Appoint PPC as Director of KGP – Request from a student and an alumnus

I am sure most people reading this post would have heard about the controversy surrounding the appointment of the next Director of IIT Kharagpur. If not, let me give a brief background here. Prof. P.P. Chakraborti (“PPC”) was selected to become the next Director of IIT Kharagpur however since then a controversy has arisen falsely implicating him with an old CBI case which has led to delay in CVC clearance. Please remember that he has been cleared by the Board of Governors (“BoG”), the highest body of the institute on multiple occasions. Nonetheless, if they can prove him guilty, I am all for rejecting his appointment and if required, even punishing him as per law. But, they know he is completely innocent and hence instead of closing the case, it is being delayed under the guise of investigation as that allows people with vested interests to jeopardize his appointment as the Director.

PPC is an embodiment of simplicity. I remember a small personal instance wherein I had met him during my counseling session - my first day of entering KGP. I had no idea what stream to choose, so I asked him. He told me to go by my career goal / stream preference. When I told him that I have no clue about the same, he simply smiled and said then go for a stream which is closest to your subject preference (out of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics which we study for engineering entrance). Since I loved Mathematics, I chose Computer Science and till date, I think it was the best decision I could have made.

Let us leave my personal anecdotes and think independently of what qualities and attributes one would desire for in a Director of an esteemed institute such as IIT KGP – vision, dedication and track record of achievement. I think PPC possesses all these attributes and has displayed the same over last three decades at every level.

Vision: PPC has been the brain and the force behind multiple achievements of the Institute such as establishment of VLSI Lab (much ahead of many others), a strong research oriented formal verification group (of which I had the fortune of being associated with for a brief period), growth of Sponsored Research & Consultancy (SRIC) and Entrepreneurship Cell (E-Cell) at KGP. He has an ability to think and implement plans which seem out of the realm of reality to most others. He has helped the institute build independent sub-institutions which have served as strong foundations of growth.

Dedication: PPC as a Gold medalist from IIT KGP could have gone to any Ivy league top tier college such as MIT, Berkeley, Princeton for his PhD or to work as a faculty. However, he chose KGP ahead of all and has dutifully and selflessly served the institute forever. I think even his worst of enemies cannot question his love and dedication for the institute.

Track record of achievement: I remember even 10 years ago, we used to say in the institute that PPC has achieved everything that is there to achieve – whether it be President’s Gold Medal (Institute Rank – 1), Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (one of the youngest to achieve the same) or the youngest person to become HoD of Computer Science or a Dean in the institute. He has achieved these feats by sheer hard work and dedication, unmatched by anyone else.

I think PPC as a Director would really take the institute to the next level and in fact, make it the model institute of higher education in the country which every college would like to emulate. He has displayed an undying spirit of hard work and dedication and has a track record of excellence at every level - as a student, as a faculty member, as a Head of the Department and as a Dean. Love and respect for him among students, alumni and faculty alike can be easily seen in the united efforts all these communities are putting in to ensure his appointment as a Director. After all, what does an institute comprise of – if not, its students, alumni and faculty who are demanding for PPC’s appointment in unison.

I believe KGP would be fortunate to have a person of such eminence as its Director and appointment of PPC at the earliest would definitely go down as the best decision MHRD would have taken for the institute in a long time.

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Can't say Sorry

The so-called intellectuals and elite of the society along with the English media have been clamouring for his head for more than 10 years, they have been asking at the top of their voice - why can't he say SORRY?

They want an apology, they have been saying it is basic courtesy that he owes to thousands of riot victims. Don't you say when you meet someone who is in grief - I am sorry to hear that ....so why can't he say SORRY?

But, I would like to remind my English speaking friends that in Hindi (the language most often used by him), when we meet someone who is in grief, we say मुझे दुःख है and we do not say that मुझे माफ़ कीजिये . He has already said time and again that what happened in 2002 was unfortunate, it was sad but he does not feel the need to say SORRY because he did no wrong.

Can't he just say sorry to please the media? He won't because he believes one needs to ask for pardon only for one's faults. An apology, a SORRY would be construed as an admission of guilt, an admission of failure which for a heinous crime such as the cold-blooded murder of thousands of Hindu and Muslim brothers should be punished and not pardoned. I would say punish him if he is found guilty. Jurisprudence states that one is innocent until proven guilty but in his case, it has been - he is guilty despite proven innocent.

This media trial of painting him as the mass murderer must stop, at least now when the SIT under the highest court of this country has found him to be innocent and when the Gujarati people (the highest force in a democracy)  have time and again reposed their faith in him. Even after this, in case there are new facts which anyone can bring to the fore, I would request Congress , Tehelka and others to support him, to go to the judiciary to reopen the case, to request the courts and the President to dismiss his government if required to ensure a fair trial. But, a baseless media bashing must stop.

All this aside, I would agree that the puppy analogy was not the best choice of example for showing his compassion in the interview.

Phoenix - The Long Road Ahead in Uttarakhand

Thanks to the tireless efforts by thousands of army and IAF personnel, the rescue work should be completed  within next few hours. The question is what next?

Our politicians would announce numerous relief packages of hundreds of crores which would turn out to be scams of hundreds of crores few years later. Numerous studies would be commissioned and so-called intelligentsia would be employed to churn out meaningless reports. These reports would then be rubbished by the rival groups and then the incident would be washed out of the public memory - Kahani Khatam, just like a nice movie / novel which one watched on news channels or read in newspapers.

But, what about thousands of people who have suddenly become homeless, jobless and grief stricken from the loss of their loved ones by this blow from the Nature. They would keep rotting in over crowded relief camps which provide no relief. They would be completely ignored and forgotten soon except for once in a while, when some enthusiastic journalist would cover their story - that too will happen only if it gets good TRP.

The state needs action, immediate and well-planned action to resurrect and rebuild Uttarakhand - action to fight the adversity, action to create opportunity. In my mind, there can be several initiatives right from ground level to the highest level.

Firstly, Uttarakhand administration needs to gear up to this challenge. They can learn from people who have handled similar situation such as in rebuilding parts of Gujarat after 2001 earthquake. No, I am not making Narendra Modi, the messiah rather I am counting on the various Secretaries and Chief Secretary of the then Gujarat Government (most of whom would have joined services and been promoted under Congress governments). And, I am sure there would be similar experience of rebuilding and rehabilitation elsewhere in the country as well as abroad. Uttarakhand government should immediately build a task force led by such people. And, the action plan must be implemented a the level of every district, taluka and village through collectors, block officers and sarpanchs respectively.

Secondly, the government should reach out to the big corporate houses such as Tatas, Birlas, L&T, etc. with a request to build large industrial townships / economic centers in Uttarakhand. It will provide long term sustainable employment to thousands of people, promote community living and restore peace. Such centers can create tier-1 / tier-2 towns such as Jamshedpur and Bokaro in Jharkhand. The corporate should be incentivized  with proper long term financial sops for their good work. The Govt. on its part can make the path easier by providing the right leadership and support through actions such as all regulatory approvals for such plans within 30 days.

Thirdly, the Govt. must refrain from any knee jerk reaction of making environmental approvals more cumbersome for the industry in the region. If the govt. takes any such regressive step, it would completely paralyze the economy of the state. There should be proper environmental care and control but no red-tapism and bureaucracy since that will achieve nothing other than scaring the industries away and filling up the coffers of the corrupt.

Rehabilitation delayed would be justice denied - this disaster if not rehabilitated properly will send the state back by a few decades. It will destroy many youths, many childhoods...we must save it.

Head still held high but the heart cries: IAF helicopter crash in Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand has been struck with a disaster never seen before - none could have imagined the magnitude of a tragedy of this kind, let alone be fully prepared for it. But, the response of the governments and politicians at such times has been pathetic, ill-timed and frivolous to say the least - ranging from claims of rescuing 15,000 people in a day (I know right wing sympathizers are tirelessly clarifying NaMo never said it...) to people waking up after Spanish vacations to present themselves for photo-ops (Ya Ya, Rahul Baba was celebrating his birthday...na). Congress in a well covered media event sent 126 trucks with relief material  to Uttarakhand flagged by none other than Mrs. Gandhi and Rahul Baba without caring where they are headed. They are today lying stranded in Rishikesh with not knowing where to go, not having enough fuel to go with unscrupulous truck drivers planning to sell relief material as it does not have a planned destination.

I fail to understand why cannot we in this country for once have a united political approach to dealing with a crisis of this kind. Why every politician needs to offer to rebuild temples, why everyone either needs to land to do Rambo acts or explain reasons not to visit.

The only hero of this tragic story is the armed forces - every soldier who has selflessly risked his life and dedicated himself to the rescue efforts which are being conducted successfully on a war-scale braving every odd presented to them whether by the fury of mother nature, bureaucracy of the system, or the cheap netas. The state is unfortunate to have a dwarf leader in Vijay Bahugana at such trying times - he seems completely defeatist and escapist in his statements. The country needs leaders such as IAF Chief NAK Browne whose men stood up and braved the crisis in these times - rotors must not stop till the time Operation Rahat is completed.

I salute the spirit of those men who know that they may lose their own lives while trying to save another soul, who know that their names and photos would never shine in the media, who do not have a golden reward waiting at the end of this, who are not going to benefit from the vote bank in the election year - they just know that this is the war our country is fighting and they are soldiers dedicated to the service of this nation.

I am aghast at the focus on sending tons of wood for religiously proper cremation (as approved by so-called sadhus) of dead men. It is high time that we do the cremation quickly and in a hygienic manner to prevent spread of an epidemic - rather than focusing on the proper rituals, etc. I think it is high time that the country gets its priorities right.

The news channels are asking why the elite and the rich in this country not extending a helping hand? I ask why in this country have we not made a mechanism for sourcing, managing and deploying funds and efforts in an efficient manner to deal with such situations. People are reluctant to make donations many a times because they don't know what proportion of this would really reach the needy and what will become a part of the black money sitting in coffers of bureaucrats, netas, so-called NGOs.

The country needs proper accessible roads in such hilly terrains inter-spaced with helipads to deal with such crisis and make rescue ops easier and faster. Apart from this, the country needs to imbibe crisis management whether it be floods or earthquakes in its DNA. Civil administration should be trained and equipped to deal with crisis and each geography needs to  prepare itself as per its needs.

Lastly, I wish Uttarakhand is rebuilt quickly and prosperity is restored to its people at the earliest.

Soapbox of a PM Candidate - the whole country is watching

Many people have seen the long (listening to a politician for 2 hrs is indeed long) speech and Q&A by Narendra Modi ("NaMo") at the India Today Conclave recently. No, this is not a propaganda blog - I am not a NaMo supporter, though not a NaMo basher either.

This blog came because the event strongly reminded me of the soapbox that used to happen during college elections - how he was trying to gather credit for results that may not be solely attributed to him (Gujarat development is due to the spirit and efforts of millions of Gujaratis and their undying spirit of entrepreneurship), how he was evasive about "sensitive" issues (after 10+ years, still evading the 2002 riots - no SIT / Supreme Court can fight the perception deep-rooted in media and minds), but also how the person makes you sincerely believe that he can really bring a change and better governance.

He may not be the sole driver behind Gujarat's growing GDP but he has indeed great ideas which bring wide-ranging impact touching the lives of everyone. Not many politicians would have the heart to admit that they need to give security of tenure to civil servants and need to let go the tool of "Transfer" for controlling the administrative machinery.

As far as personal corruption is concerned, he does give the impression of Mr. Clean else Madam Gandhi and her sycophants must have dug out hundreds of cases against him over last decade. Also, he is indeed approachable for people who want to bring the real change. I have personally seen him helping Nirmal Kumar who founded G-Auto to bring a change in the whole auto rickshaw ecosystem in Gujarat. Nirmal is not a rich industrialist, not a politician's son - he is a smart and industrious MBA graduate from IIMA who has fought hard to bring a change despite all physical and economic adversities. He is a true example of what NaMo referred to as finding opportunity in adversity.

I personally loved his specific ideas on solar power, waste management, brain storming sessions with civil servants, building self sufficiency and export capability in defense manufacturing, etc. At least, we have a leader who does get into specific ideas, who has the courage to speak up and make efforts to implement - No one succeeds in every effort but we desperately need to get out of the current policy paralysis and a PM who does not speak.  He does raise hope in a manner the way Obama did in his first campaign (how much he delivered is a matter of a separate debate).

But, I do not think the path ahead is so easy for NaMo. NaMo does not have any mantra and the so-called Gujarat model is not an easy one to replicate throughout the country - specially in a coalition government. The situation in rest of the country is different and no one trick can cure all malaise.

I think he would have a tough path to Gaddi but once he gets it and in case he delivers even a small portion of his grand dream, he is set for a long innings. Look at what happened with Nitish govt. in Bihar ( A state where it was earlier told in Lalu / Rabri days that people did not cast their vote but they voted their caste). The equations can change at a faster pace on the ground level than what the so-called intelligentsia and media predict.

I just so strongly wish that we could get to hear the other candidates in a similar soapbox - not only "Maun"mohan Singh but also the other aspirants such as Rahul Baba (it must be sad for a 42 year old to be called "Baba"), Mulayam, Nitish, Arvind Kejriwal as well. But, I know that is not going to happen - the country will still vote not for a leader but for a region, for a caste, for a separate statehood.....another fractured mandate, another round of back room politics for buying "support" and getting "portfolios" - remember Barkha Dutt and Nira Radia tapes.

Will NaMo become a PM? Well, he himself said no astrologer had told that he will become a CM - so we need to keep guessing and waiting.