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The Pritish Nandy Chat

Pritish Nandy entered the chat with his usual flamboyance. Back from Delhi after interviewing the prime minister for television, the high flying columnist struck am early rapport with his well balanced, well written answers. Taking care to answer as many questions, which he keyed himself over cups of sugarless tea, biscuits and wafers. In the nearly two hours, he spent at the keyboard, one point was clear -- here was a champion of Indian democracy and an optimist about her future. Coming from a journalist of his stature, it would be incorrect to assume that Nandy did not leave the rest unconvinced on this score.

Nimesh Chand Jain (Fri Aug 15 1997 3:34 IST)
Is Pritish in?

Pritish Nandy (Fri Aug 15 1997 3:34 IST)
Hi, I am here

Frank Camper (Fri Aug 15 1997 3:34 IST)
Where is the Bald Wonder Man of Indian Journalism? He took off my pants 12 years ago!

Pritish Nandy (Fri Aug 15 1997 3:36 IST)
Frank Camper: Here I am. Where are you? Still behind bars in redneck Alabama?

Nimesh Chand Jain (Fri Aug 15 1997 3:35 IST)
Pritish: If I am not mistaken, you too were born around the cusp of freedom. Do you believe this is a moment for despair?

Pritish Nandy (Fri Aug 15 1997 3:39 IST)
Nimesh Chand Jain: Not at all. On the other hand, it is an opportunity for India and all of us to rediscover, recreate ourselves and find a new future for us. Sans despair, sans cynicism. That's why today is very important. I guess it gives us another opportunity to have a bash at it. Rarely does life give us such a second try.

bosky (Fri Aug 15 1997 3:38 IST)
hi, Mr.Nandy, HAPPY 50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE, how do u feel today, a sense of pride,doubts about future or...

Pritish Nandy (Fri Aug 15 1997 3:42 IST)
Bosky: Thanks. The same to you. I feel great. I feel excited by the possibility of new things happening in a land which has wallowed in despair and self doubt for too long. Thank God for the born free generation. It believes in the future, does not mistrust the present, and gives a damn for the past. It is in them that I trust. It is in them that I have hope.

Alka (Fri Aug 15 1997 3:40 IST)
Mr Nandy: Do you think Congress party is a dead party and it can be no longer revived. When I put this question to Mr Vajpayee, he replied in affirmative. What is your opinion???

Pritish Nandy (Fri Aug 15 1997 3:43 IST)
Alka: The Congress died a long time back. It is just that no one was brave enough to tell them that. To see them making pathetic attempts to come back is like seeing Amitabh Bachchan in Mrityudata. Very, very sad. Very, very sickening.

Potteyil R (Fri Aug 15 1997 3:43 IST)
Shri Nandy, thank you for giving us an opportunity to speak with you. I have been an admirer of yours for a long time. I just wish to ask you: everyone who has been here today has spoken about the decay in Indian society. Do you think the rot is irreversible?

Pritish Nandy (Fri Aug 15 1997 3:50 IST)
Potteyil R: What decay! A few aberrations may be. A few failures perhaps. A few hiccups possibly. But there is no decay. India has never been stronger, healthier, better. We are economically in far greater health than we have ever been. We have a generation of young people around who have faith in the future and in themselves. We have in power a 14 party coalition that values plurality, liberty, justice, that does not bully around the Opposition, that does not impose article 356 indiscreetly, that respects different schools of thought. What decay are you talking about? Only an authoritarian worldview -- the kind that the Congress imposed on India-- would see contemporary India in decay. I see it in blossom. Read Arundhati Roy. Watch Gautam Ghosh. Listen to AR Rahman. See the wonderful things happening all around you and you will forget all this rubbish about decay. India has never been more free, in spirit as much as in politics.

Suman (Fri Aug 15 1997 3:49 IST)
Mr Nandy: What is the most memorable event in your great journalistic career?

Pritish Nandy (Fri Aug 15 1997 3:53 IST)
Suman: Every moment in my journalistic career has been fun. I don't know about great. Greatness is difficult word. But journalism for me has always and all through been fun, excitement, magic, the delight of interfacing with a world that one can change, in however small a way. It is this that lends greatness to our lives. The ability to change life around us. To reorder the universe in one's own way. That is why once you are a journalist, you can never be anything else again.

ankurshah (Fri Aug 15 1997 3:51 IST)
Who is the best prime ministor in this political crises? Why President's rule is not coming in Bihar state?

Pritish Nandy (Fri Aug 15 1997 3:59 IST)
Ankurshah: There is no best prime minister, worst prime minister. We are responsible for the kind of prime ministers we get. We have in office today a good man, a fine man, and above all a gentleman. If he manages to stick around and cope with all that is happening around him, I am sure history will remember him as a successful prime minister. But democracy has its own uncertainties, its own complexities. It changes leaders far too easily at times, for the wrong reasons. But since I believe in democracy and I believe that there can be no compromise on that, I am happy with what comes along with it. Including the annointing of Rabri Devi. You must realise that, for better or for worse, Rabri Devi is a product of democracy. She is legally and rightfully there, much as you and I may disagree. To ask for President's rule in Bihar is to invite a far greater aberration, frankly. I agree with Indrajit Gupta that Rabri Devi may not be the best possible choice for Bihar but the answer to that is not article 356.

Pritish Nandy (Fri Aug 15 1997 4:7 IST)
Potteyil R: It is not my vision for India that is important. What is important, my friend, is that India must exist in a manner such that everyone's vision-- yours, mine, my 90-year-old mother's, my 17-year-old daughter's, everyone's vision must be realised, fulfilled. For that to happen, we need a free, democratic, brave country where everyone must have to opportunity to make his or her own dream come true. There will be failures. There will be mistakes, aberrations, heartbreaks. For the poor, for the underprivileged, for those who are quietly coming in from the corners into thje big picture -- but that is inevitable in a country as big and complex as ours, where large sections of the population have been marginalised for years, where political leaders have misled us for five decades and we have allowed a handful of wicked and corrupt businessmen to control what has been essentially a feudal economy. But that is changing. And India is now opening up. Therein lies freedom, opportunity and hope for all of us -- even though it does not necessarily mean that all our problems will vanish overnight!

sagarika (Fri Aug 15 1997 4:7 IST)
Mr Nandy you are very correct when you say that Rabri Devi is rightfully there, but what when there is a de facto power ruling, is she really in power for good or is just going to be Laloo behind the scenes?

Pritish Nandy (Fri Aug 15 1997 4:16 IST)
Sagarika: The question is not whether you and I want old Laloo to run Bihar by proxy. When we have chosen democracy, for better or for worse, we have to live with the people's choice. And the people of Bihar have willynilly chosen Laloo to lead them. Therefore, even if he runs Bihar by proxy, what can you and I do? I, frankly, would rather have Laloo out there-- much as I hate his kind of politics-- than have the Centre impose President's Rule out there simply because that is a bad precedent in a democracy. The will of the people, even if it is rubbish, must be respected. The people of India like watching Om Namah Shiva and Jai Hanuman. I think this is in frightful bad taste and my encouraging shows like these Doordarshan is encouraging communalism and base taste. But, at the same time, since we live in a democracy, I will defend to the end Doordarshan's right to show these stupid shows on tjheir channel. After all, this is what great, unwashed, middle India wants. So this is what they must get. This is the basic principle of democracy. Who am I, am elitist journalist from Mumbai city, to intervene in this choice of the nation? I can only complain that I deserve a better option. But then I should go and watch BBC or CNN on my time, paying my cable man his fee. I cannot decide what is good for India.

kk (Fri Aug 15 1997 4:19 IST)
Pritish, I agree that the country is in a fairly good shape. Don't you feel a lot of the credit goes to the much-maligned non-confrontational Narsimha Rao?

Pritish Nandy (Fri Aug 15 1997 4:25 IST)
KK: Absolutely right. I think Narasimha Rao deserves a lot more credit than the poor chap got. Old Manmohan Singh ran away with most of the glory-- and is now shamelessly backtracking on his own reforms just to please old Chacha. But the problem with Narasimha Rao is that he is friendless. He is friendless and history will write him off because he was far too greedy. If he kept his greed on a leash, he would have been acknowledged as the man who changed India for the better. The man who actually reformed India. But his obsession for the greenbacks destroyed his legitimacy, his political career and his place in history. Sad. Lesson for all future PMs. Make up your mind. Do you want just money? Or would prefer a place in history?

prasanverma (Fri Aug 15 1997 4:24 IST)
Sir, why don't you want to accept that the quality of contemporary indian politics is worse than ever. Why don't good and honest people want to join the politics, just because they don't want to have a spot on their image,

Pritish Nandy (Fri Aug 15 1997 4:32 IST)
Prasanverma: Bullshit. You have as many good politicians today as you always had. You have exactly as much scum around today as we always had. Mrs Gandhi's lot was not much better than Laloo's. The problem is that we -- you and I -- are more impatient today. We are ready to label all politicians as crooks because we are living in a more open society today, where you and I speak out our minds more openly, where the CBI books a political leader more easily, and where the judges do not hesitate to punish the guilty more openly. I see all this as a very good sign. The leaders of Bihar and UP were exactly as venal as they are today 40 years back or, say, 30 years back. Your father's generation -- and my father's generation-- simply did not have the balls to say this upfront. That is the difference. We have more courage. We have more attitude. But things are no worse. In fact, they are better. We can take on anybody today. All we need is a good and intelligent lawyer to file a PIL. Why are you complaining? You should be happy.

sagarika (Fri Aug 15 1997 4:34 IST)
Mr. Nandy, thats precisely the question, do the politicians of today are interested in the well-being of the country, to do something worth & be in the books of history or its just the greenbags that brings tham in. Other wise, why all the politicians, people in high power feature in all sorts of scandals from foddoe to shoes??

Pritish Nandy (Fri Aug 15 1997 4:39 IST)
Sagarika: The number of scams and scandals, in my humble opinion, have not increased. The number of exposures are more today because you have an alert media, an active judiciary and common citizens who have the courage to fight back and corner corrupt politicians. That is the great success story of modern India. It is only because we are all so strong and powerful that more and more scams are being exposed. Not that the number of scams are more. The Nehru generation, believe me, was no better. His daughter's generation was in fact much worse. And his grandson's generation? The less said, the better. Thank God, we have better people in office today. Inder Kumar Gujral is infinitely cleaner than anyone from the Congress who ruled India. The fact that he is also infinitely weaker makes it that much better. A weak prime minister is always a more honest prime minister.

kk (Fri Aug 15 1997 4:43 IST)
Pritish, I agree with you that corruption hasn't really increased. But I disagree that a weaker PM would be better. e.g Gujral seems to be shielding Kesri from the corruption inquiries on him and hsi family, the hawala tainted ministers from the hawala scams, the CBI seems to be going slow in the recent past particularly in the hawala cases as well the bofors cases. That seems to be Sonia's influence. Your thoughts, Sir?

Pritish Nandy (Fri Aug 15 1997 4:43 IST)
KK: I detest corruption. So, if you ask me, my own view that I would rather have an effete politician who is honest than an effective politician who is dishonest. You can never draw the line in corruption. Where do you stop? A corrupt politician, however good he may be, will finally steal your last underwear from inside your clothes. You can never stop him, once you have allowed him in saying he is an effective chap. The answer is simple: Shoot the *************** at the first opportunity! That's what all clever nations -- like Singapore and the Arabs -- do. But, again, that is bad for democracy. So we are caught between two stools, my friend.

Randy Dandy (Fri Aug 15 1997 4:43 IST)
Mr. Nandy: That was nice to hear, for once, that the country is getting better not worse, Contrary to popular NRI opinion. My thoughts exactly. However, I think the system is only harassing, not being activist. Its actually the politicians who are coming out with fresh ideas for change and they are being obstructed by the old system. What says you ?

Pritish Nandy (Fri Aug 15 1997 4:47 IST)
Randy Dandy: I may not know too much about India. It is far too big and complex to know much about it. But one thing I know -- India today is much, much better than it was when I was a kid. The reason is simple. In those days, we were taught to shut up and take things lying down. Today, you and I can stand up and speak out. That itself makes India much, much stronger. Because once we can speak out, we can correct our lives, our politics. It will take time, of course. But we have the weapons of dissent in our hands. A nation of vigilantes is always better than a nation of walkovers. Today, India is strong because you and I know what is wrong with us and we are ready to speak out, fight back. That is important to recognise.