Arthshastra

In December 2001, Enron – a high and mighty US corporation that was at one point of time, the seventh largest in the country, and whose executives were hailed as the gurus of the new economy, filed for bankruptcy. Yesterday, on May 25th, 2006 – within five years of its implosion, two of its highest executives were deemed to be guilty in what possibly was the culmination of an unprecedented era of corporate greed and dishonesty in the US.

However, there is an unusually bright lining in this dark cloud and it is that the justice system still works in the US. Whether it be a once highly respected congressman (Randy “Duke” Cunningham), a highly influential leader (Tom Delay - under investigation) or now, in the case of Enron – former pals of the current President Bush – the message is clear that if you are guilty of wrongdoing, then you will be prosecuted and you will be punished. It also proves another of my beliefs – that the US might have a large number of corrupt officials and leaders at the highest levels, but the country is kept on track by the honesty and law abiding nature of a majority of its citizens. In this case, these were the career prosecutors at the Justice Department and ordinary citizens who were members of the jury who stuck to their jobs with utmost honesty.

What lessons are there for India in the prosecutions and guilty verdicts of the past couple years in the US? It is famously said that “justice delayed is justice denied” – but in the Indian justice system – justice is denied because justice IS denied. After all, how many cases can you recall in which influential people were caught, prosecuted and punished? If you want a simple comparison with the Enron case, imagine Subroto Roy (of Peerless chit-fund and Sahara India fame) being caught and punished for financial irregularities when Amar Singh (shudder-shudder) is the Prime Minister of India.

There might be any number of text messaging campaigns to get justice and NDTV might use any number of them to improve its ratings, but the bottom line remains the same – the criminal justice system in India is hopelessly overwhelmed. While there might still be some reprieve in the famous and higher level cases which get considered by the Supreme Court – even at slightly lower levels, the system is absolutely rotten. The lesson in this verdict for India is simple – no country can ever claim to be great or progress too much without a justice system that works.

CNN is reporting:

A decorated Marine colonel turned anti-war congressman has said Marines killed at least 30 innocent Iraqi civilians “in cold blood” in Haditha in November, suggesting the death toll may be twice as high as originally reported.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, told reporters Wednesday that he got his information from U.S. commanders, who said the investigation will show that the Marines deliberately killed the civilians.

If proved to be true, this could be another blow to the US reputation in the region and provide more fodder to the Islamist insurgents in their propoganda against the US.

As if the colorful yarns spun on screen were not enough to keep people engaged, there has always been a parallel track of extra-marital affairs and spicy romances in Bollywood, some of which have far exceeded the drama and passion of anything that you would ever see on screen. Yesteryear couples like Dev-Suraiya and Raj Kapur-Nargis have been matched by Amitabh-Rekha, Ramu-Urmila and Boney-Sridevi in more recent times. Most of these romances have been mutually beneficial contracts with men utilizing their traditional power and influence in the industry in exchange for presumably stolen, steamy moments away from the prying eyes of their family and fans in offshore locations (Dev-Suraiya was an exception where Suriaya provided both the glamour and the power in the relationship). Women of course have benefited by landing some of the roles that they arguably would have never gotten otherwise. These romances do not fall under the category of casting couches because they usually last much longer and many times end up in marriages as well. Legendary Bollywood Couples

Well, it seems to me that there might be a new twist in the traditional role of males as a purveyor of power and influence and casting (as a director-producer or an influential star) his favorite actress in the leading role (euphemistically called the muse). As I sat watching pictures of Gurinder Chadha and Aishwarya Rai this morning at the announcement of their new movie, Dallas, I wondered why this one movie wonder (Bend It Like Beckham) keeps on torturing us? It is bad enough that the movies are sold as India’s cultural representations, what makes them insufferable is to first see the plastic maiden, Aishwarya Rai, act in them and then preen around on foreign shores with her fake smile and dimwit answers as a symbol of India. Bride and Prejudice, The Mistress of Spices and now Dallas – when does it end and why does Gurinder do it?

Then it struck me, in my eureka moment. Why did Ramu caste Urmila, a garish and unsophisticated actress before Rangeela and gave her an extreme makeover? Why did Boney Kapoor keep plunking money down Sridevi’s broad nose until it was sculpted into something sharper than a parrot’s beak? Why did Amitabh fall for Rekha in her pre-yoga/pre-plastic surgery days?

It’s love silly! What else could it be? That faith that Gurinder has in Aishwarya almost seemed touching after this realization (“maybe this time she will be able to act”). So now on one hand, we have Gurinder in a position of power and able to land plum roles for Aishwarya; on the other hand is Aishwarya, finally far away from abusive and accusive boyfriends like Salman and Vivek (or Viveik if you will!), and finding a father figure in Gurinder and together they make kitsch like never before (do they make love also like never before?). I am sure Deepa Mehta must be giddy with anticipation over the screenplay for this one (a single word movie title anyone?). Moreover, it might open the doors to a whole slew of women-women relationships in Bollywood, after all there are plenty of women who now have power to wield in the industry.

Will they be a legend as the couples above?

But I digress. Coming back to Gurinder and Aishwarya, I feel that we must keep faith in love. Like Urmila’s transformation from Chamatkar to Rangeela, like Rekha’s from Saawan Bhadon to Silsila and Sridevi’s from Tohfa to Lamhe – there might still be a movie that Gurinder will make for her, maybe a remake of The Young and The Restless, when Aishwarya will finally be able to act. They say that love can perform miracles and this certainly would be one miracle worth waiting for.

Every country’s people have a date with destiny. For modern democracies, that date comes in the form of an election day and probably its mundane and quiet feel makes people underestimate its importance. For people in earlier societies, the only form of changing their destinies was a violent revolution and voting in a booth definitely does not compare to the way a revolution can appeal and stir the raw human emotions.

For US, that date came in 2004 when despite knowing everything that they did at that time about President Bush, they chose to reelect him. It has been just over a year since his second inauguration and the country is now mired in a deep buyer’s remorse, wringing hands over the incompetence of this administration. Well, if you had your eyes open you’d have seen this coming when you were in that goddamned voting booth.

For India, that date was during these assembly elections. Just like the US elections affect the entire world because the US wields so much power in the world, elections in West Bengal affect the entire country because that’s where the communists get their power to be an irritant for the entire country. One would have thought that after seeing left’s role as a perennial road blocker on national scene (I personally prefer the term “pissu”), and their pathetic performance in their own backyard, the voters in West Bengal would strip these guys of their power. Alas, that was not to be – not only did they have a resounding win in West Bengal. They stormed back to power in Kerala too. If you thought that the things were bad until now, wait to see what happens next. Already, the pronouncements coming out from the left wing are ominous.

India is on its way to great economic might but despite all the hype and hoopla, the journey has only just begun and the leftists are keen to throw the baby out the baby with the bath water. It is sad that the destiny of the entire country might be altered because of the prevailing stupidity in West Bengal and Kerela.