The Sensual Mallu and the Web Culture

(An inquiry in Cyber-Sociology)



By Sibichen K Mathew

Kerala is unique in several respects. So are malayalis (also called  ‘mallus’, the inhabitants of the state of Kerala, South India whose mother tongue is malayalam. ) This small state in the southern tip of India sends millions to various corners of the world. They render their services as teachers, engineers, nurses, software professionals and also in may fields. Kerala is also known to be the biggest consumer of personal and domestic goods and conspicuous consumption is the order than exception. Believes in extreme cleanliness, it is said that Kerala men take bath twice or thrice a day! Despite the progress, exposure and overall educational achievement, this state also claims to manifest itself as a society upholding pseudo- conservative values. It wants it women to walk behind the men. It frowns upon women who work late hours outside. There is strict demarcation of seats between women and men in buses, churches etc. Arranged marriage is a virtue. List is endless.

Unfortunately there is also an extremely contrasting flip side for the ‘enlightened’ malayali culture. That is its ugly manifestations of the sexual impulsiveness emanated from a sexually repressed community with superficial value system. One can see several men who spread their wings of unfulfilled desires on hapless women in public transports and private domains. One can see that in the ravaging eyes of men who shamelessly focus on every unaccompanied lady on the road the moment sun sets in.

Though prevalent mores strongly discourage any public exhibition of romance even among those legally wed, there is no such effective ban on visual entertainment through whatever available sources. Malayalam movies were known for its pornographic content in the seventies and eighties. Some of the Malayalam movies still make their presence in other states of the country for the above historic reputation and not because of directors like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, who placed Malayalam cinema in the world map. Many such Malayalam movies are dubbed to most of the Indian languages. One senior police officer from another state narrated some facts that speak for themselves. Raids in almost all video shops have resulted in the seizure of thousands of compact discs containing Malayalam pornographic content. This language is second only to English in providing such visual stuff for the vicarious satisfaction of millions of expatriate malayalis. Why there is no such substantial contribution from any of the other Indian languages. Does it tell about the behavioural pattern of malayalis vis-à-vis people of other states?

Another equally shocking disclosure is about the role of cyber cafes in sourcing and disseminating such materials. Cyber cafés in the main cities of the ‘conservative’ Kerala provide a ‘cubicle avenue’ for hundreds of young couples to express their intimacies in private. Little they know about the sneaky café owner who record such market worthy stuff through a tiny digital camera placed at a well-researched position. These videos are stored in discs and copied for the consumption of millions of needy malayalis and for equally hungry foreigners. The not-so-innocent victims who ‘acted’ in such video clips can pray that such stuff are not seen by their own kith and kin residing in some other parts of the world.

Mallu web culture

Malayalis are quick to indulge in infotainments of all sorts much ahead of several linguistic collectivities. They also make their unique impression on such activities in their own typical way. Internet provides cheaper, faster and diverse information on any subject. It also caters to communication needs across the globe. Net-chats provide unhindered communication between known and unknown persons across the globe. There are hundreds of chat rooms on every aspect of knowledge, life and society. One such category of chat room is regional chat rooms where different ethnic and linguistic groups share their news, views, and ideas. Mumbites, Calcuttans, Tamilians, Gujarathis and many such regions have their own chat groups in the net. There are even locations one can zoom in further in a particular city. For example desperate chatters can even narrow down for their counterparts attached to specific locations such as Brigade Road in Bangalore city or Defence Colony in Delhi. Keralites are also never behind such unique opportunity in the World Wide Web. There are hundreds of malayali chat rooms by leading server providers. One of my Keralite lady friends who entered one such room for some healthy conversation had to log out in no time. One may be curious to find what is so unique about many malayali chat rooms so that ladies flee out instantly.

The moment you log in to these rooms, it is advised to keep your voice chat in the off position. That means your microphones should be off. Otherwise you tend to hear all sorts of highest degree abuses in Malayalam between anonymous chatters. In the comfort of a mysterious obscurity provided by the dubious user name and misleading disingenuous profile, they converse crossing the boarders to vulgarity and offence. The moment a lady user name (not necessarily a lady, as many fake their gender for reasons known to them) appears, entire desperate crowd frantically pounce over that user with very intimate questions. If the gender of the victim is genuine, she would disappear from the clutches of the empathizing counterparts and their filthy conversations.

The irony is that similar web culture is not reported about other chat rooms. The friends from other regional and linguistic identities vouch that such licentious banter typical of mallu chat rooms are very rare in other chat locations. Hundreds of Kerala based network groups which store and exchange pornographic content have been blocked by several search engines and web servers. However many of them return to the web space with pseudonyms.

Though the above behavioural pattern cannot be perceived as a serious criminal offence and is also not a universal phenomena among all Keralites, it tend to expose the moral degradation of a sizable population, partly a consequent of a repressed culture. Obsession to external cleanliness is often marred by pseudo morality. One would not be surprised to see the news of hundreds of sex scandals and sex hospitality centers from a state that frowns upon things like beer parlours, ladies wearing fashionable dress etc that are very common in other states. Kerala lives with many such paradoxes. And mallu web culture is only just one such manifestation. It is high time that policy makers and social activists break the shell of hypocritical purity of Kerala and provide licensed centers to fulfill the desires of Kerala men as in several western countries. Let the ‘casualty’ cases get a reprieve from the repressed feelings through licensed entry without covering their heads. And let women walk and live peacefully without any harm from such chronic cases.

Read:  Sunanda Pushkar, Mallus and Sexual Escapades

Choose the book and start living

Books motivate millions of people and such books sell millions of copies. The triggers for most of the revolutions in history have been attributed to inspirational ideologies of great thinkers translated in black and white. Not only individuals but also very large organizations and institutions survive on motivational tenets of generations old and are contextually relevant.


Ideologies and manifestoes seldom motivate the people for action. They are neither interested nor bothered to understand streams of knowledge irrespective of the realistic or idealistic content. In an era where change is inevitable every moment, men look for ideas, which give them competitive edge, and those, which can be assimilated and practiced in no time and before any one else. Therefore formulae, readymade strategies, blueprints and structures sell like hot cakes and fast foods. These prescriptions are marketed like life saving drugs with specific dosages promising definite solutions and measurable results. Many come in the form of multi coloured glossy prints with titles, which begin such as ‘five steps…’ 'Seven habits.’ ‘Six sigmas…’ '48 laws’, ‘ten rules’, etc to revitalize the body and to strengthen the soul. Yet another stream of ‘ready to cook’ stuff comes to diagnose the complex problems and to provide fast track solutions with simplistic models couched in shortest short forms such as PERT, SWOT and what not.




Most of the motivational books project an idealistic representation of man with socially desirable behavioural pattern. The correctional suggestions are made to make the readers aware of their deformities in their personality. However unlike the religious books, which work through a guilt invoking methodology and promise of a distant reward, general motivational books impress them about the impending personal gains. The strategies are aimed at making the individual win and therefore indirectly train him to defeat the other contenders. Thus the individual is motivated to pursue his goals through strategic action to win over others. That means one has to be shrewd or diligent or both.


One hears people using the word ‘shrewd’ in different contexts. If a person is pretty successful in heading amidst adverse circumstances and competitive environment, he is branded as shrewd. May be an objective recognition for being clever and smart. Similarly a person who is a go-getter by mastering shortcuts, circumventing norms and bypassing conformers is also perceived to be shrewd. The latter has a negative connotation. But both persons achieve success and contribute to the overall productivity of the society though measured rather mundanely. That underscores the conventional but still dominant canons such as the ‘survival of the fittest’ and ‘end justifies the means’. This is true not only for individuals but also for organizations and nationalities, which aim at maximizing productivity through strategies, policies and approaches. It is inappropriate and unfashionable to drag ethics or morality to these life styles and they are left at the comfortable and ‘irrational’ realms of religion or philosophy. No one can deny the fact that sufficient resources are compulsorily earmarked to the institutions and organizations to research the alleged discriminations and to project the rights of those who do not or who fail to keep pace with the wave.





Two books stand different from the plethora of ‘life improvement’ publications by charismatic gurus. Both deal with a common theme: How to sail through life with continuous success. Both give very simple recipes giving specific ideas and action plans to forge ahead. However the suggested strategies are quite contradictory. One can be a handbook for those who would wish to master the tactics to jump ahead. And the other advocates other-centered perspective rather than self centered approaches to create value for oneself.

The first book titled '48 Laws of Power' by Robert Greene, gives tips for constant vigilance and tactical thinking. It advocates people to place their iron hands inside a velvet glove! . The book quite shamelessly advocates 'manipulative behaviour' to thrive in this world full of opportunists, careerists, spies, flatterers and traitors to gain powerful positions. Legitimizing the strategies with historical tips from thinkers ranging from Machiavelli, Sun-tzu, Bismarck, Kautilya, Aesop, Tolstoy etc, Greene has given 'pragmatic ways' to gain power 'by hook or crook'. (One should not misunderstand that these great thinkers were indeed became great through crookedness. The author was only interested to lift a few instances from their lives to substantiate his own tips). Certainly, thousands across the globe thought it fit to follow above ideas (whether they read Greene or not!) to achieve success in their lives. As you read the above book, you may recall many such people you have met in your life and career, who have reached powerful through similar tactics. And there are chances that a few readers themselves would recognize that you have also mastered at least a few of those skills in order to reach the place you are now.

The objective of the second book is also same: gaining success in life. But it pinpoints radically opposite strategies as against the advocacy of the first book. The book is entitled ' Living With Honour' by Shiv Khera. (Yes, the author of 'You Can Win'). It clearly describes how one can achieve success in life and emerge as a leader with real power and influence through the internalization of personal ethics and social values. It gives a number of illustrations to show that one can achieve success without being manipulative. It also takes tips from many thinkers of equal standing to those mentioned by Greene, to drive the point that only a man of values can be a man of real success.  Another better book for life is 'Manual of the Warrior of Light' by Paulo Coelho. Those who aspire to be a warrior (of light and NOT darkness) in this world should read this book.

Societal history is full of men and events of such contradictions and dialectics. As a result of this, both the definition of power and definition of success are blurred, contextual and variable. No wonder, what is considered as shrewd and smart may be seen as both manipulative and appreciative. All depends on who they are and what shoes you wear at that particular period of time. Today’s free world grants each one the option to choose the path and to succeed in achieving what they want.

Sibichen K Mathew

Evolution of Modern India-An interesting voyage with speakers who made history.

Book Review




Evolution of Modern India

-An interesting voyage with speakers who made history.




Rakesh Batabyal (Ed) The Penguin Book of Modern Indian Speeches: 1877 to present , Penguin Books India, 2007 , 916 pages Rs. 595/-



“History, real solemn history, I cannot be interested in.... I read it a little as a duty; but it tells me nothing that does not either vex or weary me. The quarrels of popes and kings, with wars and pestilences in every page; the men all so good for nothing, and hardly any women at all - it is very tiresome. ( Jane Austen : spoken by Catherine Morland in 'Northanger Abbey')




History never repeats itself. But men are inherently inquisitive to know not only about their immediate past but also about the events shaped history. History as an academic discipline evolved over a period of time to make people aware of the cultural and structural transitions taken place within and across nations and communities. However, of late, there is scant academic interest to pursue formal history courses by students. Thus millions of people of the new generation hardly find the history books and narratives by historians appealing. However recasting history has been never an easy job. Even when historians attempt to narrate past events with lot of research and archival investigation, the same are never spared of criticisms and accusations of biases. Different schools of historians interpret history from particular ideological positions and one would wonder whether there is anything like true history. Similarly, people who control the learning institutions from time to time tend to add, change or delete particular historic narratives and historic relics. Consequently, there emerged a feeling that objectivity and positivism are never to be expected from history as it is told today by many. It is imperative to discover ways and methods to have access to uncorrupted history. One such attempt to deliver true history in a very interesting way is to bring it to people in its original form and content.




Rakesh Batabyal has made a very valuable attempt to take Indian history to all those people who would like to know straight from the ‘horse’s mouth’. That is precisely what he has done, when he took pains to compile 161 historic speeches of more than 115 persons who made history. Each speech clearly takes the reader to the historic, cultural and social settings when the speech was delivered. Reader would definitely feel that he is one among the audience and would experience both the emotional and intellectual reverberations emanating from the speaker. The book is a rich source for gathering unadulterated and diverse perspectives based on true narration of historic events and social facts.


Speeches one by one aggregate to a critique of social, economic and political transitions taken place in India since 1800s to late 1990s. Every social and economic issue ranging from poverty, untouchability, colonial subjugation to separatism and terrorism have been vividly depicted. Intellectual debates of global ramifications centering on subjects as diverse as communism, ethnicity, nationalism, revolution, communalism, racism and disarmament are very much relevant today as they were during those historic moments of delivery. The book, though a reliable source of Indian history, also deal with several interdisciplinary themes which would provide definite theoretical and scientific basis for future policy and research in the disciplines of sociology, economics, public administration and public policy.




The real contribution of the book is not just its efforts to bring about a systematic presentation of the story of evolution of modern India. But the vital role it plays to make history interesting to common man. I am sure this book will catch the instant attention of not only the academicians and students but also the busy technocrats, professionals and also the men in businesses who would like to understand the unique Indian trajectory to become a global player. David Mccullough has said that ‘history is who we are and why we are the way we are’. And this book will definitely help every Indian find answers to several of his existential questions.

(Sibichen K Mathew)

Excuse me…I forgot your name…

Dr Sibichen K Mathew





When was the last time you failed to recall the name of a person? When was the last time you struggled to remember that familiar phone number? It might not be in the distant past. Most probably it might be just the other day. Don’t worry. You are not alone. Many people suffer from this temporary loss of memory during these ‘microchip’ days. We thought it was only the old people who complained of poor memory retention. But do not get surprised! They are better than the youngsters and the middle aged lot. Do you know what is the cause of this disease? It is another virus: the technology virus!



Not too long ago people used to scribble the important contact numbers and addresses in a small diary. However even without referring to that many could easily recall more than hundred telephone numbers. Same is the case about addresses, birth days, anniversaries etc. The access to pocket sized digital diaries starting from the basic version of 32KB and later on those upto 2GB in the market was the first step in delegating the functions of the brain to the microchip. Instead of rattling around with various numbers, brain outsourced all activities related to maintenance of numbers, contact addresses, appointments, reminders etc to the chip. People who had all multiplication tables in ‘finger tips’ also thought it wiser to outsource even the task of counting their age.



Gradually cell phones replaced the digital diaries. The smaller size of cell phones and their multi functionality made them most popular among all categories of people. The brain was divulged of its responsibility of information retention and cell phones started doing a thorough job. People entered anything and everything in that little instruments. And if one misplaces a cell phone it is a real catastrophe. He almost loses contact with the world. And heavily addicted people even loose their way to their residence!





As a result of the indiscriminate delegation to and dependence on the microchip, man loses the capacity to memorize information and gradually brain’s power for retention is affected. Anything unused will become obsolete. Same is the case with brain. We face several problems connected to that. You got introduced to that person and talked to him for hours. But when you meet him after a short period you make intense efforts to recall the name. You had dined in your colleague’s house several times and still you fail to recall the names of his family members when you called or visited them next time. How many times you faced difficulties while writing a festival greeting card to your friends’ and relatives’ families. How many times you have forgotten your passwords and frantically clicked the ‘forgot password’ button? Yes, quite often.



One of the successful strategies in interpersonal communication and for winning people, is to address them by their names. If you remember the name of your staff, client, customer or student, and address him by that during the conversation, you accomplish your task much more quickly than otherwise. If you can remember the important dates in the life of your boss, close friends or other associates without referring to your microchip, it will be peasant surprise for them. But, we need to regain the capacity of retention by giving back to the brain some of the functions we outsourced to microchip.



Apart from the memory loss due to over dependence on the cell phones for information retention, cell phone itself can induce short term memory loss. In a study conducted in the Department of Bio-engineering, University of Washington, it was found that electromagnetic radiations emitted from cellphones can result in memory loss. Though cell phone, digital diaries etc are necessary gadgets these days and one cannot totally stop using them, one should take deliberate steps to remember as much information as possible through practice. That only can improve the capacity of the brain in memory retention. Now take a simple test. Start writing the numbers of your colleagues and associates in a paper. Check how many correct entries. Fifty, hundred or more?



Read a few comments below (Given by readers through the blog http://www.sibichenmathew.sulekha.com )

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( spelling/grammer mistakes not corrected to maintain the originality of the comments)

Well thats really true, in college people use to tease me saying I am the Subodh of Dil..... (i forgot the name of the movie )

And now remembering date and numbers are next to impossible... the main reason I think is over dependence on this gadgets... i can't go out without my cell as without it i can't live i guess

regarding the ill effect of cell phones, i heard using ear phones instead of direct cell phone reduce the effect but using ear phones are also not that great... so our generation has to fight...to survive

Pulak Barua

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Thanx Doc. its indeed an important piece of information....The UCMAS curriculum for the school children, helping to develop their mental abilities by training them to calculate as well as improve their memory and concentration by the conventional abacass system...on the othe hand, we have these electronic gadgets to actually ruin people's mental ability in every possible way....So I guess the message should be, Back to the Basics....which looks impossible to all the gadget freaks, in today's scenario..
jonaki4u

----------------------------------------------------- Thank God I read this! And all this while I was thinking I'm getting old Btw, that was a wonderfully informative and an encouraging blog Mr.....er...er excuse me, I wanted to address you by your name but I think I forgot it:-{

Nargis Natarajan

----------------------------------------------------- I really dont think technology has harmed us that way. We might be confusing cause and effet here. Technology is a there to help and it is us who make a crutch of it. Dont you think?

Lokesh Thakur

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A man's great possesion is his memory.In nothing else he is rich ,in nothing else he is poor.The secret of a good memory is attention and the attention to a subject depends upon our interest in it.Modern day youngsters have easy access to all gadgets which reduce the strain of remembering addresses,phone numbers and such other datas.They become so dependent on these gadgets that it gives the impression of their poor memory.Brain has a tremendous capacity to retain facts and figures.If we conveniently off load a portion of the storage capacity are we not giving less work to the brain and become less strained.In my opinion it is wrong to put the blame on technology.While putting the gadgets to their advantage a person should also take care to keep his memory as sharp as possible .
It is true that we must safegaurd ourselves from the harmful effects of electronic gadgets by using them sparingly.
Swarajya

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DEar Sir,



See i forget yr name too.lol



I dont even have an idea of my wife or daughters cell number.Previouskly i could remember,now i hve to just dial the no from the cell.God forbid if the cell conks off and u are in a strange land.



What u say is true.if we dont use the brain, it will lose its power to retain info.i am expieriencing it.



REg names i am very bad,so i try to use a very crude weapon.I assoiciate the name with somthing else.



like today i met an indonesian called Maangolan.very difficult name to remember,so i just remembered it as first Mango, then refined it to Mangola, the soft juice drink we get in mumbai.

So even if i call him Mangola, he wont feel as bad as if i dont remember his name at all.



For eg my name is Kamal , and u can remember it easily as a Camel,the ship of the desert.So when u see me, think of a Camel,and lo y have my name.lol



Good one sir.Thanks.

Kamalji

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Excuse me....I forgot what I wanted to say But I think it was .....nice post!
Julia Dutta

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Dear sir!

The Humanbeing in the present generation is doing multitasking unlike just a decade ago, he needs implements to function. sooner, we will find new theory on multitasking ........................so forgeting name will be subjected to a cell phone not reading the name of the person ,,,,,,,through some electronic interrogation methods

Maddss123

The Festival of Bandh

For ages, protest is considered as an affirmative action for change. Groups and collectivities across the world have fulfilled their demands through protests. Strikes, boycotts, demonstrations etc are some of the common forms of protests globally. Protests have taken various desi versions in India. Dharna[i], satyagraha[ii], gherao[iii] etc are widely adopted by protesters in India. Social protests have brought about radical changes in the social structure of Indian Society. In fact many such protests and social movements were the embryos for many political parties and organizations. Sociological relevance of protest movements are historically recognized as they ensured civil liberty, fairness and justice when the states were ruled by benevolent dictators and autocrats. Mahatma Gandhi’s strategy of non-violent passive resistance was considered to be the most successful. Such strategies of passive resistance have been transformed to active resistance and different forms of violence have become an essential ingredient of protests.





In recent times, two modes of protests have become very frequent in some parts of the country. They are bandhs[iv] and hartals[v]. Though they have their legacy in the Civil Disobedience Movements against colonial rulers, they have literally transformed into Civil Disturbance Movements in contemporary India. Communist bastions in India viz. the states of Kerala and West Bengal compete for a world record in witnessing maximum number of bandhs and hartals round the year. Every hartal, bandh, and strike result not only in loss of productivity for the country but also in damages for both persons and properties. They also result in mental agony, uncertainty, insecurity and helplessness for the people. At the same time, some people love such bandhs. For employees, they are surprise paid holidays to idle away time watching TV and other entertainments. Statistics show maximum sale of bottles of liquor just on the eve of the bandh.



It is quite appropriate to evaluate the efficacy of bandhs, hartals, dharna etc in contemporary times. All over the world, dissent and conflict on issues, policies, rules and regulations are essentially anti-establishment in nature. Protesters resort to strategies to draw public opinion and to put pressure on respective establishments. Thus blocking roads, disturbing public service delivery, striking work, damaging public property etc are thought to gain immediate attention to the demands. However, in the present era of communication technology, conventional forms of protests would not only be redundant but also invite public wrath. Protesters need to explore strategies such as strategic negotiations, discussions or parleys with the establishments to resolve dissent and to fulfill demands.



Do bandhs and hartals imposed on the public by particular groups generate enough public sympathy? Even where larger public cause is involved, protesters hardly get emotional support for their actions that disturb the civic affairs of the public. Whether they take up general issues like price hike, poor infrastructure or social issues, many times majority of the population show tacit disapproval for bandhs and hartals. Thus such protests do not evoke much response in several states. However, states like Kerala, West Bengal etc are different. With a strong communist base, bandhs and hartals are common political strategies for all types of political parties. There are forced disruptions of normal life for a range of causes from trivial issues such as a lesson in 7th grade school book to global issues such as international fuel price hike, War on Iraq, Israel’s occupation of Gaza strip etc.





In an era of advanced communication technology, issues can be better taken to the authorities concerned through well formulated representations and proposals. Several institutions are in place to ensure that justice is done to affected persons or groups. There are commissions set up by governments which play active roles in ensuring human rights and to protect the interests of various communities and groups. Judicial activism and the social role played through public interest litigation have proved to be very effective in ensuring justice and to settle grievances. Right to Information Act and corresponding institutional structures has brought about transparency and efficiency in policy formulation and implementation.





It would be sensible to fight for one’s rights through the institutional structures in the society. If there are no favorable institutional structures, it is still possible to present his views and petition the needs directly to the high authority or through the widely present media. These are the blessings one enjoy in a democratic polity. It is sheer foolishness to adopt strategies of civil disturbance to achieve the goals, if one is really sincere about their fulfillment. This does not mean that social movements and revolutions are redundant in modern society. They do still play the role of change agents, especially to ensure fairness and justice from authoritarian governments and institutions. However, they can succeed only if they convey their goals with clear strategic plans and proposals at the appropriate decision making levels rather that firing the gun wild. Protesting groups and organizations need to harness public opinion through innovative methods that would not disturb the civil rights of people and the executive activities of the state.

(Another version of this article can be seen in my blog www.sibichen.wordpress.com )


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[i] Means squatting in front of an office or building to realize demands. Hindi word

[ii] Concept of satyagraha was rooted in the scriptures of several eastern religions. Literal meaning is ‘holding on to truth’. Developed as a successful non-violent strategy in the India’s freedom struggle by Mahatma Gandhi

[iii] Hindi word , means encirclement (mob or group of people surrounding a person or building)

[iv] Means ‘closed’ in Hindi

[v] Means closing down of shops and business establishments

Red light Musings: Bangalore Traffic Escapade

rapid transport, By Sibichen K Mathew


Any one who makes a visit to Bangalore after a gap of about ten years will be visibly shocked to see a total change. Their beautiful city has been almost submerged in traffic and traffic jams. One can see hundreds of passengers sitting disgusted in their vehicles which move like snails. Almost equal number of pedestrians helplessly waits for long on both sides to cross the roads. Only one group seems to be happy with the plight of Bangalore. They are the hundreds of beggars, hawkers and eunuchs who throng the signal points to crave for a living. The longer the red light, wider their smiles.



Someone, seeing the way vehicles outnumber the road capacity has rightly commented that the world will end with a major traffic jam. One would definitely feel the same while stuck in long traffic jams in Bangalore city. Many of us think wildly for a possible solution to this traffic menace. Following are some of my quick thoughts.



Do not give any fresh permission to set up any business establishments in the city limits other than those dealing with the consumers directly for essential goods and services
Levy a city traffic tax at proportionately progressive rates depending on the road space each vehicle takes.
Parking Fee should be hiked in all important roads and near markets in order to encourage travel through mass transports
Like in many other countries, students should be allowed to take admissions only in neighborhood schools. Those who cannot comply with the rule should join only as a hostler.
Major companies and government departments (especially those in rented premises) should move from the city limits and residential accommodation should be provided to the employees near the premises
All companies and government departments should hire buses for transport of employees
Bus Rapid Transit System tried in New Delhi and several countries cannot be implemented in Bangalore as most of the roads are not broad enough. However Auto and two wheeler lanes can ease out traffic congestion
Car pooling is not found to be successful in many cities. Instead of that, permits may be given to mini buses and SUVs to provide shuttle services connecting important places. This will reduce the congestion created by three wheelers, as 90% of autos ply with just one passenger and people are reluctant to share auto with strangers.
Roads to and near major markets should be closed for private traffic. Minibuses should be made available for conveyance in these locations
As there are rules governing provision of compulsory parking space for shopping complexes etc, there should be a rule directing all establishments to compulsorily provide mass transport to their employees. Rules also should be made, requiring the establishments to provide accommodation near to the offices. This will force many establishments to shift the premises to outskirts where the lands are cheaper. Almost 40% of employees in the software/BPO sector are singles. But many stay very far away and commute several kilometers by road. Those companies should be encouraged to provide hostel accommodation within the campus.
There should be concessions in sales tax if purchases are made online. This will encourage people to order the consumer goods online, rather than commuting to the shops.
All educational institutions should be asked to provide bus services for students and government should grant concessions on the taxes on fuel
Having two airports, one for short-distance flights and the other for long duration flights will be a sensible option to prevent traffic congestion
Deploy trained personnel (appointed on contract) to regulate traffic in all arterial road junctions. This can also be done by unemployed youth or students on part-time basis
Police and the transport department should have continuous discussions with the representatives from citizens to get regular feedback on the traffic management.


A competent organization should be entrusted with the work of studying the traffic congestion in the city and to provide with long term solutions. The team should comprise of technically competent persons and not just management consultants and policy specialists.




Traffic jam, though creates a lot of annoyance, give some relieving time too. Many tune to FM for the music numbers sandwiched with the hilarious comments of the jockeys. Some glue to the laptops and compensate their office load. A few connect to the virtual world through the wireless. And most keep in touch with their dear and near through their cell phones. There are people who have the unique ability to plunge into deep slumber till they reach the destination (of course, not those who are at the steering). Believe! Even this article is written during a busy evening journey from the office to the home situated just about 10 kms away. Hence the title: ‘Red Light Musings’.

Can we have an airport for 'people'?

By Sibichen K Mathew

Bangalore International Airport (BIA) has finally took off after years of wait and legal bottlenecks. The neatly done six lane road to the airport, the spacious parking area, posh interiors and lavish shopping and catering area are pleasing to the eyes.




Air travel, then a luxury, has become within the reach of common man quite recently thanks to the competitive tariffs offered and increased frequency of trips to various destinations. However, the impression BIA gives to every one is that airport is an end in itself and not just a comfortable means to one’s destination. But all at a heavy cost for people. At least that would be the feedback from ordinary citizens.




One takes the first step of his journey by dialing to the call centres of the airline. After long re-dialing exercise, he gets the message that flight is on-time. He calls up for one of the airport special taxi and gets a reply that it would take another one hour to reach and that too at a premium rate. Takes an auto which charges for every little piece of the luggage to the nearest BMTC special service stop. Unload the luggage in pavement and waits again anxiously for the bus. Decides to take another taxi as he is worried of missing the flight. Calls another taxi happened to pass by. Loads the luggage after heavy bargain. Then the long trip to the airport.




Almost three hours passed since he stepped out of the house. Finally he reaches the airport domestic terminal. One has to stand very close to the display board to see the flight status as the fonts are very small. By the time he finishes the check-in and the security check, he feels terribly hungry. He enters one of the cafeteria. Stands in the long queue and finally reaches the advance billing counter. He wants to eat something. Alas! Coffee costs a minimum of fifty; Tea for not less; Idli for eighty; Pongal also eighty. Settles for two vadas and a coffee and shells out of 130/- By this time, he has already spent about eight hundred rupees for travel and snacks. He needs to travel another two hours in an airline which will not give you even a bottle of water without begging. As the flight was delayed, he walks through the posh shopping area. Expensive garments, gifts, perfumes and what not. Suddenly you realize that you have forgotten the tooth paste or a towel. You won’t get that. Want an essential over-the-counter medicine? Not readily available. All shops facilitate conspicuous consumption than travel related essentialities.



That is the plight of passengers. If you had reached the airport to receive or drop some guests, a different type of ordeal is ready for you. You will hardly find a place to sit. You will wait for hours along with hundreds of others including the cab drivers holding your hands on the railings. Wants to quench your thirst? Be ready to shell out the price they charge in star hotels!



Statistics indicate that number of air passengers from Bangalore (especially for trips to near destinations) have reduced drastically after the opening of new airport. BIAL should understand that, all those who travel by air are not immensely rich to throw their hard earned money for substandard and over pitched services. People may travel for emergencies. Many travel officially. And who needs the so called ‘world class facility’ with a high ‘user fee’ price tag? Is it to woo a handful of rich tourists or to cater to highly paid CEOs of Corporates?




Let it cater to those who can afford. And let the user fee be doubled or tripled. But majority needs an airport without all these frills and glitz. Can we have an airport for people? (Or can we get back our old airport?)

The low cost window dressing of life

Consumer Diary


By Sibichen K Mathew

People get attracted towards those yellow tags in shopping malls which signify discounted rates. Eyes get stuck on the big percentage symbols on the glass planes of shops and show rooms. This is basic human tendency. People want to get a good bargain for their money. The rational man takes emotional decisions with absolute conviction that he is being benefited from the choice. He thinks the decision is rational. But the behaviour is often propelled by emotions rather than sanity. But I have a friend who never picks up anything from a ‘SALE’ labeled rack. The reason is obvious. He happened to be a retailer himself.




Who can assist a customer in judging an offer? His friends or relatives? Yes, if one has the time and the proclivity to engage in such discussions after finding a domain expert who has either burned his fingers or gained a fortune. Recently, I came across a website which boasted to be an exclusive one for the protection of the interests of consumers. Started browsing the web with lot of expectations and in no time the hidden agenda became quite clear. Another smart advocate!

On one Sunday afternoon, I received a call from my best friend informing that his dad passed away after prolonged illness. I need to rush for the funeral as I knew his dad too closely since my school days. I was quite fortunate to get a ‘low cost’ ticket of an airline for the same day evening. The flight took off, though about two hours behind the schedule, without any apology from any one. And it didn’t bother me much, so also others. After all, that huge ‘state of the art’ airline agreed to take many of us, though we paid only a very meager sum. Just after it reached high skies and passenger belts were about to be removed, the announcement came: ‘The plane is returning back to airport as there is a technical snag’. Sensing the unpleasant response from the passengers, the crew announced that the flight will take off after rectifying the problem immediately. Within twenty minutes, the flight landed back and a few technical personnel rushed inside. Nothing heard from the crew for next half an hour and passengers’ murmurs turned to mild shouting. None knew where those hostesses were hiding. It seemed that they have been instructed not to provide even drinking water to the low cost desi commoner. One male crew came from no where and announced his relief package: ‘passengers will be accommodated in a flight of another airline’. All passengers rushed down with the hand baggage and headed to the terminal to pick up the checked-in luggage. We were shocked to receive very rude treatment and response from the ground staff who said they cannot arrange tickets for any other airline as all of us are on low cost tickets. The airline had trained their ground staff (all tall, hefty men - reminded of the loan recovery goons of some private banks) to take care of the grievances and complaints of passengers in such circumstances. They did their job well. No one among the passengers could put up a brave fight against the polished goons. Beggars have no choice. Low cost passengers are underprivileged category for the airlines. We stood in another long queue to get back paltry refunds net of taxes and fee. As mine was a booking through credit card, counter staff gave me an advice that if the refund is not credited back to the account within the next three months, then register a written complaint with all evidences. I helplessly rushed to the counters of other airlines to buy a fresh ticket for another airline. But again joined a long queue for another low cost airline! After all, we -the proletariats repeatedly try our fortune in spite of many tough lessons of life. In fact, rational man should decide not to ‘go air’ with such low cost offers!

Businesses cash-in on the superficial rationality of customers by presenting equally shallow but attractive top ups. Thus the so called scientific cost-benefit analysis given by the business propagandists quickly satisfies the customer’s quench for a good deal. He lands in the trap to realize the folly much later. How will one choose a product or a service among a set of alternatives? One may argue that only the first timers will go by the propaganda of the provider. The customer will learn to take the right choice after a few deals. It is very true as per the common dictum that ‘no body can be fooled for long’. However can one indulge in such experiments if the stakes are very high?





Are all consumers fools? In a way, they are. Because the growth of our economy squarely depend on how much people consume. Therefore growth is made to sustain through various sops for the consumers. As far as the terms like purchasing power parity and conspicuous consumption are left in the seminar halls, there is nothing much for people to grudge about. Are they getting a good deal in the competition driven economy? Did you ever think that you could call up your relative in the other part of the world almost free? Did you ever imagine that someone would offer you a one rupee air ticket? However, please don’t cheer too much. The bubbles are bursting one by one. Everything started from thousands of ambitious consumers who took cheap credits to acquire over priced goods. The chain reaction is on. Consumers beware! Economy is at your mercy to save the world out of recession. Let us pray. Lord, let me not get lured away by the window dressers and by those gifts with long strings attached. I am too happy if the left side matches with the right side in the balance sheet of life.

Satyam: A case of worst audit failure

By  Dr Sibichen K Mathew

   Satyam episode, once again raises question mark over the sanctity of the system of audits and the authenticity of the audit reports. After analyzing the series of audit failures reported in the recent years, following article suggests that an Independent Audit Regulatory Authority is the need of the hour. Only an objective and pro-active audit system with investigative bend of mind can function as a corporate watchdog on behalf of millions of stake holders.

   World witnessed audit failures of great magnitudes in the 1990s. The Andersen, which was an honoured name with more than 100 years of reputation, was party in deceiving millions of stakeholders of Enron. Like Andersen, many such audit firms, which were considered as the leading torchbearers of ethical practices left many investors high and dry. That happened in the cases of Worldcom, Sunbeam Corporation, Lucent Technologies, Boston Chicken and many more. In India we had the Mardia Group, CRB, Lloyds, Patheja Group, Parasrampuria, Global Trust bank etc who manipulated their financial statements to hide thousands of crores of liabilities and bad debts. In all these scams, audit firms played disastrous roles.

    Satyam is the most recent and the worst corporate debacle triggered by unethical accounting and audit practice. Corporate audit is the watchdog that every stake holder viz. investor, customer, supplier, employee, government rely on. If it shirks its responsibility for short term revenue interests, there is no one who can protect the stakeholders. In a reasonably regulated economy, all enforcement agencies and stakeholders examine and evaluate the performance of a company exclusively depending on the audited financial statements.

     The corporate scams and scandals happened in the world in the last few years are clear indications of the collusion between auditors and management in accounting frauds. Auditing, though considered as a vital institution has lost the credibility due to the manner in which auditing functions are performed.

Why the torchbearers cover up the dark and dingy?

     While function to ensure that corporates earn good revenues following the right track, audit firms compete among themselves to have their own revenues shoot up. In the run to greedy heights, they are forced to compromise on objectivity. Some examples are over dependence on the client for steady earnings, beneficial interest in the business activities and also of the sister concerns of the client, self-interest situations like re-employment in group concerns, over dependence on non-audit work etc.

     It needs to be studied in detail how much and how long the firm that audited Satyam stretched its hands by providing suggestions and consultancy. It should also be examined how much of the fee received by the audit firm was indeed for non-audit functions.

       Enron had paid Andersen twenty five million dollars for audit and twenty seven million dollars for non-audit services in the year prior to its debacle. In addition Andersen earned another six million dollars from Enron’s sister concerns. The share of management consultancy in the total revenues of the big audit firms in US had gone up from 13% in 1981 to more than 50% by 2000. Similar involvement is evident in respect of many Indian companies as well.

      Most of the multi national audit firms in India engage in consultancy services for their clients apart from their audit functions. Even if the steps are correctional, such advices often compromise on the objective evaluation of the outcomes of such action. Disclosures should not be made ambigous in the guise of maintaining client confidentiality. It is surprising how auditors of Satyam missed certain vital understatements such as non-existent accrued interest of 376 crores, receivables of 490 crores and 588 cores of cash that didn’t exist. All these are figures of just one quarter. Chairman of Satyam has admitted the profits were inflated substantially since last several years. Now it is for the ICAI’s disciplinary committee to examine whether adequate due diligence was ensured by the auditors of satyam.

Do we have enough regulations?

     Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act passed by US was the first ever radical initiative by any country. It was a strong response to popular outrage in the wake of Enron, Worldcom, and other equally lurid failures of law, standards, governance and most importantly audit. As per the SOX Act, all audit and non-audit services (with some exceptions) must be pre-approved by the audit committee of the company, and such approval must be disclosed to the investors. Audit partners must be rotated periodically. It is also stipulated that the audit firms must report to audit committees, the recommended alternative accounting treatments that have been discussed with the management. SOX Act laid down an array of strictures on company directors, especially CEOs and CFOs. Punishments include imprisonment upto 25 years. Companies listed in US may have to face penal action if detected for accounting and audit frauds.

      Indian laws are not without any provision to tackle offences by the auditors. The Company’s act 2008 provides for certain situations in which the auditors can be held responsible for negligence, incorrect statements etc. As per section 628 of the Company’s Act, if an auditor in any report, certificate, balance sheet, prospectus, statement or other document required under the Act, makes a statement which is false, knowing it to be false or omits any material fact knowingly, it is punishable with imprisonment. Though Indian auditors claim that India has a foolproof legislation in place and the SOX Act is redundant in India, it is necessary to examine why then such audit failures of horrifying magnitude happens, as witnessed in Satyam. Naresh Chandra Committee Report on Corporate Audit and Governance, Report of the SEBI committee on Corporate Governance headed by Kumaramangalam Birla and many other reports have dwelled deep into the issues of corporate governance and had recommended several measures to prevent audit failure. What is clear from the current Satyam episode is not lack of regulations but lack of compliance to the same.

More crucial questions

      Satyam revelations have pointed out the larger regulatory failure which are linked to audits. What was the role played by the Audit Committee, which is mandatory as per clause 49 of the listing agreement. It is often alleged that Audit Committees of most of the companies are only in paper. It is the duty of the audit committee to effectively analyze the operations at all levels of the company in a coordinated manner. One needs to examine not only the financial literacy of the members of the Audit Committees of the companies, but also their capability to effectively fulfill their responsibilities. The members of the audit committees need to review internal audit processes, have detailed discussions with the auditors and CFO and ensure compliance with financial, accounting and stock exchange standards every quarter, as recommended by the Naresh Chandra Committee.

    The role of independent directors in ensuring financial discipline is well recognized. Independent directors are compulsory in the Audit committee. The question is how independent are the independent directors. How couldn’t the independent directors smell the rat in Satyam’s financial results, though the manipulations were very apparent and repeated year after year? Independent directors are supposed to provide objective oversight on the financial activities of the company. It is astonishing to note that they have ignored even the actions of the World Bank against the company by not attempting to find out what exactly is happening within the management of the company. Surprisingly all so called independent directors in Satyam were academicians and retired bureaucrats of international reputes and achievers in their respective fields.

       Public need answers to several questions. Whether what Ramalinga Raju revealed is complete? Whether more such skeletons are hidden in the financial statements and also with respect to its other group concerns? Similarly, if a front runner company like Satyam was sitting on such accounting and audit frauds, what would be the real corporate scenario? Whether similar frauds are happening elsewhere that are neither revealed nor detected?. In the light of information coming in, it is imminent to have a thorough surveillance, inspection and review of the compliance to corporate governance norms by the companies.



Need for an Independent Audit Regulatory Authority

       Time is ripe to think of an independent audit regulatory authority to effectively regulate and enforce the audit system in India. The authority should be responsible for formulating and amending the accounting and auditing standards with the technical assistance of ICAI. It should have an oversight board that reviews the audit work and shall conduct inspections. The possibility of introducing centralized empanelment of auditors and random allocation to various corporates on rotation based on the specialization and need has to be explored. Such an independent auditor general assisted by a well represented audit board should be the disciplinary authority with functions for grievance settlement and adjudication ingrained within them. A national audit fund can be set up to raise resources through various means such as annual fee from companies, and contribution from the listing fee and also a fee on a percentage of the turnover and share capital. A small percentage can be deducted for the fund from the investors at the time of transactions.

Auditors need to be pro-active

     PwC has almost washed its hands stating that its judgment of Satyam was based on what was produced before them. Similar conditional authentication is given by many auditors while furnishing statement of particulars of financial activities of the clients before authorities. Audit firms should understand that such certificates be submitted only after examining the transactions reflected in the relevant books of accounts with supporting evidences. It is the duty of the statutory auditor to check the transactions at random and to provide a critical analysis of the reports and statements prepared by the internal auditors before putting their stamp. Audit as an institution can regain its sanctity only by being pro-active and vigilant. Practices such as periodic rotation of audit firms and audit firm partners, regular peer review, evaluation of action taken reports of audits, transparent corrective actions and clarity in reports can definitely ensure public faith in the audit system as a watchdog.

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As Satyam episode unravelled another corporate scam, and series of investigations are on, let us cross our fingers ..........‘

"First Enron, then Tyco and now WorldCom. How come all these companies are off billions in their accounting and nothing ever happens to them? If you bounce a $15 check at the Quickmart, the feds are at your door!" —Jay Leno

Hey Doctor! Why are you in a hurry?

   One profession where every millisecond matters is the medical profession. Doctors run against time, saving millions of lives. They can afford only little sleep, little socializing and leisure. Commitment to work and pressure from the organization force them to keep their apron on for almost 18 hours a day. Society should thank not only them, but also their spouses and children for letting them away from home. But what worries us is that many of these doctors are too much in a hurry, creating anxious and depressing moments for patients and their relatives.

     Recently, I read an article about a bereaved wife who went through a torrid ordeal in a hospital. She was beside her ailing husband for several days. They were a well-educated couple with a fair social standing. Husband was hospitalized with a chest pain. The doctor visited their room just for a minute and never found time to interact with the patient’s wife. Enquiries and doubts from the wife and children got monosyllabic answers. The elderly husband, not fit enough for a surgery, was made to undergo a heart bypass. He suffered a heart attack and died even as the surgery was being performed. The woman believes that her husband would have lived on for many more years, if not for the negligence of a busy doctor.

     When at least a smile can give a healing touch, some doctors portray themselves as staid, learned and restless, as if that symbolizes the genius of their rare breed. It is not a very pleasant experience to be in a hospital, either as a patient or as a visitor, even if the hospital is endowed with the most-modern ‘five star’ facilities nowadays. All patients and their relatives go through depressing moments because of the pain their loved ones going through, anxiety, financial strain, loneliness and helplessness. They obviously look for empathy, transparency, concern and gentleness from the hospital management, staff and doctors. But, in general, hospitals are perceived as establishments with the sole motive of making money through a concerted effort of various stakeholders – the management, doctors, and pharma, medical, diagnostic and insurance companies. Of course, hospitals do need money to provide quality service. But what upsets patients and their relatives is a sheer lack of transparency and communication on pros and cons of different options.

      Doctors don’t have time to explain. Managements are keen to collect advances before even the patient is admitted. Other staff members are too ill-informed to guide patients or give suggestions. Social workers, counselors or relation experts are either non-existent or perform their roles superficially and mechanically. All these definitely affect the healing process.

       It is timely and appropriate to train health providers, inculcate a change in their mindset and apprise them of the need for necessary social and communication skills and empathy in a hospital setting. Doctors should know that patients and their relatives put their trust only on them and not on the management, staff, diagnostic service providers or counselors. It is imperative that doctors spend more time with patients and their relatives. And give that much-needed human touch that is lacking most of the times now.

Truth shall set us free

          We live in the indispensable world of computers and any crash leads to instant tantrums. One fine morning, I found my PC sick. All my home remedies did not work and the comp continued to ail for several days. The General Practitioner – a neighborhood boy who troubleshoots all my gadgets and widgets – referred the PC to a domain specialist. The specialist heard the problem over phone and outsourced the work to another company. Within minutes, a tie-clad youngster appeared and straightaway hit the computer room. It was quite amusing to see his performance. He used his right big toe to switch on the computer and perched himself comfortably on the computer table. I was quite impressed by the strong aura of confidence around him. He was a multi-tasker too… He blew his chewing gum, fiddled with the key board, all the while sincerely responding to the callers on his cellphone. After diagnosis, he declared: “Sir, problem identified. The PC needs to be formatted.” I told him: “Go ahead, provided the data remains intact.” He said, “Of course sir!” I left him to his machinations, while I went out for a coffee.

The moment I returned, I could sense that the air of confidence had turned stale. I saw my enthusiastic young specialist standing and sweating in front of the computer. “Work is completed, but all data got deleted by mistake,” he said in a pleading voice. I was stunned, and I insisted that he retrieve all the deleted data. But he said he did not know how to do it. An angry me asked him what his qualification was. To my surprise, he said he was a management graduate and was currently picking up computer skills through “on-job training”. That means, all the while he was having his practical lessons on my PC. Realizing that shouting at him was of no use, I asked him to contact his company immediately and get the data retrieved. The company told me I should have saved the data in a storage device before reformatting the computer. I was shocked. I could not believe that my official documents, research notes, and hundreds of personal and other files were gone forever. I told the company chief how the damage was done by his employee and data had to be retrieved completely. I threatened to sue his company for my data loss. The boss promised to get the best technical help soon.

Over the next three days, two super-specialists came and performed a by-pass surgery on my PC with the help of, what looked like, sophisticated and latest gadgets. They could retrieve every single file of mine. Not just that… they also got back thousands of other files that were diligently deleted and emptied from the recycle bin. Now, I believe that nothing can be deleted from a computer hard disc.

But how different is life from these machines? They are just mirror images of our life. Whatever we do in life cannot be corrected or erased completely and forever. Pleasant experiences and scars… they all remain etched. Machines being machines, computers retain everything as it is. Truth is always everlasting. Who can afford to lie in this techno era?

If your PC and laptop can tell every bit of what you did for years, there are several other gadgets that broadcast to the world much more about you. Your call log, ‘tele-scripts’, messages, and conversations can be in public domain within no time. It doesn’t matter whether you are using the latest gadget with the best firewall. No information in your inbox or outbox is secret anymore. You are a fool to believe that transactions over the internet are secure.

Here is a story to illustrate the power of tech. Marcus Enfield, a former Australian Supreme Court judge, was jailed for two years for lying to the traffic police after they issued a speeding ticket for his car. He argued that he was in a different car, in a different location and was busy shopping and snacking with a friend. He said a female friend (who it turned out had died three years ago) was driving his car when the ticket was issued. The police, who used electronic records extensively, tracked what he was doing that day through mobile and credit card records, and from CCTV camera footage. They proved that his claims were completely false. The lesson is: We can continue to deceive The Almighty for centuries to come, but not technology.

Of course, it is the truth that sets us free and not technology.

(c) sibichen