www.openthemagazine.com 50 28 28 SEPTEMBER / 2020

OPEN VOLUME 12 ISSUE 38 28 SEPTEMBER 2020

contents 28 september 2020

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LOCOMOTIF INDRAPRASTHA MUMBAI TOUCHSTONE SOFT POWER WHISPERER STATECRAFT OPEN ESSAY The new evil empire. By Virendra Kapoor NOTEBOOK Can’t blame the gods Happy Birthday, By Jayanta Ghosal Odisha’s There cannot be Or is it? By Anil Dharker By Keerthik Sasidharan Mr Prime Minister Covid strategy two suns in one sky By S Prasannarajan By Makarand R Paranjape By Amita Shah By Sunanda K Datta-Ray a p

28 28 2020 IS NOT 1962 And China will realise why the hard way if it chooses the military option against India By Maroof Raza

34 WINTER IS COMING The psychological divide between the enemy lines By Manvendra Singh

40 BREAKING THE SHACKLES The government’s immediate problem is finding the resources to meet multiple 40 demands for money By Siddharth Singh

44 44 THE ARSONIST’S ACT Kangana Ranaut plays her biggest role as the demolition diva at Bollywood’s weakest moment By Kaveree Bamzai

48 FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME The rise of online fantasy sport 56 By Ullekh NP

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52 56 58 62 66 THE NEW HERO PITCH PERFECT PRIDE PORTRAITS THE WRONG GIRL NOT PEOPLE LIKE US Actors who bring heaps of talent Musical collaborations Three artists from the The Neapolitan magic is missing A local setting and the whiff of lives well lived across genres make for subcontinent create online in the new Elena Ferrante By Rajeev Masand outside the Bollywood bubble fine onscreen drama works of intimacy By Arshia Sattar By Kaveree Bamzai By Aditya Mani Jha By Chintan Girish Modi

Cover by Rohit Chawla 28 september 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 3 open mail [email protected]

Editor S Prasannarajan letter of the week managing Editor PR Ramesh C executive Editor Ullekh NP Open’s well-researched article chillingly revealed the editor-at-large Siddharth Singh deputy editors Madhavankutty Pillai modus operandi by which drugs are transported and (Mumbai Bureau Chief), converted into currency (‘Guns and Poppy’, September Rahul Pandita, Amita Shah, V Shoba (Bangalore), Nandini Nair 21st, 2020). The most crucial question that this report creative director Rohit Chawla raises is what our agencies are doing? art director Jyoti K Singh Senior Editors Sudeep Paul, Punjab is almost destroyed by drug addiction and the Lhendup Gyatso Bhutia (Mumbai), youth in that state are also slipping into trafficking, of Moinak Mitra, Nikita Doval Associate Editor Vijay K Soni (Web) all sorts. Money spun through drug sales is now find- assistant editor Vipul Vivek ing a new avenue in funding terrorist operations. chief of graphics Saurabh Singh The ongoing case of Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide has SENIOR DESIGNERs Anup Banerjee, Veer Pal Singh brought to the fore the prevalence of drug addiction in Photo editor Raul Irani India’s film industry, with many big, respectable fig- deputy Photo editor Ashish Sharma ures being exposed. However, was this really a revela- National Head-Events and Initiatives tion or have our narcotics agencies turned a blind eye to things worse for the sector. Arpita Sachin Ahuja Chanchal Nandy AVP (ADVERTISING) the problem till Rajput’s death became a national story? Rashmi Lata Swarup Drug addiction is not a problem only among the likes of GENERAL MANAGERs (ADVERTISING) Uma Srinivasan (South) Rajput but it is spread across classes and masses. new beginning Kashmir has had its own share of troubles for a long Rachel Dwyer’s column on National Head-Distribution and Sales Ajay Gupta time and drug addiction is not helping its case. Soon, it retirement and the thrill regional heads-circulation D Charles (South), Melvin George will be facing addiction-related crimes too, as Punjab of a new beginning had a (West), Basab Ghosh (East) has been for so long. We need to get serious about drug very special, appropriate Head-production Maneesh Tyagi abuse and ensure that all channels—international or autumnal hue (‘Ageing in senior manager (pre-press) Sharad Tailang domestic—for smuggling drugs in India are closed by Life and Films’, September MANAGER-MARKETING making their transaction a capital crime. 21st, 2020). The inevitability Priya Singh Chief Designer-marketing Let’s not slip from udta Punjab to udta India. of retirement also highlights Champak Bhattacharjee Bholey Bhardwaj that newer worlds beckon us cfo & HEAD-IT Anil Bisht in old age. Her Hindi film- Chief ExecuTive & Publisher driven narrative segued into Neeraja Chawla life seamlessly. All rights reserved throughout the world. Reproduction in any manner vaccine sci-fi seems to have failed. The Sangeeta Kampani is prohibited. With no medical cure in Serum Institute of India Editor: S Prasannarajan. Printed and published by Neeraja Chawla on behalf sight, the race for a vaccine has made a calculated risk individualist historiography of the owner, Open Media Network Pvt Ltd. Printed at Thomson Press India Ltd, is so intense now that even in investing in the testing Thanks for the nice words 18-35 Milestone, Delhi Mathura Road, Faridabad-121007, (Haryana). lay citizens are becoming and production of the about my book, Published at 4, DDA Commercial stakeholders in the scientific Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine France before 1789: The Complex, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi-110017. process (‘Positive about candidate. The keen public Unravelling of an Absolutist Ph: (011) 48500500; Fax: (011) 48500599 Covid’, September 7th, 2020). interest in the development Regime (‘The Nuts and Bolts To subscribe, WhatsApp ‘openmag’ to 9999800012 or log on to There is political pressure as of the vaccine, the political of History ’, September www.openthemagazine.com or call our Toll Free Number well to expedite tried-and- pressure at play globally and 14th, 2020). However, it 1800 102 7510 tested vaccine development the risks private researchers is not ‘by far, the most or email at: [email protected] processes. Russia has such as the Serum Institute rigorous application For alliances, email [email protected] approved its indigenously are taking make the whole of methodological For advertising, email developed vaccine even affair seem like straight from individualism to a historical [email protected] For any other queries/observations, before the crucial Phase-3 science fiction. event’, as the reviewer has email [email protected] trials. In naming its vaccine CK Ramani tweeted. I think I would cite Sputnik V, it is rekindling the work of Ivan Ermakoff, Disclaimer ‘Open Avenues’ are advertiser-driven marketing memories of the Cold War. print media both his book Ruling Oneself initiatives and Open assumes no responsibility for content and the consequences of using In India, there were reports It is very regrettable that Out: A Theory of Collective products or services advertised in the magazine of the Indian Council of the print media is gradually Abdications and his 2015

Volume 12 Issue 38 Medical Research pushing losing its appeal (‘Open article on the night of August For the week 22-28 September 2020 for an early release of India’s Diary’ by Swapan Dasgupta, 4th, 1789 in American Journal Total No. of pages 68 vaccine candidate Covaxin September 21st, 2020). of Sociology. by August 15th but that plan Covid-19 has only made Jon Elster

4 28 september 2020 LOCOMOTIF

by S PRASANNARAJAN The New Evil Empire. Or is it?

he dramatised documentary, The Social simulated happiness too would demand complete submission Dilemma, streaming on Netflix, asks all the good men, from its inhabitants, whose minds would be programmed women and children out there to save themselves by the developers of the Big Lie. The dissidents then, the from the spell of social media. Damnation by runaway dreamers, didn’t have the luxury of seminar rooms or technology is imminent, it tells us through the earnest docudramas. They went to the Gulag. Freedom was bondage Tvoices of tech dissidents, once the creators of the perfect machine then, as it is now in the new silicon imperium the current for mind control and, today, evangelists for a humanised social dissidents are raging against. The mind was the marketplace network. It reinforces an ethical position on the dictatorship of then, regulated by invisible powers; the mind is what the new algorithms: a great promise has become a curse. The makers of revolutionaries want to monopolise now, warn the dissidents. the show have got Sophocles for endorsement: “Nothing vast Today we are data. Yesterday we were statistics. enters the life of mortals without a curse.” Maybe I’m getting carried away by the humanity of the new The vindication, we have been reminded, is around us. A freedom fighters—the new truth-tellers who lived the thrill and polarised world further fragmented by racism, hate speech, terror of social media. Maybe it’s that, even though I share some Russian troll farms, Chinese data stealers, government of their fears, I’m not convinced. Maybe that I don’t think this is surveillance systems, online Goebbels, fake news, Tucker the new Evil Empire. Maybe it’s that I still refuse to banish a Likes- Carlson, unhinged nationalists, religious zealots, Donald driven society to the psychiatry ward of high morality, even if Trump… . In this dark web we are trapped in, we are both I can feel the sickness sometimes. It’s not Google or Facebook victims and collaborators. We are the infected, and in blissful that poses an existential threat to our civilisation. It’s us, the immersion, we spread the virus. Maybe not; we are the virus. Or damned. A search engine may turn us into useful data, and sell that’s what the dissidents tell us. us to advertisers. Does that make Google a slave trader? Does a I call them dissidents because the world they paint to Like-click make Facebook the arbiter of our personal taste? Have perfection in darker hues is the nearest we have got for an Evil we lost the freedom to be ourselves? Are we what the algorithm Empire. They are the runaway illusionists, and now, burdened wants us to be, nothing more? The Evil of the new Empire is not with a scarred conscience, dissidents telling us why we, the the death of freedom but the possibilities and pitfalls of freedom. users, need to de-addict ourselves. (By the way, as one of them Our minds may be its marketplace, but it’s also an indication of points out, only the consumers of drugs and social media are how far we have come to define our freedom even at the risk of called ‘users’.) They were the believers, the builders, and the losing our identity. Is there much point in playing a self-pitying dreamers. They built a system the magic of which kept them in Frankenstein when you are the monster too? permanent creative mode, pushing them to the farthest frontiers Evil becomes compatible with this empire only when it of technology, and they were enthralled by its never-ending borrows its sanitisation tools from the pre-technology era. possibilities. They played god, for they knew more about us than When, defying the objectivity of algorithms, it creates its own we did about ourselves. They had the diagrams of our behaviour, political morality. When YouTube exiles a Hoover Institution the trajectory of our impulses. They took permanent residency fellow and a Trump adviser for his views on the coronavirus within our heads. Then they realised they were in the wrong that contradict the WHO. There are more such stories: the place. They realised they were the architects ideological mission of social media can of the Evil Empire. They fled as humanity be as bad as indoctrination by data. The beckoned. To borrow a phrase from a great Evil Empire is evil when it behaves like an dissident, they are now “living in truth”. empire. Empires maintain the order of the The original Evil Empire—Reagan holds righteous. It’s not a libertarian defence of the copyright to the phrase—too was built on social media; it’s about the false morality of a dream. The genealogy of the Soviet Union adding new items to the list of the sacred. is the story of the most liberating dream man It’s about bringing social media closer to ever dreamt: heaven on earth. The empire of socialist media. n

28 september 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 5 INDRAPRASTHA virendra kapoor

hey say variety is the country of adoption. The corona-hit Tspice of life. Well, what Covid-19 group, now dispersed all over the has done is it has virtually snuffed globe and all in their early 70s, have out variety from my life. Like a robot, one hell of a Zoom session, reliving the daily routine has got etched in their student days over single malts stone these six miserable months and Black Labels. Yours truly, after of the pandemic. Unchanging from observing complete abnegation in day to day, week to week, why me, the first few months, is fortunate nobody in government here in New to have an old college buddy report Delhi or in Washington, London or every Saturday for an in-person Paris, for that matter, has a ghost of drink and dinner session—of an idea when humankind… well, course, with all the social distancing leave out China where it all began possible at home. Yet, every other but which has managed to subdue pandemic given the astronomical week when the urge to stir out has the little devil of a pathogen… will demand for its iodine gargle—up proven irresistible, I have ventured be able to return to normal sans the to an hour-and-a-half is spent on tea out for a round of Connaught Place, fear of the killer infection hovering and the eight general and business my old haunt where my day began over our heads. I suppose, in the dailies. After breakfast, yours truly with an adda with a few journalists, meantime, I am condemned to is on the desktop with at least six politicians and lawyers over cups of stick to my routine. Which begins major regional dailies to devour cona coffee at a popular restaurant with some 30-40 minutes spent on for significant developments with for 30 unbroken years, to pick up the the stationary cycle with one of the a bearing on the region’s politics. shammi kebabs and chocolate fudge morning papers on the handlebar A Kolkata paper in this regard from the old and trusted Wenger’s. to keep away the tediousness of gets the top billing, not only for an Which I must say is not only pedalling aimlessly while staring occasional story showing the state particular about restricting entry at the wall in front. I must say after government in poor light but also to a maximum five at any given the initial few weeks following the for a rare story which may depict the time for social distance inside but March lockdown, when the dailies Central Government in anything insisting on taking each customer’s had lost their heft in more ways than other than poor light. Somehow temperature and sterilising hands at one, most of them are regaining their the day passes without much the door. Business is down to 40 per earlier mojo, though they are still tedium given that the afternoons cent from the pre-Covid-19 days, but thinner due to the sharp contraction are devoted to my old Mumbai at least the footfalls are growing each of the economy. Indeed, wonder paper. Frankly, the evenings do get passing day. Now with the restart of what the dailies would have done unbearably tortuous when you the Metro, hopefully Delhi will shed without a Chief Minister like Arvind can neither go out for a drink to the its diffidence and open its pocket— Kejriwal. Really, he is proving to be club or call someone over. After to help Nirmala Sitharaman tide a boon. I find something missing the forced abnegation of the initial over a part of the revenue loss due if I don’t find Kejriwal staring at months of the pandemic, some of to the lockdown. One reason the me from my morning papers. my friends now hold Zoom drinking economy has taken a hit is the sharp Happily, he has now got himself sessions every week. A close friend drop in discretionary spending. a new photograph in a stark blue who retired as a secretary to the GoI Speaking for myself, income has shirt. Sorry, I wandered. So, after has earmarked Fridays for what shrunk by 15 per cent but the the aerobic exercise followed by the can be a called a Zoom adda. In their discretionary spending on eating mandatory steam-breathing and respective homes, each sits with his out, splurging on a whim is down gargling with the branded iodine drink and chats for 60-90 minutes to zero. Sitharaman wants you to go germicide mixture—the little- with close friends, including one out and spend. I will if my doctors known pharma firm in Rajasthan in Canada who joins with a glass of give me the go-ahead. Of that, thus has hit the jackpot during the beer since it is breakfast time in his far there is no sign. n

6 28 september 2020 Mumbai Notebook Anil Dharker

uess what. We Mumbaikars depressives are wont to, did you or I Glive not just in Maximum City, know that the good-looking, talented but the city is in the Maximum State. actor was Bihari? An actor is either Sadly, it is not a joyful claim: a good actor or a bad actor, and the Maharashtra’s coronavirus count place of his birth is of interest only to rose to over a million on September his biographer. Do you know where 11th, making it the only state, Dilip Kumar was born? Or Shah Rukh province or region in the world to Khan? Or Nutan? Or Vidya Balan? We cross this grim milestone. We now open (which isn’t saying much if you in Maximum City, inured to this ultra- have our own 9/11. compare it with our Maximum City), regionalism, came to know about If you like statistics, even bleak but all round, it certainly was more Rajput’s origin only when the Bihar ones, here’s one more: If Maharashtra pleasant. Two things were immedi- police descended on Mumbai, setting were a country, it would rank No 5 ately obvious. First, its main street— off a turf battle with their local in the world in terms of the number which could be well called Maganlal counterparts. The rest is hardly of Covid-19 cases. For comparison, Chikki street because every shop history, but fodder for apoplectic TV the second worst in states around sells nothing else—was deserted and anchors who threaten to pop a nerve the world is Brazil’s São Paulo with almost every shop was shuttered on their shows (but sadly never do). 874,754, followed by California with down. The second, everyone wore In all this, a Mint interview with a 753,016, Texas with 677,888 and a mask. It says something about retired police officer in the Mumbai Florida with 654,723. Maharashtra’s the stupidity of the world that this anti-narcotics cell gave a rational first Covid-19 case was reported on simple fact should be remarkable. perspective. Suhas Gokhale said it March 9th; just 187 days later, the state In Mumbai, certainly, the mask is was unprecedented that three central became the first in this most undesir- seen as an optional accessory. agencies—CBI, Enforcement able of millionaire clubs. No wonder heaven has socially Directorate and Narcotics What has caused this, considering distanced herself from us. Control Bureau (NCB)—were all that the next Indian state is Andhra involved in a single case. The CBI has Pradesh, with 547,686 cases? he Election Commission both an economic offences and Authorities and political leaders, now Tis yet to decide dates for the Bihar narcotics wing, so it could have han- thoroughly on the back foot, say it’s election. They could take place in dled this on its own. As for NCB, its job because of increased testing. Others October, or alarmingly, even in is to probe inter-state and internation- say that the curve had flattened in November, which must be distressing al drug trafficking, and it usually deals August, but lifting of restrictions for Rhea Chakraborty because her with ‘light’ drugs like marijuana only during Ganesh Utsav caused the ordeal will end only when the lead if the quantities are above 50 kg (in numbers to spike, with Mumbai BIMARU state’s polls are dried and itself considered a small quantity). In crossing a record 2,000 per day, which dusted. Reports tell us about Sushant the Rhea case, the recovery made was is around 10 per cent of Maharash- Singh Rajput’s posters cropping up all 59 g. Grammes. Not kilogrammes. In tra’s dismal daily figure. Mind you, over there, the Chief Minister Nitish Gokhale’s words, “If you go to this is when the city’s sardine-can Kumar claiming 100 per cent credit Varanasi, a sadhu’s chillum will have suburban trains are still not running, for ‘getting justice’ for the ‘Bihar Boy’. more than Rhea’s consumption.” and heaven help us when they do Hundred per cent doesn’t usually There may be 6 lakh small (although heaven probably washed leave much margin for manoeuvre, marijuana users in Mumbai, her hands off us a while ago). but undeterred by arithmetic, the according to police estimates, but After five months of what the opposition leader Tejashwi Prasad Rhea is Bengali and Rajput is Bihari, authorities call ‘The Lockdown’ Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal has so inter-state trafficking is involved, but I call ‘House Arrest’, we drove also claimed 100 per cent credit. you see. A fit case for NCB. A fit case ourselves to a friend’s bungalow in Politics in our country is truly for apoplectic TV anchors to have Lonavala, a two-hour drive away. It strange. Till Sushant Singh Rajput a fit. A fit case for elections. A vote was greener, less crowded and more decided to end it all, as many clinical is a vote. Amen. n

28 september 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 7 openings

NOTEBOOK The Season of Conspiracy Theories

f you had to imagine a good life lived well with total by the Chinese government and then deliberately let loose on success, then Microsoft founder Bill Gates would be it. He the world for strategic ends. As with conspiracy theories, it gets built a phenomenally profitable company that touched more elaborate as it goes along with every new fact fit into it. If almost everyone. The software he sold made life easier for it was a laboratory virus, wouldn’t the World Health Organisa- people,I businesses and governments. For the longest time, he tion (WHO) have known? Response: the WHO is also a part of was the richest man on the planet. He then left business to use the conspiracy, being arm-twisted by the Chinese government. all his billions for the poor. His foundation has saved millions The traction of this theory was evident just a few days ago of lives from diseases like malaria. Why would anyone think when mainstream media across the world reported on the of him as evil when all his great deeds have been done under interview of a recently defected Chinese virologist who, in a the full glare of the world? And yet, not only are there large television interview, claimed to have witnessed firsthand a numbers who do so, in recent times, it has reached a level that cover-up and again put forward the laboratory virus theory. An Gates has been forced to defend himself against absurdities ANI report said: ‘Asked if she had scientific proof about the rev- like deliberately unleashing the novel coronavirus. elation, Dr Li-Meng said she has intelligence from the Chinese Just this week, in a Skype interview to the The Times of India, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local doctors he spoke of how Covid had impacted him in unforeseen ways. and other people across China. “These are the truths and all He said: ‘I wouldn’t have predicted that there would be all these other things were covered up,” she added.’ Is it possible that crazy conspiracy theories. A lot of anti-vaccine sentiment… all this is true? Yes. Is there enough evidence for such a belief? Some of these rumours are focused on me. Saying that because Not really. The Chinese whistleblower is promising a research I work on vaccines or I warned about this epidemic, somehow paper but until then, it is just her word. Conspiracy theories I am behind it, I am trying to do something evil. In a way, I can are built on grains of truth. For instance, there is a strong basis sit and laugh because it is so much opposite to the truth. But it is to believe that the Chinese covered up information about the kind of a serious thing if people virus initially while the WHO think of vaccines in a negative remained negligent. But to then way. Or that wearing masks is not say they made it in a laboratory is a super important thing. How do a leap without evidence. we get the trusted leaders get their When much of the planet is bored The primary reason for this voice to be stronger than the crazy out of their wits sitting at home for being a season of conspiracy stuff? The social media compa- months, interesting lies become very theories is the lockdown enforced nies are trying but we haven’t across the globe. Remember the found a good enough solution. welcome. What is most interesting phrase used by Gates: the interest- Because the crazy thinking is get- for Indians? Bollywood. Is it then any ing lie that travels faster than the ting out too much.’ surprise that the suicide of a popular truth. When much of the planet Social media has been a is bored out of their wits sitting conspiracy theory driver, its very movie star should make fertile at home for months, interesting mechanism making it possible soil for a conspiracy theory? Half lies become very welcome. What to bring together people who of India now believes that is most interesting for Indians? believe in wild ideas and amplify- Bollywood. Is it then any surprise ing them to convert even more Sushant Singh Rajput’s girlfriend that the suicide of a popular people. The pandemic turned Rhea Chakraborty was a hypnotiser movie star should make fertile it up many notches, right from who took over his brain, made him soil for a conspiracy theory? the beginning. A large number turn over his free will and wealth to Half of India now believes of people even now believe the that Sushant Singh Rajput’s virus was created in a laboratory her and finally made him kill himself girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty was

8 28 september 2020 Illustration by Saurabh Singh a hypnotiser who took over his brain, made him turn over his theory has bloomed and branched to incorporate other con- free will and wealth to her and finally made him kill himself. spiracy theories, which brings to them those adherents too. A This despite Rajput’s own counsellors having told the media recent New York Times article said: ‘QAnon was once a fringe that he had been suffering from depression, possibly bipolar, phenomenon—the kind most people could safely ignore. But which is known to be the most common cause of suicides. It in recent months, it’s gone mainstream. Twitter, Facebook and didn’t matter. His death was a domino of conspiracy theories. other social networks have been flooded with AQ non-related Gossip writers were blamed. Filmmakers like Karan Johar and false information about Covid-19, the Black Lives Matter their groups, which ostracised Rajput, were blamed. Finally, it protests and the 2020 election. QAnon supporters have also zoomed in on Chakraborty and television channels saw the rat- been trying to attach themselves to other activist causes, such ings bonanza and latched on. It gave government agencies the as the anti-vaccine and anti-child-trafficking movements, in an legitimacy to interfere. As a result, now Chakraborty is in jail effort to expand their ranks…The Federal Bureau of Investiga- under a narcotics-related charge which has nothing to do with tion has warned that QAnon poses a potential domestic terror the suicide. The theory, meanwhile, has moved to Bollywood threat. Last week, QAnon reached a new milestone when being a cesspit of the drug trade. The interesting lie had taken Marjorie Taylor Greene, an avowed QAnon supporter from India by its throat. If there were human casualties, that was just Georgia, won a Republican primary in a heavily conservative the price for a locked down population’s entertainment. district, setting her up for a near-certain election to Congress In the US, meanwhile, there is going to be a presidential elec- in November. After Ms. Greene’s win, Mr. Trump called her a tion in the midst of a severe political polarisation, leading to the “future Republican star.”’ most bizarre of conspiracy theories finding a vast number of That such an incredible flight of fancy can now worm its adherents. QAnon is a right-wing group that believes a paedo- way into the government of the most powerful nation on Earth phile ring worshipping Satan is trying to take over the country should say something about the power of conspiracy theories by ousting Donald Trump. It believes top opposition leaders, at present. India is yet to see anything in the scale of QAnon but actors and journalists are all part of this ring. And that Trump the Rajput case is an instance of the damage a sufficiently deli- is fighting them and it their responsibility to support him in cious conspiracy theory can do, the appeal it draws and how it this war. Wacko as it is, the theory began by one anonymous can be exploited by politicians. It wouldn’t be surprising to see user floating it on an online bulletin board. It picked up, found bigger conspiracies taking hold of the public imagination now a secret following and when Trump, a conspiracy theorist him- that there are successful precedents for direction. n self in many ways, called them people ‘who love our country’, it became legitimate among all his enormous fans. QAnon’s By Madhavankutty Pillai

28 september 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 9 openings

I n Memoriam Kapila Vatsyayan (1928-2020) She wished to convince readers that ‘a study of the traditions of Indian painting is an imperative for a better comprehension of Indian dance and theatre.’ The Visionary Culturalist Sunil Kothari, noted dance historian and critic, She plumbed the psyche of Indian says that Kapilaji lent him immense support—when he was doing his PhD at the MS University of Baroda classical music and dance in 1977—by showing him methods of primary and secondary research. He adds, “I owe a great debt of he term ‘cultural tsarina’ is often applied to gratitude to her. Her vision was much greater than T Kapila Vatsyayan. It doesn’t do justice to her as it implies autocratic ‘classical’, ‘tribal’, or ‘folk’ forms. One was always leanings, but it does capture the vast cultural swathes that she had com- surprised by her vision. She was not an ordinary mand over. Always clad in a saree, with her white hair tied in a bun, and academic scholar. Today, a whole generation of with her face framed by spectacles, Vatsyayan (called Kapilaji) was often writers are inspired and indebted to her. I don’t think spotted at cultural events in Delhi. Crowds would inevitably part for her, as I have come across scholars as great as her.” she walked by and acknowledged familiar faces with a nod and a namaste. Vatsyayan’s scholarship wasn’t merely academic. She was the founding member secretary of the Indira Gandhi National She had also learned and performed Indian classical Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), co-founder of Centre for Cultural Resources dances. She had trained in Kathak, Bharatanatyam and Training, a former Member of Parliament, a lifetime trustee of India and Manipuri. She was fluent in Sanskrit. Her International Centre and a Padma Vibhushan awardee. The 92-year-old graduation in English literature from Delhi University was both a scholar and a performer, an author and an institution builder. (DU) provided her the critical tools to examine dance. Her dance scholarship far exceeded Indian boundaries. Her book, based After completing her MA from DU, she went to on her PhD thesis, Classical Indian Dance in Literature and the Arts, published in Michigan, Ann Arbor on the Barbour Fellowship for 1968, was the first authoritative study on the relationship between classical Asian women, based on a written exam. Indian dance, the ancient texts and sculpture. A 1975 review of the book in In the US, she was introduced to Laban’s tools Dance Research Journal notes, ‘This is the first definitive treatment of a subject of movement analysis and Hanya Holm’s (one too often vaguely referred to in romantic terms, but never before treated of the founders of American modern dance) systematically and in this encyclopaedic fashion. It is a volume that no one movement system. In a 2000 interview to Dance seriously interested in the dance arts in India can afford to be without.’ Research Journal, she says, ‘That was one of my Vatsyayan was an interdisciplinary scholar before the term became richest experiences because it enabled me to cool. Her other seminal works include Indian Classical Dance (1974) and know my body.’ She adds, ‘I did not go to modern Traditions of Indian Folk Dance (1976). She formulated an aesthetic theory for dance from modern dance, but from tradition. I dance that included the study of literature, sculpture, music, painting and did not come to Indian dance by growing up with theatre. Dance in Indian Painting (1982)—she writes in the introduction—is it as a family tradition. I think I got the essence of ‘an analysis of the technical aspects of dance through pictorial evidence’. each of these traditions without being bound by

Illustration by Saurabh Singh the conventions of these traditions. I became an unbounded bounded person.’ Advaitavadini Kaul, an author and professor who worked under Vatsyayan for two decades at IGNCA, says that she was the “guiding light” of the centre and would supervise the smallest of details from the colour of the logos to the chattais on the floor to keeping the premises plastic-free. While she could be “motherlike”, she was also a disciplinarian. The office would prepare for weeks before her quarterly meetings. Dancer and choreographer Aditi Mangaldas knew her at a more personal level. Mangaldas, niece of cultural activist Pupul Jayakar, recalls how Kapilaji would come to their home to meet her aunt. She says, “It was wonderful to hear her depth of knowledge. One could see how deep she’d gone into the psyche of Indian music and dance.” n

By Nandini Nair

28 september 2020 ANGLE ideas

Not the Imagined Aliens Even if Venus has life, is it an answer to the loneliness of life on Earth? By madhavankutty pillai

t was for some time thought with such a blueprint. But if life did Comeback I that if life existed anywhere else, it exist elsewhere, is there reason for man Comebacks rarely occur, let alone must be on Mars; if not now, then in to exult? Because the news from Venus grandly. India’s once promising and the past at least. Or, for the present, tells us, if there is indeed life there, that mercurial fast bowler S Sreesanth more probably, one of the moons of any alien you find might not be the one has been plotting a comeback ever Jupiter, Europa, being the strongest of your imagination. Not giant-brained since he was banned from cricket in contender. Science fiction writers have humanoids leaping through worm 2013 for his role in the IPL spot-fixing milked these possibilities. Venus, holes in flying saucers. Instead, we scandal. He fought a long court even though a sister of sorts to Earth in might have to be content with bacteria battle—even as he unsuccessfully dimension and proximity, was only in and microorganisms that can survive pursued a career in movies and the reckoning till man got a good look in recesses impossible for sentience to politics—finally managing to at it. The planet was found to be share our existential angst. reduce his quantum of punishment impossibly inhospitable. It was really There is also this. That if there were from a lifetime ban to that of seven hot, for one. If the boiling point of advanced civilisations elsewhere, they years. He should be 37 now, long water is 100 degree Celsius, should already be in touch with us. If past the usual retirement age for temperatures on the surface of Venus at some other point in the universe, fast bowlers. Even if he regains were about five times that. It had evolution has been fulfilling its form and fitness, it is unlikely he clouds of sulphuric acid. But the out- trajectory far longer than on Earth, will ever be picked for the country look changed this week with a paper then it would be the most natural or even, given his history, in the published in Nature Astronomy. thing to do. IPL. But he began training last year Scientists had found a gas called Earthlings are already eyeing a berth in Kerala’s state team. phosphine in copious quantities in its making plans for Mars and it is a A few days ago, Sreesanth finally atmosphere and they couldn’t really certainty that human feet should reach completed his sentence. But with explain it. One tantalising possibility there in a couple of decades at least. the pandemic raging, there are no was that it was the result of bacteria This is just on the back of 10,000 years indications that domestic cricket releasing it. Had life, as the famous of civilisation, of which the biggest will resume anytime soon. For now, Jurassic Park line went, found a way? leaps have been made in the last 500 Sreesanth still hopes of making Maybe. Maybe not. The probability years. What would a 100 million years that comeback. n is slim, for the moment at least. But it of such progress show? No guardians tells us something about the idea of life of the galaxy have, however, reached and about mankind’s eternal question out to us so far. Word’s Worth of whether Earth is the only planet to We therefore must accept the harbour it. We would like to believe strong probability that life might ‘Making a comeback not. The universe is so unimaginably exist outside but it might do nothing is one of the most vast that it would be ridiculous for life to change the loneliness of life on to exist in just one minor planet of a Earth. Existence elsewhere might not difficult things to do minor star of a minor solar system of automatically lead to evolution as we with dignity’ a minor galaxy. Nature would have to know it. There is only much solace that Greg Lake be extraordinarily stupid to come up colonies of bacteria can provide. n british musician

28 september 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 11 touchstone

By Keerthik Sasidharan

Can’t Blame the Gods QAnon and other Americanisms that challenge reality

n the 27th section of the Mahabharata called the cal spur; a cascade of self-loathing offers itself up as a reason to ‘Dyuta Parva’, the poet-editor Vyasa sets stage for the summon the furies of resentment that had been burbling up great cataclysmic war through the most commonplace in Duryodhana for a long time. The result of what follows are Ibut vengeful of plot devices: humiliation. This doesn’t the events that colour the epic—the game of dice, the disrobing come courtesy the gods or human intrigue but from failing of Draupadi, the exile of the Pandavas, the Great War itself and to interpret the structure of reality. Right before this event ultimately the unseating of political power itself in Hastina- transpires, Vyasa describes in detail how Maya, an architect pura. If we were to adopt what the Greek historian Thucydides of the danavas, had built a 10,000-cubit assembly hall for called the ‘proximate’ and ‘ultimate’ causes to explain the the Pandavas in the shape of a vimana. Thereafter, in order Mahabharata war, this moment of the ‘Dyuta Parva’ where to announce to the world that they—the Pandava brothers the failure to know what is real and what a mere emanation aided by their confederacy of allies—were the greatest of the is an instructive candidate as an ultimate cause. Also implicit overlords, the Pandavas successfully conducted an opulent is the relationship between the fates of political power, be it rajasuya yajña (Krishna calls it ‘supreme among sacrifices’) monarchies or republics, and the ability of its helmsmen to in which Yudhishthira is declared emperor. All this sets stage distinguish between reality and representation. for what should have been the glorious years of Pandava rule. In ancient Roman literature, the polymath Pliny tells us about But the serpent in that garden of Indraprastha arrives in the an artist called Parrhasius who drew some curtains in so vivid a form of a cognitive failure. manner that another painter Zeuxis asked for the curtains to be After the rajasuya sacrifice is over, only Duryodhana and his drawn apart so that he could see the painting, thus failing to rec- villainous uncle Shakuni stay back. In a fit of architectural con- ognise that the curtains were the paintings. Verisimilitude—the noisseurship, Duryodhana decides to explore Maya’s hall and ability to represent life with high fidelity—therefore becomes there, in the middle of his tours, upon seeing a pool of water, he the essence of painting as an art. But more importantly, Pliny uses lifts his clothes to avoid getting drenched. The waterbody turns forms of the verb ‘repraesentare’ to describe the very act of ‘bring- out to be a floor made up of crystals. Suddenly, no longer sure ing something back to the present by way of a likeness’. ‘Reprae- about the very grounds on which he stood, Duryodhana con- sentare’ had increasingly begun to be used as a supplement to the tinues his excursion only to then come across a floor of crystals, more portent-filled phrase ‘gerere personam’. The latter was used, onto which he steps confidently only to misread the situation perhaps most prominently by Cicero, who referred to ‘gerere per- and fall into a pool of water. Seeing his discomfort and inability sonam civitas’ when talking about the civic magistrates who ruled to distinguish what is real and what an illusion, the servants over the city as judicial officers. What Cicero formalised through in the hall laugh at Duryodhana. Before long, Bhima, Arjuna close reasoning was that the ‘civitas’ (the commonwealth) was and the twins Nakula and Sahadeva join them and ‘burst out a formal institution and the magistrates were individuals who in laughter’ seeing their great rival-cousin scamper away in were entrusted the charge of acting in its name. The ‘represen- disgust at himself and those who mocked him. On his way out, tare’—that which brings the unseen to the fore—began to be yet again, Duryodhana mistakes closed doors for open ones, transformed from an aesthetic technique deployed by the arts to bangs his head and makes himself an object of derision. In due a descriptor of the juridical process by which a group or a person course Duryodhana leaves Indraprastha, inflamed by a sense began to speak for the whole. By the time Christianity swept of inferiority and humiliation. Vyasa tells us that ‘evil thoughts through Europe and the church became a corporate body with were seeded in King Duryodhana’s mind’. Later, to describe his well-defined hierarchies, senior priests often ended up consol- own sense of impotent fury, Duryodhana confides to his uncle, ing their parishioners that their needs would be looked after by ‘I am drying up like a shallow pond in the hot season.’ someone who ‘represents’ the church’s authority. The political In the hands of Vyasa, this moment becomes a psychologi- theorist Quentin Skinner, who writes about this semantic shift

12 28 september 2020 Illustration by Saurabh Singh on what constitute the realities of the world. For the first time, however, many of the world’s major democracies have a substantial number of their populace who simply don’t agree on what constitutes the underlying real- ity—and more perniciously actively deny the causalities and correlations that governs our collective worldview. Over the past two decades, the conspiratorial wing of American polity has steadily made inroads into the mainstream. Irrespective of the event at hand—from the bombing of the Federal Bureau of Investigation building in Oklahoma in 1995 to 9/11 to the school shootings in Sandy Hook in 2012 to the Covid-19 pan- demic—a steady swell of online support for conspiracy theories has finally risen to the fore. Vast archipelagoes of believers in various theories now exist and propagate their unsubstantiated claims to fellow believers. Where previously there was an effort to string together a narrative of possibilities that involved gov- ernmental secrecy and evil elites, by the 2020 election season all pretensions of a ‘theory’ have been done with. Currently, a movement that calls itself QAnon, which usually thrived in the rabbit holes of the internet, has now emerged into the open, af- fecting elections and choosing representatives. Their stridency in public meetings is matched only by the obduracy of their as- sertions that make them unresponsive to reason and evidence. These include claims such as the ‘lizard people control the world’ or ‘Hillary Clinton is Satan’ or ‘masks against the coro- navirus is the beginning of Shariah law’; any effort to refute is further evidence of another underlying conspiracy. Traditional Over the past two decades, the conspiratorial politicians, especially on the Republican side, increasingly find wing of American polity has steadily made it difficult to counter the dynamic where these tumour-like infestations in the mind of the body politic make any kind of inroads into the mainstream. Traditional nuance or subtlety in discourse impossible. On occasion, men politicians, especially on the Republican side, have armed themselves and decided to ‘rid’ the world of evils increasingly find it difficult to counter the they have been told persists by industrial-grade fantasists. dynamic where these tumour-like infestations Much of this is fanned by social media virulence that spreads easily on the internet, which is monetised by a few individual in the mind of the body politic make any kind and corporate players who see dollar signs and political power of nuance in discourse impossible by becoming purveyors of discontent. But there is a deeper and more complex set of discontents in play as well. Karl Popper famously said that the conspiratorial view of the world began with Homer, who thought of the gods as the prime from ‘gerere personam’ to ‘repraesentare’, notes that this had also movers of all that happened in Troy. Everything happens in led to some confusion about how to instantiate ‘representation’. the Homeric world because the gods have conspired on Mount He notes that Lord Cornbury, who was the governor of New York Olympus. This view is pregnant with the inevitable question: and New Jersey in early 18th century, was in two minds about what happens if we remove the gods from this worldview? The whether, as a true representative of Queen Anne of England, he framework remains but new prime-movers must be found. should commence the proceedings of the state assembly in a In an age of secularisation, the answer has inevitably become woman’s dress. Nearly a millennium after the church fathers, the ‘sinister pressure groups’ who orchestrate all the evils of the great early modern political theorist Thomas Hobbes articulated world. A fever of this sort has become a staple of the American a theory of the commonwealth wherein a group of people elect- mainstream, which in turn has brought to its highest seat of ed or anointed a sovereign, who then spoke and acted on behalf power a ‘conspiracy theoretician’ of the greatest calibre who is a of the commonwealth. In all of this, the original idea of ‘repraesen- master of dog-whistles, conspiracy theories and callous obfusca- tare’ makes frequent return in two forms: one, the governed have tion. The result is a growing cognitive chasm about what consti- to be convinced that government, like some painter, ‘brings to tutes reality and increasingly whether the ground on which the fore’ the underlying will of the people; and two, both must agree American republic stands is water or crystal. n

28 september 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 13 soft power

By Makarand R Paranjape

Happy Birthday, Mr Prime Minister The seclusion of a great leader is the inevitable outcome of the sensitivity of his office

arendra Modi turns 70 on September naturally. Given his position, he probably trusts only a small 17th. Born less than eight months after the clutch of confidants and is closer to even fewer.” birth of our Republic, Modi, more than any The clips underscore Modi’s lack of human contact, if not Nother leader or public figure, has come to loneliness. He was alone with his birds, more comfortable represent the possibilities and promises of new India. with his feathered friends than with fellow humans. The Love him or hate him, you can’t ignore or wish him away. seclusion of a great leader is the inevitable outcome of the sen- Modi is larger than life. He is the yuga purush, India’s sitivity of his office. A couple of years back, on Rashtriya Ekta millennium man. A billion hopes, dreams, expectations— Divas (National Unity Day), which is also Sardar Vallabhbhai and, yes, disappointments, too—ride on his name. As rich Patel’s birthday, I saw Modi alone against the giant backdrop tributes pour in from across the globe, his worldwide fame of the world’s tallest Statue of Unity. Again, the solitary cannot be denied or muted either. splendour of the isolated leader was amply evident. Similarly, Yet, monitoring the media days before he crosses this at the bhoomipuja ceremony of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya milestone, I look in vain for some big-ticket announcements on August 5th, apart from his speech, Modi sat mostly eyes or festivities. There is very little pre-publicity or buildup. All closed, indrawn than outwardly oriented. that I find is that on September 15th, a cohort of BJP general The peacock is also thought of as a proud and narcissistic secretaries resolved to celebrate the occasion with cleanliness bird, preening in its own beauty and attractiveness. Modi’s drives, food distribution and blood-donation camps at 70 customary sartorial elegance and acumen, not to speak of his locations across the country. Considering the multiple crises new style of wearing a longer, sage-like, pure, white beard, that our country faces, a somewhat lowkey if not subdued probably signals an acute consciousness of his looks and celebration was both expected and appropriate. image, if not hint of vanity and self-absorption. Certainly, few It is the BJP President, JP Nadda, who has been a bit more Indian leaders have been so particular of their public persona forthcoming: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is turning 70 on or the theatre of presence as Modi. September 17. If we look at his life and his journey, seva [service] Every act, every event, every speech, every statement of his has been the prime focus in his life. His life has been dedicated is carefully calculated and calibrated for maximum impact to the seva of people and the country. Hence, the BJP has decided and affect. His surprise air-dash to Ladakh on July 3rd is a to observe September 14-20 week as ‘Seva Saptah’.” Quite fitting, good example. He not only boosted the morale of our soldiers it would seem, for a Pradhan Mantri who calls himself ‘pradhan after their deadly skirmish with their Chinese counterparts sevak’ (servant-in-chief) of the nation. However, leader of the near Galwan, but also performed the Sindhu Darshan puja, opposition and Gandhi family dynast Rahul Gandhi was not so a gesture revealing both his faith and our ancestral cultural charitable: ‘Save your own life as PM is busy with peacocks.’ ties and claims to region. After all, the word ‘Hindu’ is derived Speaking of the Prime Minister and peacocks, there was from ‘Sindhu’, which the Greeks and Europeans called Indus. something symbolic in his feeding, with his own hands, But personality cults are dangerous as we well know. India’s national birds. In the video footage that circulated Remember how Dev Kant Barooah, the Congress President widely, the birds are unafraid of Modi. Their trust shows, during Emergency, infamously said, “India is Indira, Indira according to some animal lovers, that Modi is a good man. As is India”? History soon proved him not only wrong, but one of them confided in me, “Birds and animals are supersen- insincere. Indira Gandhi lost the election in 1977. Barooah sitive to our vibrations and auras. Those they trust are usually also deserted her, joining the breakaway Congress (U), lead by fine human beings.” “But,” I replied, “didn’t you see how grim Karnataka strongman D Devraj Urs. Today, not just its splinter the PM was? He rarely smiled as he fed the birds.” “Quite groups, but the Indian National Congress is itself in disarray.

14 28 september 2020 Narendra Modi at his residence in New Delhi, August 23 leader. Modi is not just made in and of India, but Modi and India are made for each other. True, Modi, too, is subject to the vagaries of political fortunes and public predilections. Both fame and fortune are fickle, people’s preferences or popularity even more so. Yet, Modi has had an astonishing 19-year run at the top, as three-time Chief Minister of Gujarat, then as two-term Prime Minister of India. It is said that 13 was recently deceased former President Pranab Mukherjee’s lucky number.For those who track such things, Modi’s lucky number would be 14. He was not only the 14th CM of Gujarat but is currently India’s 14th PM too. Modi’s second term has been marked by huge obstacles and difficulties. The challenges he faces, both within the country and abroad, are unprecedented and enormous. Apart from the narendr a Modi shines like a beacon of Covid-19 pandemic, the econom- hope. Whenever and wherever he speaks, ic crisis and the Chinese dragon breathing down our necks, our he conveys a positive and optimistic polity and society seem much message. At the very least, he uplifts our more divided and fractious than before. That is partly because spirits just a bit. Looking at him, we feel Modi has also powered through that our country is in good hands radical changes and reforms, such as the abrogation of Article 370, introduction of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, resolution of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri A group of its prominent 23 leaders has written a letter to Masjid imbroglio and tabling of the National Educational interim President Sonia Gandhi asking for major changes Policy 2020. It is a stressful and embattled time in our national in the party’s functioning. But with very little by way of real life. But, then, the world over, nations and societies face an inner-party democracy in the offing, there is no leader in overwrought and uncertain future. India’s main opposition party that poses a serious threat to In all of this, Modi shines like a beacon of hope. Whenever Modi. In fact, we are closer than ever to his prediction, if not and wherever he speaks, he conveys a positive and optimis- promise, of a ‘Congress-mukt’ (Congress-free) Bharat. tic message. At the very least, he uplifts our spirits just a bit. Given that the third front, a non-BJP, non-Congress alliance, Looking at him, we feel that our country is in good hands. He also is a pipedream if not delusion, Modi strides like a sole colos- inspires a confidence in us, which makes him a remarkable sus across India’s variegated and uneven political landscape. leader—‘Modi hai to mumkin hai.’ It is not that we admire only It is Modi more than anyone else that has a sense of purpose him, but we also believe that we can do better both for our- and a belief in his own destiny as India’s transformer-in-chief. selves and for our country. Till 2024, much remains to be done Whether he succeeds or not is less important at the moment if his legacy is to be secure. But his unwavering determination, than the faith and belief that the people of India repose in him. phenomenal political perspicuity, prodigious stamina and Given his growing international stature and reputation, we loads of good luck augur well for both Modi and India. might justifiably say that Modi makes India proud like no other Happy Birthday, Prime Minister! n

28 september 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 15 Whisperer Jayanta Ghosal

AT Arm’s Length espite the personal bonhomie between US President DDonald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP wants to keep itelf at arm’s length from the US presidential election due in November. A written advisory has been sent to the party’s overseas unit in the US to not get involved in the election campaign. Individuals may campaign but only in their personal capacity and not in the name of the party. After some Trump enthusiasts in the BJP’s overseas unit had begun to campaign for the incumbent US president, the BJP’s foreign affairs department head, Vijay Chauthaiwale, is believed to have asked them to stay away.

The Chosen One rime Minister Narendra Modi is known to be Pvery particular about the people he works with. Not only does he choose every member of his team but there are also unsaid rules in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). You have to be focused, can’t gossip or interfere in someone else’s area of work. A vacancy for the important position of the Prime Minister’s private secretary came up a few months ago when the incumbent, Rajeev Topno, moved to Washington to serve as a senior advisor to the World Bank’s executive director. Modi has brought in Hardik Satishchandra Shah in his place. A young IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre, not only does he know his job—he was a deputy secretary in the PMO earlier, and at the The Writing Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change before that—but the PMO’s ethos too. One would rarely find him engage in social Bug conversations, let alone spot him When the lockdown came into force, at a party in Delhi’s power circles or at the golf course the almost everyone found time on their next morning. hands. Even ministers. BJP’s Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Union Minister for Minority Affairs, used the opportunity to finish writing a book. Titled Cyber Supari, this is a Hindi novel based on organised crime in the digital realm. This isn’t, however, his first book. Naqvi’s earlier novel, Balwa, revolved around how riots are incited for political gain. A third book (titled Raj Leela) is now apparently in the works.

16

Illustrations by Saurabh Singh

Kangana in Patna? s the Bihar Assembly polls near, one of the main Aissues to dominate the election has turned out to be the death of Sushant Singh Rajput. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his ally, the BJP, have been on the ball over the issue so far. The moment Nitish demanded a CBI inquiry, the Centre immediately agreed. Now, the actress Kangana Ranaut, one of the central players in this drama who has increased the tension by faulting the Shiv Sena for the probe so far, wants to visit Patna right before the polls. She is believed to be very keen on the trip. But the BJP, it appears, hasn’t made up its mind yet.

The Corona Another Drug Scandal Conferences here is another alleged drug racket, in another film Tindustry, which has become news. The Kannada movie industry was already rife with stories of drug abuse after the arrests of the actor couple Diganth Manchale ith the threat to his leadership now and Aindrita Ray over allegations of drug use. But the drug Wquelled, Rajasthan’s Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has turned his eyes on probe became a political hot button issue when another containing the Covid-19 outbreak in his actress, Ragini Dwivedi, was arrested. The actress is state. He has come up with the idea of said to be a friend of Vijayendra, the son of Karnataka’s webinars with some of the country’s leading Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. There are even videos of doctors. There are famous doctors in this the actress campaigning for the BJP in the last elections panel, from Medanta’s Dr Naresh Trehan, the accompanied by Vijayendra. The Congress has begun surgeon Dr Devi Shetty, the gastroenterolo- to attacking the state government using these clips on gist Dr SK Sarin to Delhi’s AIIMS head social media. Yediyurappa is understandably upset. But Dr Randeep Guleria. At these webinars, there Vijayendra maintains it’s a conspiracy and that he shares are to be no political debates, just discussions no personal relationship with Dwivedi. on containing the pandemic. Thus, leaders of all stripes are being invited, from panchayat chiefs to MPs and MLAs. Even some BJP leaders have begun to participate. Vijayan’s Headache espite the frequent dustups between the BJP and Dthe Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Kerala, Narendra Modi is rumoured to like Kerala Chief Minister Road Trips Pinarayi Vijayan’s style of functioning. On several ammu and Kashmir’s new Lieutenant occasions, Modi has even praised Vijayan’s ‘do-it-now’ JGovernor Manoj Sinha is giving his security officers sleepless nights. A little over a month attitude. As the heat now rises on the communists in into his job, he has begun travelling to remote the state over the gold smuggling scandal, allegedly villages, sometimes even randomly stopping by involving some prominent party leaders, there have houses to speak with villagers and local been suggestions that Vijayan seek Modi’s help. The religious heads. When the director general Chief Minister has refused to do so. Even Modi, when of police objected saying that there is a he recently engaged in conversation with some of his credible threat to him, Sinha is believed to leaders in Parliament, apparently told them that he hasn’t have said he would rather die than remain been following the case. It is all up to the investigating captive inside the Raj Bhavan. agencies, he is believed to have said. 3 august 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 17 Statecraft

The Ganjam Way Learning from Odisha’s Covid strategy By Amita Shah

ania Mohanty was 18 when he left The district administration set up 3,000 temporary his native village in Odisha to work in a medical camps for which it used all school buildings. “There textile mill in Gujarat’s Surat district in 2006. was food, medicines, yoga and training at these camps,” says S He would earn and send money home to his District Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange. family. This year in March, when the lockdown was But as they started returning home, the virus spread, no imposed, it brought his life to a standstill. Like most longer limited to migrants returning from high-caseload other migrant workers, he stopped getting wages. He states. By May-end, the positivity rate rose to 28-30 per cent, would get some money from home or depend on the food the highest in the state, which till then had managed to keep distributed to migrants. After nearly two months, with its Covid-19 count among the lowest in the country. In July, no money left, he took a Shramik special train to return the numbers had peaked, with positivity rate in some villages to Sahapur village near Hinjilicut in Ganjam district. He of Ganjam soaring to 80 per cent. In one particular village, 80 was sent to a quarantine centre. The next morning, he of 100 people tested turned out positive. For Chief Minister had fever and tested positive for Covid-19. An ambulance Naveen Patnaik, who had initiated several firsts to insulate took him to a Covid-19 care centre at Hinjilicut, where Odisha from the pandemic—imposing 48-hour lockdowns in he spent the next 10 days watching TV on his mobile, major cities, shutting educational institutions, making masks resting and having four high-protein meals a day. compulsory and setting up dedicated 1,000-bed Covid-19 “The food was good. There was paneer and egg, etcetera. hospitals—the surge in cases on his home turf of Ganjam was In two days, my fever had fallen,” says Mohanty, who was in bound to be a setback. It was from Kanisi, a village in Ganjam, home quarantine for a fortnight after leaving the hospital. that he had kicked off his election campaign last year. When he went for a checkup later, he got a call from the Unlike other states, it was not the major cities that care centre asking if he would like to donate plasma for became hotspots in Odisha. In Ganjam, which accounts for treatment of other Covid-19 victims. He agreed. Like several over 50 per cent of the state’s migrants, the administration other villagers, he has taken up work under the Mahatma put in place new standard operating procedures (SOPs), Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act bifurcating villages into red and green zones. Villages from (MGNREGA). He plans to return to Surat in October. His is where positive cases were being reported fell in the red zone the story of several migrants who returned to their villages and strict containment policies were put in place. A medical in Ganjam district. officer would monitor symptoms and essential commodi- Till April-end, Odisha’s Ganjam district did not have a ties would be delivered through self-help groups. single Covid-19 case. On May 3rd, the first train carrying Odia “We were able to stop the spread of the disease outside workers from Kerala reached the district, followed by other the containment zones. We treated the symptomatic while Shramik Express trains and buses from Gujarat and other asymptomatic patients were kept in home quarantine,” says states. The travellers, mostly migrants working in textile mills Kulange. Door-to-door surveillance has been carried out with outside Odisha, were sent to quarantine centres for a fortnight. the help of accredited social health activists (ASHAs) and an- By June, 225 Shramik specials had arrived in the coastal district, ganwadi workers, tracing new cases and creating awareness, from which about 4 lakh people work outside the state, as their six times in Ganjam. At July-end, when cases peaked to 600- employers stopped paying wages in the lockdown. 700 a day, testing was ramped up. The number of coronavirus

18 28 september 2020 cases started declining from the first week of August. From a human beings as a race facing one of the biggest challenges positivity rate of 80 per cent at one point, it fell to 1.5 per cent of the century,” he had said in the Odisha Assembly. He with about 100 cases a day—and recently, in double digits. had said that an extraordinary circumstance called for an The ASHAs would contact patients when a case was extraordinary response and had announced steps to contain detected and again after recovery to check if they faced any the spread of Covid-19, calling for “collective responsibility” health issue. Of the 300 frontline workers who tested positive in fighting it. Realising how it could impact the poor, Patnaik in the state by July 1st, over 200, mostly ASHAs and angan- put in place a slew of measures—Rs 200 crore for public wadi workers as well as a village sarpanch, were from Ganjam health challenges, economic packages, 50-day wages for district. Subhashri, a local Covid-19 worker, says she got MGNREGA workers and a Rs 15,000 incentive for those infected from the staff. “I was admitted to a Covid care centre returning from abroad if they registered on the government where the doctors would come and check us twice a day. We portal. Those who did not register were checked at airports were given healthy meals of upma, idli, boiled eggs for breakfast, and on the state border and sent into quarantine. two vegetables and daal for lunch and dinner and tea and The third largest exporter of migrant labour, after Uttar biscuits in the evening,” she says. After a fortnight-long home Pradesh and Bihar, Odisha received over 10 lakh people from quarantine, she is back at work. In July, the Naveen Patnaik outside the state post-lockdown. The state, taking responsibil- government decided to pay an ity for creating infrastructure, set assistance of Rs 50 lakh to the up 12 lakh beds, with at least one next of kin of persons engaged getty images facility in each gram panchayat. by the government or any of As the number of Covid-19 its agencies for Covid-19 duty if cases rose across the country, they succumbed to the disease, if Odisha, too, started feeling the they were not found eligible for heat. With 17-18 flights landing insurance coverage under the every day, there was a surge in guidelines set by the Centre. It its cities. The government used also came out with a proposal to state-of-the-art technology to provide a monthly pension of capture data and anticipate the Rs 7,500 to the next of kin of an trend in the spread of the virus. anganwadi worker till the date “We know now how many beds she would have attained the we will need in October and age of 60 had she survived. The where tests need to be ramped spouse/next of kin of a deceased up. Through analytical tools ASHA would get we can maximise planning for Rs 5,000 a month. Chief Minister the future. We are confident we However, just as the Ganjam Naveen Patnaik had will contain the spread,” says story gave the state a reason declared the pandemic state Information Technology to heave a sigh of relief, the a state disaster under Secretary Manoj Mishra. numbers started rising in With the second lowest Odisha’s cities, including in the Disaster Management death rate at 0.4 per cent (the capital Bhubaneshwar which Act. He had understood national average is 1.64 per falls in Khordha district, now the gravity of the cent), the highest testing per the Covid-19 hotspot in the state. situation and its 10 lakh among medium and For a Chief Minister who had Dangers as early as large states and around an laid out the roadmap to contain mid-March 8 per cent positivity rate, Odisha the spread of the coronavirus is banking on its Covid-19 ahead of other states, Odisha’s infrastructure to fight the virus. entry into the list of top 10 states The recovery rate in Odisha by number of cases is disconcerting. It was Patnaik who had is 79.13 per cent against 77 per cent nationally. The state declared the pandemic a state disaster under the Disaster government is leaving no stone unturned from paddle Management Act. He had understood the gravity of the rickshaws in villages to social media such as Twitter and situation and what dangers it portended as early as mid- Facebook to create awareness. March. “Very few times in the history of the world have The state’s Covid-19 dashboard, giving a detailed graphic human beings as a race faced challenges beyond their of the state’s pandemic status in every district, is seeing an comprehension. With advances in science, this phenomenon upsurge. The state government is hopeful the numbers will has become a rarity. However, the last 45 days have seen ebb the Ganjam way. n

28 september 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 19

open essay

By Sunanda K Datta-Ray

THERE CANNOT BE TWO SUNS IN ONE SKY For China, exclusivity applies everywhere it chooses to go

ne-upmanship is as much a game for individuals as countries. So, when Mao Zedong received Nikita Khrushchev, who could not swim, in his swimming pool, the Russian knew at once “it was Mao’s way of putting himself in an advantageous position”. Khrushchev played along for a while, wearing water wings to splash beside Mao while interpreters ran up and down the sides of the pool. Then, having “got sick of it”, he crawled out to sit on the edge dangling his legs in the water. “Now I was on top and he was swimming be- low,” Khrushchev mused, delighted at outwitting the leader of zhongguo, the ‘Middle Kingdom’ or ‘Central Country’, as China called itself. The fabled Asian Century with India and China lording it over the vast Indo-Pacific region in benevolent harmony seems even more remote today than in 1988 when Deng Xiaoping warned Rajiv Gandhi that it was neither inevitable nor foreordained. Singapore’s Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, a former army brigadier-general, claimed in a recent article in Foreign Affairs that Asia had prospered only ‘because Pax Americana, which has held Osince the end of World War II, provided a favourable strategic context’. The US is now at the mercy of an erratic Donald Trump. Far from being abashed by the scourge from Wuhan, China is belligerently feeling its oats. Asia faces a period of dire uncertainty as China asserts maritime or territorial claims against more than a dozen Central and Southeast Asian countries in its determination to regain the centrality of the zhongguo concept. Prime Minister Lee laments that ‘Chinese leaders today no longer cite Deng’s maxim about hiding one’s strength and biding one’s time’. That was China’s guiding philosophy while it modernised agriculture, industry, and science and technology, instead of developing military muscle. But Xi Jinping has no need for subtlety. His China sees itself as a continental and maritime power. It has been modernising its army and navy so that a world-class fighting force can secure and sustain what it sees as its rightful place in international affairs. Others, too, have noted that China’s political leadership is bursting with self-confidence. It is prepared to take far more foreign policy risks than before. China’s maritime disputes with almost every East and Southeast Asian power have taken on a much higher strategic salience since the 2000s. The military advantage India claims in the latest turn of events in Ladakh must have seemed especially galling, leaving Xi Jinping somewhat in the position of the red-faced Mao after being nimbly upstaged by the seemingly clod-hopping Khrushchev. Or so, the Indian media concluded from the unofficial press conferences, private briefings for the favoured few and whispered confidences that pass for communication under an undemocratically secretive regime. Given the logistics of the inaccessible scene of action, the utter opaqueness of whatever is taking place there, and the way Parliament has been gagged, one cannot blame excitable but fact-starved tele- vision channels too much for letting imagination run wild as they concoct robustly patriotic tales out of thin air. Infotainment seems

24 28 september 2020 Rajiv Gandhi and Deng Xiaoping in Beijing, December 1988

getty images

The fabled Asian Century with India and China lording it over the vast Indo-Pacific region in benevolent harmony seems even more remote today than in 1988 when Deng Xiaoping warned Rajiv Gandhi that it was neither inevitable nor foreordained

more and more entertainment and less and less information. Chinese grab ever-increasing chunks of their territory in the Ironically, Narendra Modi’s silence is matched by the Chi- east. Bhutan is said to have already lost its two northern humps. nese ambassador’s loquacity. In his eagerness to disseminate The dispute threatened to erupt in worse violence in 2017 when information (or misinformation), Sun Weidong even answers India’s armed forces and the Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA) questions nobody has asked. Not that much reliance can be confronted each other from June June 16th to August 28th for placed on anything the Chinese claim in respect of other coun- possession of the 89-sq-km Doklam plateau. tries. Just two instances—one public and one personal—out of China’s contortions over Sikkim are equally revealing. a long saga of misrepresentations and self-contradictions prove Despite Zhou’s protestations on the China-Sikkim border and the point. despite later assurances that China recognises the lost king- Asked by my late colleague, George Verghese, about “Chi- dom as an Indian state, Beijing laid claim in 2008 to the ‘Finger nese claims in regard to Bhutan”, a sanctimonious Zhou Enlai Area’, a 2.1-sq-km tract in northern Sikkim protruding like a replied in his famous New Delhi press conference of April 30th, finger over the Sora Funnel valley. 1960: “I am sorry to disappoint you. We have no claim with The personal example refers to Taiwan whose stand on regard to Bhutan, nor do we have any dispute with it… China Tibet or the border with India indicates that ideology alone has no boundary dispute with Sikkim and Bhutan… .” It was an separates the two Chinas. For Beijing, Taiwan is of course a assertion of China unconditionally accepting its borders with renegade province. I recall a dinner at the Chinese consulate- Bhutan and Sikkim in their totality without quibbling. general in Kolkata where my son Deep happened to mention Yet, 24 rounds of Sino-Bhutanese talks since 1984 have not Taiwan. “Taiwan Province,” the Consul-General interjected broken the stalemate, with the Bhutanese refusing to let the swiftly and smoothly without looking up from his soup.

28 september 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 25 open essay

The Taiwanese graciously invited me once to visit their is- ernor of Madras, reached China in 1793 to establish reciprocal land as their guest. I think I was then editor-in-residence at the embassies in Beijing and London and trading posts along the East-West Centre in Honololu. I know that I took it for granted Chinese coast, their Qing dynasty hosts hung banners on their I was going alone. Gradually, news trickled through that there yachts proclaiming ‘The English Ambassador bringing tribute might be others. However, we were individuals, not a group. to the Emperor of China’. So, I was taken aback to find on landing at Taipei airport a ban- To end my Taiwan story, I stayed on a day or two after the oth- ner welcoming me as a member of the ‘first delegation’ from ers left. During that time I mentioned to the Taiwanese official the Republic of India to the ‘Republic of China on Taiwan’. who had organised the event that not only were we not a delega- Others arrived. There was Katyayani Shankar Bajpai, the re- tion but that he had bestowed on Bajpai a ministerial rank he tired diplomat who died the other day, whom the Taiwanese had did not enjoy. “Not unintentionally!” was the giggling response. elevated to ‘Minister’ and described as ‘Leader of the Delegation’. All’s fair in love and war, they say. Perhaps also in diplomacy. Also from New Delhi were the civil servant, Lovraj Kumar, and The Chinese make a habit of it. economist Isher Judge Ahluwalia. Dilip Basu, historian, joined No wonder Lee Kuan Yew, the present Singapore prime us from Santa Cruz, California. If there were others, their names minister’s father, once wondered in his monthly column in have escaped me. It was the misrepresentation I cannot forget. Forbes magazine why China’s ‘peaceful rise’ was viewed with It may not have surprised me if I had delved in 200-year-old scepticism if not downright hostility whereas the world took a Anglo-Chinese history. When Lord Macartney, a former gov- benign view of India’s growth. One answer could be that China loves the world a shade too much. Any Chinese leader can adapt England’s King Henry V who declared himself Asked by my late colleague, George a “friend of France” after defeating Verghese, about ‘Chinese claims in regard to the French army at Agincourt. His rationale: “I love France so well that I Bhutan’, a sanctimonious Zhou Enlai replied will not part with a village of it; I will in his famous New Delhi press conference of have it all mine.” April 30th, 1960: ‘I am sorry to disappoint you. India is not the solitary target of this possessive passion. In fact, Russia We have no claim with regard to Bhutan, nor is one of the few countries to have do we have any dispute with it.’ Yet, 24 rounds resolved its territorial disputes with of Sino-Bhutanese talks since 1984 have not China by surrendering large tracts of broken the stalemate territory on the Argun, Amur, and Us- suri rivers and several islands. Pakistan went one better. It bought China’s gratitude (‘irreplaceable, all-weather friendship’) with a slice of Indian Kashmir. No doubt Beijing hopes that Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Laos, Nepal, Bhutan and even protégé North Korea, with which China shares a 1,416-km-long border, will buy peace with comparable concessions. Singapore is nearly 80 per cent ethnic Chinese. It signed a maritime collaboration agreement with China in June 2019. A respected Singaporean diplomat Tommy Koh Thong Bee was the architect of the UN Conven- tion on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). China hasn’t actually withdrawn from UNCLOS but its so-called nine-dash Zhou Enlai inspects a Guard of line cordons off the major part of the Honour of Indian Army and Air Force units, July 1954 South China Sea as its private property. This assertiveness and China’s stormy getty images

26 28 september 2020 alamy

When Lord Macartney, a former governor of Madras, reached China in 1793 to establish reciprocal embassies in Beijing and London and trading posts along the Chinese coast, their Qing dynasty hosts hung banners on their yachts proclaiming ‘The English Ambassador bringing tribute to the Emperor of China’

A caricature of Lord Macartney in the court of Peking relationship with the US raise profound questions about Asia’s and engineering and reclamation feats to clothe brute force future and the shape of the emerging international order. Living with a semblance of respectability. An early instance of Mao’s at the intersection of the interests of various major powers, ‘history’ was his reference in October 1962 to Timur’s sacking Southeast Asia—which China calls Nanyang or the ‘Southern of Delhi in 1398 as a Sino-Indian ‘half war’ because Mongolia Sea’—is desperately anxious to avoid being caught in the middle and China were then part of the same political entity. Mao or forced into invidious choices. Disputing China’s position in seems to have taken the absurd parallel seriously enough to the South China Sea, Prime Minister Lee argues that the Ameri- remind his generals to be ‘restrained and principled’ and not can military presence ‘remains vital to the Asia-Pacific region’. bloodthirsty like Timur. Since Babur (1483-1530) was Timur’s In one form or another, China has always looked on great-great-great-grandson, it’s a wonder Mao did not seize on Nanyang as its backyard. Hordes of exuberant ethnic Chinese the link to claim sovereignty over India. youths flocked from all over the region to fight for Mao’s The suggestion of careful long-term planning feeding on revolution. The virtually wholly Chinese Communist Party of tailored ancient history cannot be ignored. We know from Indonesia was the world’s largest non-ruling communist party Kunwar Natwar Singh that Deng told Rajiv that “China would before the 1965 massacres. Malaya’s Emergency (1948-1960) for the next 50 to 60 years concentrate on all-round economic was another communist insurgency as was the Second development”. She “would fulfil her obligations towards Malayan Emergency from 1968 to 1989. Thailand, Laos, humanity and the Asian continent” only after becoming Cambodia and Vietnam were all victims of Chinese radical “developed”. Only 32 years have elapsed since that historic intervention until Deng visited Singapore in November 1978 conversation. But Deng’s successor’s exchanges with Trump to mobilise a united front against Vietnam’s invasion of and Chinese bellicosity in India indicate that China has moved Cambodia. To quote Lee Kuan Yew: “And that’s when I said, ‘If far enough ahead economically and militarily to try and realise you want that you’ve got to stop all this [subversive activities]. its manifold destiny. When China rejected its first mentor in You are the trouble maker, not the Russians!’ So they stopped Moscow, the Sinologist CP FitzGerald, mused, “There cannot and they wanted to woo us to support the anti-Vietnamese be two suns in one sky.” That exclusivity applies to other skies resistance in Cambodia, which we did.” as well in which the Chinese sun chooses to shine. n Instead of trying to wreck Southeast Asian societies from within, China then began foraging in the past to invoke Sunanda K Datta-Ray is a journalist and author of several books. historical precedents, tributary ties, Buddhist links, discoveries He is an Open contributor

28 september 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 27 Cover Story

2020 Is Not 1962 And China will realise why the hard way if it chooses the military option against India

By Maroof Raza Photograph by Arjun Menon

An Indian Army combat drill at an undisclosed training base, January 2019

ith the build-up along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the Chinese reluctance to restore the status quo— Wwhich essentially requires that Beijing withdraw its troops to where they were deployed until April 2020—the stand- off is unlikely to ease anytime soon. It is thus time to do some crystal gazing about what if, in the long haul, diplo- matic and military talks lead to a loss of patience on the frontlines and troops on either side—more likely the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)—decide to es- calate matters militarily? Could this become a full-blown conflict between two large neighbours with well- equipped armed forces who are also nuclear powers? And could it also in- clude Pakistan, making it the first-ever conflict involving three nuclear pow- ers? What then would be India’s op- tions, diplomatically and militarily? Cover Story

It is now clear that we have misread China’s intentions and India’s east—the McMahon Line that runs along Arunachal designs—and students of Sino-Indian relations have a sense Pradesh—where too China has been asserting its claims. of déjà vu about the uncanny resemblance to the events that A crucial factor across all the frontlines is to provide troops led to India’s humiliating defeat by Chinese forces in 1962. For with enough artillery to stall a fullscale Chinese invasion. instance, India’s reluctance to use force to push back a Chinese Although China could deploy more artillery fire units than build-up, in the hope that diplomatic initiatives would restore India, there is no mathematical equation available for how matters to status quo ante. Or that the Chinese might use the much an attacker would need. It all depends on the defender’s unsettled global environment—with the Covid-19 distraction resolve to hold on to its positions with bunkers and trenches. now like the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962—to launch their With Indian troops now having had enough time to dig in forces, to ‘teach India a lesson’. Among the several irritants for their trenches, and with everyone now ready for a long hard Beijing at present, ranging from India’s growing military ties winter, China could either try to test the resolve of the Indian with the US to India being the only major country to openly army with simultaneous attacks across the Himalayan fron- oppose the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, earlier the tiers, wherein it needs massive numbers of troops, or to make One Belt One Road project or OBOR), the biggest challenge to even face-saving gains around what may be our weak spots— China’s territorial claims has been the Indian Home Minister’s since in the mountains every hilltop you hold is important. So, call to liberate the 38,000 square kilometres of Aksai Chin fol- the scale of use of artillery and rocket fire depends on the sheer lowing the creation of the Union Territory of Ladakh. To the grit of the defenders. Chinese, this was a challenge to what they had come to believe was the status quo. This, too, is similar to Jawaharlal Nehru’s assertive behaviour from 1960 onwards. o make a substantial dent in the Indian However, where the Chinese leadership has got it wrong— army’s Himalayan defences, China would and there are no parallels with 1962—is that the Indian army need at least 45, if not 50, army divisions (of has been allowed to respond to any further escalation on the 7,500 men each). China could rapidly de- frontlines in a responsible manner and, more importantly, Tploy up to 36 divisions across India’s frontiers—with its Indian armed forces are not a pushover any more. Although well-developed road network across Tibet—but it could the Chinese incursions have once again given New Delhi a only do so if it faced no other threat along its vast frontiers. wakeup call to heed the military’s demands for modern weap- (China has borders with 14 countries but territorial disputes ons systems, Beijing’s action has also revived the discussion with many more.) Yet, it isn’t going to be the case, as President on a number of issues of national security just when many Xi Jinping has gone in for a strategic overstretch—from the of us thought that India’s only external threat was from Paki- South China Sea to Ladakh—and the least that the US naval stan—and that the generals in Rawalpindi had been tamed by armada deployed in those high seas could do is keep China’s the air strikes on Balakot. However, dealing with China would force deployment divided. There are at least three US aircraft require India to respond on multiple fronts—military, diplo- carrier groups (made up of hundreds of frigates, ships and matic and economic—despite the brave fight put up by our submarines armed to their teeth) operating along China’s soldiers at Galwan Valley or, more recently, their use of aggres- maritime front—and ready for war. sive tactics south of Pangong Tso and east of Chushul. These Therefore, the PLA’s best face-saving bet is to try another are not going to stall China’s aggressive designs. Galwan-type encroachment along the LAC, without troops It has only made the situation possibly more explosive, par- opening fire. But it could give a further blow to the Chinese ticularly in the Chushul sector. With the PLA having deployed army’s reputation, as India’s soldiers are now ready and wait- over 40,000 troops (fighting, support and logistics arms) along ing. Almost all Indian army infantry units (about 700 men) the LAC, India has had to substantially increase its military have a ‘Ghatak’ platoon (36 men). These are men chosen and deployments along the LAC too—and further north towards punishingly trained to even kill with their bare hands—and the Karakoram Pass where the Chinese would eventually like many are hardened after years of battling terrorism in Jammu to link up their Aksai Chin areas with the Shaksgam Valley and Kashmir. They could give the PLA a further drubbing. The area ceded to them by Pakistan in 1963. But as a thumb rule name Ghatak quite literally means lethal. It was they who of mountain warfare, China has more disadvantages even if rushed to take on the Chinese army when they heard that it moves in more forces, since every defending Indian divi- Colonel Santosh Babu and his small team had been ambushed. sion (of about 7,500 men each) requires at least six Chinese Apparently, they broke the necks of 18 Chinese soldiers and divisions (45,000 troops) to push them out of their defensive disfigured the faces of many others with stones, as per a report lines. The defender in the mountains needs far fewer troops on Defence Updates. compared to the aggressor—if deployed at heights as Indian The Chinese army, on the other hand, looks impressive in troops are now, unlike in 1962. Thus, India currently has an ad- ceremonial parades and in doctored videos. But it has virtually equate number of soldiers deployed along the LAC. Of course, no battlefield experience, unlike the Indian army. More so, the there is also the other part of the Sino-Indian boundary in Chinese army’s retired veterans are today openly resentful

30 28 september 2020 An Indian military convoy in Ladakh, November 1962 ges getty i ma Where the Chinese leadership has got it wrong—and there are no parallels with 1962—is that the Indian army has been allowed to respond to any further escalation on the frontlines. More importantly, Indian armed forces are not a pushover any more. However, dealing with China would require India to respond on multiple fronts—military, diplomatic and economic of their shabby treatment. This is a de-motivator for serving was only when the Chinese were across the McMahon Line soldiers. Besides, with China’s one-child policy, its soldiers are and Tawang had fallen that Nehru desperately sought US air unwilling to die. India’s case is quite the opposite. The Indian support. Neither did the US respond (apparently on the advice army is ready to blow off the ghost of 1962 when it was humili- of their much trumpeted envoy John K Galbraith) nor was ated because Nehru and his civil-military cronies botched it. A the IAF used. detailed analysis of Chinese military capabilities on a YouTube However, recent history has shown us that in the event of video by Defence Updates (on weapons and strategies), doing escalation—such as the Kargil conflict when the IAF became a the rounds on social media, shows clearly that China is more gamechanger—the use of air power cannot be ruled out. Apart boastful of what it can do than what it can actually do. from the limitations imposed by the high altitudes of the Ti- The only edge China has is with rocket forces. These could betan plateau from where the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) would cause considerable damage to the airfields—not aircraft—in have to fly towards India—with half their fuel and ammuni- Leh and Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO). India’s air armada would tion loads—Chinese air force pilots have little experience of be flying from airfields far away from Chinese artillery and battlefield situations as they rarely exercise with other forces. rocket reach—Srinagar, Pathankot, Agra, Bareilly, Siliguri and This is unlike IAF pilots who regularly train with US, French Tezpur. All of these airfields allow fighter aircraft to load their and Russian air forces. And China’s latest Chengdu J-20 fighter full bomb and fuel payloads (unlike Chinese airfields on the isn’t a fifth-generation fighter as Beijing claims as per a video Tibetan plateau that restrict air operational capabilities) and from Defence Updates. A fifth-generation fighter is normally take off for their missions. Hopefully, if push comes to shove, invisible to radar. But in 2018, an Indian Sukhoi Su-30MKI India will not hesitate to use the Indian Air Force (IAF) because had sighted the J-20 on its radar. Thus, the J-20 is a glorified Delhi had not done so in 1962 for fear of escalation. Sadly, it 4++ generation fighter.

28 september 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 31 Cover Story

Thus, India’s Sukhois and the new Rafales could be more on the coast of Hainan island, raising questions as to why a than a match for the J-20. Besides, as Russia has confirmed that nuclear submarine would surface since its deployment is China has ordered new batches of Sukhoi Su-35 fighters (4++ supposed to be a secret. Did something go wrong with its generation), China’s claims of air superiority are contestable. systems? Western analysts say Chinese submarines are very Moreover, as other Chinese aircraft are reverse-engineered loud and can be tracked from far. Also, the Chinese naval fleet versions of Russian design—and as Russia does not provide with its aircraft carriers like Liaoning and Shandong carry J-15 China its best technology since it is wary of China copying fighters (copied from SU-33) that use a WS10-8 engine that is it—Chinese aircraft are not quite the state-of-the-art technol- underpowered. So the J-15 has a limited effective range and ogy they are made out to be. Even Pakistan has refused to buy can only carry a smaller weapons package compared to the J-17s made with all-Chinese technology. Instead, Pakistan has SU-33. All this indicates that the Chinese navy, though big in bought its critical components from other countries. The IAF size, has its limitations. can, therefore, be an effective match for the PLAAF at present, India’s navy, in contrast, enjoys a considerable edge over despite its depleting numbers. the Chinese in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and can block There are similar reports against China’s maritime claims. Chinese ships from passing through the Straits of Malacca The latest submarine in the Chinese navy (PLAN) is the Type (the critical waterway near Singapore between Malaysia and 094 J-Class. It is apparently the backbone of China’s second- Sumatra in Indonesia). This can be a major pressure point strike capability and nuclear deterrence. It carries a 1 megaton against any long-term Chinese military campaign against nuclear warhead and 12 JL-2 missiles (submarine-launched India. As it happens, Indian naval ships in this area now op- ballistic missiles, or SLBMs, with a range of 7,200 km). But erate closely with the US navy (which has in the past said in October 2019, one of these submarines suddenly surfaced that the professionalism of the Indian navy was up to NATO standards). This is China’s ‘Malacca dilemma’ and, as a coun- Indian soldiers stand guard as an army convoy (hidden from ter, Beijing has made considerable investments in a port in view) moves through the Zoji La Pass Pakistan (Gwadar) and the China-Pakistan Economic Corri- dor (CPEC) that runs from Kashgar in Xinjiang via Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) through Pakistan. However, neither is the CPEC ready to help China move its oil and trade products—through Pakistan, from and to the Gulf region and even Africa—nor is Pakistan likely to get into a full-fledged war with India in support of Chinese ambitions. The reasons are primarily twofold: first, the Indian armed forces are adequately matched against Pakistan despite the Chinese threat; and second, during the India-Pakistan wars (1965, 1971 and 1999), the absence of Chinese intervention had foiled Pakistan’s plans. Yet, short of that, Pakistan would be a major distraction for India if Beijing moved to take greater control of Aksai Chin a p and even Ladakh for the region’s mineral wealth (including uranium) and for the waters of the Indus and the Pangong As a thumb rule of mountain Tso. But China also wants a link-up with the Karakoram Pass warfare, China has more north of the Depsang Plains—where it had encroached in the disadvantages even if it moves past too—so that the long and arduous journey towards the Shaksgam Valley (now of over 1,800 km) is reduced consider- in more forces. The defender in ably. Beijing had encroached on the glacier-rich Shaksgam the mountains needs far fewer Valley well before the Pakistanis gave its control to the Chinese in 1963. However, any further ingress by the Chinese from troops—if deployed at heights the Depsang Plains to the LAC will be met by not just India’s as Indian troops are now, unlike infantrymen in their trenches but also a mechanised force of in 1962. India currently has an tanks and infantry carrier vehicles (ICV) that will have con- siderable room for military manoeuvres there. China has no adequate number of soldiers doubt deployed a large mechanised force, but it needs at least along the LAC. It all depends three times India’s mechanised force to make any gains. Some former commanders who have served in Leh ask on the defender’s resolve to how many of those Chinese tanks are actually operational hold on to its positions and not dummies—and do they all have enough fuel and

32 28 september 2020 IAF’s Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighters escort India’s first batch of Rafale jets, July 29

India’s air armada would be flying from airfields far away from Chinese artillery and rocket reach—Srinagar, Pathankot, Agra, Bareilly, Siliguri and Tezpur. These airfields allow fighters to load their full bomb and fuel payloads, unlike Chinese airfields on the Tibetan plateau that restrict air operational capabilities

ammunition? Indian troops do certainly have an operational of the enemy’s troops. Hence we should not dismiss the role of force, having been there since General K Sundarji decided to local spies as they are often the eyes on the ground. move mechanised units of ICVs to Ladakh. His wisdom was Some US analysts have recently expressed fears that any questioned then but certainly not now, with the Chinese escalation around the Kashmir and Ladakh region could spark looking for gaps in India’s defences to exploit. a bigger Sino-US conflict and even possibly a world war. But Bei- jing is now between the devil and the deep sea, surrounded as it is by US naval task forces and facing India’s tough stand against he logistics of winter stocking in Ladakh is its territorial incursions. And if Beijing decides to raise the level the big challenge that India must address in what- and threaten the use of nuclear weapons, it must know that ever manner possible because that could be the India can respond. It isn’t the numbers of missiles and warheads decisive factor in the event of war. The two major that matter but the fear of ‘mutually assured destruction’, or mountainT passes—Zoji La and Rohtang—are of little use from MAD, as the strategists call it. However, a Chinese-led escala- November to April. So whatever is required by our troops— tion would provide the US the ‘Pearl Harbour moment’ which, not just at the LAC but in Siachen and Kargil as well—must reports say, is what Washington has been waiting for. be pushed through by the end of October. The Rohtang Pass In the last paragraph of their essay on China, the authors of now has the Atal Tunnel but Zoji La does not. This, along with the book 2020: World of War—a set of conflict scenarios—tell activating the Chushul airfield, is essential. The move of the us how Xi Jinping is woken up after midnight by his advisors Special Frontier Force (SFF) and Indian troops to the heights who inform him that the world is ready to bomb China to the around was perhaps for this purpose too. Airlifts of essentials high heavens for a military (mis)adventure that went wrong are the only lifeline for troops on those freezing frontlines. in the South China Sea. And when asked by his wife ‘what There is now a need to speed up work on the Chushul airfield is it?’, Xi replies: ‘we have just got something terribly wrong’. that was ignored all these years. This scenario may well apply to the Sino-Indian front as China India’s big disadvantage versus Chinese capabilities is the faces up to what it had assumed—and how this might just lack of satellite capabilities and their inputs. Apparently, of spiral out of its control. If the assertions of India’s leadership the total number of satellites in the skies, the US and China can be taken seriously, India is up for a fight, since politicians have 45 per cent and the rest belong to other countries. India’s only resort to the military option if there are no others and share is minuscule. So if we require satellite inputs—which we if they stand to gain from it. In the case of China, its leader- will in the event of conflict—our sources, for now, would be ship seems keen on going ahead with the military option as, the US and Israel, and possibly Russia and France. Some very in Xi Jinping’s assessment, China has enough military power useful data is available, for a price, from private companies in to enforce its territorial claims on India and to deal with the the West. But India may be reluctant to use their inputs as this challenge posed by the US. But he may just could give away Delhi’s intent. Satellite inputs apart, today’s be proved very wrong. n battlefield has a number of information providers from troops on the front, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), helicopters and AWACS (airborne warning and control system). But a 30 sq cm Maroof Raza is a consulting editor (strategic satellite photo may not be helpful in giving the correct status affairs) with the Times Television Network

28 september 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 33 Cover Story Winter is coming The psychological divide between the enemy lines By Manvendra Singh

An Indian soldier guards the Zoji La Pass road n a routine July day in 2019, an innocuous People’s Liberation Army (PLA) press release may have been taken as just another hand- out from Beijing. On the other hand, it may not have been assumed unexceptional. If it was, or even if it wasn’t regarded as standard, the press release suggested actions that reverberate well into Sep- tember 2020. ‘Last year, for the first time, the army under the PLA Western Theatre Command and its subordinate group armies set the battle command post on the plateau at the altitude of above 4000 meters. This year, the ground force of the PLA Western Theatre Command sent a Opermanent training instruction team to station at the high altitude region and all its sub- ordinate group armies moved their headquarters to the high altitude region in complete unit,’ it said (‘PLA Army Conducts Drills Regularly in West China’s Plateau Area’, China Military, July 23rd, 2019). Innocuous enough, except that there is a deep message about Photo AP Cover Story

thinking, planning, training and implementing by field exer- and seems as innocuous as its title. ‘Use the same feint twice. cises, something which is not ordinarily conducted by a mili- Having reacted to the first and often the second feint as well, tary force. Setting up a battle command post above 4,000 metres the enemy will be hesitant to react to a third feint. Therefore, suggests there is an operation in mind, sometime in the future, the third feint is the actual attack catching your enemy with and when ‘all subordinate group armies’ shifted headquarters his guard down’ (The Thirty-Six Strategies of Ancient China by ‘in complete unit’, a battle plan was made fairly obvious. Stefan H Verstappen, originally published in 1999). Repeated Professional militaries war-game scenarios—in class- exercises conducted by PLA Western Theatre Command, and rooms, on paper—and then exercise in the likely terrain and yet another similarly anodyne press handout, over years lulled operational area. In this case, PLA Western Theatre Command 2020 India into believing it was a routine drill, conducted an- was clearly conducting an exercise that required battle com- nually, innocent of all other intent. Coupled with Strategy mand post in high altitudes, and with the headquarters of #10—‘Hide Your Dagger Behind a Smile’—China’s political all combat and support elements present as well. In simple and military strategy becomes fairly obvious—and explicit. language, the purpose was to demonstrate an ability to coor- And garnished with the most famous of Chinese proverbs— dinate all elements into a single operational battle plan, which ‘(Never ask the) weight of the emperor’s cauldrons’—Beijing’s required holding and fighting in a high-altitude area. The only thought process displays a brazenness that is apparent. foe the People’s Republic of China has at a high altitude is India.

n hindsight, it is possible to visualise India, its While India’s military was born of the ethos of the 19th century priorities and thinking, on that late July 2019 day when professionalisation of the arms under strict politico-bureaucratic controls, the PLA shared its operational thoughts and plans. Duty officers in the various intelligence agencies in New Del- the PLA was birthed in a highly politicised peasant uprising with a Marxist Ihi would have ‘noted’ the handout, Directorate of Military veneer. It remains strictly under the control of the Communist Party of Intelligence (China section) would have made some remarks China, the professionalism of its officers and soldiers notwithstanding alongside, and somebody in Directorate General Military Operations would have added it to the files dealing with Ex/Op reports for, as the handout said, something was con- Chinese President Xi Jinping inspects ducted the year earlier as well. troops on the 90th anniversary of the Which is the truest reflection of the vast differences in the foundation of the People’s Liberation culture, ethos and functioning of the two militaries that today Army at Zhurihe training base in confront each other on that ‘plateau at the altitude of above China, July 30, 2017 4000 meters’. While India’s military was born of the ethos of the 19th century professionalisation of the arms and func- tions under strict politico-bureaucratic controls, the PLA was birthed in a highly politicised peasant uprising with a Marxist veneer. It remains strictly under the control of the Commu- nist Party of China (CPC), the professionalism of its officers and soldiers notwithstanding. Coupled with that communist birthing is a historical sensibility that goes back deep into Chi- nese memory—events and lessons to be learnt. The language of the PLA handout of July 23rd, 2019 could well have been influenced by lessons imbibed from the ‘Warring States Period’ of 475 BCE to 221 BCE. The ‘humiliation’ of 19th century Western imperialism and the Warring States Period has had the most profound impact on Chinese thinking, politics and policy. In essence, the War- ring States Period is about the long bouts of internecine warfare within China—and the ultimate triumph of a single unify- ing dynasty. Any resemblance to the CPC and Mao Zedong is purely coincidental. Events, episodes and lessons from the Warring States Period form a compilation that has become essential reading in, and about, China. And none more so than 27 august 2018 the famous anonymously authored 36 Stratagems. Strategy #7 is labelled ‘Create Something from Nothing’

36 The ‘cauldrons’ proverb is rooted in a belief that prohibits Support in Drills amid China-India Border Clash’, Global Times, any display of intent and capability before the opportune mo- September 11th). ment—and is routinely used in terms of the global competi- Even if grossly exaggerated, this drone delivery capability is tion with Washington. But its Indian application is apparent a reflection of complex logistics capacity coupled with combat as well now, with more than two divisions worth of troops formations. All of which is an outcome of deep changes in the almost eyeball-to-eyeball from both armies on that ‘plateau at PLA structures and size that have been implemented over the the altitude of above 4000 meters’. Aviation assets have been years, particularly in the last decade. Which is also a reflection mobilised and the enormous chain of military logistics acti- of the vast differences that exist between India’s armed forces vated to support the combat troops. The scale of the mobilisa- and the PLA. tion being what it is, the efforts to sustain the soldiers are a In December 2016, General Zhao Zongqi, head of the re- challenge not for the fainthearted. And true to their proclivity, cently raised PLA Western Theatre Command, visited India the PLA cannot resist highlighting the efforts it makes to care as a guest of the Indian army. The visit lasted from December for the deployed troops. Drones are being used to provide hot 8th to 10th and he met the then Chief of Army Staff, General meals to soldiers, highest on the scale for morale measurement Dalbir Singh, the then Vice Chief and current Chief of Defence (‘PLA Tibet Military Command Adopts Drones for Logistics Staff (CDS), General Bipin Rawat, and then Eastern Army Com- mander, Lt General P Bakshi. ‘The two sides agreed to jointly implement the important consensus reached by leaders of the two countries and the relevant agreements between the While India’s military was born of the ethos of the 19th century two countries and militaries, promote mutual understanding, professionalisation of the arms under strict politico-bureaucratic controls, enhance pragmatic cooperation, safeguard peace and stability in border areas, and try best to make positive contributions to the PLA was birthed in a highly politicised peasant uprising with a Marxist the healthy and stable development of the relations between veneer. It remains strictly under the control of the Communist Party of the two countries and two militaries’, the official handout said China, the professionalism of its officers and soldiers notwithstanding (‘PLA Delegation Visits India’, China Military, December 10th, 2016). General Zongqi remains the theatre commander till Photo AP date, despite almost 50 years of service and having reached the retirement age of 65. A continuity that is impossible in the Indian armed forces, for the governing culture in Delhi precludes selectivity to such an extent. It also does not promote military changes to the degree that has been possible in China, and especially with regard to the size and structure of the PLA. A year after assuming office as General Secretary of the CPC in 2012, Xi Jinping made a far-reaching vision statement at the 18th Central Committee’s Third Plenum about mili- tary reforms—both leadership and structures. In 2015, the changes came to be actualised with the raising of new theatre commands and additional elements—Strategic Support Force (cyber and digital warfare) and Joint Logistic Support Force—under the PLA. The India-oriented Western Theatre Command came to be raised on February 1st, 2016. And later that year its commander was a guest in Delhi. After years of endless discussion, debate and committee reports, India announced General Bipin Rawat as the first CDS. In effect beginning the reform process from the top of the pyramid rather than strengthening the basic structure. The appointment has created more loops within the civil-military bureaucratic structure than can be easily understood from the outside. Theatre commands remain a far-off aspiration while the low-hanging joint logistics structure has not been achieved as yet. And it cannot be until India’s armed forces are rational- ised for size, deployment and long-term security challenges. Something the PLA has been pushed to implement in rather 27 august 2018 drastic, and dramatic, fashion over the years. Since the first manpower downsizing in 1950, the PLA has

www.openthemagazine.com 37 Cover Story

In December 2016, General Zhao Zongqi, head of the PLA Western Theatre Command, visited India. General Zongqi remains the theatre commander till date, a continuity that is impossible in the Indian armed forces. Nor can Delhi promote military changes to the degree that has been possible in China General Dalbir Singh (left) and General Zhao Zongqi in New Delhi, December 9, 2016

been involved in about 10 such episodes. From its peak of on the north bank of Pangong Tso. Alongside the symbol about 6.3 million uniformed personnel during the Korean was a map of China, both large enough to be picked up by War, 1950-1953, the PLA now numbers about two million. passing satellites. The messaging could not have been more Half being the army and the rest divided among the air artless (‘Chinese Inscribe Huge Symbol, Map onto Disputed force, navy, etcetera. General Zongqi, commander of the Territory in Pangong’, Ndtv.com, June 30th). Little wonder Western Theatre, is from the army and has PLA Air Force that despite endless rounds of military and diplomatic par- (PLAAF) Lt General Wang Qiang as his head of aviation leys the India-China face-off appears no closer to resolution assets. Adam Ni, a China watcher at the Australian Na- than what it was in early May 2020. tional University, highlighted the military logic for this Since the Sumdorong Chu Valley incident in 1986, there rationalisation: ‘a rebalancing of resources away from the have been several protocols initiated and initialled between Army to the Navy, Rocket Force, and Strategic Support India and China. Beginning with the ‘Agreement on the Force will allow China to better tackle emerging secu- Maintenance of Peace and Tranquillity along the Line of rity challenges...such as the need to safeguard sea lanes, Actual Control in the India-China Border Areas’ in 1993 enforce maritime claims, conduct overseas operations, and the 2005 protocol on ‘Modalities for the Implementa- and secure information infrastructures. Second, the re- tion of Confidence Building Measures in the Military Field duction will cut fat from the ground forces in the form Along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China Border of non-combat, non-essential personnel, which makes Areas’ to the latest five-point agreement signed in Moscow. sense from a fiscal point of view. Third, by reducing the These have all come to naught as the PLA has shifted the organisational mass of the PLA, China is hoping to make LAC by altering facts on the ground, not through negotia- its military more versatile, integrated, and effective... In tions and CBMs. sum, the current round of rebalancing is another deliber- So the Indian army and supporting troops took domi- ate step in the long process of making the PLA a leaner and nating heights along the south bank of Pangong Tso at more professional fighting force that can fulfil its growing the end of August, much to China’s chagrin. As winter ap- mission and win modern wars’ (‘Why China Is Trimming proaches, it would be prudent to prepare well—and noth- Its Army’, The Diplomat, July 15th, 2017). ing better than going back into China’s history and Strategy Such synergy is only possible because of firm political #28 from the famous treatise ‘Lure Your Enemy onto the decisions based on solid military rationale, something Xi Roof, Then Take Away the Ladder’: ‘With baits and decep- Jinping has managed remarkably well as he echoes the tions, lure your enemy into treacherous terrain. Then cut PLA’s Ying Pai hawks. off his lines of communication and avenue of escape. To Michael Pillsbury, amongst the foremost China watch- save himself he must fight both your own forces and the ers, wrote: ‘President Xi had picked up a slogan from the elements of nature’ (Verstappen’s The Thirty-Six Strategies). hawks, fuxing zhi lu, which roughly means ‘the road to re- Where it is now placed, India should not be lulled into be- newal’. An expression confined to the nationalistic fringe lieving all is well. It should prepare for every new challenge had become the new president’s signature issue’ (‘The China and the PLA are certain to throw at it. n China Syndrome’, The Economic Times, September 30th, 2019). The physical evidence of this expression can be seen from an episode soon after the tragic June 15th-16th Manvendra Singh was a member of the clash in Ladakh’s Galwan valley. Lt General Wang Haijiang, parliamentary standing committee on the overall PLA commander in Tibet, was photographed defence in the 14th Lok Sabha. He is editor inscribing ‘China’ in Mandarin between Fingers 4 and 5 of Defence & Security Alert

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Available as an e-magazine for tablets, mobiles and desktops via Magzter Economy Breaking the Shackles The government’s immediate problem is finding the resources to meet multiple demands for money Saurabh Singh Saurabh by Illustration

40 28 september 2020 Breaking the Shackles The government’s immediate problem is finding the resources to meet multiple demands for money By Siddharth Singh

hen the quarterly data for India’s economic Urban, salaried India is not free from its share of distress. production were announced at the end of August, Anticipating economic hardship, the Centre had permitted it seemed as if the economy had fallen off a cliff. withdrawals from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) when With the exception of agriculture, no other sec- relief measures were announced during the lockdown. Again, tor remained unaffected by the destructive gale without much surprise, the data on EPF withdrawals were of the pandemic. But that was the least of it. The strongly correlated with states with high formal employment. Whuman misery caused by the combination of a weak economy But more distressingly, these withdrawals also tallied quite and a raging viral outbreak was well known even if its exact con- closely with states most ravaged by the coronavirus: of the tours remained unmapped. Some of that can be gauged now as Rs 39,402 crore withdrawn, Maharashtra (Rs 7,837 crore), Karnata- the Government’s statistical machinery begins churning out data. ka (Rs 5,743 crore) and Tamil Nadu (Rs 4,984 crore) were at the top. On September 14th, when Parliament convened for the Mon- Some of these concerns have found their way into the soon Session, the Government released two sets of figures that Government’s spending priorities as it tries to shore up the showed how badly Indians had been affected by the events since economy. In the first batch of supplementary demands for March this year. In response to a question, the Government stated 2020-2021 presented to Parliament on August 14th, Finance Min- that 1.046 crore migrant workers had returned to their home states ister Nirmala Sitharaman asked for approval of an additional till the date of gathering the data. States such as Uttar Pradesh (32.4 Rs 2.36 lakh crore. Of this sum, the actual outgo amounts to lakh), Bihar (15 lakh), West Bengal (13.8 lakh) and Rajasthan (13 Rs 1.66 lakh crore while the remainder are savings (Rs 68,868 crore). Of the Rs 1.66 lakh crore, the lion’s share will be spent on rural India. An extra Rs 40,000 crore has been requested for spending under the Mahatma Gandhi First, there are states that have borne the National Rural Employment Guaran- brunt of revenue shortfall from weak GST tee Act. Another Rs 33,771 crore has collections. These states are clamouring for been asked for direct benefit transfers. Of this, Rs 30,957 crore will go to wom- more as they battle the Covid-19 crisis. They en accountholders of the Pradhan Man- need help. Second, there are now a large number tri Jan Dhan Yojna. The remainder will of persons who have been left jobless. Helping go to an old-age pension scheme. If these sums are meant to provide them has been the first priority of the government succour to people, money has also been made available to shore up the econom- ic backbone of the country. States have been provided Rs 46,602 crore in the lakh) accounted for the most migrants. If agricultural growth ap- form of grants—the single biggest tranche of money in the supple- peared like a ray of hope, these numbers highlight the burden mentary demands—and another Rs 20,000 crore will be used to that rural India has borne in the months of the lockdown. The recapitalise public sector banks by sale of government securities. situation is, however, not one of all gloom and doom. One posi- These sums are tiny in comparison to what different parts of tive side-effect, according to a recent World Bank survey, was the the economy want. States, on the frontline of the fight against the increased availability of labour for agriculture. Government and pandemic, have lost huge sums of money from losses due to inad- private sector economists report a rise in the area under kharif equate revenue from the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Similarly, cultivation this year, with the increase estimated in the 7-10 per this round of bank recapitalisation is puny in contrast to previ- cent range. With these trends, the possibility of inflation cooling ous ones. Could the Government have done better? Does higher a bit—something that has been seen since August—cannot be spending offer a way out of the economic crisis? ruled out. If that happens, it will provide some respite to urban In an interview to Cogencis, Union Expenditure Secretary households that have borne the brunt of job and income losses. TV Somanathan said: “Is it obvious from the experience of other

28 september 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 41 Economy

countries which have given large pack- ages that those packages had a direct correlation with staving off the GDP fall? There is no evidence of it. You can see Europe, you can see several other economies where very large packages were given, they have not really averted the downturn.” He added: “It is not clear to me that a fiscal stimulus will prevent loss of jobs or the shutting down of com- s Bombay Stock Exchange in March 2020 panies, if there is no demand. Because reu t er there is no package which we can give that can stimulate or make up for it… There is a limit to what government can do in a situation like this That doomsday scenario has not emerged. But given the needs and we have to be realistic about it.” of the armed forces—equipment, running expenses, war mate- At one level, what Somanathan said makes sense. There rial, supplies—in case the situation turns worse, the Government are limits to what the Government can do and there are many has been wise not to spend more. But at some point, when the competing claims to the limited resources that are available to pandemic subsides, the issue of weak growth will have to be the Government. First, there are states that have borne the brunt confronted. The original problem that weakened growth over of revenue shortfall from low GST collections. These states are the last decade—the clogging of land and labour markets—is clamouring for more as they battle the Covid-19 crisis. They need still around even if some tentative steps have been taken by the help. Second, there are now a large number of persons---both in Government towards labour reforms. In normal times, fixing informal and formal sectors—who have been left jobless. Help- this problem requires heavy political lifting. The 2013 land ing them has been the first priority of the Government. So far, the acquisition law is a case in point. Perhaps it is time to revisit these expenditures incurred since March have clearly, and heavily, tilted frictions in India’s political economy when the pandemic is over, towards these ends. or at least when it gets to a manageable level. At the moment, these reforms appear unnecessary as industry has no appetite for investment and finds itself unwinding its costs and debts. This here is, however, a third—more intractable—problem at situation, however, is unlikely to persist forever. At some point hand in India: its faltering economic growth. Here there are when demand picks up and investment seems promising, the Ttwo peculiar problems since Covid-19 hit India. One, states Government should not be caught napping, having not done the that account for the bulk of India’s output—Maharashtra, Tamil preparatory work to undo these laws. Nadu, Karnataka and, only to a slightly lesser extent, Gujarat— The immediate problem for the Government, however, is have been ravaged by huge number of coronavirus cases. Over that of finding resources to meet multiple demands for money. and above that is the massive economic dislocation prompted One option—very often suggested in a cavalier fashion—is to by the lockdowns that have been necessary to check the spread opt for automatic deficit monetisation, a situation that prevailed of the virus. Getting these states back on the rails is essential if prior to the 1998 arrangement between the Reserve Bank of In- economic growth were to pick up. Two, India is almost unique dia and the Union Government when issuing of ad hoc treasury among countries when two parameters are considered: the bills was stopped. There are also suggestions that the inflation extent of the downturn and the resources devoted towards targeting approach has killed economic growth in India. These economic resuscitation. Here, the Government acted with caution are extreme positions given that India has a history of infla- when the outbreak began. At that time, the crisis along the Line of tionary pressures emerging very quickly. Deficit monetisation Actual Control (LAC) with China was not even on the radar (the remains a ‘nuclear option’ that the Government can exercise first signs of that came in Galwan in mid-June). Even on that early when it has run out of options. In an unprecedented crisis like date, economists were unanimous in making a strong case for the one India is witnessing now, that may become necessary if extraordinary expenditures. One can easily see the consequenc- other options fail; it cannot be the first choice. There are down- es in case the Government had undertaken a big stimulus, stream macroeconomic consequences of that option—crowd- say around 10-15 per cent of GDP, and then the situation with ing out of the private sector from financial markets, sustained China had deteriorated. The money necessary to wage a defen- inflation—that India has managed to overcome with great sive war would have to be found by monetising the deficit and difficulty and over time. Many of these arguments are inspired the consequent ruining of the economy due to inflation and by the current Western fashion—modern monetary theory— re-allocation of resources. An economic crisis turning into a which holds that creation and borrowing of money has no national security crisis is the worst nightmare that political consequences for governments. These claims should be taken managers in any country can face. with a pinch of salt in the Indian setting. n

42 28 september 2020 While Inside Look Outside For FREE With access visit www.openthemagazine.com Profile

Kangana Ranaut in Manikarnika

44 28 september 2020 The Arsonist’s Act Kangana Ranaut plays her biggest role as the demolition diva at Bollywood’s weakest moment By Kaveree Bamzai

angana Ranaut’s beautifully designed minutes in a film, with an item song and a romantic scene, in Khar home is filled up with framed imag- exchange for sleeping with the hero. Any sleeping that has been es of two people. One is of every woman’s done is entirely voluntary and often cheerfully. favourite feminist artist Frida Kahlo—she As if that was not extraordinary enough, Kangana has admit- of the unibrow, uninhibited sexuality, ted she had a drug habit, which she says she has overcome. She perennial physical pain and prodigious has talked about the extensive work she has done on herself: talent. The other is of her self-chosen spir- spiritual practice, English lessons which she continues to take itual guru, Swami Vivekananda, whose or styling which is tasteful yet quirky. She has laid bare much of teachings dot her walls. When Kangana her life for all to see, and instead of praise and adulation, she has Kran away from the four-month-long modelling course Elite put usually faced a stone wall of rejection, whether it is from female her through in Delhi in 2005, she could not have imagined such colleagues such as Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt whose work material success. A home in one of the best parts of suburban she has publicly admired or from directors such as Karan Johar Mumbai, an equally pretty office (now in ruins thanks to a bunch and even good friend Anurag Kashyap who have mocked her. of uncivic officials), a resort in Manali The industry’s code of silence usually overlooking orchards and first dibs on a means that couples don’t acknowledge any biopic on any iconic woman, from Rani of intimacy unless they marry; former lovers Jhansi, Laxmibai to Jayalalithaa. Despite behave like best friends; married male stars Despite enormous odds, Kangana has enormous odds, routinely expect the young (and younger) conquered the heights of the film indus- Kangana ranaut women they are starring with to go grate- try, on her own terms, since she burst on has conquered fully to bed with them. As for directors to the scene in 2006, all skinny arms, wild the heights of who routinely extract sexual favours from hair and untrammelled talent. Along the vulnerable young women (and men) for way she has overcome broken relation- bollywood on the promise of stardom, there is no lack of ships—with a character actor, as she calls her own terms. them either. Once you’re given a privileged him, who abused her physically and psy- She has avoided pass into the industry, you’re supposed to chologically; with a star son who failed to item songs. turn a blind eye to every malpractice, laugh take off and then went public about her She does not but not too loudly and move on—to the prowess with black magic; with a mar- endorse fairness next film, the next endorsement, the next ried superstar who abruptly dropped products boyfriend. her from his life and the publicity of two Kangana has not followed that path. films he had signed with her when she When she tweets about fancy nepotistic showed signs of getting serious about their relationship; and children who show romantic dreams to vulnerable outsiders with a separated superstar who refused to even acknowledge and then publicly dump them, referencing Sushant Singh Ra- their affair. She has avoided item songs which objectify women. jput and Sara Ali Khan, she may as well be talking about her- She sticks to her principles such as about not endorsing fairness self. For someone so conscious of the film hierarchy, she knows products. And as she tweeted to Jaya Bachchan, she has not ac- A-list actresses are required, almost by custom, to have A-list cepted the fate meted out to most women in the industry: two boyfriends, unions which then create self-perpetuating A-list

28 september 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 45 Profile

dynasties. She also knows that unless she celebrates her success, Johar’s behavior, but now believes Kangana’s like a speeding car no one else will: so when Manikarnika makes Rs 90 crore at the abandoned by its driver. She’s hurtling ahead without anybody at box office or Tanu Weds Manu Returns grosses Rs 148 crore, she the steering wheel. “We have no clue what else she will take along has to blow her own trumpet. with her but she’s surely going to go crashing into something In the process though, perhaps Kangana has become the herself. There’s a limit to stupidity,” she says. very thing she hates most. Stealing credit from directors is some- Bollywood, Nanda adds, is not one building, which can be de- thing male actors do routinely. Not billing writers fairly is also not molished. It’s an idea that kept growing in size because more and unusual. Not acknowledging the work of more artists and businesses wanted to par- others on the films that succeeded is again take in it. Kangana cannot bring it down particularly true of narcissists. Walking out Role Call nor can anybody else, not even govern- of movies where there is room for only one ments even if they wanted to. These days ego—that belonging to the male actor—is The ingénue people are sitting at home making cinema, something other actresses have done as In her first two films, she says. Film critic Maithili Rao is another well; Kangana doesn’t gain points for that. Gangster (2006) and Woh Lamhe lapsed enthusiast of the waif-turned-war- As for not attending award shows because (2007), she played the woman rior-turned-wounded tigress. This rank perennially on the verge of a they are bought and sold, it’s a path trodden nervous breakdown, perfecting outsider, she says, made the girl next door by no less than Aamir Khan. But when Kan- the character by the time she feisty and sexy in a demure way with the gana attacks other actors for their choices, appeared in Madhur breakthrough Queen. “From the neurotic of silence or speaking up, or categorises Bhandarkar’s Fashion (2008). waif with a mop of curls on the verge of them, she is doing them and herself a dis- Her explosive talent, breakdown in her early B-graders from service. Kangana is not the first woman to unconventional life, the Vishesh stable, she escaped stereotyp- have made female-centric movies. She is freespiritedness defined her ing. She was crowned India’s sweetheart as much as they threatened not the first feminist in the industry. She is to consume her. who could do no wrong. Only briefly. Tanu also not the first outsider to have come so Weds Manu [2011] made a quirky heroine far. Contrary to what she would like us to appealing to an unadventurous audience. believe, not everyone has had a sugar daddy, The Glamazon The shoddy sequel was only remarkable a powerful boyfriend or a storied family to Once upon a Time in Mumbaai for her down-to-earth Haryanvi athlete (2010) saw her construct a new descend from. Many women have come to image as a fashionista. It also who is cheated out of promised romance the industry from nowhere and made their started a relationship with a star by the capricious Tanu. Ranaut the actor place in the hearts and minds of the nation. that continued in two other silly showed off her nuanced tonal variations.” But anger is a coruscating emotion. films which saw her in a more Then, says Rao, came the missteps It can destroy years of control over one’s glamorous avatar. in big ambitious films with estab- emotions. It has, of late, transformed Kan- lished directors. Vishal Bharadwaj’s gana, propelled her to see her own narra- The Queen Rangoon (2017), Hansal Mehta’s Sim- tive in that of every person or community Vikas Bahl’s Queen (2013) ran (2017) and her own production that has suffered, whether it is Sushant empowered her with a Manikarnika were monotone essays in nar- Singh Rajput or Kashmiri Pandits in ex- co-writing credit and gave her cissism. “You sensed her overconfidence ile. Call it too much empathy or excessive a taste for good cinema again. in trying to pull off Simran where she was opportunism, but it has made even those Tanu Weds Manu Returns (2015) in every frame and no one to play against,” made it seem there could be who once admired her question her now. room in the film industry for says Rao, adding, “Sorry, cinema is collab- As filmmaker and writer Vinta Nanda says: more than one female orative, especially when it comes to acting. “There’s a tree that bears fruit. Someone powerhouse; Vidya Balan with Rangoon asked too much of everyone—ac- wants to destroy it. He gives a saw to a girl her trifecta of Ishqiya (2010), The tors and audience—because its ambition called Kangana who is sitting on the tree Dirty Picture (2011) and Kahaani overran the execution, where individual and tells her to do as told. Kangana cuts the (2012) had already stunned parts were brilliant but could not hang to- branch of the tree on which she is sitting. audiences. gether as a whole. As for Manikarnika, she She falls off. The tree is hurt but it picks its opted for the Sanjay Leela Bhansali school wounds, continues to grow and bear fruit. The Fire Breather of opulence and tagged on anachronistic Kangana is embarrassed for being so fool- With Manikarnika (2019), she Hindu nationalism to an epic story.” ish. That’s how I view this whole thing vis- decided everything that had There are suggestions that these set- à-vis Kangana and Bollywood and vis-à-vis preceded in the industry was backs are responsible for her jumping not merely anti-national but also Kangana and Mumbai.” anti-Hindu. A slippery slope for into controversies, all guns blazing. That Nanda says she specially saw all her an artist and even more so for a she has flaunted her endorsement of the movies, even stood by her and wrote against cultural commentator. current regime of hypernationalism. “Kan-

46 28 september 2020 Kangana Ranaut at her office in Mumbai, September 10

Kangana’s campaign is unlikely to help her consolidate power. Bollywood worships commercial success. Perhaps she needs to pause telling her own story and resume telling the stories

of others Photos getty images Kangana’s office being demolished, September 9

gana’s courage to take on the Bollywood establishment did win It has only given Kangana fresh oxygen to breathe fire at those respect but this shrill unhinged avatar looks like a frustrated who have laughed at her, told her to leave the industry or called diva’s clamour for attention and relevance,” says Rao. her “haramkhor”. Kangana has repeatedly denied being a political pawn; But it is highly unlikely that all this will consolidate her though the ringing praise from the toughest members of the power in the industry. Kangana knows that Bollywood wor- right wing such as BJP MP Subramanian Swamy and BJP General ships commercial success. A blockbuster Friday is the best way Secretary Muralidhar Rao keeps the suspicion alive. In the past, of vanquishing enemies and making new friends. Perhaps Kan- she has rejected several offers of fighting elections from various gana needs to press pause on telling her own story and resume parties. Some politicians are quite chuffed at her needling the telling the stories of others, of the so-called losers, the forgotten Shiv Sena, which she dubbed the “Sonia Sena”, especially since nationalists, the mothers next door, the women who dared to fly, the party, ruling Maharashtra in alliance with the Congress, even though everyone around them was desperately trying to seems to have decided to bully her into silence and submission. ground them. Time to exit real drama and return to reel drama? n

28 september 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 47 sport For the Love of the Game

48 For the Love of the Game the rise of online fantasy sport

B y Ullekh NP

engaluru-based hardware haps explains why Magnus Carlsen, the engineer and soccer nut world’s top-ranking chess player, emerged Lashminarayan Venkate- with superb scores in the English Premier san says that he derives League’s official fantasy sports game, FPL. immense “gratification” For similar games in cricket, which is playing online fantasy also growing at a fast clip, enthusiasts of- sports because it gives him ten download apps—Dream11, Playerz- a stake in the real game be- Pot, FanFight, Real Fantasy, and so on. Fed- ing played between teams. eration of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) is BThis category of games online is nothing the self-regulatory body formed in India new, but has been growing rapidly over in 2017 to protect the interests of partici- the past few years, thanks mostly due to pants and to ensure best practices in the what Venkatesan, who is into artificial in- sports segment following court verdicts telligence, calls the opportunity it offers that have legalised the segment in most participants to “have skin in the game”. Indian states. The most interesting aspect The idea of having a stake in the real is that the sector has generated over Rs games through an online game is all the 1,500 crore of foreign direct investment rage not only for football aficionados such over the past two years. According to re- as Venkatesan, who plays online fantasy ports, Dream Sports, which is the parent games coinciding with soccer matches company of Dream11, received $225 mil- between international teams. For cricket lion in new financing. A KPMG report fans, an opportunity has now come up avers that this sports segment is set to after a gap, thanks to IPL 2020 being held enhance consumption of sports even in from September 19th to November 10th in the interiors of India. More companies, the UAE. The 53-day cricket tournament including PayTM First Games, Halaplay, will be the first cricketing event to be held My11 Circle, MyTeam11 and 11 Wickets following the disruptions caused by the have invested in this online sport game. lockdown. Unlike online poker or chess, According to a whitepaper by Indi- these online games can be played only atech.org, a non-profit organisation that when real events are around the corner. vows to build the world’s largest inter- This is how it works: you can down- net commerce ecosystem in India, ‘the load apps of Fantrax or Fantasy Premier online fantasy sports industry is more League (FPL), choose a game that is being skill-intensive and non-addictive in na- played and select your dream team of play- ture and has provided an opportunity ers. Your points rise or fall according to for newer sports to become popular, and the actual performance of your team and their popularity is spread today across your chosen team members on the field. metropolitan and non-metropolitan cit- It is, of course, a game where luck plays a ies as well.’ Justifying favourable court prominent role, but it is also a game of skill verdicts, the Indiatech report says, ‘In- where your abilities to predict various sce- dustry discussions and research findings narios are based on the past record of each have clearly established that the majority player in specific situations. Which per- of the participants usually prefer to play

Illustration by Saurabh Singh www.openthemagazine.com 49 sport

in the free-to-play format.’ The report to over 5,000 by the 2020 fiscal, the report adds, ‘Statistics reveal that 80% of the forecasts. Overall, it states, the sector is participants play online fantasy sports emerging as a significant contributor to for free as entertainment. The 20% of the Indian economy. ‘With the right-hand the remaining participants engage in the holding policy support and self-governed ‘pay-to-play’ format of which a majority mechanisms in place, this industry has 98% have either won or lost less than Rs the true potential to become the next 10,000 on an online fantasy platform in sizeable sector that will help startups from their lifetime [past 3 to 4 years]. This re- India in this space emerge and take on the inforces the fact that fantasy sports are a world market,’ says the report. competitive digital sports engagement platform and clearly not in the nature of an addiction. The average ticket size of ypically, fantasy sport is played by the participation in the pay-to-play for- friends and so the primary motive mat is usually as low as Rs 35 [typically is to secure peer group recognition the cost of a snack].” rather than make money. Howev- The report quotes a survey by Kantar T er, in sport avenues where one has & FIFS to say that 59% of the participants an option to make more money, people in India have started watching new sports who keep performing very well may move Mumbai Indians with because of their interest and inclination on to the next stage, assuming that they the IPL trophy in towards fantasy sports. “While 48% of have outgrown their circle of friends and Hyderabad, May 2019 fantasy sports users now watch almost ev- that it is time to test their abilities. Since ery sport, irrespective of team or country; it is a highly regulated game in India, this cricket followed by football and kabaddi are the most popular sports amongst fantasy sports users,” it adds. Rameesh scenario is unlikely to arise. The argument Kailasam, CEO of IndiaTech, tells Open, that this kind of a game may prompt peo- “India being a nation with one of the larg- ple to try a hand at gambling is also off the est sports fan base has a huge potential for mark, say analysts. Points out Kailasam: online fantasy sports.” India being a “The current legally compliant format of The IndiaTech report states that this nation‘ w‘ith one fantasy sports ensures that sports enthusi- sport segment is extremely useful for the asts follow the game more keenly and are Indian economy as well. The sector, the of the largest more hooked on to sports beyond cricket, report says, has further contributed to like football, kabaddi, hockey, volleyball, the economy by generating employment sports fan base basketball, baseball and so on.” opportunities. ‘Industry discussions have has a huge As an online poker player, Soni Sasank- indicated employment of 2,800 individu- an, a video editor, says that fantasy sport is als on the payrolls of the Online Fantasy potential for vastly different in that it attracts fans be- Sports platforms in FY2019. The indus- online fantasy sides those who get obsessed with the real try reported an increase of employment sports” games between real teams. “It is like a reli- numbers to rise to 3,400 employees in the gion where you visit a certain place of wor- 2020 fiscal. Furthermore, the income tax Rameesh Kailasam ship because you love the god in that place outlay due to direct employment by On- CEO, IndiaTech of worship. It is not a place you go because line Fantasy Platforms and operators in you know the game well or want to learn it the 2019 fiscal amounted to Rs 43 crore, very well. The motive of someone playing which doubled to Rs 81 crore by the 2020 poker is not applicable here,” he says. fiscal,’ the whitepaper notes. Poker, unlike fantasy sports, promotes It adds that technology solution pro- gambling whether you have the gene for viders, marketing agencies and other it or not. While it is true that some play- ancillary markets have benefitted from ers define a budget and stick to it with the industry through a multiplier effect. utmost care, “there are people who dip Besides, indirect employment in ancillary into their family savings and take loans industries is also on the rise, expected to to play poker,” says Sasankan, empha- jump from 4,200 in the 2019 fiscal year sising that it is the gains that encourage

50 28 SEPTEMBER 2020 tion of whether fantasy sport is a game of skill was put to test before the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Varun Gumber vs Union Territory of Chandigarh, and later, before the Bombay High Court in Gurdeep Singh Sachar vs Union of India. In both the judgments, the report says, it was upheld that the specific model of fantasy sports as offered by Dream11 was the basis for ruling it in favour of ‘game of skill’. Further, special leave petitions filed against the above ruling were also dismissed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, according to the report. In one such dismissal, the Supreme Court in its standing order has ruled fantasy sports do not fall under the ambit of gambling. A similar petition in the Rajasthan High Court in ‘Chandresh Sankhla vs State of Rajasthan and others’ was quashed citing lack of merit to determine online fantasy sports as equivalent to betting and/or

ap gambling. “The legality granted to such formats in the court of law has led to a greater level of adoption and a push for other businesses to venture in the area,” The idea of having a stake in the real games the report argues. through an online game is all the rage. For cricket Venkatesan, who plays free fantasy games, says that he is so rooted in the fans, an opportunity has now come up after a gap, game of soccer that he sees no reason to bet for money to sustain his interest in the thanks to IPL 2020 being held in the UAE game. A few such participants in cricket games told Open that they buy the ‘reli- gion’ argument as regards cricket. “I play people to try the game and then become close to 200 operators, despite no support with money, but that is just for the fun addicted. He discloses that the prospect from the government. The report adds of it, not to make money. The fact is that of earning 2-10 times the money you de- that the sector, which has been growing at cricket is my life’s greatest passion. I have posit is irresistible; those who come in a compounded annual rate of 32 per cent, my favourite players whom I look up to, the top 3 slots in a poker game, end up is expected to touch $3.7 billion by the end but when I play my online game, I choose earning 10 times and those who come in of 2024, according to a forecast by KPMG. wisely and not let my fanboy status affect top 20, double their initial investment. Emphasising that online fantasy my priorities of winning.” “And these games are designed such that sport is a game of skill, the IndiaTech For those like Venkatesan who vouch you end up winning once in a while mak- report has offered a history of the legal for the fact that fantasy games marry the ing you feel that you could gain more and battle that finally led to it being declared board game with real-life performance, more. But then you are not lucky all the legal in India. The report says that this is this sport is about celebrating their love time. Things could go really awkward,” because when in play, the game requires for the game. With the online fantasy Sasankan informs. He adds that sites elements of understanding, judgement, sport segment showing signs of growing that offer poker games have now entered expertise, knowledge and strategy. ‘The fast, the focus certainly needs to be on India in a big way and have customised states of Assam, Orissa, and Telangana regulation. Without proper checks their formats to suit Indians’ needs. are exceptions as their respective state in place, love for the game may not be According to a report in The Economic laws do not allow its citizens to indulge enough to ensure that the scale of its Times, online fantasy sports are one of in any games, skill or chance or a mix of reach is not misused by unscrupulous the fastest growing sectors in the coun- chance and skill involving real money,’ elements out to violate rules in place to try with more than 100 million users and it narrates. The report adds that the ques- make a quick buck. n

28 SEPTEMBER 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 51

salon Hero New The the Bollywood bubble Bollywood the lives well lived outside of talent of the whiff and Actors who heaps bring York (2009)andasmalltown journalistinAnusha the cultmovieDevD(2009),a9/11detaineein New Friday (2004),acultsong,‘Emotional Attyachaar’, in into thelight.He’d beenlimitedtoabitroleinBlack through theinnardsofMumbai cinematoemerge slowly andsurelyNawazuddin Siddiquimadehisway diploma fromNational SchoolofDrama(NSD),but to Mumbai in1999searchofworkarmed witha Nothing muchchangedfromwhenhehadfirstcome and decidedtoredoublehiseffortslookforwork. to beanactororacook?’He tookhisfewbelongings A By Kaveree Bamzai cinema t himself: ‘Have IcometoMumbai stay inhishomeforfree,hesaidto cooking forasenioractorsohecould some pointin2004,afterayearof

needs agoodlooking boy, agoodlookinggirl, five songs but “formulaiccinemainIndiahasn’t changed.It still for thosewithunusualfacesand uniquebackgrounds stricted. Theadvent ofstreaminghasaltered the game kind offace”therolesthatcome to himarealreadyre- And thisdespitetheunderstanding that“withmy work. Thereisnotimelineforsuccess here,”hesays. long aspossible.“Iamanartist,Ihave comehereto fully realisediconiccharactersfromSiddiqui. same yearandFaisal Khanbecamethefirstofmany tional filmfestivals.GangsofWasseypur happenedthe Bhargava movie,wonhimrave reviewsatinterna- his worldchangedin2011whenPatang , aPrashant Rizvi’s But Siddiqui says he was prepared to wait for as But Siddiquisayshewaspreparedtowaitforas Peepli Live(2010),producedbyAamir Khan.But 28 september 2020 “I am an artist, I have come here to work. There is no timeline for success here” Nawazuddin Siddiqui actor

“With so many platforms, this is a great time for storytellers and talent to explore layers and develop subplots as well as characters” Pankaj Tripathi actor

Photograph by raul irani and a happy ending”, says Siddiqui. Serious Men based on Manu Joseph’s novel of the same name, Actors such as Siddiqui, Pankaj Tripathi, Neeraj Kabi and coming up. Pankaj Tripathi, another Gangs of Wasseypur alum- Jaideep Ahlawat have seen stellar success during the lockdown nus, was tender and tough as Janhvi Kapoor’s father in Netflix’s in particular with the playing field forcibly level. With no Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl and is getting ready for his second theatres, no exorbitant ticket prices and no restricted windows season as Mirzapur’s inscrutable Kaleen Bhai on Amazon for smaller films, the four actors are living proof of the democ- Prime Video. Yet another Gangs of Wasseypur classmate, Jaideep ratisation of the industry even as a bitter debate rages on about Ahlawat, was the star of Amazon Prime Video’s irresistibly dark insurmountable barriers erected by those who control the com- series Paatal Lok, where he faced off against Kabi’s suave and manding heights of the film industry. With movie premieres narcissistic TV anchor. on streaming services, the rise of longform series which require The new hero can disappear into the role he plays with characters to be more than merely pretty and the need to reflect such felicity that it is sometimes difficult to recognise him. the diversity of audiences, a new hero has emerged. Kabi, 52, is one such self-taught actor who came to Mumbai in Siddiqui, 46, shone in the lead role of Inspector Jatil Yadav 1998 and waited for 21 years doing a series of odd jobs which in Honey Trehan’s directorial debut, the recently released Raat he refuses to elaborate on, saying he has nurtured these secrets Akeli Hai on Netflix, and has another film, Sudhir Mishra’s for so many years. The actor, a student of management at Sym-

28 september 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 53 cinema

Bakshy! Kabi recalls Banerjee saying to him: “People are going to grab you now, but don’t give yourself to just anybody.” He had given Banerjee his word so he waited for him, following that role with others as the father in Meghana Gulzar’s Talvar (2015), DCP Parulkar in Netflix’s Sacred Games (2018) and National Security Advisor Shailesh Malviya in Sony LIV’s Avrodh (2020).

hey are all united not only in their Tpatience and perseverance but also the refreshing ‘otherness’ they bring to an in- dustry with a limited gene pool and self-ref- erential storytelling. So Ahlawat, 40, whose Hathi Ram Chaudhry became an instant hit when Paatal Lok was aired, brings with him the lived experience of Rohtak, which he left in 2008 to make his way in Mumbai. It’s a place he still goes back to, to hang out having tea and samosas at the canteen of the Maharshi Dayanand University. He went to FTII and studied acting there, an experience that opened his heart and mind to the best in world cinema. It took him 12 years and pivotal roles in movies such as Raees (2017) and Raazi (2018) before he grabbed the screen time given to him by Paatal Lok with grateful hands. Modelling his walk on his father’s gait, ensuring he gained a paunch and speak- ing the language he had heard used by many “ You have to be hit by life. police officers he met, Ahlawat’s Hathi Ram There is a loss of dignity, there is shame, was the kind of loser everyone loves. but you shed your tears and carry on” Bilal Siddiqi, who wrote Bard of Blood, in Neeraj Kabi actor which Ahlawat plays the mysterious Tanveer, says: “He’s this really imposing, toughlooking guy but so gentle, polite and friendly. I think what makes him a great actor is his ability to listen and absorb things hap- biosis University in Pune who dreamt of a corporate career, fell pening around him even when he’s not in front of the camera. in love with movies in the city that hosts the Film and Televi- You can see him studying things in silence, probably accumu- sion Institute of India (FTII). When he couldn’t get into NSD, lating things he’s going to use when he’s acting. Despite his he took its syllabus and found his own teachers across the tough exterior, he brings a certain vulnerability to his charac- country, whether it was training in Kathak or Kalaripayattu. ters and that contrast is rare.” Like his compatriots, Ahlawat is While doing theatre and acting workshops he attracted the unafraid of the struggle: “Struggle is when you know the job attention of visionary director Anand Gandhi who cast him in and then you have to make people believe that you know it, Ship of Theseus (2013) as a mournful monk. Kabi finally knew and prepare yourself for it. If you don’t, it’s stupidity. Nobody it was worthy of his talent and his performance immediately put a gun to your head or told you it would be easy. This is not won him fans across the board. From being on the periphery, only the world’s second oldest profession, it is also one of the he was suddenly being courted by two stalwart directors most cutthroat competitions. But you signed up for it.” simultaneously. Vishal Bhardwaj wanted to cast him as Tabu’s Tripathi, 44, with his love for Hindi literature, brings an- second husband in Haider while Dibakar Banerjee was keen other kind of authenticity to his roles, whether he is playing a to cast him as the villain in his ambitious Detective Byomkesh gangster in Mirzapur or a sweet and supportive father in Gunjan

54 28 september 2020 Saxena. Born in Belsand, Bihar, he too went to NSD on his third lending street credibility to commercial blockbusters. attempt before moving to Mumbai in 2004—in between he Siddiqui looks at it differently: “Even if one per cent of the au- trained for hospitality at Institute of Hotel Management, Patna dience that turns up for these big movies comes to our smaller and became an assistant chef at a hotel in Patna. “I told my films, I will be happy,” he says. It also lifts the tone and tenor of wife to get a B Ed so that she could teach,” he says, knowing the performances all around. When Tripathi played her father in struggle was going to be long and the earnings infrequent. “I Gunjan Saxena, Kapoor says there was no question of match- had trained to be an actor so I came to Mumbai to survive,” he ing up: “All I had to do was be in the scene and react to him.” says, in a conversation peppered with references from Hindi Humility and commitment to work are common traits poets and writers. It took him eight long years before he was among the new heroes—but as natural traits rather than noticed in Gangs of Wasseypur but he showed the same equa- superficial acquisitions. Trehan has known Siddiqui since nimity then as he does now. before he directed the latter in Raat Akeli Hai. He notes with Janhvi Kapoor, his young costar in Gunjan Saxena, says, “If some awe how inspiring Siddiqui has become. Trehan says, possible, he is even more relaxed in front of the camera than “His submission to his work and complete surrender to the al- he is off it.It is his natural habitat.” She adds,“Some people over com- plicate it, some are too casual, but Pankaj ji keeps it simple. Even after so many years, there is an honesty “Struggle is when you and hunger in his acting, yet it is not know the job and then restless, it is very calm.” you have to make people believe that you know it, and prepare yourself ll of them bring their for it. If you don’t, it’s Abackgrounds to their craft. stupidity” Siddiqui still goes back to Budhana, Jaideep Ahlawat actor his village in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, whenever he can, to farm, grow sugarcane, wheat, vegetables. One of the biggest thrills in his life is that Budhana now gets 18 hours of electricity a day, an unprecedented event. Tripathi, a great reader, has been focusing on new Hindi writers during the lockdown. Of his cycle of countless rejections and endless auditions, Kabi says, “You have to be hit by life. There is a loss of dignity, there is shame, but you shed your tears and carry on.” Photograph by Praveen Talan The first time Anand Gandhi saw Kabi was as Hamlet in Atul Kumar’s rendition of Rosencrantz mighty and faith in his craft is what make him stand out and and Guildenstern Are Dead in 2001. “His face was painted white, his childlike curiosity to dive down and dig out the core of the he walked on stilts and delivered one of the finest performanc- character is something special.” With each role, their prepara- es I had seen in my life. A decade later, when I was casting for tion is different. For Jatil Yadav in Raat Akeli Hai, Trehan says, the monk’s part in Ship of Theseus, Neeraj was very much on my “He wanted to understand Jatil’s upbringing, his complexes mind,” he says. He worked with all the potential actors over about being darkskinned, about wanting a docile wife. Once weeks of casting. Kabi’s patience, rigour and commitment to he finds his connection with things, he submits himself to the excellence were nothing short of being ascetic. “Working with director’s vision completely and I think that faith and non- him was constantly surprising and inspiring. For a while, I was interfering nature keeps everything smooth.” And more than worried if any actor will be able to give the part as much as it merely himself, Siddiqui wants the team to win. demanded. Neeraj gave it some more,” he adds. Stardom is not the endgame of these new heroes. “Audi- One of the reasons actors such as Kabi are cast is also to ences remember actors for their work, not for their red carpet camouflage flaws in stars. Siddiqui has been there, done that appearances. You will be popular at the most, but you will with films such as Kick (2014) and Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015), never be memorable,” says Tripathi. n

28 september 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 55 television

pitch per fect

S anjay Leela Bhansali’s 1999 film ting, once again, is Rajasthan (Jodhpur), which he wears a mask to do so Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (starring Sal- ‘Albela Sajan’ makes an appearance (thereby inspiring their duo’s name, man Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan here, too. Directed by Anand Tiwari ‘Bandish Bandits’). and Ajay Devgn) was one of the biggest (Love Per Square Foot in 2018, web series Perhaps the most impressive trick hits of the year and, two decades later, Bang Baaja Baaraat), this ambitious new pulled off by Bandish Bandits is the way is still remembered as a high point of series asks whether Hindustani classical its third act reveals its true spiritual Bollywood in the ’90s—incorrigibly music (austere, rigorous, disciplined) ancestor—not Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam melodramatic but elevated by strong and Bollywood/popular music (viral, after all but The Karate Kid (2010). This performances and music that stayed free-flowing, untamed) can come is accomplished in true Bollywood with you long after exiting the theatre. together sustainably. fashion, with a dramatic entry of Pandit One of the film’s many brilliant songs Of the many slow-burning sto- Rathod’s estranged son Digvijay (Atul was a version of ‘Albela Sajan’, a tradi- rylines Bandish Bandits juggles across 10 Kulkarni in strutting form), who tional Hindustani classical song set in episodes, the first is the most tradition- challenges Radhe and the Rathods in Raag Ahir Bhairav, popularised in the ally Bollywood: small-town boy Radhe Jodhpur’s annual music competition, ’70s by Ustad Sultan Khan, who’s joined (Ritwik Bhowmik) meets glitzy urban ‘Sangeet Shiromani’. Digvijay claims here by Kavita Krishnamurthy and girl Tamanna (Shreya Chaudhry). And that Pandit Rathod had ‘stolen’ the Shankar Mahadevan. Mahadevan sings because this is a musical, their identities Rathod gharana’s music from his nana the Western-style vocalising portions, reflect the cultural divide. Radhe is the ji who was once the old man’s music picturised on Salman, signifying the scion of a famous Hindustani gharana, teacher. So the stakes are set—if Digvijay ‘East meets West’ musical theme of the the grandson of Pandit Radhemohan beats Radhe, the Rathod gharana will be film (Salman’s character is an Italy-based Rathod (Naseeruddin Shah). She’s an dissolved and merged with Digvijay’s NRI singer who comes to Rajasthan to up-and-coming pop/YouTube star. That proposed ‘Bikaner’ gharana. study music from a Hindustani master). their romance is a byproduct of creative If The Karate Kid had rival dojos, It’s fitting, then, that Mahadevan, collaboration is in line with the show’s Bandish Bandits has competing gharanas. as part of the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy sensibilities. For Tamanna, Radhe In both cases the ‘claims’ of authentic- trio, helms musical duties in Band- represents a world of new possibilities, ity are interlinked with paternalistic ish Bandits—the recently released musically speaking. For him, however, teacher-disciple equations. In both Amazon Prime video drama about a appearing in her viral videos is taboo stories, matters are resolved via a face-off young Hindustani classical musician’s (Pandit Rathod doesn’t allow his gharana between clan representatives, in front coming-of-age—and because the set- to be thus commercialised), because of of a packed house—and the young hero

56 28 september 2020 that fuses Bhojpuri and Caribbean ingre- dients). In 2012, we saw Khanwalkar in MTV’s Sound Trippin’ (now available on YouTube), a show where she travelled to various parts of the country and created original songs using the sounds native to that region. Not that Indian Ocean themselves Musical collaborations across genres are strangers to the collaborative show format. In 2014, to celebrate their 25th make for fine onscreen drama year, the band had created a YouTube By Aditya Mani Jha series Tandanu, where they invited a new musician/group every week and created pitch per fect original music with them. Shankar Mahadevan himself was one of the most memorable acts —with his Carnatic music background, he was the ideal foil for the titular track ‘Tandanu’, built around a Kannada song taught to Rahul Ram (vocals/bass for Indian Ocean) by naseeruddin shah in bandish bandits (LEft); indian ocean and sneha khanwalkar in times of music his aunt, an All India Radio Bangalore artist in the ’50s. Both Bandish Bandits and Times of Music trade heavily on ’90s nostalgia— fights not just for himself, but for the Khanwalkar and the band Indian Ocean. obvious when you look at the episode- clan/dojo/gharana. Khanwalkar’s remix of ‘Bandeh’ by-episode pairings. The groundwork for A show like this was always going (which closed this episode), perhaps this genre, however, was done in the first to rest heavily on the music itself and, Indian Ocean’s most successful song, half of the 2010s, when a string of musical luckily, Bandish Bandits is in very capable is breathtaking. She has a vice-like grip collaboration shows appeared on Indian hands there. It’s in the Hindustani clas- on the best of two worlds—the breath- TV screens in quick succession. The most sical numbers where Bandish Bandits less optimism of chartbusting ’80s and accomplished among these, of course, flexes its muscles. ‘Garaj Garaj’ sees ’90s Europop and the more complex was Coke Studio—the sheer quality of the the versatile Javed Ali teaming up with emotional palette of contemporary Afro- collaborating artists featured made it an Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty—the classical European acts such as Stromae and Jain. instant hit in Pakistan, where the show singer who won a Padma Bhushan ear- In her breakthrough album, the Gangs began in 2008. Coke Studio India made its lier this year—and the results are spec- of Wasseypur (2012) soundtrack, she had debut on MTV in June 2011 and has been tacular. Mahadevan outdoes himself already proven herself to be a master at going strong ever since—recent seasons on vocals on a version of the traditional incorporating specific musical influ- have seen artists such as AR Rahman, Rajasthani song ‘Padharo Mhare Desh’. ences. The songs ‘Womaniya’ and ‘I Am Vishal Dadlani, Sona Mohapatra, Papon Indian shows on OTT platforms are a Hunter’ sizzled with the effervescence and Nucleya create and perform original now pushing collaborative content, by of Caribbean chutney music (a tradition compositions. bringing together artists from diverse John McLaughlin, the English backgrounds. Indeed, Bandish Bandits is guitarist who blended jazz and blues just one of several Indian shows centred music with Hindustani classical on musical collaboration. compositions (with his band The In June, the streaming service MX Hindustani classical Mahavishnu Orchestra in the ’70s), once Player released the first few episodes of music (austere, described his fusion process: “At the risk Times of Music, hosted by Vishal Dadlani. rigorous, disciplined) of sounding hopelessly romantic, love The concept is simple: inviting musicians and Bollywood/ is the key element. I really love to play from different eras to recreate each other’s with different musicians who come songs. Across 20 episodes, Times of Music popular music (viral, from different cultural backgrounds.” managed to string together some intrigu- flashy, untamed) Shows such as Bandish Bandits and Times ing pairings. Perhaps the most impressive can come together of Music interpret this message in their episode was the one featuring Sneha sustainably own unique ways. n

28 september 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 57 art

uhulAbdin, 34, is an artist and urban researcher based in Dhaka. He runs a design research studio Paraa, whichR focuses on the role of architec- Pride ture and urban planning in the lives of marginalised communities. During the pandemic, as work began to slow down, and Abdin realised that it would be difficult to fly back to the UK, where his Portraits boyfriend lives, he started working on a series of nude portraits to channelise his Three artists from the subcontinent frustration. Available on Instagram at @ create online works of intimacy ruhul.abdin, they feature Bangladeshi men who identify as either gay or queer. By Chintan Girish Modi The models were invited to partici- pate using Grindr, a common mobile app among the demographic Abdin

sitting on the sofa (LEFt); reflections by ruhul abdin

58 28 september 2020 was interested in. He was glad to see “a especially because they were not profes- collaborations, particularly in cases genuine boldness among people from sional models. Having grown accus- where trust and friendship have been Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and a host of tomed to the physicality and intimacy established over time. small towns”. He says, “There was a will- of live drawing, he was worried whether This art project has helped Abdin ingness to be naked and to talk freely his new experiment would work. It did reflect on his own identity as a about their sexual kinks. Some were despite the challenges, and his collec- Bangladeshi gay man who grew up in fascinated by the idea of being drawn tion of nude portraits continues to grow. the UK and has a British passport. He by an artist, others were quite specific The drawing sessions have enriched says, “I have been attacked in the streets. about what they wanted to show and his understanding of the Bangladeshi The windows of our house have been highlight. One of them curated a whole queer community through conversa- smashed. Growing up in white majority look with costume and jewellery.” tions about love, monogamy, polyamory, towns, I saw a lot of anti-Muslim and Abdin has made nude portraits in family and responsibility. “Many of anti-South Asian sentiments. These the past but things felt different this [my models] live with their families, things stick like glue.” As an adult, he has time due to social distancing. He was so finding the time and space was a felt objectified and fetishised in white drawing people on video calls, not in task but they were far more open and gay spaces, and this has pushed him to a studio or living room. The fluctua- confident than the upper-class socialites get more involved with queer collectives tions in internet connectivity made it I approached for the project,” he says. Oitij-jo and Odbhut that promote Bangla- difficult for him to direct them to pose, He looks at these interactions as longer deshi art and culture in the UK. Living in Dhaka is a different ballgame. On the one hand, he enjoys a privileged position due to his British citizenship, so he is using it to celebrate a range of body types and also ques- tion the fixation with fair skin. On the other hand, he is all too aware about the threat of homophobic attacks, digital surveillance and extra-judicial killings. Several journalists have ‘disappeared’ in recent years, queer activists have been killed, and critics of the state as well as of Islam have been silenced. It is in this context that his work must be viewed and applauded. How different is the situation

Many of my models live with their families, so finding the time and space was a task but they were far more open and confident than the upper-class socialites I approached for the project” Ruhul Abdin artist

28 september 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 59 art

in Pakistan? On September 1st, the “nowhere to go and nothing to do”. they are ‘meetha’—a term often used to Pakistan Telecommunication Agency After Jalebi shared his work with ridicule gay men. I wanted to turn the issued a press release announcing that some friends in private, and on slur into something celebratory.” it had blocked access to five dating and WhatsApp groups, he received a flood He was born and raised in the inte- live streaming applications ‘keeping in of encouragement. This emboldened riors of the Sindh province in Pakistan view the negative effects of immoral/ him to share the illustrations on Twit- against the backdrop of riots between indecent conten’. Grindr, which is used ter and Instagram. There has been Mohajirs and Sindhis. When he grew by gay, bisexual, trans and queer people no looking back since then. He says, older, he moved to Karachi to fulfil his in Pakistan, for social networking as “The project is called ‘Art Queer Jalebi’ dreams. Jalebi was stunned by the con- well as casual sex, also made it to this list. because jalebis are not straight, and tradictions he saw and gradually began While the impact of this ban is yet to be to rejoice in them. He says, “We have measured, Instagram is another avenue localities where people will disapprove for interested parties to connect. of you wearing shorts and sleeveless Jalebi, 27, is a computer engineer and The project is called Art tops and neighbourhoods where you data scientist living in Karachi who Queer Jalebi because can wear anything and be openly gay. does not reveal his real name online It is a big city with a diverse population, because that might compromise his pri- jalebis are not straight, and you find people of your own kind if vacy and put his life at risk. His sexual and they are ‘meetha’—a you look hard enough.” orientation is known only to a select term often used to Self-admittedly, he lives within a few, and he wants to keep it that way for ridicule gay men. I wanted small bubble, surrounded by people who now. He runs the Instagram account to turn the slur into care about him and “affirm everything” @artqueerjalebi, featuring digital something celebratory” he does. The confidence that comes from illustrations of queer men in Pakistan, Jalebi artist being valued and accepted is visible in his sharing moments of intimacy. He made illustrations. They are lush, tender, rug- these images primarily “to kill time ged and passionate. The men that appear during the lockdown” because he had in them are unabashedly affectionate,

eid from the balcony (left); basant in lahore by jalebi

60 28 september 2020 making work that was really just saying, ‘I’m Indian, gay and still valid.’ As time’s A few years ago, gone on, I’ve gotten older and more I was making work settled into my own developing under- that was really just standing of my identity and lowered the saying, ‘I’m Indian, volume of my work.” Having become more conscious of occupying “quite pos- gay and still valid.’ sibly the most privileged queer position As time’s gone on, I’ve in India, as an upper class, upper caste, gotten older and more cisgendered, gay man”, he started the settled into my newsletter to build a safe space for other own developing queer people to tell their stories, talk understanding of my about their triumphs and losses. Misra identity” draws the illustrations, edits each essay and publishes the newsletter himself. Veer Misra artist Apart from creating a platform for other queer voices, Misra continues to hone his practice as an illustrator. His most recent post on Instagram is a stun- ning black-and-white self-portrait with his back facing the viewer and his eyes august by veer misra looking out of the window to a gloomy sky bursting with rain. The caption states: ‘I’m so tired and uninspired.’ Mis- fly kites, smoke cigarettes, wear flowers Mandar, he wrote, ‘Queer people forced ra says, “I’m a really emotional person in their hair, and enjoy staring into the to marry partners they don’t feel sexual with depressive tendencies. I feel really night sky. It is a refreshing homegrown attraction for is a regular occurrence in high highs and devastating lows... My aesthetic that celebrates being Pakistani, Pakistan. Despite being out to my family, work is my way of calming my own self being Muslim and being gay. I am asked every month to marry a girl. down and of putting a feeling to canvas Some of Jalebi’s illustrations are Forced marriages ruin both lives.’ This to make something out of the emotional autobiographical; others are based on practice is prevalent in India as well, even tightness I sometimes feel.” his friends’ experiences. Speaking of after the reading down of Section 377 by He does a lot of his drawing on his target audience, he says, “I like to use the Supreme Court of India. No wonder Photoshop but also works on paper so desi cultural signifiers, reference images artists and activists are hard at work. that he does not lose the ability to work that are relatable for South Asians and offscreen. Song lyrics serve as points offer political critique through subtle of inspiration for scene building. They humour. It is a mistake to think that eer Misra, 24, is a Delhi-based help him visualise a situation or place a homosexuality is hidden in Pakistan. It is Villustrator who makes digital art finger on the vibe he is looking for. Mis- very much a part of desi culture in parks, and queer zines. Known as @v.eird on ra says, “Pop music is really cool in the hostels, schools, military academies, Instagram, his signature style is per- way it can have a deeply cutting lyric trains, cabs and fields.” sonal storytelling with a poetic touch. coated in this candyfloss type of sonic He wants to convey that homosexual- He creates a moment of beauty, evokes a production, and I try to look at visual ity can thrive outside normative ‘West- feeling and leaves the scene. There is an art the same way. Lyrics by Taylor Swift, ern’ frameworks of ‘coming out’ and endearing sincerity about Misra’s work. King Princess, Lorde, H.E.R., Imogen taking on a public identity based on who He has now started a digital Heap, among others, kind of exemplify one likes to be sexually intimate with. newsletter mush that comes out twice the structure of what I try to do.” The absence of legal or religious sanction every month to publish longform es- Misra’s biggest achievement, he says, for gay marriage does not mean that says written by South Asians who are is the goosebumps he gets every time queer people in Pakistan are not entering members of the LGBTQIA+ community. he remembers the queer person who into relationships or having sex. This newsletter was launched in August, used one of his art prints to come out to Jalebi is also vocal about the cruel- amidst the lockdown, with the hope their parents. The conversation went ties that the queer community faces. that stories might serve as antidotes to smoothly, the parents were supportive. Alongside a recent illustration he made uncertainty and uneasiness. It made Misra realise how powerful art for the Pakistani folk band Sikandar Ka Misra says, “A few years ago, I was can be. n

28 september 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 61 books

The Wrong Girl The Neapolitan magic is missing in the new Elena Ferrante By Arshia Sattar

lena Ferrante has a Giovanna and her father, Andrea, have family, she becomes friends with the chil- new novel—for those of us the sweet relationship that fathers and dren of her aunt’s lover, she learns why who fell under her spell a few only daughters can often develop, one Vittoria hates Andrea. The revelations Eyears ago, nothing could light that nurtures each and allows both to are many, they are hurtful and confusing, up our reading lives more or better, feel especially beloved. As much as she mainly because Vittoria is rough, crude, especially in these dark days of the insidi- adores her father, Giovanna knows little a bully. But she has a powerful honesty, ous pandemic. The Lying Life of Adults of his family, though she does know that a pull towards the truth about the world is about 300 pages long, enough for a he had spent his childhood in those nar- and about human relationships as she satisfactorily deep dive but without the row alleys lined with decaying buildings sees them. Is she truly ugly in body and dangers of the complete loss of orienta- and littered with broken people that lie soul, as her brother had said she was? tion which overcame us when we read at the bottom edge of the city. It’s hard to tell. Vittoria is charismatic her Neapolitan quartet. Lying Life is also One day, Andrea says to his wife that and compelling, bending the people situated in Naples and also concerns a his daughter is ugly and that she is de- around her to her will. Giovanna finds young girl growing up, struggling with veloping ‘the face of Vittoria’. Giovanna her alternately beautiful and repulsive herself and her family, looking for love overhears her father’s comment and is and she sets out to decipher the enigma and yearning for a larger world which shattered. She knows that the remark of this woman who life has, Vittoria will simultaneously liberate her and is not only about her claims, been blighted give her life meaning. This time, though, looks (as if that were not by her brother’s vicious Ferrante’s canvas is smaller, the narrative devastating enough for and vengeful betrayal. arc of her characters is shorter and the a 12-year-old girl) but is Slowly, Giovanna stops reader does not exit the book drained of also about her nature, it hiding her relationship all the emotions they had used up in the is a judgement upon her with her aunt and even course of devouring either the Neapoli- soul. Vittoria is Andrea’s though her parents are tan narrative or The Days of Abandonment. sister, the root of his not pleased, they do not The reader can still breathe, can still rise estrangement from his prevent her from ex- from their reading position and believe family—a woman who ploring the new world that the world has not actually stopped is rarely mentioned that she has entered. rotating on its accustomed axis. by Andrea and his The Lying Life of Adults As Giovanna is In Lying Life Giovanna is an only wife—but when she is, Elena Ferrante drawn deeper and child whose parents are teachers and she is spoken of with Translated by Ann Goldstein deeper into Vittoria’s intellectuals. This close-knit nuclear bitterness and disdain. Europa Editions shambolic life, a talis- family inhabits a genteel middle-class Giovanna decides that 322 Pages | Rs 573 (Kindle) manic bracelet appears life in the upper, posh part of Naples, she must know more which will link the up- far from the teeming ghettos and the about her aunt whom per and lower parts of ‘industrial zone’ where lives are lived she has only heard of as the city, generations of in precarious poverty and families a physically and emotionally unpleasant women across social class, friends, lovers are larger and more complex in their woman, someone who is disruptive and and rivals. Lives will change, relation- interactions. Giovanna’s parents are corrupt in some profound way. ships will form, others will break, anger friends with another equally genteel And so begins a Ferrante narrative and jealousy will be unleashed, secrets couple who have two daughters, Angela that we recognise. Giovanna seeks out will be revealed, love and sex will be and Ida. The older couples form a com- her aunt, she learns about the great love confused, one for the other. As we stand panionable unit of shared meals and affair of Vittoria’s life which was with a and watch, we know that no one we animated conversations while their trio married man, she plunges into the lanes encounter in this helter-skelter will ever of daughters exist in a tight friendship that form the underbelly of Naples, she be the same again. of childhood secrets, tears and laughter. meets other members of her father’s Almost as a side story, Giovanna sees

62 28 september 2020 her mother flirting with her father’s best her wardrobe and her make-up, she friend, Vittoria’s lover’s daughter. friend and soon, her parent’s placid, easy becomes sulky and withdrawn in her The reader will find all the elements going marriage has broken up. Not, how- mother’s home, she seeks more and more of a true-blue Ferrante novel in Lying Life. ever, because of her mother but because daring sexual encounters with young But something goes wrong. This novel her father has brought into the open men she doesn’t like. We are expected to is a pale shadow of what it could have his long-time relationship with his best understand this not as a consequence of been, or rather, a pale shadow of what friend’s wife. Giovanna finds that her her parent’s separation, but as the dev- we have come to expect from Ferrante. Other disappointed review- An oil painting of Naples ers have laid the blame for the failure of Lying Life at the door of Giovanna’s relationship with her father, claiming that explor- ing what holds fathers and daughters together and what drives them apart have never been Ferrante’s forte. I disagree that the story is about Giovanna and her father. I think this novel is also about girls learning to see themselves in each other, of women knowing that a picture of themselves is complete only if it includes the women around them, both the women they love and those that they hate. Perhaps the problem with Lying Life is that we are too much in thrall of the Neapolitan quartet, perhaps Ferrante herself is still under that spell. Vittoria is a monstrous caricature of Lila, Andrea is a watered-down version of Nino, Giovanna herself is a twisted Lena. There is not much here that is new. That which is old The Lying Life of adults is also situated in Naples and beautiful, what is familiar, what we recognise and thirst for, and also concerns a young girl growing up, seems tired and worn. It is a sad day when your struggling with herself, her family, looking favourite writer does not present you with yet another shining ob- for love and yearning for a larger world ject to treasure, an object so spe- cial that it glows more brightly when you share it with others. own childhood companions, Angela and astating effect of her father’s comment But we are grown women now, we have Ida, are now practically her step-siblings. about her being ugly. Vittoria is always more in common with Lila and Lenu in She is angry with her mother and she hovering, a malefic presence even when terms of experience and spirit than we begins to see the smug, bourgeois hypoc- Giovanna decides to stop seeing her. But do with young Giovanna. We know that risies that have framed her parent’s lives, even as Giovanna’s self-hatred pushes even our most brilliant friend will have as Vittoria had promised she would. her towards greater personal degrada- times when they seem to have dimmed. The compelling thread through all tion, she begins to think about god and But it is we who have to keep the faith. of this is Giovanna’s determination to religion, drawn into that conundrum of It is we who must be patient as we wait debase herself in all kinds of ways—she human existence by a charismatic young for their light to return. We know that it stops doing well at school, she changes preacher who is engaged to her new will. For our friend is brilliant, after all.n

28 september 2020 www.openthemagazine.com 63 books

Leading Ladies The Women who Forgot to Invent Facebook Exploring human emotions and modern technology and other Stories Nisha Susan By Shikha Kumar Context 221 Pages | Rs 499

anjeev works as a news Trinity’, we meet award-winning editor in Delhi and is an avid dancers Meena, Annie and Nayantara, SCrossFitter. Driving to work on who are inspired by AR Rahman songs allusions. In ‘How Andrew Wylie Broke a Saturday he scrolls through Twitter and ‘unlike most of the ground-kissing, My Heart’, Susan writes about a boy the following the judgment on a recent terrified Bharatanatyam dancers’ like protagonist meets on a date through rape case and envisions his next op-ed. to dance for fun. Besides their modern a website: ‘The problem with Syed, He believes rapists should be hanged choreography, they flout convention apart from looking like someone who or chemically castrated. ‘How could by wearing sleeveless saree blouses would always get cheated by Bangalore the judge let those guys go after what paired with salwar bottoms, the former auto-drivers, was that he was so into they had done to that girl? Fucking stitched by Blouse Mohan from current affairs.’ In A‘ ll Girls Together’ woman judge. She should be ashamed,’ Cochin who has to merely look at a Sheela, in charge of a special division for he thinks. woman’s chest to make the best-fitting, an anti-revenge porn project at a social At work, he’s irritated to see the asso- most-flattering blouse. The narrative media giant, is irked by her colleague ciate editor, Bhavana, with her ‘mosqui- arc in ‘One Missed Call’, which chron- Mansi ‘the colour of maida’ who calls to-bite breasts and matchstick arms’. icles the struggles of a slum-dwelling herself a brown girl. Not just brown, she He also thinks the ‘fat Features Editor’ mother trying to rein in her rebellious also called herself ‘ex-North Indian and Amulya is gunning for his job. Sanjeev daughter, feels drab in comparison insisted on eating beef for every meal’. is the protagonist in ‘Workout of the with the others. Susan is a purveyor of the internet— Day’, one of the stories in Nisha Susan’s The stories, set across Delhi, Kerala her keen observations on everything debut anthology The Women Who Forgot and Bengaluru, are littered with local ref- from trends to trolls on social media to Invent Facebook and Other Stories. You’d erences. Especially for Bengaluru, read- spill into the stories in their most love to hate his character, with Susan ers familiar with the city’s idiosyncrasies authentic form. The ‘Bali Swing’ spotted expertly bringing out his misogyny will be quick to chuckle at some of the on many an influencer’s Instagram feed, and creepiness. forms an important component of ‘No Through the 12 stories, some of Filter’, a sinister tale about a homicidal which have appeared in slightly differ- Nisha Susan man obsessed with his ex-girlfriend. In ent versions in publications through ‘The Gentle Reader’, one of my favourite the years, Susan unravels a gamut of stories about a one-book-old author who human emotions and hidden fantasies, can’t stop checking the hateful com- frequently using modern technology ments directed at her on Twitter, Susan’s as a crutch. Her female characters are language replicating the behaviour of adventurous and untethered: right-wing trolls is on point. in the titular story about a bunch of There’s a certain coolness associ- youngsters who casually hook up ated with Susan—from the iconic Pink and frequently drink at a particular Chaddi campaign she conceived as a pub, Lavanya imagines a website retort to a moral policing political party with a sex map where everyone over a decade ago to her intrepid writ- can sign up and discover their ings straddling gender and culture. romantic interests’ pasts. And the stories in this anthology feel In ‘Teresa’, the protagonist like an effortless extension of that becomes obsessed with self. Her writing is funny and acute- her journalist husband’s ly self-aware as she lends nuance former wife, who died to the most mundane, everyday in a drowning incident, situations. Reading through some after discovering her of the stories, I felt, as the millen- secret blog. In ‘The nials would put it, seen. n

Illustration by Saurabh Singh 64 28 september 2020 CHOOSE HOW YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE OPEN MAGAZINE

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A Local Setting arrived in Mumbai from her Delhi home to spend time with By the time you’re reading this, Deepika Padukone will her mother Neetu Kapoor Singh soon after her fatherRishi be neckdeep in workshops, likely itching for the cameras Kapoor’s passing earlier this year. Neetu described her to start rolling on her new film with Kapoor & Sons director daughter as “my rock” in social media posts, and sportingly Shakun Batra. The actress is in Goa to (finally) shoot filmed herself dancing to ‘Aap jaisa koi meri zindagi mein aaye’ what the makers have described as a “domestic noir”, after for the surprise birthday video that Riddhima’s husband production on the movie halted in March just days before the Bharat shared on Instagram. The video also features other unit was meant to fly to Sri Lanka to begin shooting. family members and friends, but it’s Ranbir and Alia’s little The film, which has also been described as an “infidelity jig that appears to have gone viral. drama”, stars Deepika, Gully Boy breakout Siddhant Chaturvedi, and young up-and-comer Ananya Panday. Hot Right Now Now, according to well-placed sources, it is learnt that the At the Toronto Film Festival where her six-part miniseries makers have added a fourth actor to the principal cast. That A Suitable Boy has been selected as the closing presentation, gentleman is reportedly a relative newcomer by the name of filmmakerMira Nair was honoured with the Jeff Skoll Dhairya Karwa who had supporting roles in Uri: The Surgical Award in Impact Media for her films such as Salaam Bombay! Strike (2019) and the hit web series Made in Heaven. (1988), Monsoon Wedding (2001), Mississippi Masala (1991), All four actors are currently in Goa rehearsing and The Namesake (2006) and Queen of Katwe (2016) that have gone attending ‘chemistry workshops’ before Shakun begins a long way in making a case for representation and diversity shooting with them starting September 20th. In on the screen, in addition to inspiring real change. March, just after production was abruptly halted To introduce Mira, the festival recruited her The on the film due to the pandemic, Deepika had Namesake and A Suitable Boy star Tabu. The said she was “raring to go” and hoped that it actress spoke (virtually) about Mira’s wasn’t going to be too long before they could contribution to cinema, her unending start filming. Although the makers had to empathy for the marginalised and her move the shoot from Sri Lanka to Goa indefatigable spirit. When Mira joined as a result of Covid-19-related travel (also virtually), she spoke about the restrictions, the film is expected to mantra that inspires her. “If we don’t tell add roughly Rs 2 crore to its budget our stories, no one else will. In telling on account of the health and safety these stories, I have also discovered the measures that the producers will power of listening, of the possibility need to put in place on the set. of making bridges, the possibility of translation, of being porous,” Mira said, Special Performance while accepting the award from her It’s going to be a while before we can study in Brooklyn. watch Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt on A Suitable Boy, based on Vikram screen together—their ambitious project Seth’s award-winning doorstopper, Brahmastra may be eyeing a summer premiered in the UK on BBC and 2021 release now—but the pair did team has been acquired by Netflix for up to shoot a dance for a special video worldwide streaming. There is some that was put together to commemorate talk that it will drop during Diwali, Riddhima Kapoor Sahni’s 40th but fans of the book who can’t wait birthday earlier this week. that long have been downloading Riddhima, Ranbir’s elder sister, unofficial copies of the show.n

66 28 september 2020