aditya kumar's weblog

…Kiran Desai, on winning the man booker.

Some Links:

Wiki on Kiran Desai

Jabberwock’s interview of Kiran Desai

CNN-IBN has dug up old wounds by claiming that the absence of IAF in the 1962 war against China proved to be the deciding factor for the conflict.

I write this, almost exactly 44 years after the Sino-India war. I feel there is still much to be learnt.

It was 10th of October 1962, when the Chinese attacked India. Of all the weapons used, the one weapon which India had no answer to was surprise. The Indian military was caught off-guard while this could be taken as one of the earliest instances of a string of failures that have followed Indian Intelligence till date.

Air Vice Marshal A K Tewary is quoted at Ibnlive here, that the war could have turned out a ‘debacle’ for China, if the Indian thinktank had allowed the IAF to prove their air-superiority.

This has been a well known, a well advocated theory. Anyone who has followed the chronicles of Indian Military has at one point of time or the other come across the events that unfolded in the 1962 war. Why exactly was the Indian Airforce Fleet not allowed to be the aggressor, when it was common knowledge that the IAF held an edge over the opponent from the east?

There are various reasons. The Indian administration expected the Chinese to retaliate heavily and to the highest possible degree if the IAF bombed the China mainland. The IAF was superior technologically, for it had the best of the British Fighters that included The Hunter while the Chinese held the edge if one considered the number of aircrafts. But the latter claim could be safely assumed to be of less significance as the PLAAF had only six air-strips in Tibet, the place from which the attacks on the Indian soil were carried out. The argument was that The IAF could not afford to loose planes, which it was expecting to, if the Chinese expanded their military action to attack Indian cities as a part of the retaliation.

Some argue that this assumption was flawed because with only six air-strips in Tibet, it was hard for China to even think of penetrating deep into Indian targets. In the days to come, the notion which the Indians held, of the Chinese ‘retaliation’, turned out to be nothing but faulty intelligence.

The other reason for not using The IAF as an offensive force was a fear of Pakistan attacking from the west. This was indeed a real possibility which had to be taken into account.

But overall, it turned out to be a disaster, not using the IAF as an offensive force (I am forced to think that the Indian thinktank, at all levels, fears crossing the International borders, even in the case when attacked upon. If you notice, a very similar situation developed in the Kargil conflict too). It should have been kept in mind that the Chinese onslaught could not have continued for long, as they were having a rough time themselves getting reinforcements for the advance. It was impossible for the Chinese army to continue operations at full-throttle with inadequate airfields along Tibet, which had been the base camp for the operations (and I like to think that this was one of the reasons, that has made the Chinese to build a rail link to Lhasa but that’s another story).

Nehru, the then PM, turned to US for help. The demand was of fighter (and bomber) squadrons, manned by USAF pilots only to patrol Indian mainland cities (not for action outside the borders). The US declined to provide India with combat planes. If the IAF was not using their own pilots for combat, the US was not to fight India’s war, it was argued (and rightly so). What the US agreed was to give 12 USAF transport aircrafts and an aircraft carrier in the bay of Bengal.

Jawaharlal Nehru was not much of a military man and he failed to recognise India’s military needs as early as in 1947, when he was quoted as saying, “We foresee no military threats. You can scrap the army. The police are good enough to meet our security needs.”

There was much learnt after the Sino-Indian war, after which Nehru admitted the mistake and said that we have been living in an unreal world, created of our own.

And, he continued to say, that in today’s world, there is no place for a weak nation.

References:
1. The 1962 India-China War and Kargil 1999: Restrictions on the Use of Air Power
by R. Sukumaran
2. “You can scrap the Army” by Wing Commander (retd) R V Parasnis
3. India is loosing by Dr Michael E Marti
4. The Cuban Missile Crisis

This last weekend, the long weekend that just went by, I decided to check out digicams. Deepawali is around the corner, shopping has been on my mind. Since SonyWorld showroom happens to be next to my workplace, it was obviously first on my list.

Turned out, I am not eligible to buy a Sony Camera.

The reason being, of all things, my marital status.

Since I can’t afford to buy the camera by a single upfront cash payment, I have to consider buying it on EMI (Monthly installments). Usually the process takes two to three days for this to get approved, since you have to submit documentation like bank statements, rent agreement and sometimes even the employment letter. But the unsaid rule is that if you are a bachelor your application does not get approved, even though all the other prerequisites are met with.

Exactly my case. But why? Bachelors tend to move places a lot, something unhealthy for the creditors. I was told this by the Sony Executive. He told me not to even bother thinking about buying the product on the EMI option since I am a bachelor.

That was my cue. I had to leave the place!

So what is going on I wonder. A man who is not married can’t buy a Sony Product on installments? Is it so convenient for them to assume all bachelors behave in the same manner? All bachelors go to a Sony Showroom with bad intentions?

Let me put this straight, I think it was shitty.

The feeling that I had when I was leaving the showroom was this: I am NEVER going to buy a Sony again. MARRIED OR NOT.

In Delhi’s posh Vasant Kunj area, a few months back, had a conversation with my uncle who while parking his car, after much efforts, summoned a water-tanker wala to fill the water tank, as the municipal water supply had not been sufficient and dear uncle was expecting guests later that day. As the orders were accepted, so was a Rs. 100 Note, which quietly went into the pocket of the assistant of the water-tanker guy.

On the water tanker was written that the service was free of charge, courtesy Delhi Government. Then why was it that he was paid? And why does it happen every second day?

Simple. Here too, the demand of the state supplied water tanker water exceeds supply. The water goes to people who pay the guy. So in effect, it’s a bit like auctioning water. Whoever pays more, gets the water.

Of course, on paper this water is supplied free of cost to the residents of our national capital. This “on record” fact is very important because this shall make it’s way to the list of achievements of the present day State Government when Delhi votes again.

Somini Sengupta, in a riveting report for The New York Times here (requires registration), reveals that a good 25 to 40 percent of water leaks out of Delhi’s pipe supply system. Yamuna, the only river that runs through the city (if you still call it a river that is), provides Delhi with 229 million gallons of water everyday. And then, the city dumps about 950 million gallons of sewage into the same river, each day. Approximately 45 percent of Delhi’s population is not even connected to the public sewage system. This is the state of the Nations capital.

Michael Crichton, in his last novel, “State of Fear“, explained how developing countries tend to ‘jump’ development cycles. An underlying network/infrastructure to support the new development cycle is, almost always, practically absent. We could be opening shopping malls and broadband internet may be making inroads into the Indian home but the state has failed to provide clean drinking water, a proper sewage system and electricity to the most urban of areas in the country. Worse still, what we have is not distributed in an optimized manner. Water leakages and electricity theft are problems that are in no way related to their respective supplies. And I have not even mentioned the villages.

International pollution norms are relaxed for developing countries. Once India is asked to comply with the rules set on emissions by International Standards (and I hope that happens soon), the Centre will wake up to a mess which would be hard to come out of.

“…The bathtub was another piece of abominable junk invented by the Europeans who bathed in the last Friday of the month, and then in the same water made filthy by the very dirt they tried to remove from their bodies.”

“…She discovered with great delight that one does not love one’s children just because they are one’s children but because of the friendship formed while raising them.”

“Love becomes greater and nobler in calamity.”

and the best…

“…Always remember that the most important thing in a good marriage is not happiness, but stability.”

Some of the quotes from this wonderful book I have just finished reading.

Imagine Rahul Dravid can talk to the Indian Batsmen while staying in the pavillion.

It is India vs Australia. India could do with a 20-30 run partnership. That is all that is required and India are sniffing victory.

Mongia is playing with a 50, pretty well set and Ajit Agarkar goes in to bat.

What would Dravid say to Agarkar?

—

RD: Just chip in with a double figure score.

AA: What?

RD: Make double figure. Just reach 10 runs!

AA: Double figure? What does that mean?

RD: Bat, man! BAT!!

AA: Batman?

RD: 10 RUNS!! Make 10 Runs!

AA: Make? You mean with the bat?

RD: Runs yaar! 10 will do!

AA: Oh yeah, I just gave 10 runs in one of my overs while I was bowling. But why mention that now?

RD: BAT yaar! Bat, score, make some runs. (gestures a forward defensive stroke with his arms)

AA: Whew, I have seen that somewhere! what does that mean? Bat?

So yeah, this is what we get when Agarkar, who came into the side as an all-rounder fails to make a double figure score so very often.

He has failed to get into double figures 11 times in the last 15 matches that he got the opportunity to bat in the middle. And within that the highest score? 21 runs.

What is going on? With players like him, how can they even think of playing one batsman less?

Here, I show you some of the best pictures of military aviation that I have gathered for some time. The sources have been numerous. I know there is a lot of stuff like this already available on the internet but the pictures below are my personal choice.

These are links, meaning clicking on them would lead you to my flickr album where you can download the bigger pictures and if you want, can use on your desktop :)

F-16, Close up


Royal Navy Sea Harrier showing off its flares


An IAF Mirage-2000, just after take off


Sea Harrier taking off from one of the Royal Navy Aircraft Carriers


An F/A-18 Hornet circling above an Aircraft Carrier


RAF Jaguar on the runway


Indian Navy ships INS Mysore and INS Viraat during a drill with USS Carrier Nimitz (My fav!)

Hope you guys like it. Comments, as always, welcome :)