MORPARIA’S PAGE E-mail: [email protected] Contents DECEMBER 2013 VOL.17/5 ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ THEME: Morparia’s page 2 2013: Some Key Lessons learnt from 2013 5 Learnings V Gangadhar Taking away the taint 6 Managing editor Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan Mrs. Sucharita R. Hegde Safety of women still a far cry 8 Ranjona Banerji Editor Give juveniles a chance to reform 11 Anuradha Dhareshwar Anant Kumar Asthana Indian Army will always stand tall 13 Brigadier Suresh Chandra Sharma (retd) Sub editor ‘Ecopreneurship’ can save the hills 15 Rajlakshmi Pillai Dr. Anil P Joshi 6 Shun those superstitions 17 Design Dr. G Vijayam H. V. Shiv Shankar A ‘fixed’ lesson for BCCI 19 Abhijeet Kulkarni Marketing After the fall 21 Mahesh Kanojia Alex K Mathews Know India Better OIOP Clubs Fatehpur Sikri – A dream in red sandstone 23 Vaibhav Palkar Md. Masarrath Ali Khan Face to face: Shammi Nanda 36 Features Subscription Films that tugged at your heart 39 Nagesh Bangera Shoma A. Chatterji Navy Day – celebration of valour 42 Advisory board 23 Brigadier Suresh Chandra Sharma (retd) M V Kamath Unsung heroes of Indian aviation 44 Sucharita Hegde B.M.N. Murthy Justice S Radhakrishnan Cultural Kaleidoscope 46 Venkat R Chary The ground beneath the last hurrah 48 Malay Desai Printed & Published by Book Review 49 Mrs. Sucharita R. Hegde for Youthvoice 50 One India One People Foundation, Columns 51 Mahalaxmi Chambers, 4th floor, Nature watch : Bittu Sahgal 22, Bhulabhai Desai Road, In focus : C.V. Aravind Mumbai - 400 026 Cool Champ 53 Tel: 022-2353 4400 Young India 54 Fax: 022-2351 7544 36 Great Indians 56 e-mail: [email protected] / Shammi Nanda [email protected] Printed at: Graphtone (India) Pvt. Ltd. A1 /319, Shah & Nahar Industrial Estate. S. J. Marg, Lower Parel (W) Mumbai – 400 013 visit us at: T. Balasaraswathi Manna De Naib Subedar Chuni Lal www.oneindiaonepeople.com AC, VrC, SM www.facebook.com/oneindiaonepeoplefoundation oneindiaonepeople2020.blogspot.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Thanks to pioneers of cooperative housing The November 2013 issue on cooperative movement in India is very well conceived and informative. The piece on the Co- operative Housing Societies in Mumbai is specially welcome. When I joined the University of Bombay in 1966, I had no place to live. The university did not give me a place in staff quarters. I purchased a one-bedroom flat in such a housing humorous anecdote in his life. In the year 1972 a good number society in Juhu because I did not want to pay pagdi. Years of high denomination counterfeit currency notes were in later I sold the small flat and bought a two-bedroom flat in circulation. As an abundant precaution to detect and curtail the same Society. its circulation, the Indian Petrol Bunk Association had directed Ironically the university’s inability to give me quarters turned all the petrol bunk attendants to ascertain about the genuineness out to be a blessing! I became a lakhpathi! of the 100 rupee note by asking the customer to provide After retirement from the university I moved to Hyderabad to identification by signing the note he offered in payment. Once work as a Senior Academic Fellow in an academic institution. Iengar was travelling by car from Bangalore to Mysore and en- A few years later I sold my Juhu flat at the prevailing market route he stopped at a petrol bunk in Mandya to fill up petrol. rates! Mine is one case among the lakhs and lakhs of people After filling up, he handed over a 100 rupee note to the attendant who found a place to live at affordable price, thanks to the but the attendant returned the note requesting the customer to selfless and visionary pioneers of the cooperative housing sign the note. Iengar complied. After careful scrutiny, the movement! attendant returned the note and said “Sir I wanted your signature This is my grateful homage to them all! but not a copy of the signatiure printed on the note”. The customer – B. Ramesh Babu via email could no longer restrain his amusement. He explained, “I am An interesting episode from H. V. R. Iengar’s life H.V.R. Iengar. I used to be the Governor, Reserve Bank of India— Apropos the profile on H.V.R. Iengar in the OIOP November and this note was issued under my signature” 2013 issue, I would like to supplement the information by a – B.M.N.Murthy, Bangalore Mahalaxmi Chambers, 4th floor, 22, Bhulabhai Desai Road, Mumbai - 400 026 22, Bhulabhai Desai Road, Mahalaxmi Chambers, 4th floor, Letters should be addressed to Foundation, One India People The Editor, 022-2351 7544 e-mail: [email protected] / [email protected] www.oneindiaonepeople.com 022 - 2353 4400 Fax: Tel: 4 ONE INDIA ONE PEOPLE December 2013 SATIRE LessonsLessons learntlearnt fromfrom 20132013 V Gangadhar does an in-depth analysis of some key events in year 2013 and shares his insights. N December every year, we look back on the year which would have saved people and property. In just one day, he would soon depart and think about its impact on us. Was flew in aircraft from Gujarat and saved, single-handedly more Iit a good year or a bad one? Did we learn anything from than 15000 people. The same force was let loose during the the year? Did it disappoint us in anyway? Let us analyse the cyclones in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha and the loss of life year 2013 and find some answers. was minimal. After being Superman, Spiderman and Batman in Uttarakhand, NaMo turned into the Invisible Man in Odisha The role of minors in our society: Do we need/changes in the and Andhra. The truth shall come out when Lata Mangeshkar Juvenile Justice Act? will compose special melodies on NaMo after he becomes 2013 could be termed the ‘Year of the Minor’ when the Indian the next Prime Minister. Minor proved he had come of age and was not second to any other minor. He was always in the news. In the company of Indian cricket becoming cleaner: Naturally, it did. Much of adults he was as good and effective as any adult, in fact, he the dirt in our cricket was due to the presence of the riff-raff, performed better than them. There was a time when the you know, the dirty, unwashed masses who wait for long hours Indian juvenile was regarded as a baccha and would shy away to buy tickets and watch a cricket match. It is they who have from the company of women. But starting with end December dirtied Indian cricket, though the Board of Control for Cricket 2012 and throughout 2013, the Indian Minor was actively in India (BCCI) tried its best to keep out this riff raff. Look at engaged in gang rapes and as per evidence collected, Sachin 200th test in Mumbai, the riff-raff demanded tickets performed better than adults. Be it Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata when every single ticket had to be reserved for the or smaller cities, the Indian juvenile was the most talked VVVVVIIIIPPPPs. So BCCI kept aside 3000 out of 32000 tickets about by women, lawyers, judges, media, social workers and for the riff raff but they demanded more. The media mobs others. 2013 without doubt was the Year of the Juvenile. demanded more and more tickets, but who reads such blah blah these days when TV commentary is in the capable hands Restoring faith in the Army: Another vital issue. Over the of men like Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri paid by the BCCI. years, Indians have viewed the army and army personnel as So we curtailed the press seats and gave them to politicians equal to god. The Army could do no wrong. When the civilians and corporate bosses. Why bother if they followed cricket or failed, the call went out ‘Call The Army’. The results were not? They shelled out Rs two lakhs per cricket. The lessons satisfactory. 2013 was slightly different. It proved that the BCCI learnt in 2013 was to keep out the riff raff. Army was after all human. In fact one of the Army Chiefs of Staff monopolized the headlines because he said he did not Fall of rupee: Different lessons for different people. For know how old he was. When was his birthday? He did not Newton, the fall of an apple led to Laws of Gravity. For P know. What a great general because despite this handicap, Chidambaram, the fall of the rupee led to fear of a thrashing he went on advising everyone on every possible subject. It in the 2014 polls and hence the decision to avoid the CHOGM was our good fortune, India did not fight a war during his in Colombo. Ditto for Manmohan Singh. Montek need not tenure. care, he could always return to World Bank or the IMF. Poor Raghuram Rajan! He did Lessons from Uttarakhand disaster: It was unexpected and not mind the Fall provided it was not too hit us hard. We had the tools and power to stop any damage, steep, then he finished reading the Albert but failed. Now we have to learn this bitter lesson. If only we Camus masterpiece ‘The Fall’. had let loose Narendra Modi of Gujarat fame early on, he The writer is a well-known satirist. ONE INDIA ONE PEOPLE December 2013 5 5 2013:SOME KEY LEARINGS TTakingaking awayaway thethe tainttaint A landmark ruling of the Supreme Court mandating immediate disqualification of tainted legislators raised hopes of cleansing politics of criminals. The UPA government tried to bring in an Ordinance to reverse the judgment, but it retracted following public pressure.