[Assam] Driving in New Delhi -a report from the LA Times

[Ram Sarangapani]

C'da,

Some observations:

>let me ask the question that I have asked so many times: If the proposition
had any merit, how then so >many desis become model citizens right after
they leave 'Mother India'? What transforms them so fast?

This is an often bandied about argument and it is not a good one for several
reasons.
People work hard (become model citizens like the sahibs) in the US or other
places because

(a) they may actually prefer to work hard and be model citizens
(b) they may be afraid of the consequences if they don't

Now, having said that, the sudden transformation works because it is the US
and not India.

Now, why is that these same people cannot do the same in India. Well, your
argument about reforms etc may fit there - but that takes time and
cooperation from people.

How about the question if Assam were to separate would it be able to get out
of this mess that is India?
No, the reason is simple - Assam is still PHYSICALLY still there. Unlike
individuals like you and me coming to the US, Assam and the Assamese are
still physically THERE.The people living there - the Assamese would not see
or experience the Xunor Oxom that you and others are promising. If as you
have pointed out many times, the governance in Assam is a learnt behavior
from India, the people are the same (the Assamese and them Indians). What
changes? How will this behavior of the Assamese change just because there is
a new sheriff in town?

Basically, the independent Assam will be totally and completely dependent on
India. There will be a change in some political leadership. Some
ex-insurgent will now be the maai-baap. The plight of the poor and
unfortunate may actually worsen with the new system. Countries like B'desh
and Burma  will have a run on this fertile territory and may become the
model for Assam to look up to.

>But an India unable to reform itself, is dragging Assam down the same
doomed path of India's.

And you think an independent Assam will do better than India. In the South
Asia region, can you tell me which country has done better than India? What
makes you think that Assam will actually be better off than B'desh.

>And in my estimation, the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages. >One of
the advantages of remaining a colony, first of the British, then of India;
that a class of the >opulation getting paid handsomely to do nothing (
bribery in my view), has robbed generations of the >Assamese people the
knowledge and the desire to look after their own interests.

So, pray tell us what are these advantages and disadvantages? This colonial
stuff plays only to those who see themselves at the top of the food chain in
an independent Assam. In this scenario, I don't see other ethinic groups in
present day Assam getting a share. Are you going to give independence to
these ethinic groups. What if some of these groups want to be in India?

The problem is a few Assamese have taken it upon themselves to think for all
ethinic groups, some of whom may actually not be interested to get on a
runaway train heading toward disaster.

For the rest of the stuff, Mohan P has put forth some great counter points.

--Ram

On 8/5/06, Chan Mahanta <cmahanta at charter.net> wrote:
>
>  Ram:
>
>
> > I am guilty of thinking that Assamese traits the same as any other
> Indian. So, >it does it no good to say that these 'Assamese Indians' of
> today will suddenly >veer around and become something else.
>
>
>  You avoided the crux of the problem, that of effecting reforms, entirely
> and attempted to portray it as a CULTURAL problem: That Indians are
> culturally ( and perhaps genetically) unable to rise to the task of shedding
> pervasive corruption as you imply below:
>
>
> I am surprised that you too subscribe to this mindless notion. I just hope
> it was an accidental argument, put together in a hurry to dig out of a jam
> and  not something you believe in :-).
>
>
> But for those who are new to this scene and may not have been exposed to
> the absurdity of the cultural challenged argument, let me ask the question
> that I have asked so many times: If the proposition had any merit, how then
> so many desis become model citizens right after they leave 'Mother India'?
> What transforms them so fast? It is not the ritual of crossing them seas, is
> it :-)?
> Or is it the air they breathe or water they drink that purifies them so
> fast?
>
>
>
>
> >Look at Pakistan, the Pakis hate India, but culturally they are tied to
> the hip >to India.
>
>
>  *** And is anything WRONG with that? Anything undesirable? I mean the
> cultural connections?
>
>
> Assam does not HATE India. They just need to be free to guide their own
> destiny. Heaven knows, it has tried for decades. But an India unable to
> reform itself, is dragging Assam down the same doomed path of India's. A
> free Assam will continue to have those cultural, religious and economic
> links with India and all their neighbors too. Like Italy or Spain or Hungary
> have with their once conquerors--Germany. Or Ukraine, Georgia and Rumania
> with their once rulers, Russia.
>
>
> What is so bad about that?
>
>
> Oh I know, it puts a damper on India's super-power pretensions. But that
> is a problem with a tiny sector of Indians who had it made and is looking
> for respect in the world. It has nothing to do with the needs of the vast
> majority of the people. Their needs are tad bit more fundamental, if you did
> not know :-)..
>
>
>
>
>
> >Further, there is another geo-political truth that you and many others
> forget.
>
> >That is, when there is a huge country with a lot of power and might, the
> >sattelite 'countries' surrounding it are usually far less developed, far
> more >corrupt, and their inhabitants will break any barrier to move to the
> big guy in >the block.
>
>
>
>
>  *** I am no political scientist and thus must have missed out on this bit
> of astute scientific truth that you hold up :-). But somehow, I can't help
> thinking that your theorem is a desperate attempt at making an universal
> truth out of the US example. And even for the US example, how dies Canada
> fit into the Theorem?
>
>
> Or China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan?
>
>
> Or Russia, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine and Georgia?
>
>
> Or Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Holland, Denmark et al.?
>
>
> Catch my drift Ram?
>
>
>
>
> >India for all its faults and 'Kafkaesque bureaucracy' is STILL looked up
> to and >envied by Pakistan, B'desh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Burma. There is a
> constant >flow of illegals from these countries into India (not the other
> way around).
>
>
>  *** That is indeed a heartwarming revelation Ram. Allow me to add to the
> fan club a few more luminaries:
>
>
> How about: Haiti, Dominican Republic, Somalia, Ethiopia, Upper Volta,
> Niger,
> Afghanistan, Albania, Turkmenistan  ---- ? Geez, all of a sudden India
> looks like the envy of the world or what :-)?
>
>
>
>
> >Given this, what in the world do some of our Kharkhowa intellectuals
> think of >an independent Assam's plight?
>
>
>  *** I cannot help here. Mainly because I do not see only the PROBLEMS. I
> see the benefits too. And in my estimation, the benefits far outweigh the
> disadvantages.
> One of the advantages of remaining a colony, first of the British, then of
> India; that a class of the population getting paid handsomely to do nothing
> ( bribery in my view), has robbed generations of the Assamese people the
> knowledge and the desire to look after their own interests. Just like the
> feudal overlord parents ruling over desi-families, zamindar-like, rob their
> children of the ability to look after themselves as grown men and women,
> forever looking at mai-baap to guide them and give them hand-outs.
>
>
>
>
> But maybe you can educate us with the dire consequences you, Himendra
> Thakur etc hint they see, but would not want to speak out publicly about,
> keeping us guessing.
>
>
> Go ahead Ram, bare it all out. But I'll tell you what? Even though I speak
> with self-assurance, I too am an olop-dhotua , a scaredy-cat , many ways.
> But in spite of that I am NOT intimidated by the 'lungi-menace' . You can
> dangle it all you want, and wail till kingdom come; but all you will hear
> from me is "Bosiya kando, bosiya kando" :-).
>
>
> c-da
>
>
>
>
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> At 10:48 AM -0500 8/4/06, Ram Sarangapani wrote:
>
> C'da
>
>
>
> >But the mistake you make is in assuming that those who have mis->governed
> Assam all these decades, are ALL that Assam has.
>
>
>
> No, thats not what I am guilty of. I am guilty of thinking that Assamese
> traits the same as any other Indian. So, it does it no good to say that
> these 'Assamese Indians' of today will suddenly veer around and become
> something else. Even with a possible separation from India, Assam will be
> physically and culturally tied very close to India. Look at Pakistan, the
> Pakis hate India, but culturally they are tied to the hip to India.
>
>
>
> Further, there is another geo-political truth that you and many others
> forget.
>
> That is, when there is a huge country with a lot of power and might, the
> sattelite 'countries' surrounding it are usually far less developed, far
> more corrupt, and their inhabitants will break any barrier to move to the
> big guy in the block.
>
> India for all its faults and 'Kafkaesque bureaucracy' is STILL looked up
> to and envied by Pakistan, B'desh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Burma. There is a
> constant flow of illegals from these countries into India (not the other way
> around). And lastly, none of these countries are by any measure better than
> India -economically, socially  or otherwise.
>
>
>
> Given this, what in the world do some of our Kharkhowa intellectuals think
> of an independent Assam's plight? Do they think, this new Assam will be the
> beacon or some kind of model for all of SE Asia to look up to? Will this new
> country be another a la B'desh? Will its population be for ever dependent on
> a archiac and 'Kafkaesque bureaucracy' like India (or others like B'desh?)
> for everything and will contstant streams of 'independent Assamese' be
> illegally entering India (or worse into B'desh) for better opportunities?
>
> Will it even be able to hold on to its territorial integrity?
>
>
>
> :-):-)
>
> --Ram
>
>
>
>
>
> On 8/4/06,* Chan Mahanta* <cmahanta at charter.net> wrote:
>
> Ram:
>
>
>
>
> > This dysfunctionality you talk about is actually more profound in the
> case of >Assam in most situations.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *** Let us agree for a moment, for arguments' sake, that it is indeed so.
>
>
>
>
> Question therefore would be how to effect change for the better in Assam?
> Will it be by aping the profoundly dysfunctional model? With more of the
> same?
>
>
>
>
> I am sure, even you would agree, that will be a rather untenable
> proposition.
>
>
>
>
> So the answer would be to devise a better system. And out of the ashes of
> the dysfunctional desi system Assam must build a road to a better future.
>
>
>
>
> But there lies the problem.
>
>
>
>
> Assam does not have the freedom under the desi system to pursue such a
> path. Dilli controls the purse strings, and all significant powers of state.
> Even if tomorrow, by a miracle, a great reformer is dropped at Dispur by
> heavenly powers to lead Assam out of the darkness, NOTHING will come about,
> as long as the Indians  with their 'Kafkaesque bureaucracy and the
> dishonesty it has spawned' are in control over Assam( BTW, I never read
> Kafka -- and am not sure what exactly this Kafkaesque thang, that every
> highbrow and low-brow writer, including certain
> kharkhowa-intellectual-wannabes like to allude to is. But it sure sounds
> nasty :-)). Does not matter whether Assam is ruled by genuine, dyed-in-the
> 'tamwlor-pik' kharkhowas, or wrapped-in-the tricolor or saffron Indians, as
> long as the system they are beholden to is as broken as the article in the
> LA Times so convincingly portrays.And the steel-trap minded analysts and
> newspaper-columnists will wash their hands in disgust proclaiming 'jeyei
> lonkaloi jai, xeyei rabon hoy' or other such meaningless platitudes.
>
>
>
>
> Now if there had been a perceptible trend for MEANINGFUL and REAL reforms,
> anywhere in India, under the operative dysfunctional system, one might argue
> that there is room for hope. That someday it will arrive in Assam too, in
> spite of your obvious doubts about Assamese abilities, as you argue so
> often. Not that I don't agree. But the mistake you make is in assuming that
> those who have mis-governed Assam all these decades, are ALL that Assam has.
> That is a deeply flawed proposition. It is just that Assam's ablest and its
> best cannot and will not participate in governing Assam under the
> 'Kafkaesque' desi-system, just like India's ablest and the best cannot or
> would not participate in Indian governance.
>
>
>
>
> If you can point to any such credible trend for change, anywhere in India,
> your vehement disagreements could be considered to have a modicum of merit.
> Otherwise , it is at best, a lot of bravado and a willingness to live in
> denial :-).
>
>
>
>
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>
> c-da
>
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> At 8:50 AM -0500 8/4/06, Ram Sarangapani wrote:
>
> C'da,
>
>
>
> >Bottom line: India is INCAPABLE of change. That is why Assam >must NOT
> peg its future to that of the profoundly dysfunctional >India.
>
>
>
> Not so fast. This dysfunctionality you talk about is actually more
> profound in the case of Assam in most situations. That is why your argument
> carries no water.
>
>
>
> This argument of putting Assam on the right track after separation from
> India is hollow - what is wrong with setting things aright now?
>
> And what makes you think that the Assamese will suddenly become paragons
> of virtue or fare any better after this separation from India you talk
> about?
>
>
>
> It will be interesting to see how the different states in India fare as
> far as corruption/dysfunctional goes. We can all agree that they are all
> corrupt/dysfunctional, but which of these are more corrupt than others.
>
>
>
> --Ram
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 8/4/06,* Chan Mahanta* <cmahanta at charter.net> wrote:
>
> >Clandestine payoffs or special favors smooth the way for buying property
> and >acquiring government ration cards, among other things. They secure
> places in >good schools for your children, ensure you prompt attention at
> the hospital, >provide you access to bank loans, exempt you from local
> building codes.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *** Shame is not the issue Ram. How to change things is.
>
>
>
>
> Bottom line: India is INCAPABLE of change. That is why Assam must NOT peg
> its future to that of the profoundly dysfunctional India. Assam can and
> ought to fashion its own system of modern,accountable system of governance,
> in a truly democratic fashion ( unlike des-demokrasy that is).
>
>
>
>
> And we ought to support those in Assam who have been attempting to do
> just.
>
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> At 12:15 AM -0500 8/4/06, Ram Sarangapani wrote:
>
> This is a real shame. Of course we have all known this for many
> years. Unfortunately, it is not just in Delhi. In Guwahati, at one time it
> was next to impossible to get a driver's license through legitimate avenues
> - greasing palms was a pre-requisite. I am sure the situation may be much
> different today, but then, am not holding my breath.
>
>
>
> --Ram
>
>
>
>
>
> *Corruption revs up perilous driving on New Delhi streets*
>
>
>
> *Up to 75 percent use payoffs to skip test and get their licenses anyway*
>
>
>
> *By HENRY CHU*
> *Los Angeles Times*
>
> NEW DELHI - It doesn't take a Harvard degree to figure out that driving
> here is hazardous to your health. Near-misses, reckless weaving and cars
> blithely going the wrong way are highlights of the daredevil derby known as
> New Delhi traffic.
>
> ADVERTISEMENT
>
> But a recent study by economists from Harvard and other American
> universities suggests that, indeed, a majority of this city's drivers get
> their licenses without actually knowing how to operate a car. They ply the
> roads because of a simple fact: government corruption.
>
> As many as 75 percent of motorists in New Delhi obtain their permits by
> hiring agents whose palm-greasing intervention saves them time, energy and
> the hassle of learning the difference between the brake and the accelerator,
> the report says.
>
>
> Those with agents bypass long waits in dingy government offices and almost
> never have to submit to the road test that's required of all would-be
> drivers. In fact, when newly licensed motorists who participated in the
> study were given a surprise driving exam, more than 60 percent flunked.
>
> "We had five questions about how to start a car, how to change gears and
> how they worked, which are very basic questions," said Marianne Bertrand, a
> professor at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and a
> co-author of the report. "They couldn't answer them."
>
> Evidence of such cluelessness is thick on the ground in India's capital,
> where getting from point A to point B is a white-knuckle exercise and
> traffic safety seems an oxymoron.
>
> *Law of the asphalt jungle*
>
> Each day, more than 4 million vehicles jockey for position along narrow
> lanes that wind through ancient bazaars or boulevards originally designed
> for the horse-drawn carriages and stately cars of India's British colonial
> elite.
>
> Rules of the road exist but mainly on paper. On the streets, it's the law
> of the jungle.
>
> Bus drivers cut off motorcyclists, truckers dodge cows, entire families
> squeeze onto a single scooter, three-wheel "auto rickshaws" zip in between
> everyone else, and those on foot utter prayers and curses in equal measure.
>
> It's a raucous free-for-all where the most important piece of advice is
> found painted on the backs of taxis and trucks: "Horn please."
>
> "They drive like they're pedestrians. If it's faster to go the wrong way
> up the street, they'll do it. They have no sense of danger," said one
> exasperated British executive who ventures out behind the wheel only on
> weekends. "You have to be vigilant all the time."
>
> *Extra danger in the dark*
>
> In 2004, Delhi Traffic Police logged 9,083 accidents, in which 1,832
> people died. That's an average of five auto-related fatalities a day in a
> city that boasts 14 million people - but only 2.6 million licensed
> drivers, a Transportation Ministry official said.
>
>
> Many accidents here occur at night, when some motorists drive with their
> lights off, in the belief that their car batteries will last longer.
>
> The chaos on New Delhi's streets is at least partly explained by the
> findings of the study published last month by economists from Harvard
> University, the University of Chicago, New York University and the
> International Finance Corp., an arm of the World Bank.
>
>
> The scholars were commissioned to look into the effects of government
> corruption. Their report, "Does Corruption Produce Unsafe Drivers?" (answer:
> yes), has cast an unflattering light not just on the menace lurking on New
> Delhi's streets but also on India's Kafkaesque bureaucracy and the
> dishonesty it has spawned.
>
> Clandestine payoffs or special favors smooth the way for buying property
> and acquiring government ration cards, among other things. They secure
> places in good schools for your children, ensure you prompt attention at the
> hospital, provide you access to bank loans, exempt you from local building
> codes.
>
> "The whole country is deep in corruption," said N.S. Venkataraman, an
> activist in the southern city of Chennai, formerly known as Madras.
> "Corruption is there from one end to the other."
>
>
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