Exploring the Old Capital - Srirangapatnam

It was my second visit to Srirangapatna. First time, we went straight to Sangamam and then to Mysore. This time the journey was dedicated to Srirangapatnam and Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, unfortunately we had to cut the latter in the last minute.

It was one of the coldest mornings in this season; yet we (Me, Gokul, Nixon, Rakesh, Aldrine, and Subeesh) finally assembled at St. Jones Cross around 6.45 in the morning. From here we took one bus to Mysore Satellite stand and reached there around 7.45. Located on Bangalore - Mysore highway Srirangapatnam is easily accessible from both Cities. We boarded one Karnataka RTC bus and its tire slowly started rolling around 8.00 am.

Soon we left the borders of Bangalore and found ourselves moving through the lonely SH 17, the Bangalore - Mysore highway. There was hardly anything to see on both sides of the road other than some crowds in the towns and bus stands. I slept for a good part of the journey. After short journey of 3 hours we crossed the river and reached the river (Kavery) island Srirangapatnam (approx 20kms away from Mysore).

History of Srirangapatnam

During the time of Vijayanagar Empire City was the seat of a major viceroyalty. It is from here Vijayanagar Viceroys oversaw the vassal states of Mysore and Talakkad. During the decline of Vijayanagar city fell in to the hands of Mysore Raja Wodeyar - 1610. Later, during the reign of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan Srirangapatnam again rose in to prominence - in the form of their capital. This place also witnessed several historical incidents like the Siege of Srirangapatnam during the Third Anglo - Mysore war and the Final and Decisive battle of Fourth Anglo-Mysore (1799) war which ended in the death of 'Tipu Sultan' and the end of a major threat to the East India company.

Dariya Daulat Bagh

After walking some meters from the bus stop, we saw the big board on the left welcoming us. We took the left turn from the highway and entered the road going to the Sangamam. After walking some time, we reached the crowded Dariya Daulat Bagh - A 1784 summer retreat of Tipu Sultan (entry fee 5 Rs for adults, no separate charge for Camera (excluding video camera). After crossing the beautiful garden we entered the main building - A structure made of Teak and built in Indo-Saracenic style. This building contains a lot of paintings in its inner and outer walls. Here you can see a small number of items used by Sultan and some old swords. For seeing the rest we have to go to British Isles!!!

Access to the visitors was limited to the ground floor. On the exit there was a full life painting of Tipu Sultan. A guide, standing close to me, was explaining to a foreign visitor about the similarities of this painting and that of Monalisa. His main point is, by looking towards Tipu Sultan in which ever direction you walk, you will feel that the eyes and legs of Sultan are always pointed in your direction.

Srirangapatnam Fort

We slowly came out of the Bagh, the compound also had a number monkeys. As it was lunch time, we went straight to a veg hotel in the sides of main highway. After lunch we walked towards the fort, whose entrance is close to the bus stand. Built in 1537 by Kempe Gowda, this fort with its double walled defence system is considered as of the toughest forts in India. This fort, which also contains a Jain temple, had four main entrances known as Delhi Gate, Bangalore Gate, Mysore Gate and Water and Elephant Gates. Unfortunately time and war took its toll on this building, now it’s almost gone.

Our first destination inside the fort was Juma Masjid, crowded with pigeons the minarets of the Masjid was very much interesting. We got an auto driver from here, who was very eager to show us the entire historic city. After much negotiation finally we reached a mutually agreeable amount and boarded his three tired old Bajaj auto. I took the half seat along with the driver in the front and rest of the people adjusted themselves in the back. Our first destination was an old ammunition depot; from here you can saw the entire fort and the city.

RanganathaSwamy Temple

After crossing the Jain temple we reached the famous RanganathaSwamy Temple. Unfortunately it closed by the time we reached there. Here Swami Ranganatha lie in a relaxed position on the bed of Adi Shesha. Apart from the shrines of Ranganayaki Thaayaar and Lord Krishna this temple also contains the images of Gowtama Muni and Kaveri. There was a big chariot parked in front of the temple. According to the belief all the islands formed by Kavery river are for Ranganathaswamy, and large temples were build in the three of the biggest islands of Kavery in the ancient times dedicated to RanganathaSwamy. 'Adi Ranga' at Srirangapattnam, 'Madya Ranga' at Shivsamudra and 'Anthya Ranga' at Srirangam.

Unfortunately, our auto's tire was punctured and the driver went for replacement. From the temple, we went to Col Bailey’s Dungeon - located close to temple and on the side of River. Col Bailey, Capt Baird, Col Brithwite, Capt Rulay, Frazer, Samson and Lindsay were imprisoned in this dungeon measuring 30.5m wide and 12.2m high built using brick and mortar.

After visiting the dungeon we came back to the temple, we waited a long time for the driver. After giving him a last call we decided to start walking. Quickly he reappeared on the scene and replaced the tire. Later he claimed that, it was first time such a thing was happening to that auto - a comment hardly anyone can swallow after seeing the poor state of that machine!!!

Next point was Tipu's palace - I was unable to see anything close to a palace in that place. An unfortunate end for a building which once controlled a good part of South India. We continued our journey, and saw the place where the soldiers of East India Company broke in to the fort; Tipu was killed some yards away from here. I silently stand in front of the memorial for some time remembering about the Angle-Mysore wars and the final battle.

Sangamam

Once again we crossed the main road and went straight. On the way there was a board indicating the distance to the famous Nimishamba Temple. Unfortunately we were running short of time. With in some time our chariot reached Sangamam, we slowly walked towards the water body, which are on their way to Bay of Bengal.

Gumbaz

Gumbaz was the next destination. On our return trip to main road from Sangamam we reached Gumbaz - The Mausoleum of Tipu Sultan, his father Hyder Ali and his mother Fathima Begum. The inner walls of the Mausoleum were covered with tiger stripes. This compound also contains the tombs of many other people from Tipu’s family.

There is a large ground beautifully decorated with green grass and dotted with red flowers. After removing the shoes (shoes are strictly prohibited) we went inside. I joined a small queue waiting to enter the mausoleum. Inside, three tombs - Hyder Ali's in the middle, Tipu’s and his mother's were on both sides. We stood there silently for some time, thinking about the past glory of Srirangapatnam and Anglo-Mysore wars.

Outside, on the road horse riding was available. They offerered a horse ride for some 150-200m, just for 120 rupees!!! Interesting thing was, some 30 minutes back while we went in to the Gumbaz charge was 60!!! Some of us were not interested and some others remembering the fate of Superman hero 'Christopher Reeves' didn't go for horse riding. Only Nixon and Aldrine was interested in horse riding, as they were bargaining the charge came down very fast to normal rate.

Finally it’s time to leave, with a very heavy heart I dropped Ranganathittu Sanctuary for another time. As it was not easy to reach Ranganathittu sanctuary before 5pm, so we went back to the main road and boarded another KSRTC bus to Bangalore.

Sajeev

Tail Piece

Maddur Vada: Maddur is a town located on Mysore - Bangalore highway on Mandya district. On the return journey bus stopped for some time on a bus stand there. We just went out and bought some snacks. One of them was Maddur Vada, with a different taste, if you are travelling through Maddur don't forget to get down there and enjoy this special food of Maddur.

Please visit agian for seeing the photos.

The other side of Oil Economy - Nigerian Protests

Lagos Island and part of Lagos Harbour - Nigeria

If we had some oil and gas!!! A thought which may came to the minds of millions of people living in the countries deprived of oil and gas (and subjected to oil shocks). Tensions in Middle East – which will happen constantly – used to give sleepless nights to the governments. A sober condition, if government absorbs the shock the deficit will balloon beyond any control; if they pass it to the common people, law makers will see the protesters on streets in the next day. In both cases foreign reserve will evaporate quickly.

But what’s the situation in oil economies. Let’s take the case of African oil giant Nigeria where the protesters are in streets opposing the recently doubled price of oil (from 65 Naira (0.4$) to 97 Naira (0.6$)). It’s another matter that, after facing severe protests in the streets government reduced the price by 30%. If I can put it in official way “given the hardships being suffered by Nigerians, and after due consideration and consultations with state governors and the leadership of the National Assembly, government has approved the reduction of the pump price of petrol to 97 naira (about $0.60) per litre". But what Nigerians think about their oil assets, I just went through the opinions expressed by people in various newspapers.  A number of them are given below,

Nigeria, like most of Africa does not produce anything itself, it is just luck that Nigeria has a commodity that the world wants, when that changes what will Nigeria do then?

...citizens are divided between the very few rich and the very many poor. It’s only thru the fuel subsidy that the poor feels the government. Citizens generate their own electricity and water. We don't have roads and educational facilities. The rich man's children are abroad.

Government through a public/private partnership should first provide steady electricity, good roads and clean water supply before asking Nigerians to make more sacrifice. Politicians should cut their salary and perks.

You have no idea what is like for the ordinary Nigerian! There is no cheap public transport system. The public is transported to work in the majority of states by a taxi system [OKADAS] which are small motor bikes, what do you think they consume? Water? This is why people are protesting, their cost of living has doubled but their wages remain the same, how would you survive?

The Petroleum Products Pricing Agency and the cabals that import petrol in a nation that exports 2M barrels of crude oil/ day, without functioning refinery. A senator's take home pay is $135,000/month.

Petrol subsidies are damaging for the environment, damaging for the Nigeria's economy, and are a subsidy for car owners paid by all - in effect a subsidy for the relatively well off.

The problems are manifold. Even though Nigeria is a major oil producer she doesn’t have a decent refinery to refine the crude to fuel. The result is, Nigeria imports oil for its domestic purpose - an unnecessary expenditure for a long term oil producer. Another constant complain among people is, Petro dollars flowing in to the country is not making its impact on critical infrastructure because of this people need to have oil running their diesel generators.

IMF was pushing for reducing the subsidy on oil for long time. According to Nigerian authorities subsidy was costing an equivalent of $8bn a year. They claim that this money can better spend in infrastructure and social services. An argument, administration was unable to sell to the people. Government claims that the advantage of low price for oil is going to the wholesalers, who in turn sell the subsidized fuel in neighbouring countries at full price.

Let’s consider the first case.

IMF is right, subsidized oil is creating a big hole in government's finances. But the question is what is exactly by subsidy? In the case of India, Korea, China, Germany etc, we can say that government should reduce the subsidy as these countries are buying oil from external market for full price. If government gives heavy subsidies for this imported oil, it will not take much time for the administration to find them in deep financial crisis. But in Nigeria’s case, it has the oil – in fact a plenty of oil. Why Nigerians need to pay heavy price for an item which is so abundant in their country?

It is altogether another matter that Nigeria is importing an 85% of fuel it needed from international markets because of the absence of something called a decent refinery. This is administrations problem, after all it was an oil exporter for a long time. So basically the people need to pay for the inefficiency of their administration. Same is the case with many other petro dollar economies; these countries have resources but lack the refining capacity. So in the end of the day they needs to import oil even for basic needs - the same oil they export will come back in the form of fuel but with higher prices.

What is happening to the amount countries are earning through oil export? Well, there is an excellent economic term defining it - oil curse. If Nigeria wants to change all these needs to go. Only reforms can save the country. First of its urgent to modernize the oil sector, without adequate refining capacity whatever they earned through selling the crude will evaporate by buying the oil from the foreign markets. At the same time the over-dependence on oil is dangerous, if the price of oil come down the nation will suffer a lot. So the country needs to diversify its income base and develop infrastructure - rail, road, electricity etc to attract foreign and domestic investment.

Now let’s consider the second case.

As far as the wholesalers selling the subsidized fuel on foreign markets is concerned, its government’s job to curb it. That why government’s across the world have departments like Customs, Revenue intelligence, foreign trade board, security forces etc. Another problem is wide spread corruption, people are not ready to believe that additional money coming from the rise of the fuel price will be used to develop infrastructure!!! So curbing corruption is very much important to get confidence of people in government.

Conclusion

Nigeria is changing after government started reforms in 2008 - modernizing banking system, curbing inflation, prospering telecom sector etc. Change is reflecting in the growth rates also. In 2008 economy grew by 6%, in 2009 it grew by 7% and in 2010 the growth rate touched 8.4% - decent rate for an African emerging market. But to sustain the growth government needs to push more reforms, but sensible ones. At the same time people also have to realize that, it will be very much painful to live in the reform years but if their country needs to place themselves on a firm track practices needs to be changed. After all, Nigeria needs to pull out 70% of her population from living below the poverty line.

Sajeev.

Photo Courtesy: wikipedia

A Tale of Two Countries - Part II Pakistan

To read Part I see : A Tale of Two countries - Part I Myanmar


In Pakistan, Currently, the dangerous war of institutions (triangle one) is going on. Three sides of the triangle are occupied by all powerful army, civilian leadership and the Judiciary. The immediate future of the nation depends on who will come successfully out of this battle?

The recent crisis started with the US air raid of Abbottabad (located in the Hazara region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province) which killed al-Qaeda chief. In fact it was not started all of a sudden, the pressure was always there. Judiciary becomes more assertive after sailing along with the anti-Musharraf protests; Army, after facing a fatal blow to its prestige because of Abbottabad air raid, PNS Mehran naval attack, restive western borders, continuous bomb blasts in Pakistani cities wants to regain its old image; civilian leadership after passing through close to a decade long military regime want to prove themselves.

Well, the battle field became ready when Mansoor Ijaz (a Pakistani origin US business man) claimed that, he was asked by Pakistan's then ambassador to US 'Husain Haqqani' to deliver a secret letter to US admiral Mike Mullen seeking protection from a possible military coup (after death of 'Bin Laden' on May 2 the fear of coup was running high in Islamabad). In return for the protection, letter offered to abolish a part of Country's powerful spy agency - ISI. I am still curious, why Pakistan's ambassador selected a middle man to deliver the letter? After all the relationship between the Pakistan and US is better than that of Iran and US. Anyway 'Haqqani' lost his job.

Pakistan's president's immediate visit to Dubai raised the speculation of an immediate coup further. It is not clear whether Army was trying for a coup. According to Ijaz, DG ISI Lt. Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha visited Persian Gulf countries around the same time seeking support for the coup. An interesting part Army omitted when dragged the government to Supreme Court in the now famous 'Memogate' episode. This incident was followed by war of the words between civilian and military leadership of the country.

In December, Pakistani PM warned that he would not tolerate a 'state with in a state'. Later army chief Gen Kayani clarified that military is not planning any coup. Later Premier Mr. Gilani removed Defence secretary - a three star general and a traditional intermediate between government and army - for alleged misconduct. This action led to an emergency meeting of top level army officials. It is interesting to see that the civilian leadership is putting a brave stand before the mighty army. On the day of ousting the defence secratary military issued a release saying that government’s statements could have "very serious ramifications with potentially grievous consequences for the country". They stopped short of elaborating what these consequences are.

So what will happen next? Pakistan already went through a number of coups in 1958, 1969, 1977, 1999 - the most recent one. Will history repeats itself?

Supreme Court's recent order asking government to co-op with a corruption investigation against the president Mr. Zardari only made the situation worse for the civilian government. It didn't stop there, court accused Premier Mr. Gilani for 'Willful disobedience' and issued a contempt of court notice for implementation of NRO and asked to appear before it on January 19.

For Army

Will Army try to stage a coup? I guess no, when the country is passing through economic turmoil and increasing attacks in the western border a coup may be disaster for army. Moreover, after Mushraff era both people and judiciary are very much active. Above all, whatever be the case current government was elected by people, pulling down it may not go down well both internally and externally. It may not only invite sanctions but also cut down the aid significantly. At this stage, when the date for pulling out from Afghanistan approaching faster, a coup may be the last thing Washington can imagine. Another possibility is cutting down the extension of 3 years given to General and DG ISI's, which will force both of them to retire. I guess, government may not go for any such drastic steps.

For Civilian Government

Memo scandal and its handling badly hit administration. Even though government hit hard against army, the foundations of government is getting weaker day-by-day. Cases against the president are still in court, economy is in crisis, cities are rocked with bomb explosion every now and then, government is not able to sell the importance of relations with US to people. In such a situation only a fresh elections can improve the situation. Will the ruling party go for fresh elections? After all, there is no guarantee that people will re-elect PPP back to power.

For Judiciary

This is leading to a dangerous clash of institutions which can set wrong precedents for future. So it is important for Judiciary to intervene at correct time without crossing the marks between executive and Judiciary. At the same time they have to make sure that nothing is going against constitution. They should not over act, out of three institutions only the executive is directly elected by people.

For India

In such a situation, we can serve ourselves best by keeping quiet. We don’t have to say anything; Indian officials should strictly refrain from adding any extra or unwanted comments. At this point of time we should not take any radical actions in Afghanistan theatre also, apart from the one’s which are necessary for protecting the interest of the nation - that too not overtly. Any such actions will be perceived as survival issue on other side of the border.

This is Pakistan's crisis, a crisis which country needs to sort out own its own. This provides one of the biggest opportunities in the recent times for Pakistan to build and strengthen their institutions. It’s their battle; let them solve it. We call can hope that the country will come out of the crisis successfully.

Conclusion

Both Myanmar and Pakistan are passing through some of the critical moments. Their future is depending on the actions they will take now. In Pakistan, it’s the struggle of the institutions and the fate of her neighbour – Afghanistan. In Myanmar it’s about opening a closed country to the world of opportunities. As Indians – India shares a long border with both countries – we also have a stake on the development of and progress of both countries. If the countries are taking right decisions it will bring stable peace to South Asia and South-East Asia.
Sajeev.

A Tale of Two countries - Part I Myanmar

Cargo ships on the shores of Yangon River Myanmar

Myanmar is going through an interesting phase. Even one year back hardly anyone believed that changes can happen in this resource rich country - Once part of British India. Life seems to be constant in this part of the world, once ruled by British. Myanmar regime seems to be happy with their limited ties with the outside world – deep ties with her north eastern neighbour and membership in ASEAN. In other parts of the world Burmese Junta was a symbol of repression. But the quick reforms in the country were a surprise even for a dedicated Myanmar analyst.

What forced this change is still a matter of debate. It can be the desire to remove the tag of outlaws; it can be the desire to develop the nation; a desire to escape from the pressing sanctions; to escape from the tight embrace of northern neighbour; influence of Arab springs etc… Anything can be the reason.

Whatever it may be, the speed of change is amazing. Military regime which didn't accept foreign aid workers during the last devastating cyclone is willing hold talks with foreign negotiators, signing peace treaties with tribes in the restive eastern border, freeing political prisoners including pro-democracy leader ‘Aung San Suu Kyi’ and leaders of the previous anti-regime leaders, allowing trade unions and peaceful protests…

Stopping the construction of controversial Myitsone dam and other projects, that too in the name of the people, was really shocking for Myanmar watchers. What forced Myanmar to take such a drastic step which burned the hands (it’s a 3.6 bn+ USD project) of her northern neighbour?

As the regime of Twan Shwe is moving ahead with reforms, dividends are flowing in,

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé, in Myanmar this week, said Monday that France and the EU would respond "positively and in concrete terms to the significant gestures" from Myanmar's government. He also announced an increase in bilateral aid.

Australia said it was removing some Myanmar citizens from a list of individuals subject to financial and travel restrictions, though it retained an arms embargo against the country

The U.S. announced Friday it would resume full diplomatic relations with Myanmar, following its release of scores of high-profile political prisoners after years of pressure from Western leaders.

 If Myanmar opened the markets and move ahead with pro-democracy policies the resource rich country (Myanmar is rich in natural resources like natural gas etc) will be able to integrate with outer world and attract foreign investment. This will able to create more employment opportunities and raise the industrial production in the country. 

Outdoor market, Yangon, Myanmar

But the million dolor question is how far the current military backed regime can move ahead with reforms? By-election may be ok, but the game is totally different in the case of full general election as there is all possibility that the army will lose the majority in parliament. The scenario may not come today but in the future it will be. Will the people in uniform, who enjoyed power for a major part of country’s independent history, be ready to go back to the barracks? Will they be ready to live without enjoying the fruits of power and live under a civilian government?

If Myanmar is able to implement more reforms western governments will ease sanctions. Financial sanctions may be the first one to go; arms embargo may be in place for longer time. But the question is will the Army cross the line in reforms, after which there will not be any U turns? 

Well, it’s an interesting question. I think the army will move ahead with reforms, a civilian government may come back to power. It may not be a full civilian government - a sort of in between, where army will have some sort of veto on critical issues. All depend on future civilian leadership, how far they will be able to assert themselves in the office, at the same time without hurting the army.

Another thing is China factor. Chine have significant investments on the country, there hope for a land access to Indian Ocean Sea lines laying in Myanmar (Gwadar link passing through the restive provinces of Pakistan is already facing practical and security difficulties). It will be easier for China to deal with a military regime which depends completely on them for arms and other critical inputs than a pro-western government. Moreover Chinese ethnic tribes have considerable influence in Burma - Chinese border. Still I think China will accept the new leadership and modify their plans accordingly to suit the changed scenarios.

In such an evolving scenario what should Indians do? Our interest is in engaging with both civilian and military leadership. Even if military lose power in the next full elections they will continue to have a say in government decisions. It is important for us to create an eastern gateway to sea for our landlocked north-eastern states through Myanmar. This will be helpful for both countries; Indian investment in infrastructure will help both countries. Moreover our land access to SE Asian countries goes through Myanmar only. So it is important for Indian government to engage more with civilian and military leadership. A joint exercise on Counterinsurgency with Myanmar army in Indo-Myanmar border can be an initial step, along with providing more scholarships for Burmese students to study in India.

Let us hope that Myanmar will come out of the deep trench they built for themselves and effectively engage with rest of the world.

Sajeev.


To read part two see : A Tale of Two Countries - Part II Pakistan

Photo Courtesy: Wikipedia

Election promises, Is that what people need?

As January advances through her third week, temperature is going further down. Last day my friend was complaining about the low temperature in the recent Bangalore nights. It was lower than the previous year, but compared to northern India we in Deccan are blessed with a comfortable weather. But this low temperature doesn’t create any problem for the promises coming out of various party head quarters in Delhi. Water in Yamuna may reduced to the dangerous level threatening the existence of beautiful TajMahal, but the political promises cooked in capital is increasing its strength day by day.

I was going through the election promises by various parties, but what shocked me were two reports about the plight of rural society. According to a report on The Hindu,

"Four days after she was beaten up, stripped and paraded in her own village, 42-year-old Dalit widow Rekha Arun Chavan wonders if she would have lived a life of more dignity had she been born in an upper caste." What was her fault? Her son allegedly eloped with a Maratha girl.

The second report (TOI) was form Kutch,

"As part of age-old practice of branding kids in the supposed belief that it will cure them of their ailments, a two-and-a-half-year-old girl was branded twelve times on her abdomen in the remote Vagad village of Kutch district...girl was branded with hot iron on her lower chest and upper part of the abdomen."These are not isolated cases happening in some remote locations of the country. When the recent BBC show mocked our culture we were all standup against the mighty broadcaster against the show. But are we really prepared to stand up against the weakness in our society?

People in Uttarakhand will be more interested in living with their own hard earned money than government's unemployment allowance. Give them an opportunity; they will make the state the ‘Switzerland of India’ - original promise given to them while creating a separate state. More than reservation minority (as well as majority) need assistance for education and starting up new busines.
So as the case with Punjab, Hindustan Times reports that,

"According to official data of the poll body, a total cash of Rs 18.84 crores was seized by these teams, while other seizures included - poppy husk 2,101 kg, illicit foreign liquor 36 lakh Milli Litres (ML) and 82,782 bottles of country wine."

The amount mentioned is not in some thousands or lakhs, but a whopping 19 crores; from where this unaccounted money came?

The promises should be something which gives people a hope to live, not something which will divide them further. A hope which will make them believe that we are also a part of society, instead of making them believe that they are separate by strengthening the division based on caste and religion. A hope which guarantees that they will get equal opportunity, instead of classifying them based on their birth - which in any way is beyond our control. A guarantee that they will get quality education and other government services on an equally likely basis instead of begging (and paying) in front of officials for getting the benefits they are legally entitled to. Let's create a manifesto which will be forward looking instead of pulling the back.

Sajeev.