Making peace with polymorphism


So India is getting a new prime minister – and he is the leader of BJP, an organization based on Hinduism / Hindutva . Now , what exactly that means gets interpreted differently based on who you ask . But given the overwhelming majority that the party got in parliamentary elections – it looks like vast majority of the population of India is leaning towards a definition along the lines of “one god , many manifestations”.

Concept of god is a complex one – there are religions that explicitly reach there is only one god , and that you are a big time sinner if you don’t agree . The treatment of god in Hinduism is interesting to say the least . The fundamental notion is that there is only one god – but that god could have many forms or manifestations . There are some 33 million gods – or 33 million forms of god – in Hinduism . The followers of these 33 million gods haven’t always agreed on whether it all converges to one central concept of god .

If I understood correctly – a triumvirate of gods (Brahma, Vishnu, Siva for creation , sustaining and destruction of life/world) were at the top of the hierarchy of gods . Entire kingdoms were formed and wiped out in India on the basis of “my god is more powerful than your god ” principle -even though there was a universal umbrella of Hinduism that covered them all .

The interesting thing about polymorphism is that once we step outside the world of religion ( I believe the right word specifically is polytheism) – it is a less contentious topic .

Nature has a lot of examples in animal kingdom – like jaguars which look black and which look spotted . I think the biological way of saying it is “multiple phenotypes within one species that live in the same habitat” . It’s a necessary result of evolution. But the moment we extend evolution to the world of religion – all bets are off . Somehow we can’t seem to take a leap from butterflies and jaguars to our own life .

The other example is programming – specifically object oriented programming . I learned procedural programming before OOP and had to be taken kicking and screaming into the new world . One of the smartest things about OOP is that you can arbitrarily define a base class to suit yourself and derive as many sub classes out of it . Or in terms of interfaces – you can have one interface and many methods . If you think of the concept of god as the base class – it becomes easy to understand that many religions can exist with their own nuances .

In programming, when you don’t like someone else’s definition of class – you can over ride it and define your own class and take it from there . I believe that if we exercise independent thought – we can decide to follow any existing beliefs about god , or create own belief systems . And for those who don’t care for the concept of god – think of some sub classes as ones that take all or partial null values . So atheists , “I am spiritual, but not religious” types et al can all be covered in this approach .

Answers are both within us and around us – whether it is about god or anything us . It’s up to each of us to decide what combination works for us .

OK – I needed to get that out of my system . I feel better already 🙂

My wish list for the new Modi Government in India


Modi led BJP swept the elections – clearly indicating the people of India want big changes . Here are my personal “wish list” items on what changes would be great for India in policy terms when this government is in power.

1. Revamp public distribution.

India does well in pockets – but it is practically the most inefficient supply chain I know of in any country. People starve on parts of the country when there is food rotting in other parts – some times food rots in godowns within state when prices increase at super markets for essential stuff like Onions and rice . This needs a big overhaul

2. Amend the constitution – remove “socialist”

Nehru and team decided India needs to be a socialist republic . That is not modern India . If socialist policies were what the people wanted , Congress would have won on its election promises of dole outs to the poor . No strata of society voted for Congress – and it is time to acknowledge its time to move away from socialism as a defining characteristic of India

3. Double down on agriculture and manufacturing

India – and some states like Kerala especially – need to wake up and smell the coffee on agriculture and manufacturing . India is extremely well focused on services and financial markets , which won’t help in a downturn . People can live without services and financial markets are built on speculation – they need to be balanced by agriculture and manufacturing . There are pockets that do great in agriculture and manufacturing – but if we take the country as a whole , it is not a good picture for a nation of a billion people .

Also – these two things give India a better ability to stand up to other countries on foreign policy . Most business schools in India used to teach the post WW2 story of how trade happened between Japan and US and how the hunter became the hunted . Sadly, that is not exactly how reality unfolded for India

4. Introduce mandatory one year apprenticeship for all engineering students

India produces a lot of engineers every year . However , most of them do not have any real skills when they come out of engineering college . It takes a year of working at some company before people figure out the basics of real engineering . And vast majority never work in real engineering – they join IT services companies . Why is it that engineers don’t have an apprenticeship requirement like doctors and accountants ? It should be implemented ASAP

5. Bring consistency in taxation and monetary policy

India has a very complex tax system and it swings widely in short period of time , making it hard to plan investments . On top of that – for the most part, Reserve Bank of India gets pressured to do unnatural things on Monetary policy . It is beyond high time that this stopped . Aadhar – despite implementation troubles – seems like a good step in right direction . But it solves only a part of the problem . I hope Modi gets some serious firepower into financial policy making and then sticks to it long term .

6. Take some consistent stances with neighbors

States ruled by regional parties and centre ruled by national parties who need their help in coalition politics is the reason India could never have a consistent relationship with Bangladesh , Srilanka etc . Now BJP has a clean majority in lower house, but still need some regional help in upset help to push bills . Now is as good a time as any to solve the problems with smaller neighbors .

This gives time , resources and energy to focus on the two big ones – Pakistan and China . Those are probably going to be “frenemies” at best even if trade improves , but that is a lot better than what it is today . Stability in the region can also help redirect extreme defense spending on to other things like infrastructure, health and education

Win or lose , AAP has changed elections in India for good


If there is an award for political immaturity, I will nominate AAP for that . But that said, I have to give them a standing ovation for changing the fundamentals of election politics in India .

Gutsy all the way

AAP won in Delhi . Then they left in 49 days – which irked many (including me). And then they decided to field more candidates than Congress and BJP. Vast majority of those candidates are political unknowns – yet they believed in a common cause (anti-corruption) and fearlessly fought the battle . I am pretty sure most will lose – but they will lose with heads held high . Common man figured out they can be the change they want to be

Grass roots

AAP came from nowhere – and built up a massive momentum nationwide . Political immaturity made sure they couldn’t capitalize – but they are well set for next Loksabha elections . They were pretty organized in using their volunteer resources to drum up votes

Picking the right Goliath

Arvind Kejriwal is the proverbial David . He needed to pick a Goliath – Modi , Sonia or Rahul . I think he made the best choice possible by fighting against Modi in Varanasi .

This move immediately marginalized an already weak Rahul and Sonia . And Though Varanasi is a BJP friendly place – Modi and AK are both outsiders there . You can’t fight lions in their den – you will just die . But you can fight realistically by drawing the lion outside its den . That is exactly what AK did with Modi .

He might still lose – but he will have enough popularity to carry it for AAP in Delhi state polls . If he wins – then he can question Modi’s credibility to run the country . It is win win either way .

There is surely a flip side . AK was so obsessed with Varanasi that he was barely in the other 425 places where AAP was contesting . Same is true for their other leaders . So in the grand scheme – this might be a failed political strategy for AAP to not do optimal resource allocation .

Real debates

Most often – there are no real debates in Indian politics . It’s traditionally a game of empty one way promises . AAP changed the game – they made sure other parties had to take stances on issues . That is probably the biggest positive for India in this election . Not only did political parties express their stances on issues – common man felt they could ask questions too .

AK also set a precedent of answering all questions from the press . His answers were not always concise or good or logical – but he did answer everything the best he could . That forced more leaders of other parties to get out of their comfort zones and give real answers . Few more elections of this kind – and Indian politics might look quite different .

When the dust settles

Tomorrow night US time , the results will start pouring in . Modi probably will become PM although a lot of non-Hindu Indians would hate that .

I can only hope that

1. BJP leaves it’s election rhetoric on religion and focuses instead on development of the country as a whole when they form the government
2. AAP wins Delhi state elections and gets some experience running a state and making principled compromises
3. Real debates continue to happen and the citizens of India hold their leaders to a higher standard
4. In the event of hung parliament , leaders of the parties show some strength in forming long term alliances for a stable government