A Quick Comment on The Impending Indo-US Nuclear Deal

The last few days have seen emotional outbursts from both sides of the government on the pros and cons of the nuclear deal ranging from impassioned rhetoric for support from the UPA to cries of betrayal of national interest by the Left parties and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The Economist in its print issue dated 2-8 December 2006 called the deal damaging to a global anti nuclear regime and opposed it on more [logical] grounds that it violated the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and could open the doors to further proliferation fallout from North Korea's bomb test and Iran's continuing nuclear defiance.

More recently Dr. Ivan Oelrich of the Federation of American Scientists wrote last week on his blog here that India got what it wanted without any safeguards although I beg to differ with his primarily onesided analysis. I personally believe this deal is good for India because:

1. We will achieve a nuclear fuelled power capacity of 20,000 MW (10% of total power requirement) by 2020, a self professed goal of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India.

2. We generate power that is clean and not environment polluting like the fossil fuelled power plants.

3. We get fuel supplies internationally and we have the right to reprocess the spent uranium.

4. We have not opened up our sites for inspections.

5. We have access to high technology in several areas including defence and space, and

6. We get to keep our weapons (although I am personally opposed to the notion of a (nuclear) arms bearing state as I am completely and unashamedly pacifist in my outlook).

- among the several other doors it opens for us, since our ostracization from the West post the 1974 tests that India conducted.

My simplistic six-point view aside, let's take a look at why is this deal really important to us and why we, as right minded citizens, should oppose any attempts to scuttle this. I am borrowing from Nandan Desai's comments here summarily as follows:

"Currently, the average Indian consumes 0.9 barrels of oil, 31.5 cubic meters of natural gas, and 610 kilowatt hours of electricity every year – and these numbers are going up by 4.5% - 5% annually. Add to that 1% annual population growth, and our total energy needs will increase by about 5.5% - 6% a year. This year, we will produce about 90% of our natural gas and 30% of our petroleum domestically, and import the rest. Capacity addition over the last few years has been quite rapid, but not nearly fast enough to keep up with the growth of demand. Judging by current rates of capacity addition, and borrowing some projections from the Energy Information Administration, by 2020 we will have to import 20% of our natural gas, and 80% of our oil; by 2030 those numbers will be around 30% and 90%, respectively."

Staggering, when you sit back and think about it. Nandan has done excellent groundwork for his article and while I have no wish to parrot it entirely again, I find myself agreeing to the three principal arguments that he has advocated - (a) energy security for now and energy independence in the longer term, (b) a good road to creating power infrastructure to build India and lift it out of its current morass, and (c) last but not least, increases our influence in the global scheme of things coupled with the imposition of greater responsibilities and transparency requirements on us.

One aspect of this deal is a rider, subtle or otherwise, that we work with the United States to contain Iran's nuclear program. Opponents of this deal claim that it harms India's sovereign interests. Whilst it bothers me a little that our foreign policy is now being subtly guided by US interests, I see it as a quid-pro-quo and a good one at that. A deal of this propensity requires a fair bit of give-and-take and if the ultimate goal is to work in cooperation to avoid a second nuclear showdown, I believe it to be ok.

And lest I forget, I find the arguments of both the Left parties and the BJP to be completely specious, the former looking out for the interests of their idealogical masters and the latter opposing this deal purely on grounds of jealousy that they did not get to ink the dotted line when they were in power. If we recall, the BJP did try to negotiate a similar deal when they were in power last.

Cheers
S

A Farewell To Kings

When they turn the pages of history
When these days have passed long ago
Will they read of us with sadness
For the seeds that we let grow?

And again. . .
To seek the sacred river Alph
To walk the caves of ice
To break my fast on honey dew
And drink the milk of Paradise

And then. . .
And the men who hold high places
Must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality
Closer to the heart

A Farewell To Kings remains among my top three Rush albums of all time – reason: the lasting impression it left in my mind of the train of thought that ran right through the album, the musical arrangement and the degree of lyrical prowess demonstrated by the Professor in weaving such a powerful emotional tapestry.

Take this, the first track, A Farewell to Kings – which is about a “person” contemplating the current state of affairs and an almost resigned tone of despair and sorrow at what he sees around him. This then segues into Track 2, Xanadu – which is what our interlocutor in the song wishes for – a tale about a fabled land of milk and honey. I personally thought this was a good adaptation of Samuel Coleridge’s poem Kubla Khan; and then onwards to track 3, Closer To The Heart, a ballad about the need to build a new world (order?).

Tracks 4 and 5, Cinderalla Man and Madrigal lent enough ballast to the first three tracks without appearing out of place. For me personally, the two greatest songs were Xanadu and track 6, Cygnus X-1, the last a meandering tale about a black hole in the Cygnus constellation. I adored the quaint reference to Quixote’s steed, Rocinante, a curious name to give a vessel but then again, our voyager in Cygnus X-1, like the Don himself was traveling in mysterious depths of space in his trustworthy space ship.

As for Xanadu, it was musically enriching to listen to the song’s slow start explode into sound, with Lee’s voice and bass, Lifeson’s rapidly shape shifting riffs and Peart’s percussion, each demonstrating individual talent before coming together for a song finale. I was left breathless. Incredible melodies, powerful lyrics borrowing on fantasy and literary themes and a wondrous arrangement that bring them both together made this album a total must have in my collection.

Summary: Just buy it. A must have album for any music lover, all the more so if you like Rush.
Lyrical content: 8/10
Arrangement: 8.5/10

S

The Night of the Coiffeur a.k.a A Tress Story

Last evening, Nandita and I were invited by some friends of ours to attend a re-launch party of an old spa downtown Mumbai to promote their hairstyling services (yes, that is true - hairstyling). It was a while since we had partied townside, so we took off and reached the Taj hotel in Colaba in good time.

Opening the event, we had the Honourable Minister for Women and Children Development, Mrs. Renuka Chaudhry. Her five minutes were priceless - starting off with India's growth rate of 9% plus - trying to make the golden connection between that statistic and a Page 3 do, but failing miserably - exhorting the audience and the spa to protect the girl child in Punjab and Madhya Pradesh (the party political bit, as I call it, though why those two states were singled out, I have no clue) - ending up congratulating the spa for the wonderful new initiative they were embarking upon - had the entire audience tittering maliciously. I almost expected her to ask the spa to donate Rs. 10 or so out of each haircut and style job to a dedicated women and children's charity, but alas, but alas...

The other joke of the evening was a corporate video by Bisleri - its just water right? Ok, I grant you its mineral water. Unbelievable but true. The video talked about the disadvantages of using the best of hair care products from the L'Oreals and Bath and Body Works of the world with "plain" tap water in the shower and why this is the best and only strongest reason for making an investment case for piping Bisleri through your home plumbing system. One of these days, people I tell you, one of these days... But that is a topic for another rant.

The evening also saw more than its fair share of women with a high bovine disposition coefficient and overweighed by their baubles to boot, elbowing one another to be part of the camera eye. Not to be outdone, some of the men came dressed in bright and bizzare costumes - faux leopard skin jackets, lots of neck bling et al - I was running for my shades. The media had a field day, from what I could see.

The events themselves, overseen by an overenthusiastic compere who was just a tad short of fellating the microphone, comprised a fashion show featuring some of our more anorexic beauties and some beefcake specimens showcasing some pieces of cloth (sorry, I know they certainly cost more than I make in a year but still...) as well as a jewellery show. The models included our familiar faces - Carol Gracias, Nina Manuel, Vidisha Pavate and Jesse Randhawa, among others - doing their "I'm a model, you know what I mean, I do my little turn on the catwalk" routine

The two segues that I quite liked were the brief showcases of salsa and cha-cha performed by Sandeep Soparkar's ensemble (?). Sandeep, together with Kitu Gidwani, himself also enthralled us with a sequence from Ravel's Bolero and the lady was simply gorgeous.

The highpoint of the evening however was - a showcase of coiffeur, modelled and shown off by the members of the spa, most of whom were ancient. Of the last, I just admired the panache of an old Parsee lady who was dressed in the style of a 1920s flapper or Garconne, ramp walking to the tune of Ma Baker - oh, such zest and verve, I simply adored her flamboyance on the catwalk!!! Other styles modelled included colored hair, streaked hair, hair made up like an unfurled peacock, spiky hair, grecian curls, a pre-Star Trek Persis Khambatta, Chaka Khan-esque and so on and so forth - some of which were positively ghastly to watch.

I also bumped into a couple of banker friends of mine and couldn't resist joking ask them if they were funding any of this. We shared a laugh, though one of them looked sheepish, hahahaha. We left after the show and turned in for a quiet dinner at the Ali Baba Clay Oven, nearby, before heading home. All told, an opportunity to observe the swish set up close and personal and coming away unimpressed.

Cheers
S

PS: It is at times like these that I prefer the cynical cut and thrust of Zappa's albums. I am playing Have I Offended Someone while I write this up.