Re: presenting Muthu...

Interesting. Just waiting to hear from Muthu.=20

On Wed, 3 Mar 2004 23:38:37 -0800 (PST), "Yamanoor Srihari"
<yamanoor-/[email protected]> said:
> A very insightful piece, appropriate for the election time! I would like
> to know what Muthu thinks about the election commission trying to let
> people vote "None of the Above". Given Muthu's disillusionment, does he
> feel cheated about the now infamous "India Shining" campaign? If Muthu is
> from Tamil Nadu, he will remember the DMK's very similar desparate
> attempt in 2001 on SUN TV. Do both incidents portend an ominous sign? I
> would like Muthu to sound off on some of these other issues as well!
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> Srihari
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> "M.S. Suresh" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Presenting Muthu...
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> Let me introduce Muthu. Who is this "Muthu"? Muthu is one of the many
> names in India that both males=20
> and females have. Muthu is a layman, an average Indian, who has a good
> job, good salary, good=20
> spouse, good children, a working cellphone with international roaming and
> WAP facility, a maruti=20
> zen, a Palm, a good house, lot of savings, good bank balances, a pentium
> 4 multimedia computer at=20
> home for the globalized children... someone who is by and large, "a happy
> Indian".
>=20
> There are a lot of such Muthus, and the problem is not with that. The
> problem is that India, with a=20
> population of over a 100 crore, does not comprize Muthus alone. The more
> pathetic, unfortunate and=20
> more sad a problem is that these Muthus are either not aware of this, or
> are indifferent to this=20
> painful reality. So long as Muthu and family are well, India is a great
> country. When the cellphone=20
> does not work, when the maruti zen yawns when enroute with family to the
> Beach in the middle of a=20
> hot sunny overbridge, when negotiating through a high traffic signal,
> when Muthu's flat appartment=20
> faces water scarcity, when the roads are not good for the precious maruti
> zen to vroom along, then,=20
> Muthu starts cursing India. "What a wretched country! I am going to US",
> Muthu sobs and laments.
>=20
> Sad, but True. (phrase courtesy: the great number by Metallica.)
>=20
> Fortunately, one of those Muthus stops being just another Muthu, and
> "thinks":
> 1) Where does India want to go today? (allusion courtesy: Microsoft)
> 2) What do our Political Parties say to us these days?
> 3) What have these Parties been telling us all along, since 1947?
> 4) What do these words mean: "stability, economic growth, GDP, inflation,
> foreign exchange, poverty=20
> alleviation, literacy... secularism, hindutva, globalization,
> communalism, employment, silicon=20
> valley... etc."?
> 5) What has India "achieved" since 1947?
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> These questions may all be too big, but their answers, unfortunately, are
> too short and single=20
> worded. This particular Muthu who thinks, knows that.
>=20
> Imagining that India is one large Multinational Organization, Muthu
> starts doing a SWOT Analysis on=20
> India. Before getting any further with this Analysis, some hard realities
> about India being a=20
> Democracy strike Muthu.
>=20
> Coalition Politics is becoming inevitable - so proclaim the Parties and
> the Analysts alike,=20
> agreeably. But why? The number of Voters favouring a single Party and its
> ideology is reducing.=20
> Parties which were once strong and large have split up (why, is not the
> point, that they have split=20
> up, is). Parties which were once diametrically opposite in ideologies now
> work together as Coalition=20
> Partners for just one reason: to win the election. These Coalition
> Partners even switch partnership=20
> at another point in time, for the very same reason: to win the election.
> Oh no, this is not a joke,=20
> this is politics, politics in India, Muthu grins.
>=20
> Another one bothers Muthu: the number of Voters is reducing - "now who
> can argue with me on this=20
> point?" Muthu wonders. One can safely assume that over the last three
> decades, the voting rate has=20
> come down from over 65% (or more) to even 50% (or less). While chewing on
> those numbers, Muthu keeps=20
> in mind the following:
> a) rigging, duplicating of votes
> b) India's total voting strength vis a vis total population of over a 100
> crore (1billion, in=20
> globalized terms)
> c) those who really bother to cast their votes
>=20
> Muthu takes the next step and feels that India has some dire priorities
> to be addressed:
> 1. Control Population - not brutally, but something like China, with a
> clear 'over the period of=20
> time' strategy
> 2. Provide Literacy for the remaining 70% of India's population,
> likewise, with a clear 'over the=20
> period of time' strategy
> 3. Draw up a clear "Organic" Growth Strategy for the next five years
> 4. Implement that Strategy with a time frame
> 5. Evaluate the effects
>=20
> Muthu shares this thought over a chat with some fellow citizens who shoot
> back with questions from=20
> their MBA/CA/... books: "Array babaa Muthu, what about our huge Debts?
> Fiscal deficits? Foreign=20
> Exchange? The Rupee? The Trade Deficit? The inflation rate? The GDP? The
> ... ?"
>=20
> Muthu smiles, and examines some creative possiblities: Why not make a
> systemic and organic change in=20
> the Indian Administration? Why not remove Democracy and institute
> Bureaucracy? No, this is not a=20
> joke, Muthu goes on. Organizations are a bureaucratic setup, with
> Leaders, Managers, Hierarchies,=20
> Reporting Relationships, Responsibility, Authority, Accountability,
> Delivery, Quality, Competition,=20
> Systems, Procedures, Methodologies, Impact Assessment Mechanisms, Tools
> for corrective action,=20
> Performance Appraisal... etc. all laid down in our management books.
> Organizations are run with=20
> profit and growth motives, and a lot of Organizations are empires like
> Tata, Reliance, Birla, Wipro,=20
> Infosys... Muthu sparks with creativity.
>=20
> Muthu's realistic assessment of the status quo and the pragmatic outlook
> for the future do attract=20
> our attention; but Muthu's creativity is a little too imaginative, though
> not completely non-viable.=20
> Our choices are limited:
>=20
> 1) carry cyanides on our necks and die for our politicians
> 2) abstain from voting like a cynic, pay income taxes through the nose
> 3) catalyze a change in the system by working with people
> 4) continue to be the typical Muthu, the happy Indian, curse India and
> migrate to US when something=20
> does not work
> 5) remain in our rooms and listen to Heavy Metal.
>=20
> Please think, it is election time.
>=20
> :)
>=20
> MSS
>=20
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> La vie..
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> http://www.stanford.edu/~yamanoor
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> http://yamanoor.tblog.com
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