Lessons From Soldiers’ Life

Let’s call a typical soldier Pinto whom I met and we had a hearty discussion over a tot of rum and coke. He was a brave soldier. He had an opportunity to defend our nation on the borders. As an army personnel, he had experienced a couple of combat actions.

Pinto shared many stories of courage and the challenges they used to overcome day in and day out. He once shared the challenging life situations amidst which our great soldiers survive. According to him, we never get to know most of the difficulties they face while protecting our borders. They are now so used to overcoming bottlenecks that barriers have become a routine part of their lives.

Looking at his unwavering enthusiasm, I was curious to know the secret of his energy. After facing a tough day when the challenge was as huge as survival, I asked him how is it possible for people to get up the following day – refilled with confidence.

Pinto replied – Passion and Commitment are the tonics which never let us lag. Moreover, since we love our nation and take pride in our job, hence our work is never tiresome! He further said, “Not every day is the same. Sometimes we get into such severe circumstances that our life is at risk. Yes, on some days, we do get to move ahead into the next day without any major issues.”

One thing is very sure, we never expect our mornings to show us a peaceful and conducive way ahead. We never hope for any definite form for the day to unfold. We get up every day, fully prepared to face the unexpected. If the day showers difficulties, we sing songs of joy. That’s when we tell ourselves that things shall get better very soon.

He further said it is not just about external circumstances. There are times when members of your team disappoint you. Some fellow might take a crazy decision and let you down. These are the times to maintain the cool.

Our temperament is our biggest asset. We are trained to stay peaceful in the most stressful situations. These are moments when we remind ourselves that no permanent harm is caused to us. We still have the opportunity to set things right. When we remain focused on our self-belief and trust our judgements and opinions, life becomes easy, he said.

There is a lot to learn from our courageous friends on the border. The fact is that life will never be simple. There will always be non-conformities one needs to put up with. To make life easy, one has to be non-resistant and ready to imbibe changes in our thoughts and actions. The bottom line is never to resist what you did not expect; just accept it and make efforts to move ahead.

While discussing with Pinto, he said something heart-shattering and immensely enlightening. He said, at least you civilians are assured that you are moving in a safe direction. When a soldier walks through unchartered territories, he never knows what lies ahead of him in the next moment! The better part of the insight was, “Pinto suggested to start believing in your inner guidance”. He said, “Whenever you are under a struggle phase, your best friend is your intuition. Always believe in it.” This is how a soldier survives amidst crisis! He added, Never breach the basic rules of discipline else the consequences might become much harsh.

Before we parted, Pinto shared yet another experiential gem. He said, “Never think that you are going through the toughest challenge in life”. After completing a combat assignment, the soldiers returned to base camp after a few days. They started sharing their individual stories. That’s when they realised that each one of them had a uniquely terrifying experience. No one could claim that theirs was the most challenging situation! A few of their colleagues could not even manage to remain alive! That is the life and pride of a soldier.

Friends, this was just a sneak peek into the life of a soldier. I must say this is just 1 per cent of the tip of the iceberg. However, that is so inspiring. Isn’t it? We are privileged to have safe homes and relatively risk-free lifestyles. Why not learn the success rules from our beloved soldiers?

How to Remember What You Read

It happens all the time. You read an amazing book, one so packed with wisdom that you think it’s going to change your life forever. Then…it doesn’t. Why? Because when you’re finally in a situation where you could use its insights, you’ve completely forgotten them. Time is our most valuable resource, so we shouldn’t waste it. The investment we make in reading should have a positive, lasting impact on our lives.

Consuming information is not the same as acquiring knowledge. No idea could be further from the truth.

Learning means being able to use new information. The basic process of learning consists of reflection and feedback. We learn facts and concepts through reflecting on experience—our own or others’. If you read something and you don’t make time to think about what you’ve read, you won’t be able to use any of the wisdom you’ve been exposed to.

One of the reasons that we read books is because they offer a rich tapestry of details, allowing us to see the world of the author and go on their journey with them. Our brains can learn not only the author’s ideas but also when their conclusions about how to live are likely to work and when they are likely to fail (thanks to the vast amount of details that authors share about their experiences and thought processes).

But if you only remember six things after reading this article, it should be the following truths about reading:

1. Quality matters more than quantity. If you read one book a month but fully appreciate and absorb it, you’ll be better off than someone who skims half the library without paying attention.
2. Speed-reading is bullshit. Getting the rough gist and absorbing the lessons are two different things. Confuse them at your peril.
3. Book summary services miss the point. A lot of companies charge ridiculous prices for access to vague summaries bearing only the faintest resemblance to anything in the book. Summaries can be a useful jumping-off point to explore your curiosity, but you cannot learn from them the way you can from the original text.*
4. Fancy apps and tools are not needed. A notebook, index cards, and a pen will do just fine.
5. We shouldn’t read stuff we find boring. Life is far too short.
6. Finishing the book is optional. You should start a lot of books and only finish a few of them.

Let me explore multiple strategies for getting more out of what you read. You don’t need to use all these strategies for every book. Using just a couple of them, whether you’re trying to learn a new philosophy or reading a work of fiction, can help you retain more and make deeper connections.

What you read can give you access to untold knowledge. But how you read changes the trajectory of your life.

Active reading

“Every time I read a great book I felt I was reading a kind of map, a treasure map, and the treasure I was being directed to was in actual fact myself. But each map was incomplete, and I would only locate the treasure if I read all the books, and so the process of finding my best self was an endless quest. And books themselves seemed to reflect this idea. Which is why the plot of every book ever can be boiled down to ‘someone is looking for something.’” —Matt Haig, Reasons to Stay Alive

Now, if you’re only reading for fun, or if you don’t want to remember what you read, this article doesn’t apply. Sometimes reading is entertainment, and that’s wonderful. But if you want to get some valuable knowledge out of a book, the first step to getting more out of what you read is being active. So what is active reading?

Active reading is thoughtfully engaging with a book at all steps in the reading process. From deciding to read right through to reflection afterwards, you have a plan for how you are going to ingest and learn what’s in the book.

Books don’t enter our lives against a blank slate. Each time we pick up a book, the content has to compete with what we already think we know. Making room for the book, and the potential wisdom it contains, requires you to question and reflect as you read.

For example, you might ask yourself:

• How does the book relate to topics you’re already familiar with?
• What about the book challenges you?
• What are your preconceived notions about its subject, and how can you put them aside?

Active reading helps you make connections within your latticework of mental models. Connections help retention.

Think back to the books you studied in school, if you did. Despite the passage of time, many people remember a surprising amount about them. Even if the details are fuzzy, we might at least be able to recall the basic plots, main characters, notable themes, and motifs. Why? Well for one, we probably didn’t just passively read those books. We were forced to actively read them, perhaps complete with class discussions where we took turns reading parts aloud, acted out scenes, or maybe even watched film adaptations. No matter how long it has been since we set foot in a classroom, many of us probably remember Animal Farm.

Your first goal when reading is to not be a passive consumer of information. You want to get better, learn something, and develop your critical thinking skills. If you had a good English teacher in school, you will have already seen this in action.

To get the most out of each book we read, it is vital we know how to record, reflect on, and put into action our conclusions.

A lot of success in reading boils down to preparation. What you do before you read matters more than you think. Here are five strategies to help you plan and get in the active reading frame of mind.

Choose Great Books

“Think before you speak. Read before you think.” —Fran Lebowitz

There are no rules when it comes to choosing books. We don’t have to read bestsellers, or classics, or books everyone else raves about. This isn’t school and there are no required reading lists. In fact, there’s an advantage to be gained from reading things other people are not reading, because you will gain knowledge and insights that not everyone else has. Focus on some combination of books that: 1) stand the test of time; 2) pique your interest; or 3) challenge you.

The more interesting and relevant we find a book, the more likely we are to remember its contents in the future. For older books or those that have been translated, check which version is considered to be the best.

Get some context

A good place to start getting context is by doing some preliminary research on the book. Some books—for example, A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole and Paradise by Toni Morrison—have a richer meaning once we know a bit about the life of the author and the place and time in which the novel was set.

For older books, try to understand the historical context. For books written in an unfamiliar country, try to understand the cultural context. Some helpful questions to ask include the following:

• Why did the author write this?
• What is their background?
• What else have they written?
• Where was it written? Was there anything interesting about the writing process?
• What was the political, economic, and cultural situation at the time of writing?
• Has the book been translated or reprinted?
• Did any important events—a war, an economic depression, a change of leadership, the emergence of new technology—happen during the writing of the book?
• What was happening in the world during the time the novel is set? This is particularly useful to ask when it comes to fiction.

You don’t need to do this, but if you want to get a lot out of a book it will be a major boost.

Know your why

What are you reading this book for? Entertainment? To understand something or someone you don’t know? To get better at your job? To improve your health? To learn a skill? To help build a business?

You have to have some idea of what you want to get from the book. If you don’t read with intention, what you read will never stick. If you are looking for business insights, read for that.

Periodically ask yourself questions like: What can I learn from this story? What in this book parallels or pertains to my own challenges? What are the differences? How might I apply some of the insights I’m picking up?

Intelligently skim

Before starting to read a book (particularly nonfiction), skim through the index, contents page, preface, and inside the jacket to get an idea of the subject matter. Use this information to situate your expectations and refine what you are looking for as you read.

The bibliography can also indicate the tone and scope of a book. Authors often read hundreds of books for each one they write, so a well-researched book should have a bibliography full of interesting texts. After you’ve read the book, peruse the bibliography again and make a note of any books you want to read next.

Match the book to your environment

Although it’s not always practical, matching books to our location and circumstances can be powerful. Books will have a greater resonance as they become part of an experience rather than just supplementing it.

When choosing books, take a look at your own situation and decide on genres or authors that might help you overcome any current challenges or give you a fresh perspective. Whatever your state of affairs, someone has been in the same place. Someone has felt the same feelings and thought the same thoughts and written about it. Someone can offer you new and useful ideas for navigating your situation. It’s up to you to find them.

If we were doctors, we’d prescribe books. They can be powerful and healing.

Remembering what you read

“The things you’re looking for, Montag, are in the world, but the only way the average chap will ever see ninety-nine percent of them is in a book.” —Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Now that you’re actively reading, you’re engaging on a deeper level with the book. You are making connections to your own life, seeing new opportunities and possibilities. The next step is making sure you remember what’s important. Even the most diligent of us get caught up in the busyness of life, and we thus lose those still-fragile connections we make while reading. But we can help with that.

You’ll remember more of what you read if you do the following five things while you’re reading.

Takes notes

Making notes is an important foundation for reflecting and integrating what you read into your mind.

The best technique for notetaking is whichever one works for you and is easy to stick to. While there are hundreds of systems on the internet, you need to take one of them and adapt it until you have your own system. Some people prefer to record notes on index cards or in a commonplace book; others prefer a digital system. Notes are especially useful if you write on a regular basis, although everyone (not just writers) can benefit from making them.

In How to Take Smart Notes, Sönke Ahrens suggests a way of approaching notetaking to make the books you read a lasting part of your thinking. If you’ve never really done any notetaking that was effective, his book is a great place to start. But wherever you begin, you must make a system your own depending on how you work and what you like to read. Although How to Take Smart Notes focuses on nonfiction and assumes that fiction writers (and readers) have no need of notes, don’t let that stop you if you are researching a time period in which to set a novel or you’re trying to learn story structure and style from the great novelists. Adapt your notetaking system to suit your goals.

Over the years, we tested a lot of different approaches to note-taking and even created our own that we use every day called the Blank Sheet Method. Here is how it works.

1. Before you start reading a new book, take out a blank sheet of paper. Write down what you know about the book/subject you’re about to read — a mind map if you will.
2. After you finish a reading session, spend a few minutes adding to the map with a different color.
3. Before you start your next reading session, review the page.
4. When you’re done reading, put these ‘blank sheets’ into a binder that you periodically review.

The blank sheet method is effective because it primes your brain and shows you what you’re learning. When you first start with a blank sheet, you’re forced to search your memory and put on paper what you know (or what you think you know) about a subject. As you read, you literally see your knowledge grow. If you don’t know anything about a book or subject going in, don’t worry. You’ll be able to borrow the author’s scaffolding to get you started. Reviewing your ‘blank sheet’ before your next reading session not only recalls the scaffolding and key ideas but improves your memory and connects ideas. When you’re done the book put the page into a binder. Review the binder every few months. This is essential for establishing deep fluency and connecting ideas across disciplines.

Another effective technique is to start your notetaking by writing a short summary of each chapter and transcribing any meaningful passages or phrases. If you are unsure how to simplify your thoughts, imagine that someone has tapped you on the shoulder and asked you to explain the chapter you just finished reading. They have never read this book and lack any idea of the subject matter. How would you explain it to them?

As you are reading a book, write your chapter summary right at the end of the chapter. If your reading session is over, this helps synthesize what you just read. When you pick up the book tomorrow, start by reading the previous two chapter summaries to help prime your mind to where you are in the book.

Stay focused

Decide that for the time you will be reading, you will focus on the book and nothing else. No quick Twitter checks. No emails. No cell phone. No TV. No staring into midair. Understanding and absorbing a book requires deep focus, especially if the subject matter is dense or complex. Remember, we are aiming for active reading. Active reading requires focus and the ability to engage with the words on the page.

Referring to the time before the internet, Nicholas Carr writes in The Shallows: “In the quiet spaces opened up by the prolonged, undistracted reading of a book, people made their own associations, drew their own inferences and analogies, fostered their own ideas. They thought deeply as they read deeply.”

When you’re looking for results, for some tangible change to come out of reading a book, you need to engage with it as you’re reading it. And that requires focus.

If you’re struggling to stay focused on a particularly difficult or lengthy book, decide to read a mere 25 pages of it a day. It takes only a few minutes to nibble away at a challenging text. Completing a long book in this manner might take months, but at least you will have read it without getting overwhelmed or bored.

Mark up the book

Most of us were taught as children to treat books as something sacred—no folding the page corners, and no writing in the margins, ever. However, if you want to remember what you read and you have the means to do so, forget about keeping books pristine.

Go crazy with marginalia. The more you write, the more active your mind will be while reading. If you can’t mark up the book, do it on paper and note the page numbers.

Jot down connections and tangential thoughts, underline key passages, and make a habit of building a dialogue with the author(s). Some people recommend making your own index of key pages or using abbreviations.

The first time you write in a book can be unnerving, but in the long term, it leads to a rich understanding and a sense of connection with the author.

Make mental links

Books do not exist in a vacuum. Every concept or fact can be linked to countless others. Making an effort to form our own links is a fruitful way to better remember what we read.

Building vivid mental pictures is one of the most effective techniques for remembering anything, not least what we read. When you come across an important passage or concept, pause and visualize it. Make the picture as salient and distinctive as possible by connecting it to other ideas already in your brain.

Another way of building links is to hang everything on a latticework of mental models. Having a framework of deliberately constructed concepts enables us to better understand and synthesize books by allowing us to make connections to what we already know. Knowledge sticks in our memories easier if it attaches to something we already understand.

Using models while reading can also help you get more out of the book. Here are some examples of paths they might lead you down:

• Confirmation bias: Which parts of this book am I ignoring? Does this book confirm my opinions? (Okay, but does it actually affirm your beliefs or are you just seeing what you want to see? If you cannot think of a single point in the book that you disagreed with, confirmation bias is likely distorting your reasoning.)
• Bayesian updating: What opinions should I change in light of this book? How can I update my worldview using the information in it? Keep in mind the words of John Maynard Keynes: “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?”
• Incentives: What motivates the characters or the author? What are they seeking? What is their purpose? Here’s how Kurt Vonnegut described the importance of incentives in books: “When I used to teach creative writing, I would tell the students to make their characters want something right away—even if it’s only a glass of water. Characters paralyzed by the meaninglessness of modern life still have to drink water from time to time.”
• Availability bias: Are the books I have recently read affecting how I perceive this one? How are my immediate past experiences shaping my reading? Am I assigning undue importance to parts of this book because they are salient and memorable?
• Social proof: How is social proof—the number of copies sold, bestseller status, the opinions of others—affecting my perception of this book? Is the author using social proof to manipulate readers? It is not unusual for authors to buy their way onto bestseller lists, providing social proof that then leads to substantial sales. As a result, mediocre books can end up becoming popular. It’s a classic case of the emperor having no clothes, which smart readers know to look out for.
• Survivorship bias: Is this (nonfiction) book a representation of reality or is the author failing to account for base rates? Survivorship bias is abundant in business, self-help, and biographical books. A particular case of a successful individual or business might be held as the rule, rather than the exception.
• Utility: If a book offers advice, does it have practical applications? At what point do diminishing returns set in?

Stop when bored

When it comes to reading, you don’t need to finish what you start. As a general rule, people who love reading never, ever finish a crappy book.

As Arthur Schopenhauer once wrote, “One can never read too little of bad, or too much of good books: bad books are intellectual poison; they destroy the mind.” Life is much too short to finish a bad book. You need to be ruthless and heartless. Don’t let sunk costs guilt you into wasting your time.

Author and librarian Nancy Pearl advocates the “Rule of 50.” This entails reading the first 50 pages of a book and then deciding if it is worth finishing. The Rule of 50 has an interesting feature: once you are over the age of 50, subtract your age from 100 and read that many pages. Pearl writes:

“And if, at the bottom of Page 50, all you are really interested in is who marries whom, or who the murderer is, then turn to the last page and find out. If it’s not on the last page, turn to the penultimate page, or the antepenultimate page, or however far back you have to go to discover what you want to know.…When you are 51 years of age or older, subtract your age from 100, and the resulting number (which, of course, gets smaller every year) is the number of pages you should read before you can guiltlessly give up on a book.…When you turn 100, you are authorized (by the Rule of 50) to judge a book by its cover.”

Now what?

So you’ve finished the book. Now what? How can you use what you have learned? Don’t just go away with a vague sense of “Oh yeah, I should totally do what that author says.” Take the time to make a plan and decide how to implement key lessons from the book.

Apply what you’ve learned

Reading alone is not enough. We have to contextualize the knowledge. When does it work? When doesn’t it work? Where can I apply it? What are the key variables? The list goes on. If you can take something you’ve read and apply it immediately, it will reinforce the learning and add context and meaning.

Another way to reinforce the learning is to apply the Feynman technique, named after the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman. You can think of it as an algorithm for guaranteed learning. There are four simple steps: choose a concept, teach it to someone unfamiliar with the subject, identify gaps in your understanding and go back to the source material, and review and simplify.

Teaching others is a powerful way to embed information in your mind. Upon completing a book, grab the nearest (willing) person and tell them about what you have learned. You’ll have to remove or explain the jargon, describe why this information has meaning, and walk them through the author’s logic. It sounds simple. After you try it the first time, you’ll realize it’s not easy.

If there is no one around who is interested, try writing a review where people are encouraged to comment and debate.

In order to think for yourself, you need to reflect on your views and see how they stand up to feedback.

Make your notes searchable

There are endless ways of organizing your notes—by book, by author, by topic, by the time of reading. It doesn’t matter which system you use as long as you will be able to find the notes in the future.

Having a catalogue of everything you learn from reading creates a priceless resource that can be consulted whenever you need an idea, want inspiration, or want to confirm a thought. Over the years, you will build up a bank of wisdom to refer to in times of crisis, uncertainty, or need. It is hard to convey quite how valuable this can prove to be.

As General Jim Mattis wrote: “Thanks to my reading, I have never been caught flat-footed by any situation, never at a loss for how any problem has been addressed (successfully or unsuccessfully) before. It doesn’t give me all the answers, but it lights what is often a dark path ahead.”

The options for cataloguing your notes include the following:

• A box of index cards, ideally organized by subject, topic, author, or time of reading. Index cards can be moved around.
• A commonplace book (again, ideally organized by topic, author, or time of reading).
• A digital system, such as Evernote, OneNote, or plain old Microsoft Word. Digital systems have the added benefit of being searchable, which can save a lot of time if you refer to your notes on a regular basis.

Schedule time to read and review these notes.

Reread (if you want to)

“Read a lot. Expect something big, something exalting or deepening from a book. No book is worth reading that isn’t worth rereading.” —Susan Sontag

Skim a lot of books. Read a few. Immediately re-read the best ones twice. While rereading can seem like a waste of time because there are so many other books to read, this is a misunderstanding of the learning process. The best time to start rereading a great book is right after finishing. The goal is not to read as many books as possible. The goal is to gain as much wisdom as you can.

Rereading good books is of tremendous importance if we want to form lasting memories of the contents. Repetition is crucial for building memories.

Happy reading!

Similarities Between Greek and Indian Mythology

Greed God of sea, Poseidon (left) and Hindu God of water, Varuna (right

Greek mythology plays an important role in our understanding of concepts like ‘democracy’, ‘justice’ and ‘nation-state’. When we talk about global village, I would like to see a Chinese author write about Hinduism. Would that be different from a European’s view? There is an imperative the need for understanding the contribution made by ancient Greek philosophical concepts in order to appreciate the modern pluralistic global order.

But to draw links between Indian cultural concepts and those in ancient Greece is not to say that both had the exact same representation. However one might appreciate the fact that there are connections with different depictions, depending on the socio-cultural setup of each. You don’t need to appreciate ‘the’ truth, you need to appreciate ‘a’ truth which may not accommodate all truths.

There are a number of Greek mythological stories, underlining comparisons we can draw between them and their Indian counterparts. As a field of study, comparative mythology has been in existence for the past couple of centuries among scholars who wanted to draw attention to the common origin of different cultures. By thinking out of the box and drawing parallels between the East and the West, one might be able to better appreciate a multicultural world order.

Here are some parallels between Greek and Indian mythology in the course of the seminar.

Dionysus and Shiva

 Dionysus (left) and Shiva (right) (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Son of Zeus and Semele, Dionysus is considered in Greek mythology to be the God of Son of Zeus and Semele, Dionysus is considered in Greek mythology to be the God of fertility and wine. Associated with intoxication, madness and break down of culture, Dionysus is believed to have two sides to him. His obsession with wine can on one hand result in the spread of ecstasy and on another hand lead to rage and destruction. Dionysus’ popularity can be traced back to the first millennium BC when he was perhaps worshipped by the Mycenaean Greeks.

The description of Dionysus can immediately be compared to that of the Hindu God Shiva, who is revered for his energetic and creative powers. Just like Dionysus, Shiva too has both benevolent and malevolent sides to him. As an ascetic who dwells in Mount Kailash with his wife, Parvati, Shiva is celebrated for ideals of domesticity. However, he has a fierce side to him too that sees him slay demons. Similar to Dionysus, Shiva is often associated with intoxication and madness that can both create and destroy.
Icarus and Daedalus- Jatayu and Sampati Daedalus and Icarus (left) and Jatayu (right) (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The Greek mythological character, Daedalus was first mentioned by Homer in the epic Iliad. Daedalus, as depicted by Homer, was believed to be a skilled craftsman who created the labyrinth where a Minotaur (half man, half bull) was held on the orders of the king of Crete. Following the creation of the labyrinth, Daedalus along with his son, Icarus was locked up in a tower so that he wouldn’t be able to impart his knowledge to others. In order to escape, Daedalus created wings for himself and his son using feathers and wax. During their flight towards freedom, Daedalus was believed to have warned his son to not go too close to the sun for the fear of the wax in his wings melting. However, Icarus, who was in good spirits, soared high above the skies and went so close to the sun that his wings fell off and he died. According to Pattanaik, the story of Icarus and Daedalus is part of the ancient Greek philosophy called “hubris”.

The story of Icarus and Daedalus can find parallels in the anecdote of Jatayu and Sampati as narrated in the Ramayana. However unlike the Greek tale, the story of Jatayu and Sampati is one of fraternal affection. Jatayu, who took pride in his power of flight, reached so close to the sun that his wings were about to be destroyed. It was then that his brother, Sampati decided to spread his own wings in order to shield his brother. However, in the process Sampati loses his wings and spends the rest of his life without them.

Iliad and Ramayana Depiction of the Trojan war (left) and depiction of the war at Lanka (right) (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Scholars have on several occasions tried to find linkages between the Greek epic Iliad and the Ramayana, in particular between the Trojan war and the search for Sita. However, Pattanaik pointed out that an essential distinction between the two epics is that in the Iliad, Helen fell in love with Paris and eloped, while in the Ramayana Sita was abducted by Ravana. Pattanaik went on to explain that both the Iliad and Ramayana end on tragic notes, where the victors were not happy despite having won. Citing the 5th century BCE text Natya Shastra of Bharat Muni that deals with the description of performative arts in the Indian subcontinent, Pattanaik said that an essential quality of Indian mythological stories was the necessity of happy endings. However, the fact that the Ramayana ended on a tragic note, similar to the Greek epic makes one wonder if the latter was the inspiration for the former.

Heracles and Krishna

 Heracles (left) and Krishna (right) (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

When the Greek ambassador and historian Megasthenes visited the court of king Chadragupta Maurya in Pataliputra, he is believed to have made references to Lord Krishna in his work, ‘Indica’. However, Krishna in Megasthenes’ account is addressed as the Greek half-god, Heracles. Scholars have deciphered Megasthenes’ reference to Heracles as “Hari-kula-es”, meaning the clan of Hari, thus associating it to the clan of Krishna. Pattanaik said that the association might be purely accidental, but one cannot rule out the possibility. This apart, there are some striking similarities between the mythology of Heracles and Krishna which are hard to ignore. For instance, the image of Lord Krishna fighting the serpent Kaliya can be found reflected in the image of Heracles fighting the Hydra, a serpent with many heads.

Negativity dominates your daily thoughts, and what to do about it

We’ve all been there, mired in the throes of pessimism when life just doesn’t seem to be going our way. For the lucky ones, this entirely natural, though disconcerting, feeling ebbs and flows, ultimately dissolving into a more balanced, healthier state of mind. For hapless others, though, the extreme negative thoughts and ideation can overwhelm—even becoming “who they are.” At worst, it can be deadly, as one peer-reviewed study found that “people who are strongly pessimistic about the future are at greater risk of dying earlier than those who are not pessimists.”  

It turns out that we as humans might be built for negativity, making us our own worst enemy. This, as other research casts doubt on so-called optimism bias, debunking the notion that some people inherently “see” life “through rose-tinted glasses.” It’s an unfortunate opportunity loss, as another study found optimism to be associated with “exceptional longevity.”

“Thoughts are powerful things, and both the positive and negative lead to our moods, our physiological symptoms and our behaviors,” says clinical psychologist Monica Vermani, author of A Deeper Wellness: Conquering Stress, Mood, Anxiety and Traumas. “Even though, at times, we may feel as though we are not, we are the ones in control of our thoughts. We can choose not only what we think about but how we think about it.”

Vermani says that we need to learn to actually challenge our cognitive distortions and negative thoughts, and question how real or accurate they are. “We need to question and examine the veracity of our distorted ways of seeing reality and replace them with more accurate, adaptive, realistic, and uplifting thoughts that motivate us to strive to act and be the highest and best versions of ourselves,” she says. “We can choose to reinforce healthy, rather than harmful, choices, habits, and behaviours.”

But, it seems we won’t traverse that road unopposed. It’s inevitable that we’re thinking negatively because, as a society, we’re surrounded by it. The media sensationalizes stories to drive clicks and views. Negative people often project their negativity on the rest of us, too, both in person and over social media. When this happens, it’s best to focus on those things that are within your control to get the positive outcomes you want.

Consorte recommends reframing strategy whenever a negative thought presents. “For example, when you’re at work and finish two out of five important tasks, you might have a negative thought like, ‘I’m so far behind and still have so much left to do.’ Instead, reframe it as something like, ‘I’ve already completed two out of five important tasks today. I can get through the rest.’”

Choosing to reframe and rewrite negative, maladaptive thoughts as positive ones is an approach that Vermani also advocates to gain control. Sometimes, this click of a perception switch is all that is needed to redirect one’s disposition in a more constructive direction.

Negative thoughts and chronic pessimism can also stem from many triggers far beyond stressors we’re living in the moment, including self-destructive patterns and even unresolved childhood experiences and traumas that evolve to inform perceptions and impede personal growth.

According to transformational guide Jaime Haas, it is downright critical to identify harmful circumstances that were imprinted before the rational mind was even formed in early adolescence and to extrapolate and understand how those situations likely formed patterns that could be limiting one’s present-day life.

Vermani concurs that negativity can be the result of deep-seated childhood experiences that stick with us into adulthood. “Thoughts are shaped from our childhood and experiences/blueprints,” she says, “roles modeled by loved ones, society, the community, and media; and are derived from the life experiences that we judge and label as positive and negative: our struggles, challenges, achievements, victories, gains, and losses—all that life presents us with.”

“There are many components involved in moving your life forward in meaningful ways,” says Haas, “like setting goals and learning new skills, for example. It’s much like driving a car. There are about 30,000 or more moving parts involved in keeping your car on the road. Negative thought patterns are like the check engine light on your car that keeps blinking, but you only have a vague idea of what’s causing it. Or maybe you don’t notice the light at all—until the car sputters or stalls altogether.”

Haas says that negative thoughts dominate thinking simply because of who you are and how you operate as an individual. Also, that negative thinking can be grounded in how adept you are—or are not—at achieving goals and getting what you want out of life.

Whatever the impetus, negative thoughts are fortunately controllable.

Hass says Negative Manifestation Compulsion (NMC) is controllable. She says that NMC often occurs as a sequence of negative thoughts in close succession, compounding upon each other and ultimately leading you away from, rather than toward, your goals. These thoughts consume mindshare and continue until you are spiraling downward, seemingly unable to stop.

“We spend a lot of time in our heads, reliving negative experiences of our past and imagining and forecasting worst-case scenarios and outcomes,” Vermani says. “We often do this as a means of preventing bad things from happening to us. But all this reliving and replaying negative past events—and forecasting of looming dire outcomes—are just thoughts in our heads. The past is in the past and the future is just our imagination. We can choose what we think about, how we act and react in the present, and forecast positive, rather than negative, outcomes. The choice is ours to make.”

There are a few soft skills that can apparently help or hinder us along the way. According to Haas, negative manifestation often finds its foundation in lack of focus, drive, direction, or planning. Smaller negative manifestations act as a warning for the larger ones to come unless you take positive action to stop the process, rather than reverting to past patterns that undermine optimism. You have the ability to observe a negative thought objectively, without judgment, and then choose to release and strategically replace it—with thoughts of gratitude, visualizations of prior success or joyful moments, reciting affirmations that resonate, and other such mindfulness activities that can stop a negative-manifestation episode in its tracks.

“Many self-help ‘gurus’ offer advice that is one-sided,” Haas says. “They assert that positive affirmations are key to solve our problems, but I’m here to tell you there’s nothing that’s further from the truth. Optimism needs an authentic foundation in order to be upheld, realized, and certainly sustained. I’ve found the most helpful, beneficial practice is one that is prescriptive, whereby you directly identify and address the root causes or triggers of your angst, and fundamentally change the relationship you have with your inner thoughts and self-perceptions.”

Vermani offers a few other relatively easy ways to help gain control of negative thoughts. First and foremost, she suggests surrounding yourself with people who enhance, support, and inspire you, lifting you up and helping you see the good among the challenges in life. This includes minimizing sources of stress by setting healthy boundaries around exposure to critical, combative, and negative people—as well as the endless news cycles. She also recommends actively and concertedly letting go of negative self-perceptions, limiting beliefs, thoughts of being not good enough, and conditions you place on yourself in order to be happy.

To continue with the car metaphor, perhaps addressing negative thinking is akin to an automobile inspection, such that you need to identify all of the problematic mechanisms keeping you trapped by your negative thoughts. Whatever is malfunctioning needs to be proactively addressed and wholly resolved to ensure safe passage ahead. Overall, pinpointing destructive patterns from our past just may be the “ignition key” that will fire up your optimism engine and help you journey toward the life you desire and deserve.

Decolonising Science in Indian Education

India was imagined as a country that would be built on the principles of science and reason. However, in the initial years, it was a great challenge for the country to emerge with a collective rational consciousness. From Daulat Singh Kothari to Yash Pal, and now K Kasturirangan, we have kept our education in the hands of scientists. For a county that wishes to advance with scientific and technological development, this was the right way to conduct its policy formulation. The New Education Policy 2020 has taken delightful steps forward in ensuring that we raise a generation of scientists and scientific thinkers through the education we provide to our students.

The policy ambitiously aims for a radical transformation in the next two decades by providing essential equity to stakeholders, enriching the quality of education without adding to the financial burden and most importantly, creating a system of accountability. The policy has not only been designed to completely revamp our systematic education into a more porous learning process but also to bring in an Indian lens. Yash Pal, talking about the true spirit of education, told me “shiksha vo hoti hai jisme baat se baat nikle” (education should produce a tangible effect), which I believe has been achieved with this policy.

The state’s exhortation of science and its education is not unprecedented. We built our nation on science. However, the dissolution of disciplinary mandates with the NEP to study sciences provides a better ecosystem to foster beautiful ideas. Making science available locally helps its acceptance and understanding in the masses, which assists in the greater cause of enriching the scientific temper and the spirit of inquiry. An education, deeply Indian, and science, distinguishably Indian in character, would also put an end to the gatekeeping which happens through the West’s diktats about the standardisation of thought.

The policy not only helps decolonise by inculcating a sense of nationalist commitment but also engages in Indian value-based education. The attempt is to make education go global from home, not the reverse. Our shared sense of humanist and global responsibilities should originate from our commitment to our country.

In the current dispensation, one thing that has come forward in the public conversation is that the state is sceptical about all forms of western intellectual enthusiasm and waits for the verifiability of ideas. Unlike the regimes bowing to western thought not only in India but in the entire developing, post-colonial world, I believe there’s some movement in the direction of making the scholarship undergo epistemological scrutiny before accepting any norm that has been dictated by the Western world and the NEP has set the standards right.

Education is central to the idea of modernity in independent India. In our education system, a certain aspect of European modernity lingered for a long time. That hampered the Indian intellectual discourse by making it eagerly look at the West. In doing so, we failed to create thinkers that can help us understand the structure and foundations of our own scientific thought. This is the NEP, which if executed right, might be able to raise a generation of Indian scientific thinkers who would be able to help us make sense of our ideas of scientific modernity rooted in Indian scientific thought.

The definitions, I must acknowledge, are not simple to formulate in the 21st century given that post-colonial science and science education is deeply mixed with the colonial hangover and practices. The discussion should also account for globalisation as a form of new-age intellectual colonialism, independent of which, creating demarcations and definitions is a huge task for the Indian intellectual.

Once upon a time, we possessed a mind of our own in India. India thought, India felt and India expressed itself. It was receptive as well as productive. The NEP is an attempt to immunise our people against systematic attempts at curbing our indigenous creative thinking. The government, I presume, wishes to create a world of learning illuminated by a festival of thoughts, a festival where everyone brings his own light and geographical boundaries lose their significance.

Time has moved on. The test of our education system lies in our ability to explore the truth and give it expression creatively. Imitation and repetition can do no good, something the prime minister has explicitly made clear on several occasions. The NEP is also an attempt to unify our active engagement with creative thinking. With the NEP, we have hope that the true nature of the Indian mind can again be ornamented with our education system becoming a blend of the old and the young, the alpha and the omega, all and none.

The state has a commitment to work on public policies and diplomatic discourses that localise knowledge of science and enhance the character of Indian scientific enterprise to counter the deleterious effects of globalisation in the 21st century.

Education must be intimately associated with the life of its people; sadly, our modern education has served only to turn out the favourite professions of the English educated elite. This is important but not at the cost of education not reaching the farmer, the grinder, the potter. The NEP, by truly Indianising education and emphasising learning in regional languages, goes far in creating equal learning opportunities. The idea is to also ensure that modern schools, colleges and universities germinate from the soil instead of becoming parasites feeding on commercial oaks.

The NEP makes our education genuinely and creatively Indian. The imagination is of schools practising agriculture, dairy keeping, weaving on the best modern techniques, roped into one fabric — teachers, students and the ordinary people, culminating into Yatra  Vishvam Bavatikanidam (where the world meets in one nest).

Defining Blockchain Gaming Ecosystem

Blockchain games, also known as crypto or NFT games, are those video games that contain elements based on blockchain technology. Blockchain games provide players with true ownership of in-game assets. In other words, unlike centralized games, assets (like skins, in-game currency/points) in blockchain games can be traded for cryptocurrencies, which can further be converted into fiat money (real money that we use in our day-to-day lives). As you would have guessed, this opens up the possibility of video games becoming a second source of income for gamers.

Prior to blockchain gaming, only gifted professional players or video game content creators were able to monetize their playtime. It might come as a surprise to a lot of people that blockchain technology was first conceptualized way back in 1991 by scientists, Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta. However, even they would not have predicted that their technology would be reshaped by Satoshi Nakamoto to trigger a DeFi revolution, let alone monetize a leisurely activity such as gaming.

The blockchain gaming industry is expanding rapidly. According to Pitchbook data, the world saw a 280% rise in blockchain investment from 2017 to 2018. In 2019, Tron, a blockchain company, invested USD $100 million into their own blockchain gaming fund. In the same year, Ripple teamed up with Forte, a blockchain gaming company, to fund a USD $100 million project aimed at fusing blockchain and gaming. According to trends in investment data, it’s clear that quite a few big players in the blockchain game consider blockchain gaming to be the next big thing.

So…. What’s the Big Deal?

Almost every centralized game features in-game assets that have to be earned by putting in a lot of hours into it. Yet, these coveted assets often do not have any real value outside of that particular game. Of course, there are underground markets for trading accounts for real currency on the internet. However, these markets are unofficial and not supported by the developers. Blockchain games, on the other hand, encourage gamers to make money off of their in-game skills. Gamers make up ? of the global population. According to TechJury, the gaming industry would be worth well over $256 billion by 2025. With rapid technological developments such as VR and AR, the gaming experience is becoming almost indistinguishable from reality.

The point is that gaming in itself is a lucrative activity. Adding the possibility of owning assets that are valuable in the real world only makes it more popular. That is exactly why a lot of studios are publishing blockchain games left and right. From industry giants such as Animoca Brands to Sky Mavis, a lot of players have claimed the blockchain gaming industry to be the future of video games.

Some Popular Blockchain Games

Here are some of the most popular blockchain games of 2022 that work on a play-to-earn model:

Silks

Silks is one of the best NFT P2E games of 2022. It’s a game about horse racing. A player can own a digital racehorse in the Silk’s unique metaverse. This digital horse would itself be a tradeable NFT (Non-fungible token). Moreover, this game further blurs the line between the real world and its own metaverse, as the racehorses are based on real racehorses. If your twin-horse wins a race in real life, you earn STT, which is the native token (cryptocurrency) of this game. You can use this cryptocurrency to buy in-game land, stables, and wager on races.

Cryptopop

One only needs three words to describe this game – Blockchain Candy Crush. Instead of gems and diamonds, however, this game uses symbols for various cryptocurrencies. If you get 10 points in a game, you earn 1 cryptopop. This P2E game is very popular due to its sheer simplicity. It’s recommended to anyone who’s new to P2E games. With Cryptopop, you can earn fairly large amounts of cryptocurrency quite easily.

Cryptokitties

This cute little NFT game allows players to own, breed, and sell virtual cats. This game is one of the most reputable open-source blockchain – Ethereum. You can use ETH tokens to make in-game purchases. So, if you’re a cat person, this is one P2E blockchain game that you must try!

Axie Infiniti

To play Axie Infiniti, you must buy three characters, also known as Axies. Your Axies, then, have to battle other players’ Axies in the Axie metaverse. Like in most blockchain games, all assets in Axie Infiniti are non-fungible tokens. Produced by the legendary studio, Sky Mavis, Axie Infiniti has taken the blockchain gaming world by storm.

These games are just the tip of the iceberg. There are a lot of other amazing P2E games in the market such as Gods Unchained, Splinterland, Alien Worlds, etc.

Turning Blockchain Gaming up a Notch

Now we get to the crux of the matter. We’ve established the fact that one can easily earn real money by investing time in P2E blockchain games. What, then, is a blockchain gaming ecosystem? Most crypto games are not a part of any blockchain ecosystem that is complete in itself. In other words, players who are able to make money with their skill in crypto games have to face a lot of hurdles to convert their winnings into fiat. These hurdles often result in the accumulation of high fees, as an individual has to deal with a lot of middlemen.

A blockchain gaming ecosystem is a platform that features multiple games, native tokens, a marketplace to trade NFTs, a wallet, and NFT creation capability. It enhances the trading experience and integrates it with gaming. Such a comprehensive ecosystem eliminates all the middlemen. In fact, eliminating middlemen is the very basis of blockchain technology. OneTo11, the world’s first such comprehensive blockchain-based gaming ecosystem is exactly that.

Conclusive Remarks

The future of blockchain gaming is closely tied with the metaverse and multiverse. According to Jonathan Sterling, it is highly possible that the lines between various game-universes may blur. The concept of Metaverse is already here. Sterling has termed it “a second life experience”, where an individual can exist through the avatar that they create. It would be a sort of second world where a person can do whatever they want.

What’s interesting is that the lines between various games can also become blurred. The implication of this being that in-game assets could be transferred from one game to another. The technical term for this phenomenon is Interoperability. Thus, if you ever get bored of one game, the assets you’ve earned in it will not go to waste.

Decentralization is the future, and the gaming industry will not remain untouched by it. In fact, research has shown that gamers tend to have a more positive outlook towards cryptocurrency than non-gamers. This could be due to their proximity to tech, and their ability to understand how cryptocurrencies actually work and what they promise.

Some ancient societies were noticeably unequal

Inequality affected some ancient societies, but not all. Changes in farming – and the animals used in it – might have been a factor which caused it to spiral.

26 November 1922 marks what is arguably the most famous discovery in the history of archaeology. On that day, the British Egyptologist Howard Carter made a small hole through which he could insert a candle in the sealed doorway of Tutankhamun’s burial chamber and thus lit the interior. As his eyes slowly adapted to the darkness, he was able to make out a chamber that had not been disturbed for over 3,000 years.

Tutankhamun was just an obscure pharaoh during his lifetime, and there is evidence that he was hastily buried – the second of the three nested coffins seems to have originally belonged to someone else. And yet the inner coffin, in which his mummy was discovered, is made of solid gold, weighing almost 250lbs (113kg). One can barely imagine how impressive the burials of such powerful leaders as Khufu, Thutmose III, or Rameses II must have been. Alas, they were all looted in antiquity.

But contrary to popular belief and cinematic glorification, most archaeologists would say that the search for spectacular treasures isn’t their main research objective. They want to understand the daily life of past civilisations. Still, both extremes – the fabulous wealth of kings and the hardscrabble existence of common people – contribute to an understanding of what can be argued is one of the main goals of archaeology: to document and study the evolution of inequality in ancient societies. This also involves the question of how to recognise and quantify it.

One of the most obvious approaches would be through the assessment of differential goods deposited in graves. But richly furnished graves may not simply be evidence of social differentiation; rather, they may be an attempt to demonstrate the importance and distinction of a family in relationship to other kindreds – a social importance that may not exist in reality. Moreover, social stratification can be based on wealth but can also be based on personal prestige and power. Therefore, it isn’t always possible to assess social differences by comparing graves with goods to those without them.

Some archaeologists have attempted to apply economic principles to examine social differences at specific sites and, crucially, compare the data from different places. A study led by Samuel Bowles from the Santa Fe Institute and published in Nature in 2017 tried to address this question by applying the Gini coefficient – a single number most commonly used to measure income inequality – across a large number of sites from the archaeological record, both in the Old World and the Americas.

The list of sites included paradigmatic cities such as Çatalhöyük in Turkey, Pompeii in Italy, and Teotihuacan in Mexico – the authors measured the dimensions of houses as estimated indicators of wealth.

Among modern hunter-gatherers, the team found, the Gini coefficient is low – around 17 (on a scale of 0 to 100). This is not surprising as few objects can be carried in nomadic societies, and consequently, personal qualities such as the ability to hunt count for more. This does not mean that some people didn’t have a higher social status; material culture was probably so poor – or so different from our perceptions of status – that it is difficult to grasp social differences among past hunter-gatherers.

In the ancient farming societies under study the Gini coefficients are estimated to have been between 35 and 46. Interestingly, the real measurements were lower than those obtained from records. For instance, among the ruins of Babylonia, researchers estimated a coefficient of 40, yet an estimate based on information from the Babylonian chronicles resulted in a higher coefficient of 46. The ancient accounts likely overemphasised the size of the largest houses in admiration. This is not unlike what happens when we return from a trip: we sometimes tend to exaggerate the things that we’ve seen.

Nevertheless, the most remarkable differences come from the comparison of the societies of the Old World and those of the Americas, with the latter being much more equal in the Gini coefficient, despite being highly hierarchical in some cases such as the mighty Aztec Empire. Researchers conclude that the root of these differences could be ecological, since there were more and larger animals to be domesticated in Eurasia – such as cows, horses, pigs, sheep, and goats – than in the Americas, with only dogs and turkeys, and this trait alone created a differential system of accumulated wealth.

When did these differences between the Old and New Worlds emerge?

At the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán, for instance, houses had highly standardised dimensions and were all quite similar. Aztec society, even with its horrific human sacrifices, was at the time of the Spanish Conquest more egalitarian than Mexico 200 years later, when the European elite had created the encomienda system, under which the indigenous population worked in semi-slavery. Within a few generations, the concentration of wealth had almost doubled in the colonial New World, with a consequent increase in inequality.

When did these differences between the Old and New Worlds emerge? Early farming societies had the possibility of generating and storing food surpluses, creating potential scenarios for differences in population size along with a certain degree of inter- and intrasettlement inequality. A recent application of the Gini coefficient to 90 sites from the Near East and Europe showed a remarkable increase of inequality thousands of years after the advent of agriculture – a finding that would indicate it was not farming per se that created unequal societies.

Tutankhamun’s mask showed the elabroate funeral practices of some leading figures in ancient civilisations (Credit: Roland Unger/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0)

According to the authors, at some point some farmers were able to maintain specialised plough oxen that could cultivate 10 times more land than other farmers, thereby transforming the economy toward a higher value of land in detriment of human labour.

This emerging inequality at the end of the Neolithic could explain a remarkable example of wealth dating from that period: the Varna burial. This burial was found in a Copper Age cemetery in modern Bulgaria and is dated to 4560–4450BC. It contained more gold than the rest of the world possessed at that time. With it were the remains of an adult male – likely a chieftain or king of some sort – who was buried holding a gold war mace. Curiously, he also had a gold penis sheath of unknown meaning. Still, such findings are exceptional, and there is a general consensus that Neolithic societies were more egalitarian than later ones.

Inequality clearly increased with the arrival of metals, which partly allowed, from 3000 to 2000BC onward, the appearance and development of a social organisation based on the emergence of elites. Once the initial power structure was established, it attempted to perpetuate itself dynastically by increasing social control and building up familial alliances with other chiefs. 

The rise in inequality during this period, both in the Middle East and parts of western Europe, seems to be partly influenced by an increase in population density

Control mechanisms often involved violence. The possibility of using horses – and to lesser extent, camels – as instruments of war determined the success of conquests that would alter the pattern of settlements across Eurasia at the end of the Neolithic. This would at least partially explain how 30 empires or large states that emerged between 3000 and 600BC were all found in the Old World, where these animals roamed.

Consequently, tombs with signs of wealth became more abundant in the archaeological record, such as the famous Amesbury Archer, found three miles southeast of Stonehenge in 2002 (near today’s Salisbury) and dated to 2300BC. This grave includes more artifacts than any other Bronze Age British burial. Besides numerous arrowheads, three copper knives, four boar’s tusks, two stone wrist guards that protected users from their bowstrings, and five pots that conformed to the Bell Breaker tradition, there were two gold hair ornaments – the earliest pieces made of this metal ever found in the British Isles.

The arrival of the Bell Beaker complex to the British Isles is associated with an almost complete replacement of the prior local population and subsequent emergence of social elites.

The Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán had houses with highly standardised dimensions (Credit: DEA Picture Library/De Agostini via Getty Images)

The rise in inequality during this period, both in the Middle East and parts of western Europe, seems to be partly influenced by an increase in population density. This correlation is likely related to a growing complexity in modes of subsistence, trading networks, and political organisation associated with population growth.

Although the highest Gini coefficients for past societies determined by the Santa Fe Institute were similar to those found in some present-day European countries (for instance, with values of around 60 in Pompeii and Kahun, an Egyptian settlement from the 12th Dynasty), they remained below the values for the most unequal modern societies such as China and the United States (with Gini coefficients of 73 and 85, respectively), which obviously have larger populations.

From a historical perspective this would suggest that an increase in population size brings higher inequality – an issue explored by the economist Thomas Piketty in recent times, but that likely has parallels in Bronze Age populations.

In our modern cities, we’re all aware that location – for instance, close to the city centre – is usually more important than size

Still, the Gini coefficient cannot always be applied since some settlements have grown with time over the destruction of previous ones, piled one atop another like the layers of a cake. Many ancient sites could not possibly be studied in detail. For instance, at Hisarlik – the old Troy – at least 10 cities arose atop their predecessors in just 2,000 years, making them quite difficult to disentangle. In addition to this limitation, whether the Gini coefficient can be transferred between different cultural, geographic, and ecological environments to make direct comparisons has also been a subject of debate since such factors can influence their inhabitants differently. For example, a settlement established in a jagged terrain would favour smaller, more vertical houses than one extending over a vast plain.

The economic interpretation of past settlements has received some criticism from among the archaeological community. Some argue that the quality and solidity of the building materials can be as important as the size of the houses. In our modern cities, we’re all aware that location – for instance, close to the city centre – is usually more important than size. Finally, the ostentatious wealth – opulent furniture, wall paintings, mosaics, and so on – that can still be found in some excavated houses such as at Pompeii should be taken into consideration too, though such features aren’t usually well preserved.

As human civilisation continued, ornate tombs – like this Irish burial mound – became more common (Credit: Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

One way around these limitations might be to compare the Gini coefficients with the so-called health inequality of each population, since buried human remains are sometimes better preserved than buildings. There are several skeletal indicators (dental cavities, arthrosis, traumas, vitamin deficiencies, etc) that can reflect the health status of the population in each period. The frequencies of these pathological markers are in general higher during periods of higher inequality.

For example, the 2006–2013 excavation of cemeteries such as North Tombs Cemeteries at Amarna (an Ancient Egyptian site dating from 1346BC) demonstrated deaths at an early age – mainly of children, teenagers, and young adults – widespread dietary deficiencies, and indications of hard labour, suggesting the poor state of health and substandard working conditions for most of this urban community. For instance, 16% of all children under 15-years-old displayed spine injuries of the sort associated with carrying heavy loads; none of them had any grave goods, and sometimes were buried together with several others, with scant regard for the disposition of the bodies – a grim image that contrasts with the glamorous depictions of the pharaoh’s family in the Amarna style.

Probably the most striking change observed is between hunter-gatherers and the first farmers in Europe

An additional indicator would be evidence of a high infant mortality rate, although the preservation of children’s skeletal remains is invariably more difficult than that of adult bones due to differential conservation processes, and this could represent an insurmountable bias in the results. Changes in health status can be used to ascertain cultural and ancestral transitions too. In this sense, probably the most striking change observed is between hunter-gatherers and the first farmers in Europe. The latter not only show signs of poorer health – such as cavities, almost unknown by the former – but also higher infant mortality rates and even lower stature than previous hunter-gatherers.

Correlated with this information, recent developments in the stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen ratios in bone collagen can provide information on nutritional status and mobility patterns associated with specific individuals. For instance, the analysis of a high-status burial in Helmsdorf, Germany, related to the Únêtice culture, showed that this person had a higher protein intake than other contemporaneous peers, suggesting as well that diet can be as much an indicator of social status as it is in today’s societies.

Key to understanding the social panorama of the past is that ancient cemeteries can provide not only potential indicators of inequality in the form of grave goods and even differential health status but also genetic material preserved within human remains. The information retrieved from their DNA can be used, for the first time, to correlate ancestry with social power in each period. Furthermore, a crucial aspect of the accumulation of power is the possibility of bequeathing wealth to biological relatives – something that can be tested as well via the interface between genetics and archaeology, which enables us to reveal family links.

The domestication of horses sparked inequality, as horse-equipped armies more easily conquered new lands (Credit: Lokman Ilhan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Like funerary goods, a privileged resting place could serve as a status marker too. Around 6,500 years ago, the phenomenon of building large funerary stone structures – known as megalithic tombs – emerged, mainly across Europe’s Atlantic seaboard, and culminated in the great passage tomb complexes such as Newgrange in Boyne Valley (Ireland), which has a mound almost 300ft (91m) in diameter and 50ft (15m). The origins and meaning of these monuments, which required a heavy investment in labour, have been debated for more than a century, as has the social organisation of the farming communities that built them. The genetic analysis of two-dozen individuals found in various megalithic tombs from Scandinavia to Orkney Island and Ireland yielded some interesting social clues.

In some places, notably the British Isles, more males than females were buried in these preeminent spots, pointing to a sex bias. In accordance with this observation, the descent of most individuals with kinship links could be traced through the paternal line. In one case it was possible to find two related males buried in two different megaliths just over a mile apart (Primrose Grange and Carrowmore in Ireland), indicating a geographic expansion of these dominant families. Genetic analyses of skeletal remains discovered within the most intricately constructed chamber of the Newgrange passage tomb revealed that they belonged to the incestuous son of a brother and sister (or a parent and child), and therefore a quarter of his genome had no genetic variation.

Societies have been able to evolve and change their social stratifications

This kind of first-degree offspring is extraordinary, only having been cited in royal families of the past headed by god-kings such as the Egyptian pharaohs seeking to maintain a pure dynastic bloodline. (It is known, for instance, that Akhenaten married his eldest daughter, Meritaten, and much later, Ptolemy II married his sister, Arsinoe II – hence his nickname, “Philadelphus” or “sibling loving.”) It has been suggested that this Neolithic elite may have claimed to possess divine powers to ensure the continuity of agricultural cycles by keeping the Sun’s movements going.

The findings support the notion that these Neolithic communities were socially stratified and that the massive stone structures were used to bury transgenerational patrilineal members of these clans. Perhaps equally interesting is the fact that in one case relatives were separated by up to 12 generations, pointing to an unusual stability through time of both the funerary tradition and the stratified society where they lived.

We have seen several case studies of past inequality correlating funerary archaeology with genetics that might no longer apply today, where legal regulations (and also the exponential increase of cremations) represent a certain degree of standardisation in funeral practices. Nevertheless, an opposite trend could shape the future of the archaeology of death: the trend toward personalised coffins, unconventional funerary memorials, and special grave goods. One way or another, mortuary archaeology will always be an important subfield of this discipline, and one that will need to rely on the hard sciences such as genetics and forensics.

Perhaps one encouraging conclusion is that despite what we have seen on the archaeology of past inequality, societies have been able to evolve and change their social stratifications. One example is Iceland – the country has become one of the most egalitarian societies in the world. In 2018, Iceland passed a law that all companies employing more than 25 people will have four years to ensure gender-equal payment because, according to the head of the Equality Unit at Iceland’s Welfare Ministry, “equality won’t come about by itself, from the bottom up alone”.

Majority Indian, Especially Males, Are Meat Eaters

Whatever may be the rhetoric or the narrative, even if the latter is a preponderantly dominant one, truth finds its own place to emerge. For years, many sections of Indian society, principally the right-wing segment, have peddled the story that India is primarily a vegetarian nation. Proclamations of this sort have been made time and again, although archaeological and anthropological data do not give any credence to such claims and assertions. The Vedas too do not support this narrative. In fact, it is unequivocally held that it was unviable to depend only on vegetarian food anywhere in the world even during the Vedic times.

The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) data (conducted between 2019-21) show that the proportion of men aged 15-49 years who refrained from consuming “non-vegetarian” food, that is, fish, chicken or meat (to be categorical, any meat) were a mere 16.6 per cent. Besides the fact that it is such a miniscule proportion of the population, what is more illuminating and significant is the revelation that there has been a 5 percentage-point drop from the 21.6 per cent recorded in the earlier round of the survey, that is, NFHS-4, conducted in 2015-16. However, in the case of women, the reduction was almost insignificant – it dipped from 29.9 per cent in 2015-16 to 29.4 per cent in 2019-21.

Stated differently, a staggering 83.4 per cent of men and 70.6 per cent of women in the 15-49 age group are non-vegetarian according to the NFHS-5 data. The corresponding figures from the NFHS-4 were 78.4 per cent for men and 70 per cent for women. So, is there any room for those who peddle the “vegetarian nation” rhetoric to hide? And if so, where?

While it is rather difficult to check the veracity of this assertion, there is often a tendency to establish a correlation between eating meat and consuming alcohol. But those who subscribe to such thoughts would be disappointed in this particular case as data from the NFHS does not support such a contention. There has actually been a 7 per cent decrease in the consumption of alcohol among men aged 15-49 between the NFHS-4 and NFHS-5 data.

But before we analyse the likely reasons for the gender difference and skewing, and also the overall difference in terms of why more men consume non-vegetarian food, let us give a thought to the epithet that is bandied about so nonchalantly — the appellation “non-vegetarian”.

Firstly, it is a negative sobriquet that has been so generously bestowed upon those who have continued to eat meat of some kind or the other and have normalised a diet intake that includes meat products. But what is conveniently forgotten is that all such people also consume pulses, grains, vegetables, fruits and the like. If anything, such people have to be categorised as omnivorous because their food is derived from both animals and plants.

Secondly, and revealingly, some sections/groups have deviated from an earlier omnivorous form of food intake and after refraining from animal food, they have defined themselves as “vegetarians”. Moreover, gradually, vegetarianism has been projected, particularly and almost exclusively in India, as something pious, saintly, virtuous and righteous, leading to the prevalent holier-than-thou attitude. And that is being transmitted by the myriad vested interest groups in the country through generations, often with unstinted support from a section of politicians, devoutly religious people, and spiritual figureheads.

While it may not be all that easy to pinpoint the reasons for the increase in the consumption of animal food among men from the NFHS-4 to NFHS-5 data period, it is, however, almost a given that more men than women consume animal food mainly because of two reasons. One of these reasons is obvious; there are more opportunities to eat animal food outside of the home than at home. Eating in restaurants is more common among men than among women, and even if there are some restrictions at home, those seem to apply more to women. Eating outside the home gives men a lot of autonomy as well as anonymity at the same time.

In spite of the advances that India has made in so many spheres, it is still quite rare to find single women (or even a group of women) dining by themselves in restaurants in most parts of India. In other words, autonomy and anonymity do not come easily to women. Another factor that may well be at work on the home front is that due to gender discrimination, women often get deprived of certain kinds of food. This happens in most families across class levels. Besides, if at all there are any religious or cultural reasons in terms of avoidance of certain foods, it applies, at times loosely, and sometimes exclusively, to women. Given the patriarchal set up that is so prevalent in India, men exercise control over almost everything, including women’s piety and related dietary observances.

The realm of food is not manifestly excluded from the kind of authority that men exert in the Indian context. Also, in families and households where animal food is not cooked at home men may order/procure animal food from outside but invariably women do not partake of such food. It is significant to point out here that the process of socialisation is so biased in favour of men that the gender discriminatory path is laid out in families almost as if it is the divine path that has to be tread by the women. Globally, the proportion of those who are vegetarian would, at best, be 8 to 10 per cent. But the kind of gender skew in this context that can be found in India is an exclusive feature of the country, not replicated anywhere else.

China is building a new bridge on a disputed Himalayan border

Pangong Tso is a 130-km-long lake, approximately one-third of which is in India and the remainder in China.

China is building a bridge across a lake in Ladakh on China’s Himalayan border with India — a move condemned by the Indian government, which called it an “illegal construction.” It is the second and sturdier of two Chinese bridges across the Pangong Tso lake. 

As per recent reports based on satellite images, the Chinese are constructing another bridge over Pangong Tso; adjacent to the one built few months earlier in theKhurnak Fort area, barely 25 km east of the LAC. It is a double-span bridge, capable of ferrying heavier equipment like tanks and artillery guns. China’s overdrive to upgrade infrastructure, both military and civil, part of ‘dual use’ policy, all along the LAC indicates its larger design with serious ramifications.

ROOT OF THE PROBLEM

As per the Chinese strategic thinking, the periphery has to be conducive for the stability and prosperity of the mainland. Hence, it focused on connectivity to exercise effective control over the border regions of Tibet and Xinjiang. Therefore, when Western Highway-G219 was constructed linking Kashgarh with Lhasa during the 1950s, given its alignment, seizing Aksai Chin became crucial for the Beijing. This was one of the main reasons for Chinese aggression in 1962 as India raised objections against illegal occupation of its territory.

Pangong Tso, a 130-km-long lake, (approximately one-third is in India and the remainder in China), with width varying from one to five km is a major obstacle. The water body is of immense strategic importance as it offers suitable avenue for undertaking major operations. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) occupied Khurnak Fort in 1958 and later in 1959 also established a camp at Maldo- Spanggur Lake area, South of Pangong Tso.

During the 1962 war, Chinese offensive to clear Indian defensive localities on the Northern Bank was launched from Khurnak Fort garrison on October 22. The Chinese were able to capture Indian positions from Sirijap right up to Finger 2 in just two days. However, for progressing operations south of Pangong Tso, PLA had to take a tactical pause of more than three weeks as it had to circumvent the lake to concentrate forces at Rudok.

In May 2020, PLA’s aggression in Pangong Tso area was confined to the northern side only. When the Indian Army occupied the Kailash Range South of Pangong Tso on the night of August 29-30, 2020 as counter to the Chinese actions, PLA was again handicapped due to the constraints of shifting troops from north to the south of Pangong Tso. To obviate this, China has now gone on to build twin bridges at the narrowest part of Pangong Tso, which cuts down the distance to Rudok by almost 150 km and movement time from 10 to barely 3 hours.

BEIJING-ISLAMABAD NEXUS

Over a period of time, Chinese interest in the Ladakh region has further deepened in view of growing Beijing-Islamabad nexus, which now transcends well beyond the military dimensions. Besides the $60 billion ‘China-Pakistan Economic Corridor’ (CPEC), part of Xi Jinping’s ‘Belt Road Initiative’ (BRI), China has made significant investment in the Gilgit-Baltistan region.

One of the key projects is $12 billion Daimer Bhasha Dam on the Indus River. The region is rich in water and minerals, including uranium, gold, copper and heavy metals. Chinese companies already have marked presence in the area, given huge potential for the production of microchips. There is also sizeable presence of PLA personnel in Gilgit-Baltistan, involved in various defence-related infrastructure projects. Chinese transgression in the DBO-Depsang area has a strategic design in view of contiguity to the Shaksgam Valley (handed over to China by Pakistan in 1963) and Siachen.

To further enhance its military capacity in the western regions, China is in the process of constructing another strategic highway, G 216, stretching over 857 km, connecting Xinjiang with Tibet. In the wake the ongoing stalemate, PLA is continuing to scale up its offensive capability. Its modus operandi is to gradually keep pushing the LAC westwards in Aksai Chin and consolidate the gains, thus establish de jure control over the contested areas.

To make Tibet an impregnable shield, China has adopted a multi-pronged approach. Along with upgrading military infrastructure, PLA has been strengthening its posture all along the LAC in the eastern sector as well, particularly opposite Arunachal Pradesh. Communist leadership has also enacted new laws to revamp the security of the outlying territories.

The amended ‘Chinese National Defence Law’ was implemented on January 1 last year, which gives the State authority to mobilise manpower and resources to counter any threat as also employ military abroad to safeguard ‘developmental interests’. The new ‘Border Law’ which came into effect on January 1 this year seeks to legalise its territorial claims by setting up boundary markers. China also plans to build 640 model border villages in Tibet.

THE RAMIFICATIONS

From the Chinese activities, it is evident that its aggression in eastern Ladakh in May 2020 was not just to change the status of LAC but to revamp the security of its periphery at large. Two years on, PLA has managed to strengthen its control over Aksai Chin considerably. Having gained significant edge, it is now reluctant to yield ground which has led to military-level talks getting dead locked. The state of impasse is likely to continue and standoff in Ladakh is in for a long haul.

Further, Chinese leadership is not inclined to resolve the boundary issue, obvious from its persistent efforts to delink it from the ambit of bilateral relations. However, the Indian government stance is that with tension on the borders, it can’t be business as usual. This notwithstanding, to revamp the border security, China is going ahead with the construction of string of border villages with ‘dual use’ facilities. These will act as the first line of defence, employing the well-known ‘nibbling’ tactics to make territorial gains. PLA regular units deployed in depth will remain well poised for executing operations, in consonance with ‘active defence’ strategy.

His Holiness Dalai Lama had recently stated that China has not been able to control Tibet because of the minds of people. Chinese policy makers realises this and link the India-China border issue with Tibet. Those who are advocating trade – off between Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh to resolve the lingering border issue in accordance with the earlier proposal put forward by the Communist leadership, are not in sync with ground realities.

Interestingly, China is replicating the ‘South China Sea’ model to usurp the disputed territories on its land borders too, employing the ‘Grey Zone Warfare’ (GZW) strategy; surreptiously occupying unheld areas without engaging in actual fighting. PLA has leveraged its technological edge particularly in terms of surveillance, reconnaissance and electronic warfare. To overcome this disadvantage, Delhi needs to exploit its strategic partnerships with the Western nations.

India has taken series of counter measures to augment its defensive capability, not only in eastern Ladakh but across the board. However, a lot needs to be done particularly in terms of capacity building; rebalancing of forces, synergised application of combat potential, integrated development infrastructure, unified logistics and resilient supply chains. The national security policy has to be all encompassing, factoring not only the land borders but maritime space as well, in the realm of ‘Hybrid Warfare’. To this end, coalitions like Quad are strategic imperatives and pivotal to the national security.

Chinese activities on our borders and in the neighbourhood pose serious challenge to our sovereignty and territorial integrity. There is a need for major course correction, based on the ground realities and future scenarios.

“The new bridge is capable of supporting tanks and armored personnel carriers and would help China speed up deployment between the river banks. What the bridge adds to Chinese capabilities is the ability to speedily move forces between the north and the south banks of Pangong Tso lake, which they were earlier lacking,” said General Rohit Gupta, who served with the Fire and Fury Corps of the Northern Command of the Indian Army.

Ladakh is the site of an ongoing confrontation between the two nations.

It was a flashpoint between India and China in mid-2020, when violent clashes killed 20 Indian soldiers and five Chinese soldiers, according to their respective governments. Other reports set the Chinese death toll higher, at between 38 and 45 Chinese soldiers.

Pangong Tso lake is in disputed territory claimed by both countries. China has controlled two-thirds of the lake since the 1960s, and India holds the remaining one-third.

According to Gen. Gupta, the new bridge — which shortens the 130-kilometer distance between the southern and northern banks of the lake — is part of an attempt to negate a tactical Indian advantage in the area.mInterdiction of such known terrain entities is possible, especially through precision munitions delivered from a variety of resources.

India had also built a lot of infrastructure to assist better tactical, operational deployment of forces. While the new Chinese bridge was a matter of concern, it could be neutralized. Interdiction of such known terrain entities is possible, especially through precision munitions delivered from a variety of resources,” he said, adding that the Indian side had a clear view of the bridge from positions it held.

The dispute about the bridge were discussed as part of overall security discussions in the Quad meeting. A leaders’ meeting of the four-nation Quad — made up of Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. — was held in Tokyo on Tuesday. The group’s goal is to counter China’s growing assertiveness in the region.

Of the four nations comprising the Quad, India is the only one which shares a border with China. The 3,488-km-long unmarked border between India and China is the world’s longest disputed border.

Former Indian trade secretary Ajay Dua told CNBC on Tuesday that Quad nations should work together militarily, even if it’s at the risk of angering China.

China and India still have tens of thousands of troops massed on the border despite 15 rounds of talks to de-escalate military tensions after a violent confrontation in 2020.

In June that year, the two nuclear-armed Asian giants fought a brutal and bloody skirmish without guns, in hand-to-hand combat with metal rods, bludgeons with nail filings and other such improvised weapons.

Under previous treaties, both countries have agreed not to carry or use firearms to prevent escalation.

• China is building a bridge across a lake in Ladakh on China’s Himalayan border with India — a move condemned by the Indian government, which called it an “illegal construction.”
• China and India have tens of thousands of troops massed on the border despite 15 rounds of talks to de-escalate military tensions after a violent confrontation in the area two years ago.
• In June 2020, India and China had a brutal and bloody skirmish without guns, fighting pitched battles in the icy cold, using metal rods, bludgeons with nail filings and other such improvised weapons.

The End of ‘the End of History’

Russia’s war on Ukraine isn’t just a clash between two militaries. It’s a war between two worldviews. In his 1989 essay “The End of History?”, United States State Department official Francis Fukuyama suggested that mankind was seeing not just the conclusion of the Cold War, but the triumph of Western liberal democracy as “the final form of human government.”

“What we may be witnessing,” Fukuyama wrote, “is not just the end of the Cold War, or the passing of a particular period of postwar history, but the end of history as such.”

History, as he defined it, was the protracted struggle between freedom and oppression. And with the decisive victory of American liberalism and freedom over the forces of Soviet totalitarianism, history had come to an end. He argued that though events would continue to happen, humanity’s political evolution had reached its pinnacle. The sun had set on authoritarianism. The era of great powers warring against each other had ended, and liberal democracy, individual freedom and popular sovereignty would continue to spread.

Francis Fukuyama was not alone in this optimistic forecast. U.S. President George H. W. Bush was among the leaders who shared his vision. Bush’s 1990 address to Congress hailed a future “free from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice, and more secure in the quest for peace.” Mankind was entering a “new world,” he said, “quite different from the one we have known, a world where the rule of law supplants the rule of the jungle.”

The “end of history” was an exhilarating hypothesis for Westerners. It became an instant sensation among policymakers and pundits. As the 1990s continued, the evidence supporting it mounted: The newly independent Baltic nations cast off all legacy of the Soviet Union and cleaved to the West; all of Eastern Europe’s former Communist regimes were replaced by democratically elected governments; in East and Southeast Asia, capitalist development shifted political might in favour of West-looking classes; soon, even Russia made radical reforms, adopting capitalism and holding real elections—sure it was “gangster capitalism,” but give the Russian people time. There was even talk from Russia about possibly joining nato.

The West was elated. We had won. It was the end of history.

But then some “history” happened.

The 9/11 terrorist attacks were a bolt from the blue. The West was profoundly jolted. But the optimists remained mostly undeterred. In an Oct. 5, 2001, Wall Street Journal opinion piece, Fukuyama reminded readers of the nuance of his thesis and wrote: “I believe that in the end I remain right.”

A few years later, Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded the former Soviet nation of Georgia, bringing two chunks of its territory back under Moscow’s de facto control. His 2014 invasion of the former Soviet nation of Ukraine and de jure annexation of its Crimean Peninsula was even more dramatic.

These were alarming developments that looked disturbingly like “history” was still happening.

Yet even then, many Westerners viewed them as mostly isolated incidents. After all, the parts of Georgia and Ukraine that Putin took were peopled mainly by individuals who didn’t seem to mind being returned to Russia. Surely Putin would stop there and that would be the end of it. With enough of this sort of wishful thinking, the optimists maintained that real history—the great struggles and major wars that have epitomized mankind for millenniums—was still basically over. Despite some hiccups, time is on the side of freedom. Economic interdependence of the great nations is too strong to allow war. And the spread and supremacy of liberal democracy is still inevitable.

Then came February 24 of this year.

As Putin’s tanks transgressed Ukraine’s border that morning, rolling toward Kyiv, anything remaining of the dream that man had reached the end of history was flattened beneath their tracks. Any glimmer of hope that Russia and its partners would eventually integrate into the U.S.-led, liberal democratic order was crushed. The ugly reality could no longer be denied because this was not just a war between the armies of Russia and Ukraine—but a war between two worldviews.

Ukraine’s people, for the most part, lean Westward. They elected the Jewish Volodymyr Zelenskyy as their leader in 2019. And their worldview is aligned with that of the United States. They believe the will of the people should determine a nation’s path and that the Western model functions better for more people than any other. They’ve long sought to join Nato and the European Union, which would make Ukraine a treaty ally to America (and dozens of other democracies). They believe that as an independent nation, they have the sovereign right to try to join these or any other groups they wish.

Russia, on the other hand, rejects the very idea of liberal democracy as a sustainable model. Vladimir Putin has led the nation for the last 22 years as a ruthless authoritarian, with the hearty support of the bulk of his people. And if his worldview wasn’t clear enough after the invasions of Georgia and Ukraine’s Crimea, he laid it totally bare in 2019, declaring: “Liberalism is obsolete.” Instead of leading Russia in a more democratic path, the way the “end of history” thesis forecast, Putin has steered it in the opposite direction. And tens of thousands of his soldiers are now at work in Ukraine—the flashpoint between worldviews—where they are committing allegedly atrocities in an effort to bring about a new global order.

And Putin’s Russia is not alone. China, India, Iran, South Africa, Belarus, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Kyrgyzstan are among the nations directly or indirectly supporting Russia’s illegal war—and thereby throwing their weight behind a return of “history.”

Meanwhile, Russia’s war has catalyzed moves by Germany and Japan to reverse decades of military hesitancy and double their defense budgets as they prepare for a return to great power war.

This all adds up to show that history—tangled, unjust, retrograde, sordid, violent and ugly history—has not ended. And analysts are being forced to acknowledge that a dramatic new chapter is just beginning, with implications far beyond Ukraine’s borders.

“We are all living in Vladimir Putin’s world now,” international politics expert Ivan Krastev wrote on February 27, describing it as a world in which brute force crushes democratic rights and rule of law. To complete the picture, he quoted the ancient Athenian military general and historian Thucydides: “The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.”

New York Times Australian bureau chief Damien Cave also acknowledged the war as a historic turning point: “[M]any foreign policy leaders already see Ukraine in dire terms, as marking an official end of the American era and the start of a more contested, multipolar moment.”

Even Francis Fukuyama himself has admitted that this year’s war may well mark the end of “the end of history.” He told the New Statesman that his “ultimate nightmare” is a world in which China and Russia work together, supporting each other’s expansionism and totalitarianism. “[T]hen you would really be living in a world that was being dominated by these non-democratic powers,” he said. “If the United States and the rest of the West couldn’t stop that from happening, then that really is the end of the end of history.”

No one is preventing profound Russo-Chinese cooperation and expansionism today. So it turns out that history did not end in 1989.

A great many were seduced by the euphoria of “end of history” sanguinity. It as per some people an impending a third world war—a great power war—that will soon be fought largely under the leadership of totalitarian strongmen in Russia, China and Europe, who will use vast arsenals of nuclear weapons. “[T]here will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive,” Matthew 24:21-22 state (New Living Translation).

This conflict will annihilate any remaining vestiges of liberal democracy and make all of mankind’s previous wars look like playground skirmishes. It will be by far the bloodiest chapter in mankind’s history, and in the lead-up to it, major historic events such as Russia’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine should not catch us unawares.

History has not ended. Whether or not Russia wins the current round in its push against the liberal order, a historic new chapter is beginning that will lead into an era of unprecedented global calamity and suffering. These will be the bloodiest pages in mankind’s strife-ridden history. To many on the scene at this time, the violence and suffering will appear to be humanity’s final chapter. But I hope and desire to make plain that it is actually only the last page of the prologue of mankind’s exciting future. and hopefully at that time, chapter one of real history can finally begin.

Audit of Eight Years of Modi Govt

The Modi Govt completes 8 years. Since returning to power in 2019, it has checked several key boxes on its agenda. India appears to have put the worst of the pandemic behind, but multiple challenges loom at home and abroad for the remainder of the Govt’s second term.

ECONOMY

India is seen to be the world’s fastest-growing big economy in FY23, with a realistic chance of holding on to that badge for a while as a botched zero-Covid policy threatens to derail the Chinese economy. But some of the structural issues that constrained the Indian growth story before the pandemic continue to weigh heavy amid a worsening inflationary spiral and an uncertain external environment.

Hope and challenge

Over the past 24 months, India has pivoted away from its otherwise insular trade stance, with pacts signed with UAE and Australia, and negotiations initiated with EU and UK. A reboot in efforts to leverage the digital infrastructure founded on the innovative UPI platform is underway, as well as further fostering of a start-up scene that has thrown up over 100 unicorns.

The big work in progress is the Centre’s attempt at replacing 29 sets of labour laws by four broad labour codes, but implementation is behind schedule. The insolvency resolution process under IBC is seeing delays. The GST structure remains an issue; much of the buoyancy in collections is on account of compliance efforts. A manufacturing-led push relies primarily on production linked incentives, but beyond telecom hardware, the output is underwhelming. The 5G telecom push likely later this year could be key to the next wave of digitisation. Commercial mining in coal has been cleared, but output is constrained.

The absence of a data protection framework is a hurdle in leveraging the numerous digital projects underway. Private investment continues to underperform, and attempts at forced formalisation have hit MSMEs. Land and agri reforms remain pending. The consumption story, despite the post-Covid recovery, continues to totter. Cleavages in spending by the rich and poor could be worsened by prolonged high inflation. Air India and LIC have given disinvestment a boost, but the big-ticket privatisation of BPCL has fallen through.

Education

National Policy, new entrance

After a sluggish first two years in the government’s second term, much been happening on the education front in recent months.

After the announcement of the new National Education Policy in July 2020, its implementation got off to a sluggish start, mainly due to the pandemic. Now, there’s a common entrance test for admission to central universities. Students can study a four-year multidisciplinary undergraduate programme with multiple exit options, or even two degree programmes simultaneously. The UGC now permits students to pursue up to 40% of a programme online. But some announcements have been more cosmetic: for example, the midday meal scheme has been repackaged and renamed PM POSHAN without any additional allocation.

A committee has been set up for drafting the National Curriculum Framework with guidelines for changes in the school curriculum. The NCF is expected to be ready by next year. For a single regulator for higher education, a Bill to set up the Higher Education Commission of India is almost ready.

Appointment of teachers remains tardy; the National Research Foundation announced in 2019 hasn’t been set up yet; and public spending on education is nowhere near the 6% of GDP promised in 2014 and has in fact been decreasing. Apart from IIMs, none of the other centrally-run institutions have been granted total autonomy; and not even 20 of the 50 Institutions of Eminence promised by the BJP have been set up.

SOCIAL SECTOR

Rise of the Labharthi

Leveraging the Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) platform to expand coverage of the flagship PM-Kisan scheme from 1 crore beneficiaries in February 2019 to over 10 crore in January 2022, new initiatives like PM-GKAY to provide free foodgrain to nearly 80 crore people, and retreating with a bloody nose from the battle to reform the agriculture sector — these have been the social sector headlines of Modi 2.0 so far.

10 instalments of PM-Kisan have been released so far — Rs 1.80 lakh crore has been transferred directly into farmers’ accounts. The 11th installment is due for release on May 31. PM-Ujjwala beneficiaries have gone from 8 crore in September 2019 to 9 crore in April 2022. Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, launched in response to the pandemic in February 2020 to provide 5 kg free foodgrains to 81.35 crore people every month, has been extended till September 2022. The Centre has also been able to roll out the One Nation, One Ration Card (ONORC) project to enable NFSA beneficiaries to avail of their entitlement anywhere in India.

The flagship Jal Jeevan Mission, launched in the government’s second term, aims to provide tap water connections to all rural households by 2024. The Jal Shakti Ministry said on Saturday that 50% rural households had already been covered. If implemented fully and successfully, Jal Jeevan will be a scheme of gamechanging impact.

The withdrawal, in November 2021, and eventual repeal by Parliament of the three farm laws announced in June 2020 are both a setback and an unfinished agenda point for the government. Experts have argued that reform is critical to the advancement of Indian agriculture.

DIPLOMACY & STRATEGY

Tightrope and partnerships

New Delhi’s diplomatic outreach succeeded in blunting international criticism of the constitutional changes in Jammu and Kashmir early on, and significant strategic achievements have followed. But the neighbourhood remains in turmoil, and China presents a huge challenge.

With an experienced diplomat at the helm, Modi 2.0 began by explaining to the world its decision to abrogate Art 370 that revoked the special status for Jammu and Kashmir. The transition from the Trump administration to the one led by President Joe Biden was smooth, and the strengthening of the Quad was a significant achievement. The framing of an Indo-Pacific strategy by European partners including France, Germany, UK, and EU is a positive for India’s interests, as China is seen as a violator of the global rules-based order. India’s Covid diplomacy largely worked, albeit with some challenges of supply.

The amendment to the citizenship law set the cat among the pigeons, and New Delhi had to reach out to Dhaka to assuage concerns. The strategic establishment has been occupied with diplomacy with Beijing, as the two-year border stand-off poses the most serious threat of recent times. The war in Ukraine has made it difficult for New Delhi to continue deep engagement with defence partner Russia. The balancing act has been successful so far, but remains a delicate work in progress, as do engagements with China and the neighbourhood.

Taliban-ruled Afghanistan presents a huge strategic challenge. New governments are in power in Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, and the latter two nations are in economic and political crises. New Delhi has to navigate its ties with its neighbours and help maintain a peaceful and stable South Asia. Its leadership in the subcontinent will be tested in the near future.

Politics

BJP growing, concerns remain

In its second term, the BJP has made strides towards achieving its ideological agenda and consolidated its position as the major pole of national politics. But it remains challenged by regional parties, a struggling economy, and a communally charged atmosphere.

In the last years, the BJP has made itself and its ideology the major pole of Indian politics. With the key missions in its ideological agenda – the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya and abrogation of Article 370 — already achieved, the ban on triple talaq is being seen as progress halfway towards a Uniform Civil Code. The party is slowly and cautiously embarking on a new mission on Kashi and Mathura temples, but it is a legislative agenda.

Although the BJP has become a dominant political force at the national level, regional parties still call the shots in a number of southern and eastern states. The party is working on a blueprint to alter the “political and ideological character” of these states.

There has been very little progress in restoring the electoral process in Jammu and Kashmir, and the reopening of the Kashi and Mathura disputes has put paid to hopes of impending closure in these cases following the resolution of the Ram Janmabhoomi matter in favour of the Hindu side. The ‘bulldozer politics’ in several states has enhanced insecurities among the minorities and opened the government up to allegations of partisan behaviour. Satisfactorily addressing all of these dissonances remains a task before the government and party in line with the Prime Minister’s promise of “sabka vishwas”. Unemployment too remains a concern.

Health

Vaccines for all, but work to do

Most of government’s time and resources in the last two years have been consumed in responding to the pandemic, which has in turn exposed India’s fragile healthcare infrastructure.

Just before the pandemic, the government had unveiled its plan to create an elaborate network of health and wellness centres (HWCs) for delivery of primary healthcare. About 1.5 lakh HWCs are proposed to be set up. An initiative to provide a unique health ID to every citizen and create a registry of healthcare professionals and health facilities has also been launched. In providing Covid-19 vaccines to everyone, India has done better than most other countries.

Most of the health initiatives, including the creation of HWCs and digital mission are works in progress. So are programmes like the Jan Arogya Yojana for insurance to the poor. Barely 5% of India’s population has health insurance right now, which makes the Jan Arogya Yojana a very important initiative.

The government still has a long way to go in providing universal and affordable access to healthcare facilities. The partnership of state governments is vital. Upgrading of infrastructure, reforms in medical education, expansion of nursing and para-medical education, and regulation of costs of healthcare are some of the big projects the government has to attend to.

Security & defence

LWE in decline, reforms pending

On the security front, the performance of the government has been a mixed bag in the last eight years..

According to Ministry of Home Affairs, Left Wing Extremism-related violence has declined by 77% between 2009 and 2021, and resultant deaths by 85% between 2010 and 2021. The geographical influence of Maoists has been reduced to just 41 districts from 96 in 2010. Gains have also been made in the Northeast

The creation of the post of the Chief of Defence Staff was a key reform, but work appears to have stalled. After CDS General Bipin Rawat was killed in a helicopter crash in December, the position is still vacant. Also, theaterisation in the armed forces isn’t working at the desired pace.

Terror emanating from Pakistan remains a cause for concern. Despite the government’s claims of normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir following abrogation of its special status on August 5, 2019, a rise in civilian killings has posed questions. Also, as many as 25 modules of Khalistan militancy were identified and neutralised by security forces in 2021, compared to 15 in 2020 and just seven in 2019.

There’s a message to India from the Chinese-Russian air force exercise near Japan

Russian and Chinese military planes conducted a joint exercise close to Japan’s airspace, forcing Tokyo – which was hosting the Quad summit – to scramble its own jets in response. This was the first joint exercise between Beijing and Moscow since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and showcases increasing military convergence between them. Equally portentous is Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu saying his country’s military operations in Ukraine will continue until all objectives are met. This shows Moscow is in no mood to end the war anytime soon and is preparing for a long-drawn-out conflict.

Both developments present a serious challenge to the international community. It’s clear that Russia and China have decided to form a close strategic-military compact to take on what they see as Western hegemony and rewrite the international rules-based order. Both countries also nurse deep-seated grudges. While the Russian leadership as embodied by President Vladimir Putin never fully got over the collapse of the Soviet Union, China wants to right what it sees as 100 years of humiliation between the 19th and 20th centuries and restore the glory of the Middle Kingdom.

The fact on the ground is that both countries are coordinating their foreign policies to achieve mutual goals. Therefore, for the foreseeable future there will not be much daylight between Moscow and Beijing. In fact, there is now a serious possibility that Beijing will use Moscow for its strategic security aims in the Indo-Pacific. This certainly puts India in a tough spot given its considerable military ties to Russia and its continuing confrontation with China along the Himalayas.

Hitherto New Delhi has pretty much stuck to its ingrained non-aligned position, refusing to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. But while Indian foreign policy must serve Indian interests, the current geopolitical situation demands that New Delhi takes issue-based stands along with the West. A good model here is Vietnam. Despite its party-to-party relations with Beijing, Hanoi staunchly defends its maritime-territorial claims in the South China Sea against Chinese belligerence and has joined the Japan-led Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the recently launched US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. Vietnam also has historic ties with Russia as the Soviet Union strongly aided it during the Vietnam War. But this hasn’t prevented it from developing close ties with the US. If communist Vietnam can take such nimble positions, India should, too. Staying permanently neutral on Russia if the Ukraine war gets even uglier and as the Moscow-Beijing axis gets stronger is not a smart diplomatic position for India.

Conception Dreams and Interpretations

There is reference to the possibility of ‘buying’ another’s conception dream in a popular Korean drama series that concluded its third season recently. A dream is in itself unreal, then, to have a conception dream – that foretells a pregnancy or birth of a baby, its gender and/or its destiny – and further to transact that dream as a good omen, is even more surreal. Nevertheless, looking at some Asian mythologies, particularly with reference to conception, reveals a treasure trove of interesting scenarios and stories.

The most famous one in the Indic region is related to Gautam Buddha’s birth. His mother, Queen Mayadevi, had a dream wherein a white elephant carrying a white lotus bloom in its trunk, circled the lady three times and entered her womb via her waist. Some time later, following the dream, the queen discovered that she was pregnant, and the child thus conceived would go on to become a great person. It is also said that the baby was born from her waist, as she stood, holding onto a Sal Tree for support.

In Jainism, the birth of infants who go on to become enlightened tirthankaras, baladevas, vasudevas and mandalikas is prophesised by multiple dreams with telling symbols.

In some Christian accounts, an angel is said to have appeared in Joseph’s dream and told him that Mary was to conceive a baby, the Son of God, and that he should be given the name Jesus. This came to be called the Immaculate Conception.

Greek mythology is populated with several gods of dreams, the most well-known being Morpheus, who is said to take any shape or form in a dream. Dreams are referred to as ‘children of the night’ – they could be born of one’s subconscious, imagination, experience, or they could be divine prophesies.

Known as Taemong, conception dream mythology in Korea is replete with symbols like fruits, animals, mythical creatures like dragons, and aspects of the natural world that indicate an impending pregnancy and hinting at characteristics of the to-be-born baby. Conception dreams are not limited to relating to individuals but extend to also the birth of a state, a dynasty or a royal lineage.

Interestingly, parents of several of today’s K-pop idols have said they had vivid conception dreams. For example, BTS V’s father dreamt that he played pool with a dragon, and he won the dragon’s magical stone as a prize. Dragons usually indicate male babies that will earn name and fame. The South Korean singer-actor, Xiumin’s parents dreamt of six tigers racing to the top of a mountain, implying a male baby that would become a great leader. The mother of singer Astro MJ said she saw a giant whale in her dream, blowing water in the middle of the ocean, and looking directly into her eyes. “I knew I was being blessed with a baby,” she said. Mothers of female pop stars RV Irene, Wheein and Suzy have also shared their dreams of walking in chilli fields, magnolia flowers and silver dragon, respectively, before or during pregnancy.

The aboriginals of Australia conceptualise entire Creation as born out of the infinite ‘dreamtime’ of spirits.  One may or may not believe in dreams, but a life devoid of dream stories and their insights would be very boring indeed.

Possibly, West Losing Patience Over Ukraine

It’s been a mercifully long time since Henry Kissinger made headlines, much less sparked a serious debate, but his doleful words this week in Davos, Switzerland, did both. The gnomish 98-year-old ex-diplomat told the assembled elites at the World Economic Forum that Ukraine must make peace by ceding territory to Russia.

His finger-wagging stirred outrage, not least from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who likened his fellow victim of European tragedy—both are Jews whose family members perished in the Holocaust—to an appeaser of Nazi aggression in 1938.

In fact, Kissinger was speaking like the adherent, which he has always been, of “international realism”—the school of thought that values stability above all else and, in that spirit, touts the interests of great powers and their spheres of interest over the ambitions (however lofty) of less mighty countries.

One flaw of this thinking is that it ignores the many changes in global politics since a half-century ago, when Kissinger’s “triangulation” allowed him, as Richard Nixon’s statesman, to play Washington’s interests off those of Moscow and Beijing. (Things have changed even more so since the Congress of Vienna 200 years ago, when the five great powers of Europe divvied up the continent, as Kissinger described in his career-launching book A World Restored, back when he was a Harvard political scientist.) First, the end of the Cold War and the subsequent diffusion of global power have diminished the leverage of former power centers and blocs. Second, in this more anarchic world, the agency of medium-size countries can no longer be cavalierly dismissed. Finally, in most respects, Russia is no longer a great power, and so peace no longer requires treating it as such.

However, Kissinger did hit one live nerve at Davos, and that is a growing impatience—even among Kyiv’s most stalwart backers—for how long this war is dragging on and how deeply it is damaging not just Ukraine but the worldwide economy.

Five days before Kissinger’s speech, the New York Times editorial page, which has been avid in its support for Ukraine, cautioned: ” Americans have been galvanized by Ukraine’s suffering, but popular support for a war far from U.S. shores will not continue indefinitely. Inflation is a much bigger issue for American voters than Ukraine, and the disruptions to global food and energy markets are likely to intensify. … Biden should also make clear to … Zelensky and his people that there is a limit to how far the United States and NATO will go to confront Russia, and limits to the arms, money and political support they can muster.”

The Times’ worry was that the war could widen and escalate, whereas Kissinger’s was about preserving a balance of power in Europe that no longer quite exists. Still, the message is the same: a growing itchiness about the war and a growing desire to shut it down, perhaps prematurely.

The University of Maryland’s Critical Issues Poll also shows signs of “public fatigue” over the Ukraine war. A majority of Americans surveyed are still prepared to accept higher inflation and energy prices as a result of the war, but that share has diminished since March from 65 percent to 52 percent (for inflation) and from 73 percent to 59 percent (for high gas prices).

Some in Europe are beginning to waver on their commitment to end oil or gas imports from Russia. The leaders of France and Italy, while not as explicit on the matter as Kissinger, are pressing Zelensky to make a deal to end the war before a clear (and perhaps unrealistic) Ukrainian victory. It is also becoming increasingly apparent that, outside Europe, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, there is little enthusiasm for this war—and much distress over its far-reaching consequences.

Zelensky is well aware—and deeply fearful—of this flagging interest, which is why he continues to give rallying remote speeches almost daily, pressing his allies for more heavy long-range weapons more quickly. The campaign is succeeding. Biden has recently agreed to provide the most cherished weapons on Zelensky’s wish list—the Multiple Launch Rocket System and High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, which, depending on their loads, can hit targets between 100 and 300 miles away. In the fight over Donbas, the Ukrainians have been at a disadvantage: Russian artillery have been able to hit them, but the Ukrainians’ rockets have lacked the range to hit back. MLRS and HiMARS will even the contest—if not reverse the odds.

With weapons of such range, Ukrainian troops could fire even deeper still, into Russian territory. This is why Biden had hesitated to send these weapons, and why some worry about the decision to send them now: Yes, it gives the Ukrainians a boost, but if they fire rockets into Russian territory (something Zelensky has agreed not to do), Russia might respond by hitting arms depots and supply lines in, say, Polish territory—and then we’re off to a war between Russia and NATO. That could trigger further escalation—or a panic over the prospect of escalation, which could bring the war to a swift, forced ending, most likely to Ukraine’s disadvantage.

The Biden administration, by stepping up its military aid to Ukraine, is playing a role in setting off this panic, because its own goals in this conflict have steadily expanded. This became explicit last month when Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that the U.S. aims in the war were not only to protect Ukraine as a democratic sovereign country and to help it stave off Russia’s invasion but also to “weaken” Russia as a military power. Some officials were shocked at Austin’s frankness, but no one has pedalled back his words. Regime change is certainly an implicit goal of the onerous sanctions piled on the Russian economy, on its financial tycoons with close ties to Vladimir Putin, and on Putin himself.

And so, the war has entered a new dimension: time. It is not only a contest between Russian and (Western-backed) Ukrainian military forces. It’s also a contest between how long it takes before the West grows leery of letting the war continue and how long it takes before Putin (or his tyranny) collapses. This is one reason the war will intensify, the longer it slogs on—and why there’s every reason to believe it will slog on for as long as either side can make it so.

Everybody desecrates the past and everybody endangers the future

Forget identity. Forget grievances, sentiments, duties, rights. Forget pain, and then learn to look at pain again. It is naked and it is masked. It is in you and me, in rage and fear, in aggression and passivity, in truth, and lies.

Everybody is desecrating the past. Everybody is endangering the future. Somebody must change. But who?

Another storm front of images approaches through our phones. They spew contempt and violence. Till one day ago, the past, in each of our minds, was free of this fear. Till one day ago, the past contained one understanding, one memory, one anchor of truth. Brahma murari surarchita lingam. Nirmala bhasita sobhita lingam.

Today, that past is already gone, swallowed by memes of madness and hate. Poison rain by pixels. Hate speech is hate, not just speech, they say. Words are violence, they say. Yet, all it takes is one more pretext. You can hide your gods where you want, but we will get them; and you. That’s what the hydrant jokes said, really.

One day before that, another storm. This time, images of a drained out well. We fear a repeat of 1992. You call our wazoo fountain your shiva lingam. You steal the ground from beneath where we walk, kneel, wash and pray.

That too is a fear of a past being desecrated.

Historians! Cosmopolitans! Your turn now. But everybody desecrated the past. Ten thousand Buddhist temples that Hindus must pay for. Forty thousand is an exaggeration. More temples were “protected” (not even “spared”) by the temple-breaker than were broken by him. He even gave jobs to your measly ancestors, you ingrates!

Denial. Distortion. That too is a desecration of the past.

Meanwhile, the solution, for some: our past came before yours. That statement is perhaps true. We see our present not as what your book says but as the love and labour of our elders who came before.

The so-called subaltern sings of his ancestors who made the sculptures and wove the garlands. The so-called savarna sings of his forebears who begged for alms and lived on the mercy of others. And both sing more and more these days of how their ancestors stood by the temples and the gods when the past-breakers came. And of how the gods were hidden behind the walls or under the soil or in the waters of rivers and lakes and wells. And how those that weren’t, became mere “idols,” smashed and studded into steps and pathways by celebrated butshikans (idol breakers).

That sense of the past is now strong, and getting stronger than ever. Does it endanger the future? Perhaps. But does it have to? That is the question.

Divided memories, divided sensibilities, and divided fears for the future. Us or them. Is that really the only way?

You were so divided, never a nation. We united you. 1991 Act. Status Quo. If your god was in the rubble as old war booty on August 15, 1947, so it shall be forever.

That’s one way to preach unity. But we were always one! We fought not as Hindus versus Muslims but as Indians versus… um, Foreigners.

That’s another way to preach unity. Sabka saath, sabka vikas!

Even our pleas for unity are divided. That is the truth. The past is desecrated. The present is divided. But the future is neither.

Look at how united we are in where we are taking this planet. Look at how united we are in thinking, and behaving, apocalyptically, like the End of the World didn’t happen as God planned it so we will all play God now and destroy it anyway.

We will unleash bioterrorist weapons in the form of bulldozers and lorries and cars on the planet. We will send forth swarms of invisible viruses to destroy you. We will devour anything alive that isn’t protected by human rights laws (and some of those too). We will build towers of communication infrastructure to wreck your minds and your relationships with your families, friends and communities, indeed, with reality itself.

We will still call You the Infinite One but work as if finitude is our religion and way of life.

Poison and propaganda. Everybody is endangered in the end. We argue merely over who’s to blame. Somebody must change. But who? How?

We will not know the answers as long as we continue to dwell in our own limited, divided, divisive ideas of the past and the present. We will not know if we sequester our past into arbitrarily relevant and irrelevant zones as if all that was jahil (uncivilised) anyway and needn’t be considered a part of others’ living memories anymore.

We will not know as long as we remain mere bodies programmed to “own” the planet rather than live for a while on it as children among mothers.

We will not know a thing, the longer our schools and media and political systems make us forget what it is to know others as elders and children, as custodians of duties existing in time and time alone. We are being mistaught every day.

The past is desecrated because we don’t see there are a trillion memories all around us, and even inside us. We don’t see our parents when they are here as ourselves in the future till it’s too late. We don’t see our children when we are still here as our chance to learn from our ancestors suddenly again, a second chance. We forget time, and live only in space, in the present. We see Hindus and Muslims, Indians and foreigners, us and them. And we see not one of these things with truth or love because we have lost our way with both, in seeing even me and you as me and you. Tat pranamami sadashiva lingam.

Biden’s Gaffe on Taiwan

President Joe Biden of the United States, on a recent visit to Japan as part of his first trip to East Asia after taking office, was most ill-advised in offering Taiwan a guarantee of military help in the event of any armed attack by the People’s Republic of China. Such guarantees are not given at press conferences. One may be forgiven for suspecting, though, that it was a planted question. He clarified, “That is the commitment we made.”

This is not borne out by the record. Such a guarantee would require Congressional approval. It is well known that previous US administrations have been reluctant to give such an assurance to Taiwan, which has long sought it — and most eagerly. What the US gave in the past was “strategic ambiguity” about how far Washington would go if Taiwan was invaded by China. In the aftermath of Biden’s assurance, the State Department tried to dilute its implications, stating that America’s “One China policy and [US] commitment to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait … remains”.

The Taiwan Relations Act, 1979, enacted by the US Congress and assented to by the president, contains no guarantee of military intervention. Will the US Congress agree to amend it? What the US has done in the last 40 years is to arm Taiwan to the teeth while maintaining the One China policy since Henry Kissinger’s historic visit in 1971.

President Joe Biden is most ill-advised in raising the stakes in his wager with China by bringing in the issue of Taiwan. Nearly the entire international community regards Taiwan as an integral part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The Treaty of Shimonoseki, which ended the war of 1895 between China and Japan, ceded Taiwan and the Pescadores to Japan “in perpetuity and full sovereignty”. Up until that time, Taiwan had been Chinese territory. For the next 50 years, Taiwan and its adjacent islands were administered by Japan.

During World War II, Roosevelt, Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo in 1943 and declared: “It is their purpose that … all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Formosa [Taiwan], and the Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China.” The terms of the Cairo Declaration were confirmed by the Potsdam Declaration. The Japanese instrument of surrender undertook “to carry out the provisions of the Potsdam Declaration”. Japanese forces on Taiwan surrendered to the Republic of China (ROC), who thereafter administered the island.

From 1945 until 1950, the US considered Taiwan to be a part of China. In January 1950, president Truman stated: “In keeping with [the Cairo and Potsdam] declarations, Formosa was surrendered to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek [of the ROC], and for the past four years the United States and the other Allied Powers have accepted the exercise of Chinese authority over the island.”

Secretary of state Dean Acheson said at the same time: “The Chinese have administered Formosa for four years. Neither the United States nor any other ally ever questioned that authority and that occupation. When Formosa was made a province of China nobody raised any lawyer’s doubts about that.” In 1949, the PRC was established.

The situation changed drastically with the outbreak of the Korean war. President Truman ordered the Seventh Fleet into the Taiwan Strait in June 1950. He also stated that “the determination of the future status of Formosa must await the restoration of security in the Pacific, a peace settlement with Japan, or consideration by the United Nations”. By the instrument of surrender, Japan renounced all claim to these areas, but they were not reassigned to China. This position was taken to provide a legal basis for sending the Seventh Fleet into the Taiwan Strait — an area that would be ‘Chinese territory’ if Taiwan were accepted as part of China.

In 1952, Japan signed a peace treaty with the Allies and “renounced all right, title and claim to Taiwan and the Pescadores as well as the Spratley Islands and Paracel Islands”. Once again, Taiwan was not conveyed to China.

For a quarter century, the US held the ROC regime as the de factogovernment of the island of Taiwan. Its position changed in 1972. In the Shanghai communiqué, the US stated: “The United States acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but ‘One China’ and that the Taiwan is part of China. The United States government does not challenge that position.”

Few communiqués were drafted with such care and after such prolonged negotiations as the famous Shanghai Communiqué issued after president Nixon’s trip to China in 1972. Its text had been settled earlier by Henry Kissinger and Zhou En-lai. It was based on the principle that there was ‘One China’, ergo Taiwan was part of China.

Taiwan was expelled from the UN and China’s seat at the Security Council was taken by the PRC. In December 1971, the PRC stood by its ally Pakistan. Japan was shocked by the Shanghai Communiqué. This provides a lesson to those who now court the US or any great power. Afghanistan’s president Najibullah was shown the door by the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in brutal language.

How far will Biden go in using the Taiwan card against China? On its part, China is in no hurry to forcibly take over Taiwan. It has, however, rejected all proposals to disavow the use of force against Taiwan — it is a domestic matter, not an international one. But it has done little to persuade, still less tempt Taiwan to voluntarily rejoin China. Hong Kong’s experience has been an unhappy one. President Xi Jinping will not be intimidated by Biden’s postures. But uncertainty remains. China’s military power can reach the US. The best course is for the US itself to reiterate the ‘One China’ formula and propose Taiwan’s return to China with guarantees of autonomy and respect for its democratic system.

True enough that last October, President Biden had held out a similar assurance to Taiwan. But interestingly, the US did not include Taiwan among the members of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.

It remains to be seen whether the initiatives suggested by China will be accepted.

There is, however, a more fundamental issue. It is China’s place in the evolving world order and, relatedly, China’s self-perception of its role. China has refrained from criticising Russia over Ukraine but it has indicated some distance from Russia in its position, however small.

China values its relationship with the countries of the European Union. Recently, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared that every effort should be made to prevent the war in Ukraine from intensifying to a point of no return.

Last month, President Xi proposed a Global Security Initiative “to stay committed to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security”. One is reminded of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev’s proposal for a collective security system in Asia and prime minister Alexei Kosygin’s proposal for freedom of trade and transit in Asia — both in 1969.

Writing in China Daily, Liu Guangyuan, an official at China’s foreign affairs ministry, described President Xi’s initiative as a “systematic proposal”, and as one that “underscores the importance of both traditional and nontraditional security for a peaceful and stable world”.

Liu wrote: “The interests of all countries are closely entwined. Various nontraditional security issues such as terrorism, climate change, cybersecurity, refugee crises and public health, emerging as the main threats facing all mankind, have led the world to an interconnected security dynamic that has a global impact.”

The writer claimed that both, the security initiative and the Global Development Initiative that was suggested by the Chinese president last year “are the two driving wheels of a vehicle”. They represent the need for cooperation in peace and development.

On the matter of Ukraine, China has defined its position as one based on impartiality and its own judgement of the situation. Nevertheless, as Liu wrote, Beijing “will continue in-depth exchanges with other countries and build up consensus on the Global Security Initiative. It will double down on efforts to translate the visions in the initiative into reality, respond to the calls of the times with concrete actions and work for proper settlement of regional and international hotspots for a world of lasting peace and universal security”. It remains to be seen how these claims are fulfilled. The vision may be a noble one. But will it be realised?

China wants to have closer ties with Germany, France and the Asean bloc. It also wants to have closer relations with the European Union, but realises that there may be impediments that relate to the economic bloc’s relations with the US. Xi supports a role for Europe in promoting peace talks and in the creation of a balanced European security framework. He has urged negotiations in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

There is no doubt that peace and development are the need of the hour across the world. The two initiatives that the Chinese leader has suggested carry weight. The question, as always, is one of global consensus and implementation in a world where political and economic divisions have made it hard to realise the goal of security and development for all.

India is not a nation-state or a state-nation. It is a civilisational-state

Is India a nation-state, or a state-nation? This question is sometimes asked to reconcile the oddity of the countries such as India and China within the framework of the European construct of the nation-states. The nation-state is a modern construct, comprising a single nation as its dominant constituency, and nations are based on a common language, religion, ethnicity, history and myths. A modern nation-state is bound by a defined geographical area under a sovereign power. Whereas a state-nation is said to comprise several “imagined communities” or nations where multiple identities can coexist. Does India fit into either of these frameworks? Doubtful.

The immense plurality of India on caste, religious, ethnic, linguistic and cultural grounds defies the traditional wisdom of a nation-state. But to reject the idea of nation-state, and argue it is simply several nations within a state is also inaccurate. There certainly exists a feeling of belonging to an entity with which these communities are organically linked to, beyond just belonging to the post-colonial state. The sense of Indian identity emanates not from the 19th centurty when India began to imagine itself as a nation-state in response to the challenge by the colonialism, but from the civilisational continuity and heritage of past several millennia.

At present, most of the geographically contiguous parts of India are united under a single political authority and this political unification derives its justification from a shared civilisational heritage. And this political unity under a single State is what can be termed as a civilisational-state. A civilisational-state doesn’t just represents an ethnic or linguistic community or a single religious community, but a unique civilisation distinct from others.

A civilisation can give rise to several types of political units over millennia, from kingdoms to empires to republics. Several political formations can also co-exist within civilisational boundaries with different territorial boundaries at the same time, as has been evident in India where belonging to different kingdoms didn’t preclude belonging to Bharatvarsha. Several languages, religious communities, ethnic groups can also exist within the civilisational boundaries and still feel related to each other as they have done for millennia in India.

It was only last year that I travelled to the southern city of Mangaluru for the first time. Though I come from far away Ayodhya in the Gangetic plains in the north, I was related to Mangaluru by not one but three myths and legends binding my caste, region and district to the place, all this while having no formal or direct relation to the region, nor any history of family or caste migration. This has been the Indian way of reconciling the “different”, and weaving them into a mosaic which not just preaches tolerance but acceptance and belonging to each other.

This civilisational boundary, when united under a single political unity like the Indian state today, becomes a civilisational-state. The territorial boundaries of the Republic of India hinge upon the extent of the civilisational boundaries. One way to look at the Partition of India is as a process in which a large section of the population shifted its allegiance to another civilisational narrative, started to imagine itself as the part of the different lore, leading to the mental and civilisational separation from the rest of the communities. The journey of the ideological father of Pakistan, Iqbal, is a testimony to this process.

Hindutva came into existence as an anti-imperialist construct answering the challenge posed by the modern world built on the concept of a nation-state. Proponets of this worldview naturally saw India as a nation, and Hindutva provided the intellectual foundation for it. And it was not alone in arguing for India being a single nation. After all, the national bird or the national flower were all adopted by the Indian National Congress-led government with little objection.

But while the Hindutva movement has long abandoned the slogan of “Hindi, Hindu and Hindustan”, the singular Nehruvian “Idea of India” is still sought to be imposed on all Indians. The Right wing in India does not seek to impose a single culture, language or to end religious diversity, but instead sees itself as the protector of this diversity from the threat of homogenising Abrahamic constructs.

It has watched with alarm how, in Pakistan and Bangladesh, this diversity has been rapidly lost, and is determined to not let that happen to India. It has slowly come to view India not through the lens of the European nation-states but as a civilisation and the Indian State, has a historic duty to defend and rejuvenate after centuries of invasions and chaos. The Right wing has moved, but its opponents are stuck in the rhetoric of the Weimar Republic.

Sunday Special: Having Reached the Peak of Intelligence, Are We on Cusp of Decline

Are our IQs set to increase forever, or are we on the cusp of decline? David Robson explores the past, present and future of intelligence. You may not have noticed, but we are living in an intellectual golden age.

Since the intelligence test was invented more than 100 years ago, our IQ scores have been steadily increasing. Even the average person today would have been considered a genius compared to someone born in 1919 – a phenomenon known as the Flynn effect.

We may have to enjoy it while we can. The most recent evidence suggests that this trend may now be slowing. It may even be reversing, meaning that we have already passed the summit of human intellectual potential.

Can we have really reached peak intelligence? And if that is the case, what can the subsequent decline mean for the future of humanity?

Let’s begin by exploring the ancient origins of human intelligence, from the moment our ancestors began to walk upright more than three million years ago. Scans of fossil skulls suggest that the brains of the first bipedal apes, Australopithecus, were about 400 cubic centimetres – just a third the size of modern humans’.

That comes at a serious cost. The brains of modern humans consume around 20% of the body’s energy, so our bigger brains must have offered some serious benefits to make up for those excess calories.

Cave art of ancient humans suggests a surprising intelligence (Credit: Getty Images)

There are many potential reasons for this brain boost, but according to one leading theory, it was a response to the increasing cognitive demands of group living.

From Australopithecus onwards, human ancestors began to congregate in bigger and bigger groups – perhaps, initially, as a protection against predators, which would have been a serious risk once they began sleeping on the ground rather than the trees. It would also allow individuals to pool resources – helping to spread out some of the risks of living in a changeable environment – and provide shared childcare.

For humans today, a lack of social understanding causes embarrassment; for our ancestors, it was a matter of life or death

But as many of us know from our own social circles, living with other people can be hard work: you need to keep track of each person’s personalities, their likes and dislikes, and whether or not they can be trusted with gossip. And if you are working on a group activity, like hunting, you need to be able to follow what each member is doing as you coordinate your activities. For humans today, a lack of social understanding causes embarrassment; for our ancestors, it was a matter of life or death.

Besides presenting those immediate challenges, the larger social groups would have allowed members to share ideas and build on each other’s inventions, resulting in new technological and cultural innovations, such as tools that could improve the efficiency of hunting. And for that to work, you need to have the intelligence to observe and learn from others – providing another push for greater brainpower.

By around 400,000 years ago, the brain of Homo heidelbergensis had reached around 1,200 cubic centimetres – just a shade smaller than the brains of modern humans, which are around 1,300 cubic centimetres. When our ancestors left Africa around 70,000 years ago, they were smart enough to adapt to life in almost every corner of the planet. The astonishing cave art suggests they were fully capable of thinking about huge cosmological questions – including, perhaps, their own origins.

Few experts would argue that the more recent changes to IQ are the product of this kind of genetic evolution – the timescales are simply too short.

It was only 100 years ago, after all, that scientists first invented the “intelligence quotient” to measure someone’s intellectual potential. Their success relies on the fact that many cognitive abilities are correlated. So your ability to perform spatial reasoning or pattern recognition is linked to your maths ability and your verbal prowess, and so on. For this reason, IQ is thought to reflect a “general intelligence” – a kind of underlying brainpower.

IQ is thought to reflect a “general intelligence” – a kind of underlying brainpower

Although IQ tests are often criticised, a vast body of research shows that their scores can be useful indicators of your performance on many tasks. They are especially good at predicting academic success (which is not surprising, considering that they were initially designed to be used in schools) but also predict how quickly you pick up new skills in the workplace. They are not a perfect measure, by any means – and many other factors will also shape your success – but in general they do show a meaningful difference in people’s capacity to learn and process complex information.

The rise in IQs seems to have started in the early 20th Century, but it’s only relatively recently that psychologists have started taking much notice of the phenomenon. That’s because IQ scores are “standardised” – meaning that after people take the test, their raw scores are transformed to ensure that the median of the population always remains 100. This allows you to compare people who took different forms of the IQ test, but unless you look at sources of the data, it means you would not notice differences between generations.

When the researcher James Flynn looked at scores over the past century, he discovered a steady increase – the equivalent of around three points a decade. Today, that has amounted to 30 points in some countries.

Although the cause of the Flynn effect is still a matter of debate, it must be due to multiple environmental factors rather than a genetic shift.

We have got taller over the last century or so, but that’s not due to genetic changes. Perhaps the best comparison is our change in height: we are 11cm (around 5 inches) taller today than in the 19th Century, for instance – but that doesn’t mean our genes have changed; it just means our overall health has changed.

Indeed, some of the same factors may underlie both shifts. Improved medicine, reducing the prevalence of childhood infections, and more nutritious diets, should have helped our bodies to grow taller and our brains to grow smarter, for instance.

DEEP CIVILISATION

Modern society is suffering from “temporal exhaustion”, the sociologist Elise Boulding once said. “If one is mentally out of breath all the time from dealing with the present, there is no energy left for imagining the future,” she wrote.

That’s why the Deep Civilisation season is exploring what really matters in the broader arc of human history and what it means for us and our descendants.

Some have posited that the increase in IQ might also be due to a reduction of the lead in petrol, which may have stunted cognitive development in the past. The cleaner our fuels, the smarter we became.

Whatever the cause of the Flynn effect, we may have already reached the end of this era – with the rise in IQs stalling

This is unlikely to be the complete picture, however, since our societies have also seen enormous shifts in our intellectual environment, which may now train abstract thinking and reasoning from a young age. In education, for instance, most children are taught to think in terms of abstract categories (whether animals are mammals or reptiles, for instance). We also lean on increasingly abstract thinking to cope with modern technology. Just think about a computer and all the symbols you have to recognise and manipulate to do even the simplest task. Growing up immersed in this kind of thinking should allow everyone to cultivate the skills needed to perform well in an IQ test.

Whatever the cause of the Flynn effect, there is evidence that we may have already reached the end of this era – with the rise in IQs stalling and even reversing. If you look at Finland, Norway and Denmark, for instance, the turning point appears to have occurred in the mid-90s, after which average IQs dropped by around 0.2 points a year. That would amount to a seven-point difference between generations.

Partly because they have emerged so recently, these trends are even harder to explain than the original Flynn effect. One possibility is that education has become slightly less stimulating than it once was – or at least, has not targeted the same skills. Some of the IQ tests used have assessed people’s mental arithmetic, for instance – but as Ole Rogeberg at the University of Oslo points out to me, students are probably more used to using calculators.

For now, it seems clear that our culture can shape our minds in mysterious ways.

While scientists continue to untangle the causes of those trends, it’s worth questioning what these changes in IQ actually mean for society at large. Has the IQ boost of the Flynn effect brought us the dividends we might have hoped? And if not, why not?

A special issue of the Journal of Intelligence recently raised that specific question, and in the accompanying editorial, Robert Sternberg, a psychologist at Cornell University, wrote: “People are probably better at figuring out complex cell phones and other technological innovations than they would have been at the turn of the 20th Century. But in terms of our behaviour as a society, are you impressed with what 30 points has brought us? The 2016 US presidential election was probably about as puerile as any in our history… Moreover, higher IQs have not brought with them solutions to any of the world’s or the country’s major problems – rising income disparities, widespread poverty, climate change, pollution, violence, deaths by opioid poisoning, among others.“

Sternberg may be a little too pessimistic here. Medicine has made huge strides in reducing problems like infant mortality, for example, and while extreme poverty is by no means solved, it has declined globally. That’s not to mention the enormous benefits of scientific technological advances that have, of course, relied on an intelligent workforce.

Take creativity. When researchers such as Sternberg discuss creativity, they are not just talking about artistic expression, but more grounded skills. How easily can you generate novel solutions to a problem? And how good is your “counterfactual thinking” – the ability to consider hypothetical scenarios that haven’t yet come to pass.

Intelligence should certainly help us to be more creative, but we do not see a rise in some measures of individual creative thinking over time, as our IQs increased. Whatever caused the Flynn effect, it hasn’t also encouraged us each to think in new and original ways.

You might assume that the more intelligent you are, the more rational you are, but it’s not quite this simple

Then there’s the question of rationality – how well you can make optimal decisions, by weighing up evidence and discounting irrelevant information.

You might assume that the more intelligent you are, the more rational you are, but it’s not quite this simple. While a higher IQ correlates with skills such as numeracy, which is essential to understanding probabilities and weighing up risks, there are still many elements of rational decision making that cannot be accounted for by a lack of intelligence.

Consider the abundant literature on our cognitive biases. Something that is presented as “95% fat-free” sounds healthier than “5% fat”, for instance – a phenomenon known as the framing bias. It is now clear that a high IQ does little to help you avoid this kind of flaw, meaning that even the smartest people can be swayed by misleading messages.

People with high IQs are also just as susceptible to the confirmation bias – our tendency to only consider the information that supports our pre-existing opinions, while ignoring facts that might contradict our views. That’s a serious issue when we start talking about things like politics.

Nor can a high IQ protect you from the sunk cost bias – the tendency to throw more resources into a failing project, even if it would be better to cut your losses – a serious issue in any business. (This was, famously, the bias that led the British and French governments to continue funding Concorde planes, despite increasing evidence that it would be a commercial disaster.)

Highly intelligent people are also not much better at tests of “temporal discounting”, which require you to forgo short-term gains for greater long-term benefits. That’s essential, if you want to ensure your comfort for the future.

Besides a resistance to these kinds of biases, there are also more general critical thinking skills – such as the capacity to challenge your assumptions, identify missing information, and look for alternative explanations for events before drawing conclusions. These are crucial to good thinking, but they do not correlate very strongly with IQ, and do not necessarily come with higher education. One study in the USA found almost no improvement in critical thinking throughout many people’s degrees.

Given these looser correlations, it would make sense that the rise in IQs has not been accompanied by a similarly miraculous improvement in all kinds of decision making.

A lack of rationality and critical thinking can explain why financial fraud is still commonplace, and the reason that millions of people dish out money on quack medicines or take unnecessary health risks.

Considering the sweep of human history to date, then, we can see how our brains grew to live in increasingly complex societies. And modern life, while allowing us to think more abstractly, does not appear to have corrected our irrational tendencies. We have assumed that smart people naturally absorb good decision making as they go through life – but it is now clear that is not the case.

Looking to the future, the “reverse Flynn effect” and the potential drop in IQs should certainly cause us to take stock of the ways we are using our brains, and preventing any further decline should undoubtedly be a priority for the future. But we might also make a more concerted and deliberate effort to improve those other essential skills too that do not necessarily come with a higher IQ.

We now know that this kind of thinking can be taught – but it needs deliberate and careful instruction. Promising studies of doctors’ decision making, for instance, suggest that common cognitive errors can be avoided if they are taught to be morereflective about their thinking. That could save countless lives.

But why not teach these skills in early education? Wandi Bruine de Bruin, now based at Leeds University Business School, and colleagues have shown that discussions of decision making errors can be incorporated in the history curriculum of high school students, for instance. Not only did it improve their performance of a subsequent test of rationality; it also boosted their learning of the historical facts too.

Others have attempted to revitalise the teaching of critical thinking in schools and universities – for instance, a discussion of common conspiracy theories teaches students the principles of good reasoning, such as how to identify common logical fallacies and how to weigh up evidence. Having taken those lessons, the students appear to be more sceptical of misinformation in general – including fake news.

These successes are just a small indication of what can be done, if rationality and critical thinking are given the same kind of respect we have traditionally afforded our other cognitive abilities.

Ideally, we might then start to see a steep rise in rationality – and even wisdom – in tandem with the Flynn effect. If so, the temporary blip in our IQ scores need not represent the end of an intellectual golden age – but its beginning.

Frankie or Shawarma, all food is desi

Legend has it that the idea for one of Mumbai’s best-loved street foods took root when former hockey player and salt refinery owner, Amarjeet Singh Tibb, chomped up a pita bread wrapped around a mass of meat made up of slivers of lamb kebabs, shaved off from a slowly rotating rotisserie. Pickles and crunchy vegetables gave the succulent cumin-flavoured meat company and sauces dripped out of the roll. It was 1967. Tibb was in Beirut on his way back from London.

A foodie, he was moved by the street vendor’s offering and decided to give it his own tweak. Back in Bombay (as Mumbai was known then), he found a willing co-adventurer in his wife Surinder Kaur. The West Asian flatbread was replaced by a flaky roti and Surinder’s mutton – or chicken – curry became the stuffing. The rolls were put to test on picnics with friends. And in 1969 was born the Frankie — named after the cricket legend Sir Frank Worrell.

Decades before the shawarma came to find a place in the country’s street food landscape — after liberalisation — it had inspired two Partition refugees who had made their home in India’s finance capital to create a street food dedicated to a cricketer born in Barbados. The Frankie story is part of a long — almost endless — list of fascinating accounts of give-and-take amongst cultures. But history also tells us about a counter-current — of people who want to confine food within borders. On Monday, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian added his name to this unsavoury catalogue: He requested people to avoid eating shawarma.

A lot of Subramanian’s concerns draw from reasons that have to do with hygiene. A teenager had reportedly lost her life and more than 50 people fell ill after eating shawarma at a Kerala restaurant. “Shops selling the dish don’t have proper storage facilities and they keep them outside exposing them to dust and due to the interest of youngsters, many shops have started selling the dish without any proper facilities,” he said. These are valid food safety concerns. But the minister chose to pin the main cause for these omissions on shawarma’s “Western (sic)” origins.

It is, of course, true that we tend to associate countries or regions with culinary items — Japan with sushi, Italy with pizza, Mexico with tacos, Bengal with shukto, Spain with paella. Food is also a key ingredient of regional pride. But culinary borders were porous for centuries before the word “globalisation” entered the lexicon of academics and policymakers.

Probable Next Step of Putin

The bloody war that broke out in Ukraine three months ago has expanded well past the territorial borders of Europe’s second-largest country. The invasion by Putin’s army leaves no doubt. In a recent interview, Prof. Francis Fukuyama, author of the book The End of History and the Last Man and a world-renowned expert in political economics, stated that this is an all-out war against Western democracy, the status quo and the existing world order.

The massive humanitarian crisis that is currently taking place in Ukraine, the unprecedented international sanctions against Russia and global upheaval in the international arena have rekindled the centrality, importance and forcefulness of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Beyond the additional military force available following the increase in the number of member countries in the NATO alliance, the joining of Sweden and even more so of Finland to NATO would be a significant strategic move that could lead to a crucial turning point in the war.

The opening of a new front in the Baltic Sea region and the Arctic Circle in northern Europe could be a deciding factor leading to significant change in Putin’s conduct, which is dictating the rhythm and general direction of the war in Ukraine. He is even more dangerous while he is losing, and this move could lead to an escalation of the war and the use of unconventional weapons as a way to show that Russia is winning.

Finland, Sweden and NATO

The facts speak for themselves. Although Sweden and Finland are not official members of NATO, for years they have been considered important allies and strategic partners in the alliance, which has grown from 12 to 30 countries over the years, since 1949. Since the time when the two countries joined the Partnership for Peace (PfP) program in 1994, they have been taking an active and intensive role in ongoing security activity and peace missions around the world, as well as in military exercises with leading member countries, including the United States, UK, France and Germany. Moreover, they have taken part in intelligence and security collaborations between NATO members and Scandinavian countries led by Norway, Denmark and Iceland, such as the Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO).

Although the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991 and the fall of the Soviet Bloc were supposed to put an end to the immediate military threat to the sovereignty and independence of both of these countries, this did not occur in reality.

Despite the fact that since then, the Russian Federation has been considered weaker and less threatening, its potential threat to NATO, and especially to Finland and Sweden, has not disappeared – and certainly not since Putin rose to power in 1999. Instead, this threat has become more complex and nebulous.

Meanwhile, the waning of the Cold War and the ideological struggle between the superpowers has led to the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact. The security challenge, however, remains the same, and only its character and dimensions have changed. It is no longer just a physical threat on the surface, but also a digital threat in which cyber-attacks are being carried out in cyberspace.

Against this background, the Nordic countries have maintained a strict independence and neutrality as a new virtual reality that has been expanding since the early 1990s, and especially over the last decade, has forced them to continuously carry out strategic changes and pragmatic adjustments.

Sweden and Finland have gradually expanded their military might and upgraded their national defense and security systems, alongside increasing military cooperation, bolstering defense agreements, and strengthening political ties with NATO member nations and other international bodies.

From a geopolitical and security standpoint, the two Nordic countries are important strategic partners for NATO, both quantitatively and qualitatively. They both bring with them extensive military forces and rich warfare experience, as well as an advanced air force and navy, an assortment of weapons, fighter jets, sophisticated cyber capabilities and military resources, a strong presence in the Arctic region and bases in the Baltic Sea region.

ALL OF this is necessary for NATO, especially in the areas surrounding Greenland, Iceland and the UK, given NATO’s strategic weakness at sea compared with the superiority of Russia’s navy, which operates nuclear submarines and other aquatic vessels. Their joining also helps upgrade the balance of power between the rival sides and improves the defense of the Baltic countries, specifically Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, which are frequently exposed to threats coming from Russia.

Moreover, Sweden and Finland are well-established democracies with strong economies that have been part of the European Union since 1995, have a similar liberal approach and share core values with NATO member countries. As countries with advanced high tech industries, they bring with them a wealth of knowledge and technology that is essential for the development of NATO’s security and military wings, including space and cyber activity. In this arena, they not only meet the required conditions for acceptance to the alliance, but would greatly contribute to it, due to their high standards. They constitute a role model and high point of reference for the rest of the NATO countries.

Nevertheless, there is a significant gap between the two candidates. Aside from the size of each country’s population (Finland has 5.5 million residents, whereas Sweden has over 10 million), there are also differences with respect to history, national identity and geographical location, which have led to different traditions vis-à-vis war issues and a stark difference in the size of their defense budget (in Finland, it is 2% of GDP, whereas in Sweden it is only 1.3% of GDP). Moreover, Sweden has chosen to maintain a policy of neutrality and non-intervention for ideological reasons, as this has been a mainstay of the country’s identity for over 200 years.

Finland’s style of neutrality, on the other hand, is more a matter of functionality that has been in effect for only seventy years. For Finland, the Cold War never really ended, since Russia and Finland share a 1,340 km.-long border, and the two countries have had an explosive relationship since the Winter War, in 1917. Moreover, in later years, Putin exerted political pressures and security threats on Finland.

The Finnish consciousness has always been and remains focused on defense, which is supported by receiving high-level funding over the last five decades through the national budget. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Finland’s decision to purchase F-35s, the percentage of the budget allocated to defense will be higher than the rate set by NATO for member countries. In addition, it’s important to emphasize that Finland has one of the strongest militaries in Europe, with the ability to recruit 5% of its population for military duty, compared with France, the UK and Germany, where only 0.3% of the population serves in the military.

It’s important to point out that the decision made by Sweden and Finland to join NATO was not a reckless whim that popped up out of nowhere. In fact, the opposite is true. Although the acceptance process is complicated and requires approval by all of the current member countries and could take a long time, from their point of view, they are taking these necessary precautionary measures instead of waiting for the Russian bear to carry out its threats to attack them, as was the case with Ukraine.

Furthermore, their decision to join an organization that enjoys broad public support (76% in Finland and 57% in Sweden), is coming after years of strong opposition. The two countries have been mulling over this decision, and soberly examining the cost-benefit considerations as the situation in Europe becomes more and more chaotic. Because of Putin’s aggressive policies, Europe is no longer a calm quiet place. In 2008, Russia invaded Georgia, and in 2014, Russia unilaterally annexed the Crimean Peninsula. And of course, the most recent deterioration over the last few months of relations between Ukraine and Russia.

There is no doubt, therefore, that these steps constitute another front in the struggle against the leader of the Kremlin, which could spur him to carry out his threats in Ukraine and use chemical, biological or tactical nuclear weapons in an effort to illustrate the seriousness of his intentions.

Finland and Sweden’s strategic decision to move from a neutral to an active stance and become a de facto member of NATO is a dramatic change that goes beyond adjustments in its political positioning. It reflects rapid changes following the upheaval and transformations that are currently taking place in the international arena, and the transition from self-reliance and national security to joining a collective force and relying on alliances and joint agreements that provide international security.

Another benefit of their joining is that NATO will become a bigger organization, with greater geopolitical deployment. It would finally be a European Bloc with the power to block the Russian bear. With Finland and Sweden as members, NATO would benefit from greater capabilities and resources it never had in the past, enabling it to finally be capable of responding to threats on several fronts simultaneously, especially at specific borders between Russia, and eastern and northern Europe.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated last week that NATO is not part of the struggle between Russia and Ukraine, and that although the war will probably not end any time soon, Ukraine will be victorious and NATO will support it until it wins. Is that really so? Do any of these proclamations constitute a true guarantee for Ukraine’s security?

And what about Sweden and Finland’s declaration that they wish to join NATO? Will it deter Putin, or will it act as a catalyst and spur him on to intensify the struggle to erase Ukraine and the Ukrainians from the map? There’s no way to know; only time will tell.

Pir Haji Ali The Sufi Saint

Pir Haji ASli Dargah Mumbai

Few Pirs or Sufi saints in South Asia can match the popularity the 14th century Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari, popular as Haji Ali, enjoys. I have been to the doors of this sacred soul umpteenth times. And the Dargah of the Pir in Bombay is a landmark that draws miilions every year. Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari or Baba Haji Ali was a Sufi saint, a Hajji, born to a wealthy merchant family from Uzbekistan. His shrine in Haji Ali Dargah is situated in India’s largest city Mumbai. Legend has it that Saint Haji Ali died when he went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, but miraculously, his casket floated across the sea and ended up on the shores of Mumbai. This is how this iconic mosque in Mumbai came into existence.

When I was in Bombay, I used to visit the dargah every now and then – and not becuase I am religious or an acolyte of any pir, but only to see this dargah set in the ocean like a shining jewel. .

One Sunday after when I stood there watching the Western horizon bathed in a golden hue while the sea waters lashed against the naked black rocks acting as protective arms to the shrine, a thought came to my mind. Shah Jahan was badshah of India which was bigger in territory than what we have today. He could order the best and the costliest marble available on the planet then to build a mausoleum, which outshines most world monuments, in majesty and beauty, many centuries later. There are some people  who have openly shown strong itch to, if not demolish the Taj, at least change its name. Naam mein kya rakha hai? A lot. But then that deserves another essay. Let us keep that for another day.

In contrast, Haji Ali didn’t own a kingdom. He was a fakir, a holy man who had eschewed the desire for power and self. Yet, his kingdom continues to flourish five centuries after he departed. Commoners have added to the shrine’s coffers. There may have been some big donors too. But much of the money in charity to the shrine comes from the commoners, men and women, who throng the shrine seeking solace and blessings. The administrative officer of Haji Ali Dargah Trust, Mohammed Ahmed Taher, told me that there are over a lakh visitors on Thursday, Friday and Sunday while over 50,000 visit on other days of the week.

Huge donation boxes are kept near the shrine. Nobody forces anybody to dig into her pocket. The devotees donate out of their own will.

So, when the trust needed to renovate the old structure, they debated for a while whether it was prudent to replace it with another RCC structure. Engineers and architects told the trustees that the salt-mixed sea water and air corrode cement-and-iron structure easily. They would eat into the shrine’s structural strength in a few decades. And the structure needed to be earthquake-resistant too. Then someone cited example of the Taj Mahal which stands on the banks of an ancient but living river. Majestically and seductively. What is in the Taj that makes it so strong and gives it such a longevity? Among other things, it is  Makrana marble. They found an owner of a mine in Makrana whose ancestors had supplied marble to the Taj.

While digging the mine, says Taher, a miracle happened. They stumbled upon Grade one marble, better than the ones used in the Taj. After all, Shah Jahan ruled a country. Haji Ali rules millions of hearts. The saint deserved and deserves better treatment than what was accorded to an emperor who had lost his heart to his bewitchingly beautiful wife who bore 14 children. Seven of them survived to adulthood. Their third child, Aurangzeb, went on to rule India for nearly 50 years. What he did and didn’t do during his long reign is for the historians to comment. And they must tell the world the whole truth preferably from atop the Qutub Minar. Will the honest historians who have done rigorous research come out with the explanations why Aurangzeb did what he did?

To me, Aurangzeb’s forebear Akbar is the most important among Mughal emperors. Aurangzeb’s eldest brother Dara Shikoh and heir-apparent of Shah Jahan, could have changed the course of history had destiny not played a cruel joke with him. Those who hate the Mughals so much that they are bent upon erasing the memories of the dynasty need to separate wheat from the chaff. Dara Shikoh spent months in Banaras, learnt Sanskrit and understood the Hindu scriptures and mythologies from learned Pandits and translated many of the Hindu holy texts into Persian. The translations travelled far and wide, making the world aware of much of the ancient wisdom. His Majmaul Bahrain (Co-mingling of the oceans) is a great treatise on commonalities between Islam and Hinduism. But in the hatred of the Mughals and frankly today’s Muslims who cannot be held responsible if some places of worship were razed by a fanatical king, the hate brigade is burying rich legacies of even Akbar and Dara Shikoh in the mighty Ganga and Jamuna.

Did I mention Ganga? Recalling the arrival of Muslims to India as well as acknowledging debt of the Ganga, the poet Allama Iqbal said:

Aye abrood-e-Ganga woh din hai yaad tujhko/Utra tere kinare jab caravan humara (O river Ganga, do you remember the day/When our caravans descended on your banks).

But those who have put on the blinkers refuse to accept if there ever existed something called Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb or the widely celebrated synthetic ethos of India. In urgency to rob the rainbow that drapes India and to turn India into a dull, divisive monocolour they are hitting at its soul.

When I was in schooll, I wrote an essay titled “India of my dreams” and sent it to a local newspaper. The editor was kind enough to publish it. In that essay I had dreamt of an India where “no mullahs or mahanths could succeed to fan the fires of communalism”. How wrong I have been proved decades down the line? One thought the handing over of the Ayodhya land by the Supreme Court to the Hindus would put closure to future disputes over places of worship. It didn’t happen and we are still fighting in the name of Mandir-Masjid.

Once at a book discussion function in Mumbai years ago, I called former BBC correspondent and noted “romantic writer” Mark Tully who believed Indian masses would defeat the purveyors of hate. “Yes, I am a romantic and believe so,” replied Tully at the session that late journo-writer Anil Dharker anchored. Have we not proved Tully wrong by creating an atmosphere of animosity and hatred decades later?

In these times, one thinks departed holy souls like Haji Ali are rays of hope. I saw hordes of devotees, irrespective of religions they profess and practise, standing shoulder-to-shoulder near the Sufi saint’s tomb, offering flower petals and seeking blessings. One mujawar (shrine attendant) kept touching foreheads of the devotees with a broom-like thing. Perhaps he was passing on the benevolent touch of the Pir to the aam junta who needs divine intervention to get their suffering mitigated.

Politicians cannot solve our problems. We need plentiful of divine touches. When am I visiting Haji Ali next?

India Occupies Center Stage in Quad That is Taking the Shape of a Permanent Structure

Two dimensions were palpable in the Quad meeting in Tokyo: First, India’s growing influence and its centrality in the group and second, the Quad is emerging as a permanent structure in the Indo-Pacific. India’s increasing sway resulted in moderating the Joint Statement on Ukraine-Russia conflict and dilution of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and new initiatives have been taken by the group that places it on a solid foundation.

A number of decisions/statements suggest the members of the Quad consider that India is pivotal for achieving the objectives of the Quad, hence they accommodated India’s concerns. First, though the US pulled no punches against Russia and Joe Biden in his statement termed the Russian invasion as “brutal and unjustified”, this did not find any place in the Joint Statement. It mentioned only that “members discussed respective responses to the conflict in Ukraine and the ongoing tragic humanitarian crisis, and assessed its implications for the Indo-Pacific.”

Second, the main tenor of the Joint Statement focused on the Indo-Pacific issues. It stated “that the Quad is a force for good, committed to bringing tangible benefits to the region.” This reverberated PM Modi’s words: ‘The objective of the Quad is to do global good.” Indian leaders have been pushing this view at various international and bilateral forums.

Third, there was stress on the non-acceptability of unilateral attempts to change the status quo- a term used for the Chinese efforts at the LAC and the South China Sea (SCS). Without naming China, the statement said the members “strongly oppose any coercive, provocative or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo and increase tensions in the area, such as the militarization of disputed features, the dangerous use of coast guard vessels and maritime militia, and efforts to disrupt other countries’ offshore resource exploitation activities.” India has been opposing the Chinese incursions into EEZs of other countries and safeguarding its interests in the SCS is included in the Indian Naval Doctrine. Besides, India’s oil exploration activities were objected by China in the past.

Fourth, importantly terrorism was condemned in all forms-an Indian objective. It specifically condemned the 26/11 and Pathankot attacks sponsored by Pakistan. It also took notice of about the concerns of the growth of terrorism in Afghanistan and underscored the importance of UNSC Resolution 2593 (2021). The Joint Statement also stressed the need for upholding international standards on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism by all countries, consistent with FATF recommendations. This recommendation would add to the problems of Pakistan, which it is under the observation of this international body.

Fifth, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) was modified to accommodate India’s views. Instead of directly launching, it now focuses on consultations on the lines of India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) on its four pillars. This change has resulted in the acceptance of IPEF by 13 countries including India. India’s External Affairs Minister Jaishankar has aptly put its importance in an article in the Hindustan Times: “The launching of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework is expected to advance common interests in trade, supply chains, infrastructure, and finance.”

While PM Modi’s emphasis on neutrality on the issue of Russia was expected, the change in the US approach is noteworthy. From “shaky” position of India and that “there would be consequences” for not condemning Russia, now Biden desires ‘the US-India relations to be closest on earth.’ India’s Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra remarked that there was good appreciation of India’s position on the issue. Biden also praised PM Modi’s handling of Covid and contrasted it with the Chinese failure. He also highlighted that the Vaccine Maitri scheme helped several countries in their fight against the pandemic. The newly elected PM of Australia Anthony Albanese also praised India’s contribution stating that ‘the vaccines supplied by India to other countries made a difference on the ground.’ Similarly, the Japanese PM also complimented India’s role. The statements and decisions in the Quad Summit indicate that all members accept India’s key role in achieving the objective of free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.

The Tokyo Summit also indicates that the Quad has taken the shape of a permanent structure in the period of fast shifting of strategic equations among the international players. And importantly in the words of Jaishankar, ‘while India has overcome the hesitations of history, it also meant not giving other countries a veto on our choices’. That this collaboration would not affect India’s national interests is quite comforting and also indicates India’s rising stature.

An underlying objective that remains significant is to check the Chinese expansion. An important step taken in this context is to promote debt sustainability and transparency, including through the Quad Debt Management Resource Portal. A commitment to extend more than $ 50 bn of infrastructure assistance and investment over the next five years has been made. The Quad fund will be spent on creation of demand-driven infrastructure in the region. Obviously, this step is aimed at countering the Chinese debt trap scheme under its BRI.

However, now Quad’s agenda has broadened and covers more aspects needed for the economic development of the region. Besides the above-mentioned infrastructure to save the countries from becoming a victim of the BRI, four additional steps deserve attention. First, arrangements have been made to mitigate problems arising from the natural disasters. According to the US White House statement, Quad would also work with the New-Delhi-based Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI). The Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA), a new initiative designed to work with regional partners to respond to humanitarian and natural disasters and combat illegal fishing. It will cooperate with the Indo-Pacific nations and regional information fusion centres in the Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Second step is the creation of the Quad Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Package (Q-CHAMP). This includes ongoing activities under the Quad Climate Working Group on green shipping and ports, clean hydrogen and clean energy supply chains.

Third step is the building of the capabilities of the countries in the domain of cyber security under the Quad cybersecurity Partnership programme. An understanding on 5G supplier diversification and Open-RAN will contribute to secure telecommunications in the region.

Fourth, a STEM Fellowship establishes the educational connection between the member nations.

The data satellite portal connects all the members in space, which had been introduced earlier. The big picture that emerges is that the Quad has assumed the shape of a permanent structure to ensure peace and stability in the region, which is facing the increasing Chinese aggressiveness after the latter has discarded the mask of its peaceful rise. And India is not only a part of this mechanism but has a leading role in it. In essence, the Quad is geared to change the environment that allows coercion of smaller countries and obstructs economic development by paving the way for rule-based order for security and trade development for the benefit of all in the region. It must be added that it needs greater support from the countries in the region for achieving the full potentials of the combined strength of all. Yes, the current environment is putting the Indian diplomatic skills to test: it has to maintain good relations with US, EU and Russia and manage China to restrain it from indulging in aggressive acts at the LAC and contain its undesirable acts in the SCS and Indian Ocean.

New frontiers of intelligence analysis: Influence operations and manipulation of civil societies

The profession of intelligence analysis faces serious challenges emerging from a rapidly changing security and intelligence environment. The key characteristics of this new environment include not only complex, borderless and adaptive adversaries that have harnessed advanced technologies and distributed, decentralized networks but also the targets and tools have undergone a drastic change. The new strategy focuses on manipulation of individuals/groups to change their narrative to help adversaries. Ajit Doval India’s NSA aptly stated while speaking at the passing out parade of the 73 rd batch of IPS probationers last year: ‘Civil societies are the new frontiers of wars.’

Adversaries can achieve the objective of wars easily by manipulating civil societies through the process of influence operations pushing the target population to accept the narrative that hurts the interests of their nation. While the concept of influencing the will or behaviour of adversaries is not new, they have taken now a shape of warfare with their strategic use at the scale and scope aided by technological advances not witnessed earlier. The increasingly widespread and well-planned use of social media, digital and other means of communications has made it possible to reach larger audiences with customized and targeted contents at a lightning speed, unthinkable earlier.

The influence operations, used as effective tools to manipulate the cognitive process of the target populations, is now termed as the cognitive wars, which have the capacity even to bypass the results of the conventional wars by pushing the planned narrative to change their behaviour and break the will power of the nation to oppose the adversary. Cognitive processes include perceiving, knowing, thinking, remembering, assessing, and action-decision-making. These all constitute the ‘inside of action’, which later results in ‘considered action’. In this, human mind becomes the battlefield. It involves manipulations in the cognitive domain aimed at altering the perceptions of the targets in favour of the adversary.

Manipulated information is so heavily bombarded with aggregated impressions through social media platforms and other channels of communications that it becomes almost impossible not to be influenced by the constant flow of impressions being made with images, headlines, false narratives, discord and fake videos. The attacks are specially designed to infect cognitive systems of the targets by collecting and analysing their data and designing special influence operations exploiting their biases and preferences. The resulting conflict of facts and clashing of opinions degrades rational thought process and confuse the targets which in turn harms democracy and adversely impacts national security. They create a pre-determined perception resulting in a predetermined action among the target audience to gain advantage over the rival. All the tools of information warfare are used in a coordinated manner to elicit the predetermined narrative and action. Simply, it is weaponization of public opinion by an external entity.

India is one of the fastest growing markets of social media users but unfortunately due to the lack of awareness, laws and mechanism to check the spread of rumours, fake news and manipulated videos, it easy to manipulate the Indian population. Governance system is projected biased and broken and the ruling regime’s legitimacy questionable. Special platforms are formed to project the predetermined narrative as the views of those ‘influential political leaders’ whose cognitive capabilities have been impaired to think rationally.

There are three distinct advantages of this warfare. First, the social media using the cyber space allows one to address all the targets en masse and providing them with visual clips/ videos for

effect. Second, one can maintain deniability as the attribution remains a problem. Third, it is a low-cost operation to weaken the Comprehensive National Strength which proves more effective than physical destruction of war materials of the adversary. Fissures in the society breaks the will power of the nation to oppose the adversary. Influence operations are also used in elections to tilt the results that could help the initiator.

The targeting of civil society through influence operations is our adversaries’ métier. China’s sinister designs to influence various segments in India had been brought out in a report prepared by the Law and Society Alliance, released on the 3rd September 2021. Besides students, a sharper focus is made on journalists, influential persons who act as opinion shapers of the society and even top-policy-makers. Selected persons are sent to China for brainwashing and serve later as the ‘useful idiots’ of the CCP. China applies ‘three warfare’ strategy for this purpose- psychological warfare to manipulate important nodes in the target country; media warfare is covert and overt media manipulations to spread its claims/arguments and negate the arguments of its adversaries; and legal warfare to publicise/justify its fabricated legal arguments to manipulate audiences abroad. The Chinese strategists use ‘three warfare’ to weave together political, military and psychological elements into an overall strategic design.

Pak ISI/Jihadi combine use various social media platforms, websites, TV and radio to push disinformation to manipulate the thought process of youth. The radicalisation of youth is taking place through the use of websites, which they have created. The Taliban rule in Afghanistan facilitates ISI/Pak-sponsored-Jihadis to strengthen their nexus with IS-K and Haqqani network turning crossed border terrorism into international terrorism. In addition, there are social and political groups, which for their own interests spread rumours on sensitive communal issues. Most communal incidents in India were preceded by intensified circulation of fake videos/images to incite people to resort to violence, usually with external involvement and always exploited by our adversaries.

The deleterious impact of the invisible but powerful influence operations and targeting of civil society have assumed dangerous dimensions. This is a 365-day-a-year threat. To respond to this challenge, intelligence must constantly adapt its technological and organizational infrastructures and update its professional culture. This is necessary to avoid the danger of being surpassed by the sudden development of new, and potentially destabilizing instruments.

The cognitive-warfare demands a separate specialisation of intelligence analysis based on multidisciplinary approach to understand the tools used, plans for manipulations, contents of misinformation and the strengths and weaknesses of socio-economic-political-religious environment in which the influence operations operate. Traditional, evidence-based approaches to intelligence analysis are inadequate in an environment characterized by logarithmic and unpredictable challenges. Intelligence analysis must develop new analytic tools, techniques and ways of thinking to meet current and upcoming analytic challenges. The counter-influence operations can succeed only if adversary’s plans and modus-operandi are well understood.

The following steps need to be taken in this context-

1. Arranging analytic training in new tools and techniques including multiple conceptual frameworks, multiplayer gaming, interdisciplinary studies, complexity science and networked systems behaviours, creative thinking and “sense-making” methods.

2. Introducing a system of hiring a culturally-diverse, technologically-savvy cadre of analysts including neuro-scientists, psychologists and social-scientists and leveraging their capabilities. They should form a mixed group working together to understand the game-plans of adversaries. Cases of individuals/groups affected by influence operations should be studied in-depth.

3. Not only timely sharing of information but also sharing of insights across organizational, jurisdictional, and national boundaries are necessary. Network-centric thinking and collaboration within intelligence agencies and the national intelligence communities, is imperative. On the issues of international terrorism, the international cooperation is desirable.

It is heartening to note that the Home Minister has sanctioned funds for the upgradation of Multi Agency Centre for analysis and assessment making. It is hoped that the attacks on the civil society would receive the due attention. In addition, there is also an urgent need to counter the pernicious influence though an effective citizen awareness campaign. This needs not only ‘whole-of-government-approach’ but ‘whole-of-nation-approach.

Saturday Special: The Beginning of The Alien Invasion of Antarctica

As the world warms, non-native species threaten Earth’s last great wilderness. At the bottom of the stairwell leading to deck five, an alien lies upturned on green nonslip flooring. If you get close enough, you can see one of its six legs twitching and one of its translucent wings crushed to pieces. Unlike the throng of Antarctic expeditioners aboard the RSV Nuyina, Australia’s newest icebreaking ship, it hasn’t cleared customs. 

Days after the Nuyina departed its harbor in Hobart, Tasmania, the alien buzzed its way across the Derwent River, slipped through an open door and zipped into the bowels of the ship until this restless, twitching death. 

Scientists call the creature Musca domestica. You likely know it as the housefly.

Even if it hadn’t been felled by an errant hand or boot, it likely wouldn’t have survived the journey to Antarctica. At temperatures below 14 degrees Fahrenheit, flies move lackadaisically and seem to barely get airborne. Surviving flies buzz at the ship’s windows, trying to escape the upper decks. 

If their prison break were to succeed, they’d find themselves facing seemingly endless waters, with nowhere to go. The Southern Ocean provides a formidable barrier to entering Antarctica, a great wall of water and powerful currents that has separated the continent from the rest of the world for about 30 million years. Couple that with freezing temperatures, and the Antarctic provides little hope for a wayward housefly trapped on a ship.

The RSV Nuyina during its maiden voyage to Antarctica in January.Pete Harmsen/AAD

But Antarctica’s temperature is changing, and dramatically. In March, a French-Italian basein East Antarctica recorded temperatures 70 degrees higher than average for that time of year. That may just be an unprecedented anomaly, but it’s expected the continent’s average temperatures could rise a few degrees by 2050. In particular regions, like the western peninsula, the continent is warming at a rate 10 times faster than the rest of the world. In February 2020, the temperature at Argentina’s Esperanza Base research station reached 18.3 degrees Fahrenheit – an all-time high – providing the kind of conditions a wayward housefly might survive in. 

Historically, it’s been difficult for lost flies to reach the most southern landmass on Earth. As Antarctic explorers aimed to discover and map the continent in the 1800s, humans began providing fleeting opportunities for alien trespass. A handful of nations with a permanent presence across the continent annually resupply research stations that provide permanent outposts for studying the ice and the Antarctic ecosystem. 

It’s become easier to reach the continent and its surroundings by sea or air, but it remains an exclusive club. “Back-of-the-napkin math, less than a million people in the entire history of human existence have visited Antarctica,” says Dana Bergstrom, an ecologist at the Australian Antarctic Division. 

But that too is changing. Before the pandemic slowed cruises to a halt, Antarctic tourism was on the rise. In the 2019-20 season, almost 75,000 people visited the continent, according to IAATO, the chief tourist body in the Antarctic. That’s a 35% increase over the previous season.

Wherever humans go, so too our pests. Signatories to the Antarctic Treaty and the Madrid Protocol, which include protections for the Antarctic environment, must endeavor to limit their effects on the pristine wilderness, and tourist bodies like IAATO and national Antarctic programs go to great lengths to prevent biological invasions. But their strategies aren’t bulletproof. 

If an alien were to slip in, it could be disastrous for the delicate Antarctic ecosystems hidden from the world for millennia.

“It’s a super special place to understand how the planet works,” says Bergstrom. “And so it’s really worthwhile putting all our efforts to try to keep nature operating without interfering.”

An Adélie penguin colony on Shirley Island, near Casey Station. Introducing alien species could disrupt the fragile Antarctic ecosystem.Louise Emmerson/AAD

The Thing(s)

On the eastern edge of Antarctica, a collection of shipping containers and sheds lies in an ice-free oasis. Surrounded by a variety of wildlife, including Adélie penguins massed on nearby islands, the base, called Davis, is Australia’s southernmost presence on the continent. 

In 2014, its hydroponics facility was the site of an infamous alien invasion.

In May of that year, expeditioners entered the facility, composed of two gray shipping containers, to pick fresh greens for the chef’s evening meal. They trudged across the snow-covered Davis grounds and opened the door, as if stepping through a portal. They were greeted by the sight of leafy vegetables arranged neatly, the sound of trickling water and, most obviously, heat. 

During the vegetable collection, they inspected the facility’s water and noticed a black mat had developed over the surface. “When they looked closer, they realized it wasn’t a mat,” says Andy Sharman, environmental manager at the Australian Antarctic Division, “it was thousands of tiny invertebrates.”

Davis had been invaded by The Thing, a thousand times over. An alien species of arthropod known as Xenylla had snuck into the facility and began multiplying in the warm, wet conditions. The flealike critters, known as collembolans, hadn’t been seen in this region of the Antarctic before but had become established in warmer areas. A crack team of scientists deduced that should they get out, they might threaten the local ecosystem.

A view inside of the Davis hydroponic facility in 2017.Marc Mills

Almost immediately, the station went into eradication mode. “We had a biohazard response like you might get with a virus or disease,” notes Sharman.

The effort was blazingly fast. The response team sprayed alcohol throughout the facility, then bagged and burned everything, including recently harvested vegetables that had already made it to the Davis kitchen. The building was subjected to rigorous freeze-thaw cycling; the heat would trick any leftover eggs into hatching and then the temperatures would drop to minus 11 degrees Celsius, killing the hatchlings. 

The response team also took extreme social distancing measures. “We actually lifted the whole building out and parked it on the sea ice and left it there,” says Sharman. A few months after the discovery and various eradication measures, the containers were shipped back to Australia.

An investigation into the source of the incursion eventually discovered that the aliens likely got in through plant feed. Subsequent monitoring hasn’t found the collembolan in the area since, but other stations have experienced invasions, too, and protecting the continent from such risks is a constant battle. 

Exterminating The Things at Davis is one of the Australian Antarctic Division’s success stories, but the threat of incursion is constant. Invertebrates are the most widely dispersed non-native species and are known to hide in shoes and bags, while plant seeds can become stuck in Velcro and marine creatures can lurk in ballast tanks on vessels. 

Australia’s Casey Station, on the eastern fringe of Antarctica, has battled outbreaks of a mushroom fly in its sewage system stretching back over two decades. It’s likely that the creature made the journey hidden within fresh produce, and efforts to eradicate it have been ongoing. Similarly, in 2017, expeditioners at a Polish base on the Antarctic Peninsula detected a non-native fly in the sewage system. It was able to slip containment and disperse, even though it’s not a particularly adept flier and can’t tolerate extreme cold, highlighting the continued threat invaders pose to the continent’s delicate ecosystem.

Left: A map of Antarctica showing the location of Australia’s three major research outposts. Top right: The new hydroponics facility at Davis, 2017. Bottom right: Adélie penguins near the wharf at Casey Station.AAD/Marc Mills/John Cadden

Invertebrates lurking in and around human settlements can be tracked, monitored and, hopefully, eradicated. Bergstrom, the ecologist from the Australian Antarctic Division, notes that Australia’s strict biosecurity measures have been highly effective so far. 

Even so, there are trillions of invaders, invisible to the naked eye, that can slip right past us using their own specialized mode of transport: you. 

Aliens

One of the world’s most formidable aliens, SARS-CoV-2, breached Antarctica in March 2020. The trespasser was likely in the airways of a tourist aboard an Argentinian ship that visited several small islands near the Antarctic Peninsula. It wasn’t until December 2020, when 36 members of the Chilean Navy stationed at the Bernardo O’Higgins research outpost tested positive for COVID-19, that the virus truly conquered the last of the world’s seven continents. 

“A single case would essentially shut down a program, ship or a station.” says Dane Brookes, AAD expedition medical officer.

The coronavirus poses a threat to the some 5,000 researchers stationed across the continent and could disrupt or suspend operations at research stations. The virus thrives in the spaces humans have built on the frozen landscape: humid indoor areas where expeditioners constantly come into close contact with one another. Antarctica may be isolated and extremely cold, but humans have built exceptional breeding grounds for the coronavirus.

“Our research stations aren’t designed for pandemics or infectious disease control,” says Dane Brookes, an expedition medical officer with the Australian Antarctic Division spending the winter at Macquarie Island. “If a COVID case got into a station, it would spread rapidly.”

For that reason, those traveling south face extreme restrictions. Before boarding a vessel or plane down south with Australia’s Antarctic Division, all expeditioners must be vaccinated and undergo a 14-day quarantine period. Blue-gowned nurses visit isolated expeditioners on three occasions, scraping up any viral particles lurking in throats and noses. If the coronavirus were to get into an Antarctic station, it could be disastrous. 

“A single case would essentially shut down a program, ship or a station,” says Brookes.

Traveling to Antarctica requires strict quarantine and this — nose swabs we’ve all become familiar with during the pandemic.Pete Harmsen/AAD

There’s also a risk, albeit a very low one, that the virus could infect or take refuge in Antarctic wildlife. “We know that the host range of SARS-CoV-2 is really broad,” notes Michelle Wille, a virologist at the University of Sydney. Research has shown that birds are resistant to infection by SARS-CoV-2, which means penguin colonies are likely in the clear, but computer modeling has shown Antarctic whales and dolphins strongly bind the virus. This makes them susceptible to infection, but “without follow-up experiments it’s hard to quantify the risk of transmission,” says Wille.

Wille and her colleagues compiled a list of recommendations for people visiting the continent in 2020. They follow many of the COVID restrictions we’ve come to know over the past two years, such as quarantine, predeparture PCR testing and social distancing (though, in this case, not distancing from other humans, but from Antarctica’s wildlife). 

Though incursions by SARS-CoV-2 have been rare, the threat is ever present. The omicron variant, which caused a surge in case numbers around the world at the end of 2021, reached a Belgian base in January 2022. Many of the nations with routes to the Antarctic are battling outbreaks, which has significantly impacted research activities and prevented access to the continent as bases have locked down. It’s unlikely to be the last time the coronavirus invades and, two years after its emergence, it doesn’t seem we’re prepared for the next incursion.

The Abyss

As the world warms and conditions become more favorable for aliens to thrive in Antarctic waters, there will be an extra front to defend: the ocean. 

However, for aliens to invade by sea, they have to cross Earth’s strongest current: the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The ACC is a natural shield, rotating clockwise around the continent and kicking out any floating organisms that might find their way south. Humans, though, conquered the current more than a century ago.

Icebreaking vessels and tourist ships can navigate the treacherous waters, giving non-native species a chance to hitchhike from ports across the globe. “Ships that visit Antarctica visit every other part of the world, so potential pathways stretch everywhere,” says Arlie McCarthy, a doctoral student at the University of Cambridge studying marine organisms in the Antarctic. Those pathways are becoming more well-traveled as time goes on, and they pose an increasing threat to Antarctica’s fragile ecosystems. 

Icebreaking vessels, like the RSV Nuyina, provide access to Antarctica for expeditioners — but they also might be vectors for alien species.Jackson Ryan/CNET

In 2020, researchers discovered that mussels, originating from Patagonia, had settled in the Antarctic Peninsula. The species had arrived in Fildes Bay, on the West Antarctic peninsula, and was most likely brought in clinging to the hull of a ship. However, what kind of ship is hard to know. Over 50% of the vessels visiting the peninsula in recent years are filled with tourists. Another third arrive for scientific research. And both of these activities are increasing. 

Warming waters have the potential to expose ecosystems that have been isolated for 25 million years, but it’s notoriously hard to predict which species may invade and how damaging they’ll be. “In many ways, we really don’t know what the potential risks for Antarctica are,” says McCarthy. The combination of unique species and isolation is unlike anything anywhere else in the world.

Even so, scientists are trying to understand which species are primed to invade. A group of Australian scientists, using a machine learning algorithm, were able to identify four marine species that could threaten the Antarctic marine ecosystem today and an additional five under future climate change scenarios. One species, the Northern Pacific seastar, is a particularly problematic invader. The starfish, which is native to the Northern Hemisphere, has invaded Tasmanian waterways – likely after being transported by a shipping vessel.

Scientists don’t know exactly what kind of effects warming waters will have. There are encouraging results from the machine learning research, however. The risk of non-native species invading and establishing in Antarctic waters remains “very low” through to 2100 because the continent is just too cold and too far away. Surveillance and monitoring for any new arrivals remains paramount to keeping aliens out.

The Fly

By the time RSV Nuyina crossed into the Antarctic Circle, the houseflies that snuck onto the ship during the first days of the voyage had disappeared. 

Except for a few stowaways.

If the aliens arrive, they’ll need to be eradicated. Such a task could be exorbitantly expensive and difficult and might even disturb the local ecosystem more. Stopping an invasion before it begins seems to be the best form of mitigation, but is it impossible? Everywhere humans have stepped foot, we’ve carried aliens with us. The Antarctic is a special place with formidable barriers, but it isn’t immune. 

“We’ve been lucky so far,” says Bergstrom, the ecologist from the Australian Antarctic Division. “But it won’t stay that way.”

The Ugly Indian VIP

A state-of-the-art stadium serves the needs of athletes. A private airline sets a price for tickets, and customers get what they pay for. These statements are axiomatic. Yet, in the last fortnight, two incidents shine a light on the ossified sense of entitlement of India’s upper bureaucracy that gives the lie to them. On the field and in the air, there appears to be an expectation of the bureaucrat’s right of way, lit up by the lal batti’s halo. In a country riddled with inequality, where the VIP enjoys privileges and exemptions, from the toll booth to the airport, the babu continues to be out of touch with the temper of the times.

On Thursday, it was reported that the Delhi government-run Thyagraj Stadium has been closing its grounds to athletes at 7 pm, apparently to allow Principal Secretary (Revenue) Sanjeev Khirwar to walk his dog on the track. While Khirwar has denied that his canine’s constitutional disrupted the athletes’ routine, the evidence from the ground points the other way.

In the aftermath of the report, the Delhi government has ordered that the stadium be kept open till 10 pm and the Centre has asked the LG to take action. Just days earlier, on May 14, another report in this paper detailed how Rajiv Bansal, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, and his wife received tickets at cheaper than market rates from Air India for a personal trip to the US. In addition, they were upgraded to first class.

The reason these incidents have a wide resonance is that they do not come across as exceptions. Rather, they are part of a pattern, a culture that has come to be associated with the “steel frame”. Almost every other aspect of the Indian state has witnessed a churn — democratic impulses have deepened and entire sectors have opened up to questions and challenges. But the bureaucracy often seems to be the wing of government that has most retained its colonial character. Bureaucrats don’t stand up to their political masters on matters of principle often enough.

At the other end, the officer, ostensibly a public servant, maintains a distance from the people and all too often thinks nothing of what his “perks” cost them. At the stadium, for example, athletes were forced to practice during the day in the middle of a heatwave because the premises were closed early. There is much written and said about how the bureaucracy needs to reform. For a start, every officer needs to know that there is a price to be paid for being an ugly VIP.

Yasin Malik Symbolizes Kashmir militancy’s long arc, overshadowed by Pakistan

Yasin Malik picked up the gun more than 30 yrs ago; gave it up in the mid-90s. For a while, the Indian state invested in him, but ended up disappointed. Malik’s life and career traces the arc of militancy itself in Kashmir, a problem stoked by Pakistan, which neither force nor statecraft from India has yet succeeded in taming. “The matter is simple, there are cases against me pending in court, but now 11 years have passed and Government of India has not even started the trial,” Yasin Malik said in 2001 in an interview to the BBC, when asked how many killings he had ordered and would take responsibility for as the leader of the Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front.

Malik’s political career exemplified the politics of bad faith all around. He was always sympathetic to secession. His radicalisation preceded the rigged election of 1987. He was accused of killing four Air Force officers. It is difficult to imagine any country indulging such a killing. But such is the depth of grievance and violence in Kashmir that he managed to convert that act into a narrative of retaliation against prior violence by the Indian state. The Indian state then arrested him, and ended up with the worst of both worlds. It never seriously sought to fairly convict him for his crimes. But it tortured him and created a political martyr. Malik then ostensibly read Mandela and Gandhi and renounced violence, though there does not appear to be any evidence from his organisational activity that he did so. This fighter for Kashmiri self-determination was also a front for Pakistan. The Indian state, then, on occasion elevated him to great political stature and sustained him as if he were a key interlocutor. If this negotiation had produced a lasting settlement, this indulgence might have been excusable.

A trial did take place, even if 20 years later — in a case that in 2001 was yet to come.

The life term given to Malik on Wednesday after conviction on charges of conspiracy between Kashmiri separatists and the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and its leader Hafiz Saeed, for raising and accepting funds for carrying out terrorist and secessionist acts in 2016-17 — more than three decades after he picked up the gun and 28 years after he declared he was renouncing violence — traces the long arc of militancy in Kashmir, a problem that carries Pakistan’s shadow, and refuses to go away despite India employing both force and statecraft to deal with it.

On its own terms, it is difficult to impugn the court’s findings in this case. But the challenge for the Indian state has not been partiality in particular cases; it is the perception of partiality of the justice system as a whole. In a context of immense legalised repression in Kashmir, where basic civil rights and democratic rights are not being protected by large sections of the judiciary, the case can easily be converted into a narrative of state partiality, rather than a victory for the rule of law. The conviction may be seen as an end of bad faith in Delhi. But we should be under no illusion that it will also be seen as an example of the Indian state’s bad faith in Kashmir. In some ways, the reaction of the so-called Gupkar group to this case was unfortunate: Rather than saying that injustice has been done in this case, its credibility would have been enhanced if it were to give a call to ensure that the civil and human rights of all Kashmiris, including the hundreds who are arrested and victims of violence, were protected by the judiciary.

The wheels have also started to turn in the earlier cases against Malik — the ones to which he was referring in the interview.

One pertains to the abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of India’s then Home Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, in 1989; another to the killing of four IAF personnel, including a Squadron Leader, in Srinagar in 1990. Since 2020, charges have been framed in both cases. Malik was arrested in 2019, when the JKLF was banned in the wake of the Pulwama CRPF bus bombing.

But there was a time when the Indian establishment believed Malik would be more useful as a free man. He had been arrested soon after the killings of the IAF personnel and shifted to Mehrauli sub-jail — and his release a few years later was overseen by former R&AW chief A S Dulat, who was then on the Kashmir desk of the IB.

In his 2015 book Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years, Dulat wrote about the turning of Malik from a militant who told him at their first meeting that there was nothing to talk about except “azaadi”, to a self-proclaimed believer in Gandhi’s methods.

Malik, who said in interviews that he had been driven to “armed struggle” because the Indian state did not offer space for non-violent protest in J&K, “mellowed down” between 1991-94, the period he spent in Mehrauli jail. Two people Dulat cited as being important influences in this decision were Farooq Abdullah, who did some “plain talking” with him on the lawns of the jail, and Dr Upendra Kaul, a cardiac surgeon then at AIIMS, who performed a heart valve surgery on Malik.

Dr Kaul said that Dulat had approached him with a request that he examine Malik as the Government of India was planning to release him. “He (Malik) had a leaking heart valve. It needed treatment, and he was operated upon,” Dr Kaul said.

The doctor and the militant conversed in Kashmiri. “He was a good and obedient patient. We never discussed politics. He had his convictions. What was the point?” Dr Kaul said. In later years, Malik would drop by at the doctor’s home when he visited Delhi, and he flew down for Dr Kaul’s mother’s funeral in 2011. “He was a free man, he would just come and sit and talk for a while,” Dr Kaul said.

Malik and another separatist leader, Shabir Shah, were released in 1994, at a time when the Indian state was casting around for a way out of the Kashmir quicksand. By 1991, Pakistan had entered the fray with the Hizbul Mujahideen. Shah was persuaded to believe Delhi had big things in store for him. Malik, with his “achievements” as a militant, had a cult following — he was once described as Kashmir’s Che Guevara — among the youth, and it was hoped he would calm them down.

According to Dulat, Malik was “great friends” with A K Doval, who is now India’s National Security Adviser, and J&K cadre IAS officer Wajahat Habibullah.

Delhi’s accommodative approach of turning rebels into stakeholders had been used earlier in the Northeast, and continues to underpin its engagement in Nagaland. India even exported the model to Sri Lanka, where every Tamil militant group bar the LTTE was mainstreamed by the end of 1987.

However, neither Malik nor Shah went fully on board. Both Shah, the “headmaster” of militants, and Malik, the “head boy”, turned out to be huge disappointments for Delhi, Dulat wrote. Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao announced that in talks with Kashmiris, “the sky is the limit” — but from the point of view of Malik and Shah, it wasn’t quite clear exactly what Delhi was offering.

Also, Pakistan-backed Hizbul had by then hacked into a lot of Malik’s following, and his new non-violent positioning was getting little traction in the Valley. He did make a point to Pakistan by staying out of the Hurriyat, but his demands of India too remained unchanged. He boycotted elections, and told people the government would use the turnout to tell the world that Kashmir had returned to normal. He said the “self determination” of Kashmiris had to be addressed first, and through negotiations between India, Pakistan, and Kashmiris.

In 2003, as India and Pakistan took halting steps towards a dialogue after several years of backchannel contact, Malik began a campaign for Kashmiris to be included in the process. In 2006-7, with speculation high that India and Pakistan had settled on Kashmir, he started a “Safar-e-Azadi” to press for the inclusion of Kashmiris in the process.

Around this time, Delhi held a series of talks with mainstream Kashmiri parties called the Kashmir Round Table Conference. The separatists stayed away, but had back channels open with the PMO. But Pervez Musharraf’s long-drawn out exit, beginning in 2007, and the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks killed all prospects of an India-Pakistan settlement.

Malik, who met with Prime Ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh, President Musharraf and other Pakistani leaders, warned anyone who would listen that there was anger and impatience on the ground, and that a process was no substitute for a resolution.

After several visits to Pakistan, Malik married Mushaal Hussein, a Pakistani artist half his age. After a few visits to Kashmir in the early days, she has continued to live with her mother in Bahria Town outside Islamabad. Her brother is a US citizen and a strategic studies academic, said to be a protege of David Petraeus, who was CIA chief during the Obama presidency.

In the 2001 BBC interview, Malik said: “When people look at Yasin Malik, they have to look at three Yasin Maliks — one from ’84 to ’88 [student activist], second from ’88 till 1994 [militant], and third from ’94 till onward [Gandhian]”. Clearly, he did not foresee a fourth phase then, in which the embittered Gandhian would join hands with the Hurriyat. Some would say this is a commentary on India’s failures in Kashmir.

When Afzal Guru was hanged in 2013, Malik, who was on a visit to Pakistan, went on a 24-hour hunger strike outside the Islamabad Press Club. He warned that Guru’s hanging was a turning point akin to the execution of Maqbool Butt, and would trigger a spike in militancy. Among those who visited him at the hunger strike was Hafiz Saeed, whom the Pakistani establishment was then mainstreaming.

The growing irritation with Malik on the Indian side was evident, but the definitive break came when he joined hands with Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Omar Farooq to form the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) in 2016, after the killing of Hizb commander Burhan Wani that year. Wani had become the face of Kashmir’s new militancy, and as his death sparked spontaneous protests across Kashmir, the separatists moved to claim their leadership. The JRL’s “hartal calendars” prolonged the crisis in the Valley for more than six months, during which stone-throwing young men battled pellet gun-wielding security forces.

Away from rows, a piece of Aurangzeb history brought to light in Maharashtra

Bibi ka Maqbara – Aurangabad

From the renewed enactment implicit the Gyanvapi Mosque successful Varanasi built by him, to the disturbed quiescent astir his spare tomb adjacent Aurangabad, Aurangzeb finds himself backmost astatine the bosom of controversies. However, 1 portion of past involving the Mughal Emperor is dilatory coming to beingness successful Maharashtra.

For the past six months now, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has been excavating a 400-year-old hammam located other the ‘Bibi Ka Maqbara’ built by Aurangzeb successful Aurangabad.

Bibi ka Maqbara had been constructed by the sixth Mughal Emperor successful 1660, successful the representation of his archetypal woman and main consort Dilras Banu Begum, arsenic a replica of the Taj Mahal, which had been built by his begetter Shahjehan, for his wife.

The excavation began aft the ASI came to cognize of the beingness of specified a hammam (public bath), forgotten and buried nether a crippled of onshore located other the Bibi Ka Maqbara for implicit fractional a century.

So far, the ASI has discovered a 36×36 metre structure, and cleared retired a portion of the area. ASI officials said the hammam is located precisely other the Bibi Ka Maqbara, and mightiness person been meant for usage conscionable earlier entering the monument.

Officials said that successful the Mughal period, specified hammams would beryllium successful beforehand of monuments specified arsenic tombs oregon mosques oregon different places of worship.

ASI officials judge that the hammam got covered up successful ungraded sometime aft the 1960s, erstwhile a roadworthy was laid betwixt it and the protected monument. Over the years, it was forgotten.

An official, who did not privation to beryllium named, said: “It came to the announcement of the ASI lone precocious erstwhile a idiosyncratic whose begetter worked with the ASI and was an attendant astatine the monument met immoderate officials.”

He informed them that erstwhile helium was a kid helium would travel to the tract to present tiffin with his father, and would ever spot the hammam, and that it was present covered by debris. He besides showed the nonstop determination to the ASI staff.

“He told america that if you excavate the tract and region the soil, you volition find a doorway and an introduction point. Accordingly we got approvals and started excavating. We so recovered a doorway and, connected further excavation, the remaining structure.”

The authoritative said that the process began implicit a twelvemonth ago, and they were hoping to implicit it arsenic soon arsenic possible.

The ASI’s Aurangabad Circle Superintendent, Milan Kumar Chauley, said: “We are doing technological clearance (of the soil) currently. Once it is completed, we volition reconstruct the operation and conserve it, and unfastened it to the public.”

A short history of Pakistan’s many long marches

Imran Khan has given the government of Shehbaz Sharif 6 days to call fresh elections, failing which he will bring the ‘entire nation’ to Pakistan. Street power has long played an important role in Pakistan’s political history, with thousands of protesters coordinating to periodically lay siege to Islamabad.

Imran Khan disbanded a protest march by his supporters on Thursday (May 26) after clashes with police outside Pakistan’s Parliament, but threatened to “return” to Islamabad with the “entire nation” unless the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called an election within six days.

On Thursday morning, workers and supporters of Imran’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) entered Islamabad’s Red Zone where they were being stopped by police, the Pakistan Rangers, and other law enforcers with “patience”, Dawn reported, quoting a police spokesperson. The Red Zone contains important government buildings such as Pakistan’s Parliament, Supreme Court, the Prime Minister’s Office, and the Secretariat.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Pakistani government had blockaded all major roads leading to the capital, after the former Prime Minister issued a clarion call to his supporters to march to Islamabad.

Imran’s own convoy had entered Punjab from Attock on Wednesday evening, after his supporters removed barricades placed by the government on the Attock bridge, media reports from the country said.

Imran had announced his long march on Sunday (May 22) to demand the immediate dissolution of the National Assembly and a date for new general elections. Since he was ousted by a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in April, Imran has sought to put pressure on the Sharif regime by holding rallies across the country that have drawn massive crowds.

Street power has played an important role in Pakistan’s political history, with political opponents, civil society groups, and at times the country’s masses as a whole occupying key cities like Islamabad. Long marches, particularly over the past two decades, have come to be the catalyst that has led to change in the government.

Underlying this tradition is the belief that changing political representatives can lead to some kind of overall political transformation. Ironically, however, the leaders who have been at the forefront of the street movements have often ended up facing such movements themselves.

Here’s a look at some significant “long marches” in Pakistan’s history.

Early political protests

* Popular protests and demonstrations are not a new phenomenon in Pakistan. In 1968, one of the first mass uprisings — which included 10-15 million students and workers — erupted against the regime of the military dictator Ayub Khan. Facing immense pressure, Ayub Khan was forced to resign in 1969.

* In 1977, an important demonstration was launched by the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA), which sought the removal of Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. It eventually resulted in the removal of Bhutto by a military coup, under the orders of General Zia ul-Haq.

* The first major protest in Islamabad took place in July 1980. Dawn reported that demonstrators from Pakistan’s minority Shia community, led by Mufti Jaafar Hussain, besieged the federal secretariat in response to the implementation of the Zakat and Ushr Ordinance by Zia’s government.

They were protesting against the “enforced deduction” of zakat (religious charity/ tax), and eventually the dictator succumbed to their demands and excluded Shias from the tax.

Lawyers’ marches: 2007-09

On 9 March 2007, General Pervez Musharraf unconstitutionally suspended the Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. This resulted in the first long march to Islamabad, with Justice Chaudhary and lawyer leaders demanding his reinstatement.

Chaudhry’s suspension led to fierce opposition from the lawyer community who organized the Adliya Bachao Tehreek (Save the Judiciary Movement), with around 80,000 lawyers joining hands to demand the reinstatement of Chaudhry and the restoration of judicial independence.

While Chaudhry was reinstated following the protests, in November 2007 Musharraf imposed an emergency in the country and the Chief Justice was removed once more, along with 60 other judges.

This was not the end of the movement. In June 2008, the lawyer community once again hit the road in a long march to Islamabad. The purpose of the four-day march was to demand the resignation of Musharraf and the reinstatement of the 60 other judges who were deposed during the 2007 Emergency rule. The lawyers were joined by political activists and civil society organisations; an estimated 500,000 people took part in the movement.

The movement also shaped the political landscape of Pakistan. The 2008 elections saw the resurgence of the two major parties, the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). In the wake of mass discontent, Musharraf resigned the following year.

The new government led by the PPP, and with Asif Ali Zardari as President, did not reinstate the judges, however. The lawyers started their protest again in 2009, culminating in a nationwide long march to Islamabad. This protest was led by Nawaz Sharif, whose party, the PML-N had withdrawn from the government.

The march ended in Gujranwala, before it could reach the capital, after Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani announced that Chaudhry and the 60 other judges would be reinstated in their positions.

2014 Azadi March

On August 14, Pakistan’s 67th Independence Day, Imran Khan’s PTI launched the Azadi March. The massive rallies that began from Lahore and ended in Islamabad were driven by accusations that the PML(N) had rigged the general election in May 2013.

The movement, which demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Sharif, lasted for a record 126 days and received non-stop media coverage. The protest was not restricted to PTI party workers, it included substantial participation of women, students, and the Pakistani masses. More than a million people are said to have taken part in the Azadi March.

Imran’s popularity surged on the support of the youth, who were disillusioned with the existing political system. He was joined by the cleric Muhammad Tahir-ul Qadri, who had led protests in January 2013 against Zardari. Qadri, who usually resided in Canada, formed an informal alliance with Imran for the 2014 protests.

On December 17, 2014, a day after the horrific terrorist attack on a school in Peshawar by the Pakistan Taliban, in which almost 150 people were killed, the Azadi March was called off.

The 2014 long march was striking due to its extended duration and mass participation. It propelled Imran’s political career, and ultimately led to him becoming Prime Minister with the Army’s backing in August 2018.

Imran Khan’s struggles

In 2019, Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) held his own long march against Imran, with tens of thousands of his male supporters descending on Islamabad. The protesters demanded Imran’s resignation due to the country’s growing economic crisis. The protest however, lasted for only two weeks, and Imran continued to hold on to his seat.

This would be the beginning of Imran’s political crisis. In October 2020, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PMD), an alliance of 11 opposition parties, launched their own anti-government demonstration in Gujranwala.

In February-March 2022, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari of the PPP began his “Awami March” against Imran, a 10-day protest that moved through 34 cities before finally culminating in Islamabad.

A leaked deal reveals Five things about China’s ambitions for the Pacific

The draft communique reveals the ambitious scope of Beijing’s intent in the Pacific and a coherent desire from China to seek to shape the regional order. Ten years ago, Pacific security thinkers would debate whether Chinese engagement in the Pacific was by default or by design.

The leaked draft of the regional and economic agreement China is hoping will be signed by 10 Pacific nations next week answers that question.

It reveals the ambitious scope of Beijing’s strategic intent in the Pacific and demonstrates a coherent desire from China to seek to shape the regional order. It may unintentionally reveal Beijing’s limitations in the Pacific.

The draft communique contains several substantial proposals, some new and others building on announcements made at the first China-Pacific foreign ministers meeting in October 2021, and is particularly revealing for a number of reasons.

1. Economic cooperation is now linked to security

First, the deal comprehensively aligns economic cooperation with security cooperation. This creates a dilemma for Pacific countries seeking economic deals with China – or for those already indebted to China – as they seek to recover from the economic fallout of the pandemic.

It proposes substantial trade and investment initiatives, including a China-Pacific Islands Free Trade Area, which could potentially create friction with the existing regional free trade agreement: the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations Plus (PACER Plus).

On security, it lends weight to China’s recent claim that it is a “security stakeholder” in the Pacific.

It outlines the provision of intermediate and high-level police training for Pacific police forces and seeks to elevate law enforcement cooperation to ministerial levels through holding the inaugural ministerial dialogue on the topic later this year. China is funding the development of the National Police Academy in Samoa which is pitched at becoming a regional training facility.

Of significant national security concerns are the proposed agreements on cooperation on data networks, cyber security, and smart customs systems. Given China’s expertise at mass surveillance, this raises fears about the collection of biodata and surveillance of those living and travelling in the Pacific.

It also includes an invitation to Pacific countries to participate in the Fengyun meteorological satellite system. Fengyun satellites collect and provide strategic weather reconnaissance data for civilian and military purposes – including maritime surveillance. This could potentially undermine existing maritime surveillance mechanisms as well as the newly announced Quad initiated Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness initiative.

The deal also shows that China is seeking to create competing security architecture and mechanisms in the Pacific, which could potentially cut across and undermine the existing regional security architecture – from existing crisis management mechanisms such as the Pacific Islands Forum Biketawa Declaration to maritime surveillance mechanisms including the newly announced Quad initiated Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness initiative.

2. Shift from bilateralism to multilateralism shows China’s growing confidence

Secondly, the deal shows an evolution in how China engages with the Pacific, shifting from Beijing’s preferred bilateral mode of engagement, to multilateralism. This reflects increased confidence on Beijing’s part in its relationships with Pacific countries.

The communique’s action plan states China will appoint a Special Envoy for Pacific Island Countries Affairs to advance the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the Pacific; and the aligning of the Belt and Road Initiative with the Pacific Islands Forum’s 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.

Moreover, it commits China to establishing tripartite cooperation arrangements in Pacific countries with third countries and international organisations in order to facilitate development cooperation. This would also allow China to shape development conversations, access, and funding.

3. China wants to get into humanitarian and disaster relief

Following China’s response to the Tongan eruption and tsunami earlier this year, this agreement cements China’s ambitions to become a humanitarian responder and a key stakeholder in disaster responses in the Pacific.

The communique refers to a decision last year to establish a relief cooperation centre and the Pacific Reserve of Emergency Supplies (in Guangdong) and significantly it refers to establishing a sub-reserve of humanitarian supplies in Pacific countries. This raises questions about what form and scope the prepositioning of supplies would look like. Would it resemble, for example, a warehouse at a wharf in the Solomon Islands?

4. China seeks more access to the maritime domain

The agreement seeks to give greater form to China’s strategic interests in and access to the Pacific’s maritime domain, including increasing China’s access for commercial fishing. For example, China has majority fishing rights in Kiribati and when foreign minister Wang Yi visits Kiribati this week it is widely expected that a series of fisheries deals will be signed.

It was rumoured in 2021 that China influenced the lifting of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area opening it to commercial fishing. The benefits are also strategic reflecting how Chinese fisheries investments are part of a broader strategy to build strategic presence in the Pacific.

5. Strategic timing

The timing of this proposal is not coincidental. It is a counter move to the recently announced Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity and the broader commitments by the United States, Australia and New Zealand to the Pacific.

It is also deeply damaging to Pacific regionalism following the highly controversial draft security cooperation agreement between China and Solomon Islands.

It comes at a time when the Pacific Islands Forum – due to meet in July – is experiencing the most significant challenge to its unity. Last year, five Micronesian members withdrew from the forum, which reduced the number of forum countries that recognise Taiwan to two (Tuvalu and Nauru). A weakened forum works in China’s favour. But this may also galvanise regional solidarity.

The key question is whether China’s vision for the Pacific and its role in it will gain currency in the Pacific. It would mean a significant loss of strategic autonomy for Pacific countries and for that reason it is unlikely Beijing will be successful. That does not, however, preclude some Pacific states from pursuing bilateral versions of the arrangement. We will soon learn how effective Beijing’s diplomacy in the Pacific is. China’s diplomats will be looking for some wins during Wang’s Pacific tour, but this gambit may reveal the limitations of their influence.

Weekend Special: Human mind is outstanding faculty of the universe

Our mind has an insatiable quest for encountering fascinating things everywhere. And what is the most fascinating entity in this universe? It is the mind itself that tries to gaze across the whole universe and across all times: past, present and future. It is the mind that has its finger on the pulse of the universe to feel the ‘moods’ of the universe. Furthermore, it is the mind that unceasingly strives to know, to understand, to reflect, to explore, to discover, and to invent in its immediate surroundings, in the whole world, and in the entire universe. Anaxagoras says, “All is nous.” ‘Nous’ means mind.

Eco-philosopher Henryk Skolimowski refers to the mind as the most fascinating faculty of the universe. “We need to comprehend the universe with our human faculties because the mind was created by the cosmos to understand the cosmos,” he says. The mind is not an organ or a system, it is a phenomenon in itself and, in fact, the most intelligent of the universal phenomena. It reflects the genius of evolution. In its evolutionary journey, the cosmos had a design to evolve something that could co-create with it. This cosmic quest came to be realised with the evolution of the mind. The structure of the universe, its matrix, orientation, complexities, infinite limits, creative designs, blueprints, intentions, capabilities, beauty and history are all evolution’s work of art. The mind is the most fascinating of its arts. At the command of evolution, the mind searches, reads, studies, understands, interprets and evaluates everything that evolution does for the cosmos. Apart from its intellectual grip on everything, every process and every phenomenon, the mind also enriches and enhances evolution’s creativity and co-creates with evolution.

The true nature of the mind is to learn, reflect, understand, discover and invent, and in the process of unleashing its potencies it creates its own sphere known as nousphere, that is, the mind sphere or intellect sphere. Mind attempts to enlarge the nousphere for keeping on penetrating the universe as deep as possible. The faculty of the mind is a universal faculty – the most intriguing faculty of the universe – and it is the one that cultivates a will to understand whatever is out there. By its very nature, the mind attempts to reach and work at new horizons. It is a wonderful phenomenon of the universe nurturing a desire to fulfil the great purpose of universalism. It undergoes its own Evolution, which is in tune with universalism and it strives to live for universalism.

“Mind not only beholds but shapes all,” says Skolimowski. “This world of ours is also a product of the mind.” Mind shapes the world we live in and it can shape the world the way it likes. “No mind, no world,” says Parmenides. The world we owe is itself a ‘gift’ of the mind. The mind is also a great architect of the future. The kind of future we shall usher in would also be a gift of the mind. Knowledge, wisdom, and all forms of creativity our world reverberates with are all the pristine gifts of the mind. 

Does India need new political dynamics?

A constant criticism of India’s ‘first past the post’ electoral system is that it does not really reflect the electorate intent. A small swing in votes of 4-5% results in a very different electoral outcome. In a national election, one popular candidate can win in a constituency by a lakh votes while in constituencies neighbouring this constituency, the margin of victory may be less than a thousand votes.

Perhaps, there is a need to recast the electoral win method that we have. The operative word is recast and not replace.

I) To take care of parties which lose by the narrowest of margins in constituencies, the electoral law be amended to include 15% of seats as non-elective seats in the Lok Sabha and/or state assemblies. Currently, the Lok Sabha has 543 seats and 272 seats is the magic number for majority. 15% of 543, ie 81 seats are available to be distributed between political parties who have gotten more than say 8% of the eligible popular votes cast at national level. In this way, political parties, if they are narrowly defeated can get representation inside the Lok Sabha. Before the elections take place, the parties must disclose 50 names per their Priority of those they would like represented as non-elected members of the Lok Sabha;

II) These non-elected members can participate on a money bill deliberation but cannot vote on it. They cannot participate or vote on a ‘no confidence motion’ against the government in power.

III) The upshot of the above arrangement would be that if the party in power gets 40% of the all India popular eligible vote – as non-elected members they would get 40% of 81 seats ie 32 seats. Suppose there is another party which gets 10% of the all India popular eligible vote but gets just 6 seats in the direct elections. That party would get 8 seats as nonelected seats. However, a defeated candidate cannot come as a nonelected candidate. That is why the names must be pre-declared. The advantage is that Indian democracy gains by varied participation in debates but the rights of non-elected members are lower than elected members. Please see Para II above.

IV) NOTA (None of The Above) – While the NOTA button has become mandatory in the EVM keyboard, it has no practical purpose except highlighting that in some constituencies the % of NOTA has been high. The Election Commission needs to build on NOTA usage. What could be considered is that if the NOTA % in a constituency exceeds 5% of eligible votes cast and the margin of victory is less than 2% of the eligible votes cast in that constitency, then there should be a runoff election between the 2 top vote gainers. All constituencies which meet this new NOTA criteria go to polls on the same day. It is fairly certain, that this will keep political parties on their toes.

V) The staggered election process in India over several weeks and at varied geographies, in my view is not capturing the mood of the entire electorate on a given time interval. Within 3 weeks, national elections MUST BE completed. In long staggered elections there is a risk than an event in the intermediate period could play a major Role in impacting the results of the seats where elections have not occurred. This is unfair to those who have already cast their votes.

VI) If India wishes to reduce the criminalization of politics, then the declaration filed by prospective election candidates of cases against them should be publicly declared and publilized by the political parties in the constituency that the person is seeking votes for. Alternatively, this can be done in a very formalized manner by the Election Commission office, overseeing the election. The electorate MUST KNOW who they are voting for. When the non-elected prospective members are announced by political parties, the same rigour of cases against those individuals should be applied at the Central EC Office.

VII) Before Lok Sabha and State Assemblies elections are announced, the Election Commission must publicize whether political parties have filed their audited financials (accounts) before them. This requirement is necessary to bring transparency and compliance in the political process. That political party which has not filed it’s audited accounts should be debarred. Say for the National elections due in May 2024, the political party has not submitted it’s audited accounts for year ended Mar 31, 2023, it cannot contest the elections of May 2024. Parliament cannot legislate that individuals, businesses, corporates MUST fulfil certain obligations on disclosures and submissions and not be bound by similar limitations on themselves. Has there been a default in political parties filing annual income tax returns? Income of political parties is exempt from income tax but submission of income tax returns is mandatory. Can the electorate be informed on the performance of political matters in this matter.

The Indian electorate MUST take control of his / her politics. Politics and it’s possibilities cannot be defined by it’s practitioners. It MUST BE defined by the impacted Citizens. Hence the need for new political Dynamics!

Can India Afford to be Neutral

China-Russia military exercise near Quad meet heralds a new Cold War. As Quad leaders met in person in Tokyo, Russia and China sent military aircraft near Japan’s airspace. While Beijing and Moscow have explained the manoeuvre as part of an annual military cooperation plan, there’s little doubt that the joint exercise was aimed at warning the Quad nations.

Russian and Chinese military planes conducted a joint exercise close to Japan’s airspace, forcing Tokyo – which was hosting the Quad summit – to scramble its own jets in response. This was the first joint exercise between Beijing and Moscow since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and showcases increasing military convergence between them. Equally portentous is Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu saying his country’s military operations in Ukraine will continue until all objectives are met.

This shows Moscow is in no mood to end the war anytime soon and is preparing for a long-drawn-out conflict.

Both developments present a serious challenge to the international community. It’s clear that Russia and China have decided to form a close strategic-military compact to take on what they see as Western hegemony and rewrite the international rules-based order. Both countries also nurse deep-seated grudges. While the Russian leadership as embodied by President Vladimir Putin never fully got over the collapse of the Soviet Union, China wants to right what it sees as 100 years of humiliation between the 19th and 20th centuries and restore the glory of the Middle Kingdom.

The fact on the ground is that both countries are coordinating their foreign policies to achieve mutual goals. Therefore, for the foreseeable future there will not be much daylight between Moscow and Beijing. In fact, there is now a serious possibility that Beijing will use Moscow for its strategic security aims in the Indo-Pacific. This certainly puts India in a tough spot given its considerable military ties to Russia and its continuing confrontation with China along the Himalayas.

Hitherto New Delhi has pretty much stuck to its ingrained non-aligned position, refusing to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. But while Indian foreign policy must serve Indian interests, the current geopolitical situation demands that New Delhi takes issue-based stands along with the West. A good model here is Vietnam. Despite its party-to-party relations with Beijing, Hanoi staunchly defends its maritime-territorial claims in the South China Sea against Chinese belligerence and has joined the Japan-led Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the recently launched US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.

Vietnam also has historic ties with Russia as the Soviet Union strongly aided it during the Vietnam War. But this hasn’t prevented it from developing close ties with the US. If communist Vietnam can take such nimble positions, India should, too. Staying permanently neutral on Russia if the Ukraine war gets even uglier and as the Moscow-Beijing axis gets stronger is not a smart diplomatic position for India.

In fact, it is now explicitly clear that China and Russia have formed a military-strategic compact to counter the Quad as well as US allies outside the platform. It is quite possible that we are witnessing the emergence of a new Cold War with democratic nations led by the US ranged against authoritarian regimes championed by China and Russia. 

This is truly bad news for the world. Russia nurses a deep-seated grudge from the collapse of the Soviet Union, while China’s meteoric economic rise over the last three decades appears to have given the Chinese Communist Party an inflated sense of superiority. The CCP wants to take revenge for the 100 years of humiliation China faced in the 19th and 20th centuries and restore the glory of the Middle Kingdom. Together, China and Russia want to rewrite the rules-based international order. 

This means that the Quad and other like-minded platforms cannot waste any time. The war in Ukraine can no longer be seen in isolation. In fact, it is just the beginning of a long drawn-out strategic war between democracies and autocracies. India, which has a historic relationship with Russia but has also ramped up its strategic engagement with the West, must formulate a clear-headed policy.

Russia is now firmly in the China camp. And China sees India as yet another Asian neighbour that needs to be subdued. New Delhi must therefore further boost strategic security ties with the West, militarise the Quad and forcefully defend democratic values. 

Welcome Habits, Not Mindless Reflexes

Habit is the foundation of the routines that comprise the vast bulk of our everyday lives. When we are not disturbed, we live our practical lives without engaging in anything like a cautious assessment of what it is we are doing at any given moment. No conscious deliberation or reflection is required to brew morning coffee, or to catch the morning train to work. As the late philosopher Hubert Dreyfus said, habits are a part of our ‘everyday coping practices’.

In tune with this characterisation, philosophers of mind and cognitive scientists alike often conceive of habits as highly mechanistic and near-automatic responses to environmental cues that unfold outside of our deliberative control. This conception of habits as mindless and reflexive might seem intuitive when we recognise that they are often counterproductive to our capacity to pursue our goals and desires. For example, many of us might have recently found ourselves habitually reaching over to shake hands with people even when we had previously acknowledged that we should refrain from doing so in light of the pandemic.

However, even our most mundane habitual routines actually display a great deal of intelligence. Indeed, they are often intelligently context-sensitive and flexible in such a way as can support and structure our goals and projects. Consider the example of driving the same route to work every morning. You might often find yourself wrapped up in thoughts about how your day will unfold, or how you might explain to your boss why you failed to complete some task, and yet you still easily navigate the roads that lead you to your destination.

However, despite completing this task on something like autopilot, your drive will still be intelligently adjusted to situational intricacies, such as how fast or slow the driver in front of you is going, or when the traffic lights change. In attempting to account for the intelligent dimension of habit, researchers have moved away from construing habits as unintelligent mechanisms and towards modelling them as a species of belief. The puzzle we face in clarifying the character of habits is to explain their intelligent dimension while also acknowledging that they can often work against our intelligence and lead us astray.

Why should we care about the resolution of this puzzle? Great thinkers since before Aristotle have overwhelmingly tended to characterise humans as rational animals in virtue of our capacity to form and intelligently adjust our beliefs. On this view, constructing good habits is vital – but, once a habitual routine is established, it is not itself intelligent. However, if we are serious about attributing intelligence to our embodied interactions with the world, then our notion of how to construe human rationality will need to be revised, and profound questions will need to be raised as to our conceptions of nonhuman animal intelligence.

Gilbert Ryle, in his seminal work The Concept of Mind (1949), emphatically denied that habits were intelligent. (This might surprise some, since Ryle is widely recognised by philosophers as a historical champion of the view that intelligent behaviour is not always guided by theoretical knowledge.) For him, habits are mere mindless mechanisms. Indeed, he explicitly contrasts habitual doings with intelligent and skilful behaviours, claiming that it ‘is of the essence of merely habitual practices that one performance is a replica of its predecessors’. A habit is simply an unintelligent and stupefied way of reacting to the world.

Skill acquisition in sports is often nothing but the process of cultivating a new motor habit through repetitive practice

In On Habit (2014), Clare Carlisle notes that this sort of characterisation of habit – as unintelligent and ‘a degradation of life, reducing spontaneity and vitality to mechanical routine’ – has been held by many influential philosophers of the mind throughout history, including Baruch Spinoza, Immanuel Kant and Henri Bergson. Even today, the researchers Susana Ramírez-Vizcaya and Tom Froese identify a prevalent notion of habit across several domains of the contemporary cognitive sciences that conceives of them as ‘rigid patterns of behaviour that are automatically activated by context cues’.

One inclined to agree with this mechanical conception of habit as inherently unintelligent might argue that the puzzle we referred to above is simply ill-posed. After all, habits are stupid! On this analysis, any attempt to construe habits as intelligence-involving straightforwardly confuses habit and skill. An implication would be that our above purported examples of intelligent habits (such as the habit of driving the same route to the office every morning, which allows us to effectively reach our workplace, even when we are lost in irrelevant thoughts), insofar as they are intelligent, are not habits – they’re skills.

This view of habits is misguided. Habits are not, despite what Ryle says, simply stupefied and rigid reactions to environmental triggers, or ‘single-track dispositions’ to respond to the world with highly stereotyped reflexes. To see this, we need only note that forging any clear-cut distinction between habit and skill is not even remotely intuitive or feasible. On one hand, many of our skills consist of habits. Skill acquisition in sports, for example, is often nothing but the process of cultivating a new motor habit through repetitive practice. On the other hand, habits often comprise skills. Consider the habit of whistling when you are bored. This is a considerably skilful act, which can in some cases constitute genuine musical expertise. For just these reasons, introducing a clear-cut distinction between skill and habit, such that habitual doings cannot, by definition, be skilled or intelligent, is wrongheaded.

In opposition to the mechanistic conception of habits, some, such as the philosopher Jason Stanley, advocate for an intellectualist conception, on which habits are intelligent because they are really a kind of ‘settled belief’ about ways of achieving certain goals. In my initial weeks at a new workplace, I will have developed a belief about how I could successfully get to the office. Through my daily commute, this belief gradually becomes entirely automatic and unconscious. At this stage, I do not need to consciously consider what route I should take to the office but am instead guided by an unconscious belief about how to successfully get there.

As this unconscious belief becomes entrenched, it might also become recalcitrant to counterevidence. I might, for instance, accidentally take this route to the office even after I am informed and sincerely convinced that there is a more efficient route. According to intellectualists, a habit is nothing but a deeply entrenched belief of this form. Holding this view, we could preserve the traditional view of human rationality as dependent on belief.

This intellectualist view of habit as a form of belief, however, also has serious problems in accounting for the intelligent aspect of our habitual doings. Habits are, as our above examples show, often exquisitely context-sensitive. But if Stanley takes habitual doings to be intelligent and rational only in virtue of being guided by unconscious beliefs, then he relies on the idea that the intelligent flexibility of habits depends on the flexibility and rapid updating of unconscious beliefs.

Emphasising this flexibility conflicts with his claim that habits themselves are guided by stubborn and recalcitrant unconscious beliefs. It is also unclear how unconscious neural processes can even involve beliefs (philosophers have tried in vain for decades to provide a satisfactory account of how they might). As such, if an alternative notion of habits can successfully explain their context-sensitivity without requiring a commitment to positing hidden, unconscious beliefs, then such an account would be more theoretically attractive.

Seen through this pragmatist lens, habits are a treasure trove of possible responses to our environment, constrained by circumstance, but open to the world

Both mechanical and intellectual conceptions of habit encounter significant difficulties in explaining how habits sustain intelligent behaviour. These conceptions have a common root problem, which is a failure to appreciate the pivotal role of perception that philosophers working in the phenomenological and pragmatist traditions have recognised. When we follow them in recognising the crucial role of perception in guiding our habitual doings, we can explain the intelligent aspect of habits while obviating any need to identify them as beliefs.

For Dreyfus, we are no less experts at our everyday habitual routines than Serena Williams is an expert at tennis (albeit what we accomplish might be substantially less impressive). The consequence of this, for him, is that our everyday habits will be guided by expert-level perception and intuition. For instance, many of us have now cultivated social distancing practices. By that measure, as we incorporate these practices into our everyday lives, we are able to proficiently maintain an appropriate distance automatically. When someone next to you in an elevator stands too close, you immediately perceive them as standing too close, and are provoked or ‘solicited’ to move back and restore appropriate distance.

Dreyfus is correct to highlight the important role of perceptual skill in guiding our habitual doings, but we think his account should be revised in one crucial respect. For Dreyfus, as we become experts at completing some everyday routine, the world increasingly draws us to act in one optimal, appropriate way. In other words, we will, as our everyday routines become engrained, come to perceive nothing other than the possibility of pursuing a singular optimal course of action for each situation. To make a long story short, we fear that this renders Dreyfus’s view of habits too close to the mindless, mechanical view of habit that we rejected above.

The pragmatist philosopher John Dewey is instructive here. Dewey, like Dreyfus, construes habits as facilitating intelligent behaviour by shaping perception. However, he denies that, as we become experts at carrying out everyday routines, our habitual responses always become entirely automatic response patterns. Instead, for Dewey, writing in Human Nature and Conduct (1922), the ‘more numerous our habits the wider the field of possible observation and foretelling.

The more flexible they are, the more refined is perception in its discrimination and the more delicate the presentation evoked by imagination …’ In other words, our habitual doings are intelligently adjusted to context precisely because we perceive the environment in which they have been cultivated in terms of the vast and discriminating habitual responses we might make to it. Habits, seen through this pragmatist lens, then, far from being blunt reflexes, amount to a treasure trove of possible responses to our situated environment, highly constrained by circumstance, but genuinely open to the world. Nor does Dewey deny that our thoughts will almost always be suffused by habit.

Contemporary philosophy of mind is positively replete with warnings that we ought not to fall into easy dichotomies between intelligent and voluntary processes on the one hand, and unintelligent and automatic processes on the other. Indeed, even psychologists such as Daniel Kahneman who have influentially advocated for dual-processing views on which the brain comprises two distinct ‘systems’ – one habitual, unconscious, and quick, and another slow, conscious, and reflective – have for years conceded that such a picture is far too simplistic.

One sure-fire way to cut right through this dichotomy is to note that, while habits can distort our goals, they can also be exquisitely context-sensitive. Accounting for this context-sensitivity will require acknowledging the pivotal role perceptual skills play in guiding our habitual doings. By recognising the flexible aspects of habits, we further distance ourselves from an outmoded view of intelligent action as one that’s always guided by appropriate intellectual apprehension of knowledgeable beliefs.

Australia Witnessing Winds of Change

Apparently, the results of last Saturday’s Australian election seem like a fairly accurate reflection of opinion polls in the preceding weeks and months. A dismal, and in some ways despicable, Liberal-National party coalition has made way at the helm for a rather reticent Labor Party.

Beneath the surface, though, there are indications of a more seismic shift in the political landscape. One is the prominence of an unusual hue: teal. The blue-green hybrid is the favoured shade of a bunch of independents who have swept aside a number of prominent Liberal incumbents, mainly in affluent Sydney and Melbourne constituencies.

Their victims include Josh Frydenberg, the national treasurer until last week, who was expected to eventually take over from Scott Morrison, the now former prime minister, as leader of the Liberal Party. Morrison’s spiralling unpopularity — particularly, but not exclusively, among women — is assumed to have been the key factor behind Frydenberg’s demise.

Somewhat remarkably for someone who takes pride in his marketing skills, Morrison’s relentless efforts to plug himself through daily photo ops — a strategy that seemed to have paid off (possibly for unrelated reasons) in the previous elections three years ago — flopped this time around. As one of Australia’s best-known writers, Thomas Keneally, puts it, “The Australians woke up to him, and not only moved the goalposts but dragged them off the paddock.”

In its early days as a nominally independent outpost of the British Empire a century or so ago, Australia was a somewhat volatile entity on the cutting edge of sociopolitical change in certain respects, including women’s suffrage. There will be more women in the new parliament, yet they remain underrepresented, largely because the conservative side of politics continues to struggle with the idea of gender equity.

Morrison epitomised the tussle in some ways — not least when in reacting to the alleged rape of a Liberal Party intern in Parliament House by a colleague, he referred to his wife’s advice, suggesting that he was independently incapable of recognising the gravity of the outrage.

His disconnect with public sentiment was also reflected through an unannounced — and then clumsily covered-up — family vacation in Hawaii when Australia was experiencing some of its worst bushfires in 2019-20. More than two years later, his inadequate response to the nation’s worst floods this century was found wanting.

The major parties’ insouciance on climate change and its unfolding impacts — this season’s heatwave in the subcontinent, for instance, is believed by scientists to have been made 30 times more likely by global climate trends — undoubtedly contributed to the teal appeal as well as increased popular backing for the Greens. The latter are now expected to hold the balance of power in Australia’s senate.

The extent to which the parliamentary presence of the teals and the Greens might push the new Labor government to push ahead with a more effective agenda than it has hitherto articulated remains to be seen. Its emissions reduction ambitions are higher than those of the conservative coalition, but still grounded in what Greta Thunberg has correctly identified as the “blah blah blah” of the “net zero by 2050” target (and even that remains controversial among the Liberal-National stalwarts).

Continuing to dig indefinitely for oil, gas and coal is tantamount to digging the grave for future generations. A sharp and steady reduction in fossil fuel excavations is the only reasonable way forward. Its economic consequences — including new jobs for workers in mining industries — must be dealt with, and coherently communicated to those who are directly affected.

Just hours after he was sworn in on Monday, Australia’s new prime minister had to board a Tokyo-bound flight in order to attend a summit with the leaders of the US, Japan and India. On questions of foreign policy, the Labor Party has effectively been indistinguishable from its conservative rivals.

Remaining an appendage of the US while pretending to resist the potential Pacific hegemony of China — a crucial, and for some years miffed trading partner — cannot possibly bode well for Australia.

It would be unfair, however, to prematurely judge the inclinations of a government that is yet to properly take shape. Anthony Albanese — the first Australian PM with a non-Anglo surname — is obviously yet to make his mark, and it is not inconceivable that voting trends and the parliament’s composition might push him in a more progressive direction than he has hitherto articulated.

One cannot expect whatever lies ahead to be as transformative as the earthquake 50 years ago that, under the leadership of Gough Whitlam, propelled a deplorably reactionary and often regressive society into an altogether different dimension. But at least there’s a glimmer of hope that deserves to be relished as long as it lasts.

India Can Use Quad to Exploit Its Potential as Technological Power

President Joe Biden’s choice to start his first go to to Asia at a semiconductor facility in South Korea underlines the position of crucial applied sciences in his Indo-Pacific technique. Calling his go to to the Samsung plant an “auspicious begin”, Biden famous that the chips produced on the plant “are the important thing to propelling us into the following period of humanity’s technological improvement — synthetic intelligence, quantum applied sciences, 5G, and so very way more”.

Referring to the affect of Covid-19 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the worldwide financial system, Biden emphasised the significance of reorienting expertise provide chains away from nations that don’t share widespread values. The best way ahead, in response to Biden, is to obtain “extra of what we’d like from our allies and companions and bolster our provide chain resilience”.

For Prime Minister Narendra Modi — who’s collaborating in as we speak’s summit of the Quadrilateral Discussion board that brings collectively Delhi, Canberra, Tokyo, and Washington — this can be a main alternative to boost India’s nationwide technological capabilities that may be the supply of sturdy safety and financial insurance policies.

However is Delhi able to transcend its cautious and incremental strategy to the Quad? Can it flip the Quad into an instrument to understand India’s vital potential as a technological energy? Can India be part of its Quad companions in drawing up new guidelines to manipulate crucial applied sciences which are quickly reworking the worldwide financial order and worldwide safety politics?

Experiences from Tokyo say India will mix its area and maritime sources with these of the Quad companions to counter the rising drawback of unlawful and unregulated fishing of their huge unique financial zones. The chances for pooling India’s technological sources with its Quad companions to advertise peace and prosperity throughout the Indo-Pacific are immense.

The query of peace as we speak just isn’t restricted to Europe amid the warfare in Ukraine. The affect of the Ukraine warfare on the Asian financial system and safety is coming into sharp view on this week’s high-powered diplomacy in Asia. Though Biden is unlikely to say Beijing by title, there is no such thing as a query that China’s muscular assertiveness is the driving pressure behind the Administration’s Indo-Pacific technique.

One of many foremost targets of Biden’s go to is to exhibit that the US can concurrently deal with the Russian aggression in Europe and the Chinese language problem in Asia.

Whereas the Russian invasion of Ukraine is an pressing precedence, the Biden Administration is insisting that China stays the extra demanding and longer-term problem for the US. In a counter-intuitive flip, the Ukraine disaster has improved US prospects within the Indo-Pacific. Xi Jinping’s all-out assist for Vladimir Putin has not panned out effectively and has helped Washington rustle up assist for its Indo-Pacific initiatives.

If many within the Indo-Pacific scoffed on the concept of a “rules-based order”, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the primary rules of such an order — respect for territorial integrity, peaceable decision of disputes, and no violent change in nationwide borders. For the primary time because the Second World Conflict, the Ukraine warfare has reversed the positions of the West and China on the query of territorial sovereignty so deeply valued by the Asian nations.

It’s the US and the West which are defending the sovereignty of states in Europe and Asia, whereas Russia and China are grabbing the territory of different states by pressure. As Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida affirmed, Russia’s Ukraine invasion “shakes the very basis of the worldwide order” and that such “unilateral makes an attempt to change the established order can’t be tolerated wherever on the earth.”

India won’t say this straight about Russia’s invasion, however it has underlined the rules of territorial sovereignty and peaceable decision of disputes in its response to the warfare in Ukraine. In any case, India faces enduring threats to its territorial integrity from China.

Worry of Ukraine-like navy aggression by China towards Taiwan and within the disputed islands of the Western Pacific has pushed Japan and South Korea to take bolder steps in constructing nationwide defence capabilities, strengthening the alliance with the US, and taking a bigger regional position. Larger technological collaboration between the US and its northeast Asian allies is rising as a serious pillar of Indo-Pacific safety. The US can be desirous to strengthen India’s technological capabilities for defence and safety. Techno-military cooperation figured prominently within the 2+2 dialogue of defence and overseas ministers final month in Washington and is predicted to be an essential a part of the dialog between Biden and Modi.

These developments observe the sample set by the AUKUS alliance, underneath which London and Washington plan to assist Australia construct nuclear-powered submarines and purchase different superior navy applied sciences.

The query of expertise can be on the core of the brand new Indo Pacific Financial Framework launched in Tokyo on Monday. The IPEF visualises cooperation throughout the area on truthful commerce, digital commerce, resilient provide chains, and clear power amongst different points. Progress on many of those fronts will depend on technological collaboration between like-minded companions.

For India, which isn’t a part of any region-wide commerce settlement, the IPEF opens the door for financial reengagement with Asia. IPEF presents a really completely different setting than the Regional Complete Financial Partnership (RCEP) that binds 15 Asian nations in a commerce liberalisation settlement. India had walked out of the RCEP, simply earlier than it was finalised in November 2019, citing the financial menace from China as the primary motive. Whereas India might need reservations, Delhi has been proper in deciding to affix the consultations on IPEF.

If the IPEF is about recasting the techno-economic relations of Asia and the AUKUS is a techno-military alliance, the Quad has turn out to be the car to form the techno-politics of the Indo-Pacific. The Tokyo summit will evaluation the vary of selections taken finally 12 months’s Washington conclave on advancing technological collaboration in a variety of areas. These embody vaccine manufacturing, clear power, biotechnology, cybersecurity, and outer area to call just a few. Whereas the ambition is spectacular, the Quad must exhibit efficient implementation and tangible advantages to the Indo-Pacific states.

Ultimately, the Quad’s technopolitik is about boosting the nationwide capabilities of its members. In his remarks on the South Korean semiconductor plant, Biden identified that Samsung is just one of many three firms on the earth making superior chips. He thanked Samsung for deciding to take a position $17 billion to construct an analogous semiconductor plant in Texas.

Biden additionally underlined his Administration’s efforts to revitalise the US semiconductor business that when dominated the world. He additionally pointed to the plans to considerably increase analysis and improvement funding within the US. The concept is to facilitate technological innovation at house and construct resilient provide chains with trusted companions to deal with a number of home and international challenges at hand.

That is an much more pressing strategic crucial for India’s safety and financial insurance policies. Delhi wants to maneuver shortly and boldly to create the correct inner surroundings for technological leapfrogging and seize the rising exterior alternatives for deeper technological partnerships with the US and the Quad.

This is how work-life in the metaverse shall look like

In the context of work, the digital divide has become less about access to devices and connectivity and more about skills and mindset. Many experienced professionals have never learned more than the rudimentary basics of email, web search and Microsoft Office. Instead, they lean hard on nearby colleagues or the IT helpdesk when things go wrong.

By contrast, young people have already demonstrated a competitive edge in the virtual workplace. They come equipped with a more intuitive grasp of digital technology and the initiative to troubleshoot problems via YouTube tutorials, social media and subreddits.

As a generation, they’re also bigger gamers. As more and more work takes place in virtual reality (VR) – and one does not have to share the somewhat eccentric vision of the metaverse Mark Zuckerberg articulated at the 2021 Connect Conference to believe that it will – being familiar with massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) like Fortnite and Roblox, not to mention the ability to manage multiple digital identities, is set to make that edge keener still.

Much of the metaverse is still to be built. VR, of course, has long been used in training for certain physical jobs, from astronauts and pilots to law enforcement, surgery and manufacturing. When it comes to specialist machinery or complex locations, the relative safety and cost advantages of training virtually are obvious. But it is in knowledge work – from software engineering to law to design – where the changes will be most profound.

How metaverse workplaces can improve communication

For most people, remote working during the pandemic has been characterised by alt-tabbing between communications apps and videoconferencing platforms such as Slack, Teams and Miro. And there is certainly a lot of room for improvement there.

Academic studies have found that collaborative work between colleagues suffers when they work remotely. Exchanges over email or Slack increasingly replace real-time in-person conversations, hampering communication.

Google itself has claimed that informal chats at coffee machines and lunch tables in its campus were responsible for innovations such as Street View and Gmail. But, with remote working, this kind of serendipitous encounter all but disappears.

And of course there are costs to remote working, in terms of individual wellbeing too. Stanford researchers have found that so-called “Zoom fatigue” is driven by a combination of intense eye contact, lack of mobility, self-consciousness about one’s own video feed, and the cognitive demands of needing to give exaggerated feedback to signal understanding, agreement or concern.

Technological advances mean solutions to these problems related to remote working are becoming possible. Collaboration software such as Meta’s Horizon Workrooms  and Microsoft Mesh, which allow colleagues to meet as avatars in VR or take part in a real-world meeting as a photo-realistic hologram, are already available.

The metaverse 1.0 will no doubt see organisations creating persistent VR workplace environments, in which employees can interact in real-time as embodied avatars. VR versions of office spaces can be designed to encourage chance encounters and corridor chats.

Imagine, for example, if going from one remote meeting to another involved leaving the conference room and crossing a bustling virtual atrium. That might sound far-fetched but bear in mind that Korean PropTech company Zigbang has already opened a 30-floor VR office called Metapolis. Employees choose an avatar and navigate to their desks via elevators and corridors. When they meet a colleague’s avatar, their webcam and mic are activated so they’re able to have a conversation. The webcam and mic then turn off automatically as their avatar walks away.

Meanwhile, the ability to use and read body language and actively participate in group discussions by scribbling post-it notes or drawing on a virtual whiteboard should make remote meetings in VR more engaging and less sedentary. They require much more active use of the neck, shoulders, arms and hands than a typical hour on Zoom.

How to work as an avatar

It seems likely that a new set of workplace norms will emerge as the metaverse develops. Team games, including virtual bowling nights and virtual ping-pong tournaments, might supplant Zoom drinks as the default remote working social event.

When it comes to hiring, meanwhile, VR could bring distinct benefits. “Blind” auditions have been shown to significantly increase the representation of female musicians in symphony orchestras. It follows that interviewing as an avatar might diminish the effect of bias –- unconscious or otherwise –- against people on the basis of their gender, age or appearance.

Just as custom “skins” (outfits) are a feature of many MMOs, in the virtual world of work, there may well be demand for creativity in virtual fashion and accessories too, as people seek to express their personal brand within the constraints of professional dress codes for avatars. Gucci has already sold virtual hats, handbags, and sunglasses on the MMO platform Roblox.

Young people have been the worst affected by the disruption COVID has caused to the job market. While some struggled with working productively from shared houses or their parents’ homes, others were scammed into joining companies that did not did not even exist.

Nonetheless, the pandemic has also brought exciting glimpses of how remote working might evolve. Due to public health concerns and climate pressure, the latter is here to stay. As it develops into the metaverse, it will continue to bring capabilities that are concentrated among younger people to the fore.

Six ‘badass’ lessons for entrepreneurs from KGF movie

“Violence…violence…violence…I don’t like it. I avoid… but violence likes me! I can’t avoid…”

Gruesome, mad and unbelievable that’s what the KGF (Kolar Gold Fields) world looks like at first when you step into it. It makes you question why will anyone step inside this world. But it’s a gold mine after all that everyone is after. Well, entrepreneurship is also something like that. When you hear success stories of successful entrepreneurs, you can’t stop but wonder why can you cannot do the same until you step into the impossible struggle to win the treasure you are after. As entrepreneurs, we all are chasing our gold mine ideas that we dream of turning into a successful business, and we are in a hurry to get there as soon as possible as we worry that the “offer closes soon”.

KGF movie has synergies with the real-life rollercoaster ride of a typical entrepreneur who needs to fight the odds to get to the gold mine of their dreams. The destination seems dreamy and makes it all the more reason to get there, but the journey is what gives the reality check, and the learnings around are what makes it epic; here are some learnings:

(disclaimer spoilers ahead from KGF Chapters 1 & 2)

“Maa ek din duniya ka sara sona tumhe lakar dunga…”

(English translation: “Mom, one day I will get the entire world’s gold for you…”)

Purpose: As an entrepreneur, we must know the purpose behind what we are doing and why we are doing it. Once you understand your purpose, things and plans fall in place. Our hero Rocky had this purpose from the start, as he was trying to fulfil his maa ki zid and get the entire world’s gold for his mother that made him reach where he reached. That purpose made him take the steps toward the journey to conquer KGF.

“Main kadam rakh chuka hu. khel ka rukh badal chuka hai. Saanp sidhi ke khel me..Newla utar chuka hai…”

(English translation: “I have stepped in, now the game has changed. The badass mongoose has entered your snakes & ladders game…”)

Guts: You need guts to achieve your dreams and have no fear to set out to achieve something impossible, this will help you get to the goals you need to reach. Not having fear is the madness you need, and you need this level of madness to get to the unachievable goal of owning your gold mine business.

“Agar tujh mein himmat ho ki hazar log tumhare peeche khade hai… toh tum sirf ek jung jeetoge … magar hazar logon ne himmat jutta li ki tum samne khade ho… toh tum poori duniya jeet jaaoge”

(English translation: “If you have the strength that a thousand people can stand behind you then you will win the battle. But if thousand people get the courage seeing you are in front of them as their leader…you will win the world.”)

Followers: No business works without customers and followers. Rocky knew this well and planned to win his followers before taking over KGF Unless you know your customer, you won’t be able to build a strong business. Rocky lived with his followers and understood their problems before becoming their leader. You need to grow ground up, and it is a more robust way to grow than trying to lead a strong team from the top.

“Ladai mein kaun pehle maarta hai isse koi farak nahi padta … farak isse padta hai ki pehle kaun neecha gira”

(English translation: “It doesn’t matter who hits the first punch in a fight, what matters is who falls down first.”)

Competition: Killing your competition at the first instance or chance you get is important. You cannot get a better example than this at the start of KGF Chapter 2, Rocky eliminates his foreseeable competition at the first chance he gets without wasting time until he made the mistake of letting go of his real competition Adheera mid-way, who comes back to create problems for him.. Sometimes action is the answer, even if you don’t want it. Being stagnant can give wrong signals to your competition, and they might strategise to kill your business before you can eliminate their business.

“History tells us that powerful people come from powerful places…”

Vision: The vision was to become the richest person in the world for Rocky, and everything else followed. So your actions should all follow your overall vision. If things don’t fall into place with your vision, they should be discarded when building your business. Rocky focused on his vision to be the wealthiest person in the world, and everything else followed, whether working for his boss Shetty or getting inside KGF to ultimately own the gold mine. He was eventually so rich he offered to pay off the country’s debt to the Prime Minister. Well, that’s the ultimate level of power to being rich one can aspire to be.

“…History was wrong! Powerful people make places powerful.”

Impact: Create impact money will follow. Rocky knew this well and hence he created an impact on the surroundings to create revenue and progress for his surroundings, and he was awarded as the leader for all. You need to create the impact; the rest will follow. Unless you don’t create the impact, you don’t make the most of it.

We are all heroes in our own stories, trying to get to our dreams and goals; some are successful, while some end up short of it. What is important is to enjoy the journey to reach your own El Dorado.

‘In Mathura, Radha ki chunari bhi Salma silti hai’( In Mathura Salma Stitches the Head Covering of Radha)

Just a few moments after the District and Periods Choose Rajiv Bharti stated “plea accepted”, chants of ‘Jai Sri Krishna’ rang by way of the corridors of the court docket in Mathura. Quickly, the temple city on the fringes of the Nationwide Capital was swarming with attorneys and information crews, all getting ready to cowl the massive headline: the choose had allowed an enchantment by the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Belief and different events searching for possession of the land on which the Shahi Idgah Mosque was constructed within the seventeenth century.

The enchantment seeks elimination of the mosque from the 13.77-acre advanced, which it shares with the Katra Keshav Dev Temple. The Shahi Idgah was constructed on the orders of Emperor Aurangzeb adjoining to the Krishna Janmasthal — believed to be the place the place Lord Krishna was born — reportedly after demolishing a temple.

As breathless anchors and commentators rushed to unpack the information on tv screens and social media, within the chaotic, winding lanes of Mathura, the order introduced a way of unease and dread.

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Simply exterior the court docket advanced, advocate Hassan Ahmed Khan admonishes a litigant who asks if the Idgah will probably be demolished. “The growth of the temple advanced, together with the Gita Bhawan, all occurred in my lifetime. At the same time as a youngster, I visited the temple with my mates. Why ought to we now pay for Aurangzeb’s sins?” says the 63-year-old.

The Katra Keshav Dev Temple and the Shahi Idgah in Mathura. (Categorical picture by Apurva Vishwanath)

As proof of the camaraderie between the 2 communities, Khan additionally factors to Brij Bihari Saraswat, an advocate he shares his workplace with. “Hassan sahab’s daughter’s wedding ceremony final week had extra Hindus than Muslims… I at all times took my Muslim mates for darshan on the temple… Issues modified somewhat bit after 1991 when everybody needed to endure safety checks, however this can be a temple city for everybody, not simply the Hindus,” says Saraswat.

Whereas sections on either side of the controversy blame “outsiders” and media for sensationalising the information, many additionally communicate in hushed tones about strolling within the ominous footsteps of Ayodhya, one other temple city that remained caught in authorized wrangles till November 2019, when the apex court docket gave possession of the disputed 2.77-acre land to the Ram Janmabhoomi belief.

In Mathura, the silhouette of the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple’s crimson sandstone shikara, towering ever so barely over the white Shahi Idgah domes with inexperienced trims, will be seen from nearly anyplace. Though the Idgah and part of the temple advanced are divided solely by a wall within the bustling city centre, entry to each locations is separated by at the very least a kilometre — the masjid and the mandir aspect clearly demarcated with indicators.

The entry to the Idgah is thru a slim lane on Deeg Gate, past a small railway crossing. The doorway is barricaded and is guarded by a couple of policemen. Virtually behind the Idgah, a large highway results in the Katra Keshav Dev Temple advanced, with retailers on both aspect going as much as Potra Kund, a stepwell the place Krishna’s mother and father Devki and Vasudev are believed to have washed the garments of their new child kids.
One other lane to the best of the stepwell results in the positioning of the Janmasthan because it exists now — the declare is that the precise birthplace is underneath the dome of the Shahi Idgah.

On the temple advanced, 39-year-old Naeem takes off his sneakers as he prepares to unload a consignment of poshak and mukut (clothes and crown) for the deity. His household has been supplying them for years to the temples at Vrindavan and different distributors.

“These are all made by Muslim girls. My father would measure the deities, and at some new locations, I’ve accomplished it too. However now the idols are additionally of normal sizes, so we use inventory measurements to make the outfits,” he says.

The poshaks are embroidered and stitched by Muslim girls, and the outfit of the smallest dimension is offered for Rs 3. On a Friday, at her one-room home close to Holi Gate, Parveen is racing towards time to complete a 1,000 poshaks by the tip of the day. She’s cautious, she says, to make use of a bar of cleaning soap to push the thread by way of the needle, “and never saliva like most craftsmen do”.

“Even for printing the embroidery design, we use Keo Karpin hair oil which has a pleasant perfume. It blends with the perfume of the flowers which might be provided to the deity. We don’t use kerosene,” she says.

Parveen’s uncle, Munna Khan, 61, an advocate, effortlessly breaks right into a kirtan in reward of Lord Krishna in between his sentences. In his youthful days, he says, he had performed the function of Angad (the legendary vanara prince who helps Lord Ram discover his spouse Sita in Ramayan) in Ramlila for over a decade. “After I was born, my mom noticed my large ears and determined I might match proper in for the half,” he laughs.

Near the Idgah, Bharat Seth, a neighborhood businessman, is cautious of how Mathura is being perceived in Delhi and different components of the nation. “Humare yahan Radha ki chunari bhi Salma Begum silti hai,” he says.

However beneath the co-dependency of communities which have lived collectively for generations, a way of worry is palpable. Locals say they’ve withstood communal tensions for lengthy however agree that the bonhomie is likely to be laborious to carry on to. Final 12 months, regardless of heightened safety on December 6, the day Babri Masjid was demolished, provocative slogans had been raised within the city.

Within the scorching summer season warmth, Sajida is sitting exterior her son Tariq’s metallic jewelry store, muttering her request once more. Some relations are coming over and she or he needs him to rearrange for meat by way of “somebody touring from Aligarh or Hathras”. “Mein dekhta hoon…abhi nahin (Let me see… Not now),” says Tariq reluctantly, earlier than leaving for Friday prayers.

“It was simpler to inform acquaintances to purchase meat for us earlier. Issues are very completely different now, no one needs to take a danger,” says Tariq.
In contrast to his Muslim mates within the neighbourhood, Seth doesn’t speak in hushed tones concerning the UP authorities’s meat and liquor ban inside a 10-km radius of the temple, introduced final 12 months by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. “Six eggs are sufficient for a Muslim shopkeeper to get picked up by police. It prices Rs 30,000-35,000 to have them launched,” says Seth.

The younger in Mathura have their hopes pinned on the courts to ship the therapeutic contact — or not. “I don’t often concern myself with politics, however you can not deny that what occurred 400 years in the past was mistaken. It shouldn’t have occurred. It can now be determined in court docket,” says Aastha, an undergraduate scholar.

“If there’s a real case, then courts ought to determine it rapidly, else politics will wreck all the pieces,” says Hrishikesh, 20. In the meantime, new building jostles for house with the temple’s tower and the Idgah’s dome in Mathura’s hazy skyline.

The Possibility of Quad Emerging as More than an Anti- China Group

On May 23, before the Quad leaders’ summit in Tokyo, the United States launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) with a diverse group of 12 countries initially — Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The US-led economic engagement is a salient attempt to allow countries to decouple from Chinese over-dependence in order to ultimately strengthen the existing free and open rules-based global order, which China has been targeting to upend, and re-establish US dominance. That the launch coincided with the Quad summit during President Joe Biden’s visit to Seoul and Tokyo signifies the essence of the Quad and its extension as a “plus” grouping.

Importantly, both the IPEF launch, and the Tokyo summit dispel any remaining misgivings about the Quad disintegrating and certify that it is a cohesive unit where it matters. The India-rest of Quad divide over Ukraine and the Western disquiet over India’s softer stance on Russia has hardly made a dent as far as the cohesiveness of the Quad and its future are concerned.

Fundamentally, the IPEF complements the “Quad Plus” process. It brings together seven critical countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), all Quad states, and dialogue partners, including South Korea, solidifying a case for the “plus” characterisation of the Quad process. The IPEF strongly imbibes a Quad Plus character at a time when two of the largest economies of the world, namely India and the US, are not a part of the China-led or ASEAN-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) or the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP; China is still an applicant). Thus, it is an encouraging sign that the Quad countries are investing their strategic orientation in this regard. Yet, doubts over the relevance and merit of the Quad Plus grouping still continue to abound.

Critics might dismiss the Quad Plus as a virtual assembly of agreeable nations that were engaged during the Covid pandemic. Yet, the format holds much promise amid all the current uncertainty. It would potentially represent an amalgamation of the eastern and western “like-minded” countries. Even in its current abstract framework, it includes a wide array of states (which also comprise the IPEF) — developing and developed economies as well as middle and major powers that are committed to maintaining an inclusive, rules-based and liberal institutional order.

The inclusivity angle is suspect as the grouping is essentially what China calls a US-led “anti-China” tool. However, the criticism could be mitigated by developing — instead of a reflection of a broader democratic coalition, which is very much abstract at present — a “plus” framework based more on a shared commitment to the existing international order rather than “democratic values” that are harder to define and more exclusive in nature. Therefore, what interested states must envision is a broad, all-embracing, and comprehensive framework that can stand as a pillar for regional security and stability, multilateralism, and defence of global institutionalism and the status quo. Establishing a stronger regional economic framework that promotes a resilient and secured supply-chain connect is just the beginning.

Further, the narrative of the Quad as an anti-China tool (with a range of epithets, from “sea foam” to “Asian NATO”) promoted by China along with its belligerent tactics in the neighbourhood and beyond has only served to coalesce the Quad states. The growing synergy would only strengthen the extension of the Quad, which is a China-containment rather than an exclusively anti-China grouping, both through inclusion of more states (plus format) and agenda (security). The expanded grouping and the related Quad initiatives will build a comprehensive and integrated approach to combating shared challenges arising out of Xi Jinping’s push to promote manoeuvres that achieve his ultimate goal of rejuvenating China’s glorious past and transforming it into an absolute great power.

The IPEF — which covers fair trade, supply chain resilience, infrastructure, clean energy, and decarbonisation, among others — is likely to complement the other Indo-Pacific projects like the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI, founded by the three Quad states, Japan, Australia, and India) that also seeks to build resilient and secure trade linkages by reducing dependence on China. In this respect, the inclusion of Taiwan, which already has a critical role in the global semi-conductor supply chain network, in the SCRI and the IPEF as well as, by extension, in the Quad format, in some manner (perhaps, first as a dialogue partner and subsequently a plus inclusion), would be a welcome addition.

Taiwan is a major economy in the Indo-Pacific region (as also the US’s eighth-largest trading partner in 2021 and a critical partner in diversifying the US supply chains), which is already engaged in the US-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue that includes many of the issues proposed in the IPEF. It is also an active member of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and has been consistently building its outreach within the region and beyond. Importantly, Taiwan’s inclusion would also be a geopolitical statement against coercion tactics by international actors.

A hallmark of Biden’s latest Asia visit has been South Korea’s embrace of the Indo-Pacific framework under the new Yoon Seok-yeol government; Yoon has been keen to participate in the Quad process for long. This is a long-awaited turn that could potentially lead to South Korea participating in a more meaningful manner in the Quad in the near future. During the Covid-19 crisis, the Republic of Korea (along with New Zealand and Vietnam) had joined the so-called Quad Plus meetings to coordinate actions to stem the pandemic.

Soon, the Quad Plus should take this process forward and strengthen cooperation on critical topics in the Quad’s agenda (for instance, security, critical technology, global health, climate action). States are showing their willingness, and now it is incumbent on the Quad states to allow for the creation of a “corridor of communication” that ultimately leads to a “continental connect” to strengthen a rules-based order.

If I am…’ The Regular Refrain of Pak Leaders

It was such an odd question, enough to startle even Lady Margaret Thatcher. Visiting Pakistan in March 1996, she addressed a select audience of Pakistan’s elite in Lahore. The mood she created descended suddenly into bathos.

During the Q&A, someone reminded her of the days of the British Empire, when peace reigned across the subcontinent, trains ran on time, and corruption was not a qualification for public office. He then begged her: would the British consider returning to rule again? His wish has been granted — 164 years after the East India Company relinquished control, and 75 years after Pakistan’s nominal independence. It is once again being governed from London. Leadenhall Street has given way to Stanhope Place.

Nothing could be more disheartening for Pakistanis than to see their latest prime minister and key members of his cabinet decamp to London to consult their party supremo for guidance. To watch the younger Sharif stoop to receive the benediction of his elder brother said it all. The visit exposed the bankruptcy of policy within the ruling coalition. Too many critical decisions which should be taken in Islamabad are oscillating between London, PM’s House in Islamabad, and Bilawal House. The country has too many captains attempting to steer our ship of state clear of the hazards ahead. Some fear that Pakistan Titanic stands an even poorer chance of survival.

Dangerously, London Sharif and Islamabad Sharif seem to have conflicting views on how to handle the economic meltdown, when to call for general elections, and how far to go in exposing Imran Khan.

Regarding the economy, experience has shown that IMF and World Bank secondees tasked to improve our economy were not economic wizards. They peddled snake oil when they should have been administering curative medicine — however bitter its taste. Some never stayed long enough to; others outstayed their welcome.

In India, P. Chidambaram (finance minister on four occasions between 1996 and 2014), when asked once how he would put the economy right, replied: “By doing it.” Too many Pakistanis long for such simplicity of approach, for deeds not words, policies not promises.

The disintegration of nearby Sri Lanka is a warning. Internal ethnic divisions, sustained economic mismanagement, and a horrendously uneconomic port (part of China’s ‘string of pearls’ strategy) — each has a parallel in Pakistan.

Regarding general elections, opinions are divided on whether the present government should call for premature polls. Elections are costly, distracting and risky. The PML-N and its allies feel that it may be too early to reap an unsown harvest. The PTI is keen to convert its noisy jalsas into votes. The establishment, meanwhile, is positioning itself on the precarious perch of neutrality. Having disassociated itself from Imran Khan’s failures, it has no wish to be held responsible for the present government’s dyslexia.

Rational Pakistanis feel disconcerted by two recent public statements. In one, Imran Khan, speaking at Sialkot on May 14, revealed that there had been a plot to kill him. As an insurance, he said he has recorded a video and stored it in a “safe place” in which he has mentioned each and every character that was behind the “conspiracy” to oust his government.

Those old enough will recall Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s testament If I Am Assassinated. Bhutto scribbled it in “a stinking death cell” using paper resting on his knee. It was smuggled to India and published there in 1979, the year of Bhutto’s hanging.

Imran Khan should read it. He will find spent cartridges in the same smoking gun.

Bhutto asserts how he had “stridently denounced colonialism from every platform with tireless vitality, passion and conviction”. He mentions that “plotting had started before the elections in March [1977] and the coup matured slowly as the result of a deal between the army and PNA, and between both of them and a ‘foreign power’ (or powers)”.

Bhutto accuses his opponents of “revealing bank statements of PPP’s accounts, of defamation and innuendo”. Bhutto defends his reliance on funding: “Elections do require funds. Money is to an election what gasoline is to an automobile.”

The second public statement to rattle the public’s attention was made by the DG ISPR on May 8, in which he defended against civilian attacks the Pakistan Army, its chief, its Peshawar corps commander, and its neutralist stance. It was an unprecedented ultimatum by the Pakistan Army to civilian Pakistanis. Does this signal a tactical retreat to cantonments?

Bhutto, in his final testament, warned of the dangers of coup-gemony — whether of military coups or civilian ones. He repeated his warnings in political speeches and in courts of law. “I cannot fight the battles of Pakistan from a death cell.” No more than Imran Khan labouring under death threats.