The forthcoming elections have triggered a change in mood in Delhi. Speculation is rife and judgmental opinions spouted with great authority make for endless arguments. There are those who are convinced that the Congress will lose Delhi and others who are wildly betting that it will sweep the polls. That is how polarised the positions are.
There seems to be little information in the media about the ground reality and the shifts that may be happening. The newspapers and television seem more interested in personality-oriented stories of the page 3 kind and hugely disinterested in political news. Maybe politics today is too complex for most and investigating political realities is obviously mind-boggling for the new young reporter. Most sit in Delhi or other such metros and are totally out of touch with Bharat. News has ceased to be news. Instead, bits of information are strung together to make up a page of a paper!
If you step out and travel across the ?countryside?, you get an altogether different sense of what has changed. Entrepreneurship is flourishing but the infrastructure and other such facilities remain abysmal…one cloudburst and all falls apart. This is the reality after over half a century of freedom and liberation. The super structure has deteriorated and been mismanaged. All changes, growth and energy have been in another realm, one where the individual has triumphed against all odds. Sad, but our elected governments have been worse than our colonial authority, atrocities included.
It was rather amusing to see our parliamentarians leap up and ban Coke in Parliament. It gave them something to do, something that the newspapers would make into a lead story! However, they continue to drink the polluted and lethal water supplied by the municipality. If they want to shout and scream, that is what they should be yelling about, that is what they should ban! Coke has mishandled this entire episode to its detriment. It has indulged in combat, other clandestine, anti-CSE activities, allowed itself to be drenched in the media, all of which has hyped the issue out of proportion. CSE was doing its job. It was raising issues that need to be raised in an attempt to push for a regulatory apparatus. They are informing the public. To investigate and expose in public interest is a lesson we have learned from the Home Country of Coke ? the US. Americans believe in public interest protest.
It has become a predictable caricature to see Indian CEOs of multinationals act more loyal than the king! The arrogance of the minions of Coke International on this issue has discredited them, not given them brownie points. The rather brash, loose talk and ?we-will-show-them? attitude emanating from the India honchos of the company shows bad taste and immaturity that Coke does not need. Hogging the media and making combative statements on this public interest issue can only damage the brand, regardless of what the marketing team has to say. Head Office is bound to act, some person?s head may well be on the chopper, not long to wait! And, let us not forget, CSE was responsible for the policy change initiative that led to CNG.
If I am not mistaken, Coke has always claimed that its product maintains the same standards worldwide. If that is the case, why are they suddenly talking of ?Indian? standards? Does Coke believe that we Indians are immune to lower standards? Do they believe they can cut corners here that they cannot afford to in the western world? Do they look upon this market with scorn? Do they think of us as a gullible lot? What is their take? They reacted in a similar fashion when they were attacked for painting the geological rocks in the Himalayas. They would not dare do the same or allow their franchisees to do what was done, in the Grand Canyon.
The joint opposition of India has decided to dine together periodically in an attempt to find a way of fighting the BJP. It would be a good idea if, during the course of these get-togethers, they would announce one or two dramatic and far-reaching initiatives. One, for example, is that men and women in India be paid the exact same wages for hours of work done. It would be a salutary Independence Day ?gift? to Indian women.