The age old war between the two technologies, namely, open source and proprietary software is still very much on. Like the proverbial good versus evil clash, everyone was eager to paint the other as evil. Lost somewhere in translation is the real issue, namely which of the two is cheaper, secure, easier to maintain, etc. The question we really need to tackle is not a philosophical one, i.e., what is good or what is evil but simply which is preferable and which is not. So here is a primer on what is what.

Apples & oranges?

One of the issues that lot many experts often raise and rail about is when the two, namely open source and proprietary are comparable at all.  The way the two have emerged and evolved is the reason for it. While, open source has been around for many decades, thanks to the mainframe legacy, where in the computer belonged to the technologist. Hence, a breed of technologists emerged who believed in technology for the sake of technology. Meanwhile, the proprietary software, one can say is of recent emergence especially since the college dropouts Bill Gates and Paul Allen started peddling software developed by others for profit, and so was Microsoft and proprietary software born. Since, the past three decades, the war between the two has continued ever since.

Yet, while the two might be as different as chalk and cheese, for the IT manager and CIO who has to ensure that the IT infrastructure is safe, secure, up and running, the difference is much real and so is the comparison. For them, what really matters is what is affordable and lesser headache. All rest is frivolous. So for all whose soul might curdle at the comparison between apples and oranges, should know at certain instances, both are indeed comparable.

TCA or TCO?

Now, that we know that the two are and will be compared, let’s start to do it. The most basic way would be the cost factor. Simply put how much does it cost to put in a say Microsoft server and that of a Linux server of the same specs. That should tell us the story. Sadly it does not.

The devil apparently lies in the detail. So, while open source systems are downright inexpensive to implement when compared to proprietary systems, but there are a lot of other costs that are involved, namely administrative and training costs. Because of the pervasiveness of proprietary systems like Microsoft, getting people to work on MS Word is much easier that on OpenOffice Word processor. Thus it is often said that rather than focusing the total cost of acquisition (TCA), it is better to focus on the total cost of operation (TCO) over the software’s life cycle.  

 Yet, even keeping the TCO in mind, open source systems do tend to be cheaper (look at the box item on implementation of open office at IDSP, Pakistan). Cost wise, open source is often a winner all the way depending on what is the IT infrastructure you have in mind.

Prohibitive licensing cost

It is a known fact that for the proprietary systems the biggest cost component is the licensing one. While there are some discounts for the enterprise systems, when compared to consumer ones, yet it often translates into quite a hefty package. The basic argument is that this high cost ensures that the companies are able to invest into R&D and thus able to release much more efficient software, which would not have been possible otherwise.

Whereas the open source is free, isn’t it? Not always. As quite like proprietary software, there are a lot of vendors in enterprise space that license the open source software, like Red Hat, Novell, etc. In the open space, there are a lot of vendors, like IBM, Sun (now Oracle), that were also into consultancy. So there might be a cost differential between proprietary and open source for an enterprise, it is not completely skewed as it is often portrayed. Unless and until you believe in a hands-on approach, or are working with a partner whom you implicitly trust. As there are many flavours of open source the confusion is also quite high. Thus, it is misnomer that there is no cost really associated with open source, as it is equally corporatized like proprietary systems is.

An issue of manageability

Proponents of proprietary systems also highlight the fact that it is managing an open source system is fairly complex and cumbersome. The idea that you need to be a hardcore geek to be able to tinker around with kernels, etc. has gained much credence over the past many years.  If you need ease of use, go for proprietary systems.

While, that was true till recently, the scene has changed over the past few years. With the open source companies paying a lot of attention on GUI and ease of use, there is not much difference left between the two. In fact, were you to compare say an Ubuntu OS with that of Microsoft Windows, there would hardly be just nominal difference between them. The open source players have understood that to reach out to the lay audience, they need to engage them with simplicity. Thus you need not be a geek anymore to implement and operate an open source system.

More secure?

Another big factor that works in favour of open source systems is that it is seemingly more secure and robust, as there has not been any major spyware, or viruses. Often, there is no need at all to install an anti-virus solution that eats a good part of computer memory. Since Linux is a derivative of UNIX which was built on the foundation of robustness and security, it is often dubbed to be more robust.

Another thing that works in favour of open source is the higher uptime. There are hardly ever time when one would have heard of a Linux crash. In Linux the core operating system (kernel) is separate from the GUl (X-Window) from the applications (OpenOffice.org, etc). Linux doesn’t require frequent re-installation. Most things in Linux can be fixed without requiring re-installation. The benefit of this is all the users preferences can be preserved even if the OS needs to be re-installed. The case is quite different when it comes to proprietary systems, as there is a lot of attacks and issues with them.

How pervasive is open source

Most of the proprietary systems proponents proclaim that the reason why open source is more secure and there hasn’t been any attacks is because of low level of open source installation. The whole open source universe is so small that no hacker, etc. bothers about attacking them.

But delve a little deeper and the whole claim seems out to be pretty hollow. For instance, it’s basically impossible to use the Internet without using some Open Source as close to 60% of the web servers run on Apache.  Majority of Smartphones are powered by Open Source (Symbian, Android, Linux). Majority of web websites are powered by open source like WordPress, etc. 95% of the top supercomputers run Linux. In fact, Linux can be found in Sony TVs, Linksys Routers, Tvios, Nokia phones. MacOSX has around 10% market share (depending who does the numbers) and their kernel is Open Source. Thus, it is fallacy to say that the universe of open source is a limited one. In fact it is very ubiquitous.

One of the best things that open source still has is a wide and highly diffused support base. Help and aid on any subject can be readily found on the scores and scores of forums that are propagate open source. Also there are numerous websites that list freewares and applications that can be downloaded and installed immediately. Unlike, in a proprietary system, where you are completely by yourself or at the mercy of the consultant, there is still a safety net for open source. All you have to go online and ask for help. Quite like I did while working on the story.

In the end, going by the passion of the people who responded to my query on open source, it still seems like there are a lot of myths and half-truths that associated with the issue. But that should not be a hindrance when it comes to implementing an open source system.

And yet, the people on my FB, purportedly known as friends are anything but so. They are an assimilation of colleagues, contacts, acquaintances and so on. Over the past year or so, I have accumulated quite a handful of them, some 260 for a guy who can count just a handful in real life.

In the exuberance to spread my wings in the social space, I let my email accounts find friends for me and result is, today I have a whole lot of people I know little or none of. It was over the next few months or so of ‘wall’ interactions that I came to know more about them. And in the process, I also came to know much about myself as well. I came to realise that whatever I do, there are certain traits that I just can’t accept in my friends, real and purported ones.

So, over the last few months or so, I have been revisiting all my friends on Facebook, and taking a value-based judgement on a simple assertion: does the person add value to my wall or not. It was certainly not an easy task, but I persisted on it. The result has been that these days I am deleting more people from my list than adding new ones. In the same process, I have come to realise some of the things one should be doing and more importantly not doing on FB.

Thus, here are some pointers on “how to make friends on FB and keep them as friends”.

1) Don’t be a bloody show-off
Meeting Amitabh Bachchan tonight, will discuss his hernia. Flew executive class to Florida, the wine was good. Tired of globetrotting, need rest. Buying Armani feels good. 10 days to Honolulu.

These are the ‘types’ of status messages that are most common on FB. Usually, people tend to forget the phrase that encourages them to share their thoughts: What’s on your mind? And not, what are you doing?
Justified, that you might be excited about travelling to Zanzibar or catching up with Bono, but have some respect for other people on the list, who would like to believe that they are equally important and your spiel might make them envious. So, once a while, such pronouncements are harmless, but if you make a habit of it, it really makes a lot of people (like me) go YUCK!

2) FB is not a one-way street
Another big issue with people is that more often than not, they will keep posting things on their walls and seldom quip reply or pat on their friend’s wall. Now, if everyone just did that, FB will lose its USP. The idea is interactivity. So, you might be a big CEO or head honcho, if you have an account on FB and have friends on your list, you should make it a point to interact with them now and then, and else they will have little reason to be there on your list.

3) No Ctrl C+V here
Many people, who are running short of time, tend to just keep propping up links or SMS jokes, thinking that it is really innovative. It is very important to be original on FB, after all that’s how you behave with friends right? While there is no inviolate rule against posting interesting links, make sure you embellish them with your thoughts with them. Or in case you are quoting a quip from Wilde, make sure you credit him for it. Yet, on a percentage basis, if your links and quotes are a bulk of what you paste on FB and then man you really don’t have a mind.

4) Sob…Sob…the world is so bad!
We humans are generally emotional creatures, elated in a minute and despondent in another. But FB is not the place for either, especially the snivelling types. In fact, on my list, I have a couple of perennial snivellers that are all the time whimpering, complaining, cribbing, about something or the other.  Being a pessimist is something, but being a pest is altogether something else. So, if you find the world to be a bad place, well do a Google on Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, it just might help.

5) Gifts, an elephant, a fruit, a jackass …no thanks
Great to know that you are a star farmer at Farmville, or have a whole menagerie of animals, or have opened a coffee shop, etc. Please don’t take it for granted that your friends would like an invitation or some such inane gift from your farm or your coffee shop. While, let me confess, it is not hard to disable all such invitations or gifts, yet, I would really appreciate if my friends would be kind enough and not compel me to do so.

6) Discuss and not debate
You don’t like what is there on my wall, well, I don’t really like how you look Fatso. But do I say it? Similarly, if you have something nasty that you want to say, do a thing, don’t say it. While, it may be much common to banter and bicker between friends, it is not the same on FB, where the world can not only have a look but also participate. Always remember that there is just so much that can be tolerated, and you could be pretty soon cruising beyond the limits without even realising it.

7) When tagging is a sin
I know, I don’t look good occasionally. And if you happen to have a photo of one such occasion and feel like putting it up, do so, but for heaven’s sake don’t tag me at the very least. In my photo album there are scores of these tagged images, most of them from inane applications.  Thus, some discretion needs to be used when using the tag feature, think again if you really want to do it. And in case, you still feel like doing so, think yet again till the thought melts away.

These are some of the things that immediately come to my mind and I have been grappling with. So, if you are there on my FB list, and suddenly discover that you are no there, just read through the list above and figure out what wrong you did. In case, there is none, there is just one more reason why I debunk people: for being a bore. Now, could that be the main driving reason?

And she isn’t the only one whimsical around. The climate-wallahs or more appropriately the climate change-wallahs seem to be more whimsical thanDemeter and with passage of each day they seem to turning ridiculous as well.  Savour this, not such a long-time ago, there was a large looming question mark over our very existence, every action from the computers we run to the farts of the cows (they are a big cause, by the way) were dubbed as detrimental to our environment and hence our health as well. The climate seers while predicting doom, also prescribed big sacrifices from all, from what we eat to how we commute.

Just when we were getting used to the Armageddon-kind of future, climate atheist have heralded on the scene, debunking all that was said earlier. Reassuring us that all those scary graphs and plotted lines were erroneous . Telling us that all this time we had been taken for a royal ride by the climate change-wallahs, who had an ulterior motive behind all this scare-mongering; big bucks for self and such activities. At the main target of the new climate atheist is a man with a balding plate and a flowing beard with a single white-patch, a man who answers to the name of Dr. Rajendra Pachauri.

In the olden times, it was a common practice with many tyrants kings to shoot the messenger in case they did not like or were angered by the contents of the message, giving rise to a phrase. While the times of the kings and the tyrants are past, the practice isn’t, evident from the way the anti-climate change lobby is relentlessly attacking Pachauri. In Hindi there is a phrase which may seem ludicrous in translation but aptly describes the modicrum of this lobby; haat dho ke peeche pad gaye hain (after his life post washing their hands).

While Pachauri has always been under the attack from this vested lobby, the attacks intensified after the flopshow at Copenhagen. Also, they got very personal in nature. Till date there was a big debate raging on whether the science of climate-change was science at all. But suddenly the debate shifted on to Pachauri, especially after the publication of a scathing piece in the Sunday Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/6847227/Questions-over-business-deals-of-UN-climate-change-guru-Dr-Rajendra-Pachauri.html) .  Aspersions were thrown to Pachauri’s motive, his professional background, the benefits he reaps and why he is happy if the world believes in the climate doom scenario.

The libellous piece resulted in an avalanche of similar ones. Moreammunition was provided to them with the IPCC’s retraction on the Himalayan Glacial melt, apparently they got the calculation wrong by some 700 years. Pachauri who in 2007 was a hero winning the Nobel Prize with Al Gore, is now painted as a scheming villain who apparently is stashing millions away in some obscure Swiss bank. There was a recent survey done in the UK, which stated that climate scepticism is on the rise. Of course, it has to be, after all in all these attacks and counter-attacks, where is the word on climate.

One thing that is sorely missing these days is a sense of proportion from the part of the media. When the climate seers was on the roll, reams and reams of reports, stories and surveys were published compelling us to believe them. And now when the climate atheist have come into their own, the very opposite is happening. The flip-flop of the reporters is what is making us sceptic more than the science.

The trouble is that the very journalist who question Pachauri’s ability to head the climate body, is himself (or herself) unable to discern what is science or what is not. He or she is merely a medium, the words are someone’s else. There is no real whetting before a piece is published. And hence, you have these see-saw kind of stories appearing.

In the end, I know not whether the world is going to end or drown in the next 100 years (provided the mean temperature rise is more than 2°C), our children or their own will face that. But what I do know is that if indeed this climate-change is a hoax (which I doubt much), the headless media chickens need to take much blame for it, cause it is they who perpetrated and spread it, certainly not Pachauri.

Let me first make an honest confession, I am a great fan of yours and your work. Even though, I cannot imagine ever being able to own a Husain piece (and so do probably 99.99999 crores of Indians), yet there is an unknownaffinity that pulls us to your canvass or any piece that you touch including tablecloths, handkerchiefs and even walls. Probably, it was exclusivity of your work that made it so valuable to us. Sotheby used to auction your work for millions of Dollah. I well remember there was this industrialist that had commissioned a hundred paintings from you for some Rs. 100 crore. Now, it is not every day that a painter gets that kind of money, do they? We all Indians were awed and intimidated by your paintings, even if those stark and blurry figurines did not make any sense.

But, then before I could recommend it to my friends or take my family to view the film, the theatres pulled down the film. Later on I came to know that it was you, who decided to stop the screening because of controversies. I was much saddened by the stance you took when the Ulema council and others objected to some lyrics from a song in Meenaxi. Rather than sticking to your gun and waiving your creative license, as you often do, you meekly submitted to them and stopped the screening of the film in all theatres.  I personally think that you should have stood your ground and let the screenings be disrupted to show how revolting such elements are, who impinge their views on art and culture. But you chose to avoid a confrontation, fairly understandable.

Now that we are talking about controversies, let me touch upon the one that drove you out of India. I am also of the opinion that all the hue and cry raised over your paintings of Hindu goddess in nude is nothing but an exaggerated attempt to belittle your work. After all, a nude Saraswati, Laxmi, Parvati, Durga, Draupadi, Sita, etc. is hardly objectionable. Though these deities are worshipped by millions on a daily basis as god-mothers (devi-ma), how does it matter that they are clothed or disrobed. I really don’t see a valid reason for the protests over your painting that depicts Sita naked once on Hanuman’s tail as he sets Lanka on fire and other time when she is sitting naked on the thigh of Ravana as he battles with Hanuman.  Similarly is the case with other deities.  After all wasn’t it the Hindus that composed the Kamasutra or built the Khajuraho temple. Though, actually it weren’t the goddesses that were depicted in different sexual positions, but mere maidens.

But, at times, I wonder as to why did you not extend your creative boundaries beyond the Hindu pantheon. If Parvati and Ganesha could be portrayed so, why could not Mother Mary and infant Jesus.  Though, I’d would never advise you to paint on Islamic motifs, considering what brouhaha some simple cartoons in a Danish paper resulted in. Even imagining your nudity and horses on such themes seems blasphemous. Yet, your fascination to portray Hindu goddesses in such a manner really fascinates me. Could it be that, that you are a closet Hindu who is much impressed by the philosophy of the religion and explores the same in such a fashion.  If that is the case, I am sure you must come out with the confession. Or else, at least give a plausible reason for these paintings. After all if one can’t see his own mother nude, why do he disrobe anyone’s else, is the main argument put forth by your detractors.

But then you flinched even when they were carrying out their protest in a legal way, like filing of cases against you. Even as the legal cases were proceeding you ran off before anything could happen. Recently, I read somewhere that you were perturbed that “India had let you down” and that the cases lodged against you infringed upon your basic right of expression stating that , “It’s a move against art and the artist’s self-expression. I never intended to hurt anyone’s sentiments through art.  I only expressed my soul’s creativity through art.”

The issue here is that it solves nothing. While, the high brow media and the intellectuals might come over to show their support by writing sympathetic pieces in various dailies or talking about the issue on various talk shows, portraying you a martyr to creativity. It counts little on the ground. By hiding behind a facade of artistic liberty you cannot escape the fruits of your action. You need to own up and make amends for whatever hurt you might have caused. The best way to go would be to show your understanding of the perceived hurt. I think a genuine attempt from your end could initiate the healing process.

Kitna hai badnaseeb, Zafar Dafn ke liye

Do gaz zameen bhi ,mil na saki kuye yaar mein

There is no such pain or hurt visible from your end, in fact you have been belabouring every one, right from the Bharat mata that you painted nude to the politicians, etc. Everyone except yourself. Hopefully, as the days pass, you will indeed realise that while such controversies might help you monetarily, they damage the legacy that you will leave behind. If things continue like this, a vast section of this nation will remember you not as a great painter, who rose from the ranks but as a fugitive who painted goddesses in the nude. If that is how you wish to be remembered, that is your choice.

The scamsters, which in spite of their rather mundane modus-operandi, are pretty much successful and account for millions of dollars in fraud each year. One of the reasons behind their high success rate, is their adaptability. So when the US invaded Iraq, their were lot of messages coming from the Baath Party, or even from Afghanistan. The Nigerians are pretty well aware and out there to con you.

So, when my friend Nelson Johnny sent me a forward from Mrs. Radha Ramalinga, I was much amused. The text was strikingly similar to the Nigerian 419 scams. The same bait, the same hook and the same story. Some preliminary Googling on Radha Ramalinga revealed that the con mail has been around for some time, with many people reporting about the same. Also the fact that Mrs Ramalinga is a real person, was another interesting bit.

Somehow, I feel this mail did not originate from a cyber cafe in Lagos, but some where in Ulhas Nagar in India. The look and feel of the same give a very ‘Indian’ touch to the mail. Though on closer inspection one finds that the Namaste spelling is incorrect and there are quite a few typos, namely no space after comma. Also, the mail id provided for future interaction is slightly different from the one the message originates from.

Nonetheless, I have high regards for Ramalinga Raju as a con artist, his corporate swindling should be studied like a case study. In fact, I had written a piece on it earlier, “Why demonise Raju?” (http://shashwatdc.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/raju-4191.jpg2009/01/why-demonise-raju/). And now receiving a con mail fron someone purporting to be his sister-in-law, I really felt good (though I need to thank Nelson, but whatever).

So, if you have been unlucky till now in receiving the mail, here is a copy of it: Raju420.

**

From: Mrs Radha Ramalinga
Date: 2010/2/26
Subject: Early Reply
To:

Namastey,

My name is Radha Ramalinga,I am the wife of Rama Ramalinga,the younger brother of Byrraju Ramalinga Raju,former chairman,founder and owner of Satyam Computers.

I do have a proposal for you,which would be of immense financial benefits to you and I.

My husband and his brother are currently in big trouble in India,I need your assistance to help me move some funds from Holland to India or anywhere where it would at least be of some help to our family.

I would give you more details of this proposal if you show yourself willing to take on it,I assure you that you would most certainly be compensated but please I would kindly request you to keep this matter confidential.

I am currently here in the UK where it is a bit safe for me and my kids.

You can reach me on my personal email id which is radharamalinga09@gmail.com

Yours sincerely,

R.Ramalinga

- Rig Veda

From the time when I boarded an aircraft over a decade ago, have been fascinated by the sights that one comes across from the tiny glass pane up in the sky. It is nothing less than magical to see giant bridges turn into tiny dots, long railways transform into an micro-toy trains and looming sky scrapers mere indentures on the landscape. Even after scores of trips over the Indian map and other ones, I still take the window seat and keep peeping out, as if there is something else that might just come up. Or it could be someone as well, like say, God. After all doesn’t he (she or even it) lives in the heavens. I have been keeping a watch out for him as well, because looking beneath at the wonderful creation that more or less fits on my palm, my belief in his existence is reaffirmed.

To-date, my most memorable journey was the one I took from Mumbai to Newark, non-stop. The American Airlines plane, to cut the route short, flies over Asia and Europe to the North Pole and then descends over the American hemisphere via Canada. I spent hours peering out in the darkness of the North Pole, could somehow feel the chill of the immense block of ice and the moon kept me company in the vigil. The fact that almost a century and more back there were so many valiant explorers who were racing to the find the North Pole to plant a flag. So many perished in the endeavour and so many just disappeared. And here I was their descendant, flying over the Pole in the comfort of a cosy cabin munching on cashews and sipping wine.

Here is one such journey I made, albeit much shorter and in daylight: fromMumbai to Delhi, on Indigo Flt 6E382. As I was looking out of the window as usual, random thoughts kept popping into my mind (as usual again), with a small difference though, this time I had a pen and paper on which I could jot down whatever came to my mind. This post is a chronicle of the same mind that was travelling at 100s of Kms per hour. Here it goes:

• The captain makes an announcement; “Welcome onboard, we are flying at 37000 feet . The place is near Ahmadabad. It almost seems like am flying over the Indian map.

• While the speed might be a few hundred kms per hour, it almost seems that the plane is inching over the land at nothing more that 1mm per second. Like time, speed too is relative.

• In the far reaches, one can spot the infinite blue of the sea that seems to be stretching to the very horizon.

• Before the vastness of the sea, there are a few narrow blue-grey indenture that snake their way into the vastness of the seas, great rivers that pour out their waters into the salty depths.

• There are so many green squares that are visible, probably the hardwork of a farmer or few. Nonetheless, the brown squares far outweigh the green ones.

• Wondering why and how huge cities come to be formed on the shores of great seas, by the side of the sea. In the light of the early morning sun, the land seems patchy, uneven, divided by lines, well-marked rivers or roads- who knows.

• Sea is black near the coast probably sewage, murky brown ahead and bluish at the far distance. Tiny waves near the shores, all seems to merge in a white light, almost blinding.

• In the cityscape, can spot quite a handful of towers that aspire to touch the sky and yet reaching nowhere even close to it. Wonder how tall Babel must have been to really have threatened the gods.

• The temperature outside apparently is -48 °C, to survive in such cold would need a few sweaters and a bottle of rum, nothing less.

• From above, Gandhinagar looks well organized, in fact much of human development seems to be according to a plan. When we see at the ground level, all looks so crazy and chaotic but from up here everything is peaceful, calm, nice. Probably this is the reason why god seems to be so ignorant and illconcerned, because from up here nothing seems to be wrong.

• It’s daytime and yet a half crescent moon peeps back at me. We sent  one Chandrayaan to visit the heavenly, wonder when will the time come when an Indian will step on to the lunar soil.

• There are quite a few well marked canals, among  the thin ever so thin line of silvery white sands.

• Passing over Gujarat, I wonder if the lions at Sassan Gir would roar back at me if I sent thme a ‘hi’. And there somewhere out in the seas, lies the ancient Dwarka, a place where the blue-skinned Krishna lorded.

• As we move further inland the brown start to dominate over the greens, seems like Rajasthan is in the offing.

• Even with trains I tend to stare out the window, or door wherever I can find a spot. Journeying through a train that takes you across the breathtaking landscape is the most fulfilling experience. The different people, culture, foods, views and so are much enthralling.

• Attendants inside, water for Rs. 25 and sandwich for Rs. 100 and I keep on moving at 1 mm per sec.

• Brown deserts of Rajasthan, this must be the Thar that have read so often about.

• The well marked lines disappear no large snaking canals but small irregular water containment reservoirs, the land seems to have merged with the sea as I can’t make a difference. The color is blackish brown, the landscape seems much hostile and less hospitable.

• Sand dunes, indentures, the Aravali range in the midst of it all, Udaipur the lake city. 2 big lakes and a small island in one of them. There are  1,2 smaller water bodies. From up the city seems to be densely populated, powdery white, mountain lines, not so daunting or huge, dried riverbeds, extending probably to the sea, yellow sandy river, ancient riverbeds, small patches of river…

• The sand is reflecting the light back, shining in the noon sun..

• Big water body some big dam, huge complex, well organised, greenish dish, well marked, different  colour, red green, violet, blue purple, small concrete structures that seem like small marks made on a computer motherboard.

• The moon still there faithfully with us.

• Tiny micro green dots on browny yellow landscape.

• Small cities, Can see quite a handful of them.

• Visibility 1.4 kms, 26°C in Delhi ready descent, mountainous terrain. There are a series of projections like  crumples on velvets, or like creases on a shirt,  or the wrinkled face of an old grandma.

• The brown was steadily taking on a shade of red as we neared Delhi.

• Showing fertile lands, the lines return,bwell etched and travelling from nowhere to nowhere had returned again.

• The white dense patches showing human habitation were increasing in numbers. One could also discern irregular green patches, probably some farmers tiling on his field at the moment or sitting down for some home cooked lunch under a need tree..meanwhile the charmingly lacquered air hostesses are collecting the waste generated by the morning brunch, bottles tissues and rest.

• As we begin the descent the white patches take on a definitive shape, you can see the buildings, the expressways distinctly with tiny microdots moving on them, blue colored swimming pools, red villas, the terraces, gray painted buildings, rows and rows of houses, thousands of them.

Indeed from up above, the cosmos indeed seems like a manifestation of Vishnu. The chaos, the conundrum, all seems so much frivolous from the top. Imagine if this is how beautiful things seem from a bird’s eye, imagine how amazing it would be from space.

Some are born great and some have greatness thrust upon them, goes the adage and Uddhav is a living testament to that. Till about 2002, little was known about Uddhav except that he liked photography and yes that he was the youngest  son of the ‘remote control’ of one of the most vituperative Hindu leader. The bespectacled almost impish Uddhav preferred to do his bit, snap tigers in the wild, or shoot forts in Maharashtra from a helicopter.Uddhav, whose name means the brother of Krishna, was quiet happy to lead a non-descript life with his two sons. Since, he happened to be at the vortex of power, he could barely afford the privilege of a profession. So, he was content hosting his photo exhibitions now and then and living it out at his idyllic farm house in Karjat. Unlike his elder brothers, Jaidev and Binda, who were either spoilt by the allure of power or caught in a web of indulgences, Uddhav kept away from both politics and business. In a way, youngest Thackeray seemed to have inherited more from his mother Meena Thackeray, a warm and genile persona that shielded an iron will.

Yet, for all his desires to be away from the dust and grime of politics, he was destined for it. With the death of his brother Binda Thackeray in a car accident, his mother Meenatai in a cardiac arrest and relationship souring between Jaidev and senior Thackeray, his ageing father had no shoulder to lean on, except Uddhav’s. Though, there was indeed Uddhav’s cousin and Balasaheb’s nephew Raj, who had completely imbibed his uncle not only in the way he looked, but also the way he spoke, he thought and he reacted. Raj also had a keen business mind, and was not averse to using any means to achieve his ends. The Ramesh Kini murder case was an example, Raj was accused of threatening and subsequent murder of Ramesh Kini for a real estate deal. Raj over the years, under the aegis of Balasaheb had become the de-facto heir, whose anointment was just a matter of time. But destiny had other plans for him as well.

Age was catching up with the Sena patriarch, his health deteorating fast and he could sense the discontent around him, out of power it has hard to hold this bloodthirsty horde. Uddhav came to the aid of his father, he started taking interest in the affairs of the party and playing an active role. Because of his genial and shy nature Uddhav preferred to play a more administrative role. Shiv Sena that had formed in the 60s had over a period of time become a jumble of shakas and vibhags, ruled by the various pramukhs. While outwardly there seemed order, internally it was dissension, for instance each municipal ward had a Shakha, and a multitude of them made up for a legislative assembly vibhag. And at most of these places, there were powerful satraps who over a period of time had come to lord the various shakhas or vibhags aligning themselves with the high and mighty in the Sena. Thus essentially there was much madness in the Sena work methodology.

When Raj Thackeray realised that the Sena crown will ultimately go to Uddhav, he started to weigh his options. While, Narayan Rane could easily change his stripes and join the Congress, Raj could not. Also, since Sharad Pawar was still friends with Balasaheb, NCP could not be an alternative. So,starting 2005, Raj went into a sulk, sending dubious signals to all around by holding closed door meeting all across. Finally towards the end of 2005, he resigned from the Sena and a few months later he launched MNS. The cause and the electorate of MNS were no different from that of the Sena, namely the Marathi Manoos. Except that Raj was quite ready to woo the Muslims quite unlike his uncle. The fact that around the same time, his friend and co-conspirator Narayan Rane was in the Congress helped matters as well. Congress was ready to look the other way as Raj got underway hijacking the Marathi Manoos plank from the Sena. For Congress it was a win-win scenario, first the traditional vote bank of the Sena would be broken up by the incumbent, namely the dominant Maratha community thus making the Dalit-Muslim combination more potent and secondly, in a bid to outdo each other both MNS and Sena will drive the rest of the non-marathis straight into the arms of Congress, leading to a consolidation of non-Marathi votes. Thus, the Congress let Raj grow, looking the other way at his insinuations and debasement of politics. Ignorance is a very potent strategy in politics.

Elections 2009 can easily be termed as a turning point in the history of Maharashtra. In spite of all the spade work put in by Uddhav, Shiv Sena was drubbed in the elections; a major blame of the same should go to its partner BJP that seemed completely clueless about it. And more importantly, the devious Congress strategy worked well, MNS was indeed able to put a spanner in the saffron wheels. Results, the Congress-NCP came back to power, in spite of complete misrule and anarchism. Also, the fact that delimitation had happened at the same time, was a factor, since urban centres like Mumbai came  to account for as much as 33 seats. In most of the urban seats Shiv Sena lost badly because of the division of votes. Somehow it was also not able to capitalise on the work done in rural hinterland like Vidarbha, etc. If the victory in the corporation was a golden crown on Uddhav’s head , the loss of legislative polls was a crown of thorns.

The way of the tiger is the only way left to him, Balasaheb through his editorials has signaled the same. Uddhav needs to pick and chose his targets like his cousin does; hit out at weaklings and not at the big-wigs. The fact that very soon Raj Thackeray will outgrow his utility for the Congress and become a liability is something that Uddhav can hope for. He also needs to work on the development agenda that he had started, because some day, surely the electorate will be able to see through the farce that is being played out and make a wise choice.

(All the cartoons and images used in the post have been downloaded from the Net, using Google Images. They are merely for illustrative purposes and I claim no copyright over them (in fact, I barely recall where I downloaded them from).

Within a few hours the short video clip had been viewed by millions across the globe, and over the next few days Neda became an emblem or rather a martyr to the cause of ‘the Green Revolution’ in Iran. Numerous websites spawned up paying tributes to her, bloggers furtively wrote in her memory, even the mainstream medium joined in, with the video clip being shown on CNN, BBC, etc. In a quirky way, Neda became the first celebrity of the citizen journalism, a method wherein information is created, disseminated and consumed by the laymen and not by journalists working in the media.

Yet the concept of citizen or participatory journalism is not a novel one, it has been around for quite some years. With the mainstream media turning into a pamphleteer of the rich and powerful and doing little about mundane issues that really matter to the common man. A new street journalism that was essentially “by the people” began to flourish facilitated by the emergence of the Web earlier and mobile later. The Web was the catalyst for the movement, as individuals with a web-connection and a point-of-view could now broadcast the same to the world at large. The new world was now populated by bloggers and writers who were furtively punching in stories, uploading video clips, etc.

Some years back I had met Oh Yeon-Ho, the founder of one the most popular citizen journalist portal, Ohmynews. When, I expressed my reservations on how untrained individuals could be dubbed as journalist and expected to create news content, Yeon-Ho assured me that it was well possible and quite required because the conventional media completely ignored the common man. “This is the common man showing his thumb to the mammoth news organizations that think he does not matter,” he had joked. Indeed, the whole edifice on which the 4th estate rested, namely, a controlled medium and a controlled message, was the danger of being swamped away in the new world, in which the consumer was also the creator.

And just, when the light of liberation was about to shine bright, the bosses at the big media houses got together and decided to dilute the power of the medium by co-opting it. Like a python that stealthily grips the victim, the news channels and media houses started to engage ‘citizen journalists’. Suddenly, news channels like IBN and NDTV started airing the petty grievances of the ‘citizen journalists’ who more often than not could be seen belabouring pot-holed roads or leaky water connections. Newspapers devoted quite a few columns, wherein the common man could be seen airing his views on an issue. Suddenly, the tag ‘citizen journalist’ became a fashionable one, and there were times when one could see two-pence celebs picking up a mike and turning into one.

The biggest issue with citizen journalism is that at the end of the day, it isn’t essentially journalism at all. It is hard to digest the fact that hobbyist bloggers can replace trained, professional, seasoned journalists. The biggest question is that of subjectivity and objectivity, as usually these ‘citizen journalist’ are airing their personal grievances, be it a bribe-taking official or a faulty phone connection. The journalists suffer from the “3 deadly E’s” as Vincent Maher puts it, referring to ethics, economics and epistemology.

Just as a layman with a water hose cannot be termed as a citizen fire-fighter, so is the case with citizen journalist, especially the ones that keep popping up on television sets and newspapers all the time. While Neda might have proved the power of the new medium namely the Web, it surely isn’t journalism. And the person who stood there capturing the sordid end on his mobile phone was certainly not a journalist, citizen or no citizen.