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to be a winner and run with the other linemen,
rather than keep being a loser running with
the backs?
The young man said, Im not here to out-
run the linemen. I already know i can do that.
Im here to learn how to run faster, and if you
have noticed, Sir, i lose to the backs by a little
less each day!
This account holds the secret to our spiri-
tual progress. Whereas in worldly work, we
always want to appear the best, when it comes
to spiritual work, we cannot hide who we are
from God. Our progress is an open book to the
Lord. The grace we receive to progress spiritu-
ally is based on sincere efforts. We cannot hide
the truth of our spiritual gains and
failures from the Creator.
The football player learned that
he would not improve by living on
past glories. He knew he could only
improve by challenging himself. By
seeing his weaknesses as a run-
ner, he could work on them to im-
prove. By pitting himself against
those who were better than he
was in the area he wanted to mas-
ter, his shortcomings would be-
come visible and he could work on overcom-
ing them. He was after improvement, not
accolades and praise.
The football player could see what the other
runners were doing and could work on deve-
loping his ability. The losses showed him what
he needed to do better the next time. By doing
this, each day he lost by a little less. When we
look at our failures, we know what we have to
do to do better each day. Then, by making an
effort, we will have fewer failures than on the
previous day. Over time, we would ultimately
reach a stage in which we have improved and
reach zero failures. Follow Sant Rajinder
Singh at speakingtree.in
W
hen we apply for a job, we usually try
to highlight all the good things about
us. When employers read such re-
sumes, they often feel each is describing the
greatest person who ever lived. We try to put
ourselves in the best possible light to land the
job. When going to a bank for a business loan,
we list our greatest financial achievements
and best references. We want to appear to be a
safe client and not a credit risk. When applying
for college, we collect all the best references
from former teachers so that a college will find
us appealing as a candidate.
But here is the story of a football
player who worked on his weakness.
A university football team was con-
ditioning themselves by practising
running. One player had the posi-
tion of lineman. This large player
was in a tackle position and con-
sidered the fastest lineman in
the team. One day, he walked up
to his coach and asked if he
could run sprints with the fas-
test running backs. The coach
gave him permission.
The lineman went out daily to run, but each
day he came in last. Day after day, he continued
to run with the fastest backs, even though each
day he lost. This was to be expected because
linemen are generally not considered as fast as
the running backs.
The coach, thinking it was strange, asked
himself, Why would this football player want
to play with the best runners and continually
come in last when he could run with the line-
men and be the fastest?
The coach observed the young man and
finally, after seeing the lineman lose for many
days, decided to ask him: Wouldnt you prefer
THE
SPEAKING
TREE
Sant Rajinder Singh
A Football Players Strategy To Excel
Kathmandu:
Optimism, cau-
tious to a fault, is
the thread that
runs through con-
versations with
academics, poli-
ticians, journalists and business-
men following the advent of the
Narendra Modi-led government
in Delhi. It springs from the new
prime ministers conviction that
mutually rewarding ties between
South Asian nations can alone
allow New Delhi to pursue its
economic, political and strategic
objectives beyond the region.
This is a good enough reason,
according to my interlocutors, to
hope for a substantial reduction
in the prickliness that has been
the characteristic feature of
India-Nepal relations.
The caution of interlocutors
is rooted in the fears and con-
cerns that have shaped Indias im-
age in the eyes of Nepals movers
and shakers of just about every
political stripe for decades. Geog-
raphy and history account for
them to a large extent. The gar-
gantuan size of India has loomed
large in Nepals ties with its
southern neighbour. Moreover,
the many bonds of culture and
religion between these countries
are more often than not perceived
as a threat to Nepals identity.
When Indians harp on such
commonalities they provoke
resentment, not empathy. Nepa-
lis tend to interpret the feeblest
Indian criticism as a slight and
the most reasonable Indian de-
this menace would be the early
completion of strip maps of the
border. Only a small nudge is
needed to finish this task. It
would then have to receive a
cachet of approval at the highest
diplomatic levels. Work can then
begin promptly to erect the mis-
sing boundary pillars.
Nepal has its own set of wor-
ries too. It hopes that Modi will
not be swayed by what he hears
from BJPs sister Hindutva out-
fits that have opened chapters in
Nepal. They want to reinstall the
monarch or, at the very least, to
pressure the current government
to revert to Nepals status as the
worlds only Hindu nation. And
finally Delhi is expected to let
Nepals elected representatives in
the second Constituent Assembly
solve the hugely complex issue of
federalism among themselves.
On all these fronts, my inter-
locutors keep their fingers cros-
sed. Indeed, one of them, known
to be influential, said that the ball
is now in Nepals court. In their
meeting after the swearing-in cer-
emony, PM Modi and his Nepali
counterpart Sushil Koirala are
reported to have had a compre-
hensive discussion on subjects of
interest and concern to the two
countries. Modi requested Koirala
to urgently send him a list of
issues that needed to be tackled
on a priority basis. That list had
not reached Delhi at the time of
this writing. Clearly the wheels of
the India-Nepal juggernaut need
to move in tandem. But hope of
better days for relations between
the two neighbours has a distinct
edge over despair and cynicism.
cally muscular country.
My interlocutors indeed made
it a point to emphasise that play-
ing the China card against India
is a dud card. Beijings main inter-
est in Nepal, they argue, is not so
much the influence that India
wields in the country (their am-
bassadors enjoy a most cordial
relationship that is often dis-
played in public) but iron-clad
assurances that its territory is not
used to foment Tibetan activities
aimed at the Peoples Republic.
Indias main interest is on the
same lines. It wants the Nepali
government to curb all malevolent
activities of foreign elements op-
erating on its soil to harm Indias
security concerns. That includes
Pakistans espionage mischief
and the proliferation of radical-
ised madrassas along the lengthy
border between the two countries.
One effective way to contain
would go some way to give a fillip to
Nepals economy as well especial-
ly in the infrastructure, hydel pow-
er and tourism sectors. This de-
mands the activation of three joint
commissions that have been estab-
lished at the ministerial, senior bu-
reaucratic and technical levels to
tap Nepals hydropower potential.
Equally significant, many
media commentators, bankers
and businessmen not to speak of
politicians are positively up-
beat about Modis intentions to
attract Chinese investments to
India. This, they believe, could
result in joint India-Nepal-China
projects in Nepal too. Such pro-
jects would generate large num-
bers of direly needed jobs, espe-
cially for skilled or semi-skilled
youth. The leitmotif of conversa-
tions is: let Nepal ride piggyback
on India as it endeavours to fulfil
Modis ambitions for an economi-
mand as intolerable pressure.
Successive monarchs played
on these fears and concerns about
Big Brother India with their bare-
ly concealed ambitions to play the
China card against it. Democratic
governments that followed the end
of the monarchy couldnt resist
that temptation either. What is
paradoxical however is that New
Delhis role to ensure the decided-
ly messy transition from a feudal
regime to a secular, democratic
and republican one was at once
sought and resented. Much the
same holds true for Indias assist-
ance for developmental activities.
None of this however can
explain let alone justify New
Delhis paternalist, even conde-
scending, attitude to Nepal and
for that matter its often clumsy
and confused policies vis--vis
our neighbour. Consider for in-
stance the fact that unlike four
of his predecessors Manmohan
Singh did not visit Nepal even
once in his decade in office.
Nepali reactions to the new
government in Delhi must be as-
sessed against this backdrop. The
sentiment expressed across the
board is that the acceleration of the
pace of economic growth in India
Himalayan Diplomacy
After Thimphu, can Modi revitalise our relations with Kathmandu too?
Dileep Padgaonkar
Eager to piggyback on an economically muscular India
Nepal hopes Modi will
not be swayed by what
he hears from BJPs sister
Hindutva outfits that want
to reinstall the monarch
and restore Nepals
status as the worlds
only Hindu nation

N
arendra Modi governments unsubtle attempts to remove a few gover-
nors are a replay of what UPA-I did a decade ago. Following a legal
challenge to what UPA-I did, Supreme Court clarified circumstances
on removal of governors. The short point is that the president can remove a
governor from office at any time without giving a reason. While Supreme
Court did say that a change in Union government is not a reason to remove
governors, removal is open to only a limited judicial review. We hope Modi
government will not proceed down this path as the fallout will limit its
potential to bring about change. A bitter political dispute on this issue is
the last thing India needs now.
Congress has clearly indicated that it sees attempts to remove some of
UPA appointees as governors as a politically hostile act. In this context, it
makes no sense for Modi government to fritter away precious political capi-
tal on this issue. While NDA may have a majority in Lok Sabha, it does not
have adequate numbers in Rajya Sabha.
Moreover, tackling most challenges that
matter to people needs the Union govern-
ment to nudge states to reform. If finance
minister Arun Jaitley wants a durable
solution to fighting food inflation, it
cannot happen without states lending a
hand by diluting the grip of wholesale
agricultural markets on horticultural
trade or by discouraging hoarding.
Modi is surely aware of the debilitat-
ing impact of political hostility on re-
forms. Indias most important economic
reform, dismantling fiscal barriers bet-
ween states through a transition to
Goods and Services Tax (GST), was undone over the last four years by the
political hostility and distrust between Congress and BJP. GST, one of NDA
governments priorities, is contingent on cooperative federalism that
NDA promises to practise. Given what is at stake, it is not prudent for NDA to
squander its political capital on replacing a handful of governors.
It is not too late to drop the move to remove governors especially those
who resist resigning. Its true that some of UPAs appointees to governors
posts were not the best choices available. But the political cost of removing
them may end up being too high. Given how weak the economy is and a
looming crisis in the Middle East, which has already affected India, Modis
government cannot afford gratuitous distractions.
Go Governors Gone
Modi government shouldnt fritter away its political
capital this will limit its ability to deliver reforms
It was as unnerving as it was empowering. To tread the same
flagstones as two of the four iron ladies of our times. Golda
Meir and Sirimavo Bandaranaike may not have studied at
Somerville College, but last week i was confronted by the stern
bronze bust of milk-snatcher Mrs Thatcher in a centre there
named after her, while, across the room, imperious Indira
smiled benignly from a full-length canvas, softening daisies at
her feet. After a fortifying sherry, in my own sari and borrowed grandeur, i
took my place at the high table of the cavernous college dining room, all
chuffed up by my invitation to one of Somervilles formal Tuesday dinners.
The portraits of the women who had burnished Somervilles name since its
founding in 1879 lined the walls, reminding me of the privilege. Male students
weren't admitted till 1994. Equal opportunities and all that.
Ingeniously fitted into these fancy-frocks-and-formal-suits dinners is a
safety valve. Attended by students, teachers and guests, they provide a weekly
release from the pressures of Oxfords intense tutorial system. They also
allow a brief interface with the real world.
My invitation to it stemmed from another dinner, that one in Mumbai. It
was hosted by business historian Gita Piramal who is continuing her research
at Somerville. Back home for a break last March, she had invited us to meet the
visiting core team of the new Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Develop-
ment recently established at this college. At her grand flat in the Piramals
many-splendoured Worli residence the fare was vegetarian, in its own way as
traditional as the pork belly with that blooded sausage called black pudding
on which i pigged out on Tuesday.
Gavelling the start of that formal dinner from her ornate high chair at the
high table was the Somerville College principal, Alice Prochaska. Opposite
her sat the Oxford India Centres research
director, Dr Alfred Gathorne-Hardy; with gin-
ger hair, prompt smile and unnerving youth-
fulness hes better suited to Alfie, his usual moniker. To my left was the strik-
ing Sara Kalim, who had read the Classics at Somerville, and is now its
director of development. Along with Alice and Alfie, she had been at Gitas
Mumbai party, enthralling us with tales of her feisty Bihari MLA grandmother
who too had championed womens education.
In Somervilles hoary dining hall, i sensed the ghost of Cornelia Sorabjee who
had enrolled in 1889. Her father was that oddity, a Parsi Christian, and a mission-
ary to boot. Taking tradition-breaking to new heights, she became the first woman
to graduate from Bombay University, to read law at Oxford, and be anointed
Indias first lady advocate. The Christian Cornelia had opposed the nationalist
movement because she felt it violated the rights of the Hindu orthodoxy.
Then, over time, space and dessert wine, i met the young Maan Barua.
Hes made the leap from his fathers Kaziranga tourist lodge to become the
brightest environmental researcher at the Oxford India Centre.
Two remoter subcontinental connections followed. Somervilles founder
was Mary Ward. Two centuries earlier, an Irish nun of the same name had
founded the Sisters of Loreto, which would set up my own college in Kolkata
along with schools across the world.
The next day, having reverentially wandered among the dreaming spires
of Oxford, we found ourselves at an open-air evensong service of Keble
College. The setting sun turned to gold the ancient stone of the buildings cir-
cling its grounds. Here, Imran Khan had once stylised his sixers and bouncers.
* * *
Alec Smart said: Does Preity want a Locked Ness Monster? Or
should he go scot-free?
bachi.karkaria@timesgroup.com
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/erratica
With Mrs G and Mrs T
Bachi Karkaria
High on power at the high table of
Oxfords Somerville College
G
iven the big role price rise played in felling the previous government,
the new one is doing well to step up efforts to tame food inflation.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley has announced pre-emptive measures in
light of the fact that a weak monsoon may cause another spurt in food prices in
the coming months. But the challenge is enormous. Experience of recent years
suggests that efforts like curtailing export of some items while facilitating
import of some others will have only a limited impact on food supply in general.
Of course, persuading states to delist fruits and vegetables from the APMC Act
and to take action against hoarders is a welcome step, but states often stone-
walled such efforts during UPA rule. Such resistance will test NDA too.
For rice or wheat, controlling price rise is easier given the huge govern-
ment stocks. But its devilish hard to restrain prices of vegetables and
fruits and of high-value protein products like eggs, fish and meat a huge
volume of demand and logistic hurdles reduces the prospects of importing
adequate quantities at affordable prices.
In these cases holding down prices basically depends on stepping up domes-
tic supplies. Consider that in vegetables, growth of output dipped from 8% dur-
ing UPA-I to 5.7% during UPA-II. Production stagnated in important vegetable
growing states like UP and Bihar. Any pickup in supply will depend on a revival
of vegetable crops in these laggard states. And special focus has to be given to
important vegetables like onions where output growth has slipped to half of
previous levels during UPA-II. This demands serious upgradation of agricultu-
ral technologies as well as a large investment in warehouses, cold storage and
new supply chains. A long-term strategy incorporating these objectives would
fetch more dividends for NDA than knee-jerk reactions on the trade front.
Still In The Soup
For vegetables, the only real defence against
inflation is upgrading the domestic supply chain
Power of removal [of governors] is given
to the president in general terms
B R AMBEDKAR, in Constituent Assembly
THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABAD
THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 2014
12 THE TIMES OF IDEAS
A T HOUGHT F OR TODAY
This is with reference to the editorial Taxman
Heal Thyself (June 18). Benefits of tax reforms
have already been experienced by individual
taxpayers who can now submit IT returns online.
Unfortunately, the satisfactory closure of older
manual returns seems to have taken a back seat.
Claims for pending refunds remain unsettled de-
spite written reminders. Even if refund orders
are made, they are reported as not executable
on flimsy grounds such as saying that postal
address or bank account number of assessee is
incorrect, a claim which is often itself untrue. Let
us hope that the report of the group headed by
Parthasarathi Shome has covered such aspects
of periodic review by higher authorities of
individual IT returns which remain unsettled.
There is also a need for the IT department to
reach out to the assessees and solve their
problems, making life easier for all of us.
Suman Sankar Dasgupta, KOLKATA
Civility matters
This is with reference to the editorial Lesson In
Civility (June 18). While thoughtlessly aping
the West in our garb and external appearance,
we often fail to notice the drawbacks that set
us miles behind in the race for modernisation.
Of course, we are also highly conscious of what
people, especially foreigners, think of us
think of Naipauls mimic men. Hence, while we
go around unabashedly littering our own na-
tion we make painstaking efforts to use dust-
bins in foreign lands. The Japanese cleaned
the football stadium at Brazils World Cup only
because cleanliness is ingrained in them right
from childhood. Similarly, we Indians also have
to imbibe such civic sense. Lastly, rather than
pointing fingers we must strive to do our bit.
A personal awareness of civic duties is the
need of the hour. Though it might turn out
to be a long process we can surely bust the
image of a mimic man in times to come.
Ahad Siddiqui, GORAKHPUR
About aping the West
This is with reference to the article Mimic
man (June 18) by Jug Suraiya. The writer has
highlighted one of the major shortcomings of
our people. In a desire to appear modern there
is a craze to ape only the superficial aspects of
western culture, be it their fashion or opulent
lifestyle. This is done blindly without bother-
ing to understand the core values of civilised
societies. These values which we miss out on
include scrupulous following of rules and
laws as well as being honest, sincere and
polite. What we instead encounter amongst
Indias mimic men is an utter lack of true
grooming and obnoxious behaviour. This is a
sad commentary on our today. This attitude
does nobody any good.
Subhash Kaura, VIAEMAIL
Taxmen dont have to be taxing
POWER POI NT Jug Suraiya & Ajit Ninan
J
airam Ramesh is absolutely if belat-
edly right in advising Congress to
emulate BJPs strategy of making
first-time MPs ministers. This will
help Congress reinvent itself. With 65%
of its population under 35 years, Indias
polity is veering powerfully towards
youth and fresh faces. At 315 new mem-
bers, 2014s Parliament features the
highest number of first-time MPs in
30 years. To overlook this
trend and bypass fresh tal-
ent for tired old faces dy-
nasts, family loyalists, even tainted
associates will only cost a beleaguered
Congress more.
The fact is, after years of decay, todays
India is impatient to see results. Few
voters pedantically fret over whether a
politician has spent decades wilting on
Parliaments backbenches before becom-
ing a minister. Led by first-time MP-PM
Narendra Modi, BJP has understood this
urge for dynamism, appointing first-timers
like Smriti Irani and Harsh Vardhan as
ministers. Imbued with new ideas and
enthusiasm, Iranis been a spokesperson
aware of social change while Harsh Var-
dhan has medical experience at hand.
Other first-time MP-ministers include
veteran politici-
an Nitin Gadkari,
balancing BJPs
basket of skills,
adding grass-
roots political ac-
umen to social
suavity and com-
munity work.
In comparison,
Congresss treatment of first-time MPs
was pallid and unintelligent. When it
should have fully utilised the energies of
young MPs like Sachin Pilot and Jitin Pra-
sada, it jettisoned them into ministries with
inadequate work and powers, a fact bitterly
complained about but frustratingly ig-
nored. Less well-connected first-timers
including Youth Congress stars like Mee-
nakshi Natarajan languished in Parlia-
ment with little tangible work to show
voters. The result shows in Congresss poll
results and its inability to form even a
proper opposition today. To keep itself rele-
vant, Congress must entrust first-time
MPs with real ministerial power even if
they overshadow Rahul Gandhi.
Jairam Ramesh praises BJP for giving first-time MPs charge of ministries
Congress must emulate model
J
airam Ra-
meshs asser-
tion that Con-
gress should
emulate the new
BJP govern-
ments decision
to give ministe-
rial portfolios to
first-time MPs
isnt well thought out. True, theres an ur-
gent need for Congress to promote fresh
faces within its ranks. The partys recent
Lok Sabha defeat can be partially attri-
buted to an aging leadership. However,
this doesnt mean that a future Congress
government at the Centre or current Con-
gress-led state governments should make
it a policy to hand out ministerial respon-
sibilities to first-time legislators. One
simply cannot discount the value of expe-
rience in effectively running ministries
and delivering on administrative issues.
Theres good reason for Congress to
stick to a hierarchical system whereby
young leaders are brought up through
the ranks. Starting from the Youth Cong-
ress through the district, state and na-
tional levels of the party, each stage rep-
resents a new level of learning for young
politicians. This allows them to acquire
important leadership and managerial
skills. Similarly, even in the parliamen-
tary party only experienced MPs who
know how the system works should be
given ministerial roles. The utility of
this process is best highlighted by the
case of Congresss
Shashi Tharoor who
was given the MoS
external affairs portfolio as a first-time
MP but was clearly found wanting on
account of his political inexperience.
Ramesh was right in earlier suggesting
a retirement age of 70 for leaders in his
party. But that doesnt mean that one pro-
motes complete novices either. Parties
should look to streamline internal pro-
motions, making them merit-based and
periodic. In fact, being in the opposition,
Congress should institute a shadow
cabinet to propose an alternative pro-
gramme to that of the government and
prepare its existing MPs for future
ministerial responsibilities. This will en-
sure the party has able personnel to lead
the government when the time comes.
Inexperience will prove costly
C OUNT E R VI E W
Rudroneel Ghosh

T I ME S VI E W


E D I T P A G E
M A I L B O X
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S A C R E D
S P A C E
There is a magnet in your
heart that will attract
true friends. That magnet
is unselfishness,
thinking of others
first...when you learn
to live for others, they
will live for you.
Paramahansa Yogananda

Friendship is the purest

love. It is the highest form
of love where nothing is
asked for, no condition,
where one simply
enjoys giving.
Osho

We live in a friendly
universe. At the heart of
all things is goodness. We
receive this goodness in
the measure to which we
cultivate friendship
with the universe.
J P Vaswani

Friendship as the union

of two selves lies beyond
happiness or unhappi-
ness. It is simply the other
side of our life and thus
free from all danger.
Ladislaus Boros
Friends Forever
E R R A T I C A