Can South Sudan control its Destiny?

Today, I came across an interesting feature on The Washington Post's site on the two-dozen odd countries formed since the 1990s. These include the CIS states formed after the break up of the Soviet Union, states of the erstwhile Yugoslavia, Eritrea, East Timor, Namibia, etc.

It was odd not to see the new Pacific republics of Palau, Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia finding a mention in the Washington Post feature, since these remnants of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands gained independence from the United States in the last 20-25 years.

The feature assumed relevance as South Sudan was going to vote in a referendum to secede from Sudan. The South Sudanese had a grouse of lack of development, marginalisation and religious persecution at the hands of the Islamic, Arab dominated north Sudanese, wh

o held a vice-like political grip on the country.

The opportunities for a country like South Sudan are immense. Foreign aid will flow in, with conditionalities on democracy. Rich in natural resources, oil, gas and other minerals, the fledgling region would get an opportunity to control their destiny, that would be if the Chinese let them.

But that's exactly what one would have hoped when Rhodesia gave way to Zimbabwe in 1981. Till the mid-1980s, all was well, with Zimbabwe being the bread basket of southern Africa. But then Robert Mugabe wreaked havoc on the economy by forcibly possessing farms held by white farmers under the pretext of land reform. (I am now told Zambia seized this opportunity, got in the displaced white farmers, gave them land and now Zambia is moving towards becoming an exporter of food.)

Keeping tribal conflicts under check will be a daunting task for the leadership in the new nation. But those fault lines show up on the slightest pretext, as had happened in the supposedly stable Kenya, following the elections in 2007.

The biggest positive of the secession would be the containment of Islamic fundamentalism which had been devouring the north east of Africa. For now, South Sudan would be rid of that scourge.

The next few years will be interesting - will South Sudan define its destiny or would it decay the Zimbabwe way?

I will be watching that!

What a welcome for 2011!!!!!

A new year dawned upon us a few days back.

As always, we made resolutions for the year to come, we had high hopes, hopes for brighter and better future.

But the realities with which 2011 has dawned upon us does make me feel a bit gloomy. That's not how a great new year should be.

The most intriguing news I heard around this time was the closure of the Aarushi murder case by the Central Bureau of Investigation, despite calling her father a prime suspect. If he still is a prime suspect how could the case be closed? Were the sleuths really facing a wall or was the closure a premeditated move? Only the Central Bureau of Intrigue (an apt description by Nana Chudasama) or God can tell. Perhaps we will never get to know the truth behind the murder most foul.

Radia-gate hogged the limelight for the last few weeks. And now the airwaves maintain a complete Radia-silence on the issue! As one would have guaged from the leaks, there seems to have been a clear attempt to paint Mr. Ratan Tata in a poor light.

Now the tapping of Radia's phone was done at the behest of the Income Tax Department. The tapes were supposed to be in their custody. They could not have been leaked out without the nod of some bigwigs in the bureaucracy or political system. At whose behest? Perhaps, some competitor?

Or is this a deliberate attempt of the government to muzzle India Inc., to coerce them, to silence them into treading the road that the political system shows them, some what like the way the regime in Russia under Putin, threatened oligarchs like Mikhail Khodorkovsky?

We may never ever know the truth, as the media is a part of the gameplan. But what I know for sure is that Mr. Tata is cleaner than a whole lot of businessmen we see around.

And now, for the last few days, onions are in fashion on text messages, Twitter and mail forwards. We ourselves bought 2 kilos of bulbs the other day for Rs. 120. But news reports spoke of onions being priced at Rs. 90 a kilo. Other vegetables are also atrociously priced. That reminds me of what Marie Antoinette said about the French public before she was beheaded "Let them have cake!" So, is Mr. Pawar trying to say "Let them have chicken", for chicken is cheaper than a lot of vegetables today?

It is indeed crazy. One of the world's fastest growing economies, an emergent superpower has inflation that kisses 20%? And no one has a clue, let alone the ability or the will to control it. The result is that we go the Zimbabwe way, when it comes to inflation.

I reserve the last few words for the sage-like, scholarly mukhauta (mask) of Indian politics, Dr. Manmohan Singh. Dr. Singh knew all along of the wrong doings in the way telecom licences were doled out. He does know the "who's" and "whys" of the inflation fiasco. But he still chooses to keep quiet. Why? God only knows what all his silence is covering up.

About 10 years back, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was accused of being a mukhauta for the rightists, despite being one of India's most-loved leaders, but Dr. Singh's penchant for inaction makes him the true mukhauta of our times.

This is how we have entered 2011. It is not the best way to begin the new year. But it may not end up being the worst of the years after all. Let's wait and watch!

Frugality for Sustenance - The Way To Go

The other night, Travel & Living was showing a programme on the culinary traditions of Korea.
The programme featured an interesting insight into the Buddhist and Tao monasteries of Korea.
Meal for the monks is frugal - sufficient to keep them going but not too much to prevent any discomfort so that their meditation can go on.
To ensure that the monks are reminded of their responsibility, they use only four bowls for their meal. They begin their meal with a bowl of soup, which is followed by a few spoons of boiled rice in the second bowl and vegetables in the third. Water to aid digestion is in the fourth bowl.
The monks are supposed to ensure that every grain of food in the bowls is consumed and not wasted away.
Frugality is of essence - they eat just enough for nourishment and sustenance and not for pleasure.
As an epicure, I find it difficult to practice what the Korean monks do. But surely, for say 5 out of the seven days of the week, it does make sense to follow the dietary habits of the Korean monks, in the name of a healthy lifestyle.

Amazing Indian Landscapes Part 5

This set is from a trip to Gujarat. We took an early morning Jet Airways ATR 72 flight to Bhavnagar (I always swoon over the matchless connectivity small towns in Gujarat have with Bombay!).

Daybreak at 39,000 feet, classically, would not qualify as a landscape. But I am still putting in photos of daybreak. as that sight was simply breathtaking.

Landing at Bhavnagar may seem quite uneventful, but there is a certain indescribable beauty of the meandering estuaries merging into the chocolaty ocean. The starkness of the salt pans is also something to be seen from above!

Amazing Indian Landscapes Part 4

The Monsoon is great time to be in India. The clouds create breathtaking masterpieces in the sky, that never cease to amaze me.

This set of photos is from a village nearly 30 kilometers out of Jodhpur city. Within a span of 20 minutes, a flotilla of dark clouds invaded the bright blue sky. It was a wondrous sight to see the rain actually move towards us. You can see that from the third photo.