Advice yes, help no
STATES, choking in widening revenue deficits, looked to Delhi on Saturday for some meaningful help. Instead they received at the meeting of the sub-committee of the National Development Council a stiff lecture on prudent fiscal management and a gesture or two thrown in for special effect.

Lahore begins to pay
THE signals from the just concluded SAARC Foreign Ministers Conference in Sri Lanka indicate that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s bus journey may indeed achieve the objective of improving relations between India and Pakistan.

EDUCATION & CHARACTER
by J. N. Puri
EDUCATION is the tool that destroys the bonds of ignorance and leads to the supreme goal of freedom. Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain and runs riot there, undigested all your life. Education is that by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded and by which one can stand on one’s own feet.

Consumer, competition and quality
by Anurag
IT is commonplace to come across a shopkeeper confiding in his customer, “This is an export quality product which will never give you a cause for complaint.” Or a pavement seller assuring a suspecting buyer of the quality of an imported item. And the odds are that the quality-conscious, though price-wary, customer may reconcile to paying for the perceived quality.

Drug peddlers never had
it so tough
by Anupam Gupta
UPHOLDING the view expressed by a Full Bench of the Kerala High Court seven years ago, the Supreme Court ruled last Thursday in a key verdict that no court has the power to suspend the sentence passed on a person convicted under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act during the pendency of his appeal against conviction. The verdict rings the curtain down on a major controversy touching the NDPS Act with immense practical consequences.

50 years through Ahmed Ali’s lens
by Humra Quraishi
FOREMOST, last week would always remain memorable for the sheer joy I experienced witnessing the exhibition of Ahmed Ali’s photographs and also an exhibition of the art collection of Jehangir Nicholson. The former opened at the Habitat Centre on March 16 and the black and white photographs, taken over a span of 50 years, held you spellbound. And in keeping with my theory that talent of the artist isn’t just enough to bring out the best (modesty, humility are the key factors) I was touched by Ahmed Ali’s unassuming personality.

75 Years Ago

Enhanced land-tax in Tanjore
MADRAS: The conference of the Mirasdars of Tanjore district, held at Mayavaram to consider the order of the Government refusing to grant any reduction in the enhanced rate of the land-tax, passed a resolution declaring their inability to pay the enhancement now levied over their original assessments.

Advice yes, help no

STATES, choking in widening revenue deficits, looked to Delhi on Saturday for some meaningful help. Instead they received at the meeting of the sub-committee of the National Development Council a stiff lecture on prudent fiscal management and a gesture or two thrown in for special effect. There was also one hurting — both emotionally and financially — rejection by the Centre. It bluntly refused to offer additional funds to meet the huge rise in the salary bill on account of the Fifth Pay Commission recommendations, not even to cover the gap caused by the increase the Centre allowed over and above the rates proposed by the pay panel. It is double whammy for the states. First, the Centre sets up a pay commission on its own, thereby forcing the states to meekly follow suit. Not to implement the central pay scales would be both ridiculous and politically dangerous. Then it becomes extra generous and jacks up the scales and allowances. Unlike in the past, this time the states are being asked to find money for the higher wage bill. Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha chided the states for giving up the good practice of showing a revenue surplus (until the mid-eighties) and now indulging in deficits (collectively more than Rs 25,500 crore). He informed the assembled Chief Minister of Rajasthan and the Finance Ministers of five other states that a small committee of bureaucrats would draw up a crash plan to teach the states basic house-keeping.

There was a half a per cent good news for the suffering states. The interest the Centre charges on loans from small savings will come down to 13.5 per cent from the present 14 per cent. This announcement was received coldly since the lowering is in line with the lower interest the Centre pays on small savings deposits. In truth, money is collected at around 11 per cent and loaned out to the states at 13.5 per cent. The Centre justifies this unconcealed leverage by pointing out to the annual outgo of more than Rs 19,000 crore as interest payment on these deposits alone. There are a few more similar gestures. One concerns ways and means of advance. The number of days the states can run an overdraft is to go up from the current 10 days. Earlier the limit went up by between 28 per cent and 84 per cent. The Centre will release the state share of income tax collection in the first two months of the financial year. This should moderate the problems of imbalance. Finally, the state will now have powers to borrow more from the market. These steps mean no tangible benefit to the states. And that was not the only factor marring the outcome of the meeting of the sub-committee of the NDC. Five of the six Chief Ministers, all members of the sub-committee, skipped the meeting, sending their Finance Ministers instead. From experience they know that such meetings bear no meaningful fruits. They can always know about the proceedings from the media.

Lahore begins to pay

THE signals from the just concluded SAARC Foreign Ministers Conference in Sri Lanka indicate that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s bus journey may indeed achieve the objective of improving relations between India and Pakistan. The sceptics had poohpoohed the bus diplomacy and dismissed the Lahore Declaration as a document of no consequence. In fact, they had predicted that Mr Vajpayee’s would be the first and last bus journey to Lahore. However, even those who believe in the policy of settling disputes through bilateral negotiations may have been taken by surprise at the speed at which India and Pakistan seem to be moving away from the avoidable bitterness of the past. The introduction of the promised bus service between Lahore and Delhi is the best thing which could have happened for low-income travellers on either side of the border. The importance of regular contact among the average citizens of India and Pakistan for building bridges of trust cannot be over-emphasised. They are the ones who need to see for themselves that most people in the two countries want India and Pakistan to live as friends. But the most significant fallout of the Lahore Declaration was the positive reaction of the global community to the bold initiative of the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan. At the SAARC conference too the initiative came in for high praise from the member-nations. Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who inaugurated the conference, rightly expressed the hope that the Lahore Declaration would help usher in a new era of peace in the region. It was later mentioned in the SAARC documents for the simple reason that good news should be shared with all while disputes should be settled through bilateral efforts away from the public gaze.

The icing on the SAARC cake was the fruitful rounds of discussions between External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz. Looking at the positive developments through Pakistani eyes, it may not be wrong to give credit to Mr Nawaz Sahrif for the mood of friendship in the subcontinent. Had he not replaced a hawkish Mr Gohar Ayub Khan with a moderate like Mr Sartaj Aziz the bus of hope between the two countries may not have even begun to crawl. Of course, as far as India is concerned Mr Jaswant Singh’s diplomatic skills in winning friends and influencing people to see global and bilateral issues through Indian eyes were never in doubt. The time table for taking the Lahore process further prepared by the two Foreign Ministers during their meetings in Sri Lanka should help the process gain more speed in the next few months. The schedule announced by Mr Jaswant Singh and Mr Sartaj Aziz does not mention the date of Mr Nawaz Sharif’s promised return bus journey to India. However, going by the current mood in the two countries, it may not be a bad idea to keep the red carpet ready for the visit which may take place sooner than expected.

EDUCATION & CHARACTER
The task before India
by J. N. Puri

EDUCATION is the tool that destroys the bonds of ignorance and leads to the supreme goal of freedom. Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain and runs riot there, undigested all your life. Education is that by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded and by which one can stand on one’s own feet. And the character of any man is but the aggregate of his tendencies, the sum total of the bent of his mind. We are what our thoughts make us.

From spiritual to celestial, religious to culture, our history has always indicated that education is the only key component of human development, that education is the only and the greatest liberating force. But the current national scenario raises some very disturbing questions. We have progressed so much in unfolding the hidden knowledge of the various sciences such as the physical science, the earth science, the body science, and the natural science. But why has mankind not progressed? Why does there seem to be a direct correlation between scientific and technological advancement and poverty and unemployment? Why are the world’s most illiterate people to be found in India? Why do we insist on imposing an outdated, 19th century academic captivity through our academic institutions? Why do we not allow our kindergartens, schools and colleges to operate on the time-tested principles of developmental education? What has caused the rapid decline in the moral and ethical values? Why are our schools and academic institutions unable to provide basic personal and social skills? Why is there so much misery and unrest? Why are we unable to understand that peace and harmony are not external and can only be found from within? Where have we faltered? Why are we resistant to change? How and what can we do about it?

We have become extraordinarily selfish. Our goal has been entirely for material and personal gain. As a consequence, while it is no doubt necessary for scientists and world leaders to gather and determine practical means by which they can help to extricate us from our self-induced predicament, the most effective approach to solving our problems is to change the understanding that we have of science and life. We have to change our attitude. For as long as our attitude remains self-oriented and material, our problems will continue.

If we consider physics as the king of the mountain of material sciences there are two laws of thermodynamics which could guide us in defining and designing an alternate vision, namely one energy cannot be created or destroyed, only shifted from one type to another. Two, lower the entropy higher the order and higher the entropy lower the order. Unity is the highest form of consciousness, possessing the greatest order, energy and truth. The contemporary model of education places physical and conceptual boundaries around disciplines implying absolute limit to what is being taught, raising the levels of entropy. To keep ourselves alive, we need to keep lowering the entropy that is within us. So let us move from high entropy to low entropy, from chaos and disorder to simplicity and beauty, order and unity.

Expressions such as meeting the overall needs of disadvantaged populations, eliminating effects of poverty via education, empowerment of women, structural adjustment with a human face, Education For All as an inoculation for future failures have become the incantations of all and sundry, such as policy and programme planners (Government and Voluntary), politicians, educators, child specialists, child development workers, donors, corporate and private sector, and many others. During the past five decades, these incantations, unfortunately, have not led us to the mythical lamp with a genie that has wiped out the woes of poverty and given citizens their due respect and place in society!! Instead, these incantations have helped surface five primary barriers towards realisation of Education For All, namely;

a) Our education policy is directionless lacking a definition of aims, goals and objectives of education or the differentiation between education and literacy, resulting in an absence of link between education, development and community participation. The National Education Policy for instance, despite its showy drama of seminars, debates and position papers, appears as a deliberate misunderstanding of the real problems, and a lack of honesty in wanting to tackle them. There is nothing excluded in its sweeping embrace: pre-school child care, elementary education, formal education, non-formal education, vocational education, mass education, continuing education, scheduled caste education, scheduled tribes education, open universities, open schools, model schools, women’s polytechnics, women’s empowerment, adult literacy, computer literacy, examination, teacher training, teaching methodology, learning methodology, job-oriented courses, de-linking jobs and degrees....A classic case of missing the wood for the trees! In pretending to change everything the NEP has ensured status quo — stunting the growth and development of the industry, agriculture, economics, morals and ethics.

b) Our education policy is highly centralised with inflexible administration, seeking a universal standard and a uniform dead-end curriculum. At the time of Independence, education was a state subject, but in 1976 it was brought under the Concurrent List through a Constitutional Amendment. The Centre through the Ministry Of Human Resource Development is primarily concerned with the overall administration of education, planning and implementation of programmes, determination of school syllabus, curriculum and board evaluations, determination of standards of higher education, scientific and technical education and promotion of research. In the formation of policies and programmes, the Centre is guided by numerous Central Advisory Councils such as CBSE, NCERT, NIEPA, etc.

c) Our education policy suffers from a philanthropic or social service syndrome with a segregated approach towards the girl child, minorities, backward castes, rural-urban and government-public schools dichotomy, thus missing the main purpose of education and perpetuating the situation.

d) Our mainstream curriculum materials are culturally and developmentally inappropriate, dull, boring and outdated, resulting in non-comprehension by and alienation of the masses. Starting from the preschool stage onwards, it is manifested from the size of school bags and spread through the length and breadth of the country, both rural and urban; the academic regime socialises the children to view education as a process for board examinations; the examinations focus on the children’s ability to regurgitate memorised information from text books and guidebooks; observation, problem-solving and critical thinking are discouraged; the syllabi are repetitive and densely packed leading to a sense of load and boredom. Above all, the problem of high drop-out rates has its origin in it, making the rural child’s experiences thin and brittle.

e) Our teacher-training programmes are woefully inadequate — qualitatively and quantitatively — as well as outdated. While the contemporary teachers find themselves under going pressure for an increasingly difficult role, our teacher training programmes are isolated from the school, the society and the community as a whole. They are dull, dismal, uninspiring and highly technical. And the bulk of government planning and action are on physical infrastructure and finance for elementary literacy, through incentives such as mid-day meals, school lunch programmes, free textbooks and uniforms. Teachers and Teacher Training Institutes, who are the pilots of educational reforms, are most neglected and invisible. They lack status, dignity and respect. They lack motivation. The obvious outcome of these state of affairs has been high illiteracy and dropout rates, stress and trauma, attitudinal problems towards women and girl children, fiscal and financial deficits, poor morals and ethical values, chaos and exploitation! We, therefore, need to take all stern measures to checkmate this situation at all levels from our villages to our mega-cities. Since education is the life-line of development, it is multi-dimensional, where the variables tend to develop in tandem, all our future activities should form CHILDREN as the centre of all our attentions in all sphere of our activities.

We all know that one of the most tangible impact of globalisation and liberalisation processes on India has been the significance and recognition being given to the education sector and culture. While education provides knowledge, skills and values, attitudes and culture, culture is the main instrument for disseminating the accomplishments of human civilisation. Culture has a significant role to play in economic and social life. It gives rise to new bursts of creativity and infuses confidence among our citizens.

While there is great enthusiasm for rediscovering our old and varied culture, knowledge and values, for taking pride in our own roots, there is a real danger to our culture from educational and economic decline as well as technological advancement. The Indian nation at large, suffers from acute illiteracy and poverty, preventing talented people from flourishing in music, arts, philosophy, theatre, crafts etc. Only a combination of steady and stable education system with clearly defined gains, goals and objectives, can nourish and strengthen our culture, generating new ideas in science, technology, music and dance. Only a live and robust culture can help us to come out of our narrow holes in which we have landed our nation within five decades of our independence because of highly political doses.

In the present day world of scientific and technological advancement, where old patterns of living are becoming absolute, the desire to modernise, industrialise and educate has come with explosive suddenness. Since education is the foundation of all growth and development, after much research and deliberation, it has become necessary to launch a campaign to promote universalisation of education, particularly the triad-Preschool, Primary and Adult Education. Our approach should be DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME and develop programmes with outlook for futuristic approach and special emphasis on curriculum development, teacher empowerment, community participation and for the development, of productive and social skills among our teeming millions. For this purpose we have to bring about fundamental changes in the national education policy so as to enlarge the range to people’s choices, may that be rural or urban. For that purpose we have to undertake the following measures immediately before we enter into the Third Millennium:

(1) Promote preschool education, primary education and adult education with a special emphasis on productive skills, social skills, curriculum development, teaching methodology, community participation, with greater emphasis on the girl-child and female literacy, because we have to understand that when we educate our son, we are educating only an individual, but when we educate our daughter, we are educating our daughter who would be the mother and with her the family will be educated, the clan will be educated, the society and the nation will be educated.

(2) Undertake training programmes, both in-service and pre-service, such as curriculum development, teacher training, vocational training so that all our youth, boys and girls, get properly trained to effectively teach our children and adults who are the source of our future growth and development in various walks of life.

(3) Our existing educational institutions like Central Board of Secondary Education, National Council for Education Research and Training and National Institute for Educational Planning etc, become monitoring and evaluation centres through scientific methodologies for the evaluation of development programmes and by publishing status papers reports thereof for diffusion of knowledge.

(4) Now that we are in the midst of computer world, we should develop and maintain proper Data-bases, undertake action research, establish research centres and library for the dissemination of literature. There is need for proper cooperation and coordination at all levels.

(5) Coordinate with research educational institutions, government, quasi-government, and private levels for various action research efforts.

(6) Foster linkages among existing national and international organisations, societies and agencies for influencing educational development, planning and policies and seek the help of United Nations and its specialised agencies.;

(7) Provide Consultancy Services to agencies and institutions concerned with educational development issues both by exchange of knowledge and information services in the rural and urban settings, locally, nationally and globally.

It will be necessary for the Central and State Governments to set apart adequate funds for a specific period of time — say five to 10 years — so that the goals of Education for ALL are achieved without any further delay. If we can dovetail all our social, economic and financial resources for achieving the above mentioned goals through education for all we can see that we will get rid of our on-going problems of population, poverty and pollution. If our citizens do not take the time by the forelock and continue to drift away from the much needed policies of education for all and at the same time health for all we will land ourselves in worst crisis which will be unprecedented in its dimensions. The tasks mentioned above for the growth and development of India are not the sole responsibilities of the Central and state Governments but are the primary duties of all non-governmental institutions, trusts and each and every individual who owes a duty and responsibility to Mother India.

Consumer, competition and quality
by Anurag

IT is commonplace to come across a shopkeeper confiding in his customer, “This is an export quality product which will never give you a cause for complaint.” Or a pavement seller assuring a suspecting buyer of the quality of an imported item. And the odds are that the quality-conscious, though price-wary, customer may reconcile to paying for the perceived quality.

Two presumptions underlie such a mindset. One, an average Indian consumer doesn’t deserve good quality products or services which are the exclusive preserve of the export market. Secondly, quality could be compromised to cut costs.

Frankly speaking, the proverbial kingship of the Indian customer has been usurped in Independent India by those engaged in producing poor quality goods and services. Initially, the formidable task of feeding millions of mouths and giving work to twice as many hands led our leaders to emphasise the quantity of production with little regard for quality. Our “official” obsession with numbers is notorious. In due course, quantity became the enemy of quality and the customer came to be taken for granted.

Notwithstanding the hype and hoopla associated with the economic reforms and liberalisation, we have yet to hear a debate on promoting consumer satisfaction by means of better products and services. Public utilities meant for providing services such as telecommunications, transport, sanitation, water and electricity continue to be cast in a monopoly mould and cannot be expected to deliver good quality service until they are restructured and made consumer-centric. At present, their employees’ performance appraisal has nothing to do with customer orientation.

“It is a funny thing about life”, observed Somerset Maugham, “if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you often get it”. The quality initiative is demand driven. Someone has to demand it to get it. Take Taj Mahal or Qutub Minar, or, for that matter, any other heritage building, they bear eloquent testimony to the then rulers’ commitment to quality, the illiterate labour and insignificant infrastructure notwithstanding. Ditto for the world-famous muslin of Dhaka.

Both as a nation-state or a nation-market, we are lacking in leadership. The success or failure of any organisation or enterprise rests on the perceived quality at the top. Even stock prices rise and fall according to the public perception of how good the leader is. Walls of protectionism did protect the unproductive labour and the swadeshi industry all these years but ignored the interests of the consumer. In the absence of a healthy competition, the poor tax payer continued to pay for the inefficiency of the producers of goods and services. How long can the consumer be denied his right?

The vision of leaders is critical to producing quality products. Little wonder that Indian scientists and technocrats who are second to none in the world, feel frustrated at home but excel abroad. The bottleneck, as they say, is on the top of the bottle, neither in the middle nor at the bottom.

Next to the national commitment to quality and a quality vision, comes the action plan. There is an urgent need to bridge the technology gap if we wish to produce world class products. But for the “car war” unleashed by automobile giants, our swadeshi Indica would not have been conceived at all. In order to enable our industry to rise to the quality challenge posed by competitors, it is imperative to provide for a common pool of resources to be tapped by individual companies. Individual companies may not be able to leapfrog the barrier, given their minuscule investment in R&D activities.

With the imported goods flooding the domestic market, Indian consumer tends to perceive the foreign brand as the benchmark. This has forced the Indian corporates to enter into joint ventures. But, more often than not, the Indian partner runs the risk of getting marginalised what with its total dependence on the foreign partner for technology and brand name. Only such bare minimum technology is given by the foreign partner as is necessary and sufficient to capture the Indian market. The Maruti-Suzuki love-hate relationship is a classic example.

Unless the Indian companies pool their resources to continuously upgrade the basic minimal technology acquired through the joint venture route, our products will never become world class. Today R&D accounts for less than 1 per cent of our companies’ expenditure bill.

Indian producers will have to break out of the old mindset of the “minimum standard” approach to quality. Quality pays, though in the long run. High quality means high customer satisfaction and still higher profits. It is indeed myopic to cut corners in quality just to cut costs or cover up inefficiency. If for nothing else, let us have quality for the sake of quality.

Drug peddlers never had it so tough

by Anupam Gupta

UPHOLDING the view expressed by a Full Bench of the Kerala High Court seven years ago, the Supreme Court ruled last Thursday in a key verdict that no court has the power to suspend the sentence passed on a person convicted under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act during the pendency of his appeal against conviction.

The verdict rings the curtain down on a major controversy touching the NDPS Act with immense practical consequences.

Adopted in 1985 and inspired by an international crackdown on drug enforcement, the NDPS Act prescribes a minimum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and fine of one lakh of rupees in most cases.

That is harsh enough by Indian standards of karuna but the maximum is no less than double. Twenty years in gaol. (Besides a fine generally not exceeding, but occasionally stretchable beyond, two lakhs).

The result of statutory severity is judicial leniency: the “major inarticulate premise” of most acquittals under the NDPS Act — and there are quite a few of them — is the severity of the minimum sentence necessary upon conviction. Statements by dignitaries, both judicial and non-judicial, at public fora, deploring the increasing rate of acquittals and demanding remedial action, miss the heart of the problem. Nay, statutes that overkill will never kill the problem.

But back to what the Supreme Court decided last week in Maktool Singh versus State of Punjab. Section 32-A of the NDPS Act, it said, has taken away the power of the court (otherwise available under Section 389, CrPC) to suspend a sentence passed under the Act pending appeal by the convicted person.

Taken away the power of the court, that is, to grant bail to the convict or stay the recovery of fine from him by suspending the sentence till the appeal is finally decided. And that, going by current statistics of mounting judicial arrears, might take years.

“No sentence awarded under this Act,” reads Section 32-A, “shall be suspended, remitted or commuted”, not-withstanding anything contained in the Criminal Procedure Code or any other law for the time being in force. The only exception is a sentence passed under Section 27 of the NDPS Act (for possessing drugs in a small quantity for personal consumption) which can in no case exceed one year imprisonment.

“Pending any appeal by a convicted person,” reads the CrPC in Section 389 (the countervailing provision), “the Appellate Court may, for reasons to be recorded by it in writing, order that the execution of the sentence or order appealed against be suspended and also, if he is in confinement, that he be released on bail, or on his own bond.”

Section 32-A, as many as six High Courts round the country have held in the past, refers only to the government’s power of suspension, remission and commutation of sentences, not to the judicial power (under Section 389, CrPC) of suspending a sentence pending appeal. The High Courts of Madras, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat (Full Bench) and our own High Court of Punjab and Haryana.

The two powers (they say), one executive and the other judicial, are of a different character and operate in different fields. Besides, and that is an important consideration, another provision of the NDPS Act itself — Section 36-B — provides that the High Court while hearing appeals under the Act may exercise all the powers that an appellate court enjoys under the CrPC “so far as may be applicable.”

The Kerala and Bombay High Courts have taken the contrary view, however, a view that the Supreme Court has now approved.

If the object of Section 32-A (said the Kerala High Court in Berlin Joseph’s case in 1992) is to take away only the power of the government to suspend, remit or commute sentences, the provision is an exercise in futility. For that power vests in the executive not only under statute (Sections 432 and 433 of the CrPC) but under the Constitution as well (Articles 72 and 161). And a constitutional power cannot be restricted or taken away by statute.

As regards Section 36-B, the rider “so far as may be applicable” indicates, said the court, that the Section is not intended to confer on the High Court all its powers under the CrPC “hook, line and sinker”.

Turning as it does on fine points of statutory interpretation, the issue is highly debatable. The full text of the Supreme Court’s judgement is not yet available and it would be unfair to comment on it for that reason as well. The fact that the court has spoken through Justice K.T. Thomas, one of the most seasoned and sapient criminal law Judges on its Bench today, makes the job of a commentator even more difficult.

I am tempted nonetheless to venture the thought that the Supreme Court has erred on the side of strictness. To the severity of the minimum sentence prescribed under the NDPS Act now stands added the impossibility, the absolute impossibility, of obtaining bail pending appeal.

Conscious that denial of bail may result in “miscarriage of justice”, the Supreme Court has directed the Registry of every High Court to take on board appeals under the NDPS Act on a priority basis and the High Courts to dispose them of as early as possible.

Well-intentioned as they surely are such directions, as experience has shown, are easier given than implemented.

50 years through Ahmed Ali’s lens

by Humra Quraishi

FOREMOST, last week would always remain memorable for the sheer joy I experienced witnessing the exhibition of Ahmed Ali’s photographs and also an exhibition of the art collection of Jehangir Nicholson. The former opened at the Habitat Centre on March 16 and the black and white photographs, taken over a span of 50 years, held you spellbound. And in keeping with my theory that talent of the artist isn’t just enough to bring out the best (modesty, humility are the key factors) I was touched by Ahmed Ali’s unassuming personality. With a shy smile on his face, he seemed to be almost dragged by daughter Nafisa Ali to mingle with the chief guests — Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit and artist Satish Gujral. Before I write more about his photographs I must mention that with that far-away look on his face and pain in the eyes he reminded me of Gulzar and it is in the same soft way of speaking he gave brief introductions to some of the photographs. Mind you, never once speaking about himself. Just about the photographs. Little wonder that though this veteran Calcutta-based photographer is touching 77 years, yet this is the first-ever exhibition of his ‘captures’. “Yes, this is the first time an exhibition of his photographs is being held, “exclaimed Nafisa, almost gushing and looking very obviously excited. And whilst Ahmed Ali preferred to be in the background she gave the commentary: “Those photographs are of my sisters and I, as kids... those photographs are of the Bastar tribals... those three are of Indrani Rahman... that one is of Amitabh Bachchan... that photograph up there, is of my father’s sister Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah, who had migrated to Pakistan and became the editor and publisher of ‘The Mirror. “In fact, this time when I went to Lahore I requested Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to get me her address. He did so almost immediately and I could finally meet her....”

And last weekend at the National Gallery of Modern Art an exhibition of the vast art collection of Bombay-based Jehangir Nicholson lay open for the public. Space will not permit me to go into details of the 225 paintings and 35 sculptures of this one-man collector. But I would certainly like to state that 83-year-old Nicholson is one of the most charming men I have met in my 43 years. He simply bowls you over by his wit and a sense of genuinity, adding gently that he took to this obsessive form of collection to drow the pain he suffered when he lost his wife 30 years back. And, now perhaps, looking after them with so much of involvement that this is the first time ever that he has allowed these art pieces to travel out of Bombay.

And the sheer experience of viewing these art pieces can be summed up in the words of the Italian Ambassador to India “Mr Nicholson you have given us a lot of joy... by being able to see this collection”. And to experience, rather see that joy there many present on the opening day itself — veteran painter B.C. Sanyal, Secretary Culture R.V. Vaidyanatha Ayyar, artist Krishan Khanna, Indrani Rahman’s son Ram Rahman who is also a well-known photographer, Satish and Kiran Gujral, the Ambassador of Mexico, the director of the Hungarian Cultural and Information Centre, art curator Chandrakanta, Sanskriti man O.P. Jain, besides several artists and many mediapersons. This exhibition will be on till April 25 and I think it is a must-see for those of you who are visiting the capital.

Lesser events

Now to the lesser events of the week. By now you’d all must have read the fiasco-ridden BJP bash on March 19 evening. Amidst the historic monuments at Hauz Khas. Foremost it did surprise many that permission was given to the organisers to hold this mammoth cultural evening within the compound confines of a heritage structure. It seems there are a set of rules for those who rule and a different set for those who are being ruled. Forget about the potential damage to the structure and the surround but the manner in which the hue and cry raised by the residents was sidelined has left many wondering. And to compound their grievances the owners of boutiques/offices/business houses in the Hauz Khas Village shopping complex were ordered to close their establishments at 5.30 pm sharp, that is about an hour before the usual closing time. Many of these aggrieved residents and businessmen are left asking that why couldn’t this so-called bash be held at any of the stadiums or halls or grounds/maidans? Perhaps, I&B Minister Pramod Mahajan, directly responsible for this fiasco show, wanted to inflict an arty touch to it. Little realising that inflictions should never be resorted to otherwise they rebound. The stage did cave in. When the ‘bus’ arrived stage, one of its wheels went in and camouflages had to be resorted to, the in the form of dosti music.

Madhuri Dixit

Madhuri Dixit also touched the Capital, with the promise that she’d be addressing a Press conference amidst the premiere of her latest film “Arzoo”. But left much to be desired as she left early and all queries were met with the patent reply: “She is not well, feeling nauseous and has been vomiting... .” To be met with the counterquip “Pray, who is responsible for this state of hers? Is it M or F or H a combination of the three” Nevertheless, actress that she is, even in this nauseated state she managed to give several rounds of photosessions and the city newspapers lay splashed with her “nauseating” smiles.

And US-based professor of political science Maya Kulkarni came down to dance before a select audience, at the Habitat Centre. And there you had I.K. Gujral and spouse Shiela (the two, anyway, seem inseparable), former Power Minister N.K.P. Salve, Vasant Sathe, the Vasudev sisters, Uma and Aruna, sitting and witnessing this two-hour-long performance. With Sheila Gujral summing up her impressions: “I am amazed that a professor of political science and that too based abroad has managed to keep up with the dance tradition... a woman is definitely endowed with special shakti, that’s why can perform different roles...”

75 YEARS AGO

Enhanced land-tax in Tanjore

MADRAS: The conference of the Mirasdars of Tanjore district, held at Mayavaram to consider the order of the Government refusing to grant any reduction in the enhanced rate of the land-tax, passed a resolution declaring their inability to pay the enhancement now levied over their original assessments. They resolved not to pay the said enhancement voluntarily.

The conference also declared that if the Government continued to ignore their just demands for the remission of the enhancement, they might be compelled to stop the cultivation of their holdings until their grievance was redressed.