Election Results 2026

 Exit polls were Ok in Bengal and Assam, also in Kerala, but off in Tamil Nadu (except one I think).

Change happened in all states except Assam.

Maybe the lesson is that everything has an expiry date. Dictator or democrat, doesn't matter. Sometimes elections displace them, sometimes a revolution, or an assassination.

Many a time, electors have limited choices. They vote for what seems most likely to benefit, or least likely to harm them.

Congress ruled at the Centre for a long, long time. So did the Communists in Bengal. But at some point, the need for a change became apparent, and it happened. So it is this time.

And yes, the name Vijay helps you win. Not just in Hindi films. 

Noise and Elections

 The brouhaha over elections in some Indian states is almost over. The counting is on May 4th, a big day for individual contenders and the Parties in the fray. So who will celebrate with a party on that day?

I don't have any guesses, because the Indian voter throws up surprises quite often. What now seems like a pattern, is that Southern States will vote a regional party, but I have no idea what Bengal will do.

But whoever wins, the lot of the common man seems to change very little. Jobs are probably stagnant, and so are wages at the bottom of the (large) pyramid. So what will anyone in that position gain from whoever comes to power is a moot point.

The elite usually continue to flourish, no matter who wins. The era of big ticket reforms kicked off in 1991 is almost over, and India will continue growing at 5-7 percent, due to its large population, as a whole. How that translates into the well-being of different segments is what really matters. 

Reflections on the Kolkata Stay

 Since it has been around 10 months now, I feel entitled to a few reflections.

One, the cost of living is lower than in many other large cities.

But coupled with this, the salary levels are low in many sectors. 

Shared autos have 5-6 people in addition to the driver (I presume legally) in them.

The Totos or electric ricks are unmetered. So they quote whatever they want.

Buses are quite cheap, and if not crowded, doable if you are physically fit.

Metro trains are overcrowded, and have few coaches. They don't stick to the schedule.

Growth opportunities in the city are limited, so ambitious people have to move out.

People are generally self-absorbed, and know very little about the rest of India. 

Food quality is good, in general, especially non veg. and noodles. But the biryani has a potato in it 😊

My Bong Friends

 I keep making jokes about Mallus and Bongs all the time. But I do have friends of both these types, in spite of this. For instance, the current director of IIM Udaipur was a good friend while we worked together at another IIM, in early the 2000s. Also, Madhu Karmakar and his charming wife at the same campus- Lucknow. TK Chatterjee, Pradeep Mazumdar and Subhashankar at IMT were great colleagues. Indrajit at IIM Indore also is a good friend, and we often met over chai or lunch and chatted. Sumit Ghosh is another colleague from IIM Indore. We shared a lot of things, among them a fascination for Kishore Kumar. We even visited his Memorial and ancestral home in Khandwa together. A memorable trip.

Phalguni Banerjee is a student I recall from IMT Nagpur, and Nikita Kumar from Kolkata. From KIAMS, Siddharth Agarwala, Shruti Bihani are honorary Bongs, living in Bongland. And my friend and Ph.D. student Naveen Das is a Bong.

Shakti Ghoshal from IIM Bangalore, and Dash, domiciled in Bongland as he became an IPS officer from West Bengal cadre.

Plenty more, I would think. 

Odd Words and Terms

The Indian lexicon is full of words which are popularly used in local conversation in various parts of the country. Some such words-

Howla- this is not a howler in the English sense, but a fool. Howla hai kya? (Are you stupid? ...Loosely) is almost a term of endearment in Hyderabad.

Vela..Velapanti is what a vela does, like Heropanti is what a Hero does. Velagiri or velapanti is another term for idling or doing nothing useful. Maybe close to self-actualisation, in Maslownic terms.

Adda- this is the quintessential Bengali addiction- chatting endlessly over chai or a rosogulla, about anything under the Sun. That usually narrows it down to politics, football, and politics.

Dada. This has different meanings depending on where you are. In Marathi or Bangali, it means big brother. But in the badlands of U.P or Bihar it may translate to one who does dadagiri, as in the local goon.

To, Kya chal raha hai? is a conversation opener in Hindi, cleverly appropriated by Fogg in its current ad campaign. Roughly the equivalent of How Do You Do in English, or What's Up, Dude in Americanese.

Po, da is a Tamil term used often, which I assume translates to Go, yaar..in Hinglish.

Matlab is not the software, but like, any term, like,..used by, like,..anytime by a Hindi-speaker or, like.. Delhiwali or thereabouts.

Americanisms and Britishisms

Right now we have an American and a Brit on campus doing various things. So I was reminded of an old joke. A Brit and an American were taking a walk. The Brit looked around him, and as is the habit of his countrymen, wanting to make conversation, said, "Spring in the air."

To which the surprised American replied, "Why should I?"

Not sure what an Indian would have done in a similar situation. He might have brought a small spring coil and thrown it up in the air, maybe?

Anyway, there is funny communication that happens all the time. Another classic that I remember from my experience is the play on the word 'bus' and 'boss' thanks to some friends from Orissa and Kerala, where they mix up these two words with hilarious consequences.

The Bengali propensity to pronounce a 'v' as a 'b' leads to amusing exchanges if one is not used to it. We had a sentence in school that made fun of this Bengali trait. You have to say, "Venkatramana, Venkatramana, why are you walking in the verandah?", with all the Vs and Ws pronounced as Bs.

Gujaratis are hilarious with some words too. They say 'snakes' when they mean snacks, and 'rape' when they want to say 'wrap'.

Anjaiah, an old Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, was known for his lack of command over English and a few jokes became legendary. As in, he was shown around a hospital, and when they showed him the labour room where mothers in labour were housed, he praised the staff for taking care of their labourers (he used to be a minister for that Labour earlier). Well, let me not belabour the point. I suppose you got it by now. Say 'gotcha' if you did!