Indira Gandhi & the Years that Transformed India - by Srinath Raghavan - A Review

Comments on the book

"Indira Gandhi and the Years that Transformed India" - by Srinath Raghavan.

The book is a deep and well done analysis of the rise to power by Indira Gandhi in India and its lasting impact on that nation and world politics too.

Hers was an ascent marked by a disdain for the oligarchic control of the old guard on the Executive through the party machinery and resources, a total disregard for conventions and sometimes even the law of the land and its Constitution, and an unfettered power grab that could only be described as Caesarism. It was enabled by important socio-political factors that include: larger number of voters, particularly the poor and the labor class, participating in the elections; larger number of the previously ignorant middle and lower classes becoming aware of what the rich enjoy and how they, the poor, are exploited, fooled with false promises, and kept poor; social unrest induced by overall economic decline and lowering standards of living for the milddle and lower classes.

Even reading through the prologue of the book should give one a better understanding of the crisis that has dawned on the US, crisis being defined beautifully right at the start through a quote that describes it as consisting "precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born."

The old order of party driven politics and control by party bosses may have come to an end here in the USA thereby marking the ongoing death of the old, but the new cannot be born at least as a normal child unless law and order prevails and the state returns to Constitutional democracy true to the promises of its founders with power returning to the people from the new oligarchs and the super rich and the bigots backing them. The parallels between Indira Gandhi's rule and what obtains today in the US permeate the entire book, although the author makes no attempt whasoever to draw any such parallel and that optic is of this reader. Here is a great example of a sentence: "the price of surmounting this crisis [caused by trying to stack the Parliament, Cabinet, and Supreme Court with loyalists] via a Caesarist style was the thinning out of serious political talent, and the emergence of a sycophantic symphony that accompanied the prime minister's imperial rule."

The saving grace for India was that the courts by and large fought for their independence curbing what could have turned into a dictatorship. Also, Indira Gandhi's commitment to help the poor was genuine; she also saw them to be her real power base. What goes on here in the US, however, appears to be a curse on us for the laughs US had on India and Indira's emergency.The motives are not to uplift the poor and with that the nation, but to line pockets of vested interests.. Thus, whether this dying of the old engenders the birth of a healthy baby or of a totally grotesque one for the long haul depends heavily on democracy being reasserted along with the rule of law as administered impartially and fearlessly by our courts. And, it depends most importantly in the electorate becoming more knowledgeable and not being driven by demogoguery, false promises, and racist scapegoating. There are indeed some lessons for USA coming from the experience (details of which from the book I have omitted) of the largest democracy of the world which stood by the democratic form government despite the serious challenges it faced. India's status as a major economic power is testimony to the wisdom of that choice.

CARNATIC MUSIC - HOW MUCH OF A LIVING ART FORM?

   The question posed in the title may indeed sound strange given the large number of concerts and other activities related to Carnatic music that take place not only in India but also internationally in many foreign nations.  But, it is indeed prompted by some important considerations.   

   Take any article or public scholarly discussion related to the art form, compositions, composers etc.  The focus is nearly 100% on persona and work that seem to be on the dead and gone, and even among them the most focus is on the far too distant.  Certainly, many of them like the Trinity Saint Thyagaraja, Sri Muthuswami Dikishitar, and Sri Shyama Sastri as also those like Sri Purandaradasa and Sri Annamacharya and many others need to be venerated, and their work do provide more scope for exploration than what has already been done.  Similar comments hold for performing musicians too; rarely does a scholarly discussion of great musicians or banis or whatever involve as the subject a living person or anyone recent.   Under these circumstances, the question in the title does indeed assume a level of legitimacy that cannot be ignored. Is such absolute focus on the distant past an impediment to the sustenance of the art form through inadequate encouragement of new players and their contributions of significance?

   One can see three important reasons for this.  One is that scholarly discussions and anlyses are best done after the work attains reasonable exposure and informal recognition.  The second reason is that the society has become litigious, and in a nation like India even unintended libel, an inherently civil offense that should engender only civil penalties except in the cases involving serious malice, is treated as though it were a crime and may  engender even arrest.  The third is certainly an inability of most segments in this art community to acknowledge fellow contributors, and the inherent but not explicit camps and divisions based on guru parampara, bani, and the like.  One of the sad consequences of it is that reviews of concerts have become more sycophantic praises and rarely analytic and critical as they used to be in the past.  Certainly, no one wants the acerbic vitriol of some of the old reviewers, but without critical reviews, can the art form maintain its quality? [See my blog
https://veeraam.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-critique-of-critics-and-criticisms.html

that was also published as an article long ago in the magazine Sruti].

    As a rasika deeply interested in learning more about the art form and its present status and modern creators and contributors, and in the continuance of its excellence, I think there is indeed a need to remedy the situation.  For a starter, critics should be given reasonable license to critique.  As a scientist, I was always aware that any scientific work I put out is open to comments, criticism, refutation, etc.  We don't sue each other as long as such things are conducted in a scholarly way, and most often even when they are not; we also have camps of our own based on methodology and foundational bias.  Yet, the good scientists celebrate new developments and are even willing to use and follow them.  Why is it not so in this art?  Is it just a matter of egos, or the lack of any requirement for continuing education to keep up with current trends?  Should organizations like AIR and Doordarshan organize continuing education programs and require recertification to keep one's status as many other professions do?  Also, there needs to be a greater sense of camaraderie and mutual cheering among participants to keep the art form even more alive, and for new and fresh contributions of all kinds to occur continuously.  A simple way of showing it is by making time to attend others' programs, particularly of the young and upcoming, at least occasionally.  Without all these, the art form itself may end up like Sanskrit that at one time flourished and was the Lingua Franca of Bharat and is in need of frequent and constant resuscitation now. 

   It is important that scholars include in their citations and references contributors also from the post-Trinity period.  Not to include living members of the community may be reasonable, but to ignore totally more recent members of any or all types is certainly not advisable.  Perhaps, an eminent organization like the Madras Music Academy, Narada Gana Sabha, or Shanmukhananda can lead with a series of lecdems on 19th and 20th Century Carnatic composers.

   Certainly, in putting this out I may be inviting adverse and opposing comments, criticisms, etc., which are most welcome as long as they are backed by good reasoning.  But kindly bear in mind to keep them constructive and displaying a spirit of moving the art form forward.  Thank you.

VAIDYESWARAN RAJARAMAN - A true legend to whom much is owed by computing and engineering India

Dr. VAIDYESWARAN RAJARAMAN
Sep 8, 1933 - Nov 8, 2025

   Hailed as the father of digital computing in India and later as a pioneer of India's foray into parallel and supercomputing, Dr. Rajaraman lived a life exemplifying the best of Indian science establishment and its undaunted spirit of high achievement in spite of great odds.  Indeed, much has been written by him and on him ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaidyeswaran_Rajaraman ). This is just a brief personal homage to that great man.

   My first contact with Dr. Rajaraman was in late 2015 through Dr. Kicha Ganapathy, one of his very early students in CS, who brought his attention to a book I was writing titled 'Innovation by India for India - the Need and the Challenge' making a case against 'Make in India' of others' inventions but in favor of accelerating Indian inventions owned by India.  Kicha had asked Dr. Rajaraman if he could read and comment on the manuscript, and also write a foreword if he liked it.  The initial reaction of Dr. Rajaraman was that he was too busy to be able to do that, but did ask Kicha to ask his friend to send him the list of chapters with a brief description of each chapter.  I was soon asked to contact him with the pleasant message that he would indeed like to read the book in its entirety.  Later he did acknowledge reading it and resonating with many of the themes in it as well as quite a few recommendations given therein.  I did not, however, have the nerve to ask him for a Foreword for fear of being turned down.

   Invited to give an Institute lecture in May 2016, I visited him at IISc with a printed hard copy of the book, and he was quite complimentary about the book and asked me how long it took me to write it.  I told him it involved nearly two years of gathering my thoughts together with supporting material, but the actual writing took only a couple of months, during which it occupied all my time.  Then came his shocking question, "Why would a mathematician like you who could have written a few good papers during that time waste it on this book; who would read it given today's state of affairs here?"  Naturally, I was taken aback, and I gave him my honest answer, namely, that to me this was a way of repaying India for what it had given me by way of a solid foundation in mathematics and probability, I strongly believed that if Indian administrators and scientists  would embrace innovation with a business focus, the nation would indeed join the club of developed nations quickly, and I wanted to start at least a discussion along that line with a set of straw proposals of mine.  I also added that compared to many lives that were sacrificed for India's freedom, my two years hardly mattered.  That prompted him to say on his own that he will review the book for the Consulting Magazine that had a good readership among decision makers in India, and that would be better for me than any foreword or a review in a scientific journal he could have written.  To my surprise, he followed through quickly and later sent me a copy of his review as well.  Many changes along the lines of my thinking have since happened in India, and it is not for me to say if my writings had any role in it, for the nation has an army of fine thinkers of its own.

    So, when I visited Bangalore again in January 2024, I wanted to visit Dr. Rajaraman again to thank him personally and also to take his blessings as an elder and as a much admired professor.  The meeting at his home was a memorable one, with kind hospitality offered by him and his wife and interesting conversations not only related to the book and sciences but also Carnatic music, a great passion of mine.  It left many lasting impressions on me captured by some great sayings such as: (a) a full pot does not spill or make noise; (b) age is but a number; (c) learning has to be a continuous lifelong activity; (d) satisfying one's own intellectual curiosity is the highest driver of good science, and many more.  It became clear that his amiability, equanimity, and contentment were obviously not a result of any recognition or awards, but of the greater values with which he seems to have led his life.

    Dr. Rajaraman has had a long life productive to its very end.  Man's life is not judged by its length, but more so by the accomplishments that have embellished it and the lives it has touched.  Dr. Rajaraman has an army of intellectual descendants who have made India great in computing and information technology; to them he has served as their mentor and more importantly as a role model.  Though not a student of his and though not having had the good fortune of being close to him in any way, I am honored to be in that league of people influenced heavily by him. 

    May Dr. Rajaraman attain the greater eternal peace that he has earned through a life well lived!
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A free pdf of my book is available for download at:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_YwcDddMAsYQi1aN2NWUVgwUzA/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-gQa3FEiJsesPYLNlDoCFWg

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fMS8HdWysSpqL3dUzrnwDAPRUMQD64fU/view?usp=sharing

The Bliss of a Gift

This lovely magnolia and the Japanese maple in our garden, which are my favorite trees, were a Fathers Day gift to me from the kids (some 35?) years ago. Though the blooms last hardly two weeks or so before wind blows them away, they are still not only a great sight to see but a lovely reminder of the gift of loving children a parent can have. Yes, Mr. Wordsworth, not only daffodils but many other things of nature do 'flash upon that inward eye, the bliss of solitude.'

Interesting but with dissonant notes

Title: On That Note - Memories of a Life in Music

Author: Sanjay Subramanian with Krupa Ge
ISBN: 9789360454043
Westland Books, 2024

   This book is an autobiography of Sangeethakalanidhi Sanjay Subrahmanian, as narrated by him and prepared with the the help of Krupa Ge, describing various transitions through his life -  in the words of the author: "as I break genre and change my bio from 'Carnatic musician' to 'singer'," the latter indicating big steps outside the confines of classical Carnatic music.  It gives a good glimpse of the man behind the celebrated stage personality, his wide range of interests from sports to reading, and, above all, his compulsive creative urges and inner push to go beyond erstwhile achievements, his personal insecurities, and challenges faced.  It makes an interesting reading although the reader must be warned that if what one seeks is some great revelations about music per se, one is bound to be disappointed.  Take it also with a pinch of salt as autobiographies (the likes of 'My Experiments with Truth' exempted) are, by and large, sanitized selective accounts of one's life to project oneself in the best of light.

   We begin by learning that Sanjay, as a young boy, was more interested in cricket and play than music, turning down even the opportunity to be tutored by the great violinist Sangeethasagara A. Kanyakumari and was drawn from violin to vocal music mainly by his grandmother who was his first vocal teacher.  That his father constantly played  Carnatic music on the radio at home and his disciplinarian mother did extract necessary music drills from him for rewards such as attending an MSS concert are noted by him as significant contributors to his growth in music - a fact that all parents should indeed take note of; classical music flourishes in households where such music is heard regularly and with interest.  Sanjay was also blessed with the presence of a grandfather who, though not trained formally in Carnatic music, could sing beautifully to the extent of being credited for some phrases Sanjay uses such as for example in ragas like Ritigowla.  It is amazing to learn how young Sanjay filled the gaps in his learning from his grandma 'Rukmini patti', such as for making kalpanaswarams, by jamming with his friends like Sriram, the violin maestro T.N. Krishnan's son.  Further down, he was to have the privilege of having his music honed by interactions with some great musicians like K.S.Krishnamurthy,  nadaswaram vidwan Mayavaram SRD Vaidyanathan, and many others of whom Sanjay talks with great reverence and affection.  The story in summary shows clearly that the ascent to Sangeethakalanidhi by Sanjay was indeed the result of a goal he had set for himself and striven arduously.  A happy marriage and family also served as a great asset to him throughout.

   It indeed shocked me to read that Sanjay, one of the biggest crowd pullers, with a voice most would envy 'never had a good opinion of it' and considered it as his 'weakest attribute.'  [Indeed, a person I highly respect as a superb and musically knowledgeable rasika once had remarked to me, 'At times, he sings like he is fighting with music,' but I have always viewed those attempts only as setting higher and higher bars for himself particularly in the upper octaves.]  That he can talk about it with such candor, and even more importantly that he is taking steps to overcome those limitations and the strain they impose on his vocal chords by proper training, that too at a later age and after becoming a Sangeethakalanidhi, make him a perfectionist worthy of admiration.  His ascent along the maturity scale is also shown in how he describes his futile attempts to impress T.N. Seshagopalan with an effort ridden atana that was to be called out by a close friend of his and led to a constructive exercise in self introspection.  These and other tales like how his initial arrogant attitude towards Prince Rama Varma quickly was overcome to result in a close and lasting friendship show growth of Sanjay not only as a musician but as a man along the likability scale.

   'On That Note' is not without some dissonant notes, but blissfully they are very few in number.  Thus, Sanjay in one place (p. 61) gripes about some sabhas not being ready to pay him what he thinks he deserves, without recognizing that institutions have their own constraints and have to balance social optimization of supporting new talent (whose exposure often results in losses) against individual optimization by established artists some of whom forget that once they themselves could have been the beneficiaries of such social optimization.  His caricature (p. 127-128) of the US NRIs is honestly in poor taste and in the spirit of biting the hand that fed and continues to feed.  Whoever said, 'uppittavarai uLLaLavum ninai' definitely would not have meant this type of remembrance.

    What makes me, as one advocating innovation and positive change, truly happy is seeing Sanjay who once told me that there is no need for new compositions and 'periyavaa ellaam naRaiya vittoottu poyirukka' is now taking on a lot of Tamil kritis and is even aspiring to compose some of his own.  I sincerely wish him sucess in both of these ventures.  I can relate to the new found freedom he feels after reaching the goal of Sangeethakalanidhi  to get seriously into other genre, but it would indeed be a tragedy were it to come at the price of greater and greater disengagement from the Carnatic where he has much vested and also at the cost of having to eat crow in front of philistine  producers and underwriters of major productions who may not bear enough respect for talent and the talented especially when music in the production is not the main theme.
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The author, Dr. V. Ramaswami, is a past President and Secretary of CMANA.  He has written many compositions in Carnatic music with three albums by Sri Sikkil Gurucharan and one by Dr. R. Suryaprakash.  Views expressed here are strictly personal.

A BAD RULE FOR VOTE-MONGERING

I have been very vocal against the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the loot of the Middle East by the Western powers of Europe over Centuries and by our own oil tycoons in the not-too distant past, and the denial of freedom and a state of their own to Palestinians. As a Democrat, it is not easy for me to criticize a Democratic President I rooted and voted for, but I have criticized Biden too for tolerating the atrocities in Gaza. So, let no one accuse me of islamophobia or religious intolerance. As a Hindu, I would be equally opposed if this were a Hindu temple.

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This new rule in Minneapolis is bad in every respect and is more a vote mongering gesture than anythng else.

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1. A call for prayer should be a right in USA, but in these days does it have to be on a blaring set of speakers mounted atop a tower that disturb the peace and the beauty of silence that is already disturbed by so much noise pollution due to all kinds of traffic and electro-mechanical devices?

2. Today's Internet and wireless phones provide ample ways to make a call for prayer and reach those who want to be reached without disturbing others

3 What about my right not to be disturbed by unwanted loud blaring of devices irrespective of any religion and except to warn people of emergencies?

4. What about children, senior citizens, the sick and workers including doctors and policemen on call whose rest and sleep will be disturbed by loud noise?

5. The holy books of the religions were written when no such technology like loudspeakers existed and do not require such an onslaught on people's ears.

6. Are we going to have a competition in cacophony by competing religions as you see in every major town and city in India and other places?

7. Left alone, this runs the risk of increasing religious intolerance, and particularly against minority religions, and causing more division in this nation.

This rule is more than WOKE!!! It is dumb, stupid, and non-democratic in every way except perhaps to religious fanatics. I appeal to all moderate and progressive muslims to kindly stand up against this; your own school going children and old and sick will be impacted, and this will only increase the resentment towards Islam in general. It should be challenged in the courts and reversed at the earliiest opportunity. Point #2 above alone should show that its reversal will not curtail freedom of religion.

PEACE NOW !!!

Israelis protest for Peace.

While no one or nothing can justify the killing of innocent civilians, and our heartfelt sympathies for their families and the outrage for and condemnation of this terrible act should be strong and unequivocal, let us also remember that there are no winners in any war, especially among civilians caught in the cross fire.

This new violence has its genesis in Netanyahu's disregard for previous agreements as well as Trump's unwise backtracking of US policies that emboldened an already rabid Netanyahu and pushed Hamas to the wall. Biden's placing his own re-election concerns and the resulting kid glove approach to Netanyahu also compounded the problem. Indeed, there are more than two bloody hands and more than one continent responsible for this tragedy.

Let there be no more bloodshed, and let the call for immediate peace be made in the strongest terms with supportive action to curtail all violent participants.

One thing the Palestinian supporters in the US need to consider is if indeed things would be better or worse for Paletinians (and Israelis, and the USA too) with Trump in power. Will Kamala Harris make a difference, or better still can it be that she does not have to even bear that burden by Biden becoming more cognizant of the damage done and being done each day by the warring parties and by his own hemi-paresis (i.e., one sided paralysis)? PS: A person with paresis has muscle weakness, but can still move the affected muscles, albeit more weakly than normal. Paresis is also known as partial paralysis