Chennai city collapses

 Denied electricity, newspapers, milk and net connectivity for three days, I have learnt that we can live without them. One unintended benefit was that I could sleep more peacefully probably because TV and computer were not allowed to distract me from diurnal rhythms.

The tragedy that struck Chennai was immense. Reports are that the city faced such a mess last only in 1906. Torrential rains in 1906 and now are liberally compared. One wonders how such elaborate notes were maintained in 1906.

Collapse of the ICU system in MIOT Hospital was shocking. It is similar to the Fukushima nuclear power plant failure which was also caused and aggravated by sudden deluge of water in the generator location. There should always be a back-up (called as redundancy in risk management) for such crucial functions.

Government authorities obviously were not able to cope with the challenge. It was funny to hear the Chief Secretary claim that "We take pride in managing the unprecedented situation successfully under the able guidance of the Honourable Chief Minister". Perhaps he did not mean what he said.

The New York Times on Chennai

The New York Times has released a list of 52 cities all over the world as places to visit in the year 2014. Why 52? Perhaps one city every week! Chennai figures as the only city in India. The newspaper says the following about Chennai:

"Chennai, in the state of Tamil Nadu (and formerly known as Madras), was long considered the gateway to popular South Indian tourist destinations like Kerala but was overlooked as an attraction itself. It is, however, a national cultural capital and home to several dance and music schools like Kalakshetra for dance and the Music Academy for Carnatic South Indian music, which both regularly hold performances around town. There are also historic sites aplenty, including the Kapaleeswarar Temple, built in the name of the Hindu god Shiva. Fresh buzz makes this city especially enticing: Several major hotels including the Park Hyatt have recently opened, and there is a slew of new and trendy clubs, boutiques and restaurants, including Ottimo for excellent pizzas."

The Marina beach is notably omitted. Anyone coming from abroad will not miss the neighbouring Mamallapuram (formerly known as Mahabalipuram), a sea-resort famous for historical sculpture. 

Chennai Business School: Graduation Ceremony

The sixth Graduation Ceremony of CBS took place on 8th August. Mr.Laksminarayan of Cognizant advised the students to consider Entrepreneurship as an alternative. He spoke excellently about the convergence of knowledge, technology, application and enterprise which spawns enormous opportunities. He was also eloquent about TIME (Convergence of telecom, IT, media and entertainment industries). Mr.Amrolia, member of governing council and CEO, spoke convincingly on four essentials for sustained success in business and life: 1)Integrity and values, 2)Constant Learning, 3)Ability to face defeats and learn from them and 4)Ability to influence people which is an offshoot of building relationships.

Why this Kolaveri in Velachery?

The Chennai police fired at and killed the five criminals who had earlier robbed two bank branches in the city suburbs. Questions have been raised on the legitimacy of police action. Could they not have captured the criminals alive? Did they take the law into their own hands and commit inexcusable excesses?

The official version is that the police asked the criminals holed up in a groundfloor flat of a large apartment in Velachery to surrender. Instead the criminals switched off the lights and then started firing at the police. In order to protect themselves and the other residents in the thickly populated vicinity, the police had to open fire. In the process, all the five criminals were fatally wounded and two police officers sustained injuries. This version may or may not be true. Future investigations may throw up the truth.

The police has been under tremendous pressure of late on account of a series of unsolved crimes, big and petty, in the city. The police was convinced that they had identified the wanted criminals and therefore there was no question of being accountable for killing the innocent. Further, the criminals were from distant states and public sympathy for them, if at all, would be muted.

Could the police have caught atleast one or two alive? Perhaps yes, but would not the survivors keep taunting the police, truthfully or otherwise, in the inevitable legal proceedings?

In many cases, the culprints are granted bail after which they jump the bail and get back to crimes. Such court-assisted recidivism has now become an open challenge to reputation of the police. Therefore the police action in the instant case was only to be expected. There is necessarily an uneasy trade-off between zealous protection of human rights of proven criminals and safety and security of the innocent public. We have unfortunately veered too much in favour of the former. It is time for a substantive correction.

Update on 26th Feb.:  Today some self-appointed "human rights activists" visited the place where the incident took place. They were driven away by the residents of the place. People's patience with the criminals and the misguided protagonists of their (criminals') rights is running out.

Thuglak's 42nd annual meeting

The traditional Pongal-eve meeting of readers of the Thuglak magazine took place on Saturday,the 14th January. Valluvar Kottam, the venue of the meeting is perhaps the most spacious place for such gatherings. The hall was overflowing even two hours before the start of the meeting.

Cho was at his sarcastic best. He laid bare the ills of the Manmohan Singh government. Kapil Sibal's habitual denial of even the most blatant scandals received special attention.

L.K.Advani and Narendra Modi also spoke.

Supreme Court Judge's dangerous plea

Mr. Justice Markandey Katju, a judge of the apex court has in a lecture in Chennai pleaded, "You must create a situation where judges are not put under pressure to become corrupt". He was saying that the judges are not adequately paid for their work. If non-payment of adequate compensation is reason enough to be corrupt, most Indians will be so. Pleading for appropriate salaries is one thing. But to reason that otherwise corruption will become more endemic is sinister. Such an argument is not much different from the Maoists' justification that if the government resorts to violence, so would they. Some idealistic solutions are impractical. Governments would never be totally pacifist. Salaries of judges or for that matter any group of employees would never be high enough to preempt the greed for more.

Madras in Margazhi

There is no doubt that Margazhi is the most pleasant month in Chennai.Music performances and Thiruppavai discourses compete with each other for the number of places where they are held.If you are a connoisseur of arts and a spiritual aspirant,you are doubly blessed to be in Chennai around this time.

It is interesting that we keep learning newer things every year about Andal's magnum opus.It is a delight to know the various levels of meanings attributable to the same pasuram.If one hopefully keeps growing spiritually every year,one will savour a different Thiruppavai every year.

Having darshan of the Lord in the temples early in the morning is an additional bonus.Spending Margazhi in Chennai gives us enough maturity to see through the remaining months of the year.

Tsunami in Chennai

The tragedy that struck Chennai on Dec 26th made the Chennaivasis familiar with a new word.Alan Greenspan was recently asked:"What is the neutral rate of interest for the US economy?"He replied:"We have to reach neutrality before we can know the neutral rate."Similarly,one has to experience tsunami to understand what it is.This particular Tsunami (occuring on a Powrnami-the Tamil word for Poornima-this indeed was a double whammy since waves are higher on a fullmoon day) was a Bay equivalent of the SE Asian currency crisis.In the early nineties,SE Asia was short of funds.When funds started pouring in from other regions,countries in SE Asia were delighted.Trouble started when foreign funds started moving back.Likewise,when water flowed copiously into water-starved Chennai,people became excited.When water started receding,loss of lives and property stared us in the face.The dead included the morning-walkers and poor slum children who were playing cricket on the Marina beach.While we mourn the dead,we also become acutely aware of the ephemerality of human life especially when pitted against nature's fury.The tsunami trauma was so deep that some fisherfolk have developed a phobia towards the sea.Long admired for its serene beauty,the Marina is now feared for its ferocity.It is believed that during the 2nd World War,the presiding deity of Triplicane assured the citizens that Chennai would not be invaded by the enemy forces.If nature itself becomes our foe and water the invader ,there cannot be any divine assurance.