Read my opinions on Politics, History, and Culture

Aadhaar Link Threatens Sanctity of Electoral Rolls

While the government's goal of digitising electoral rolls sounds laudable in principle, it should first address how the rights of the people would be protected and how it would control the Aadhaar database's potential for fraud.

This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire & Galileo Ideas – and has been republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.

Written with Prakhar Misra

Last year ended with a startling policy change as the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill was passed in both houses of Parliament. The Aadhaar database was linked with the Election Commission database to remove duplicates and fake entries from electoral rolls. Such a move can improve the sanctity of the electoral rolls and strengthen the functioning of democracy. But for it to do that, two prominent concerns need to be addressed first.

Read more here: https://thewire.in/government/election-laws-amendment-act-threatens-sanctity-of-electoral-rolls

Money Bills expose chinks in India’s legislation framework. Can learn from US, France

Money Bills and the role of the Speaker in classifying them must be reconceived to help balance the dual aim of ensuring spending and strengthening democracy.

The Union Budget outlines the government’s spending priorities and can alter tax collection and revenue distribution, making it essential to the functioning of the country. But unlike ordinary legislation, which must be discussed and passed by both the Houses, the passage of the Budget only requires scrutiny by the Lok Sabha, in effect, bypassing Parliament and the President. This special process has scope for abuse, given the limited checks on the passage of a money Bill.

Read more: https://theprint.in/opinion/money-bills-expose-chinks-in-indias-legislation-framework-can-learn-from-us-france/817470/

Indian democracy needs an upgrade in 2022

The State’s tendency to centralise power is undermining the country’s democracy and thus the very ideals it was built on

In 2022, we commemorate important events that led to the creation of modern India, and also events that threatened its very foundations: 100 years since the Non-Cooperation Movement, 90 years since the Poona Pact, 80 years since the launch of the Quit India Movement, 75 years of Independence, the 70th anniversary of India’s first general election, and by extension, India’s first Parliament, and more. To commemorate these events, it is worth examining the limitations and flaws in our democracy….

Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/comment/indian-democracy-needs-an-upgrade-in-2022-1074626.html

The lessons of 1971

When war finally did break out, India was prepared for it — domestically and externally

The India-Pakistan War of 1971 is one of the shortest wars in history, but was extremely significant in shaping South Asian geopolitics. India decimated the Pakistani military and helped liberate East Pakistan and form the new nation of Bangladesh. India’s well-defined military strategy, limited goals, and diplomatic efforts, underpinned by a strong respect shown by the political leadership of the time for institutional autonomy and command enabled its soldiers, diplomats, pilots and sailors to ...

Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/main-article/the-lessons-of-1971-1061371.html

Nehru said romanticisation of past doesn’t solve today’s problems. India needs to re-read him

The three tools in Nehru’s historiography can be used by India today to evaluate the past while preventing its distortion to achieve political or communal ends.

Throughout 2021, history has been contested, reframed and debated, whether it was Partition, the recommendation to revisit school textbooks, or celebrating 75 years of Independence. Jawaharlal Nehru was a favourite punching bag for many who believe they have been misled by Indian historiography. To read Nehru’s approach to history as Leftist is simplistic and reductivist. Instead, his approach to the field is needed today to understand the country and its diversity.

Read more: https://theprint.in/opinion/nehru-said-romanticisation-of-past-doesnt-solve-todays-problems-india-needs-to-re-read-him/780858/

Don’t blame Nehru’s Socialism for Air India fate. Read the 1944 Bombay Plan first

The Bombay Plan that argued for a mixed-economy was drafted by the likes of J.R.D. Tata, G.D. Birla, Purushottam Das Thakurdas and Ardeshir Shroff.

Air India’s privatisation is finally underway, albeit, belatedly. Consequently, this has led to conversations around the planned economy, and in turn blamed the Socialist economy for India’s woes. These debates presume that India was forced into planning; this assumption undermines the country’s economic history, and disregards the role that Indian businesses played in shaping economic policy leading up to Independence.

Read more here: https://theprint.in/opinion/dont-blame-nehrus-socialism-for-air-india-fate-read-the-1944-bombay-plan-first/756469/

What Mandaviya and Vaishnaw must do

Regulating digital and public health surveillance are a top priority for MeitY and MoHFW

Written with Nikita Kwatra

Chaos over the Pegasus software interrupted the Monsoon Session of Parliament, making it one of the least productive sessions for the Lok Sabha. Ironically, the draft Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill, 2019, a legal provision to protect personal data of Indian citizens, which was due for deliberation in this session, got delayed. The Joint Committee of Parliament examining the Bill was given another extension to present its report till the Winter Session. Without this Bill, India lacks a statutory basis to regulate personal data in the country. This has severe privacy implications for citizens, especially with the threat of another Covid-19 wave looming.

Read more: https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/what-mandaviya-and-vaishnaw-must-do/2318598/

Scientific temper is key in these times

Nehru's perspective on what science was and how that shaped scientific thinking in post-independence India

More than 57 years after Jawaharlal Nehru’s death, his conception of the nation’s ‘scientific temper,’ a term he coined in his book The Discovery of India, remains freshly relevant, especially in these times of doubts over vaccines, modern medicine and governance principles. Scientific temper was a framework, Nehru argued, that one should adopt to overcome bias, prejudice and irrationality. He grounded his vision of modern India in it. As India grapples with Covid-19, conflicts between the Centre and state governments, and communal and caste-based violence, revisiting Nehru’s rich legacy and how scientific thinking embodied his approach to democracy, diplomacy and the economy, is essential. It is a blot on Nehru’s legacy to see that large swathes of India possess a temper, just not a scientific one.

Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/in-perspective/scientific-temper-is-key-in-these-times-999026.html

Ease of Vetting: Digitisation can help streamline govt audits

A digitised approach to audits can provide real-time data to Parliament, civil servants and citizens, which can hold governments at all levels accountable for their actions

In the last decade, the Indian government has harnessed technology at large to improve policy outcomes. Digitisation has been tremendously useful in improving the delivery of development schemes and streamlining internal government processes, not without its own controversies. 2021 should seek to learn from prior experience, at the same time, push for greater adoption of technology in governance. One such function, yearning for digitisation, is the audit of government processes…….

Read the full article here: https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/ease-of-vetting-digitisation-can-help-streamline-govt-audits/2167356/

Articles in The Quint

I have begun publishing articles in The Quint, an online news outlet in India, on various topics, ranging from the freedom struggle, Nehruvianism, indian foreign policy, and constitutional law. You can access my articles here.

Indian Names: Pride and Prejudice

India’s renaming of streets, cultural sites and cities, shows the country’s reluctance to reconcile its complicated history with its nationalist present.

In a hurried cab ride from Peddar Road to Bhaudaji Lad Museum in Byculla, albeit before the lockdown, I asked the taxi driver to take me via N.M. Joshi road as I plotted the journey on google maps. He turns around, bewildered and asks, “What’s that?” Equally confused I provided a landmark, to which he responded, “You mean Delisle Road?” Shaking his head in disapproval at my ignorance at Bombay’s street names, he speeds on. Streets across the city have old and new names, from Falkland road being renamed PB Marg despite its role in Manto’s Bombay Stories, to Lamington Road, renowned for its electronics, being renamed to Dr A Nair road, with locals usually knowing the former name, not the latter.

Mumbai, India’s financial hub, a bustling megapolis of 20 million people is best known for its traffic, Bollywood, and businesses. To the average Mumbaikar, or Bombaywallah, depending on your taste, it is better known for its complicated street names, which confuse families that have been there for generations and newly arriving migrants. Under the Shiv Sena, a regional Hindu nationalist party, the city of Bombay was renamed to Mumbai in 1996. Mumbai was the original name of the city some 1000 years ago, before it became a trading hub……..

Read the full article on https://sabrangindia.in/article/indian-names-pride-and-prejudice?fbclid=IwAR2lAomBVBrKk2pAktrclX7-p8xVPMI_TQ-ljsrZUBm2aUHz7xmJ0GqWFPA

Rigorous historical analysis is needed to comprehend contemporary politics

The Citizenship Amendment Act is inherently discriminatory, and its supporters’ arguments lack historical and cultural depth.

A recent article in The Stanford Review titled “Why Stanford protestors are wrong about India’s citizenship bill” argued that the premise of the recent Stanford protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was faulty and informed by false information. I’d like to argue that this article lacked historical context and analysis in explaining the dangers of this act.

As a student of Indian history pursuing a thesis on the creation of the modern Indian state, I was disappointed by the arguments made, mainly because they propagate the same false narratives espoused by the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and its supporters in India. The argument forwarded by the Review article lacked historical depth…..

Read the full article on https://www.stanforddaily.com/2020/01/23/rigorous-historical-analysis-is-needed-to-comprehend-contemporary-politics/

Reflections and Personal Essays

This section contains creative writing pieces I’ve written for pleasure and for classes on a range of topics.

Time Travel

This essay is a reflection on my fascination with heritage buildings, and history, and the role heritage plays in understanding urban landscapes.

Four poster beds, red and yellow patterned tiles in the living room, peeling white paint on the walls and secret staircases galore: I would always find something new on each trip. My imagination let me observe an era that no longer existed, and a lifestyle no longer lead. My conjured images are long forgotten, but the house and its pristine garden are etched in.

A ‘hectic day’ included running around the multi-level garden, exploring its canopy, understory and its floor and games of hide-and-seek followed by muddy walks through the village, which always ended with a chilling bucket bath. The faded sandy-yellow tiles, polyethylene cream curtain and the U-shaped curtain rod are etched in mind as I poured a bucket of water over my head; somehow, after an exhausting day, I would be refreshed – enough to jump onto a bed, five feet off the ground. 

The elevated bed’s intricate wood carvings were perfect crevasses for my hands to hoist myself off the ground. Should I imitate the langur as it jumped across the fruit trees in the garden? Sleeping five feet of the ground on this bed of the 1950s is one of my fondest memories. Not only was this bed tall, but it was massive, and the room was big enough to accommodate another bed twice as wide! When grandpa came with his 9 siblings, they all packed into here – what a time they must have had I think as I notice the dents in the bed made by my grandfather when he was a kid.

But there are other smaller observations I had made inside this testament to our family history. An Inca symbol of sorts engraved in the balcony catches my eye as I sit on dad’s lap as he drinks his afternoon tea. Black iron sandwiched between white wooden beams.

“Who made this thingy [a childhood filler noun]?” I ask dad. “Not sure, dada chose it when he built this house 50 years ago.”

“Wow, what was he like, and what was this town like when he was alive?” And dad would delve into a story of how difficult it was to come here back in the day but how content my great-grandfather was, after all, he was lucky to have such a beautiful place with a lovely garden.

Eating bhutta while witnessing the monsoons, with a faint yellow light reflecting off the faded white walls set the scene for a monsoon view. As the sky turns a purple grey and roars, makes time stand still. Hot, tangy, and spicy corn matched the claps of thunder and lightning, and the comfort of the first smell of the monsoon. At night, the pitter-patter rocked me to sleep five feet off the ground in musty sheets. Cool comfort in nature and the spirit of my great-grandfather and great-grandmother watching over me. History is lived and made each visit and I yearn to meet them.

***

The movie, ‘Midnight in Paris,’ captures some of my longing for a past that is imagined and romanticised – to take the city back to an era unfathomable today. Trying to have my own ‘Midnight in Paris,’ is part of my everyday routine. My street transcends history. On a daily jog, I pass by the ugly high rises and private buildings that dominate the street. I scoff at the lack of sophistication of the current inhabitants of a road once renowned for its tasteful bungalows and sprawling lawns. As I run away from the creeping urbanisation of this road, I enter a canopy that wormholes me back to the 1920s. I stop at The Cliff, an imposing 4-storey villa turned ‘apartment,’ from the 1910s in its original form. The imposing and round columns supporting a terrace garden above the canopy seems to be a perfect tea spot – local gossip, political activism or a wedding plan might have been amongst the various conversations that took place there.

The road curves into three houses of power, the Municipal Commissioner, the Bombay Port Trust and Reserve Bank of India. The winding driveways, fountains, gardens overlooking the rest of the city from the hill I run on are eye-catching. The grey stone of yesteryear with the colonial style arches are gateways to the creation of the city I call home. The honking around and the traffic jams disappear, and my time travel is complete. On the other side of the street, smaller bungalows of white and sandstone red contrast the green and grey of the houses of power.

The one that catches my attention the most is the Commissariat Mansion. Grey marble, perfectly maintained bushes with an honour guard of pink bougainvillea creepers pull me in. Another plant-filled terrace detaches the mansion from the street. The gala dinners and society functions they must have hosted in 1940, a heightened time of political activity in the city. And now, in the urban sprawl that has emerged, to have this beautifully maintained space makes me giddy. The grey-white marble to ensure cooling, the quasi-British manor with Indian textures imbibes cosmopolitanism. As I face a strong breeze while running past them, personal stresses are pulled away by the wind, but every now and then, one is thrown back to reality by avoiding the swerve of a sports car or a honk. The midnight in Bombay ends. Each mansion is again a novel on a bookshelf, with its stories to tell of the past: lavish cocktail parties on the lawns with immaculately-dressed guests in tasteful Indian and western blends, children playing football on the lawns with grandparents overseeing them in the background, the exciting conversations with leaders of the freedom struggle as they debate their next course of action.

The complexity of using heritage to comprehend one’s past is that it does not always reveal the banality of life, and in the case of mansions and bungalows, the lives of those with means to preserve their legacies. As some of the only surviving snippets to societal life, the perspective one receives is limited, devoid of the issues of the time. Time travels on Carmichael Road make the mundane act of living exciting. Probably this is why I love studying history.

***

An incorrect right turn in the jammed bazaar takes me to an alley ending with unfamiliar bright shades of yellow and red in this grey-brown neighbourhood. I step into a new palette of colours and a new environment. Is this another time warp? I create many points for time travel in my explorations, anything to make me transport me to a different era.

In a polo and sneakers, I am out of place. The red and yellow wooden ‘houses,’ (more like sophisticated hutments), breakaway from the bazaar’s stone to form an enclave. The hutments are 1 storey tall, connected by pencil thin backlanes, the road wide enough for 1 car – an area trying to preserve itself while the horizon is filled with skyscrapers and smog. I thought of stories of my great-grandmother’s house. Did she live near here? What has kept it alive in the midst of rapid urbanisation?

All wood and stone – where’s the concrete, the elevators, the garages? On a smudged sign, I decipher some Marathi script acknowledging the Portuguese’s architectural influence in creating this neighbourhood. I guess the original inhabitants wanted to recreate a past that was no longer theirs: sounds familiar? Walkable space, neighbours in close proximity, a rare feat indeed. I observe them walking casually into and out of each other’s homes. I see crosses, Hindu swastikas, and the Islamic Crescent next to each other – the D’Souza, Mhatre, and Oomerbhoy are engraved on a single, crumbling marble tile attached to a brick wall as short as my torso and an iron gate, in Urdu, Hindi and English. Though faded, a date of 1835 appears inscribed on it. 

With my eyes on these connected and yet ‘secured homes,’ I trip into an outdoor yard with two steel chairs and a flaking white table. I see two childhood friends playing games after school here, drinking chai and introducing their kids to each other, all in the span of ten seconds. I would have loved to live through and observed the lives of the family that inhabits this space. I want to know the story of this yard. Maybe that is it. Context and content add meaning to areas that catch my attention, regardless of whether I impose them, or they are conveyed to me.

The labyrinth of these disorganised lanes takes me to what seems to be the only store in the hamlet. Store is a generous term; it looks like a ration shop, at best, in the yard of a slightly larger house. The shopkeeper and his wife grew up across each other in this very village and married. Heritage need not always stand out to be significant, it just needs to facilitate interaction and communication that would be out of place a few kilometres away. As I retrace my steps to the organised chaos of the bazaar, I see another picture of Jesus guarding the threshold, blessing me as I get into the real world.

***

In this tiny hamlet fenced in by chaos and redevelopment, in my great-grandfather’s house, on every street of the old city, standardisation of ideas is out, diverse thinking, amalgamated cultures are in. Urbanisation, gentrification, and social media have led to a convergence of ideas and standards of living. As I walk onto the main road onward to my original destination, I wonder if this area was revelled for being modern and soulless when first built by history buffs like myself? Maybe when these areas were built, there were countless structures that looked like them. Nonetheless, this area is renowned for being an economic hub today and is considered a historical market. Patterns and names on the façade of grey and brown buildings highlight some distinction and show that amidst planning, each structure reflected the perspectives of its residents, or the community that it housed.

Maybe heritage is a reminder of how not to fall into in the mainstream, or an exploration of the unique? I impose meaning on an old structure in an attempt to comprehend its significance. The village reflected the intimacy of its residents despite their religious differences and a want to hold together in an ever changing megapolis. Carmichael Road is a testament to the open and accessible street of the 1910s and 1920s, where kids could run to their friends’ houses to play. Now in apartments sheltered away from each other, the idea of free movement and intimacy disappears. Two contrasting areas, but imbibe a sense of togetherness that one cannot seem to fathom today.

Perhaps I am romanticising the past too much – the 1920s had its own set of problems, as did the early 1800s. Still, heritage buildings inspire an ambition and make me strive for a better city. I have always wondered how the people who inhabited the spaces that I do now lived. Are we similar? Am I ascribing too deep a meaning to a family who also would work and provide for its children in what was deemed a mundane structure? The chipped walls and faded paint reflect the times a house has lived through – I would love for a house to talk to me about its observations. While the balcony of The Cliff speaks to me, I can never be sure what actually transpired there. Then again, my imagination creates significance.

At the heart of this fascination is an intrigue for an era I will never visualise in front of my eyes, ideas that cannot be replicated with mass urbanisation, but still form the bedrock of society. Nonetheless, I am better connected with a period that has shaped my present: my family, my friends, and the environment I inhabit, for better or worse. At least now I have an ideal to work towards, no matter how unrealistic.