F1 in India: A Bumpy Road

(Published in The New Indian Express, School Edition, on 31 October 2011, retrieved from http://expressbuzz.com/school/f1-in-india-a-bumpy-road/328269.html)


NOTE: This isn't opinion. It's a factual piece on why the F1 took so long to come to India, what the controversies surrounding it were, and what the numbers involved look like.)

For several weeks now, the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) in Greater Noida, has been the focal point of sports, business, entertainment and mainstream news. It may be one of the last races of the Formula 1 season, but it’s India’s first ever.

As Sebastian Vettel shot past the chequered flag held out by Sachin Tendulkar, and the who’s who of India cheered on, it may have been hard for viewers to believe this was actually happening in this country.

But the story behind the world-class circuit goes back nearly fifteen years, and even now, there are some people who are not too happy about the race coming to India.

A Long Wait

It’s the story of fourteen years and nine cities. Kolkata, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Gurgaon, New Delhi and Lucknow had vied for the privilege of hosting a Formula 1 race. F1 teams Renault, McLaren and Red Bull Racing showcased their cars in several of these cities. But eventually, Greater Noida won out.

When plans were first drawn up in 1997, it seemed likely that Kolkata would host the race. But by 2003, Andhra Pradesh was fighting for a spot – then-Chief-Minister Chandrababu Naidu reserved 1500 acres of land to build a track, and seemed all set to host the Grand Prix (GP) in 2007. Then, Mumbai entered the fray.

Soon after F1 top boss Bernie Ecclestone announced that he expected one of the two cities to host the Indian Grand Prix, there was a swift turnaround, and both projects fizzled out. Hyderabad, which had already begun construction work on the track, converted the space into an IT park.

In June 2007, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) reached an agreement to host a GP in the 2009 F1 season, at Gurgaon. But three months later, the IOA switched the location to Greater Noida. The BIC, envisioned by German F1 circuit designer Hermann Tilke, would be located inside Jaypee Green Sports City, which would also house a cricket stadium, hockey arena and sports training academy.

What Does F1 Mean for India?

The immediate revenue generation from the F1 race was calculated at approximately Rs 800 crore, with prospects of employment for more than 10,000 people. Revenue from ticket sales alone has been estimated at about Rs 25 crore.

The influx of both domestic and international visitors to the capital will be a boost for the tourism and hospitality industries. With about 3000 people affiliated to F1 alone flying in, the Sports City’s spa resort, as well as several of Delhi’s luxury hotels, are packed.

After the Commonwealth Games 2010 turned out to be a hastily-put-together damp squib, India felt compelled to follow up the success of the Cricket World Cup 2011 with a truly global sports spectacle. It is believed that a good show will encourage prospective sponsors to invest.

So, What’s the Problem?

Controversy has plagued plans for the F1 right from the start. First, the Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India wasn’t happy about the IOA striking deals in what the former saw as its own domain.

But the bigger problem came with land acquisition. The Uttar Pradesh government bought over land from about 300 farmers, and sold it at a subsidised rate to Jaypee. However, in August, the farmers demanded more money, and threatened to vandalise the circuit if they were turned down. They said they would not benefit in any manner from the GP, and that the acquired lands should be turned into an industrial zone instead. On Friday, a stray dog wandered on to the track, causing embarrassment for the organisers, especially after it was discovered that the protesting farmers had ‘played the prank’.

Earlier, foreign media had reported that many of the labourers involved in the construction of the race track had not been paid in months, and that the lodging, boarding and sanitation facilities in their makeshift camps left much to be desired. This provoked outrage at India’s keenness to showcase a ‘rich man’s sport’ when most of the country was struggling to make ends meet.

As the organisers struggled to keep the farmers and protesters at bay, battles had to be fought off the track too. UP Chief Minister Mayawati decided to waive some of the taxes that would be levied on Jaypee, but this was challenged in the Supreme Court, which has now asked the state for an explanation.

Meanwhile, the organisers have been hauled up for violations in foreign exchange and payment of customs duties.

The Celebrity Factor

While the media spent the last few days dissecting the pros and cons of the event, a carnival atmosphere prevailed in and around the BIC.

A-List celebrities went all out to make India’s maiden GP a memorable one. Cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar was chosen to wave the chequered flag, and a host of sportspersons, actors and politicians attended the race.

These include cricketers Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, and VVS Laxman, tennis player Sania Mirza, Union Minister Kapil Sibal, BJP leader Arun Jaitley, and Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Preity Zinta and Arjun Rampal, who hosted a grand after party.

Lady Gaga performed at Rampal’s exclusive night club Lap. However, the much-awaited performance by Metallica in Gurgaon was first postponed because of ‘technical difficulties’ and later cancelled after a furious mob charged the stage and damaged several hundred thousand dollars’ worth of equipment.

THE NUMBER GAME

875 acres: Area of the circuit

5.14 km: Length of the track

308.4 km: Length of the 60-lap race

320 kmph: Top speed in the track

210 kmph: Average speed on the track

150,000: Seating capacity of the arena (13,000 in the grand stand)

Rs 2,500 – Rs 1,00,000: Price range of tickets

900 tonnes: Weight of race support equipment shipped in

30,000 litres: Volume of high-octane fuel shipped in for the race

Rs 200 crore: Cost of constructing the track

Rs 20 crore: Hosting fees

Rs 15 crore: Customs duties

Rs 25 crore: Revenue from ticket sales

600 million: Expected viewership for the race

Rs 150,000 crore: Projected income up to 2040.

100: Number of dishes at the VIP banquet

1:24.178: Fastest lap in Saturday’s qualifiers, set by Sebastian Vettel.

1:30.35.002: Time taken by Sebastian Vettel to win the race.

Ra.One: A Lesson in SRK's Midlife Crisis

(Published in City Express, The New Indian Express, on 29 October 2011, retrieved from http://expressbuzz.com/entertainment/reviews/RaOne/327648.html)

Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Armaan Verma

Director: Anubhav Sinha

Rating: 1.5 stars

He could have bought a Ferrari, got a nose job, inked a tattoo or coloured his hair. Yet, Shah Rukh Khan chose to pierce his nipples, play a Tam Brahm, and grab Arjun Rampal’s crotch.

When Ra.One opens, the audience is already nursing headaches – the person tasked with converting it into 3D makes white letters pop out of a black screen right from the logo to the disclaimer. Then, we take an aerial tour of London, and pop into Barron Industries. Jenny (Shahana Goswami) seems to be teaching a ‘Technology for Dummies’ class, with a rapidly changing accent, to South East Asians and Europeans who understand Hindi. The dummies are suitably awed by a hologram image of the founder, Barron (Dalip Tahil). Barron appears only twice in the flesh – he addresses his office staff in Pidgin Hindusthani, and argues with Ra.One (Arjun Rampal) in chaste Hindi.

Next, we see Shah Rukh Khan speeding through strange lands, to perform a stunt straight out of Wolverine’s forest sequence in X-Men: The Last Stand. Then, he jets off to rescue an annoyingly high-pitched Priyanka Chopra, dressed in a skimpy red number, from Khalnayak (Sanjay Dutt) whose decaying teeth we get uncomfortably close to. The sequence draws largely from Padayappa, and we’re wondering whether this is Rajnikanth’s much-touted guest appearance.

Turns out this superhero, Lucifer, is a kid’s wishful projection of his cowardly father Shekar Subramaniam (Shah Rukh Khan) in anotheravatar. His American-accented British school teacher breaks into his reverie. We find out his Appa, whose vocabulary is limited to “aiyyo!”, “vandu kondu”, “rascalla”, “illaa” and “ingay vaa”, is a klutz who owns a fleet of Volkswagen cars, crashes into the one Alto in England, eats noodles-and-curd with his hands, and sports an Afro. Oh, he makes a living by designing cool video games and poorly animated PPTs.

He’s married to Sonia (Kareena Kapoor), whose contribution to feminism involves writing a thesis on swearwords. She believes world domination lies in changing the ma-behn genus to baap-bhai-chacha. Her other linguistic accomplishment is regularly mispronouncing “konjam-konjam”, “condom, condom”. Despite this, and the multiple injuries Shekar sustains on his procreative organs, he entertains hopes of making more babies, and conveys as much to Sonia on her typewriter. You see, the entire family operates in a time warp, not the least manifestation of which is the kid Prateek’s (Armaan Verma) hairdo. Inexplicably, he finds his father more embarrassing than his overgrown Beatles haircut. His ancient Michael Jackson poster leaves no room for Rihanna or Justin Bieber.

Shekar decides to win his son over by designing a video game where the villain Ra.One is more powerful than the hero G.One (Shah Rukh Khan in bot form). Full points for wordplay. The family attends the launch, and Sonia lovingly asks her husband to “re-lakes” as he is racked by nervous tics. When she turns to her son and gleefully says, “Papa is looking so hot, na?”, you realise why this kid’s so messed up. Then, Shekar and Sonia decide to boogie away, leaving their son to experiment with the game, under the supervision of the Japanese-named Chinese gaming whiz Akashi (Tom Wu). Full points for stereotyping – and research.

Sonia has a propensity to tear off her clothes when she dances, and so everyone is distracted when Ra.One breaks out of the game, enters the real world, takes on Akashi’s form, and sets out to kill Lucifer (Prateek’s gaming name). Her penchant to strip is also the reason everyone – including G.One, who has been coaxed out of the virtual world – fails to notice Ra.One’s reappearance in various forms on two later occasions.

Sonia has decision-making trouble. She takes her son to the site of a gory accident, but shields him from risqué magazine ads. She buries a relative in a coffin, but contrives to scatter his ashes in the Thames. She alternates between consulting the rear-view mirror and swinging her head around while driving. Conveniently, both the Metropolitan Police and London’s ubiquitous CCTV cameras evince no interest in her activities. She switches from grieving widow to gamebot-molester in three minutes, and relocates multiple times.

The movie is a revelation to Tam Brahms, who will discover that their customs include using their grandfathers’ – and not fathers’ – first names as surnames, celebrating karva chauth, worshipping Madhubani paintings, and living in exclusive gated communities reserved for their species in Mumbai, where their daughters dance the alarippu every day. Shah Rukh Khan’s perception of ‘Madrasis’ does for North-South relations what Achmed the Dead Terrorist did for US-jihadi harmony.

But the rest of the world may have its share of epiphanies too. For instance, NRI kids in London have Mumbaiyya accents, and are fond of Americanisms such as “zip it, crap face” and “I’m gonna whoop his ass”. We also ascertain that Chitti, who was last seen in a display case in Endhiran (Robot in Hindi) still wears lipstick and speaks of his memory in terms of “jigabyte”. We discover what the lovechild of Darth Vader, Megatron and Imhotep would look like. We learn the contours of the abdomen guards sported by Ra.One and G.One.

The movie has one funny moment, one decent twist, and two re-recording themes – aiyo-aiyo and paithyakara-paithyakara. Aside from the catchy Chammak Chalo, the only positive is a sizzling Arjun Rampal, who has landed his dream role - no expressions, loads of muscle-flexes and mean gazes.

A Rs 175 crore budgeted action flick can’t be carried by graphics, skin show and Shah Rukh playing the lovable comic hero from his Raj-Rahul days. There’s no explanation for why Ra.One suddenly emerges from his console, or for his obsession with Lucifer. Kareena brings little to the table, and the dialogues are as predictable as the storyline. And one may not care for one’s kids to witness decapitation, pelvic thrusts, and insatiable groping; or listen to someone stammer over the word ‘control’.

Verdict: I should have taken it as a sign when Microsoft One Note tried and failed to open the e-ticket I’d saved as ‘Ra.One’.

Diwali Goods That Tihar Should Market

(Published in Sify.com on 25 October, 2011, retrieved from http://www.sify.com/news/diwali-goods-that-tihar-should-market-imagegallery-features-lkzprzhdbbb.html)

Apparently, Tihar Jail has decided to call in a bunch of yuppies – or aspiring yuppies – from IIM Ahmedabad, to brainstorm for marketing ideas to help sell Tihar’s products better.

However, since the country’s most famous jail houses a host of celebrities, and has seen several high-profile detainees over the last year, one wonders whether the authorities really need help from business management students. I mean, look at the endorsement potential within its walls.

This Diwali, there are several products Tihar could create and sell, complete with the personalities they’re named after. So, how’s this for starters?

Kani Boomerangs

She’s pleaded as a mother, as a woman, as an artist, what-have-you. But Kanimozhi has been in jail for more than five months, despite judge O P Saini praising her conduct at the hearing, and even the CBI having mood swings over whether or not to oppose her bail plea.

And that’s not the only boomerang effect the poet-turned-politician has witnessed. The first couple of times her father Karunanidhi showed up, he spurned goodwill trips to the houses of his allies.

This time round, though he wheeled himself into Sonia Gandhi’s and Manmohan Singh’s homes, complete with bouquets of red roses and yellow flowers for the two leaders respectively, his gesture only seemed to ricochet.

Raja 1760000000000 Wala

Obvious, huh? Well, technically, the bomb burst last time round, but Raja’s spent enough time in jail to string together one of those every year.

And despite having practically no hope of getting out any time soon, what with the DMK patriarch far less concerned about his one-time blue-eyed boy and Dalit mascot than his youngest daughter, Raja has no intention of going down alone – or quietly.

He has already brought up the complicity of then Financial Minister P Chidambaram and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the spectrum allocation. The ramifications of his allegations caused something of a crisis in the ruling coalition, which culminated in a showdown between two of its most senior ministers – Pranab Mukherjee and Chidambaram.

Gajar ka Balwa

This was simply hard to resist. Well, but the Swan Telecom – now Etisalat DB Telecom – Promoter has chased plenty of carrots to end up where he is.

It was all smooth sailing till 2010, when he was the youngest Indian to make the Forbes rich list, and was among the ten youngest billionaires in the world.

But when the 2G spectrum scandal broke, he found himself in the blender, and the rest is history.

Amar Key Chains

Despite the propensity of most politicians, including Yeddyurappa, to fall critically ill within minutes of stepping into jails, the only one who will be celebrating Diwali at home is Amar Singh.

The best-friend-turned-arch-enemy of Mulayam Singh, the former Samajwadi Party strongman got into a soup in the 2008 cash-for-votes scam. His newfound friend, the Congress, promptly washed its hands of him.

Ironically enough, his bail conditions include two sureties for which he will have to raise cash of Rs 2 crore.

Maran Exchange Programme

There are so many levels to this.

First, Dayanidhi Maran jumped out of his ministry after his brother’s paper published a Stalin vs. Azhagiri survey that had the latter’s supporters attacking the newspaper office and killing staff. The vacated ministry seat eventually went to Raja.

Then, came the allegation from former Aircel owner Sivasankaran that Dayanidhi Maran had forced him to sell his stake to Maxis, when Maran was Telecom Minister.

Finally, newspapers flashed reports of a personal telephone exchange within Dayanidhi Maran’s house, complete with 323 lines, that is believed to have been used by his brother’s television network, Sun.

Four years after the complaint was received, the CBI is scrutinising documents from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), detailing the allocation of the high-capacity telecom lines.

And while the Maran brothers made the CBI sleuths cool their heels outside their home for half an hour, ahead of a raid, they’re still outside Tihar.

Sonia Non-Stick Teflon

Every charge ever brought against the latest Mrs. Gandhi to head the Congress, from Bofors to black money, has slid off as easily as it’s been slapped on.

To read her Wikipedia page, one would think the formidable Sonia Gandhi’s life was quite non-controversial – well, except for her Hindi pronunciation.

 She may have been the only Indian politician – why, only international politician – to have had a completely secret operation, not spotted at her port of entry or exit either at the airports or hospital she is believed to have stayed in. Her mystery illness remains undisclosed.

And though she only took up Indian citizenship in 1983 – 15 years into her marriage – and is yet to master any language spoken in India, three senior Congress leaders (Sharad Pawar, Purno A Sangma, and Tariq Anwar) were expelled for bringing up her foreign origins in 1999, when she seemed all set to become Prime Minister. Her ‘inner voice’ chose to speak up at the eleventh hour.

Swamy Gourmet

He fights all his battles in the courts, and consistently proves that he doesn’t say anything without evidence. He heads a party of which he is lone member. And it seems Subramanian Swamy has been dictating the menu at Tihar Jail.

At a recent speech, the Janata Party president mentioned that an official from the jail had complained about the difficulties of preparing idli and dosa for the South Indians lodged in the jail.

Swamy responded by asking him to learn to make pizzas and pastas, to suit an Italian palate. Since the person one presumes they are intended for used to moonlight as a waitress, she may be able to help with the recipe, huh?

Anna Amplifiers

Anna Hazare’s fast in March this year had the whole of Delhi queuing up to light candles. But his preventive arrest, and dharna inside Tihar Jail, notched up unprecedented support across the country for his movement.

With his aide Kiran Bedi tweeting regularly, and posting a video from inside the jail of Anna’s speech, the septuagenarian crusader against corruption rose to iconic status thanks to his three-day stint in jail.

Would his fast have got as much publicity and momentum had the government let him be, instead of swooping in to make a preventive arrest, and then blaming the Delhi Police? We’ll never know.

Bedi Revolving Doors

The former top cop, who was instrumental in reforming Tihar Jail – and even changing its name to Tihar Ashram – found herself on the other side of the bars earlier this year.

Kiran Bedi was one of the Team Anna members to be arrested ahead of Hazare’s proposed fast. She was back within hours, though, and with her phone camera, brought back some of the action with her.

The Hisar By-Poll and the Anna Effect

(Published in The New Indian Express, School Edition, on 25 October, 2011,m retrieved from http://expressbuzz.com/school/the-hisar-bypoll-and-the-anna-effect/326667.html)


NOTE: This piece contains very little opinion. It's a factual summary of the drama surrounding the by-elections in Hisar.

What should have been an insignificant election in one constituency became the focal point of national attention for several weeks. So, why was the Hisar by-poll so important?

By-elections are held to fill a post that has been vacated, usually because a sitting Member of Parliament (MP) has passed away, resigned or been recalled. In the case of Hisar, by-polls were announced after the seat’s MP, former Chief Minister (CM) and one-time Congress leader Bhajan Lal, died. Bhajan Lal had broken away from the Congress to form his own party, the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC).

Of the 40 nominees, there were three main candidates for the seat – the Congress’ Jai Parkash (a former three-time MP), Bhajan Lal’s son Kuldeep Bishnoi (HJC, supported by BJP), Ajay Chautala – the son of former CM Om Prakash Chautala – from Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).

But the most significant player may have been Anna Hazare. The Gandhian decided to campaign against the Congress, saying the ruling party at the Centre had failed to bring in the Jan Lokpal Bill for discussion within the stipulated time.

Why did Anna Hazare Campaign Against the Congress?

The Hisar by-elections were the first to be held after the standoff between Hazare and the government. After several discussions between ‘Team Anna’, as Hazare’s aides have been called, and government Ministers, Hazare ended his twelve-day fast, on the understanding that the Bill would be taken up for discussion as soon as possible.

When the Congress twiddled its thumbs, Hazare announced that the Hisar by-elections would be a people’s mandate on governance, and his team would take it upon themselves to send out a message that a party that had failed its people would be thrown out. Saying the Congress was not serious about tackling corruption, Hazare began to use the by-polls to build pressure on the party.

How did the Campaign Play Out?

Hazare’s second-in-command, Arvind Kejriwal, who is a native of Hisar, began to address people in open marketplaces, speaking out against the Congress.

The Congress tried to laugh this away, saying the election was not of national importance. But Team Anna capitalised on that point, saying it was an “insult to the voters of Hisar” that the party did not consider their opinion important.

The party reacted by shoving its foot back into its own mouth. Congress leader Digvijay Singh said that despite Hazare’s assertion that he is not into politics, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants him as the presidential candidate in 2012. Team Anna immediately turned the accusation around, saying they are “doing politics for the people” and not for the vote-bank.

The team denied association with the BJP, saying they would have campaigned against the saffron party if it had been in power and failed to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill. Kejriwal also issued something of an ultimatum to the Congress, saying Hazare would withdraw the campaign if the party passed the Jan Lokpal Bill the next day.

A video of Hazare asking the people to vote for any candidate of their choice, except the Congress contestant, was screened. Team Anna then told voters that the government wanted Hazare to die, and each of their votes would “act as a life breath” for the Gandhian.

The By-Election Results

By the time campaigning ended, on October 11, the Congress was stretched thin, fighting both the Anna effect and the other candidates. Polls were conducted two days later, and the results announced on October 17.

Kuldeep Bishnoi was declared the winner, with a lead of 6323 votes.  Ajay Chautala came second, while the Congress was a distant third – about 2,00,000 votes behind. Jai Parkash, who polled even fewer votes than he got in the 2009 elections, had to forfeit his security deposit.

What made the Congress’ defeat worse was that it was indicative of anti-party sentiment across the country. Aside from the Lok Sabha seat in Hisar, the ruling party was routed in three Assembly seats in other states – Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar.

In Maharashtra, the Congress’ ally Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), fielded Harshada Wanjale, the widow of Ramesh Wanjale, whose death necessitated the by-elections. But the alliance couldn’t win a sympathy vote.

In all, it was a shocker for the Congress, and deemed a bad sign for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) by political analysts.

Reactions

During his campaign, Bishnoi had called himself a fan of Anna’s, and a supporter of the team’s cause. However, right after his victory, he said he owed nothing to Team Anna, and that the people had already decided to vote in favour of him before Hazare announced his stance.  Bishnoi attributed his victory to his father, and to his party’s alliance with the BJP. But he did say he respects Hazare, and that he would vote for the Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who had camped in Hisar for a fortnight to canvass for the Congress, said there was a need to introspect. He said he respected the verdict of the people.

But his fellow-Congressmen were not quite as tame in defeat. Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who heads the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee, claimed Bishnoi had won because of the sympathy vote, and questioned Team Anna’s silence on corruption in Mayawati-ruled Uttar Pradesh.

Law Minister Salman Khurshid came up with an even vaguer argument for his party, saying the poll results could not be attributed to a single person or single issue. He also said Team Anna had gone to Hisar “to have fun.”

The Congress has decided to pull all its weight ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections, with Rahul Gandhi set to participate in a series of yatras across the state.

The opinion of the Congress and of analysts was that while Anna Hazare’s campaign was not the main instrument in the defeat, it had played a role in boosting anti-Congress sentiment by grabbing national headlines.

However, Team Anna suffered losses too. Following the campaign, two of its members – Magsaysay Award winner Rajinder Singh and PV Rajagopal – bowed out of the team, saying it had taken on political shades, and they didn’t want to be involved.

Long-Term Impact

The loss in four states is a huge psychological setback for the Congress, since five states, including Uttar Pradesh – where Congress General Secretary and likely future Prime Ministerial candidate Rahul Gandhi has been campaigning aggressively – are set to hold Assembly elections.

The UPA’s majority in the Lok Sabha will not be affected by state results. But then, allies of the ruling party could switch over to the Opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA), headed by the BJP, if they lose faith in the Congress.

That would be very worrisome if the call for early general elections, in the wake of several scams involving Congress leaders and allies, is heeded.

TIMELINE
3 June	Sitting MP from Hisar, Bhajan Lal, dies following cardiac arrest.
6 September	Election Commission sets October 13 as the date for Hisar by-polls.
4 October	Anna Hazare announces that he will campaign against the Congress at Hisar.
8 October	Team Anna arrives in Hisar; Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia address gatherings, alleging the Congress isn’t passing the Jan Lokpal Bill for fear that many of its ministers would land in jail.
11 October	Campaigning ends in Hisar.
13 October	Polling  conducted in Hisar.
17 October	Kuldeep Bishnoi wins seat. Congress comes third.
18 October	Team Anna members Rajinder Singh and PV Rajagopal quit.

CONSTITUENCY PROFILE

Candidates: 40

Voters:  13.32 lakh

Men: 7.29 lakh