John Steinbeck to His Son

In November of 1958, John Steinbeck — the renowned author of, most notably, The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, and Of Mice and Men — received a letter from his eldest son, Thom, who was attending boarding school. In it, the teenager spoke of Susan, a young girl with whom he believed he had fallen in love. Steinbeck replied the same day. His beautiful letter of advice can be enjoyed below.

November 10, 1958, New York


Dear Thom,

We had your letter this morning. I will answer it from my point of view and of course Elaine will from hers.

First—if you are in love—that’s a good thing—that’s about the best thing that can happen to anyone. Don’t let anyone make it small or light to you.

Second—There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you—of kindness and consideration and respect—not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn’t know you had.

You say this is not puppy love. If you feel so deeply—of course it isn’t puppy love.

But I don’t think you were asking me what you feel. You know better than anyone. What you wanted me to help you with is what to do about it—and that I can tell you.

Glory in it for one thing and be very glad and grateful for it.

The object of love is the best and most beautiful. Try to live up to it.

If you love someone—there is no possible harm in saying so—only you must remember that some people are very shy and sometimes the saying must take that shyness into consideration.

Girls have a way of knowing or feeling what you feel, but they usually like to hear it also.

It sometimes happens that what you feel is not returned for one reason or another—but that does not make your feeling less valuable and good.

Lastly, I know your feeling because I have it and I’m glad you have it.

We will be glad to meet Susan. She will be very welcome. But Elaine will make all such arrangements because that is her province and she will be very glad to. She knows about love too and maybe she can give you more help than I can.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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Remains of The Day

While Zardari's PPP has had a very hard time convincing the people of Pakistan on the governance front, the Sharif brothers have woken up from their stupor to mend their bastion, Says Saurabh Kumar Shahi

Sometime during early last week a confident looking aspirant from a religion-based political party in Pakistan walked with a swagger into the office of the Electoral Returning Officer (RO) in order to face a small interview, and then the result, that would have confirmed whether or not was he eligible to contest the upcoming Parliamentary elections; something that is enshrined in the Article 31 and 62 of the constitution. He clearly expected a couple of questions on his qualification  and probably a tap on the wrist before he is approved. The RO instead asked him to say the 6th Kalima, which he promptly failed to recite. The zero-sum nature of the entire exercise notwithstanding, the incident says a lot about what we should expect in the coming elections. Whatever be the outcome, the 2013 Elections in Pakistan will be known for uneasy alliances and sheer hypocrisy of the main players.

Let's look at the prospects of the major players. The ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) can always claim that it managed to take the country through its most tumultuous period unscathed. That it became the first democratically elected government in Pakistan to complete its tenure is indeed an achievement. But it is also the sum total of its achievements. It has pretty little to show  on other fronts.

However, PPP does command a total domination over its traditional Sindhi, Sareiki, poor, downtrodden and minority votes. In fact, in spite of its failure to save minorities from persecution during its tenure, it is basically a foregone conclusion that it will bag the majority of minority votes that are extremely relevant in eight out of 13 districts in Sindh and two districts in Punjab. It has also taken the battle right into the Punjabi heartlands of Nawaz Sharif's PML (N) by winning several seats in the by-polls. However, its governance has at best been pathetic. That is going to take a toll on its vote-bank, especially outside Sindh. The only cushion as of now appears to be the much touted Benazir Income Support Program (BISP).

“Even though Pakistan is now ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, the BISP has avoided egregious waste and has mostly succeeded in reaching the intended targets. If the PPP does well in the May elections, it will be largely because of the success of this programme. "One of its main features was the empowerment of very poor women,” maintains Shahid Javed Burki, who has served variously as a caretaker finance minister and as a vice-president at the World Bank.

On the other hand, Nawaz Sharif and his PML (N) is visibly and evidently buoyant about their prospects. Punjab is Pakistan's most populous province and hence has 148 out of 272 seats up for grab. It is here that Nawaz Sharif wants to achieve the critical mass to come up as the single largest party. Nawaz Sharif's hold is primarily among the Punjabi conservative trading-class and his policies as Prime Minister have always been pro-development and pro-market. In fact, it can be safely said that from the world class Lahore-Islamabad-Peshawar motorways to the newly constructed Lahore Rapid Bus System, most of Pakistan's modern infrastructure has been the brainchild of PML (N). In sharp contrast, PPP's five years were marred by power, water, fuel and several other shortages.

Also, Nawaz has tweaked his constituency's traditional conservatism to suit his party's manifesto. So, while he is pretty comfortable doing tacit understanding with openly anti-Shia outfits such as  Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, in tune with his rabid anti-Shia constituency in Southern Punjab; he has also made it clear that he will improve relationship with India and will take it to a new level. But he has a Pathan size problem in the form of Imran Khan.

When Imran Khan started his so-called Tsunami, his primary target were youth voters who account for close to 40 percent of the total electorate in these elections. Among the youths, he primarily targeted the urban kinds mostly concentrated in cities like Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Hyderabad and Bahawalpur. However, he soon realised that it will be close to impossible to make a mark in Karachi or Hyderabad that are too polarized on ethnic lines. So his obvious next target was Punjab. And that spelled trouble for PML (N). The historic Lahore rally by Khan did manage to put the world's focus on him and his party. However, since Khan and Murphy's Theory are so synonymous, no one was surprised when he and his party peaked prematurely and lost steam thereafter. Meanwhile the visibly rattled Nawaz and his Chief Minister brother Shahbaz were shaken from their stupor and actually started mobilizing the cadres. In fact, many believe, and rightly so, that it was the threat perception from Imran Khan that helped complete the Lahore Rapid Bus System in record time. As this story goes to print, Nawaz appears to have gained a substantial part of his lost territory. But  another territory of his looks threatened too.

The Southern part of Punjab and Bahawalpur have always had a distinct culture from the more prosperous and progressive Northern Punjab. The discrimination in the allocation of funds and general neglect has turned Southern Punjab into a festering wound of ethnic-religious bigotry. The demand for a separate province is old. But it was only last year that the PPP government dangled them the carrot and actually organized a committee to look into the possibility. In complete contrast of how things operate in our part of world, the committee quickly did the survey and presented a final report, which was promptly adopted. Now PPP is hopeful that it will help them make strong inroads in the Southern Punjab region.

It will not be PPP and PML (N) alone who will battle for Southern Punjab seats. In the last year or so, Khan's PTI inducted some of the stalwarts from Southern Punjab in his party fold including ex-Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Rao Qaiser and Cheema brothers. Although there is no visible wave for his party there but each of the above mentioned names and others can bring in a couple of seats.

Read more......

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
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Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

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Book Review: The Lonely Monarch

Unique saga of Bengal’s Garrick

It was a tumultuous period, as dramatic as any of the hugely successful plays that he staged in the course of an illustrious career in theatre. And thespian Sisir Kumar Bhaduri’s life, too, was just as turbulent as the times he lived in. Prolific Bengali novelist, poet and playwright Sunil Gangopadhyay, who passed away in late October last year, brought it alive as only he could in the riveting novel Nihsanga Samrat. This felicitous English translation by children’s writer Swapna Dutta captures the spirit of the book and the era to absolute perfection.

This, as Gangopadhyay had said in the author’s note, is a novel and not a biography although the book is about one towering individual who worked relentlessly to give Bengali theatre a distinct voice of its own by blending European stagecraft with the traditions of the jatra. “I’ve had to fill the available framework with my imagination,” wrote Gangopadhyay. Clearly, it was no ordinary imagination!

The Lonely Monarch is historical fiction of the same genre as the writer’s widely lauded Prothom Alo (The First Light) and Sei Somoy (Those Times), which are regarded as two of the greatest novels in contemporary Bengali literature. There can be no doubt that this particular book, too, belongs to the very highest league although it is neither as voluminous nor as famed as the aforementioned works.

The Lonely Monarch captures a substantial sliver of life in Bengal of the first half of the 20th century by tracking the intimate interactions that the theatre doyen had with some of the greatest minds of the era as he pursued his aim of freeing his craft from the strident melodrama of the past and recast it in a more refined mould.

Bhaduri, an English literature grad who began life as a college professor, gravitated to the world of professional theatre because acting was his first love. As a student, he would often feature in amateur plays put up at the University Institute, both in English and Bengali.

As The Lonely Monarch recounts, Rabindranath Tagore once came to see a performance of Baikunther Khata (Baikuntha’s Diary), a play he himself had authored. At the end of the play, the poet asked a friend: “Who is that lad…? Watching him on stage made me envious. It’s a role I was once famous for.”

Later in life, Bhaduri, who evolved into an erudite scholar, had several other encounters with Tagore till the end of the poet’s life. The latter hailed the theatre legend as a master and even wrote a comic play (Shesh Raksha) for the actor-director’s troupe. Tagore was by no means the only titan that Bhaduri worked with.

The book is replete with tales of Bhaduri’s fruitful exchanges, both personal and professional, with novelist Saratchandra Chattopadhyay, poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, linguist Sunitikumar Chattopadhyay and such like. Many of these remarkable men were close friends who influenced him and were influenced by him.

Bhaduri’s was a life devoted to creating a new space and respect for theatre in Bengal’s life and culture. “Until now no other man as highly educated and well bred as him had become a professional actor… The actresses were from the red light area. The actors were mostly uneducated and given to various vices.”

By attracting some of the most talented writers of the day to create plays for him, Bhaduri brought about a sea-change. But It wasn’t all that easy transforming the audience. However, Bhaduri never gave up. By the end of his life, he was aware that he had not quite won the battle, but he knew that he had never abandoned the fight and, in persisting, had made a dent somewhere.

When Satyajit Ray, in the 1950s following his early successes as a director, approached him for a role in a film towards the end of his life, Bhaduri politely declined. He said he would not be comfortable shifting to a new medium although Bhaduri did act in a few movies in the 1920s and 1930s, including the first-ever screen adaptation of a Saratchandra story, Aandhare Alo (Light in the Darkness). 

The story of Sisir Bhaduri, the powerhouse who helped Bengali theatre acquire modernist trappings is, crucially, is also the story of the evolution of Bengal’s contemporary culture, helped along by its men of letters, poets, dramatists and linguists, men that the towering actor was friends with.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
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Nothing official about it

Pakistan will not leave any chance at extracting mileage as the recent trip of outgoing Prime Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf's trip to Ajmer demonstrated. Syed Khurram Raza looks at the larger picture

What steps will Pakistan not take to make a point when conducting its relations with India? Traditional diplomacy, track two meetings and sporting exchanges. Now add to it, dargah diplomacy.

When news that Pakistan's outgoing Prime Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf wanted to visit Ajmer Sharif, it did not make sense immediately. He was, after all, demitting office in a few days and could not in any way make an impact on Indo-Pakistan ties which have been under strain since the beheading of two Indian soldiers on the Line of Control (LoC) in January this year.

There was considerable confusion about the status of the visit until New Delhi decided to treat it as a private one. That clearly did not suit Islamabad which has spared no effort to politicise any event that can get it global mileage.

So when it comes to diplomacy, Pakistan is quick to exploit every situation, be it sports or religion. General Zia Ul Haq in 1987, President General Pervez Musharraf in 2004 and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in 2011 used cricket to improve relations with India - or more appropriately used it as an occasion to play to the international gallery.

While cricket diplomacy is Pakistan's most-favoured way of communication, in the last one year, both their President and Prime Minister have come on private visits to India, ostensibly to pay obeisance to the Gharib Nawaz at Ajmer Sharif. Ajmer Sharif remains among the holiest of shrines for Muslims in south Asia and a place of worship which attracts a large number of believers from all faiths. The folk lore here -  as with other prominent pilgrim places -  believes that a visitor can only go there you are called.


The question people are asking is this: is it yet another Pakistani strand of diplomacy where even the world famous dargah is fair game? How does Pakistan balance open defiance of India by lavishly hosting India's most wanted, Dawood Ibrahim and Saeed Hafeez and other perpetuators of serious terror attacks in the last couple of decades, with emotional trips to the Ajmer Dargah?

Says Mohammed Maroof Khan, principal of New Delhi's Zakir Hussain Memorial School, ``This is sheer hypocrisy and goes against the teachings of the Gharib Nawaz. I do not believe that Pakistani politicians go to Ajmer only to pay obeisance, it is not much different from watching cricket matches, as in the past.''

According to sources, Pakistan wanted to buy some space but it did not suit India. ``First, the atmosphere in our country is sensitive about the beheading of Indian soldiers and second, since President Raja Pervez Ashraf is in office for just another week, he is not in a position to take any decision. Hence the Indian response has been tepid – other than a lunch thrown in his honour by Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid in Jaipur, '' he says. Officials interpret Raja's move as the following: Pakistan was testing out the waters to see if India was willing to hold talks after the recent bad blood. They wanted an invitation without asking for it!  The Indian government gave a very clear message that they would not bite. It is evident in the representation of officials who went to Jaipur. The highest-level Indian officer present there was the Director, Pakistan Desk at the MEA. Surely things would have been different if either Ashraf had more time in office or it was Zardari or Nawaz Sharif on a dargah visit.

Little wonder, that the tenor of the lunch invitation was anything but diplomatic. Those present said the Indian Foreign Minister talked at length on Sufism, Sufi music, Abida Parveen and the Rajasthan culture - but there was nothing official about the meeting.


In diplomacy, every small nuance tells a tale: Salman Khurshid, for instance, did not wait for Raja Ashraf to return from Ajmer and left for Delhi immediately after lunch. So India down played the whole visit and made it a strictly private affair where the visiting Pakistani VIP was accompanied by close family members. Islamabad's desperate efforts to salvage something official from the trip remained thwarted.

But as can be expected, in an Indo-Pakistan drama, politics could not be too far away from the surface. There was resistance to the visit by some Khuddams who guide devotees in paying homage at the pilgrimage.  Says Deewan Zainul Abeidin, who publicly opposed the Pakistani's Prime Minister's visit. ``I am the descendant of Khawaja Gharib Nawaz and as you know, he was the messenger of peace in this region. I cannot welcome the head of a state which does not observe the teachings of Gharib Nawaz. The head of state of a country which claims to be an Islamic Republic and does not follow the teachings of Islam and Prophet Mohammad should not be welcomed. Basically they have defamed Islam and it is because of them that Muslims are seen with suspicion.”

Read more......

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year

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A ruling party appointee

The PCI chairman is talking about crushing the rights of the media in the country

Intellectual life in India has been thrown into a crisis. It is party time for social scientists, former judges and ex-bureaucrats using the wildest discretion possible to define situations and issues, unmindful of the realities and expectations.

A new India with its rich cultural legacy and high voltage economic ambition is a part of the collective conscience of the nation. As such, the guardians of opinion and ideas need to contextualise their universalism.

However, things are taking place in the opposite direction. Drift from serious discourse and ideological and political sectarianism are the two main features of contemporary intelligentsia. There are two sets of intellectuals. One, representing the Nehruvian mindset and the second representing Marxist fossils. The former uses its intellectual strength to defend the system, legitimize neo-liberal politics and the latter is still hankering after dead historical theories.

Markandey Katju is perhaps its best example. The man who is known for his scholarship, forthrightness and thoughtful insights has unfortunately failed to comprehend what he needs to do in his new role. His seminal work Mimansa Rules of Interpretation reveals his depth and like JB Kripalani, a Socialist leader, he too has dammed Indian intellectuals for ignoring invaluable treasures of our society and culture.

It was this realisation which led KM Munshi to set up Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan. However, the mission and the project failed due to intellectuals’ growing lust for power. And it is this hunger which gives the state the opportunity to co-opt people like Katju who has lost his potential to become another Munshi and is happy to play the role of Digvijay Singh instead!

Katju, like many others, seems to be a victim of a self-created ideological world and a false perception of being true guardians of society at the time when the country is passing through great transition from a conventional society to modernity.

Such well placed people have access to media and also carry a news value. Unfortunately, they are using their talents to deconstruct the democratic process. Katju, for instance, signifies how the state power uses democratic structures to serve the interests of the ruling party.

PCI is privileged with a historic role when the media is in danger of loosing its autonomy because of the burden of big capital. Therefore, people like Katju have the opportunity to contest and negotiate with the forces of socio-economic change trying to use media as a neo-liberal tool. As a former judge of the Supreme Court, he carried with him a clout which could benefit the PCI’s visibly new larger-than-life role.

Katju loves to remain in headlines by using foul language and inviting bitter controversies. What is more painful, he has identified himself with the immediate interests of the ruling party at the centre. For instance, he systematically targeted three important non-Congress chief ministers, Mamata Banerjee, Nitish Kumar and Narendra Modi. There is nothing wrong in making a critical assessment of an individual, but there are limits placed even on that authority. Katju could not care less.

In addition, he chooses harsh and unpalatable words for attacking political actors holding elected positions. He described Mamata Banerjee as “totally dictatorial, intolerant, and whimsical”. Does an elected chief minister deserves such derogatory and politically-motivated remark by the head of the PCI?

He targeted Nitish for gagging the media. There is no doubt that media in Bihar is playing a pro-Nitish role. But let him first answer whether it is due to the fear of repression or media’s own new ethics? This is a million dollar question before the PCI and Katju has taken a one-sided view. He is trying to turn a half-truth into full-truth.

The debate on the content of electronic media is healthy. But Katju has used the content debate to question a fundamental right, ie freedom of the press. The content debate can not be simplified merely as a TRP race. It is an outcome of new values imposed by neo-liberalism. However Katju has failed to comprehend the challenges emerging from the changing character of media and has gone up to the extent of suggesting curbs on the freedom of the press.

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA

'Training programmes will continue even in worst case scenario'

Mayank Singh speaks to Vishal Chandra, an Afghanistan specialist, to discuss the nuts and bolts of the New Delhi-Kabul engagement once the American troops draw down.

1. How are the developments taking place in Afghanistan going to effect India?
In my view, sustaining the momentum of its engagement with Afghanistan would be a key challenge for India after 2014. India has emerged as a major ‘development partner’ of the Afghan people since the overthrow of the Taliban regime in November-December 2001.  India has been extremely innovative in terms of diversifying and improvising its assistance programmes as per the changing ground situation and specific requirements of the Afghan people. Perhaps, therein lay the strength of the Indian approach towards Afghanistan.

India started of with some large reconstruction projects but gradually realised the significance of carrying out local community based small development projects across Afghanistan. Indian assistance and training programmes, including Indian medical missions to the country, have been very well received by the Afghan people. On the basis of my field studies in Afghanistan, I can suggest that the Afghan people look up to the Indian experience on a wide range of issues – right from managing their own social and political diversity through an inclusive political order, to re-building their modern institutional capacities. In fact, India has shown the way forward as far as carrying out reconstruction projects in an in-conflict situation is concerned. There was never really a post-conflict situation in Afghanistan after 2001. If one has to take a long-term view of the Afghan challenge, then there can be no viable option other than helping the Afghan people in rebuilding their institutions and state capacities as per their own cultural and political specificities.

India has clearly been adjusting its policy corresponding to the developing situation in Afghanistan. India’s support for an ‘Afghan-led’ and ‘Afghan-owned’ peace process has to be seen as part of India’s continuing support for the government in Kabul. Similarly, India’s assistance in training the Afghan army officers, as envisaged in the Strategic Partnership Agreement of October 2011, should be seen as part of the wider international effort to help strengthen the position of Kabul.

2. In your opinion how will the exit of ISAF in 2014 change the situation?
As the US and NATO-led force drawdown and the security situation deteriorate, it might be increasingly difficult for India to sustain its current levels of engagement and presence. India is not a major player in terms of political and military leverages inside Afghanistan. India’s future role and position would therefore depend on the outcomes of the ongoing security and the next round of political transition in Afghanistan, both of which are suppose to culminate by 2014.

Following factors could be considered as critical to the Indian role and position after 2014:

•     The survivability and sustenance of the current Afghan political system and constitution, basically the strength of the Afghan institutions to withstand the implications of Western drawdown;
•     Nature and level of Western engagement and commitment in the post-transition period; Salience of Pakistan’s military establishment in the post-2014 Western approach to Afghanistan;
•     The political perception, orientation and composition of the next government in Kabul; and,
•     The strength of India’s ties with various Afghan factions

3. What is your assessment of the Pakistan factor in future Afghan politics?

The situation in Afghanistan is definitely worrisome, but may not be all that pessimistic as is often made out to be.  The Pakistan factor in the Afghan politics and the future Western strategy too has its limitations. Perhaps, Iran too is a huge factor and an influential force inside Afghanistan. It would not be all that easy for Pakistan-backed Haqqani-Taliban network to make an absolute comeback to power inside Afghanistan. Pakistan’s military establishment, or at least sections of it, might not be sure of how favourable the Haqqani-Taliban network would be towards Pakistan’s interests this time in case they make a full comeback to power. It is also unlikely that a Pakistan-brokered or mediated deal between the Afghan Government and the top Taliban leadership would be acceptable to a vast section of Afghan population.

Compared to 1990s, today’s Pakistan is far more unstable and bedevilled with protracted internal crisis, ranging from sectarian violence to militant extremist ideologies spreading across the country. In fact, at times there is more violence inside Pakistan than in Afghanistan. What the West has either consciously ignored or deliberately trivialised is the fact that Pakistan’s military has mastered the art of surviving on the instability of its own country, and imaginary constructs of existential threat to Pakistan from neighbouring countries.

4. In the changed scenario, what is your suggestion for India?
As a neighbouring country, India has to take a long-term view of the challenges emanating from its turbulent north-western neighbourhood. The development leading to and following 2014 is yet another phase in the long-drawn Afghan conflict. However, India has severe geo-political limitations when it comes to doing more or playing greater role in Afghanistan as is often suggested in Western analysis. Lack of clarity in Western policy towards both Afghanistan and more so towards Pakistan, particularly in terms of their over all objectives and commitment in the region, makes the situation all the more complex for India. India’s presence and relatively huge contribution to Afghan reconstruction, though often praised, has at times also invited Western scepticism and even criticism in view of her historically adversarial relations with Pakistan.

Despite all limitations, India for its own reasons cannot afford to disengage from Afghanistan. Apart from direct physical threat, India and Afghanistan face a major ideological threat from a range of Pakistan-sponsored violent extremist groups operating from within its territories. In view of the developing situation, following may be recommended:

•     India must take a long-term view of developments in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, and should not be bogged down with post-2014 uncertainties;
•     India must engage the next generation of Afghan leadership and should remain a key ‘development partner’ of the Afghan people. India must find innovative ways to invest more in tapping into the Afghan youth. Training Afghan youths and professionals in Indian institutions will keep India connected to diverse sections of the Afghan population even in a worst case scenario.
•     It would be in the long-term interest of India to evenly develop its relations with diverse ethnic groups and factions in Afghanistan.
•     Given the socio-political polarisation and fractious nature of Afghan politics, India should firmly avoid any direct military involvement in Afghanistan. Any pre-emptive or adventurous militaristic approach is bound to prove counter-productive. It would subsequently alienate India within Afghanistan and the wider south-central Asia region.
•     Though regional groupings/mechanisms are not likely to play a direct military role in the stabilisation of Afghanistan, India must continue to try and engage other regional countries which share India’s concerns, both bilaterally and also through multilateral forums.

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face

BBA Institute

A state of flux

As caste-based regional outfits gather steam and undermine the prospects of the national parties in Karnataka, politics in the southern state is poised to go the Uttar Pradesh way, writes Kumar Buradikatti

Karnataka is gearing up for Assembly elections in April. With the fortunes of the ruling BJP and the Congress hitting the skids in the state, caste-based regional formations are likely to gain in the post-poll scenario.

Karnataka is set to go the Uttar Pradesh way. UP is India’s largest state and is accustomed to electoral fragmentation on caste and community lines. Karnataka, only one third the size of UP, is not. So, if a hung Assembly is what the April elections yield, the development would mark a paradigm shift in Karnataka politics.

Congress, BJP and Janata Dal are the three parties that have traditionally jostled for seats in the Vidhana Soudha. Two new forces have lately jumped into the fray. Former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa’s Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) and Badava Shramika Raitha Congress (BSR Congress), led by B Shriramulu, the right hand man of jailed mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy, are likely to queer the pitch for the national parties by taking away a chunk of their votes.

While none of the five contenders are in a position to sweep the polls, KJP and BSR Congress could both wrest enough seats to give the principal parties a run for their money. But in the run-up to the elections, none of the political formations is keen to get into any alliances, preferring to wait and watch the for eventual outcome. 

For Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), the April polls could be just another electoral battle. But for BJP and KJP, it would be an acid test. The BJP would be out to demonstrate that it has the strength to live down Yeddyurappa’s exit. For the party leaders who have been instrumental in pushing Yeddy out of the BJP, the likes of KS Eeshwarappa, Ananth Kumar, Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar, the upcoming election would be an opportunity to prove a point. 

Yeddy too, would be determined to make the BJP, a party he served for four decades, pay for the folly of neglecting a regional mass leader with the backing of the dominant Lingayat  community.

The BJP will also have to contend with the BSR Congress. Yeddy’s mass support and the Reddy’s money power had catapulted BJP to power in Karnataka in 2008. With both now gone, it would be an uphill task for the party to retain power. BJP is unlikely to win more than 50 to 60 seats. In that eventuality, it would be back on the Opposition benches.

In the past, the Congress has had to suffer the consequences of sidelining Veerendra Patil, who was not only a mass leader but also had control over the party’s rank and file. This was something that Yeddy lost no opportunity to remind the BJP’s central leadership of.    

When Indira Congress sacked Chief Minister Veerendra Patil, leader of the politically powerful Lingayat community (to which Yeddy himself belongs), and installed S Bangarappa in his place, the party lost the next election and HD Deve Gowda of Janata Dal became the chief minister.

In 1994, history repeated itself. Congress sacked Bangarappa and named Veerappa Moily chief minister. Bangarappa quit Congress and launched his own party, Karnataka Congress Party. His outfit won only ten seats but managed to ensure a Congress defeat in 30 constituencies. Janata Dal stormed to power in the bargain.  

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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