8 ISSUES AND INSIGHTS MUMBAI | 11 JANUARY 2020 1 > The politics The rise of the fringe They are organised and the opposition to them is leaderless. Who will win the war that is bound to break out? of cool killed Gauri Lankesh; to the Hindu Yuva has since been acquitted of the charge. But and released many months later. Vahini, dormant but by no means decommis- despite that, Muthalik’s entry into many states In response, Adityanath formed the HYV sioned; to the Sri Rama Sene, fringe Hindu ruled by the BJP is banned — including Goa. (UP). So in Eastern UP now, there are at least two groups are popping up all over the country. The Sene challenged the late Pejawar Swami groups competing for the same fringe. Another nstagram, that most mil- They are splitting but they are not dying. Vishwesha Theertha (who died last month) to organisation, the Yogi Sena, has been launched lennial of social networks, They’re the unicorns of Indian politics. a shaastraarth (a scriptural duel) when the lat- in Western UP with the same objective: Rousing I was till recently com- Anti-BJP activist and editor Gauri Lankesh ter hosted an iftaar at the premises of the and organising Hindu youth. While HYV says it posed almost entirely of peo- was assassinated, the Special Investigations Krishna temple in Udupi some years ago. will do nothing to embarrass the chief minister ple’s vacation snaps and close- Team (SIT) probing her murder has found, by The Hindu Yuva Vahini was formed on and involves itself in such blameless pursuits as ups of their unappetising a hired hand, Parashuram Waghmare, who was Rama Navami day in 2002 in Uttar Pradesh by delivering flood relief, what it is actually doing, bowls of salad. But over the recruited by one Amol Kale. At least 12 people Yogi Adityanath. Initially envisaged as a body no one knows. HYV acknowledges that its sup- past fortnight, it has com- have been named in the conspiracy of young activists, the word porters are chafing at the bit at the anodyne pletely changed character for PLAIN POLITICS that was hatched not just to kill Why only JNU? The “Hindu” was added on the activity they’re being asked to carry out and it many of us. Now, when you ADITI PHADNIS Lankesh but also Govind Pansare, a “real” Hindus are advice of Mahant is hard to keep them reined in. TICKER scroll through Instagram sto- Left-leaning thinker, and Narendra now all over the Avaidyanath of Gorakhpur, In America, as in India, fringe group activi- ries, they are 50 per cent pho- Dabholkar, the rationalist who ques- place. Ranging from then alive. Sunil Singh, a co- ty has seen a spurt in the last few years. “Antifa’” MIHIR S SHARMA tos from protests and 50 per f there is one part of the Bharatiya Janata tioned many Hindu beliefs and super- the gang that killed founder of the HYV, recalled, short for anti-fascist, turns up regularly to cent lists of where the next Party (BJP) that is confused by what hap- stitions. The 9,000-page chargesheet Gauri Lankesh; to despite the BJP’s Kalyan counter-protest far-right rallies and speaking protests are. Instagram’s winter of discontent has well and I pened at Jawaharlal Nehru University says all the co-conspirators had links the Hindu Yuva Singh being in power in UP events. The group’s mission is to fight fascism truly begun. (JNU) in the twilight of 2019 and dawn of 2020, at one or other time with the Hindu Vahini, dormant and Atal Bihari Vajpayee at at any cost, and defend America's most disen- On one level, it is easy to mock and deride this phenome- it is the party’s student wing, the Akhil Janajagruti Samiti (HJS), the Sanatan but by no means the helm in Delhi, the pitiful franchised groups. Most are either anarchists or non. Seasoned political types will ask themselves what value Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). Torn Sanstha and the Sri Ram Sene. The decommissioned sight of Yogi Adityanath hav- have far left-leaning political beliefs. “Proud to any political movement is added by people who last month between deep contentment at seeing the HJS says it was formed in response to ing to beg that one of his sup- Boys” says it is a “a pro-Western fraternal organ- were posting about Christmas in Europe and next week will no pinkos being roundly thrashed (many must the demands of the situation as “due porters be given a seat in the isation”. It has an initiation rite that includes doubt be back to snaps of their skiing holidays. But I think it have wished they’d been the ones to do it) and to a “secular” democracy today, the state of Assembly elections prompted the formation of “getting into a major fight for the cause”. is worth unpacking, nevertheless, what has changed for some self-righteous indignation at supposed Left- the society, nation and dharma is on the the HYV — visualised as a fringe group In India, it is hard to judge where it will all in urban India since the introduction of the Citizenship instigated vandalism, the ABVP, at least in decline. A system of governance based on designed to exert pressure over the BJP and end. The fringe is organised. The opposition to Amendment Act (CAA). JNU, needs to ask itself if it is time to move over Dharma, that is, establishment of the Hindu raise Adityanath’s profile in eastern UP. When it is leaderless, inarticulate but determined to First, the Act itself seems like the sort of straightforward and make space for the “real” Hindus — like nation, is the need of the hour as a solution to Adityanath became chief minister but would contest and fight back. The collateral damage assault on Indian nationhood that the government has so far the Hindu Raksha Dal, a fringe group that has the problems of Hindus.” not heed the HYV’s demand for a share of the is the ABVP, seen as being quick to strike but been relatively careful to avoid. You could claim that the Babri claimed credit for carrying out the JNU attacks. Pramod Muthalik floated the Sri Rama Sene power pie, Sunil Singh walked out forming his afraid to wound. Somebody has to win the war judgment and the National Register of Citizens were due to the Why only JNU? The “real” Hindus are now — the very same that would barge into pubs own HYV Bharat. He was imprisoned almost that is bound to break out sooner than later. Supreme Court. The revocation of Article 370 and the triple all over the place. Ranging from the gang that and drag out women having a drink there. He immediately under the National Security Act And it won’t be via the ballot box. talaq ban could be made to fit into a liberal, right-based frame- work of equality if you tried. But the CAA is another beast alto- gether. However much the government and its outreach com- munity might insist it is merely an enabling act, it is hard to see LUNCH WITH BS > STEVE WINTER | CONSERVATION PHOTOGRAPHER “Predators have no desire to hurt us it as anything but the first step towards a constitutionally because we have not been a part of their Hindu nation. image search for millennia!” He clarifies: Second, the nature of the early protests in the cities were “There is no way that these cats want to eat clear — and attractive. Muslim women sitting on dharna at us. We stink. We use deodorant, shampoo, Shaheen Bagh, crowds waving the tricolour — there was noth- Frame by frame toothpaste, perfumes.” ing there for traditional middle-class prejudices to hang on to. The question leads to a pertinent discus- It was clear that the only danger caused by the protests was sion on ecology and dangers it faces as wildlife from police overreaction. Winter talks to Ruchika Chitravanshi about how he composes gets displaced. “Every other breath you take Third, the attacks on universities were repugnant even to comes from forests, and big cats live in the for- people who have not much time for shots in his mind before actually shooting them and why he est. If we can save big cats, we can help save However much the student protests in general. The took up an Indian cooking course ourselves because we need these areas,” government and its general notion that university stu- said Winter. outreach community dents are going to spend some time t was the twenty-fourth day of sitting atop Out in the wild, animals mark their terri- At this point, almost like an interlude might insist it is waving flags and shouting slogans this elephant in Madhya Pradesh’s tories, the photo journalist says. “So did I... our next course arrives — a delicious merely an enabling before settling into a steady job and I Bandhavgarh tiger reserve for Steve mainly to protect my space from wild boars.” serving of grilled sea bass with sweet act, it is hard to see disdaining politics has sunk deep Winter, one of the world’s most celebrated One night, when he was reading a book, potato and goan mango curry. This is it as anything but into the Indian middle-class con- wildlife photographers and a big cat special- Winter heard a creeping noise on the stairs accompanied by a smoked eggplant rai- the first step towards sciousness. Nothing would have ist. Balancing his camera with its 600-mm and a brushing sound on the floor. “And then, ta, chilli hoisin duck kulcha and a pearl a constitutionally changed if this government had lens and a tripod on a shifty elephant which I heard scratching under the door... I was so millet roti with a topping of fresh Hindu nation merely dismissed student protests was getting uneasy under the summer sun, scared. I whacked my machete on the side of churned butter. The portion size, in keep- with indulgence, as their predeces- Winter was worried yet calm, when sudden- the bed and whistled and I heard the thing ing with the concept of tasting menu, is sors did. But to attack protestors, whether using the police or ly he saw what he had been waiting for all running down away.” just right. political thugs disguised as students, is a bridge too far for most. these days. The tiger cubs had just emerged Next morning, the locals told him it might As we get back to our discussion, Winter Deepika Padukone’s courageous decision to go and stand from the trees with their mother to play. have been the black panther. That was shows me the latest edition of National with protestors at Jawaharlal Nehru University is thus more Radio silence. Winter had already composed Winter’s first encounter with a big cat. Geographic magazine which features The revealing and influential than some might think. It reveals that the prized shot in his mind and managed to Our next item on the menu, pulled pork Tigers Next Door, a 30-page story of over 5,200 even those in Bollywood who might have previously been capture seven frames, hoping at least one of phulka tacos and the jackfruit version of the words he did put together with his wife, also sympathetic but aloof, think that it will either do them no them would be sharp. same, is served just in time. Each preparation a photographer and a writer. It is a story of harm to turn out for a cause they believe in, or that things have Sitting comfortably in the plush Indian takes time and the food arrives slowly, but tigers in roadside zoos, many of them pets, got bad enough that they are willing to take a risk. But perhaps Accent restaurant in New Delhi’s Lodhi Road, Winter is a patient man. several abused, in South Carolina. even more revealing was a short clip that was trending on we admire the final photograph taken around I would have thought 24 days in Witnessing the wild beasts tamed in such social media of the film magnate Bhushan Kumar. Kumar five years ago that made it to the cover of the Bandhavgarh was a long wait, but then he a way looked wrong in the pictures. had been invited to a meeting meant to “clear up doubts” recently launched National Geographic’s cof- tells me how he waited 15 months for one of Winter calls them the worst tiger breed- among the film community about the CAA. He had even been fee table book, Tigers Forever. Winter asks for his most well-known and iconic shots — a ers in the world. photographed driving into the meeting at a Mumbai hotel. But a shot of double espresso to kick start our mountain tiger strolling in Griffith Park at In India, Winter has also engaged when asked by a reporter about the meeting in the presence of lunch while narrating his many adventures. the edge of Sunset Boulevard with the with the ministry of environment dur- film stars such as Anil Kapoor, Kumar said that merely being Even as a nine-year-old Indiana boy, all Hollywood Sign in the background. This was ing Jairam Ramesh’s tenure to request in the hotel didn’t mean he attended the meeting. (Kapoor’s Winter wanted was to get out of his home- again a shot he had already framed in his a change in the laws for the way tigers face was a picture of amusement.) When people as exposed, town and travel the world. Although photog- mind. “I knew I needed incredible picture to are counted here. “Tigers in India only influential — and government-sympathetic — as Kumar feel raphy came naturally to him — Winter’s father illustrate urban wildlife.” existed legally if they were in a tiger the need to distance themselves from the CAA in public, you was an amateur photographer — he joined When he shared the idea with a scientist reserve, which was a bureaucratic know something has gone very wrong. university to study urban renewal... to friend who monitored the wildlife in the area, mindset... because tigers exist wher- Narendra Modi’s rise to power in 2013-14 felt as unlikely “become something”. Soon he realised this he looked at him like he was crazy, Winter ever they want to exist.” before it happened as it feels inevitable now. Part of what was not his calling. “I quit and decided to trav- said. However, as soon as the big cat was spot- His next stop is the Gir forests underlay that extraordinary ascent was the careful cultiva- el the world and came to India... I first came ted, Winter had to figure out ways to install in Gujarat. tion of influential voices. Somehow the candidacy chief min- here in 1979...” remote cameras he learned to use while shoot- Wherever the tiger trail took him, ister with a chequered record was transformed into a cool Having backpacked from Kolkata and ing the snow leopards in Ladakh. Winter managed to create some awareness cause. Nobody knows how the politics of cool works. Annapurna in Nepal, all the way down to As a result of the picture, the largest about big cats and prove that tigers are not as Sometimes it comes together, sometimes it doesn’t. Barack southern India and then to Lucknow, that too wildlife overpass is being built in the area violent as they are made out to be. “Why do a Obama’s campaign managed it; Hillary Clinton’s campaign did on a third class railway ticket and buses back funded by American actor Leonardo DiCaprio story? Why spend months away from your not. But what we are seeing at this moment is a reversal in our in his “hippie days”, Winter is no stranger to and his foundation. We pore over some more family? If you’re just going to watch this own politics of cool. For seven years, Modi has been the cool India or Indian food. of his work on his latest iPhone. “It has a great species disappear?” brand. Now, somehow, he is less so. Soon, we are served two baby naans camera,” he says. His love for tigers, the biggest of the big Perhaps it is something to do with that period — seven stuffed with Danish blue cheese and topped The anar and churan kulfi is before us, to cats, is more than evident by now. We are years? Seven years after the UPA rose to power it became with some champagne honey; the waiter cleanse the palate for what is coming up nearing the end of this sumptuous meal with embroiled in anti-corruption scandals. And, indeed, there is cautions us to wait for it to cool down, next; roast chicken and smoked papad cur- desserts ready to be served — a chilli peanut ILLUSTRATION: BINAY SINHA much that is worth revisiting in UPA-II’s sordid descent into almost sensing our excitement to try the ry. It comes with wine pairing recommen- ice cream cornet, jalebi with Haji Ali inspired paralysis and unpopularity. The UPA was India’s most inept dainty mouthfuls. dations of Allegrini Valpolicella Classic or custard apple cream and coconut burfi with government when it comes to communication. It came across Winter is narrating his early adventures in Rondinella among others. The idea is tempt- ing.” He even took up an Indian cooking dark chocolate mousse. Reluctantly, Winter as either arrogant, or inarticulate, or aloof. Modi’s govern- the forest of Sierra de las Minas in Guatemala ing but Winter gives it a pass — he has a talk course afterwards. has to leave all the sweet delights behind, as ment is India’s best when it comes to communication. There where he had built a shack to shoot the vibrant scheduled later for budding photographers I am curious if Winter has ever had a close the time for his talk for photographers is too is little doubt that it will do a better job of recovering the situ- blue-green bird Quetzal while digging into and journalists. shave with a big cat since I had read how he close and his ride has already arrived. ation than the UPA did. But one thing that even the NDA spin- the sumptuous bites of our first course that Winter loves Indian food. “My first masala was attacked by a rhinoceros once. “Twenty- As I walk him out, Winter gives me his vis- masters will struggle with is the politics of cool. If you don’t takes us through the streets of India with bite- dosa and sambhar with chutney in the south eight years and I have never been attacked iting card. It has the famous Hollywood shot know how it works, you can’t manipulate it. size portions of Maharashtrian dabeli, puri on a banana leaf just blew my mind. You and I am super close to them,” the 63-year-old of the mountain tiger on the back. Why am I aloo and Winter’s favourite chilli crab. know I'm the kid from Indiana. It was amaz- lensman says. not surprised? When survival trumped bias Thanks, but no thanks

lage has worsened every summer, even to go ahead with the plan anyway. there’s south-east Asian congee which Sir?” “No, a plain one, served instead of though the region receives a reasonable Not unexpectedly, the higher caste vil- I’ve never been partial too; fruits, toast.” A few minutes later, all is sorted amount of rain during monsoon. Not only lagers were horrified at the idea. How could flavoured yogurts, doughnuts and all out. The paratha and the omelette final- wells and tube wells, but even village ponds water recharged by rainwater from a Dalit’s kinds of temptations from the bakery I ly make it together to my table. Only, by dry up as the temperature shoots up to rooftop be “clean”, they asked. find easy to resist, and cheeses that I now, they’re stone cold. I tell myself the nearly 50 degrees Celsius. Deep fissures As it turned out, the recharge system sometimes succumb to. Cold meats left sprouts will hold me till lunchtime. develop in the fields and the villagers have successfully prevented the well from drying out for hours — ugh! How can anyone But I do like coffee at breakfast. little water for themselves, let alone for out the following summer while other water even think of it? Helpfully, the waiter had taken the their livestock. WaterAid has successfully sources dried up. “People were amazed to This morning, it isn’t crowded in the order for my preferred choice of cap- set up rooftop rainwater harvesting sys- see that this well continued to have abun- spillover restaurant where those who did- puccino. “Yes, Sir, a cappuccino.” “A tems to recharge wells and tube wells in dant water throughout the summer,” Srivas n’t find a seat in the coffee shop have strong cappuccino,” I suggest, “even a PEOPLE LIKE THEM the area. When they approached Mahuee’s recounted. Eventually, his upper caste PEOPLE LIKE US been adjusted, so I decide to be a little very strong cappuccino.” I am assured of gram pradhan Malkhe Srivas to build a sim- neighbours were compelled to set aside KISHORE SINGH adventurous. Having spooned some its arrival. Only it doesn’t. “My coffee,” GEETANJALI KRISHNA ilar project in the village in 2017, he was their caste prejudices and draw water from sprouts and dahi, I ask the chef at the I remind a passing waiter — not mine — excited to help. He even offered to set the the well. “Today, the very people who’d ear- eggs counter for a masala omelette, lavish and we go through the same sequence n rural Uttar Pradesh, especially in the harvesting system on his rooftop as he lived lier criticised me are clamouring for similar hen it comes to breakfast, with chillies, served over a paratha “With again. I wait. No coffee. “Would you like heart of Bundelkhand, the annual sum- next to one of the wells in the village. But recharging systems to be put up on their nothing can beat Indian hotel toast?” he asks. “No, with a paratha,” I anything else, Sir?” my waiter is back to I mer drought regularly wreaks econom- there was a hitch. roofs as well,” he said. “We’ve now built two W buffets, so I wonder why I’m say. “A stuffed paratha with aloo?” he clear my uneaten plate.” “I’m waiting for ic and emotional havoc in the lives of vil- In the heartlands of Uttar Pradesh, caste more recharge pits independently, and as feeling blue. The hotel where I am writ- asks. “A plain paratha,” I coax him, my cappuccino,” I say. “Very well, Sir,” lagers. Some months ago, I visited the fissures tend to run deep and Srivas is a the pradhan, I plan to construct such pits ing this has as lavish a spread as any — “served with the egg on top of it.” When all he says. Mahuee village in Banda district to docu- Dalit. “To avoid even accidentally touch- near all water sources in the village in the but too much food can be off-putting is confirmed, I retire to the corner table Over the shenanigans of the paratha ment the interventions of WaterAid, an ing lower-caste people like me,” he told me, year ahead.” too, which is why I prefer to order a la assigned to me. I have work to do. and omelette, I’m drawing a little notice international NGO that works on issues “some of my upper caste neighbours would- And so the drought proved to be a social carte. Usually, a glass of orange juice Fifteen minutes later, I am served a to myself, but the cup of coffee remains relating to water, sanitation and hygiene n’t even draw water from the well at the leveler in Mahuee. What years of education, and eggs is just fine, though I do extend paratha, plain, no trimmings, no accom- elusive. I decide to walk across to the across the country. I discovered that the same time as I did.” He wondered what they social messaging and reservations could- myself over weekends. At the time of paniments. “Your paratha, Sir,” says the hostess to ask for her help. “Coffee, Sir,” drought actually had an unintended posi- would say when they heard that water from n’t accomplish, water scarcity did in one writing this, I’ve skimmed past the waiter solicitously. “I asked for an she says, “I’ll send somebody across.” tive fallout in this underdeveloped village. a Dalit’s rooftop was going to recharge a summer. The caste taboo, once broken, has spreads of baked beans, sausages, omelette with it,” I remind him, “placed Finally, perhaps a half hour and a half- Here’s what I saw. common well. Even if the harvested rain- somewhat reduced in importance now. scrambled eggs, bacon; the north over the paratha.” The paratha is dozen reminders later, I have what I Mahuee is ranked high among the vil- water from his rooftop managed to do the “Now everyone drinks water from the well Indian puris and bhajis; the south removed and replaced, a few minutes asked for — a strong cappuccino. I’m lages worst affected by groundwater deple- job, there was a strong possibility his high- recharged by the rainwater from my Indian (always tempting) vadas, idlis later, by an omelette. No accompani- tempted to ask for a second round, but tion in Banda district. Locals attest that in er caste neighbours would not even use that rooftop,” Srivas told me. “I’d not believed and fresh dosas off a live counter; pan- ments; no paratha. “I’d like a paratha dare I risk it? I take the coward’s way out. the last decade, water shortage in the vil- water. After much discussion, they decided this would happen in my lifetime.” cakes and waffles if you’re up to it; with it,” I explain. “A stuffed paratha, Tomorrow is another breakfast day. OPINION 9 >

Volume VII Number 24 MUMBAI | 11 JANUARY 2020 WEEKEND RUMINATIONS Stooping to lose T N NINAN Six months after returning to power with a huge mandate, Modi government is stuck fighting students — Beyond taxes its most ardent voters who are now pessimistic, hopeless and even angry ome Budget time and it is surprising how much of the discussion is on tax rates ompetitive sport follows the system of victory. Especially on how the young were walk- ingly — angry “but this isn’t what we had voted and revenues — though these account for only 60 per cent of the Union leagues — upper, middle, lower, senior ing out of the identity trenches — of caste, lan- for”. I can also say with reasonable certainty Budget, up from about 52 per cent of the Manmohan Singh government’s last C and junior and so on. A contestant’s guage, ethnicity, in many cases even religion that a very, very large percentage of these young C Budget. Non-tax revenues, including borrowings to fund the deficit, account stature determines the league in which she — to embrace Mr Modi. people voted Mr Modi, and mostly for the first for the remaining 40 per cent, or close to ~11 trillion, but there is little focus on how to plays. One who stoops down to play at a much The sentiment you saw in their eyes was opti- time in their lives. Once a month, ThePrint boost non-tax revenues or reduce the level of borrowings by saving on expenditure. This lower level, or fight with the “bachchas” (jun- mism, joy, an anticipation of a better life, the holds an innovative free-speech event called is surprising, given how it is non-tax revenues that have fallen short even as tax revenues iors), diminishes her/his own stature. storied “achche din”. They were not breaking “Democracy Wall” at a key campus. have grown faster than gross domestic product (GDP). We are applying this test to our politics, their families’ old political loyalties because One of its features is a giant banner that specifically to the way the BJP government is they hated someone, or were afraid of them. If looks like a wall where the students can freely If tax revenues have done well, thank the oil windfall of 2014-16. Arun Jaitley used handling student protests. 2014 was an election of hope of a better life, write what’s on their mind and sign their the opportunity afforded by the sharp drop in oil prices to soak up tax revenue, A simpler way of understanding this is how 2019 was the renewal of that promise in the names. These have changed character dramat- though some of it has had to be given back to the consumer. There is also work to be our great old wrestler-actor Dara Singh handled expectation that it will take that long to redeem ically over the past six months. In the last three, done on individual taxation as well as on goods and services tax (GST). But while the any new challenger. He asked him to fight his it fully. the change is drastic. airwaves are full of noise on these issues, not nearly enough attention gets paid to brother Randhawa first, beat him, and earn the Within six months, however, they find they All these are from private or elite universities. non-tax revenues — where there are repeated shortfalls in disinvestment receipts right to fight the champ. I asked him why, and are being delivered something entirely differ- Among outbursts of anger and disappointment on and mismanagement of revenues from sectors like telecom. A government hungry he said every “Lallu Panju” (Tom, Dick and ent. The economy is in a free fall. And it’s been the latest one, along with clever lines like “P...k for revenue has simply fallen back on the companies it owns, asking them to up their Harry) wants to be able to boast he wrestled declining for so long, so consistently, that the The Folice” and “Mera Desh Jal Raha with Dara Singh. Why should I lower my own promise of growth and better days now looks a Hai....#SaveAustralia”, what catches the eye most dividend payments or borrow on its behalf. This year North Block’s long arm also standing to please them? fantasy. strikingly is “bure din wapas kar do” (please reached Mumbai to extract surpluses from the Reserve Bank of India. Back to the game of hard politics. For a A mid-1970s kind of pessimism, even hope- return my bad days to me). Until about three The flip side of this is the story of where the money goes. Trillions of rupees have month now, that is precisely what this almighty lessness, is growing among the young. New jobs months back, there was some criticism. Today been used to shore up the balance sheets of government banks, while more trillions BJP government is doing: Senior, powerful men aren’t available. And while all jobs are impor- we see not a line, not even a word of praise. You invested in highways and railways have not yielded the returns they should have. and women fighting with children. They’ve tant and dignified, let’s face it: Not every young ignore this kind of unanimity in anger among the More highways could have been monetised through maintenance and operations seen fires lit in campuses across the country in person studying in a college is looking forward educated young at your own peril. contracts that yield the government net revenue. The railways in turn is into the final response to their policies. Their response — to delivering for Swiggy or Zomato or driving an At most times, a cocktail of nationalism, reli- especially where the BJP has been in power — Ola or Uber. gion, and an almighty personality cult can win phase of building high-speed, high-capacity freight corridors, but it is not yet certain has been consistent. Bring down the full force of That isn’t what Mr Modi had promised them. you one election. But it can’t win you two in what kind of traffic such lines will attract, given that the existing rail traffic is only par- state power, internet and telecom restrictions, Their aspirations and needs are clear and pres- succession. Six months after he rode hope to tially containerised and new growth centres along the corridors are not yet up and and, at least in one case, Uttar Pradesh, collec- ent, and not being fulfilled. And certainly they his second conquest of India, he has senior running. tive fines. won’t be compensated for the let-down either police officers (who trusts the police on their Meanwhile, another ~20,000 crore is being used this year to keep the postal If a government elected with by “firmness”, with which you word in this country, I am so sorry to ask) hold- department going, mostly because the pay and pension bill is much bigger than the such an enormous popular vote control and “integrate” Kashmir, ing press conferences, calling students rioters revenue. This spares the blushes of perennial loss-makers like Air India and Bharat finds it worth its while to fight or how you teach Pakistan a les- and anti-nationals; cabinet ministers speaking its students rather than reason son a day. Nor will their needs be out on TV channels, telling boys and girls on Sanchar Nigam Ltd, though their losses too run into thousands of crores. Talk of con- or listen to them, three things met by how much you can per- our campuses how to behave and be patriotic. verting the postal network into a bank has remained just that: Talk. If the government follow: suade them to fear the Muslim or But today’s young are smart. were to demand performance from the companies and ministries concerned, the First, a tyrant versus the hate the migrant Muslim “ter- They leave them speechless when they retal- non-tax component of the Budget would get a booster shot, and there would be less underdog story builds up. mite”. iate by waving the tiranga, mass-reading of the infructuous outlay to support non-performing companies. Second, it generates pictures None of these would get them preamble of the Constitution, and singing the The irony is that the government thinks it has all the money in the world to give that gravely damage Brand India a job, a living, a better life. national anthem. Just over six months back you these companies, when the truth is that it is more strapped for cash now than at any globally. And you can’t stop any Unless, of course, they are your had the cream of Bollywood fawningly pose for of this from “getting out”. ideological followers. The disil- selfies with Mr Modi. Today, many of the mar- other time in the last decade. Can the management of food stocks be made more effi- Third, and the most significant, NATIONAL INTEREST lusionment of the college-going quee stars, not just the usual “arty” ones, have cient? Can shortfalls in payment to electricity generators get a prior claim on states’ it inevitably creates a “children SHEKHAR GUPTA youth with Modi-2 has been rap- lent their support to protests. And the rest may share of Central taxes? Can private shipyards be given business to see if they can versus uncle/aunty mood” among id and deep. be silent, but almost no star of any consequence deliver within cost and stipulated timelines, because today the public shipyards don’t the youth. Let me elaborate. has risen in the government’s support. You have do either? Can politics be taken out of pricing decisions so that the subsidy bill gets obody should also remain under the mis- doubts, check out the worthies who landed at curtailed? very exit and opinion poll in 2014 and 2019 Nconception that it is just a virus specific to the central ministers’ dinner in Mumbai to sup- In short, there are many ways to make the government’s money go further — if the Eshowed us that the young of India, all of the the few, liberal, Left, public universities infest- port the Citizenship Amendment Act. You will millennials but especially the first-time voters ed by “Urban Naxals”. The anger has now spread need Google to identify some. government were to bring to the task the same determination it has shown in per- backed Narendra Modi with passion. I have in to expensive private campuses as well, which And in the middle of all this, you field a sec- sisting with the amended citizenship law? The key question is how much political my archives a string of short conversations with allow no politics and unions, and cost many ond-term cabinet minister like Smriti Irani to capital the government is willing to spend on economic reform measures that will be young people while travelling through the 2019 students’ parents a lot of their savings and mock and taunt Deepika Padukone. Remember, unpopular with one or other section of the population. If Air India is not sold, will it campaign across the country that name only inherited assets. I have been speaking at sever- we said the league you choose to play in decides be shut down? After all, private airlines have been shut, so why not Air India? To take one leader: Modi. al in different parts of the country, and found your stature. Show us a more effective way of such decisions, the economy has to become the government’s No. 1 priority, which it I wrote and spoke out at a Centre for Policy anger similar to what you might see at JNU, losing India’s youth. self-evidently is not at the moment. Research debate in New Delhi on the factors I Jamia, or BHU. found were propelling Mr Modi towards a big The sentiment is a bemused — and increas- In special arrangement with ThePrint

demanding educational reform. In both cities there were police beat- Remember Safdar Lighting the campus tinderbox ings at barricades, arrests, and bloodletting. Thence forward the EYE CULTURE Janam, was a part of the cast that was hundreds of protesting students a bunch of “anti-national” students through parliamentary legislation. story of Jayaprakash Narayan’s performing Halla Bol! on the day gathered at the gates — some stark hell-bent on shredding the country Opposition to both has been swiftly emergence as a galvanising force, UTTARAN DAS GUPTA Safdar Hashmi was murdered. She led facts stand out. They suggest the but is now applied to anyone politi- and peremptorily dealt with. Emergency rule and Mrs Gandhi’s the troupe back a couple of days later to complicity of forces on high behind cally opposing government policy Mr Modi’s authoritarian streak fall in 1975 is well-known. “In her eepika Padukone has been at complete the interrupted perform- the orchestrated attacks. A large or ruling party ideology. is sometimes compared to Indira grasp of the nuts and bolts of the the receiving end of praises and ance; the group has been revisiting police force turned a blind eye to Like that other shop-soiled appel- Gandhi’s rise to absolute power. If machinery of power,” observes Ms Dbrickbats for turning up at Jhandapur every year since then on several hours of mayhem in the stu- lation “Khan Market Gang”, the label so, the triggering of a students’ agi- Sahgal, “Indira Gandhi installed a Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) the day of Hashmi’s martyrdom. dents’ hostels, the street lights con- can be embarrassingly ironic. Two tation carries a fateful echo from strategy of command that depended earlier this week to express solidarity Hashmi’s vision of street theatre veniently went off, and the vice- pillars of the Modi government, the non-so-distant past. entirely on personal loyalty”. with students assaulted by armed mis- was utopian and internationalist. In chancellor — a government Finance Minister Nirmala In 1971, fresh from victory in the The student uprisings of 1974 creants, who breached security to enter an essay outlining the vision of Janam, appointee — fiddled, like Nero, as Sitharaman and Foreign Minister S Bangladesh war and a triumphant were not abetted by WhatsApp the campus last Sunday evening. Some he noted: “Street theatre, as we know it AL FRESCO his realm burned. To this day he has Jaishanker, are former JNU students, election, Mrs Gandhi was at the wars, Twittermania, or a body of have accused her of using the incident today, is not more than fifty or fifty-five SUNIL SETHI not been held accountable for his and have had to issue cringe-worthy very zenith of her power. Her inter- outspoken supporters from the film to promote her new film Chhapaak — years old. It began with a short play by failure to restore order. Moreover, assurances that in their student days national prestige was high and her world. The smashings and thrash- in which she plays the protagonist, an Mayakovsky — Mystery-Bouffe — dur- the assailants have not been tracked. there was no “Tukde Tukde Gang” command of the party and state ings at JNU are right in our face; acid attack survivor. Others have said ing the 1917 revolution in Russia. he ill wind of rampant vio- And, bizarrely, FIRs were filed and they were engaged in blameless governments untrammelled. Yet it they force the most passive observ- that her gesture was “bare minimum” During the Second World War, the lence against students and against Ms Ghosh as the agent intellectual capacity-building rather was precisely her tightening grip er to take sides. As a pan-Indian (to from a celebrity at a time when the same play was performed more than a T faculty of Jawaharlal Nehru provocateur rather than the sinister than involvement in the university’s on controlling levers that made use that overused but indefinable entire nation has been roiled by thousand times in front of the troops of University (JNU) by masked hood- untraceable attackers. As a established Left-liberal leanings. things go wrong — the lightning phrase) community, university stu- protests against the contentious the Red Army. Street theatre in the lums on January 5 took place in Centrally-funded institution, JNU (The two are not necessarily mutu- rod being the students’ unrest in dents everywhere are the same. Citizenship Amendment Act. Yet, Soviet Union has been closely related some of the most miserable weath- has been very much in the govern- ally exclusive, indeed they often go Bihar and Gujarat. Everyone either knows a college- some other — mostly supporters of the to the growth of people’s movements. er the capital has known, with tem- ment’s line of fire for some time, together in places of higher learn- In her incisive political biogra- goer, or was one, or, in the basic government — have called for a boy- In China, North Korea, Cuba and peratures plummeting to the cold- from February 2016 in fact, when ing.) phy Indira Gandhi: Tryst with Power human desire for self-improve- cott of her new film for extending sup- Vietnam, street theatre has been nur- est in decades. Kanhaiya Kumar, its former stu- Judging by the spillover of stu- (Penguin; ~399), the writer ment, hopes to become one. An ill- port to “anti-national” JNU. tured in the cradle of the Communist If that was a barometer of nation- dents’ president, was arrested for dents’ protests nationwide in Nayantara Sahgal gives a detailed educated driver I once had, a run- At the same time, a thirty-year-old party. In Africa, street theatre has been al politics, then a bitter winter of dis- sedition and criminal conspiracy for expressions of solidarity for the JNU account. It was small things (such away from rural Bihar, used to video has been circulating on social the mouthpiece of nationalist move- content augurs a dangerous spring allegedly voicing anti-national slo- violence, infiltrating campuses and as JNU students recently protesting regretfully intone: “Sir, vidya se badi media, in which Shabana Azmi uses ments. In the US, underclass African for the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah gans, a charge he denied. Like his tampering with the aspirations of a a hike in hostel fees) that set off the koi sampati nahin hai” (Sir, there is her time on stage at 12th International Americans have used street theatre to ruling establishment and their successor, Ms Ghosh, Mr Kumar restive youth population desperate conflagration. In January 1974 a stu- no greater wealth than education). Film Festival of India in January 1989 propagate their aspirations. In India Hindutva-fuelled followers. belongs to the Leftist union and has for degrees and hungry for jobs can dent revolt against food prices in New Delhi’s rulers should be to read out a note of protest for the too, street theatre has been closely From the blur of images of long been denounced by the prime have unforeseen consequences. It is engineering college hostels in alert to lighting a dangerous tin- murder of theatre activist Safdar related to the struggle for Bloody Sunday — students’ union minister, home minister and the not the same kind of control Ahmedabad and Morvi erupted into derbox. Besides, the city-state will Hashmi. In the video, Kabir Bedi asks Independence. But even after President Aishe Ghosh’s bandaged BJP’s students’ union as the “Tukde enforced by military might in the a citizens’ movement against scarci- elect a new government on about her opinion of the new wave the- Independence, our society is deeply head from wounds inflicted, Tukde Gang” — by now a rather jad- lockdown in Kashmir or the passing ty and misrule. That same year stu- February 11. The voters will factor atre director. “My views on my direc- afflicted with class hierarchy, social Deepika Padukone’s flying visit, ed phrase that started out to describe of the Citizenship Amendment Act dents of Patna colleges held protests in JNU’s Bloody Sunday. tors can be reserved for a later date,” injustice and improper distribution of she replies to a surprised Bedi, while wealth.” The aim of his theatre was to Victor Banerjee looks on. “I choose this attack these injustices. occasion to read out our protest,” she In another article for The Telegraph, adds. According to some sources, sen- Vidyarthy Chatterjee writes: “Hashmi How our lexicon got enriched in the past decade ior Congress leaders — miscreants was too astute a student of history and associated with the party accused of too perceptive an observer of the social The most interesting additions become the newest definition of who is hyper-aware of current meaning, and the pennants of rev- killing Hashmi — were apparently and economic realities of his time to to our active vocabulary in the last content consumption yes, but also social issues, and news, and is gen- olution. So also, #MAGA (the present in the audience. not realise that given the existing char- 10 years have come from portman- defines the volume and velocity of erally politically engaged. More and acronym for Make America Great Hashmi, a member of the acter of the Indian ‘system’, violent teau words … blended words … the viewing. more brands today, in fact, are seek- Again) which became easily the Communist Party of India (Marxist) confrontation with the propertied and Brexit, bromance, shero, metrosex- There is no dearth of blended ing a “woke” positioning. most emblematic political hashtag and founder of the theatre troupe Jana the privileged would amount to a bat- ual, netizen, screenager, frenemy, words in use today … affluenza, Similarly, another buzz-word of of the decade, catapulting Donald Natya Manch (Janam), was beaten up tle lost before it had even begun. That, freemium, emoticon, unfriend, bodacious, celebutant, chillax, recent times is “swag” … the new- Trump to the American presidency. on January 1, 1989 — allegedly by a in spite of his sagacious understanding staycation, podcast, athleisure, crunk, liger, mansplaining … in gen word for “cool” … a certain bold Language and lexicon, in con- Congress mob, led by party leader of conditions on the ground, violence buzzworthy, upcycle, solopreneur, domains that are more sociological self-assurance in style, expression clusion, fulfils a number of roles Mukesh Sharma — as he and his visited him the way it did carries a les- sexting, adulting, dadbod, … and the likes of animatronic, and manner which in the old days and functions in a changing society. troupe were performing their play son immersed in sadness and irony. YES, BUT... dadance, clickbait, hatewatch, sid- bionic, cyborg, mockumentary, was nothing but “swagger”! It interprets the whole of our expe- Halla Bol! at Jhandapur Colony in In a sense, Hashmi’s was a death fore- SANDEEP GOYAL eye, humblebrag, meetcute, pho- docusoap, telethon, and many more To think that just 10 years ago, rience, reducing the infinitely var- Sahibabad, the industrial town of told, both moving and enlightening.” tobomb … it is not that the likes of that are derived from technology we did not know, or use, words like ied phenomena of the world around Ghaziabad on the outskirts of Delhi. Other writers, artists and activists s a student of linguistics one motel or smog or brunch did not and entertainment. Even choco- selfie, ping, poke, tweet, meme, us, as well as the worlds inside us, to The performance was a gesture of sol- have been murdered since Hashmi’s was taught that language exist previously in our conversa- holic, fregan and hangry which are emoji, troll … or did not even know a manageable number of classes of idarity for Ramanand Jha, a commu- death in India by political parties of all A changes due to assimilation tional language, but in the 2010-20 related to food. So, anything goes. what a hashtag was all about. occurrences, types of processes, nist leader who was fighting the persuasion, from the far Right to the and dissimilation, mergers and decade, marrying parts of multiple The other major trend of the Talking of hashtags, #MeToo events and actions, classes of municipal elections in the area. far Left. One is almost immediately splits, syncope and apocope, proth- words or their phonemes and com- decade just gone by has been the entered the global consciousness objects, people and institutions. In Hashmi succumbed to his injuries a reminded of the murders of Govind esis and epenthesis … new words bining them into a new word heightened embracing of acronyms when on October 15, 2017, Alyssa a way it becomes the “social con- day later in the hospital. Pansare, Narendra Dabholkar, M M are borrowed or invented, the became almost a fashion in popular … wildly popular ones like BFF, Milano wrote: “If you’ve been sex- struction of reality” around us. The Senior journalist V Kumara Swamy, Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh in 2013-14 meaning of old words drifts or is culture. Take “dadbod” mentioned FOMO, FYI, ICYMI, GTG, BRB, IMO, ually harassed or assaulted write rapid change that the world has wit- in an article for The Telegraph late last by a shadowy right-wing organisation. redefined, and morphology of the earlier. To the uninitiated, it is slang TTYL, TBTF to the more esoteric “me too” as a reply to this tweet.” nessed in the past decade is truly year, wrote: “People talk of Safdar In recent times, it has also become very lexicon develops or decays every for a body shape of middle-aged GOAT (Greatest Of All Times), And world began to talk about its reflected in the massive enhance- Hashmi as if he was a man who died at fashionable to call people “anti-nation- couple of generations. In the past men, usually dads, with a slightly EGOT (an Emmy-Grammy-Oscar- experiences, sparking one of the ment of our day-to-day lexicon, and a ripe old age. …In his thick glasses, al” if they are critical of the Bharatiya decade all of the above has hap- protruding tummy out of an other- Tony winner), OOTD (Outfit Of The most acrimonious outpourings and how new actions, new mannerisms, coat-muffler and wide smile, Hashmi Janata Party-led central government pened to our language, and our wise muscular body which is actu- Day) or the more grounded TLDR shaming in recent history. And new attitudes, new thinking, new looks much older than he actually was or its policies. But, if Hashmi’s death has vocabulary. New words, new mean- ally being celebrated these days as (Too Long Didn’t Read) or 2C2E #MeToo became the hashtag that products, and new ideas have all at the time the photograph was tak- taught us anything, it is that no amount ings, new interpretations, new sexy! Not just that, some new intro- (Too Complicated To Explain)! showed us how a few words can found names, and expressions, that en.” When he was murdered, he was of bullying, even murder can silence implications and new understand- ductions like MeTime are actually Our recent vocabulary has also galvanize and unite people for a define them and evoke a common only 34 years old. But he “had already artistes or their ideas. One can perhaps ings have created a new lexicon profound expressions of how an been vastly enriched by words like cause. The likes of #Egypt and understanding of their meanings made a name for himself as a fiery take hope from it in our dark times. prompted by new technologies, entire generation wants not just “woke” which made an appearance #ArabSpring, amongst us all. street theatre actor and director.” new social realities, and a new way leisure or solitude, but a cocooned on the conversation horizon barely #UmbrellaRevolution and Hashmi’s fame really grew to mythic Every week, Eye Culture features writers of living life. And it has happened personal downtime with zero intru- a couple of years ago. Now, who or #BlackLivesMatter all became The writer is an advertising and media proportions after his murder. His wife, with an entertaining critical take on art, in a fraction of a generation. sions. Similarly, bingewatch has what is “woke”? Well, it is someone words that were pregnant with veteran Moloyashree Hashmi, who now runs music, dance, film and sport