Wednesday

I can’t remember the last time that I did something that really mattered.
I can’t remember the last time that I did something.
I can’t remember the last time.
I can’t remember.
I can’t.

8:48 a.m. is the threshold time. The alarm has been ringing, at 5-minute regular intervals, for quite some time now. All that does not matter any more. This is the absolute latest that I have to get out of bed. I would have the luxury of not having to do six tasks at the same time if I had responded to any one the prior alarm rings. Who needs such luxuries? Every moment of being able to actually avoid starting the day seems precious in itself.

9:34 a.m. I push the heavy frosted glass door open and get sucked into a maze of non-ergonomic furniture, demanding clients, crashing computers, harsh lighting, over sweetened weak tea, faux coffee, sixty three phone calls that offer me loans- insurance- free –credit- cards- broadband –Internet- connections-club-memberships and much more, moments of
boredom,
concentration,
thinking,
forgetting,
remembering,
working,
feigning,
stalling,
trying,
succeeding,
failing,
occasional bursts of intense frustration and
rare moments of satisfaction.

7:00 p.m. I am chilled to the bone from the excessive air-conditioning and bleary eyed from having stared at a computer monitor unblinkingly. For most of nine and a half hours. And some more of the vital life force that keeps me alive has been inexorably squeezed out. At the current rate of squeeze out, I wonder how long before it is all squeezed. It is too late in the day for advanced mathematics.

8: 53 p.m. Still, a little more than three hours of my “own” time left. I lie comfortably numb in front of the television-VH1 in very low volume- and revel in the freedom to any absolute thing. Except that I seem to have lost the power to move my limbs. Out the corner of my eye (I roll my eyeballs, it is too much work to turn my head) I can see a stack of books.
The corrections-Jonathan Franzen
Gilead –Marilynne Robinson
Argumentative Indian-Amartya Sen
Aunt Julia and the scriptwriter-Maria Vargas Llosa
The global Soul-Pico Iyer
They all look so inviting. I try to move my aching limbs to reach to one. I try really hard.

8:55 p.m. I don’t think I can reach the books.

8: 57 p.m. Three minutes to Grey’s anatomy. Story of a group of surgical interns-including an ex-underwear model as a current struggling intern and we get to see the back story visually-working gazillion hour shifts, yet, somehow looking like highly paid TV stars working on their acceptance speech for the Emmy award for best ensemble cast in a drama series. Who can watch something so cheesy?

8:59 p.m. The remote is practically in my hand. Switching from channel 72 to channel 14 seems within the realm of possibility for aching limbs.

9:04 p.m. The horrible betrayal of having traded Amartya Sen for Ellen Pompeo and Patrick Dempsey-not cute as is being widely claimed- is sending waves of guilt raging through my entire body.

9:12 p.m. It may be cheesy. But, this soundtrack is really good stuff. I must hunt this title track on the net tomorrow. Did Ellen Pompeo get an Emmy for this?

11:48 p.m. God, these Friends reruns are still so funny.

12:10 a.m. I can't remember the last time that I did something that really mattered.

We, the people

It is a good thing that I have only a few readers because I think that I am going to be lynched for what I am about to say. However, I am confident about my line of thinking. So, I am going to do it anyway.

I have been receiving a lot of “forwarded” emails questioning the intellect of Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh and in general lampooning the concept of “reservations”. I have no reliable information on whether or not the good minister is a moron. Further, I do not know too much about the merits of reservations/ affirmative action either. I have not read any study on whether such actions have really benefitted the target group. So, I don’t know if it is a good or a bad idea. I don’t even know if “reservations” as they happen in India constitute affirmative action.

What I do know is that we can never solve any problems if we do not identify and define the problem correctly to start with. And I do think we are missing several points in this respect.

For starters, it does seem quite silly to think that Arjun Singh’s actions are driven by any deep affinity for backward communities or the concept of “reservations” in itself. I don’t think Mr. Singh cares two hoots for reservations and let us not think that he does. It is more reasonable to assume that his motive is in pleasing a large block of voters who will hopefully vote him to power.

I don’t think the actual agenda of any politician is reservations for backward communities, the distribution of large quantities of free colour televisions and computers or banning “The Da Vinci code”. They are hoping that these actions will help them win the support of a certain section of the electorate which will then vote them into power. To just mock the stupidity of these ideas is stupidity in itself. If we send the message that we think such ideas suck-by voting the proponents of these bad ideas out of power-then politicians will be compelled to make good choices.

I do believe that an irrational electorate that is subject too much “group think” and little common sense is the partial cause of bad political decisions.

Let us take the example of oil prices. The prices of oil are governed by the global forces of demand and supply. No politician in Delhi has any role in this (except beyond fixing import tariffs). Yet they routinely get blamed for price rises. The “economically sensible” thing would be a price hike from time to time. Keeping the prices artificially low through subsidies is just distorting the economy. Yet, not the most sensible politician can dare to raise prices even if he/she knows that it is the right thing to do so. Where do people think these subsidies come from anyway? Is not the protesting public at least a little bit culpable for bad decision making in this instance?

Back to the subject of reservations, I see much support for the concept of reservations based on economic need and not on caste. It is naïve and purblind to think that people in India are not discriminated on the basis of caste and that every citizen in this country has access to the same resources and has equal opportunities. Let’s get real. Does a bright young person from a backward caste in rural India have the same opportunities as an equally bright urban forward caste youngster in this country? I should think not.

I am not supporting “reservations” as it being currently implemented. This is just a blatant vote bank politics gimmick. But, some special action and spending targeted towards certain communities to create a more level playing field is important. We cannot let our objection to the concept of reservations lose sight of a good goal.

More importantly, we cannot let any group of self absorbed individuals from elitist institutions who have no grip on the real problems facing the country usurp our attention towards the cause of maintaining the pristine integrity of their institutions. As important as that cause is, it is relatively trivial.

We need new ideas. We need better ideas. But, where is it going to come from if people spend their time forwarding emails that call Arjun Singh a moron?