it be appropriate that they sold themselves to electorate too? If they do that without hurting the economic process - what more can one ask for?

Lets not make this sound as if a very big opportunity has been lost - its been delayed by a year. We can wait - the economy can sustain & even grow on its own for some time - if its not messed up with. Thats what the FM seems to have done.

Hate Mail or Unpopular Opinion

A few danish Cartoons have generated a grave controversy across the world strengthening the divide between Muslims & Non-Muslims. There has been violent backlashes resulting into ceased trades with "culprit" nation, or attacking their embassies in various countries so on and so forth. The Denmark government took a stand that the paper is well within its rights of freedom of expression guaranteed by the nation. Jyllands-Posten however apologised for the publishing of cartoons. A few newspapers in Norway and France also published the cartoons in question. In nutshell the issue has sparked the debate on the gray areas surrounding freedom of experssion, religious sentiment and need for sensitivity in communicating differences of opinions. Some interesting perspectives

Rajeev Dhavan in Times of India (Feb 16th 2006, Mumbi City Edition) writes
“There is a difference between ‘unpopular speech’ and ‘hate speech’. Only the former must be protected. Hate speech consists of deliberate and intentional attempt to insult and wound sensitivities of a group and community with intent of inciting strong reaction or knowing that disorder may foreseeably follow. Many legal systems treat racist, communal and sexist speech as impermissible hate speech. India is no exception.”

Sounds right isn’t it? Sample this

Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar writes (The Sunday Times, 12th Feb 2006) in a delightfully candid manner
“I congratulate the Danish government for standing firm, insisting that its media have freedom, and refusing to apologise. Somebody has to stand up for basic freedom. The protesters reject the sanctity of free speech. Amazingly, traditional guardians of civil liberties have remained muted or silent: they seem to think that a hard line will simply spark more violence. This is not just spineless, it is an insult to my religion of liberal atheism.”

In the larger debate the issue has taken the shape of a debate between protection of Right to freedom of expression and unacceptability of hate speech specially against a religion or community.

Writes Rajeev Dhawan
"Many legal systems treat racist, communal and sexist speech as impermissible hate speech. India is no exception. Communal hate speech is criminalised by the Indian Penal Code (Sections 153A and 294A) and liable to be banned (Section 95 of the Cr PC) and subject to customs bans. "

Isn't it amazing!! while I was aware that this is true in the indian context but I never thought that this can be a matter of debate or even a difference of opinion. And then Ravi Kiran Rao wrote this thought provoking post on his blog. He concludes "I’ve heard it said that the right to free speech cannot be absolute, that the government should have the power to make exceptions to this right on a case by case basis, on pragmatic grounds. But it seems to me that the right to free speech in the US works only because it is absolute. If we make an exception for one case, people cite it and ask for an exception for themselves too. If the government can restrict free speech by passing laws, politicians will get elected by promising their constituents that they will expand the restriction to cover their concerns too. Free speech survives only because it is an absolute right. "

Come to think of it thats a great point - if there are ifs & buts to the right to express one self freely then will it remain "free speech".

Now read what Rajeev Dhavan Says
"there is a vast difference between opposing bans and supporting contents of all and any free speech. Voltaire's famous aphorism defends the right to free speech but does not prevent civil society from denigrating its contents. We may defend the right to publish unpopular, even provocative, speech while condemning certain statements of free speech as disgusting. In doing so, we would simply be confronting free speech with free speech."

Specific to the cartoon controversy Rajeev's article comments
"In the cartoon controversy, it would not have been contradictory for the Danish prime minister to extol freedom of press but condemn the cartoons themselves. Jyllands-Posten was right in apologising for the cartoons. Their re-republication by other newspapers was necessarily provocative in the worst traditions of free press. Diplomatic protests and cessation of trade ties may fall within the scope of symbolic retaliatory free speech. But violent protests are beyond permissibility."

This line of argument tend to suggest that freedom of expression can't be a license to insult religious communities. Swaminathan disagrees quite bluntly
"The fact is that every religion is an insult to somebody. The Hindu scriptures and dharma shastras unquestionably insult lower castes, women, and foreigners (who are called mlechhas, on par with untouchables). The Bible is an insult to Jews, who from the start were appalled by Christ’s claim to be a Messiah. Mohammed’s claim to be a prophet is similarly insulting to Christians. Hindus are called heathen and kaffirs respectively by Christians and Muslims, and both are insulting terms. Can the answer be for people from all religions and castes to attack and maim one another? Liberal atheists like me hold freedom of expression to be sacred, and tolerance of opposing views to be a fundamental duty. Our religion says that we can and do insult one another all the time in various ways. You can and should object when you feel insulted, I certainly do so. But the duty of tolerance means you cannot use violence or revenge as a means of protests: you should find other ways."

Rajeev Dhawan has a fine line of distinction on the issue. He concludes
"While espousing the case for an individualist right of free speech, we are not entirely liberated from the responsibility of collective governance in a fair and just manner. This is not an invitation to extreme forms of censorship. But, it does mean that the collective conscience does not have to be silent. Censor minimally, but condemn forcefully. It is part of free speech to meet irresponsible free speech with responsible condemnation."

Another interesting point of view from SHIV VISVANATHAN is on the thinking of the "two sides" of this debate. He comments in the Times of India"The cartoon controversy reminds one of a schizmogeretic situation........ The debate has been deluged with editorials. We have essays on freedom of press, on profundity of faith, on why secular citizenship can’t yield to ethnic pressure. Analysis of this kind operates within fixed frames. Firstly, it is read consciously as a clash of religions particularly of Islam and Christianity. Secondly, it is seen as irrational faith confronting liberal secularism. ........There is an implication that Islam is Third World and ethnic and suffering from a touch of inferiority or defeat. Alternatively, the liberal West is projected as mature, superior and content within the rule of law. The opposition becomes one of identity politics Vs citizenship, law Vs vigilantism and reason Vs obscurantism."

It doesn’t take a Chomsky to realise that the western press can be hypocritical ...... But it takes wisdom to see that freedom and hypocrisy go together. The cartoons reflect Orientalism at its worst. But freedom of press is part of a large vision of democracy and the current situation will benefit neither side. If France, England and Germany want to survive as democracies, they must rework their liberalism to understand that they are not homogeneous societies but multiethnic, multireligious and multicultural societies which have to go beyond tolerance as disengagement to plurality as engagement. Islamic groups must also realise that freedom and faith will feed on each other and Europe might produce a new and creative variant of Islam like India and Indonesia did."

Some observations
There is a consensus (atleast among the intelligensia) that the violent reactions to the cartoons (allegedly from the muslims) is unacceptable in a civilian society

However - the world seems to be divided on the question of what constitutes free speech and how much of it should be allowed. Should it be absolute or moderate sensorship is actually needed? Should free speech be redefined at least in a context where sensibilities of larger masses is involved?

In this context can pornography (specially the explicit and some times psychic ones), hate speeches and writings and also targetted maligning campaigns be considered exercising of free speech. An example is the suicide by a student of IIM-Lucknow who died trying out a variety of method of hanging that he read about on a website. Could such incidences be handled better by a minimal censoring.

It is OK to talk of freedom to express as an absolute right in the world of journalism and that of bloggers, however the real world is different - however much we reject this theory. No right is actually absolute. One can talk of rights being absolute only in the world where people understand and live by their duties. In this sense itself ANY right cannot remain absolute. The day I decide not to care about my duties and just assert my rights as absolute I become a problem (for the society and for those who espouse this philosophy). That is what is wrong with freedom of expression as an absolute right.

Coloured Ways of Life

Came across this absolutely great piece through chain mails that circulate in few groups of which I am a member. I do not know the name of the author.

According to the mail "This poem was nominated poem of 2005 for the best poem, written by an African.........amazing thought!!!"

When I born, I Black,
When I grow up, I Black,
When I go in Sun, I Black,
When I scared, I Black,
When I sick, I Black,
And when I die, I still black..

And you White fella,
When you born, you Pink,
When you grow up, you White,
When you go in Sun, you Red,
When you cold, you Blue,
When you scared, you Yellow,
When you sick, you Green,
And when you die, you Gray..

And you calling me Colored ?????????

The greatness of the stuff lies in the simplicity with which it makes a severe impact on once thoughts. There is a sort of innocence in the way its written - like its written by a hurt child. The hurt is so plainly put that it disarms. I am sure poets don't write such stuff - its natural.